Cleric of Loki advice

[Decado]

Looking for some advice on the pranks of tricks a good Gnomish cleric of Loki might play on various folks and party members. Tricks would wouldn't require much in the way of investment (feats/skills etc) but would instead be instructional and useful as possible. Something an initiate might pull off.

Loki is portrayed as a trickster/prankster God rather than a scheming evil dude.

Any ideas of possible character motivations would also be welcome.

[Blackjackg]

The good side of mischief is that it challenges some of our preconceived notions and helps us adapt to new situations. A beneficent cleric of Loki would probably try to remind his companions of a few basic principles: Deceivers are everywhere, so don't be too trusting; Be prepared for the unexpected; Don't take life too seriously.

Simple pranks might include borrowing or hiding a magic item that a fellow character has been relying on too much (although not in a critical moment) to remind them not to be inflexible in their strategy; setting up simple cons to relieve them of excess gold and remind them not to trust a deal that seems too good to be true; putting harmless traps and snares around (e.g., bucket of water on top of the door) to remind them to be vigilant.

[Red Fel]

As a trickster/prankster, Loki would be more CN than CE. That's an important distinction, I think. As a cleric of Loki, if your goal is more mischief than malice, go with a CN mentality.

What does that mean? Well, first off, avoid the "chaotic selfish" or "chaotic nutjob" tropes commonly associated with CN. It's not helpful and it's not nearly complex enough to make a character interesting. I would suggest "constructive chaos" - as Blackjack suggests, chaos designed to knock people out of complacency, to keep people constantly improving. Remember two concepts of the chaotic alignment.

1: Freedom. The same way that Law means order, structure, and stability, Chaos means freedom and self-determination. A Chaotic individual is a ruthless indivualist; CN, doubly so. Make the world your canvas, and self-expression your singular aim. Applaud and encourage those who would renounce tradition and embrace their true selves, even if that means turning one's back on the world - especially if it means that. Being Chaotic means being free, unrestricted, blissfully liberated of all those annoying rules and regulations.

When faced with Law, a Chaotic individual - particularly a mischievous one - is likely to respond with comparable acts of rebellion. The more stringent the rules, the more pronounced the reaction. If asked to be serious, he will make faces as soon as backs are turned. If asked to wear formal dress, he will arrive in frilly, lacy gowns, or scanty tribal wear - things which are technically formal (in context), but nonetheless inappropriate. If he is ordered to remain sober, he will instead provide alcohol to the constabulary. Whenever it is demanded that he act in a way contrary to his being, he will do so in a way contrary to the instruction's intent.

2: Growth. Law is about structure, but it is also prone to stagnation. The great thing about Chaos is that it forces one to grow, to change, to evolve and adapt. A truly Chaotic cleric of a truly Chaotic deity encourages this growth in others, whether they like it or not. This may involve small things, like hiding the wizard's spellbook or the rogue's knives; larger things, like taking the paladin to a brothel or tricking the monk into a barroom brawl; or major things, like hiding a whoopie cushion on the king's throne. The bigger the target, the bigger the ego, and the more they need to be rattled out of their comfort zone. Only when people are confronted with their own limitations can they grow beyond them.

Following these two tenets, then, I think a Cleric of Loki would be engaged, on a near-daily basis, in various forms of prankster mischief. Mostly minor, and almost never out of malice, but always serving the twin aims of freedom and growth. The cleric should not be the type to lord his victorious pranks over others - that's CE, not CN - the pranks are their own reward, and they are successful when the victim learns and grows.

But that's just one evil overlord's opinion.

Now, before I can give you more specific suggestions on pranks themselves - and I would avoid pranking the party too often, in favor of pranking NPCs - I have to know the party's composition.

Because a good prank should be a targeted, precise, artistic action, not a simple la-dee-dah that anyone can pull off. For a prank to be glorious, it has to matter to the victim, not just to be funny in general. So who will your cleric be victimizing - I mean, adventuring with?

