Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Aldath Jul 20, 2014 21:22:47	Well guys, I've been looking at this "Soul Sacrifice" game, and the monsters are pretty cool and twisted, their lore is macabre, and I feel they fit my sandbox setting of a post apocalyptic fantasy Tokyo filled with aberrations (tho there are other nice and cute monsters out there).   However a temathic surrounding these "bosses" is the fact the player reads the lore before battling them (they're people who became monsters for having a wish granted by the gods, usually to satisfy an ambition) and after they're killed, their human form can be either saved to be made an ally,or sacrificed to absorb its power, and I was wondering, how can I use this mechanic on a Sandbox and make it interesting for the players?    I mean, I can surely tickle their moral compass there, but I want it to fit a magical post apocalyptic Tokyo, so I have to tweak backgrounds, then, instead of offering them an ally for saving the soul of those persons, what else could I give? I don't like having extra allies on 5-men parties, specially since I'm trying to make a beautiful, but fark and desolate world. Lastly, I had the idea that players must learn and find the lore of these monsters so they can harm them, since only those who know about the former person that the monster was can slay and then judge their soul.   I want things to be more grim, like, even saving them they die, still the promise of a magic item is always better, and I REALLY want them to think before they do it, because good for me, my group is split in 2 neutral, 2 LG and 1 CG, which could be interesing...
#2 Noon Jul 21, 2014 1:25:25	Probably make people that you'd guess the PC's could relate to, since they share a similar history.
#3 bawylie Jul 21, 2014 9:37:41	I'd take a close look at ghost stories.    With ghosts, the way to dispel them is to right some wrong that causes them to linger.    Now you have these demons who've traded their mortality in service of an ambition. The only way they can be truly defeated, though, is to fulfill that ambition or (let's steal from Harry Potter) restore their humanity (through remorse, perhaps). Either way, while the demon can be driven off temporarily, it will be back.    Consequently, local legends come around - rumors and half-truths, realizations and observations that give clues as to who the demon was and what it wants.    Eventually, once the players can piece together the ambition or the person, they can finally fight & subdue the demon and then use their knowledge to ultimately defeat it.    Here's a few ideas about what you can do with this.  1.) The power of these demons is extreme - upon defeat, the players gain a level (or half a level, whatever is enticing enough).  2.) demons can be sacrificed for their power - the players gain a level, but also gain a demonic aspect. Eventually, they become demons in their own right (it's gradual, probably obvious that the changes are occurring, but "full" demon-hood occurs after 1d6+2 sacrifices).   3.) Demons can be saved, their humanity restored. The land they once blighted becomes blessed. In this territory, the effects of a long rest occur in the time it takes for a short rest (an hour or so). Also, resting here for a long time (a week or more) removes a single disease or disability. Further, the ground is consecrated, and the dead will not rise here (though they may enter, they tend not to).  4.) Demon's ambitions can be fulfilled. Once complete, they become as stone statues, forever frozen. Once per day, they will answer a person's question. They always answer honestly, though they retain whatever personality traits they had before turning to stone.