Dealing with Devils

[Babale]

In a campaign I'm DMing, the party is in the process of looting an ancient wizard's tower. To enter the tower, they must pass five challenges set by the ancient wizard. One of these is an arena that involves nine fights, against outsiders of each alignment. The last fight pitted the party against a group of Devils. The party knew that they could talk their way out of some of the fights (They convinced the Lawful Good Archons that their duty, as beings of pure Law and Good, was to return to their master's service as soon as possible instead of battling innocents for a dead wizard's amusement, so the Archons killed themselves to be unsummoned). So the Dread Necromancer promptly started dealing with the devils. He told them that he was on the fast track to becoming a powerful necromancer (in fact, he already is one; he's level 7 in a campaign world where the high king Henrik the Dragonslayer is only 10th level). He promised the devil a "boon" (which he defined as any task that wasn't clearly suicidal) in exchange for the devils' departure. The devil stated that he counted seven souls (five party members and two NPCs they dragged along), and that he wants seven boons. The necromancer told him that he will gladly let him kill the Swashbuckler and Druid (the two Good PCs) in return for two boons, which pissed off the devil immensely. He warned the necromancer about backstabbing without having the muscle to back it up, and then told him to decide if he wanted to take the deal or not. The necromancer, having finally lost his composure, agreed to the trade.

So the devils departed, and the necromancer now owes the devils (Technically, one individual devil, but I figure anyone above him in the hierarchy has the rights to these boons) seven favors, with the only limit being that they can't tell the necromancer to do anything obviously suicidal. So, what do you guys think are some devious, fiendish (or should I say, infernal?) and diabolical ways for the devils to make use of these boons?

[Invader]

One of the most common things is to call them into service in the Blood War. You could argue that they are most likely going to die but that it's not inherently "suicidal".

[Babale]

One of the most common things is to call them into service in the Blood War. You could argue that they are most likely going to die but that it's not inherently "suicidal".

Well, that could be a handy 7th boon (especially since they can probably wrestle it so he gets Damned during the Blood War) but that seems like kind of a waste. Wouldn't making him change the world (which, as a high level caster, he is probably going to do anyways) and then nudging him so the changes he makes raise the number of Lawful Evil people be a better investment?

[Invader]

It could but I always pictured devils being more selfish in their nature. He could use them to open up a portal to (insert plane here) for an invasion or force them to help recover a power artifact. I'd like to think that whatever they end up doing the devil is going to do his best to make sure the PC dies in the process just because he's so vindictive lol.

[Eldan]

I'd rather like for the trades to be a bit more personal than that.

Have the devil find out about things the DN cares about, and then have him give the player a task that destroys or corrupts those things in a roundabout way.

[Morithias]

Technically he owes them nothing. A deal with a devil is signed in a nice contract and sealed with blood. They have no call on his soul or anything.

Hell, find a bard with high ranks in knowledge (planes), acting, and diplomacy, and just take them to court.

[Babale]

Technically he owes them nothing. A deal with a devil is signed in a nice contract and sealed with blood. They have no call on his soul or anything.

Hell, find a bard with high ranks in knowledge (planes), acting, and diplomacy, and just take them to court.

Well, no, they don't have claim on his soul. He did make a deal, though, and it's more than enough for the devils to enforce, with force if necessary. And if some of the acts they force him to do turn him Lawful Evil, great for them.

[Arcanist]

Well, no, they don't have claim on his soul. He did make a deal, though, and it's more than enough for the devils to enforce, with force if necessary. And if some of the acts they force him to do turn him Lawful Evil, great for them.

What alignment is your DN? If he is LE then to bad so sad he's gotta do it :smalltongue: If not then the devil has no bounds over him :smallamused:

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

Kill a paladin and/or a priest and/or burn a temple that opposed the devils in the past

Kill a guy who didn't fulfill his contract with a devil, and/or take away from him something precious (some relative?) with force. Bonus points if the guy begs for mercy and actually had a good reason for making the deal in the first place (like saving someone else's life) and didn't really believe it would happen.
This will surely teach the player that the devils will punish those who don't respect the deal

Locate and destroy a holy item (bonus points if the only ways to obtain it is killing innocents or paying a ludicrous amount of money)

Capture an underage victim for a rapist and deliver her to his home with the following note attached: "For you, from your biggest fan (insert character name)". Real sign is required.
There is no real purpose, it's just meant to put your player in front of a very difficult choice.
In-game, the devil is just taking his revenge.

Deliver encrypted information for the devils. The player will never get to know what's on the paper, but the devils will explain that, if the operation is succesful, they will be much more likely to take over the world in a century or two.

Give a drop of his own blood as a component for a ritual. The real nature of the said ritual will not be revealed, except that it is indeed evil, and not clearly suicidal.

