Planescape Enhancing Turn of Fortune's Wheel

[pukunui]

Another thought I had. Making the BBEG a fallen devil seems a bit cliche. What if the BBEG was an adventurer. A simple man or woman from a humble beginning who just had the force of personality to shape the multiverse once they learnt enough about it. A prime so disgusted by the grand and lofty ideals of the movers and shakers that they decided to rip it all up using the planar creatures ideals, beliefs and powers against them.

To be clear, I think they could still use fiends to corrupt the gate towns but not because they’re an arch devil.

Maybe. Or maybe it’s Vecna! Perhaps this is his first scheme to remake the multiverse, and when the PCs foil it, he turns to his other scheme (as per Eve of Ruin).

I’m still looking for ways to combine the two.

I think I could skip the level jump for this adventure if the key to ending the glitch is killing the planar incarnate. Perhaps the glitch accelerates during the final confrontation so dead PCs return more quickly.

 

[TheSword]

Maybe. Or maybe it’s Vecna! Perhaps this is his first scheme to remake the multiverse, and when the PCs foil it, he turns to his other scheme (as per Eve of Ruin).

I’m still looking for ways to combine the two.

I think I could skip the level jump for this adventure if the key to ending the glitch is killing the planar incarnate. Perhaps the glitch accelerates during the final confrontation so dead PCs return more quickly.

Or another idea to keep the players at the heart of things is to have them as the villains - but that doesn’t mean they haven’t made terrible enemies.

Maybe the original incarnations were absolute bastards. Working with Shemeska, tricking gargauth, releasing Vecna. They weren’t the skivvies running around doing Shemeska’s bidding - they were the instigators that recruited Shemeska into the scheme. That Shemeska turned on them is just Yugoloths Yugolothing. The party released Gargauth from the shield, the party made a deal with Vecna - giving him [thing he needed for his scheme] in exchange for him revealing a way of trapping the Modron march.

I don’t know the background to Vecna’s adventure I just know it involves the Rod of seven parts and a plot to mess up the multiverse. But if their earlier incarnations gave Vecna what he wanted then the second half can be about trying to redeem themselves.

 

[pukunui]

Or another idea to keep the players at the heart of things is to have them as the villains - but that doesn’t mean they haven’t made terrible enemies.

Maybe the original incarnations were absolute bastards. Working with Shemeska, tricking gargauth, releasing Vecna. They weren’t the skivvies running around doing Shemeska’s bidding - they were the instigators that recruited Shemeska into the scheme. That Shemeska turned on them is just Yugoloths Yugolothing. The party released Gargauth from the shield, the party made a deal with Vecna - giving him [thing he needed for his scheme] in exchange for him revealing a way of trapping the Modron march.

Nice! I like that.

I don’t know the background to Vecna’s adventure I just know it involves the Rod of seven parts and a plot to mess up the multiverse. But if their earlier incarnations gave Vecna what he wanted then the second half can be about trying to redeem themselves.

I don’t know that Vecna needed anything. While the rod can help in the final fight, it’s something of a red herring McGuffin because Kas just wants to use it to release Miska.

That said, I could make it so the PCs’ previous incarnations did provide Vecna with some aid.

(Honestly, Eve of Ruin should have made use of the whole obelisks thing. The writers really dropped the ball there.)

 

[ninepintcoggie]

Hey folks, been running ToFW for a few sessions with my group now and as we approach the casino next session I've been struggling a bit with Shemeshka's motivations in the grand scheme of things, I'm seeing a lot of great ideas here!

I've been mapping out the campaign, heavily integrating a lot of SonneillonV's popular Reddit edits (found here) having the party work for Renee the Time Dragon before they got glitched, but was still struggling with why Shemeshka was doing any of this. Yeah she's a mob boss info broker in the middle of a huge web of schemes and plans, but what ultimately puts her at odds with Renee? Just wanting to upset the balance of the Blood War and profit off the chaos seems a little... base for someone like Shemeshka, who as written seems to care much more about favors and secrets than something as banal as money, of which she seems to already have as much as she wants.

Then I read through these posts, got some great ideas, and am rewriting Shemeshka's motivation entirely. She's not looking to upset the Blood War for profit. She's doing it as a favor to Orcus. Having a favor from a demon lord in your back pocket seems like a MUCH more tempting goal than what the module has written for her, and like others have mentioned here, bringing Orcus back ties the book much more closely in to the Great Modron March instead of just using it as flavor. Shemeshka's goal is to tilt the Blood War in favor of Orcus. Orcus has much clearer goals (kill the universe and raise them as zombies) and is easier to write for. This means that Shemeshka is acting as a liutenant of Orcus instead of the BBEG of ToFW.

Thankfully, I see this as meaning you have very little to change about the book or even the fight against Shemeshka in her pocket dimension. This also allows you to add another antagonist to the campaign in the form of more blatant followers of Orcus. In my mind, the followers of Orcus will be high level undead such that are searching for components of the Wand of Orcus to gain favor with him, but Shemeshka has been trying to do that herself for the same reason. This would even allow you to bring in opponents of undeath like the Raven Queen as party patrons. And the only additions you would need for the encounters at lower levels would be to sprinkle in bits and pieces about Orcus and encounters with undead throughout their march through the Outlands. No need to cut anything RAW, just adding on.

And ultimately, after defeating Shemeshka in her pocket dimension, there is one more fight for this 17th level party, and I can actually have them fight Orcus himself. Now, Orcus has a CR of 26 according to his stat block in the Tome of Foes, so a normal party couldn't handle that. Which is why I'll have Renee (Ancient Time Dragon, CR 26) come in and help in the fight. This allows the party to have a final epic fight against Orcus, or fight his minions while a Huge demon fights a Huge dragon in the background, while cleaning up the narrative so that the party has a clearer and more direct campaign goal achievement (you stopped the demon lord Orcus from ascending and turning everyone into zombies). Hell, you could have the battle take place in Sigil somehow to wrap up the campaign in a neat bow.

Honestly this post was more so I could get my ideas out than anything else, so thanks for listen to my rambles!

 

[Weiley31]

Perhaps Shemeshka is the ONLY one that knows everything is glitching or what it is Everyone in Sigil has no idea WHY there's a strong case of "Deja-Vu" afflicting a lotta people they know/met//PCs.

Perhaps, the BBEG isn't Shemeshka herself, but a Glitched Cast-off (a perversion of Torment:Tides of Nuenera idea) of her former self that was discarded and it wants revenge?

 

[TheSword]

I’ve been thinking about Shemeska and I think I would try and make her much less supervillain and much more super villains concierge. She’s the person who sells the supervillain the nuclear weapon and tries not to get killed in the bargain. She doesn’t have any desire to use it herself. Instead she’s playing 3 dimensional chess to avoid her myriad schemes leading to one of the superpowers crushing her like a bug.

The Orcus idea is awesome, but maybe instead of just needing a favour maybe she has to do it because Orcus is trying to shut down her operations in the Abyss and Pandemonium, and she is doing this to get him to stop. Orcus is pissed because she performed a task for Grazzt who she needed to undo a powerful binding performed by a mortal caster who somehow got her number.

I kinda feel. Shemeska should played like she is walking a knife edge with certain doom a hairs breadth on either side. The PCs become in the end, another one of those superpowers capable of squashing her so she has to play them against one of the other competing interests. Maybe that’s Orcus.