For most things, you can do what you like, and the game can be played to a conclusion.

However, there are some things that can make this impossible. NOTE: I'm playing the 1.26 mod.

#1: If you kill Al-Sedexus WITHOUT having gone through the initiation, then AFAIK there's no way to use the Rapax back door into Ascension Peak. Once you have 2 of the artifacts, the Rapax block the road.

So, if you combine these: there is no way to place the artifact, you can't get into that area at all.

WORKAROUND: easy enough. BEFORE you get 2 artifacts, go on up there, get past the point where the road will be blocked, and have a caster Set Portal somewhere behind the block.

#2: subtler. The Key to Marten's Tomb MUST!!! be picked up when it appears, or it looks like you can't ever get it again. OOPS! The problem is, the drop is a response to a trigger, and the trigger's a one-off. You'll set the game fact that it was triggered, and...that's it. It MIGHT reset if you leave the erea.

Also, the Spiked Boots are this way.

(Note: This is based on 1.24 with no mods.)

There is another work around to the Al-Sedexus case: Find a container (not in the Rapax Away Camp, I'll get to that later), and store 2 of the artifacts. Then, if you go to Ascension Peak, the Rapax will not be blocking the road (because the game doesn't think you've found the artifacts yet), and you will be able to continue there. You can then set a portal there, or alternatively, place an artifact and return (as least I *think* that should work).

WIth that said, do *not* store 2 artifacts in the Rapax Away Camp. If you do this, the camp will revert to the Wilderness Clearing (this happens regardless of where you store them), and as a result, the containers will be inaccessible. Result is that you need 2 artifacts to get to the 2 artifacts you've stored there, and with 3 artifacts in the game, that's impossible, resulting in a softlock.

(By the way, 1.00 has another Al-Sedexus related bug; if you have only female characters in your party, you will not be able to undergo the initiation; that was fixed by 1.24, allowing a lesbian humanoid/demon relationship to take place and the game to continue. There's still another bug; if your only male character(s) are RPCs, you can't do the initiation while they're still in the party, but that can be fixed by dismissing the RPC(s).)

If Braffit already told the party that the Rapax have caused the landslide to block the direct access to AP
(which ofc he only does if the party has 2 of the 3 artifacts in Inventory)
the landslide exists regardless of how many artifacts we have in inventory.
btw the Rapax army is not initially placed at AP
and its hardcoded appearance seems tied to the same fact/global variable as the landslide.

Besides, you can trigger the console for the trang squisherdoor trap at Martens bluff from outside,its sensor radius is 5m
and while the glass walls close either: A) get crushed like Raven Rapax or
B) slip behind a wall and be stuck forever if you have a portal.

For me, the major aspect is that I only get the Chaos Moliri early; the AD can be grabbed whenever and I do the Sea Caves generally very late. Now of course a big factor is how many people can *cast* Set Portal, to go over to the Rapax back door and set one there for a fairly long stretch of the game, most likely.

I'm almost tempted to try crushing myself at the trap for Raven...with a save of course, but hey, that actually sounds like fun. That part isn't getting stuck, tho; you're just dead. There's at least one similar "dead" situation...in Trynton. In areas where there are no ropes? You CAN be shoved off the walkways; the NPCs always push you, you can never push them at all. Yes, I did get shoved off in that little ropeless stretch by the Crawling Creeper, before you turn to head up towards the zoo cages...there's 2 (?) groups of Trynnie that move through there. Now, getting stuck in a wall...oops.

Wondering if there's any places where getting shoved out of bounds could be used as a shortcut. I know that you can go out of bounds in the Upper Monastery by going through the door to the outside without opening it; if you go too far, however, you'll fall and the game will decide you've been crushed.

In any case, you actually can fall off Trynton and live to tell the tale, which could be used as a shortcut. To do this, have a Valkyrie in your party; the cheat death ability will allow her to survive the fall. Once you fall, you will want to revive the rest of your party; if you don't have Resurrection available as a spell, an Amulet of Life might be a worthwhile investment (particularly since you can recharge it by selling it and buying it back), provided that someone has enough Artifacts skill to use it (and if it's not the Valkyrie, you'll still need to use a Resurrection Poweder when this happens). (By the way, anyone else think that Resurrection Scrolls are overpriced compared to other forms of resurrection, especially given the Artifacts requirement to use it?) That reminds me of one thing I have been wondering: What happens if you set the portal at the precise spot that the road will be blocked, then try to return there later when it is blocked? (A similar situation might be possible with the Rapax Away Camp.)

(Also, did you see the topic I posted with a different Wizardry 8 question?)