Gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed at how irrelevant the Act 1 Absolute is. I would have hoped for some narrative consequences for taking tadpoles and for it to be a culmination of literally any other conflict than another Dead Three plot.
I mean I think it becomes harder to resist the Astral tadpole if you took tadpoles at all during your playthrough? Like the skill check to resist the Astral tadpole becomes more difficult to pass or something to that effect.
I think that's the only lasting detail tho so I do have to agree :/
That's the one major flaw in the game imo. Taking tadpoles or not should be a hard choice. The powers they give are pretty great, so that's the carrot... Where's the stick? What do I lose? Basically nothing.
Personally, I'd have preferred it if there was some major consequence for using them... Especially if you hoarded them all on one character. Maybe the Netherbrain is able to take control of you for a turn in battle, with the chance depending on each character's tadpole count - it's all fun and games until Gale fireballs your entire party. Or just narrative consequences, like a chance of companions turning into mindflayers if they eat too many.
Sometimes it feels like they were scared of imposing consequences for the player's choices. As a DM I can relate, but the story is always better if you go for it.
My head-canon during early access was that it might ultimately be a Cyric-backed false-flag type deal, because:
His deal is lies and strife.
"Absolute" actually lines up with some of his existing epithets.
He hates the Dead Three.
The Dead Three hate him.
He's not great at much, but one thing he is good at is coloring juuuust inside the lines enough to avoid punishment. (Though I believe part of his portfolio was once revoked due to his neglect) Using shadow-magic infused parasites from the Far Realm to start a new, "deadend" cult might be the sort of thing that would actually trigger a response from Ao upon the perpetrators, which he could try to pin on the D3, in order to regain his lost domains of Murder and Tyranny.
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u/ThorSon-525 1d ago
Gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed at how irrelevant the Act 1 Absolute is. I would have hoped for some narrative consequences for taking tadpoles and for it to be a culmination of literally any other conflict than another Dead Three plot.