I'm trying to pick some brains here, so if you have a valuable thought, please... help me out! I have a new player that wants his character to have the Cultist of Rakdos background. However, we are not playing a Ravnica campaign... it's a Forgotten Realms campaign. Yes, I could tell him no... we aren't running that one right now, but I'm more of an "okayyy... let me help you figure this out..." sort of guy.
I've been DMing probably longer than many of you have been living BUT I love to keep my tools sharp and to do that, I love reading new ideas and stealing new things and adapting old ones, etc. You guys ALWAYS give me all kinds of ideas and I love it. SO... is there an entity, other than the stereotypical demon lords, that could fit here? Don't mind changing the name of the hedonistic demon being worshiped... just not sure what would fit best and I was wondering if anyone had some fun ideas or twists or suggestions.
Sorry if this is a dumb request...
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The Supreme Chancellor
I'm like Indiana Jones meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, only browner.
Don't overthink it. Just slap the Cult of Rakdos into the FR. Rakdos cultists hopped on their spelljammer, came for a visit, and got a foothold in Faerun. Rakdos itself isn't here, but you don't necessarily need it, just a few other cultists. FR is already lousy with evil cults, once more traveling circus of demon worshippers won't really move the needle much. There's plenty of evil organizations that are at least semi-respectable, if my FR memory serves me. And most of them don't even put on a good show.
That said, this would be a bit of a red flag for me coming from a new player. A character whose nature involves actively trying to create chaos everywhere they go seems like it could easily blow up the party. And not in a fun "it's a little extra complicated now, but we're still moving forward" kind of way. More of a "everyone is dead or in jail and the town is burning down and we're all rolling up new characters" kind of way.
I'm trying to pick some brains here, so if you have a valuable thought, please... help me out! I have a new player that wants his character to have the Cultist of Rakdos background. However, we are not playing a Ravnica campaign... it's a Forgotten Realms campaign. Yes, I could tell him no... we aren't running that one right now, but I'm more of an "okayyy... let me help you figure this out..." sort of guy.
I've been DMing probably longer than many of you have been living BUT I love to keep my tools sharp and to do that, I love reading new ideas and stealing new things and adapting old ones, etc. You guys ALWAYS give me all kinds of ideas and I love it. SO... is there an entity, other than the stereotypical demon lords, that could fit here? Don't mind changing the name of the hedonistic demon being worshiped... just not sure what would fit best and I was wondering if anyone had some fun ideas or twists or suggestions.
Sorry if this is a dumb request...
You could just implement how Rakdos was created on this world, write a few things it did to affect the Forgotten Realms history, how much of a grip it has on the world. and how it interacts with the other factions. You also might need some bosses (aside form Rakdos himself, maybe you could pilfer some from MTG lore) that your player might interact with.
I'm with Xalthu, in that you don't *need* the actual cult to be present, as they are supposedly a decentralized/semi-centralized organization bent toward the goal of fomenting chaos. Take a look at How Do I Fit In. Then replace all of the references to the Cult Proper with whatever chaotic, self-serving, demonlord is in your world. You're just borrowing the premade text and mechanics. The flavor text is all that needs changing.
The challenge will be for the player to be able to acomplish this one little thing:
You might enjoy playing a Rakdos character if any of the following sentences describe you:
You enjoy mayhem.
You like playing showy, dramatic characters who are often the center of attention.
You’re drawn to bards or warlocks.
The idea of finding a heroic way to participate in a demonic cult sounds like a fun challenge.
Otherwise, this does throw a red flag for me as well, as the purpose of the PC will be to sow chaos at every turn. Understand that the player may want to try to play against type here, but the goal of the cultists:
Cultists take delight in causing pain to others to make sure they know their place, which is subservient to the powerful adherents of this self-centered philosophy.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Don't overthink it. Just slap the Cult of Rakdos into the FR. Rakdos cultists hopped on their spelljammer, came for a visit, and got a foothold in Faerun. Rakdos itself isn't here, but you don't necessarily need it, just a few other cultists. FR is already lousy with evil cults, once more traveling circus of demon worshippers won't really move the needle much. There's plenty of evil organizations that are at least semi-respectable, if my FR memory serves me. And most of them don't even put on a good show.
That said, this would be a bit of a red flag for me coming from a new player. A character whose nature involves actively trying to create chaos everywhere they go seems like it could easily blow up the party. And not in a fun "it's a little extra complicated now, but we're still moving forward" kind of way. More of a "everyone is dead or in jail and the town is burning down and we're all rolling up new characters" kind of way.
Solid advice, thank you! Also, I agree with your assessment... Looking over the table's characters... 2 Neutral ones and 2 CE ones... I told them in a joking, yet serious voice, "I typically run heroic-save-the-universe-rescue-the-princess" campaigns. So, I'm okay with you being evil, but you're going to have to figure out why your people are going to do what they do and why... We'll see how long these characters last... lol
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The Supreme Chancellor
I'm like Indiana Jones meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, only browner.
