Baldur's Gate II (5e campaign log)

[Ionathus]

Fair point on the HP and NPC stuff!

At the end, do they have to vote on who becomes a god, or does it turn into an intra-party murderfest until there is only one left standing?
When souls are stolen, do you have an entire party that can turn into Slayers? It's an evil shift, but they will be able to mulch anything in their path.

I may leave it open for "alternate Bhaalspawn" as a choice for everyone. If I do end up with several Bhaalspawn I will drop Imoen.

I think some of my players will have more fun with the dhampir origin, or getting some 2e-style semi-random psionics (which they may remember from the early 90s), or the other options that don't put as much stress on them to have to have a character with a big dramatic internal struggle going on.
It's D&D... the players get a big vote in what happens, and I really don't know what they will choose.

The finale where they resolve Bhaal's essence shouldn't be an issue plot-wise: after all, CHARNAME and Imoen get all the way to the end of the game before the Solar goes "Gimme dem Divine Sparks." The game offers the player several options: renounce your essence and live a mortal life, or accept the mantle of divinity. If multiple players want to be gods and they're all Good or Neutral-aligned, they could potentially share the power? If they're Evil, you could do the murderfest.

Ultimately I think it's an interesting story question to hang over their heads, and as they approach the ending, hopefully the players will naturally have these discussions and characterization so that by the moment they stand before Amellysan fallen at the Throne, they will know where everyone stands and can have a dramatic final decision made by the whole group. Loaded with pathos. Maybe turn on the waterworks as some friends say goodbye to others.

If you have a group of players who are willing to play ball and buy into the "party" conceit, you should be fine...If you wind up with a bunch of Evil PCs they might go full battle royale at the end, but it kinda makes sense for them to band together against more powerful Bhaalspawn first, with the tacit assumption that they'll all turn on each other once they're at the Throne. That's a real per-party question though, and you know your table best.

RE: the Slayer transformation -- TBH "Oh no, each one of us could now turn into a whirling tornado of death and malice at any moment" sounds like a fun thing to me rather than a problem My players all have different "superpowers with a cost" buttons right now and they don't use it every time, especially when you put the right flavor on it. For the Slayer transformation, you could even start having them act erratically, attack allies in combat, take levels of exhaustion, etc. so that it doesn't become the OP option you take every combat without limitations.

And yeah if not everyone wants to play the Bhaalspawn arc I totally get it. But if that's the case, I'm a little nervous for how Bhaalspawn-heavy the ToB plots get. You'll need to be adding a lot of other organizations, world powers, secret supernatural forces behind the scenes, especially as The Five race towards a final conclusion.