So quick backstory - SPOILERS FOR FINAL CHAPTER OF SUMMER VILLAINS OF DRAGON HEIST
I have an aasimar paladin, who has alway been the party's moral compass and the compassionate one, the goodest of good characters. Well in the final chapter of the Summer Villains for Dragon Heist, the characters learn that the Cassalanters have made a deal with Asmodeus to trade the soul of their son for money, then they learn that all their future children have to have their souls go to Asmodeus as well. They make a new deal for one coin shy of 1 million gp and 99 souls to trade in order for them to keep their two children. The party stops this ritual and when they learn the truth, the paladin (who has a special relationship with the two Cassalanter children, they idolize him after the paladin was sort of made into a Waterdeep hero earlier in the campaign) wants to save the two children as well as the 99 innocent souls, so through another character's sending spell, they spoke with Asmodeus and told him they had a new deal. He appeared before them at the time agreed to take some souls. The good character then offered to trade his soul to become his servant forever, as well as the 999,999 gp in order to save the two children's souls. Asmodeus countered by saying that he's trading one soul for two and to sweeten the pot. He told the paladin to offer the soul of someone he loved, and the decision was his alone. (At this point the party kind of freaked out lol) eventually he chose his sister who is missing and a part of his backstory (and will come into play in a future arc). So both of their souls were taken with Asmodeus, as well as the gold. When Asmodeus accepted the deal and returned, the paladin (through actions I told him to complete) used his battleaxe to chop the head off of one of the innocent souls.
So this is a turning point for the good paladin character. His soul is now in possession of one of the most evil gods known to the realm. The group has decided that they will now begin a quest to reclaim the character's soul. However, before they can do that, as they are now only level 6, it'll be awhile. The player controls his actions, however, when the owner of his soul commands him to do something, he has to complete it. What are some good ideas of ways I can have this decision to influence the game? Through a character's decision, the character has lost a small part of his character's agency. I don't want to, and won't, take over his character, but I would like some good ways to have his decision to sell his soul take shape in the future campaign until they can reclaim his soul. Everything from here on out is homebrew, so literally ANY kind of examples work because I can fit them in as we continue our campaign. Any thoughts would be helpful!
The way that I've treated souls as currency for devils is that the rights to the souls are granted from the moment the deal allows it in whatever terms are specified, but a soul cannot be claimed by the devil until the owner actually dies. Thus there's no element of mind control or loss of agency until death. Then their soul goes on to the Nine Hells to whichever devil struck the bargain.
I also usually specify that soul claiming doesn't occur until after Revivify's timing requirement expires because that can be a very suspenseful last second save to avoid damnation--at least for a while.
This way the characters still retain agency and can work freely to try and regain the rights to their soul while the devil can go about either trying to kill the chatacter outright or manipulating them for further gain.
This is interesting! It does create all sorts of interesting possibilities for DM induced plot developments and plot hooks.
One thing I'd decide in your shoes is: what does the God want with this soul? Is it just a long term investment, and he'll claim it when the Paladin dies? In which case, the God might not do much. Is the God looking for an agent to wreak havoc on the world? In which case the God may give the Paladin explicit, involuntary, evil, missions. Is the God wanting to subtly alter the Character's behavior in order to corrupt them ( this is subtle and difficult to pull off, but very interesting! )? In which case the God may push the Paladin into morally compromising - but tempting - situations and release them partway through, repeatedly, hoping that the Paladin will "crack" and continue them voluntarily. Is the God just bored and wants to torment the Paladin by using the control to force them to "self" sabotage the good that the Paladin is trying to do? In which case the God will probably just manifest their control and make the Paladin do horrific things, and then release control and let the Paladin deal with the fallout.
Once you know what the long term "game plan" is for this God, you know the kinds of things they'll instruct the Paladin to do.
Also ... I would seriously re-examine whether this Character can remain a Paladin ( especially a good one ), since they essentially sacrificed their sister without her consent. She has literally been damned to the Hells by the Paladin's actions, without foreknowledge or consent.
If the Player - and the rest of the Party - is on board with all this ( and it sounds like they are ), you can mine this for all sorts of story potential.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
The way that I've treated souls as currency for devils is that the rights to the souls are granted from the moment the deal allows it in whatever terms are specified, but a soul cannot be claimed by the devil until the owner actually dies. Thus there's no element of mind control or loss of agency until death. Then their soul goes on to the Nine Hells to whichever devil struck the bargain.
I also usually specify that soul claiming doesn't occur until after Revivify's timing requirement expires because that can be a very suspenseful last second save to avoid damnation--at least for a while.
This way the characters still retain agency and can work freely to try and regain the rights to their soul while the devil can go about either trying to kill the chatacter outright or manipulating them for further gain.
The way the deal was struck, and I may have described it accurately above, but this character has sold his soul and become a slave to his soul's owner. So the manipulation are actions of the slave's owner who is essentially making his slave do his biding at seemingly random intervals.
This is interesting! It does create all sorts of interesting possibilities for DM induced plot developments and plot hooks.
