Demon Figurines--what to do about them?

[Chester]

Long story short:

While I was DMing, party member finds two small ivory demon figurines / statuettes. I haven't decided what their powers are yet.

Obvious answer: they're figurines of wondrous power, but I'm not sold on that idea.

What powers / abilities would you grant them? Party is 12th level. I'm not looking for anything overwhelming, just something fun, even if it's a "one and done" type ability.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[herrhauptmann]

Petrified demons with Shrink Item cast on them?

Break the spells and gain a demons services just one time. (Or they attack the party. Maybe the stronger will push the weaker to attack, but kill the weaker and the stronger will offer one service to save his life.)

[Inevitability]

Doesn't one of the Fiendish Codexes have suggestions on what happens when a devil/demon dies, one of which is the fiend shrinking to the size of a hand and then turning to stone? Maybe those statues are exactly that; once-destroyed demons who now lay dormant.

Maybe you can let the PC's one the captured demon's spell-like abilities, but at a cost (ability drain, alignment change, slowly releasing said demon, having the statue possess you while you sleep)

Also, maybe a group of cultists has caught word of this and now wants to steal the statuettes? You could even combine it with the above idea. The PC's can use the spell-likes when they want, but when they do? A group of cultists becomes aware of their location.

[atemu1234]

Make them the remains of two dead, demonic proxies for a demigod. I'd the players bring them back by contacting their deity, they get a boon of some sort.

[Solaris]

Doesn't one of the Fiendish Codexes have suggestions on what happens when a devil/demon dies, one of which is the fiend shrinking to the size of a hand and then turning to stone? Maybe those statues are exactly that; once-destroyed demons who now lay dormant.

Maybe you can let the PC's one the captured demon's spell-like abilities, but at a cost (ability drain, alignment change, slowly releasing said demon, having the statue possess you while you sleep)

Also, maybe a group of cultists has caught word of this and now wants to steal the statuettes? You could even combine it with the above idea. The PC's can use the spell-likes when they want, but when they do? A group of cultists becomes aware of their location.

I like the idea of the statuette letting them use a demon's spell-like abilities. Perhaps the item deals 1 point of mental ability damage to the PC each time an ability is used, storing the points of damage until the statuette has enough to restore itself to its scores when it was alive (perhaps using a variant of the rules for intelligent magic items) ... and from there, it seeks a new body to possess. I think I saw rules in one of the Fiendish Codexes for a demon to transform a possessed victim into its Prime Material Plane body.

[Chester]

I like the idea of the statuette letting them use a demon's spell-like abilities. Perhaps the item deals 1 point of mental ability damage to the PC each time an ability is used, storing the points of damage until the statuette has enough to restore itself to its scores when it was alive (perhaps using a variant of the rules for intelligent magic items) ... and from there, it seeks a new body to possess. I think I saw rules in one of the Fiendish Codexes for a demon to transform a possessed victim into its Prime Material Plane body.

I assume said ability drain cannot ever be restored?

[(Un)Inspired]

Licking them causes a player to switch sexes.

[atemu1234]

Licking them causes a player to switch sexes.

Is there a reason for this one?

[Blackhawk748]

Is there a reason for this one?

Its funny?

Otherwise i second the ability damage to use an SLA

[Glimbur]

I assume said ability drain cannot ever be restored?

You want to make it tempting for the PC's to use, so I'd suggest making it regular ability damage. Or maybe ability burn, which is damage that has to heal naturally. Then it's non-trivial but not too expensive... which will lead to them resurrecting the demons :smallbiggrin:

[herrhauptmann]

If the players need the demons in statue form to use the abilities, how about this:
The ability damage is random, roll a d6 to see which stat gets used. Then a dice for the amount of damage.
But, keep track of how many points of each stat the players lose, because the demon is taking their stats for itself and will revive when all its stats are restored.
Say the statue is a Babau, it needs to get the following stats:
21 points of Str damage, 12 Dex, 20 Con, 14 Int, 13 Wis, and 16 Cha.
But there's more. Since the PC's are unlikely to hit those numbers at once, it'll probably be evenly distributed, with a 20-24 in each stat. So when the Babau revives, it will have some elevated stats, so noticeably higher dex, int, and wisdom. Doesn't sound like much, but what about a Balor with mid30s in each stat?
It may be that for the pacing of the game, and to keep the demons relevant enemies when they awaken, you'll start them with 10 in each stat, or roll a larger dice to hit that point sooner. Meaning you'll only need 11 more points of str, 2 dex, 10 con, etc. Perhaps higher level abilities cause higher ability damage. Like a babau's Darkness is a d2; but to use its dispel magic is a d4, or Summon Babau is a d8.