[Babale]

What alignment is your DN? If he is LE then to bad so sad he's gotta do it :smalltongue: If not then the devil has no bounds over him :smallamused:

He's Neutral Evil, but the devils made it clear to him that they're willing to enforce the pact. And while their are rules regarding when devils can simply pop over to the Material Plane, I'm ruling that a pact which was offered willingly by the necromancer is more than enough reason.

Now, technically they didn't sign it in blood, but they did sign it in flesh. The necromancer and the devil shook hands, and the devil cut seven red circles into the necromancer's hand, which will heal, one at a time, when he fulfills his seven boons.

@D@rK-SePHiRoTH-: Those are all dilemmas for a Good or Neutral character. This guy is unquestionably Evil.

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

@D@rK-SePHiRoTH-: Those are all dilemmas for a Good or Neutral character. This guy is unquestionably Evil.
It's not only about dilemmas. There are consequences.
If he burns the temple, he will be an enemy for the whole religious order.
Killing the guy who didn't fulfill his deal will still teach him that he can't escape.
To destroy the item he has to pay money or take risks.
When the rapist is found and captured by the authority, the note will be a proof of his involvement (and maybe the girl was a princess, and her father is really, really mad?)
Who knows what are they going to do with his blood, he will not die, sure, but other things could happen to him, basically every bad thing which does not involve "death"

[Psiker]

Maybe make the devils go the opposite direction seeing the DN is "unquestionably evil":
* spend a week in a sick camp HELPING wounded and the like
* Donate money to an orphanage
* Not creating undead for 48 hours (and getting rid of any that he already has)
* Venture to ancient paladin tomb for a holy relic and return it to the church

Nothing says evil to an evil character like good

As a side point, the devils could soe more discord while the DN thinks hes forced to be good, eg; the undead that the DN doesnt summon could be used in the blood war, the relic could have a curse placed on it be the devils to corrupt the holy church etc.

[Arcanist]

He's Neutral Evil, but the devils made it clear to him that they're willing to enforce the pact. And while their are rules regarding when devils can simply pop over to the Material Plane, I'm ruling that a pact which was offered willingly by the necromancer is more than enough reason.

Now, technically they didn't sign it in blood, but they did sign it in flesh. The necromancer and the devil shook hands, and the devil cut seven red circles into the necromancer's hand, which will heal, one at a time, when he fulfills his seven boons.

Neutral Evil is the "I'll just do whatever i want" alignment, and these marks aren't really harming him in any way so he is well within his rights to break the contract. What CR is the devil your planning to sick on him? :smallconfused:

[D@rK-SePHiRoTH-]

How about asking him to use an helm of the opposite alignment on himself as the final boon?

Becoming good will make him lose his class features.
He will also regret what he did for his entire life. And still have to deal with all the consequences.

[Babale]

Neutral Evil is the "I'll just do whatever i want" alignment, and these marks aren't really harming him in any way so he is well within his rights to break the contract. What CR is the devil your planning to sick on him? :smallconfused:

The devil he currently owes his dues too is only CR 7. But undoubtfully, the devil's right to the boons will move to his superiors. Maybe he takes this to his boss in order to suck up; maybe his boss demands it from him when the necromancer gets attention.

I'm loving the idea of forcing him to do good acts that end up being evil anyways!

[Philistine]

Neutral Evil is the "I'll just do whatever i want" alignment, and these marks aren't really harming him in any way so he is well within his rights it isn't necessarily out of character for him to try to break the contract. What CR is the devil your planning to sick on him? :smallconfused:

Fixed that for you. If he freely entered into a contract, it doesn't become null and void just because he's a free spirit who does as he pleases.

The "Devil's contract enforcer" and the "Indirectly wreck something the character loves" ideas really stand out to me. I wouldn't make all seven follow the second, but I'd definitely want it in the mix at least once or twice.

[Acanous]

Indeed. Have him hunt down and punish someone who broke a contract, take one of THEIR family members to a rapist, then have him do things which move him to the Lawful side of evil.

Corrupting something dear to him might work as well, but devils are big fans of Win/Win situations.
By that I mean the devil wins twice with little to no investment.

[Mystral]

I would favor tasks that enforce the character to become more lawfull, all the better to convert him to the infernal side of evil. Don't use every boon to screw him and his backstory over, let him create undead for a cabal of devil worshippers for a month or something. Why should the devils torture him when they can gain him as an ally/usefull pawn. If you take the backstory of your characters hostage to often, you end up with mysterious strangers with no past, and where's the fun in that?

Maybe make him accept an infernal familiar. That's not suicidal, it might even be helpfull, but he'll constantly have a devil on his shoulder, wispering sinister advice into his hear. As a bonus, the familiar (maybe an imp) will be the deliverer of the tasks and make sure that they are carried out to the letter.