One thing I'd decide in your shoes is: what does the God want with this soul? Is it just a long term investment, and he'll claim it when the Paladin dies? In which case, the God might not do much. Is the God looking for an agent to wreak havoc on the world? In which case the God may give the Paladin explicit, involuntary, evil, missions. Is the God wanting to subtly alter the Character's behavior in order to corrupt them ( this is subtle and difficult to pull off, but very interesting! )? In which case the God may push the Paladin into morally compromising - but tempting - situations and release them partway through, repeatedly, hoping that the Paladin will "crack" and continue them voluntarily. Is the God just bored and wants to torment the Paladin by using the control to force them to "self" sabotage the good that the Paladin is trying to do? In which case the God will probably just manifest their control and make the Paladin do horrific things, and then release control and let the Paladin deal with the fallout.
Once you know what the long term "game plan" is for this God, you know the kinds of things they'll instruct the Paladin to do.
Also ... I would seriously re-examine whether this Character can remain a Paladin ( especially a good one ), since they essentially sacrificed their sister without her consent. She has literally been damned to the Hells by the Paladin's actions, without foreknowledge or consent.
If the Player - and the rest of the Party - is on board with all this ( and it sounds like they are ), you can mine this for all sorts of story potential.
I have bolded the example of yours that best fits the situation. I think while the character remains on the material plane, the God wants him to act as an envoy, dealing out evil deeds when the God sees fit, as I'm treating this almost like an "all-seeing" situation, where as long as the God owns his soul, the God knows his exact location and can see through the character's eyes. Also, the paladin has lost his current oath and has become an oathbreaker due to his actions. In terms of the "okay-ness" they are with the paladin offering his sister, they are lol 3/5 of the party wanted to leave everything alone and let it play out how it will. But the other two, paladin included, are the ones that tried to think of anything else, and that's how we ended here lol
There you go :) You can play the God as an omnipresent NPC.
If you play it overtly, you put a lot of pressure on the Paladin & Party to try and rescues the Paladin's soul, and nullify the contract. Suddenly the Paladin cuts down an innocent. Or lets the Party's position be known. Or tries and kill the Princess. Or .... Playing it overtly evil, gives the Party motive to solve the overall situation, but not personally horrific, as the Paladin can legitimately say " it wasn't really me ".
If you play it subtly, you can really try and mess with the Character's head: e.g. set up a situation where the Paladin is controlled to burst into the villains' lair, butcher the henchmen, knock out and tie up the ringleader, put a blade to the ringleader's throat ... and then drop control. This is especially effective if you've set up the ringleader as especially hateful in the eyes of the Paladin. Will they crack and kill a helpless opponent? If they do, then up the ante, and make the next situation a little more evil, or a little more under the Paladin's control. Rinse and repeat until the Character has gone full Chaotic Evil.
I'm reminded of the Shadow mechanic from Wraith: The Oblivion where you play the "light side" of a personality, and another Player plays your "dark side" and tries to corrupt and destroy you. You might look into that for inspiration.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
You could also have an emissary of his former deity appear later on if they sense what's occurred; perhaps someone down the chain from an exarch like a deva or other minor angel.
They could offer quests and perhaps even attempt to suppress Asmodeus's influence or awareness to an extent (at least until he becomes aware and exerts himself to drive them out). Depending how far he strays from the path, they could go as far as to task others of the faith with pursuing and thwarting him.
That could add to the good versus evil tension that you're trying to build.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So quick backstory - SPOILERS FOR FINAL CHAPTER OF SUMMER VILLAINS OF DRAGON HEIST
I have an aasimar paladin, who has alway been the party's moral compass and the compassionate one, the goodest of good characters. Well in the final chapter of the Summer Villains for Dragon Heist, the characters learn that the Cassalanters have made a deal with Asmodeus to trade the soul of their son for money, then they learn that all their future children have to have their souls go to Asmodeus as well. They make a new deal for one coin shy of 1 million gp and 99 souls to trade in order for them to keep their two children. The party stops this ritual and when they learn the truth, the paladin (who has a special relationship with the two Cassalanter children, they idolize him after the paladin was sort of made into a Waterdeep hero earlier in the campaign) wants to save the two children as well as the 99 innocent souls, so through another character's sending spell, they spoke with Asmodeus and told him they had a new deal. He appeared before them at the time agreed to take some souls. The good character then offered to trade his soul to become his servant forever, as well as the 999,999 gp in order to save the two children's souls. Asmodeus countered by saying that he's trading one soul for two and to sweeten the pot. He told the paladin to offer the soul of someone he loved, and the decision was his alone. (At this point the party kind of freaked out lol) eventually he chose his sister who is missing and a part of his backstory (and will come into play in a future arc). So both of their souls were taken with Asmodeus, as well as the gold. When Asmodeus accepted the deal and returned, the paladin (through actions I told him to complete) used his battleaxe to chop the head off of one of the innocent souls.