I'm with Xalthu, in that you don't *need* the actual cult to be present, as they are supposedly a decentralized/semi-centralized organization bent toward the goal of fomenting chaos. Take a look at How Do I Fit In. Then replace all of the references to the Cult Proper with whatever chaotic, self-serving, demonlord is in your world. You're just borrowing the premade text and mechanics. The flavor text is all that needs changing.
The challenge will be for the player to be able to acomplish this one little thing:
You might enjoy playing a Rakdos character if any of the following sentences describe you:
You enjoy mayhem.
You like playing showy, dramatic characters who are often the center of attention.
You’re drawn to bards or warlocks.
The idea of finding a heroic way to participate in a demonic cult sounds like a fun challenge.
Otherwise, this does throw a red flag for me as well, as the purpose of the PC will be to sow chaos at every turn. Understand that the player may want to try to play against type here, but the goal of the cultists:
Cultists take delight in causing pain to others to make sure they know their place, which is subservient to the powerful adherents of this self-centered philosophy.
Love all of this, thank you so much and thank you for taking the time to give me that link, very useful!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The Supreme Chancellor
I'm like Indiana Jones meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, only browner.
Rakdos (the demon) can just exist in FR, and the cult sprung up around him the same way it did in Ravnica, but in the forgotten realms. You don't really need to do any work to make it fit
Hello fellow masters of dungeons everywhere!
I'm trying to pick some brains here, so if you have a valuable thought, please... help me out! I have a new player that wants his character to have the Cultist of Rakdos background. However, we are not playing a Ravnica campaign... it's a Forgotten Realms campaign. Yes, I could tell him no... we aren't running that one right now, but I'm more of an "okayyy... let me help you figure this out..." sort of guy.
I've been DMing probably longer than many of you have been living BUT I love to keep my tools sharp and to do that, I love reading new ideas and stealing new things and adapting old ones, etc. You guys ALWAYS give me all kinds of ideas and I love it. SO... is there an entity, other than the stereotypical demon lords, that could fit here? Don't mind changing the name of the hedonistic demon being worshiped... just not sure what would fit best and I was wondering if anyone had some fun ideas or twists or suggestions.
Sorry if this is a dumb request...
The Supreme Chancellor
Don't overthink it. Just slap the Cult of Rakdos into the FR. Rakdos cultists hopped on their spelljammer, came for a visit, and got a foothold in Faerun. Rakdos itself isn't here, but you don't necessarily need it, just a few other cultists. FR is already lousy with evil cults, once more traveling circus of demon worshippers won't really move the needle much. There's plenty of evil organizations that are at least semi-respectable, if my FR memory serves me. And most of them don't even put on a good show.
That said, this would be a bit of a red flag for me coming from a new player. A character whose nature involves actively trying to create chaos everywhere they go seems like it could easily blow up the party. And not in a fun "it's a little extra complicated now, but we're still moving forward" kind of way. More of a "everyone is dead or in jail and the town is burning down and we're all rolling up new characters" kind of way.
You could just implement how Rakdos was created on this world, write a few things it did to affect the Forgotten Realms history, how much of a grip it has on the world. and how it interacts with the other factions. You also might need some bosses (aside form Rakdos himself, maybe you could pilfer some from MTG lore) that your player might interact with.
I think that's mostly it.
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HERE.I'm with Xalthu, in that you don't *need* the actual cult to be present, as they are supposedly a decentralized/semi-centralized organization bent toward the goal of fomenting chaos. Take a look at How Do I Fit In. Then replace all of the references to the Cult Proper with whatever chaotic, self-serving, demonlord is in your world. You're just borrowing the premade text and mechanics. The flavor text is all that needs changing.
The challenge will be for the player to be able to acomplish this one little thing:
You might enjoy playing a Rakdos character if any of the following sentences describe you:
Otherwise, this does throw a red flag for me as well, as the purpose of the PC will be to sow chaos at every turn. Understand that the player may want to try to play against type here, but the goal of the cultists:
Cultists take delight in causing pain to others to make sure they know their place, which is subservient to the powerful adherents of this self-centered philosophy.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Solid advice, thank you! Also, I agree with your assessment... Looking over the table's characters... 2 Neutral ones and 2 CE ones... I told them in a joking, yet serious voice, "I typically run heroic-save-the-universe-rescue-the-princess" campaigns. So, I'm okay with you being evil, but you're going to have to figure out why your people are going to do what they do and why... We'll see how long these characters last... lol
The Supreme Chancellor
Good view, thank you!
The Supreme Chancellor
Love all of this, thank you so much and thank you for taking the time to give me that link, very useful!
The Supreme Chancellor
Rakdos (the demon) can just exist in FR, and the cult sprung up around him the same way it did in Ravnica, but in the forgotten realms. You don't really need to do any work to make it fit
Good point. Thanks
The Supreme Chancellor