If you really want to be devious, make one of the last boons the task to sign a contract that sells his soul to the nine hells in exchange for something he needs/wants. It's not suicidal, he'll be able to live out his life. He might even become a lich and never go to hell, anyway.

[Canarr]

Fixed that for you. If he freely entered into a contract, it doesn't become null and void just because he's a free spirit who does as he pleases.


Exactly. He would probably be the type to try and weasel out of the contract - having no innate sense of obligation to uphold his word - but the devils would certainly consider it binding.

And: even though the marks aren't directly hurting the DN, anyone with a few ranks in Knowledge (the planes) might have an idea what those bloody circles on his hand signify. And they'd probably have their own opinion on what to do with mortals that deal with infernals - also, a bit of research might reveal that anyone dying with outstanding debt to a devil automatically forfeits his soul to his creditor...

Personally, I also like the idea of "enforcing an outstanding debt to another devil" being one of his boons; the very first might be best. That way, he immediately gets a taste of what the devils have in store for those that break their deals - and there's always going to be another debtor who'd do the same to him. Other than that, I'd go easy on him with the tasks he has to deliver; to me, devils are always seducers. He shouldn't be yearning to get out from under their yoke, he should feel compelled to shoulder it again. Let him have a taste here and there what the infernals can do for those who are their loyal servants - have him sent as help to other mortals who have bartered away their souls.

[SowZ]

How about asking him to use an helm of the opposite alignment on himself as the final boon?

Becoming good will make him lose his class features.
He will also regret what he did for his entire life. And still have to deal with all the consequences.

Once you are 'good', if the good was a sincere change, you probably wouldn't regret it and wish you were still evil. The helm isn't like a mind-control device shocking you every time you did something opposed to your old alignment. It actually changes your motivation. He would likely thank the gods for the day he was turned around from his despicable, hell-bound lifestyle and 'giving up class features' wouldn't mean the same thing to someone in character.

He wouldn't know he is giving up levels and could not study another discipline and master it as quickly as he did necromancy. (IC characters are not aware of mechanics and XP.) He would just know he isn't using any of his 'evi' powers anymore.

[Zaq]

Personally, I also like the idea of "enforcing an outstanding debt to another devil" being one of his boons; the very first might be best. That way, he immediately gets a taste of what the devils have in store for those that break their deals - and there's always going to be another debtor who'd do the same to him. Other than that, I'd go easy on him with the tasks he has to deliver; to me, devils are always seducers. He shouldn't be yearning to get out from under their yoke, he should feel compelled to shoulder it again. Let him have a taste here and there what the infernals can do for those who are their loyal servants - have him sent as help to other mortals who have bartered away their souls.

I like this a lot, both the idea of using him as muscle to collect on a debt and the idea of using him as muscle to fulfill a debt. It seems like a good way to make him see that he's entered into something much bigger than just himself plus a single devil—he's in deep, and while he's not automatically screwed because of it, he'd better watch himself, because the devils sure as hell are watching him too.

[Canarr]

Exactly. He's basically indebted to the Mafia. ;)

Of course, that's not saying the devils might not demand a task (maybe his last) of him that will put him and/or his party in a situation where only the further assistance of devils - in exchange for further boons - can get them out. No, no, you don't *have* to enter into another agreement with us; that's entirely your choice. But you've still got one boon unfulfilled, so should you die now, your soul is ours. But, hey: no pressure...

[Duncan_Ruadrik]

I believe the assumption that these boons are going to move up to his superiors is erroneous.
Seven boons from powerful adventurers is nothing to sneeze at, and there is nothing that says the devil must pass them up to his superiors. In fact, I have no doubt the Devil will do anything to hold onto those boons, and use them to move up in the hierarchy.

Since he is CR 7, you could make him a recurring evil character. Every once in a while, he asks for a favor (remember, devils can wait a VERY long time) which brings him more power. As the Adventurers level, so does your "friend", all while transforming into more and more powerful devilish forms.

Eventually there will be a day of reckoning, perhaps when your devil is/has made a bid or coup to become a duke of hell, upsetting the status quo, perhaps he is willing to be more bold and destructive on the material plane than the current rulers... All this due to your player.

[Zhirax]

I woul advise you to consider the following points when using the devil contract:

1. Do not make the pc do something that will break the game.
remember that you could in theory demand almost anything of the pc's but if you demanded they came to the nine hells and got involved in the bloodwar directly then the game would end.

2. everything Mystral said.

3. Whatever you make the pc do try to ivolve the whole party as much as posibly. if he has to go away on secret devil missions all the time it will slow the game down a lot.

4. you might have rewritten your whole campaign so it now will focus on the dept. so you can play it up og try to make it lie in the bagground. only to rear it's ugly head when he least expect it.

