So, my Stonetop game has reached its final-ish arc and we are getting to the last big adventure we had planned, the god heist. The players are in this Mediterranean area far from home where the sun god makes his home. They know the Sun God has been corrupted/replaced by one of the Things Below. They need a magic sword in the god's possession to pull off a ritual. So it's heist time.
Our villain is Hellior, the corrupted sun god. He is being puppeted by the Radiance, an ur-nightmare from one of our past campaigns. (The Things Below synced up with these villains really well so I worked them in). The Radiance is all about fearing your own insignificance and demise. It is looking up in the vastness of space and knowing you are nothing- what are you before a sun? This tracks really well onto the religious bent here, this is a vain thing enjoys its worship. This is all important because its going to give us our theming and trappings for this dungeon.
I had already set up that the heist would be in a tower, which is fun symbolically. It does mean we are cut off from some design dungeon wise. Then, again I'm not necessarily wanting this to be the usual dungeon crawl. The players are high level and we are playing a pbta game. The interesting thing here is going to be choices. I also needed to know how many levels our tower would have and since I'm a hack I decide to go with 9- let's go full Dante's Inferno here.
So- first off. The outer approach. One of the player's has the means to fly and may use that(if they remember) to scout out the tower or try and ascend to the top. This is a fine idea and I'm fine with the player's using this to skip some levels. However, if they try and fly to the top of the tower, I am springing a trap. A massive flare from the zenith of the sungod's tower and forcing them to defy danger or I will burn out their fucking eyes. This is the final dungeon- we are not fucking around. On a mixed success they will only have to mark a debility. But if that flare fires it will put the tower on guard, and most importantly that will trigger Hellior to grab the sword and wear it on his person.
So yeah, I'll let the players attempt a climb and stealth up the tower's side to steal some ground. But if they try and circumvent the whole thing then shit is going to go BAD. I'm imagining the windows in the tower as stained glass, so they are letting light in but not great for spying through, but there are also holes to provide ventilation- so it's not like this place in impregnable.
Next step I earmark a couple appropriate enemies that can appear throughout. A guard that can work as a minion and cause issues but isn't going to really threaten them. An assassin that can be a serious one on one threat. And a caster to work as our solar priests.
Now let's talk my design philosophy here. I want to challenge my players and I am planning the tower fairly open in a way to leave blanks space for me to fall back on while also giving them a chance to have space to find ways through. I am not really designing the ways for my players to subvert these rooms- instead I am just going to figure out the challenges. But this is a holy tower, I want to make ascending it akin to a pilgrimage. If the players want to- they can just proceed through the whole thing, but I am going to rip them apart in the process.
To represent this I am making a move called Ascend the Tower: Roll +X to ascend to the next level of the tower. On a 10+ you do so successfully. On a 7-9 you can proceed if you either mark a disability or suffer the room's penalty again. On a 6- You immediately suffer the room's penalty- but may ascend if you let the GM take whatever they like.
rubs hands together Let's go.
Level 1: Limbo
The first room of the tower has stairs ascending and descending. Guards stand watch over a priest speaking to petitioners. The petitioners hold their possessions: treasure, manuscripts, infants. And are told they may not proceed unless they give up their ties. The penalty for this room is simple- you have to lose something. I'm not terrible picky about this but it should be something your character cares about. As always this doesn't need to be material- if someone wants to burn away their fear I will let them do it. Particularly treasured things will count for more. I need to show this on screen, so when they enter I am going to show a Pilgrim rush the stairs and they burn from the inside. Afterwards they appear unharmed but have lost something vital and just sit on the steps until guards lead them out of the tower, where they start to wander the city dazed.
If they fail in ascending this room and I get to take something I am going to let them pick one thing that I don't take since this is so broad. I don't want to just steal a player's love from the jump. This also lets me zero in on what they care about the most... a question I may just ask them honestly, it's good rp. But it's also a misdirect, because if I get to burn something away in room one I am just going to fucking destroy one of their moves. The players are high level, some people have spells to directly bind evil or that render them nigh impossible to kill- I am going to burn them on the pyre.
Give your players the agency of telling you the thing you can't touch- then go at them hard elsewhere.
I doubt the players are going to descend, but if they do they are going to find some trippy shit that's a callback to way earlier. It also will give them a chance to gather some information that will help them in the final fight.
Level 2: Lust
So Lust can obviously get real gross and the way I usually look at it in my games is more zoomed out: Lust is wanting to control someone else. I see them and I want to control/manipulate/touch. Somewhere between envy and greed- its about possession. But it's also about bonds.
Inferno describes this as a place where nothing gleams, a dark place. I like that- so we are going to have a lightless floor. Pure dark. We want the pilgrims to contemplate a life without the sun. This is also a way for me to lean into horror as I describe many hands and bodies pressing in on the party and pushing in on them. Hands with too many fingers. Breath on their neck and whispers in their ears.
