When I say it doesn't feel like the Absolute path is meant to be a secret, I'm talking about how it doesn't seem like it's meant to be a secret to the player, and yet it is the player that has to pick through all the little hints and implications in order to find a good in-character reason to roleplay following the Absolute.
This seems like contradiction ...
On other site you say its not a sectet ... on other hand you say that player need to pick all litthe hints and take them together so he know this option is there.
That is definition of secret for me.
In character I avoided the Hag because that questline did not to my character present a compelling route to getting the tadpole out, as my character never found out she was a hag who had any power that could potentially help her
It depends ...
If your character tells her about his little problem, she will offer you her healing skills, ensuring you that she IS capable to help you. Funny part about it is that she even dont lie there.
Ofcourse you get the most if you create ridiculously thrusting character, who will tells about his little problem to anyone he can.
Unless there's some way learn that information or get free of the curse that I haven't learned about yet
You mean the information about how was your tadpole alterned?
Yup there is one ...
In the underdark, in Myconid collony, you find hopgoblin vendor ... when you tell him about your problem, he will call for his assistant ... i will not spoil here who is that, but lets say you would have hard time finding any better expert in this problem.
Then you do a little quest for him, and he reveals to you your tadpole nature ... also offers you a temporary help, and something else.
I ended up avoiding going to the Gith patrol because of how often it led to me getting into a combat I still failed to win after three or four attempts
All i can tell you is that positioning do a lot work for you.
I allways keep my caster, and ranger/rogue hidden up there "just in case something goes wrong" ... works like a charm. You will be able to kill them all even with 3lvl party (not easily, but able).
I never interacted with Volo beyond the firt meeting so if he apparently knows something I haven't learned it
Volo is special case ...
You need to save him, offer him place in your camp and then tell him about the tadpole.
He seem very comfident about his skills and knowledge, but never offers any actual proof ... so its just the same about all others, you either thrust him ... or not.
Basically what I'm saying is that it's easy to find reasons to trust the Druid path and it's only through picking at threads that you see reasons not to.
As i explained abowe, its just matter of point of view ...
Personaly i dont find druids much thrustworthy:
- Their acting leader is openly preparing to little genocide ...
- Healer you are offered tryes to poison you first ...
- And their actual leader refuse to even hear about your problem, before he do his own work ... and he keep refusing to hear about your problem, even after you do that work for him (true, its too late to change sides at this point, but you get me ... right?)
Meanwhile with the Absolute path it's inverted and you have to pick at the same strings to find reasons to trust it.
That is the sweetest part about this group ... you dont need to thrust them at all.
And when within the structure of the game it seems like the Absolute path is meant to be an equally viable story branch to the Druid path, I feel like the information about it should be presented in a more or less equitable way.
Yet another contradiction ...
You say that you presume that the Absolute path should be "equally viatble story branch" ... yet you also admits that its not acting like it ... isnt that allone kinda proof that your original presumation was not quite right?
I dindt ever played tyrany, so i skip that.
I just want for someone within the game that you can easily find before you make it to the goblin fort to make the case that whatever is going on with the tadpoles isn't just a Mindflayer trap. Just one person.
I dont ...
That would mean there is some character that knows everything about the Absolute, yet its not part of her cult ... also knows everything about mind flayers, yet its not part of their hive mind ... also know everything about your particular tadpole, including the fact that you have tadpole, yet either its not tadpoled himself, or for some reason decided to NOT take advantage of all informations he have ...
The only person i can imagine that would check all theese points, yet feels natural in the story, is simply yourself. O_o
Wich, when i think about it ... seem actualy doable!
How about this scenario:
1) When you talk to Minthara, she tells you that Goblins will attack next day by dawn
2) Your quest log will update to tells you that you need to long rest, before progress futher
3) When you lay down to sleep, you get introspective conversation with yourself, sumarizing your situation ... something like:
"Before you go to sleep, you recap your so far knowledge ...
On one hand you have Tiefling refugees, maybe not all of them exactly innocent, but certainly needing your help.
You remember druids talking about Halsin, he might be able to help you, if he still lives (concidering you didnt save him yet).
On the other hand you have cult of the Absolute ... they certainly have some connection to mind flayer tadpoles ... but are they masters, or slaves?
You realize that you need to choose side in upcoming conflict, and you need to choose soon."Then scene goes as it does now ...
You go to the gate, talk to Zevlor, blow the horn ... and then decide either to betray Zevlor, or Minthara.
See, the issue with this is that in Forgotten Realms, the world IS black and white.
All i certainly see is that you didnt asign any of my examples to neither ...
So it seem to me like it still isnt.
Good and Evil are very real, actual forces in the world.
Good and Evil beings are real ... dont missinterpret here, there is a difference.
Even Evil character is able to do good thing, even if for Evil (read as selfish) reasons ... for example Raphael.
He (evil being) is offering you his help (good thing) bcs he want your soul (evil reason).
As much as I personally like morally grey situations myself (And prefer settings that include this, FR ranks pretty low for many reasons ultimately), Forgotten Realms is not this. There is not a thing of doing something bad "for the greater good".
On the contrary ... in game itself is several chances to be as gray as you wish.
Few examples:
You can kill Kagha to help the Tieflings negotiating that they stay ...
You can kill Zevlor to help the Druids drive out Tieflings, so Kagha dont kill them, when ritual is completed ...
You can kill Myconid Sovereign, so the other tribe of Myconids can be created there ...
You can also kill old Myconid Sovereign, so the current tribe can live ...
You can poison whole goblin camp (including women, childern and civilians), so you can help Owlbear cub to escape ...
The Larian writing does lead to that morally grey/more complex take on alignments (I think. Or it is a result of how they wrote stuff) but that is not really a thing for Forgotten Realms. Personal preferences aside, this is the setting we are stuck with.
As far as i know, Alignments was repeately confrimmed as "not included" in this game ...
Not sure if they even are in last DnD ruleset. O_o
These examples by Forgotten Realms standards would all lean to evil. In some of them very Chaotic Evil at that.
And you really think that is it ... you do something that someone concider evil, so you are evil ... no matter consequences, no matter reasons, no matter motivations, no matter anything.
Do you at least realize that every single Lawfull Good Paladin in shiny armor helping the town from bloodthirsty cobolds ... is pure evil in eyes of those cobolds?
They are home there, they were first here ... now some humans created field abowe their homeland ... and they are slaughtered by dozens, just bcs they are searching for some food.