5. make him understand what grave choice he has made. This can be done with a lot of the suggested quests of tracking down rulebreakers but also on the longer scale as suggested by making each little favour add up to one giant event nobody expected

[Malachei]

Personally, unless the campaign has an evil theme, I avoid allowing evil characters. Apart from causing problems, it is too much of a dragonlance cliché.

As to your specific problem: An evil character presents a much more valuable resource to a devil than a good character, but the devil also misses out on the delights of perverting the character.

Thus, they will use the character long-term, and design tasks to lead the character deeper into evil. As a character of 7th level seems pretty powerful in your setting compared to NPCs (if you can generalize from the 10th level king), the devils would regard him as an important piece on the chessboard. They'd probably build a sequence of boons. First, they might cause the character to attract more to the cause, founding a dark college of necromancy and corruption. Then they'd . I'd make sure their ultimate goal is opposed to the character's ultimate motives -- perhaps the character would even shrug at the destruction of the campaign world, because by then, he could plane shift away to another, but even evil characters have their personal objectives, mannerisms and even friends. Losing the basis a character was built upon, losing your own background, in a way, constitutes a threat also to an evil character. I'd make him realize, over time, that dealing with devils is a backbiting spear.

The Book of Vile Darkness may give you more inspiration.

[Acanous]

Oooh, yus. Every boon should net the devil a soul from *Someone*.

You could have your boy sent to save a small town from a band of orcs, because the mayor sold his soul to save it. That's A: Doing something "Good", and B: Netting the devil a soul. Plus once a freaking necromancer and his army of undead show up to save the town at the behest of a devil, those people are liable to lynch the mayor.

The idea to have him take an imp familiar is a good one. THAT should be his very first boon.

Dread Necros work of Cha, yeah?
You should have him sent to some wealthy old noblewoman's estate for the time of her life, in a Faust inversion :p

[Wavelab]

Well devils want souls. Necromancers want eternal life. That's a major conflict of interest. One of the boons should have him sacrifice eternal life if you really want to make him realize how bad devils can be.

I'd suggest leaving one of the boons unclaimed though. Nothing screws an epic character more than a deal he made 15 levels back.

[Telonius]

Oooh, yus. Every boon should net the devil a soul from *Someone*.


I count seven boons, and seven adventurers. :sabine:

[Slipperychicken]

Oooh, yus. Every boon should net the devil a soul from *Someone*.


Adventurers butcher NPCs by the dozen, pop a rope trick, and sleep like nothing happened. Suffice to say, the Devil better be getting more than seven souls out of this.

Maybe he could have them destroy some major good-aligned temples, and butcher/humiliate everyone there, including children. Especially children.

A contract is a pretty sweet Boon. The adventurers could be given a quota: bring the Devil X souls every month (I'm pretty sure there are soul-storing items) till their deaths. Miss a payment, and they resign their own souls to eternal suffering, but they can make it up with rapidly-increasing "interest". Particularly vile deeds, or ones which simply advance the Devils' interests count as a large number of souls. Creates an interesting dilemma there.

[Flickerdart]

If I were the devil, I'd wait. A favour from a 7th level PC, that's pretty boss. A favor from a legendary hero more powerful than the king of the land? That's considerably more boss.

I would not, however, ask him to do anything he'd resist. Too much trouble. Play on his evil tendencies - make it looks like the favour would be a good idea to do anyway, and then use the "you owe me one/two/seven" as leverage if the DN decides that whatever he's doing at the time is more important.

An annoying debt-collector is an enemy, but a useful adviser is a friend. Or at least that's what he'll think.

[Babale]

Fixed that for you. If he freely entered into a contract, it doesn't become null and void just because he's a free spirit who does as he pleases.
Exactly. He might not feel morally responsible for the contract, but when the devils send cultists after him, or one a pack of hunting Hellcats, or the Infernal equivalent of a Retriever, he's going to do what they say.

@Everyone, and spoilered because I know at least one member of my group goes on this site occasionally:

The Dread Necromancer actually hit 7 as part of the challenge that ended with the devil fight, meaning he gained Improved Familiar. I already told him that his familiar is gonna be an Imp who is there to watch him, and he agreed happily. So that's that.

Now, the main plotline, that the party has just stumbled across (PLEASE don't read this guys!) involves Lolth weakening the barriers of the Material plane to drag the Blood War (and ideally some representatives from the sides of Good, Law, and Chaos) into the Material plane so that the Drow can use the chaos to rise to the top of the food chain. Lolth has shared her plans with both the Arch-Devils and the biggest, baddest Demons, but she didn't tell either side that she told the other.

Now, if the players are ever in a position where they can shut off the Material Plane again, you can bet that the Devils are going to call in a favor, demand that Vrai shut of most of the planes... EXCEPT for Baator.

[Downysole]

This whole thing sounds really exciting. I am not surprised that you didn't have to use a boon to get an imp familiar into the mix.

