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View Full Version : Help Building a Heretic of Ilmater



Jeff the Green
2013-11-02, 01:10 AM
I've come up with an interesting idea for a Forgotten Realms character that I'd like to flesh out, but I'd like some advice on how to do it.

The back story is that he was a generic follower of Ilmater until the Time of Troubles when he was abducted by Loviatans and tortured nearly to death by Baneites. He was then possessed by the Broken God's spirit (as per his ability in Faiths and Avatars) and broke his shackles, had his grievous wounds healed, and slew his torturers with a series of enervation and harm spells before escaping with his fellow victims.

Most would take this experience only as a great mercy, but he found not only that experiencing the torture brought him closer to his god, but that harming his tormenters did the same and led to them begging Ilmater for mercy—surely a sign that through their torment they had been saved. Since then he's been a tireless crusader for the redemptive power of pain, and also his responsibility to bring this redemption to the masses. In extreme cases this redemptive pain must be extended past death, so raising the unrepentant as undead is mandatory. Think a sadistic Mother Teresa.

So here's what I've got so far.

He'll be a human cleric. (I don't see him as a warrior, so probably cloistered.)
With Heretic of the FaithPoF he can be Lawful Evil and pick up the Deathbound domainSC.
He'll also get the Suffering domainSC, which he will cast spontaneouslyPHBII.
He's quite certain he's not evil, so Veil of CyricCoS:W and Touch of BenevolenceLoD are appropriate as well.
Blasphemous IncantationEoE to replace Rebuke Undead is also appropriate.
If the DM is lenient enough, replace Lore with poison use as the Drow bard ACF.


That takes up his flaws and human bonus feats. If the DM is lenient enough to waive the non-lawful requirements, he'll probably go into Divine Wanderer for two levels and then into Fleshwarper.

I'm not terribly familiar with evil characters, so I'm not sure what other feats might be useful or what other prestige classes might fit. I'd love to hear ideas for how to expand on this.

Captnq
2013-11-02, 08:06 AM
I'm having a hard time seeing where the guy is evil.

I hunt down and torture the wicked to make them pay for their crimes until them are redeemed then I let them go. Is he doing this to jay walkers? Where's the evil?

LN, maybe, LE? Not quite there as you explain him.

Jeff the Green
2013-11-02, 08:14 AM
I'm having a hard time seeing where the guy is evil.

I hunt down and torture the wicked to make them pay for their crimes until them are redeemed then I let them go. Is he doing this to jay walkers? Where's the evil?

LN, maybe, LE? Not quite there as you explain him.

He's not just doing this to the truly evil. He's of the opinion that everyone (particularly non-Ilmaterites) is a sinner and so inflicts his redemptive pain on everyone he has the opportunity to. (He's not stupid about it, though, so most people escape his ministrations.)

Also, torture is evil regardless of motive or victim. It also doesn't actually redeem anyone.

Bonzai
2013-11-02, 09:53 AM
I like it! A fanatic and deranged worshipper of the benevolent god of suffering. Sounds like great role play. Only issue I can see is the rest of the party getting uncomfortable with it. Ruthlessly torturing your victims and fending off your companions efforts to put an end to it's misery, while passionately screaming "Nooo! I must save him!" and then twisting the knife even deeper. Yeah... could cause some friction with some individuals.

One of my favorite characters that I ever made was a Hexblade who was a Heretical worshiper of Beshaba. To him, Tymora was the evil goddess, for her blessings are fickle and lead men to complacency and weakness. Besheba was the truly benevolent deity, willing to make the hard choices and gift mankind with suffering and ill fortune. With these gifts, mankind has the opportunity to over come adversity, strive, grow, and truly find value in life. Therefore bad fortune should be seen as a gift, and embraced as an opportunity to better yourself. Needless to say, the orthodoxy of the church of Besheba hated him, as they have quite a racket of extorting bribes from people to avoid Besheba's attention. He interferes with their business, but as a hexblade he is obviously favored by the goddess for some reason, so they reluctantly let him be..... for now.

Psyren
2013-11-02, 11:05 AM
I'm having a hard time seeing where the guy is evil.

I hunt down and torture the wicked to make them pay for their crimes until them are redeemed then I let them go. Is he doing this to jay walkers? Where's the evil?

You're kidding, right?

He's torturing people. Regardless of his targets' alignment, that's evil. Also, redemption through torture is not redemption.

Jeff the Green
2013-11-03, 04:12 AM
You're kidding, right?

He's torturing people. Regardless of his targets' alignment, that's evil. Also, redemption through torture is not redemption.

Yeah, he's definitely evil. He does help those he judges to be redeemed (particularly the poor and sick, who suffer constantly), and gladly takes their suffering onto himself, but only enough to have the Touch of Benevolence feat.

But really, I'm looking for more advice on how to improve him. I don't know what other feats to give him because I've never played this sort of pure-caster cleric before (with the exception of a DMM Quicken divine Anima Mage, which is a different beast entirely).