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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenjib" data-source="post: 402015" data-attributes="member: 530">The contrary virtues seem to make it very easy for you to have the seven trials all rotate around both the sins and virtues, as opposed to having to choose one or the other.  The players are placed into a dilemma where they are tempted to chose the sin over the virtue.  If they chose successfully, they pass the test.  I think the trick to making this work well is to disguise and misdirect in such a way that the players can't quickly see what the right decision is and know what they need to do.I would set up the adventures as a set of encounters that occur along a road -- this road being the path they are told in the beginning is the only way to escape (through another encounter that establishes an over-arching narrative).After entering the portrait the party is in a field on the side of a dirt road.  In the distance they see a figure approaching at a leisurely pace.  As he gets nearer they see a man of rather handsome features, however he happens to have the legs of a goat and a pair of curled horns rising from the top of his head.  When he gets to the players he welcomes them to his domain, says that he knows why they are here, and offers to make them a deal.  He points down the road.  They must travel down this road, where they will face seven trials.  If they pass, the souls they seek will all be freed along with the players.  Should they fail, their immortal souls will suffer unimaginable torment with the rest of the damned for all eternity.One idea off the top of my head:*** liberality versus covetousness ***The path leads to a small cave on the side of the road.  Inside they encounter a fierce monster guarding a treasure.  As they continue down the road they find an impoverished town.  They discover that the livelihood of the townsfolk has been destroyed by the ravages of the monster.  They are happy to hear that the monster has been killed, but winter is coming, the fields are all fallow, the livestock all slain, and the villagers have no money with which to buy food from nearby villages.  The solution to this test is that the players must sacrifice the treasure they won for the good of the villagers, and to finish righting the wrongs that the monster caused.  If they do the right thing, they will have to spend every last copper piece of the treasure they won just to insure that the villagers survive the winter.I dunno.  Maybe that one's too easy, but how hard should it be?  I'm not sure what to do if the players fail one of these tests.  Do you want to tell them that they are damned eternally for their covetousness and rip up their character sheets, or is there a second chance -- the long road to redemption?  Can they escape from hell?I'm an atheist and this sounds really cool to me but I'm not sure how the religious overtones would go over with other people.  It could be a touchy area as this story idea could be seen as kind of preachy.  I just think it's cool though, as I can appreciate all kinds of different religions.It would be really fun to see an adventure, or even a whole campaign, built on a more symbollic/allegorical level rather than the standard, more realistic, model that is de facto.  Probably hard to do well but a very interesting idea.</blockquote>

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