It sounds like the best use for this guy from the Devil's perspective is as his hand on the material plane. If he wants to advance, he's going to want to use the DN to further his own agenda.

I think that as the DM, you should write out the Devil's plotline and some critical dates and activities and decide from time to time when the DN would be most useful to the furthering of the Devil's plot. Sort of like what you do when you have a war going on in Heroes of Battle.

[SowZ]

Further, a Devil could, if the party has enough muscle to refuse him, trade one or two of the boons up to a more powerful devil in exchange for using his power at enforcing the contract.

[Morithias]

I just realized something. If the necromancer is NE, the devil doesn't give a crap about making him do EVIL acts, what he wants to do is make him do LAWFUL acts.

You need 9 points of corruption, and 9 points of..whatever the lawful equivalent is called.

Just make him follow rules he doesn't like, swear loyalty to kings, and so on until he ranks up those lawful points.

Then when he dies, he goes to Baator, and BAM, his soul is the devil's.

[Steward]

I just realized something. If the necromancer is NE, the devil doesn't give a crap about making him do EVIL acts, what he wants to do is make him do LAWFUL acts.

You need 9 points of corruption, and 9 points of..whatever the lawful equivalent is called.

Obeisance!




Just make him follow rules he doesn't like, swear loyalty to kings, and so on until he ranks up those lawful points.

Then when he dies, he goes to Baator, and BAM, his soul is the devil's.

Bingo!

[Babale]

I just realized something. If the necromancer is NE, the devil doesn't give a crap about making him do EVIL acts, what he wants to do is make him do LAWFUL acts.

You need 9 points of corruption, and 9 points of..whatever the lawful equivalent is called.

Just make him follow rules he doesn't like, swear loyalty to kings, and so on until he ranks up those lawful points.

Then when he dies, he goes to Baator, and BAM, his soul is the devil's.

Well, the thing is, he isn't planning on dying. He's planning on Ascending (Which, obviously, is gonna be extremely difficult since the devils probably won't let him). But either way, he's going to be undead very, very soon.

[Steward]

In the Fiendish Codex 2, it's explained that devils often support mortals like that in their bids for power, in the hopes that they will inspire others towards the path of lawful evil. They're willing to give up access to a powerful mortal soul indefinitely, especially if that soul sets up a lawful evil kingdom (according to the rules, anyone who grows up in that society and becomes LE goes to Baator after they die, without any need for the conscious intervention of a devil). They could set up that kind of arrangement, inspiring the character to take over a village, city, or kingdom and turning into an LE society.

[Seffbasilisk]

Have him do at least one thing with no discernible consequences.

"Travel to the Mount of Roses. Near the quarry, on the left side is a red sandstone in the shape of an egg. Take that egg, and place it in the Y-shaped crevice on the top of the mount."

Never explain what it does.

[Iamyourking]

Have them give him a Squamagon as a reward for his service; it's strong enough to be a useful ally, will boost his spell power, and serves as a backup plan to get his soul. (Although I assume that the boon was with one to begin with, seeing as how the CR and motivation both fit)

Alternately, since he comes from a low power world, if he starts to get overly proud of his abilities send him to work in the Reanimators; nothing like having to work for the second most powerful necromancer in existence to teach him some humility (Admittedly, he'll probably be reporting to Malagon, but he tolerates insubordination even less than Lixer does). Service in the Blood War would be pointless, since he'd just get killed without accomplishing anything, but having to add a few thousand undead to the Prince's army would be good practice and the mindless toil would probably be enough to get a Courtier of Dis on board.

If he really impresses his overseers, see if the final boon can be something serious; Knowledge of the Damned would work well, that is assuming that he does something meritous enough to attract the Chancellor's attention.

[Fyermind]

I think early quests should take very little away from the main plotline:
1) Enforce a debt. This seems like a great moment where the relatively high level PCs come in to enforce expecting a challenging encounter only to see a very weak foe, maybe even a child with warlock abilities, and realize just how little the devil will pull punches to get what it wants.

2) The quest that never connects. A fairly simple quest that doesn't make sense, but the imp can't join him on because of some forbidance-like effect. Let it be a reminder that the devil knows more than he does.

3) Arm a cabal with skeletons to help them take over a small keep from beneath.

Later quests once the DN has gained more power should be more costly:
4) Uncover a (good) dragon posed as a human, and convince an order of paladins to exile/kill it.

5) Help Lolth tear open the plane by provide certain key ingredients to drow, this could also be like the second quest.

6) Seal the planes back up... partially

7) Save this one for later. Use it post-campaign proper to help the endebted devil become lord of the tenth: The Material Plane.