So this is a turning point for the good paladin character. His soul is now in possession of one of the most evil gods known to the realm. The group has decided that they will now begin a quest to reclaim the character's soul. However, before they can do that, as they are now only level 6, it'll be awhile. The player controls his actions, however, when the owner of his soul commands him to do something, he has to complete it. What are some good ideas of ways I can have this decision to influence the game? Through a character's decision, the character has lost a small part of his character's agency. I don't want to, and won't, take over his character, but I would like some good ways to have his decision to sell his soul take shape in the future campaign until they can reclaim his soul. Everything from here on out is homebrew, so literally ANY kind of examples work because I can fit them in as we continue our campaign. Any thoughts would be helpful!
Published Subclasses
The way that I've treated souls as currency for devils is that the rights to the souls are granted from the moment the deal allows it in whatever terms are specified, but a soul cannot be claimed by the devil until the owner actually dies. Thus there's no element of mind control or loss of agency until death. Then their soul goes on to the Nine Hells to whichever devil struck the bargain.
I also usually specify that soul claiming doesn't occur until after Revivify's timing requirement expires because that can be a very suspenseful last second save to avoid damnation--at least for a while.
This way the characters still retain agency and can work freely to try and regain the rights to their soul while the devil can go about either trying to kill the chatacter outright or manipulating them for further gain.
This is interesting! It does create all sorts of interesting possibilities for DM induced plot developments and plot hooks.
One thing I'd decide in your shoes is: what does the God want with this soul? Is it just a long term investment, and he'll claim it when the Paladin dies? In which case, the God might not do much. Is the God looking for an agent to wreak havoc on the world? In which case the God may give the Paladin explicit, involuntary, evil, missions. Is the God wanting to subtly alter the Character's behavior in order to corrupt them ( this is subtle and difficult to pull off, but very interesting! )? In which case the God may push the Paladin into morally compromising - but tempting - situations and release them partway through, repeatedly, hoping that the Paladin will "crack" and continue them voluntarily. Is the God just bored and wants to torment the Paladin by using the control to force them to "self" sabotage the good that the Paladin is trying to do? In which case the God will probably just manifest their control and make the Paladin do horrific things, and then release control and let the Paladin deal with the fallout.
Once you know what the long term "game plan" is for this God, you know the kinds of things they'll instruct the Paladin to do.
Also ... I would seriously re-examine whether this Character can remain a Paladin ( especially a good one ), since they essentially sacrificed their sister without her consent. She has literally been damned to the Hells by the Paladin's actions, without foreknowledge or consent.
If the Player - and the rest of the Party - is on board with all this ( and it sounds like they are ), you can mine this for all sorts of story potential.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
The way the deal was struck, and I may have described it accurately above, but this character has sold his soul and become a slave to his soul's owner. So the manipulation are actions of the slave's owner who is essentially making his slave do his biding at seemingly random intervals.
I have bolded the example of yours that best fits the situation. I think while the character remains on the material plane, the God wants him to act as an envoy, dealing out evil deeds when the God sees fit, as I'm treating this almost like an "all-seeing" situation, where as long as the God owns his soul, the God knows his exact location and can see through the character's eyes. Also, the paladin has lost his current oath and has become an oathbreaker due to his actions. In terms of the "okay-ness" they are with the paladin offering his sister, they are lol 3/5 of the party wanted to leave everything alone and let it play out how it will. But the other two, paladin included, are the ones that tried to think of anything else, and that's how we ended here lol
Published Subclasses
There you go :) You can play the God as an omnipresent NPC.
If you play it overtly, you put a lot of pressure on the Paladin & Party to try and rescues the Paladin's soul, and nullify the contract. Suddenly the Paladin cuts down an innocent. Or lets the Party's position be known. Or tries and kill the Princess. Or .... Playing it overtly evil, gives the Party motive to solve the overall situation, but not personally horrific, as the Paladin can legitimately say " it wasn't really me ".
If you play it subtly, you can really try and mess with the Character's head: e.g. set up a situation where the Paladin is controlled to burst into the villains' lair, butcher the henchmen, knock out and tie up the ringleader, put a blade to the ringleader's throat ... and then drop control. This is especially effective if you've set up the ringleader as especially hateful in the eyes of the Paladin. Will they crack and kill a helpless opponent? If they do, then up the ante, and make the next situation a little more evil, or a little more under the Paladin's control. Rinse and repeat until the Character has gone full Chaotic Evil.
I'm reminded of the Shadow mechanic from Wraith: The Oblivion where you play the "light side" of a personality, and another Player plays your "dark side" and tries to corrupt and destroy you. You might look into that for inspiration.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
You could also have an emissary of his former deity appear later on if they sense what's occurred; perhaps someone down the chain from an exarch like a deva or other minor angel.
They could offer quests and perhaps even attempt to suppress Asmodeus's influence or awareness to an extent (at least until he becomes aware and exerts himself to drive them out). Depending how far he strays from the path, they could go as far as to task others of the faith with pursuing and thwarting him.
That could add to the good versus evil tension that you're trying to build.