[Decado]

Good responses - many thanks.

I need to re-iterate the character will be of good alignment, most likely CG with a leaning towards NG. Most likely tricks and pranks will be there to illustrate and educate rather than to cause actual chaos. Also to outwit and out-trick those who would be malicious in their tricks and pranks (a hustler preying on the poor or simple, a conman preying on the elderly etc...).

He will have access to arcane Illusion magic as well to help.

[Telonius]

Some of the source material on Loki show him (more or less) cleaning up the messes of some of the other gods. When they tried to get things through brute force and that didn't work, they would often turn to Loki to get what they wanted through trickery. You could emphasize that aspect of "cleaning up after the idiots in charge" when you're thinking about how your character relates to his deity.

[SethoMarkus]

I need to re-iterate the character will be of good alignment, most likely CG with a leaning towards NG. Most likely tricks and pranks will be there to illustrate and educate rather than to cause actual chaos. Also to outwit and out-trick those who would be malicious in their tricks and pranks (a hustler preying on the poor or simple, a conman preying on the elderly etc...).

I don't see any suggestions above that really are at conflict with those goals. If he is meant as a follower of Loki, he most definitely does want to promote and cause Chaos. That is not to say that he wants to promote anarchy, however. I would stick to tricks that inconvenience others without harming them. Maybe a local farmer drives his oxen too hard in the fields and leaves them exhausted at the end of the day, feeding them too little to fully recover before starting over the next day. So, the Cleric of Loki places an illusion over the oxen to make them appear ill or missing, forcing the farmer to engage in the hard, back-breaking labor himself. Then, once the farmer learns the lesson of hard work and respect for the animals that he so relies on, the Cleric returns the oxen.

I would play it that the Cleric dislikes authority figures that take advantage of their position and authority; from the tyrant dictator (LE) that lords over his subjects to the uptight and self-righteous paladin (LG), the Cleric of Loki attempts to teach and spread lessons humility, mutual respect, equality, freedom, growth, pleasure/fun, and an enjoyment of the simple things in life. He doesn't oppose the town guard because they are "The Law", but because they are corrupt and biased in who they target, letting the merchant over-charge for his wares but imprisoning the poor beggar who steals a piece of bread to feed his children.

Also, he just likes a good laugh sometimes.

[Red Fel]

It sounds like you have a pretty solid idea of your character's goals - pranks and mischief that teach valuable lessons. You can look to any number of storybook or mythological tricksters for the Oldest In The Book examples, but you seem to have it.

Just remember two things.

1. Pranks have diminishing returns. Pulling the prank you described on the farmer with his oxen is a wonderful lesson. Pulling it several times is simply abusive, and turns any lesson on morality into a grudge. As a rule, I would avoid pranking one target more than once, or, for a particularly massive prank, I would avoid more than one prank per village/town.

2. Allies should be handled with kid gloves. Pranks on allies should be rare, if done at all; if you do pull one, make sure it won't cause any hard feelings or complications during an adventure. Pranks in the middle of a dungeon are right out. Pranks that get you all sent to jail are in bad form.

Pranking the party paladin is perfunctory. (Needed a p-word.)

[Bullet06320]

I have a longtime character I have played that is among other things a highlevel cleric of loki

sum of our better fun has been as follows:

convince a tribe of goblins to go work for a group of Wizards, to learn from them, and live as men do. the wizards ended up with a goblin tribe as followers.

built a portal on the elemental plane of water on one end, and the other end was in a basement in Zhentil Keep, left it open, caused a minor flood

making scarecrow golems and replacing the scarcrows in random farmers fields. (incidently we have an army of 10k scarecrows in a demiplane as reserves)

I enjoy teleporting behind elaith craulnober and scaring the crap out of him when I do. ( a lot of fun roleplaying to get into his confidence)

casting an alarm spell and "forgetting" to key it to a random party member

fun with illuisons, u can make anything look anything

I go more for the thieving aspect, but have tons of fun with the triscker aspect too