Heya DM's,

For 1 of the players in my group I'm trying to set up a small set of trials in which he has to prove himself to Sune that he is worthy to be her champion.
He currently is a paladin of betrothal (homebrew subclass) and wants to take a few levels in warlock/hexblade.

His subclass basically gives him his powers from a combination of his love for his wife and believe in Sune.

I've already finished the pact weapon, but am stuck on creating the trials.

I was thinking of the follwing 3 as the trials;
1. Resisting temptation, proving to Sune that he can resist temptation of other women and that he will always choose his wife.
2. Recognizing inner beauty
3. No ideas yet.

Can you, my fellow DM's help me out with creating something? Would really appreciate the help!

Things to note about Sune that might help you:

Sune was a benevolent goddess that abhorred the destruction of beauty and truly loved and protected her followers. She was also one of the most vain entities in the cosmos, enjoying attention and sincere flattery while avoiding the horrific and boorish.

Sune's clerics sought to bring beauty to the world in many forms, all of which were pleasing to the senses. They created great works of art, became patrons for promising actors, and imported exotic luxuries like satin and fine wines. Her followers also enjoyed looking beautiful, and hearing tales of romance. The stories ranged from star-crossed love, true love overcoming all else, to following one's heart.

Her temples usually held social salons and displayed mirrors for use by lay parishioners. Some of them even had public baths for the local populace. Her shrines often stood on the corner of busy city streets. They would have a small ornate overhanging roof with a mirror underneath. They were used to check one's appearance while honoring Sune with prayer. Some shrines even held perfume and cosmetic items for those who could not afford such luxuries themselves.

I think you are going to want some challenges that involve creating beauty and/or protecting it from destruction. Don't be afraid to make a shallow choice the right one. Sune can be a pretty shallow goddess when it comes to her worldview.

So maybe something like:

Trial 1: resist temptation; show that nothing is stronger than the love for his wife
Trial 2: Protect beauty; He has to go through the fire and the flames to get a statue of Sune
Trial 3: He has to find the real beauty in a room full of mirrors

What do you think?

Quote from PileOBonez >>

So maybe something like:

Trial 1: resist temptation; show that nothing is stronger than the love for his wife
Trial 2: Protect beauty; He has to go through the fire and the flames to get a statue of Sune
Trial 3: He has to find the real beauty in a room full of mirrors

What do you think?

Sure, but I would structure them so that the "best" answer is more geared to Sune's whims. She is not a love goddess per se. She is a beauty goddess.  

Trial 1: resist temptation; show that nothing is stronger than the love for his wife

For this, consider it less a temptation issue. He loves his wife, and that's cool, but Sune wants to know that his dedication to beauty goes beyond an inner  love. Put him in an art gallery with his wife featuring paintings of her and several other very beautiful figures. Make him choose the most beautiful painting and make it clear that, while his wife is very pretty, she is probably not top tier. Have her ask him for his opinion. Make him squirm between choosing the "right" answer over his wife. 

Trial 2: Protect beauty; He has to go through the fire and the flames to get a statue of Sune

This would be good, but again, the "right" answer is not what he may think. He may go through flames to save a statue, but what is really being tested here is how he can accomplish the task without damaging his own beauty. If he is damaged or burned, or soot stained, then Sune will look poorly on him for sacrificing his outer beauty for some rock. No champion of hers would be so careless with their outward appearance. 

Trial 3: He has to find the real beauty in a room full of mirrors

Maybe this, but what is "real" beauty and is not a reflection of beauty not in and of itself the same beauty? Would the real answer be to find the real source of beauty, or to find a way to magnify its reflection, spreading that beauty further throughout the world? 

These are things to consider. 

I've been going back and forth with my ideas a lot lately.

What I got to now is the following;
Trial 1: 
The character wakes up in a galery, he is here with his wife and all kinds of art and different kinds of people.
He doesn't consider all of the art to be beautiful, nor does he consider all of the people to be beautiful.
Sune asks of him to show her "That which is most beautiful"

The answer he presents isn't perse what he shows to Sûne.
It's more important that the character sees that beauty is subjective and thus everything can be seen as beautiful, as long as it's seen by the right person.
Thus it being more about him learning a lesson and him explaining his answer.

If he succeeds, the grip of his sword, changes to that of the pactweapon.

Trial 2:
This is where I get more stuck.

What I've got is;
The paintings in the gallery change to mirrors.
They all show the same subject, the image of beauty that he brought forth in the first trial, though every reflection is a little bit different.
He has to find a way to amplify the beauty of each of the images, without changing the original.

I don't know what the answer to the trial could be yet.

After succeeding this trial, the guard and pommel change to that of the pactweapon.

Trial 3:
The gallery starts to burn and all pieces of art catch fire.
The character has to save his most beautiful, without compromising his own beauty in the proces.
While he moves towards the exit, the whole gallery starts to collapse.
I don't know yet how he can succeed yet.

After going through the exit, everything gets dark.
If he succeeds, Sune asks him to draw his sword.
When he does this, the weapon glows, showing it in it's dormant form.

During leveling, at certain levels, the player gets a new trial.
After succeeding the trials, the weapon evolves further to a total of 3 times.

Seems like you are writing yourself into some strange and subjective corners. What you want is a series of tests that have a good "red herring" answer, and a clever "correct" answer and a clear lesson that ties into Sune's doctrine. 

For Trial 1:

• A this juncture, what is the point of his wife being there? Is your hope that the paladin thinks to choose her as his "most beautiful" and/or assuming that this "obvious answer" is the wrong choice and try to work out another solution?  Is there any stakes involved? Does Sune mention that she is looking to find the most "beautiful thing" to add to her collection, making it maybe troubling for the paladin to choose his wife, potentially losing her? What are the philosophical implications to that if he picks someone else? Are you prepared to offer up a slew of NPCs and give him a burb about what could make them beautiful so that he can judge? 

For Trial 2:

• This one seems a bit hard since you don't seem to have a way to do the "amplification" process. You've already used the more logical mirror option for other things, and so you have to allow for other tools like maybe at supplies, or clays, maybe stones and chisels, or just a way to slide the mirrors around reflect them off of more mirrors? 

For Trial 3:

• I can see a situation where, if we went with a sliding mirror puzzle, you could make it so that reflected light might cause the fire, and the paladin must try to save the "thing" while also saving himself in the most pristine condition. But again, you sort of want to make it a choice point with a quick answer and a right answer. And hat is the lesson learned? What is being tested? His understanding of beauty? His cleverness? His adherence to faith or doctrine? 

You could also add a last and final trial about a group of OP fiends (devils most likely) threatening to attack him if he does not desert Sune. If he refuses to abandon his goddess, the devils turn out to be illusions created by Sune and the goddess speaks in his head "You have passed the trials." If he chooses to desert her, the devils dissapear as illusions, Sune says (telepathically) that he has failed the trials, and he takes loads of physic damage.

Also, for trial 1, you might want to use Succubi and Incubi.

PS. There's a good Sune related adventure in Candlkeep Mysteries called