The Great Escape... From Baator! [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

EarFall

2011-06-30, 05:52 PM

So a fun request came up in the thread: Build Challenge: We can build it, we have the sourcebooks! regarding a character who had sold his soul and feeling he couldn't find a way to weasel his way out with words dedicated himself to fighting his way out once he ends up there. Which leads us to an interesting dilemma.

1. What obstacles, encounters and foes would one encounter from the moment they arrive all the way to when they escape (if possible)?

2. How would you go about building a character that could do so (mind you you'll be naked upon arrival)? If you can keep it low-level I think that would make it more interesting overall.

By the rules, you cannot, because you are basically helpless as a soul.

That being said, I like the idea, being a RIDICULOUS devil fan. (I hate demons, don't even bring up those meaningless cretins). But if you're asking for character building advice it's the wrong questions to ask, because like I said, by the rules, you are nothing as your soul.

And I assume you mean "when he winds up there after death."

If you want to know how to get out of it beforehand? Devils reward service, although a soul is a huge thing to lose. You'd have to do something OUTSTANDING for them (sic) "KIll a demon prince/eliminate a rivals soul harvesting/stop a celestial inquisition at one of our bastions". Any of those types of favors might get you your soul back, but you better have those terms in writing beforehand.

Gurgeh

2011-06-30, 07:28 PM

OP, I'd really recommend you read Fiendish Codex II - it details fairly well how Baatezu operate in both normal and exceptional circumstances. If you're too poor to buy and too lazy to pirate, here's a highly condensed summary of the important bits:

Who goes to the devils
This obviously depends on the cosmology you're employing, but for now I'll assume a fairly standard (I.E., Greyhawk or something similar) setting. Forgotten Realms is largely similar, but Eberron differs substantially.
Thanks to the Pact Primeval made between Asmodeus and the Lawful deities, the Baatezu have the right to any Lawful Evil soul that isn't the property of a deity. Essentially, this means that any and all Lawful Evil characters (PCs and NPCs alike) who don't worship a deity that would be willing to take them in the afterlife will end up in the Nine Hells.

Selling your soul
There are generally two kinds of bargain that Baatezu will make with mortals: the Pact Certain and the Pact Insidious. The Pact Certain is a straight-up Faustian deal: you literally sign away your soul to the devils in exchange for goods or services. Short of very careful wording, there's almost no way to stop the devils from simply arranging for your death shortly after the pact is signed, so the only really useful things you could get from a Pact Certain are services towards a goal that doesn't require you to be alive (killing or defaming rivals, protection of your loved ones, etc). It's nearly impossible to wriggle your way out of a Pact Certain; it has no loopholes because it doesn't try to be subtle about its cost. It flat-out says that your soul is forfeit upon signing the contract, after all.

The Pact Insidious is more subtle; it details a series of increasingly tempting rewards from the devils in exchange for an escalating series of lawful evil acts on part of the mortal. If you go all the way you've basically ended up where a Pact Certain would have gotten you - with a Lawful Evil alignment and a one-way ticket to Baator upon your death. Unlike the Pact Certain, the Pact Insidious will frequently have loopholes that both the devils and cunning recipients will try to exploit. If you want to use mechanical means to resolve this, try something like opposed wisdom and intelligence checks - otherwise, this offers some excellent opportunities for roleplaying.

The fate of damned souls
As mentioned before, Lawful Evil souls that aren't the property of an interested deity go straight to Baator; do not pass Sigil, do not collect 200 gp. They're then the currency of the Nine Hells - used for bartering or to fuel infernal transformations or machinery. If they endure this long enough, they generally incarnate as Lemures, the least of devils. As with any Lemure, there's a chance that they might be able to earn promotion and advance to become more powerful devils - but that chance is infinitesimal. Souls with truly amazing power (we're basically talking epic characters here) might be able to bargain early promotion into a more powerful form - maybe a bearded devil or the like - but even for characters of truly awesome power that's a long shot.

It's worth noting that the process of transformation into a baatezu wholly strips a soul of its mortal memories and personality - no matter how favourable the circumstances of your acquisition by the devils, your mind and personality will not survive the process.

Getting a soul back from Baator
There are very few ways to do this. Devils are inherently Lawful, and while they'll try to snare each and every soul that catches their eyes, they don't tend to take any souls that aren't legally theirs. The soul itself is completely helpless - it needs to be rescued. No fighting your way out bare-handed. :P

In cases of genuinely unlawful seizure, devils will usually reluctantly give up the soul - the infernal courts are inherently rigged against any appeals, but they can succeed if the defence is dedicated, intelligent, and understands the baatezu. Generally, if you've actually outright sold your soul then this sort of approach won't be easy - exploiting loopholes in the pact (or claiming that the devils broke their terms of the bargain) would be the only way to avoid damnation.

It is possible to buy souls back from the baatezu, but they will usually only accept trade in kind. They do deal in gold, magic items, or anything else of significant material worth, but souls are a far more powerful currency in Baator, so ransoming even a fairly unremarkable soul would require an astronomical sum. If you're looking at a PC of even moderate level then you'd probably be looking at the WBL for an epic character to get the soul back. If your rescuers have sufficiently loose ethics, they could snatch someone else's soul and sell it to the devils (with Trap the Soul or something similar) - if they're selfless (and your freedom is more important than their own), one of them might agree to sell their own soul in exchange for yours. I wouldn't hold your breath there, though.

Breaking into Baator and stealing souls back is the only way to free souls without having to play by the devils' rules - unfortunately, it's easier said than done. The archdukes guard their soul currency very well, and even finding a soul in the first place is a herculean task. Unless the DM's willing to throw a pocket army of celestials your way, this kind of adventure will be a huge challenge for pretty much any party - the more valuable the soul, the heavier the guard. Infiltration of the Nine Hells sounds like a really awesome adventure, but it's one that will challenge any party (because you're breaking into the literal incarnation of Law and Evil) and most DMs (because you need to set up a plausible scenario that doesn't just result in the entire party being eaten alive by hordes of enraged baatezu).

Hope that helped...

EDIT: just realised you are talking about fighting your way out bare-handed. Sorry, that's basically impossible. Once you're a petitioner, you're basically devil food. Not even Pun-Pun would be able to break his way out if he somehow found himself dead and in the devils' clutches.