Anyone use the Dark Plea in game?

[Ambrus]

I'm intrigued by a concept that Bruce Cordell's has woven into several of his published sourcebooks and adventures. I was wondering if anyone else has made use of the Dark Plea (a vague all powerful entity from the future which reaches back in time to influence events which will eventually bring about its own creation). The adventure in Malhavoc's Hyperconscious sourcebook seems to be the primary source for the Dark Plea; are there others? Have you expanded on the Dark Plea and made it a significant threat in your campaign setting? How'd you go about doing so?

 

[Piratecat]

It was too vague a threat for my taste; I haven't used it. I believe that the 2e book Tales from the Infinite Staircase (or something like that) had it as a plot device, though.

 

[Graf]

Personally I've found that using poorly defined and vastly powerful entities as direct actors is somewhat troublesome. They allow you to -do- a lot, including rapidly changing tone or setting in a game but over time the lack of rigor involved can lead to narrative confusion.

Also there are some other issues with the Dark Plea
*The players can't fight it
*It's not interesting to interact with (It's not animate, or possessed of an interesting personality or motivation)
*It's got no weaknesses per se... which threatens a lot of "railroading"
(I.e. it's unstoppable, and from the future, but there is one thing that could stop it, so the PCs need to go to X, do A, then go to Y and do B and finally teleport to Z where they will perform C....)

Obviously some groups like having a definite plot direction and having a linear narrative allows you to use a lot of neat techniques (foreshadowing, etc) but if it's too paint by the numbers then you might find out mid-way through the game that either you or the players aren't happy with the game.