The priest carries a key that will unlock the next level, stealing it would lead to the possibility of sneaking ahead but it's going to be hard in the dark and pressed by the bodies. The lesson of this room is that the sun is the most important relationship in your life. The penalty is going to be burning bonds. In Stonetop- bonds are your relationships with others. They are your regard, your history, and also a way to gain XP. This is a chance for our heroes to be potentially monstrous as they offer up relationships they no longer consider to be important. Beyond that, when they destroy a bond, I will make one between them and Hellior. They will get to define it at first. But as a consequence on rolls, I can force them to change their bond to be more and more favorable.
(A note. I am not ENTIRELY evil. This is going to destroy a bond on one side. But if the PC spends time with the other half of the bond then it will be able to repair. Like one side's torch flickered out and it being relit by the other. But that's not something they will know in the moment.)
If the players resort to combat the room will light up to reveal horrifying floating lamprey creatures with many fingered hands and heads that glow like stars- their faces are human, those whose bonds have been abandoned.
Level 3 Gluttony
God, is there anything more boring than Gluttony? At least Lust can be interesting in it's horniness. But Gluttony is pretty much always going to be fatphobic and full of gross out shit. So let's give our players a chance to gorge themselves in another way. We are dealing with a sun god here and in my overarching campaign I've had similar beings so let's bring on in. Sang Strahlia: who I'd best describe as a mash up between Darth Vader and Azula? She is an interesting character to have business here with the sun god, and a villain my players are fucking TERRIFIED of. To underline that. Not their characters- the PLAYERS are scared of her. The last time they encounter her, they immediately bolted.
So let's make this a feast hall and go full Cloud City.
I think in the fiction, this is a room is viewed as a last indulgence before proceeding further in the path. A respite. Strahlia has been sitting here bored as they bring her out food she isn't going to eat. This gives our players a chance to refuel that will seem like a trick but isn't. So background, Strahlia is a Sang for the Fervent Dawn, a religion who belief their faith keep the stars burning... and they might be right. As suns are holy, Hellior reaching out for parley is something she is beholden to but she dislikes this thing having sidetracked her. So she is willing to let the party ask her some questions in exchange for ones of her own. If she is able to be convinced that Hellior is an infection, a threat, or that their mission won't cause this star any danger- she will happily let them on and get an excuse to leave this place. If the heroes seem willing to burn out a star for their ends, then she will turn this whole floor into a furnace.
While this one may seem odd, a thing to remember is my players have been doing a megacampaign for 5 years now. Their current characters rarely get the chance to get answers to some of the bigger things, and this gives them a chance to find out some of what I've got planned in the future. Again, the threat here is to gorge themselves on information, the more they gain- the more questions Strahlia can ask and push them towards their own demise... I want to avoid them fighting here though- that will get them fucking killed. Then again they do have an NPC with them who could hold her off for a moment and die tragically if need be. So that would be fun. Again, something I want to try and cut something off every level.
OH HEY, this is a great chance to break out some firebrands! I can use "A Conversation Over Food" as a framework for the scene.
Level 4 Greed
Alright, here we fucking go. So one of our players tried to rob this place before in their backstory and know about this floor. It was where they found the sword and treasure before and it's where I am going to point them to if they want to know what level to try and infiltrate, to the best of their knowledge the sword is here. Obviously it won't be. BUT, there will be some interesting stuff. So this is where we have the Sun God's stash, most of it made up from offerings from pilgrims. The penalty for this room is giving up items. Money isn't terribly important in this game, but the party has a lot of powerful artifacts that would hurt to lose.
The flip side, is that they could load up on powerful gear here if they fight the guards and plunder the room or find another way through. I have had a lot of priests and people so far, so let's lull the party into a false sense of security by not having any apparent guards. Instead I am gonna put statue bearing a shield with the rules engraved on it. Obviously this is whats gonna come alive if they try and take stuff- but the party doesn't know there will be another one in the vault itself. If someone sneaks into the vault, that is going to be fine, but these will trigger and attack if they take something. So I'm going to figure out artifacts and sentimental items the players would want as temptations.
Level 5 Wrath
We are gonna go full cliche here, but I am going to make the party fight themselves here. They enter a room full of bloodstains and offal and a strange dark light glows and their shadows raise up to fight them. The big question here is "what do you most hate about yourself" and weaponize that. Also, if they do die, they can just play their hateful shadow.
The trick to this room is the penalty is going to be shedding blood. I am gonna make that clear that it's what needs to be done. Any successful attacks they take or cause to their shadows will count as a +1 to ascending. If they fail I'll roll their own damage die against them. Not the most clever room, but if a player rushes past and tries to ascend, they could take a minor hit and avoid combat entirely.
Level 6 Heresy
Okay, I want to return to the religious trappings here. We have the seekers who have made it this far, as well as potential priests. Our players are a bunch of heroic freaks, what have the last 5 floors done to normal people. I want to make clear that the priests they have been fighting along the way were once like these people- desperate folk that were cored out by a monster.
