Wardstone resolution is confusing

Pathfinder: WotR Discussions
#1

Wardstone is hyped as major artifact that effectively keeps the world from being overrun by the demons. Story-wise the whole point of the Act 1 is that we save the world by retaking the Wardstone. After all it’s not about the city being destroyed, but Wardstone being in some sort of peril.

Eventually it comes to this:

Here, I want to raise a number of issues with the writing.

  1. It seems that the only thing that makes it possible for us to do something about the situation is a mysterious crystal chisel. Had we not have it with us, all was left to do is shrug and walk away. Did I get this right? If so, the premise is that while wandering through the city ruins we peek through a pile of rubble and find an item that ends up saving the world. What a savant! Shouldn’t this event be more elaborated in-game? It turns to be main quest material, the pivotal moment.

  2. The “angels host”. We learn about their existence and their plight in the previous screen, and the next screen is when we make a decision. Ok, are we supposed to care? If yes, then there’s not enough setup and info. What exactly are angels in this world? Are they like Fey in KM, humanoid creatures with personalities that live in their own dimension? Right now, the Wardstone is effectively an ant-farm. Within, ants do their thing and now they have a civil war, whatever. That’s not how “care” works.

  3. Anyhow, we now click an option according to desired [Alingment] and [Mythic Path] I suppose. Then what? Nobody seriosly discusses the respective outcome. Does the Stone still function? It should vary depending on the choice, shouldn’t it? If the Wardstone’s power deminishes or vanishes, isnt’t it a big deal? It’s very unclear and lacks any gravity.

  4. We got to save the world in Act 1 of… ten? Or didn’t we? Again, it’s unclear, what exacly did we accomplish. If we did, it’s anticlimatic unless in Act 2 we save the world twice and in Act 3 we save the world thrice but we do not. On the other hand, if what we done wasn’t that fateful, then there should be a clarification. Like “Thanks for helping us to contain that security breach, our techical team may now repair the stone and you get promoted to Crusade leader”.

#2

It’s a lot clearer in the table top version. The wardstones have kept the demons at bay for decades, but the attack on Kenabres damaged one and it’s in danger of being corrupted. The use of the chisel destroys the wardstones, but also drives back the demon hordes and infuses the PCs with mythic power, making the party the new primary weapon against the abyss.

In terms of the story and game mechanics, I can’t notice any difference depending on which option you choose.

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#3

  1. I can see your point about the chisel, and it being pretty miraculous that our character just sort of ‘stumbles upon’ it. But remember, we find this chisel at the location where we also detect the Aeon presence in Market Square. I think it’s safe to say that due to the odd powers our character is imbued with (the ability to detect and interact with mythic presences, essentially), we’re able to find the chisel because of that. And don’t forget that the Storyteller also points us in that direction to search for the chisel if it hasn’t been found by the time we rescue him.

  2. To answer your question, yes, angels are thinking, living beings that inhabit the upper planes of Elysium, Nirvana, and Heaven. I suppose there could be more build up, but at the same time you’re given insight directly into an angel’s mind (Lariel) right at the start of the game when you find his sword. And you get to interact with ‘echoes’ of their memories at the Tower of Estrod. There’s also a few other points where their interactions are mentioned. If it’s that difficult to empathize with other creatures… Not sure what else to tell you.

  3. The outcome is somewhat glossed over, but I think it can be mostly inferred based on your choice on what ends up happening with the stone. In act 2 I believe there are a few mentions relating to your choice here.

  4. The whole point of getting to the stone was to keep the demons from doing whatever it was they’re doing. You’re definitely a bit blind until you get to the stone itself and learn about what’s actually happening, but that’s kind of the point. The demons are clearly up to no good, or they wouldn’t put this much effort in to getting to the stone and keeping the crusaders away. You basically discover that the demons are going to use the Wardstone (the one in Kenabres being the very first one created) to use the rest of the stones throughout Mendev’s cities like weapons of mass destruction by setting off a sort of chain reaction.

Part of the resolution, whether you destroy, save, or remove the stone’s power, is that the Wardstone barrier is no longer going to work. This is part of why it’s decided that it’s time to go on the offensive into the Worldwound in act 2 - playing the defensive containment game isn’t going to work anymore.

I hope this helps clear up some confusion.

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#4

I does for me, and I appreciate you.

#5

To think of it, so there is brute-force solution to demon problem after all, so divine intervention shouldn’t have materialized as Wardstones in the first place, but as bestowing powah on selected few champions plus maybe some gold to get more armies.

I mean all that Iomedae achieved was a stalemate at the cost of whatever it is happened to angels, while just cashing out a single Wardstone as raw power instantly turned the tide.

#6

The ward stones were the needed solution at that time.

The wound was growing and they had chosen champions with divine power but they were losing. On top of this your not a 100% solution to the issue given 3 mythic paths are probably gonna end up fighting the faithful by the end.

#7

Thank you.

A lot of things were unclear to me as well.
So basically the main char destroys the wardstone and absorbs its power?

We can see that the wardstone has a huge scar, probably from Deskaris skythe.
My thought was:
OK, so the wardstone has stopped the demons so far.
I thought the demons want to destroy it.

  • Why did the demon lord not strike again to destroy it completely?
  • If the demon lord showed up in person and killed the dragon, why are there any survivors or anything left from the city that is worth saving?
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#8

It burned him. He is probably heavily injured after that.

#9

Also it wasn’t the plan. The plan was to corrupt them to make the wound grow faster. So destroying it would make that harder.

And remember they were corrupting it till Someone shows up and goes super sayin on their ass

#10

It is quite clearly implied by the game that mythic power is incredibly rare to the point of requiring very special circumstances. In the long run, the wardstones are cheaper, because nobody fully understands the nature of the Worldwound. Essentially I recommend you pay close attention to the details as the chapters unfold. All will be clear in time