[Thomasinx]

In the Fiendish Codex 2, it's explained that devils often support mortals like that in their bids for power, in the hopes that they will inspire others towards the path of lawful evil. They're willing to give up access to a powerful mortal soul indefinitely, especially if that soul sets up a lawful evil kingdom (according to the rules, anyone who grows up in that society and becomes LE goes to Baator after they die, without any need for the conscious intervention of a devil). They could set up that kind of arrangement, inspiring the character to take over a village, city, or kingdom and turning into an LE society.

This. 100% this.

Only the devils on the bottom rung care about an individual soul. If the devil can use the player to turn a lawful neutral city/town into a lawful evil city/town, that's worth -way- more than 1 soul. (It's worth hundreds or thousands of souls over years...)

Another thing is that devils can backstab each other. Once the devil gets higher up, you could send the players off to sabotage -another- devil's plans to take over some city or whatnot, so that your devil can take over.

The seven boons aren't a way for the devil to punish the DN. Devils don't really care about inflicting pain... they want power. (and getting souls is usually the preferred way to get power...) These boons are a way for this devil to have an impact on this plane in very significant ways, gaining it more power.

I would suggest reading Fiendish Codex 2. It's a fun read, and it basically describes everything you want to know about devils.

[AntiTrust]

Well, the thing is, he isn't planning on dying. He's planning on Ascending (Which, obviously, is gonna be extremely difficult since the devils probably won't let him). But either way, he's going to be undead very, very soon.

Yeah, but if you read the very first paragraph of FC2 you hear a story about an imp corrupting a farmer's son into killing his step mother and her child. It's implied at the end that the imp will then hasten his trip to hell by getting him killed. The book makes mention of this again when people trade their souls for items, they get the item, the devil causes the guys death and then takes the items back to trade again. If the devil can get him to become lawful through obeisance points, he'll then quickly try to get him killed before he can have a change of heart or have a cleric cast atonement on him

[ryu]

Now notice how those were a low power imp and probably a pretty low tier devil to care about a single soul, and in the case of the second a likely mid to high tier magic item? They're low wrung. Not the sort to waste such a powerful piece of equipment for one soul. They look at him and think: ''Yeah I could have his soul by getting him killed, but that's inconsequential. Getting hundreds of souls if not more by his actions, and not particularly harming him so he's fine with doing this again? Now that sounds like a plan!''

[share and enjoy]

the boons should probably just be used when you want to delay something if you want to work on an encounter a little more than usual just through something to delay them make it interesting but simple so it'd probably be handy to keep some just in case.

boons should probably fall into 3 broad categories
1. Furthering the goals of hell so you're corrupting others, removing opposition from the enemies of hell that sort of thing seems like your overarching story can contribute here.

a) Furthering the goals of the devil he made the deal with, helping him rise the ranks in hell by weakening other devils, this seems like it would be easy to set up some of the 'simple' delaying scenarios maybe have him make another devil look bad by interfering with their plans. ( you could have him go to a town that's under threat where another devil is planning on making a deal with a mortal and either fix the problem before they get desperate enough to make the deal or kill them before they can make it extra points if you save get him so save a good character from corruption to embarrass another devil)

I- Corrupting the DN since he's already evil that makes it moving him towards lawful I usually think of devils as sort of enjoying the game of it so rather than forcing him to do lawful things put in him positions where it shows lawful as being the 'right' move vs neutrality make it appeal to the character so he decides that lawful is what they want.

[Bouregard]

Whatever you do, never give him the seventh task. Just stop after 6.

That is called torture... he want's to get out of his debt or he will face problems when he dies, but he can't as long as they won't give him another task, on the other hand it might be useful to the devil and his leaders, as they can use him if he is ever in a very good opportunity.

[Dairuga]

See, Devils think of one thing, and one thing mainly, when it comes to life.
Advancement.
Advancement is everything. Rising in the ranks is the ultimate reward for a devil, just as demotion is the worst punishment. And such, they seek to gain as much advancement as possible. Devils are rewarded when they manage to turn people into Lawful Evil, which is the main way of them to operate. They trick / Lure / Deceive / force people into making Lawful evil choices, and if they succeed, they get rewards.

(They only gain this reward when the subject -dies- however, which is, well, why devils often find underhand ways to ensure corrupted creatures dies along the way, often by freak accidents or such).

Here are the main points that Devils fight for. Most or all of devils are on buisniess regarding to one or more of these points:
Acquiring resources (primarily treasure, information, and
magic items) for later use.
• Assassinating, discrediting, or otherwise destroying inspirational
role models who move mortals to do good.
• Battling demons and their influence.
• Building a network of infernal allies that will later to be used
to accomplish one or more of the other goals detailed here.
• Buying or suborning souls.
• Corrupting a society so that it becomes lawful evil.
• Fighting rival devils for turf.
• Persecuting mortals who thwarted a previous plan, or the
descendants of same.

