One of my players in my campaign has her character as tiefling. She found a playtest guideline page for demon cults and tielfing subraces linked here. So there are different properties that come from the player having a subrace with the bloodline relation to a demon lord, versus properties that are listed for a cult member following the same deity. She said she has an acolyte background and wants to be in the cult herself and therefore should take on the abilities that a cultist or cult leader would have rather than take on the subrace properties. I've never worked with them before so I'm not particularly sure what to do. What do you all think?
The rules you linked are an Unearthed Arcana, from 2 years ago, so it's really up to you whether you want to allow this into your game. It's possible that there is more current rules for this sort of thing; I don't know personally.
However, looking at some of the "cult leader" abilities, I'd be very cautious about allowing that into my game. It is made pretty clear that these are meant to be NPC powers, and exist as variations of existing monster abilities; "Any NPC who leads a diabolical cult ...."
Even if you didn't think that giving the Player the ability to extract HP/Advantage out of fellow party members, or gaining the equivalent of the half-orc Relentless Endurance for free due to their background, was OP, you'd be giving them a pool of allies and minions to draw upon.
Personally, I wouldn't allow them cult leader status and abilities. It's clear that the Tiefling sub-races are meant to be the Player content.
If you want to allow them to be cult members, and give them the right to draw upon the cult as a resource from time to time, I'd also saddle them with the responsibility of having the cult draw upon them from time to time for missions " ... our Lord Asmodeus requires your service my child .... ". That keeps a nice balance: they get a resource, but they have to pay for it with service.
Ultimately, up to you - but I think the Cult Leader abilities are a bit OP to hand to a PC for free, and I'd balance the benefits and responsibilities they get from cult membership.
Best of luck! Sounds like it could be fun, if handled well :)
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A cult of a demon lord could be quite an experience for the character's background and development. Have you had a chance to explore that with her and develop some of the circumstances she might remember? Some of the NPCs she worked with? Perhaps a rival in the cult?
Also, which demon lord did she choose? That could lead to some fascinating and probably very dark subplots and powers for your story and the character.
(Apologies for going a bit off the original question, I get lost in story elements!)
To echo what Vedexent said: tread carefully when granting monster abilities to PCs. There can be some very unexpected consequences!
But at the same time, don't be afraid to try; you can always grant an ability or special power with the caveat that you may adjust it later if it seems over or underpowered. I've had that work out very well even in cases where I had to nerf powers I'd given to the PCs.
But at the same time, don't be afraid to try; you can always grant an ability or special power with the caveat that you may adjust it later if it seems over or underpowered. I've had that work out very well even in cases where I had to nerf powers I'd given to the PCs.
Well said. One can be over conservative ( as I have a tendency to be when handing out Character powers ) and miss out on fun play possibilities.
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I know learned a serious lesson about balancing numbers one campaign when I started developing once-per-week story-tailored abilities for the PCs. One player was running a dragonborn sorcerer, and I basically gave him a dragon breath that did the damage of Meteor Swarm as lightning and radiant.
That got adjusted very quickly after he one-shot a deadly boss encounter that I'd worked on all afternoon before the session. I just sort of stared at the table for a few moments thinking, "I deserve that. I really do."
I can see all sorts of possibilities with this background. As Vedexent and TJ have already mentioned - balancing is the key. I'd imagine They might gain some decent powers from being a cult member but only after they have pleased their demonic patron. It is not a charity and a demon doesn't grant anything, and neither does his cultish followers, without expecting something in return. I would continue to up the demands and services as the game progresses until the character hits breaking point (perhaps they are asked to poison a good cleric/paladin, kill a small child/creature they have grown attached to, murder a party member or even their parents). From there it sets up a sequence where they need to escape the clutches of the cult and even bring it and perhaps the demonlord down just to survive.
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One of my players in my campaign has her character as tiefling. She found a playtest guideline page for demon cults and tielfing subraces linked here. So there are different properties that come from the player having a subrace with the bloodline relation to a demon lord, versus properties that are listed for a cult member following the same deity. She said she has an acolyte background and wants to be in the cult herself and therefore should take on the abilities that a cultist or cult leader would have rather than take on the subrace properties. I've never worked with them before so I'm not particularly sure what to do. What do you all think?
I hope you meant can Characters be in a cult :p
The rules you linked are an Unearthed Arcana, from 2 years ago, so it's really up to you whether you want to allow this into your game. It's possible that there is more current rules for this sort of thing; I don't know personally.
However, looking at some of the "cult leader" abilities, I'd be very cautious about allowing that into my game. It is made pretty clear that these are meant to be NPC powers, and exist as variations of existing monster abilities; "Any NPC who leads a diabolical cult ...."
Even if you didn't think that giving the Player the ability to extract HP/Advantage out of fellow party members, or gaining the equivalent of the half-orc Relentless Endurance for free due to their background, was OP, you'd be giving them a pool of allies and minions to draw upon.
Personally, I wouldn't allow them cult leader status and abilities. It's clear that the Tiefling sub-races are meant to be the Player content.
If you want to allow them to be cult members, and give them the right to draw upon the cult as a resource from time to time, I'd also saddle them with the responsibility of having the cult draw upon them from time to time for missions " ... our Lord Asmodeus requires your service my child .... ". That keeps a nice balance: they get a resource, but they have to pay for it with service.
Ultimately, up to you - but I think the Cult Leader abilities are a bit OP to hand to a PC for free, and I'd balance the benefits and responsibilities they get from cult membership.
Best of luck! Sounds like it could be fun, if handled well :)
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.
Thank you. That is what I figured but I was not entirely sure if I was reading in to it wrong. Appreciate the advice!
A cult of a demon lord could be quite an experience for the character's background and development. Have you had a chance to explore that with her and develop some of the circumstances she might remember? Some of the NPCs she worked with? Perhaps a rival in the cult?
Also, which demon lord did she choose? That could lead to some fascinating and probably very dark subplots and powers for your story and the character.
(Apologies for going a bit off the original question, I get lost in story elements!)
To echo what Vedexent said: tread carefully when granting monster abilities to PCs. There can be some very unexpected consequences!
But at the same time, don't be afraid to try; you can always grant an ability or special power with the caveat that you may adjust it later if it seems over or underpowered. I've had that work out very well even in cases where I had to nerf powers I'd given to the PCs.
Well said. One can be over conservative ( as I have a tendency to be when handing out Character powers ) and miss out on fun play possibilities.
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.
Ty!
I know learned a serious lesson about balancing numbers one campaign when I started developing once-per-week story-tailored abilities for the PCs. One player was running a dragonborn sorcerer, and I basically gave him a dragon breath that did the damage of Meteor Swarm as lightning and radiant.
That got adjusted very quickly after he one-shot a deadly boss encounter that I'd worked on all afternoon before the session. I just sort of stared at the table for a few moments thinking, "I deserve that. I really do."
As a purely roleplaying element sure. I think it could potentially bring a lot to the table, including fun potential complications.
If it is going to b something that brings new mechanics to the character I would be careful. New mechanics can have unintended consequences.
I can see all sorts of possibilities with this background. As Vedexent and TJ have already mentioned - balancing is the key. I'd imagine They might gain some decent powers from being a cult member but only after they have pleased their demonic patron. It is not a charity and a demon doesn't grant anything, and neither does his cultish followers, without expecting something in return. I would continue to up the demands and services as the game progresses until the character hits breaking point (perhaps they are asked to poison a good cleric/paladin, kill a small child/creature they have grown attached to, murder a party member or even their parents). From there it sets up a sequence where they need to escape the clutches of the cult and even bring it and perhaps the demonlord down just to survive.