So let's be especially fucking cruel here. The penalty is easy, it is dawns spent here in reflection. Easy, right? Hit a montage, GM. Except the players are on a schedule, a literal doomsday clock is ticking until the rest of the things below break free. This is the last thing my players will willingly surrender. But if they refuse, the priests are going to order the penitents to prove their devotion by striking the party down.
So yeah, this is a rough floor. But I want to remind anyone reading this that I am simply providing problems. The players could convince the petitioners this isn't worth what it's cost them already and turn on the priests. They could come up with a good enough lie to get past. I will let them try here. The issue will be ascending. If anyone fails- this is going to cost them a day. Which.. they can lose one... But if they get multiple failures? Woof.
Level 7 Violence
Hmm, I really don't want to repeat Wrath here. We also might have just had a really nasty fight- so throwing them directly into another one would be bad. Hmm.. alright yeah. Part of this is violence against yourself. And I think Hellior wants to make you feel small. This would be like... the last step before becoming ascending the tower. The last step to becoming a priest, etc etc. And I think it's just a series of mirrors where you see parts of yourself and choose what to carve away. Things you love about yourself. Things you take pride in. Things core to yourself. This is where a player can wind up losing their name. This may feel like a repeat but this is going to be nastier. If you fail here- I am going to rip something out and you don't ascend. You wind up back in the same room... You are still too big to ascend. You think too much of yourself.
Level 8 9 Fraud
I've got smart players right? They will definitely have been keeping track of which floor they are on. Anyway welcome to the final floor, where god lives. Definitely not a trick. But the weird thing I am going to reveal here, is that everything looks set up for a fucking wedding? So quick lore lesson. In our game, the world was built on the polyamorous relationship between Sky, Sea, and Soil. Soil got killed/infected and is what fucked up this world. Our players want the sword as part of a ritual to resurrect Soil and two of the players might be able to sub into the godly love triangle to make something wholly new. HOWEVER, Hellior realizes he could do much the same- by taking these two players and subjugating them, he can create a stable cycle here. The vibes I am going for here are very:
This is a lie. The lies of a lying liar. He is going to try and convince them to fucking take this deal and as equals they can build. But he will core them out and puppet their corpses just as he has done with the sun god's. Really the only hope he has of them accepting is that he has already done enough damage to them here. No this is going to be a fight. Again, Treachery is the theme here. Fake/Illusion Hellior here has Ember, the sword they want- but not really. I have described the blade in the past but my players may have forgotten so I may describe it different and see if they catch on.
The thing that is meant to fucking terrify them is that Ember is a Hero's blade- an Excalibur or Master Sword. If swung at someone who isn't evil, the blade will just shatter forever- and this will all have been for naught. So they also really don't want to do this fight because... well most of the party isn't evil? But yeah, Hellior will shatter the fake blade- seemingly destroying their plan and forcing them to choose him.
Now, here's the fun thing about this room. If anyone at anypoint says they want to ascend, I will point out they don't see stairs. But if someone tries to ascend anyway I will let them trigger the move. Because it is all fake. And the players have some artifacts and moves that may let them figure this all out (note to self, target those artifacts on other floors.)
If it comes down to it, they will wind up in this illusion fight that I will make extravagant but they are going to win. Let them get hurt and winded. Let them get victory and mourn the blade they lost and leave the tower defeated.... Then I will reveal Hellior in all his glory above the the tower, raise Ember, and have him shoot off like a comet to go end the world. They failed to get the sword, and now the villain is heading to end it all. It is now a race. But hey, maybe they can stop him and get the sword in that showdown... but the stakes are SO MUCH HIGHER.
Level 9 Treachery
And here is where our villain actually is. Look this is bad. Our heroes can't take this fight. Maybe they make some sacrifice and do some terrifying shit. Maybe they roll hot. But if they directly charge the sun- They are probably going to die. The players have a one-shot weapon that could do it, but they could also fail that roll hard and miss. The players are dealing with The Radiance puppeting a dead god. So there are some interesting options here story-wise. As I said one of the players has potential to take this slot in the triumvirate and could figure out that doing so here would weaken The Radiance's hold. Essentially dethroning Hellior. They would still be fighting the Radiance on its turf but that would weaken it severely. As I said, it is the fear of insignificance. So coming at it without fear can be effective- but the real way to weaken it would be be to get it to doubt its own greatness.
This isn't a fight worth stating out. It's divine. They are clashing with ideals. They are facing armageddon. Not just their own death, but the death of everything they know. And the only way get through it so let go of their fear of it. The fear of failing. Accept that they will lose everyone.... that it is all finite and maybe it is small...
But it still matters.
Alright so that is a final dungeon finished. After this the players have the ritual if they are still able to accomplish it. Depending on if the doomsday clock hit zero, there will probably be a last big fight or two- But this is the longest campaign in the overall structure and I will honestly be happy to shut the book. We have had a lot of fun with it. But I need a break and I am excited to move on to what comes next.