Further ideas:
The statues can be sold easily if they haven't been used. But using them makes them cursed, and the owners don't want to get rid of them. Perhaps the owner gets a passive benefit every day which may cause some ability damage (but can be resisted with a successful DM rolled save, roll at dawn). So once the PCs use the statues, there's essentially a countdown until the statues wake of their own accord.
This is important because while a 12th level party may laugh at waking a Babau, even a 20th level party would worry about a Balor randomly appearing.

[Solaris]

I assume said ability drain cannot ever be restored?

No, because then the player would never use it. Ability damage is what I meant, and ability damage is what I said. With something like this, you don't want them to avoid using the statuette - you want 'em to accidentally feed as much to the demon as possible, preferably awakening it at a really inopportune time.
Worse, once they realize what it is, they might sell it - letting the statuette take over the hapless merchant who fails his Ego check against the statuette, progressing into full-on demonic possession, and then about four-five days later after some failed saves (preferably while the party tries to track the merchant down/figure out who's doing the assorted acts of demonic debauchery and evil)... there's a brand-spanky-new demon running around the party's home town.

[Crake]

How about this, the statues are possessed by fiends (i like to use a mix between the fiend folio's fiend of possession, and the fiendish possession rules in fiendish codex 1, namely that fiends don't leave behind a body when possessing, I always thought that was dumb, but still allowing the fiends all the options in the fiendish codex) but the fiends were cursed to not be able to return to their normal form, meaning they can only exert influence while possessing things. They were then forced into these statuettes, and could not leave (because of their curse) but could move to another host upon contact. Perhaps they weren't immediately aware that their statuettes had been discovered, possibly because they went dormant due to it being such a long time, but maybe from now on, have whoever handles the statuettes roll a will save vs possession until both of the demons have moved into a new host. That's when the real game starts.

[RoboEmperor]

Cost: Ability drain or level drain until a restoration is cast. I vote level drain because if you don't get it treated a.s.a.p. you need to risk a fortitude save
Effect: Level 9-ish spell
1. Limited form of wish. For example, this wish can only replicate blasting spells of level 8 or lower, so at best it's a horrid wilting at the cost of a negative level, or a polar ray, or a delayed blast fireball, etc. Maybe just for kicks have a permanent energy substitution (fire) added to it
2. Gate demons only for a fixed duration, like 5 rounds, and attacks party members too unless they're protected from evil.
3. Summon an invincible mob of 1hd skeletons for 5 rounds using mob rules, so basically it's just a summon 1 creature.
4. Add 1d6 (fire) to anything, and it can't be resisted since it's hellfire. If too weak make it 2d6.
5. Summon an invincible mob of lesser demons for 5 rounds using mob rules
6. 4d6 damage to everything in the room for 10 rounds, at which point whole party shifts focus from fighting to trying to stay alive.

Theme is hellish right? And awe inspiring, so it gotta be something flashy and huge. I like #6 best. Imagine, entire room turning red, floor erupting in hell fire, and everything becomes wavy from the intense heat while your party is like "Oh crap!". Fluff wise, the item is extremely painful so will be used only as last resort.