The fact is that Devils only really do offer two sorts of contracts, or deals. And all deals are made by letter, written and signed in blood. They don't do casual "Offers", as with the amount of beureucracy that actually happens down in Baator, it'd be surprising that these devils agreed to such a verbal contract. But still, you could re-fluff it, I suppose, so that the Pact Primeval also makes an impact upon Verbal contract. Perhaps the breaking of such an "oath", that is, the verbal contracts, causes the Necromancer's soul to be handed over as per a normal Feustian pact (or Pact Certain as it is called here).

(And mind you, if a character ever enters one of a Devil's pact, be it a Pact Certain or some other homemade pact, that is, if they ever offer up their soul willingly (here, by breaking the verbal contract) their allignment will immediately and irreversibly turn into Lawful evil, as the mere concious act of handing ones soul over is an irreversibly and intrinsically evil act).

So that would open up a lot of possibilities. Looking at the points above, a devil could for example have any such wants that he needs the PC's help with. Be it punishing someone that have tried to break an earlier contract (I.E. Killing them, so the devil can reap benefits, and in turn; both corrupting and making the Necromancer turn Lawful evil (Killing someone on the behalf of a devil, or by any order, is a very big, Lawful Evil act (At least, killing good people on behalf of evil people, as Paladins can kill near damn everything with the evil alignment without any repercussions)).

Now, see, the Truly sneaky part that you can do, if you wish to really have fun with this character, is to have the devil offer the character a Pact Insidious. A Pact insidious can last up to seven stages, and with him having seven boons, this is perfect. The seven boons on the human's side, at least, being here the seven acts this devil can demand from him. He does not have to offer a reward, but it would be a very, very efficient way of speeding the process along, and offering incentive for the evil character to -keep- doing the devil's work. Have the devil come and say "Even if it is outside schedule, due to your outstanding nature and way of fulfilling your end of the bargain, here, have a free feat. We can give another, if you continue to prove useful", etc, etc, a rose by any other name is just as sweet.

Keep in mind, however, to -never- use the word pact. A pact insidious does not exactly require to be presented as a pact. Merely a letter containing instructions, and it needs to carry the order to not be revealed to anyone. Outside of that, it can be shaped as any coherent form or phrase that you want. If the player hears the word "Pact", they will most likely shun it like the plague, knowing what it will bring. This "Pact" is the devil's way of making mortals believe they can dance with the devil and escape unharmed, by unofficially gaining boons and not signing their soul away.

You can, however, use the very same dance to make the players do as you wish. Say that they will offer a contract, a deal, a Pact Insidious, and explain it like that. That the player does not offer his soul or anything like that, he is not "That kind of devil". This devil is far beyond those ancient contracts. No need to sign in blood, no need for offering souls, or praying to who-knows-whose-name, no, no. That's old and dusty. We are looking new here. You go and do this for me, and I'll give you a reward, simple as that. Act for an act, badabing, badaboom. Simple as that. You tell me you finished the act, you get reward. I give you a new act to do, and you get a new reward! It's like a job, with a higher-paying boss."

In short, a Pact insidious is written notices, that the Character will receive (The Devil's Mail can, I suppose, be devilered by smaller imps or perhaps hellish portals, even, leaving them to just mysteriously appear, addressed to the necromancer).
A pact Insidious does not say that it is a pact. It does not take the character's soul, or make him swear allegiance to any of the infernal lords.
A pact insidious, however, -does- prevent the character from disclosing any information of these tasks given, or letters recieved, to anyone else.

A Pact Insidious, as stated, is given in usually 2-7 steps, each step giving the mortal a small, devilish boon. These boons can be, say.. any free feat they want after three steps have been peformed, one point in a cross-class skill per step they perform, one free spell slot of any level per three tasks done, etc, etc. These acts, however, require the mortal to perform Lawful Evil acts. (As a DM that deals wtih Devils, should be keeping track of the general direction of acts that your players are doing. As the goal of Devils are usually to drive the character towards Lawful Evil, which is rather pointless if the DM has an aversion to changing their player's alignments)

Any missed steps (That is, the player refusing to do the next step, or breaks the contract by revealing the information to party members or clerics that wish to have him seek atonement), will cause the player to lose any benefit gained by a Pact Insidious. After a player gets 1-2 free feats, he will start to think veeeeery hard if he wants to lose them, or keep on being evil.

An important thing to note about Pact Insidious is that it has to state that the recipient in no form or way can share the information with anyone else. If someone earns the information / gains knowledge of what the tasks are, or the reason why the rogue is doing certain tasks, he will lose all benefits, as stated. This clause is mainly for Devils to make sure the character does not tell the local priest, and in turn receives the atonement spell.
While a Pact Insidious might not directly state that they claim a mortal's soul, by the end of this pact, the mortal will more than likely have accumulated far more than nine Obeisance points, as well as Corruption points (Which is basically what damns a soul in the nine hells, on the Lawful side and Evil side respectively).

