Alternate ending suggestion

[Grim Squeaker]

Here's an idea I was toying with ages ago for my own "ToB improvement" mod that never came to pass. It'd have to be an optional component as it wouldn't mesh with Ascension but it always annoyed me that Melissan manages to trick Bhaal. I mean he foresaw his own death, how did he not foresee his betrayal by Melissan?

 

So my suggestion is that in the betrayal section, Melissan tries to absorb his avatar and in doing so Bhaal takes control of her body. Perhaps this was his plan all along to regain his power? He knew Melissan would gain the Bhaalspawn energies and foresaw her betrayal so he used that as the instrument of his resurrection (maybe even planting the ancient texts Melissan uses to try and steal his power?). Or something along those lines. It'd just make more sense to me and make the ending less... shite.

[DavidW]

I've seen that kind of idea floated a couple of times, but Melissan-as-ultimate-villain is pretty central to the way WoP is structured. The way I see ToB, the interesting twist is that Melissan is trying to become a god herself rather than betraying everyone so as to resurrect Bhaal, but in the vanilla game, that's mixed up with the damn-obvious fact that she's going to betray you.

 

Having said that, I've no objection to someone else modding it as an add-on to WoP if they see a way to make it work.

 

(Also, I think Bhaal's omniscience only gets us so far: you could equally well ask why he doesn't foresee the rise of <CHARNAME>.)

[Grim Squeaker]

The way I see ToB, the interesting twist is that Melissan is trying to become a god herself rather than betraying everyone so as to resurrect Bhaal, but in the vanilla game, that's mixed up with the damn-obvious fact that she's going to betray you.

 

Well, yes of course. However, it's always truck me as stupid that she actually manages to betray Bhaal. How the hell did that one slip past him?

[coaster]

Unfortunately Mel suffers as a villain because the others were too damn good. Sarevok was the stereotypical huge deep voiced villian but done so well, and Irenicus was an atypical but even more brilliant villain.

 

I'd also have liked a final face off against Bhaal (or even a 3 way stand-off with Cyric in a "Good, Bad & the Ugly" style ) but that's not a mod, it's a complete rewrite of the ToB plot.

[grogerson]

I and many others have voiced similar opinions as Grim. Dealing with Melissan feels anti-climactic. Everything up to the final battle points to dealing with Bhaal, not his lackey. Some while back I think someone tried to create a mod where Bhaal appears when Mel gets defeated. However, bringing Big Daddy into the picture would require some serious thought to make it work as both a challenge and an integral part of the plot conclusion.

 

And please don't confuse Bhaal's intelligence with omniscience, DavidW. None of the FR gods are truly omniscient. They are, however, on par with a chess master compared to someone just learning the basics of the game. Even so a novice can take a master by surprise now and then.

[BigRob]

I think one could weave elements of this into the ending of the game at some level. It's possible that Bhaal did not foresee Melissan's betrayal, but given her nature, guessed that it would happen and tried to take steps to prevent it, but those steps weren't sufficient to do the job and she was able to side-step them somehow. They could even show up to try to stop her and form part of the final battle, as she turns them against the PC.

 

It's also possible, even in the extant version of the plot, that Bhaal's complaint to Melissan in front of the PC is actually a double-bluff and that when Melissan "wins" and attempts to ascend to godhood, she gets devoured by the now united strength and will of a real god.