[Chester]

If the players need the demons in statue form to use the abilities, how about this:
The ability damage is random, roll a d6 to see which stat gets used. Then a dice for the amount of damage.
But, keep track of how many points of each stat the players lose, because the demon is taking their stats for itself and will revive when all its stats are restored.
Say the statue is a Babau, it needs to get the following stats:
21 points of Str damage, 12 Dex, 20 Con, 14 Int, 13 Wis, and 16 Cha.
But there's more. Since the PC's are unlikely to hit those numbers at once, it'll probably be evenly distributed, with a 20-24 in each stat. So when the Babau revives, it will have some elevated stats, so noticeably higher dex, int, and wisdom. Doesn't sound like much, but what about a Balor with mid30s in each stat?
It may be that for the pacing of the game, and to keep the demons relevant enemies when they awaken, you'll start them with 10 in each stat, or roll a larger dice to hit that point sooner. Meaning you'll only need 11 more points of str, 2 dex, 10 con, etc. Perhaps higher level abilities cause higher ability damage. Like a babau's Darkness is a d2; but to use its dispel magic is a d4, or Summon Babau is a d8.

Further ideas:
The statues can be sold easily if they haven't been used. But using them makes them cursed, and the owners don't want to get rid of them. Perhaps the owner gets a passive benefit every day which may cause some ability damage (but can be resisted with a successful DM rolled save, roll at dawn). So once the PCs use the statues, there's essentially a countdown until the statues wake of their own accord.
This is important because while a 12th level party may laugh at waking a Babau, even a 20th level party would worry about a Balor randomly appearing.


How about this, the statues are possessed by fiends (i like to use a mix between the fiend folio's fiend of possession, and the fiendish possession rules in fiendish codex 1, namely that fiends don't leave behind a body when possessing, I always thought that was dumb, but still allowing the fiends all the options in the fiendish codex) but the fiends were cursed to not be able to return to their normal form, meaning they can only exert influence while possessing things. They were then forced into these statuettes, and could not leave (because of their curse) but could move to another host upon contact. Perhaps they weren't immediately aware that their statuettes had been discovered, possibly because they went dormant due to it being such a long time, but maybe from now on, have whoever handles the statuettes roll a will save vs possession until both of the demons have moved into a new host. That's when the real game starts.

I like a combination of these. Using the abilities restores demons' stats; when each stat has reached at least the minimum, the demon is free to possess the owner.

Our rogue took the statues and tried to hide them from the rest of the party....the flavor is already there!

Question: how much would an identify spell reveal? I'd like them to know the powers of the items, but would they also learn about the demon trapped inside?

[(Un)Inspired]

Is there a reason for this one?

Not everything has to be about combat.

[Honest Tiefling]

Maybe they are just figurines. A cult might have made them to adorn shrines and the like. They got imbued with magical power because of that, and can sloooooowly turn areas unholy.

Or a wizard made them and thought that making them look like demons made them scary and helped him remember which is which. The one shaped like the succubus probably doesn't cast fireball.

Or they are bait. A CG entity made them to see who would use them. Using them summons or alerts this entity who drops in to see if the person is up to no good or not. If the party is goodish/good, the entity understands but asks them to hide them near a suspected site of cult activity without being seen in return for a favor/boon.

[Crake]

I like a combination of these. Using the abilities restores demons' stats; when each stat has reached at least the minimum, the demon is free to possess the owner.

Our rogue took the statues and tried to hide them from the rest of the party....the flavor is already there!

Question: how much would an identify spell reveal? I'd like them to know the powers of the items, but would they also learn about the demon trapped inside?

Well, i would treat them as cursed items. Identify has a 1% chance per caster level to identify, if they get lucky, then so be it, maybe they might still use it in dire circumstances, or who knows, maybe even try to contact the demon inside and offer it freedom via some hapless soul in exchange for some kind of deal.

So I would run it like this: Identify reveals the fact that the item has multiple abilities that have some associated cost (remember, ability drain sucks, so make sure the abilities are worth it. The better the abilities, the more likely they are to use it despite the cost, especially if they have some way to eventually restore it)

If they succeed on the 1% chance per caster level to find out that they're cursed then simply say the item feeds their ability drain to a demon trapped within. Nothing more, nothing less. The fact that the demon can break out and possess something else isn't part of the item, that's the demon doing that, so identify wouldn't reveal that. It's up to the players to decide what to do with the information that they're feeding a demon trapped within.