As stated in the Fiendish Codex

For game purposes, each
act of evil that a PC commits adds to his corruption rating.
Any lawful character who dies with a corruption rating of
9 or higher goes to Baator, no matter how many orphans he
rescued or minions of evil he vanquished in life.


And as such; each Evil character that dies with an Obeisance rating of higher than 9 is automatically sent to Baator as well.

Murder, here, adds 5 Corruption points, meaning that two murders is enough to eternally send someone to Baator, no matter how much of a saint he / she is. Betraying friends / allies is worth 2 points, inflicting cruel torture is worth 4 points, and desecrating temples / holy places, as well as stealing from the needy is worth 2 Corruption points each, to sum up the most relevant ones.

Obeisance works much the same as Corruption, except it pushes people towards the Lawful scale of things. You can take that into account if you are going to slowly push the Necromancer towards the lawful side of life. Punishing an underling is worth 2 points (The Devil could assign the rogue with a free-willed Imp familiar, to "oversee" him, and annoy him, and if he is punished... well, 2 points each time), quietly accepting legal judgement made against you is 2 points (If someone deems him to something, and he grits his teeth and bares it (Hey, against devils, he might silently accept it) ) is worth 2 points, Aiding a superior to your own detriment is worth 3 points, obeying a leader you do not respect is worth 4 points, and finally, performing a "Lawful" execution is worth 5 obeisance points.


You could make it so that the last of the "Boons" wanted is to have him perform a lawful execution, in all regards. Have a small village set up, with a simple prisoner. He is to have his head chopped off for his crimes. He have been given his dues, he has gotten his last meals, etc, etc, and is driven to the block with a small crowd. There, the character is to finish the act by chopping the character's head off. Evil, in all regards, as the player will most likely know, but also Lawful. Very, very lawful.


Once he starts doing acts and waved free feats in his face, you should possibly point out that by obeying the Devil's orders are lawful of nature, and obeying them will slowly drive him towards the lawful side of life. Or you can avoid it, as that is what the Devil all hopes for. That the poor sucker doesn't realize. This, however, if done wrong, can be infurating, and should be handled with care.

If a simple devil can, if the characters ever get killed, turn some of the strongest warriors around into Baator-bound souls, then that Devil will find his way -very-, -very- high up on the promotional ladder, and will most likely gain perhaps even two or even three rises in rank. Or perhaps even more, depending on who or how many of the party the devils are corrupting.

You say that the character does not plan on Dying. Well, no one actually does, but as a DM, are you going to make him immune to dying? No dice rolling higher than his -10 mark, never letting them face overpowering encounters, etc, etc? He wants to ascend, but the question is if you should just let him do that. Granted, the players wish for fun is above all else, but if you already have his end planned out for him, it would leave little risk for making him do such acts of Lawful Evil, and he would only be getting free boons of no Drawbacks. Do keep in mind that the book explicitly states that if you wish to offer such trades, there should also be a significant drawback should the character accept such a trade, or follow trough with a pact. The drawback here, being the chance of death and the possible inability to be ressurected.

At least, there you have my two coppers. Or silvers, perhaps, for those that read this far. I hope this have been of some modicum of help, at least.

[Getsugaru]

Might I suggest that you force on him the vile feat Evil Brand? Maybe even reverse its effect when dealing with anyone with X ranks in Knowledge (The Planes)?

[Iamyourking]

Along those lines, offer him Soulsworn and Devotee of Darkness; a wish can go a long way and the only thing he loses from the latter is that his patron can more easily kill him if he wants. (And considering that it is impossible to devote yourself to anybody who isn't a Courtier, they won't have much difficulty doing so anyway)

[AntiTrust]

Now notice how those were a low power imp and probably a pretty low tier devil to care about a single soul, and in the case of the second a likely mid to high tier magic item? They're low wrung. Not the sort to waste such a powerful piece of equipment for one soul. They look at him and think: ''Yeah I could have his soul by getting him killed, but that's inconsequential. Getting hundreds of souls if not more by his actions, and not particularly harming him so he's fine with doing this again? Now that sounds like a plan!''

That's also a larger scale plan. FC2 says that people who become evil because the town's alignment tends towards evil will automatically go to hell if the towns alignment was evil because of a devil's influence. If the DN wants to run a town or control a kingdom and sets out laws and edicts with the help of devils the devil that corrupted him will get every soul from that town generation after generation

[Yahzi]

Have him do at least one thing with no discernible consequences...

Never explain what it does.
This!

Also, am I the only one who sees this? Obviously the very first boon is... hand over his share of the treasure from the Wizard's tower!

Wait till the party divvys up the loot. Then have the devil appear. "Say... it's my birthday... I'd like a present..."