Chapter 14: Behind the Wheel

The characters should have tremendous momentum coming off of rescuing R04M in the Spire. They want answers from Shemeshka and now.

Return to Fortune's Wheel

Getting into Fortune's Wheel should be easy. R04M knows about the portal and how to access it with the platinum razorvine chip. A skill check challenge to gather info from employees could be fun, but entry should be a given. Shemeshka wants them to find the back rooms.

This is where Shemeshka makes her final pitch. She’s killed the characters dozens of times, yet they keep coming back. Now that they’ve interfered with her plans, grown more powerful, and pieced together the plot, she tries a different approach—temptation and guile. If persuasion fails, she can always imprison them and start the cycle again.

The Hard Sell

Shemeshka wants the characters to see behind the curtain of the multiverse. She’ll expose the cosmic indifference of celestials, the mindless hunger of demons, and the callous cruelty of fiends. This is her moment to convince the characters that the multiverse is broken, that they are pawns in an uncaring game, and that only she can offer them true control over their fates.

This is why they’re in the Platinum Rooms—to witness firsthand what’s at stake if the status quo persists. Think of it as a metaphysical tour, like Scrooge’s visits with past, present, and future timelines.

Tailoring the End Game

We’ve spent a lot of effort customizing the adventure to revolve around the characters. This moment needs to feel like it’s about them and everything they’ve experienced.

There is no module or detailed scenario that will work perfectly for everyone's playgroup. The Platinum Room encounters should be rewritten to fit your party’s journey. Use these tools to make the payoff personal:

• Backstories and Motivations. Bring their histories into play. A devil from their past? A lost loved one? Shemeshka has made sure they’re here.
• Prior Connections. The best D&D stories are emergent. If a character bonded deeply with an NPC, use it. Farrow? Valder? Parisa? Crank the dial to eleven.
• Powerful NPCs. If the characters haven’t developed deep backstory connections, major figures from the adventure can fill the gaps. Let Asmodeus or a Demon Lord drive the stakes home. If Velios became an antagonist or if Raachaak‘s encounter went south, then this is the place to bring them back.

Platinum Rooms

When the characters enter the Platinum Rooms have Colcook greet them and set the stakes immediately.

“Shemeshka is pleased you have returned to Fortune’s Wheel. She’s expecting you but is indisposed at the moment. You are encouraged to enjoy the games in the meantime. You’ll find the stakes are…better suited to those who enjoy the risk.” He gestures to the alcoves behind him.

The goal here isn’t to collect platinum razorvines or get accused of cheating. That mini-game doesn’t serve the narrative. Instead, focus on the characters and their choices.

If things turn violent, the guards will emerge and escort them to the House of Liars.

Dungeonland

The concept here works well, especially if your party enjoys meta humor. Feel free to lean into it—or strip back the absurdity for a more serious tone.

But the scenarios should be deeply personal. Each one should be rewritten and crafted around the characters’ greatest regrets, failures, or fears. This isn’t just a game; it’s a reckoning.

• Maybe this is where they avenge their father’s death.
• Perhaps they save Parisa from a fate worse than the afterlife.
• This is where they can intervene with an NPC they failed in the past.

They don’t just watch the games when they engage with these scenarios. They can send magic items or physically intervene. If they so choose they will be sent to the location for the duration of the scenario, but they are tethered to the Platinum Room by an astral cord—if they die in the scenario, they die for real (until an incarnation pops back).

To raise the stakes limit how many characters can go into each scenario by having all scenarios happen simultaneously. If they focus on one, the others fail.

This is where the characters realize that planar beings watch without caring. Even the benevolent ones offer only minor blessings. Shemeshka wants them to see how individual lives mean nothing to these higher powers.

Supertemporal Arena

Cut it. The time jump is interesting, but it doesn’t serve the core themes and leads to a frustrating gameplay experience. Instead, go straight to an alternate high-stakes contest.

Last Stand

If a gate-town fell to corruption, this is the last chance to pull it back. If the characters were successful across the board it could be a different gate town like Ribcage, Plague-Mort, or Hopeless.

Run it like a larger, more theatrical version of Dungeonland. Multiple scenes are on display here, each one tied to the town’s fate. Planar beings observe, bet, and argue over the outcome.

In our reworked scenario, though, the characters have agency. They can influence the NPCs, shift the balance, and shape the result. Give the players at least three role playing opportunities or skill challenges to move the planar beings to action and change the outcome from afar.

Then, the realization: they were always on the other side of this. Every time they felt alone against impossible odds, powerful beings watched—and did nothing. Shemeshka wants them to see the truth.

Fiend's Ante

This is the kind of cosmic indifference we want to drive home. But let’s make it personal.

• There's a Solar playing in the game, representing celestial interests. This isn't just a one-sided villainous power play.
• If Velios survived, he is in the audience. This is his final push to the characters to stop Gargauth and keep Asmodeus on top. This should feel like a "devil you know" choice.
• The fiends aren't gambling over invading the multiverse. There is a single world being divvied up, and it should be tied to the characters. Whether it’s their home plane or the Outlands, it needs to matter.

This should give the characters a good reason to care about the outcome and reinforce Shemeshka's desire to tear down the status quo.

Shemeshka, King of the Cross-Trade

This is the charged culmination of the entire adventure. The characters should feel manipulated and betrayed by Shemeshka and the greater Powers.

She no longer wants to kill them—it’s pointless. Instead, she makes her final offer. She implores them to join her one last time in disrupting the Hells and seizing ultimate control of their fates. Of course, she can't be entirely trusted, but this should not play like just another villain's monologue.

Taking the Offer. If they agree to topple the Hells, it changes the tenor of the final quest. She sends them to Gzemnid’s realm to ensure Gargauth’s return. But Gargauth rewards them by trying to consume them forever once he rises as a planar incarnate.

Re-reincarnated

Once Shemeshka's pitch is made and they prevail over this villain, the final transformation plays out. This should be glorious, thematic, and deeply personal.

Either through discussion with Shemeshka or piecing together her notes, the characters learn all of the details outlined in our revised setup. They discover their pasts but realize they are not defined by them. Unless they are irredeemably selfish, they should be reborn as heroes. Heroes with a job to finish.

The final confrontation with Gargauth awaits. The fate of the multiverse is in their hands. Now, let’s see if they can truly turn Fortune’s Wheel.