Asking Pazuzu for Help

[Laurellien]

Some background:

During a particularly nasty fight near the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, our heroes were injured by several poisoned arrows fired by Olman archers. Everyone survived, but the wildshaped druid took enough constitution damage that when he leaves wildshape, he will die.

His wildshape use for the current day and the next day will run out 1 hour before the party cleric can finish preparing lesser restoration, and there is only enough bear's endurance in the party to give him an extra 25 minutes. The situation appears hopeless.

However, upon casting their minds over their knowledge of religion and the planes, one party member recalled the demon prince Pazuzu and his habit of granting wishes to those who entreat him.

The druid intends to have bear's endurance cast upon him, then revert to human form. He will then invoke the name Pazuzu and ask for aid.

So, if the character asks for aid in this way (it's the first time), how would you anticipate Pazuzu providing it? Would he be sinister in providing aid to a true neutral druid (who will become CN because of accepting his aid)?

[Crake]

Hmm... if you ask me... I would have him solve it by letting a demon possess him, and be an ally, granting the player +4 constitution. Of course, he wouldn't say that the player was going to be possessed, and instead say that he would give the player +4 constitution as a "blessing" but in turn, the player must perform some evil acts in his name. This has a twofold corruption process. The player will be obligated to perform evil for pazuzu, lest he incur the demon lord's wrath, and the player will also be possessed, meaning Pazuzu holds leverage over him, and the possessing fiend can slowly corrupt the player over time, or if that proves to be impossible, then simply start transforming the player, allowing the demon to take full control of the player's body, have all his abilities, and also those of his demonic form.

For more information about possession, and for much of what I said above to make sense, please refer to fiendish codex I: hordes of the abyss, or fiend folio's fiend of possession. I personally like to use a bit of a mix between the two, using FC's abilities and CR adjustment over FF's class progression and abilities, but use FF's possession mechanic, where you don't leave a vulnerable body behind.

[wizardpants]

Man, a Demon-Druid sounds really cool. I'm now going to have to work one into a game.

On a more related note, you should always think of demons that make pacts as particularly shrewd businessmen. Really: Crazy Pazuzu's Honda Dealership! Imagine something like it: this way, you get a better mindset for how their going to go about judging if a pact is worth it or not.

Things to consider on Pazuzu's part:
- Will helping this druid harm me in any way, now or in the future?
- How much of my resources will it take to fulfill this wish?
- Is my resource setback temporary or permanent?
- Is the party evil? If not, are the susceptible to corruption?
- Will the party become worshipers? If not, will they at least continue to make deals with me in the future?

Anyways, you get the picture. IMO, he knows that the druid will die without his aid, so his price will be pretty steep. Assuming your party in question is level 5ish, that's low enough to consider turning them to the dark side; Crake's possession idea is spot on. On the other hand, if your party's 10+, Pazuzu might want a more immediate answer. For instance, another life (or two) in return for the one he's about to save. Forcing the party to choose between ritually sacrificing two innocents or letting the druid die is a pretty heavy thing. You could always just have him demand a magic item or something, but that's pretty lame and would have any lasting evil consequences for the party.

[Laurellien]

Hmm, I like these ideas. Thanks :redcloak:

I don't necessarily want to get into possession at this point, as a slow and forced character destruction would probably not prove too fun for the player.

I suppose that I could use this as a plot hook for a future adventure where there is a cult to disrupt or an enemy to kill (say Porphyry House Horror from Dungeon Magazine). I could well see Pazuzu as a Don Corleone figure providing help now for the promise of future service.

"Some day, and that day may yet never come, I’m going to call upon you to do a service for me - there's a little problem I need taking care of not too far from where you're going. She's a bad person into all kinds of bad stuff - demon worship, drugs, murder; but until that day, accept this healing as a gift, and don’t be shy about recommending my help to others in similar need."

[wizardpants]

That sounds good, Laurellien.

I would also reccomend branding the Druid with a mark of Pazuzu that makes him count as evil when scanned. Play this off as an inconvenience, but later when you have Pazuzu step forward to claim his favour it can act as a Cursey-Geas sort of thing. This way, not only will this whole ordeal leave an ominous undertone that the party will slowly forget about as they get used to hiding the mark (and Crazy Pazuzu's Hondas will get some free advertising), but the favour itself can have two resolutions - Follow through on it and do a deed for the demon lord, OR remove his Curse-Geas and escape before he sics like 30 vrocks on you.

Giving the party the opt out is only really important if you have a paladin in the party or if you're worried about the party being uncomfortable committing acts of evil.

[Crake]

Hmm, I like these ideas. Thanks :redcloak:

I don't necessarily want to get into possession at this point, as a slow and forced character destruction would probably not prove too fun for the player.

I suppose that I could use this as a plot hook for a future adventure where there is a cult to disrupt or an enemy to kill (say Porphyry House Horror from Dungeon Magazine). I could well see Pazuzu as a Don Corleone figure providing help now for the promise of future service.

"Some day, and that day may yet never come, I’m going to call upon you to do a service for me - there's a little problem I need taking care of not too far from where you're going. She's a bad person into all kinds of bad stuff - demon worship, drugs, murder; but until that day, accept this healing as a gift, and don’t be shy about recommending my help to others in similar need."

Possession isn't necessarily forced a forced character destruction. There are means to get the fiend out of the possessed character, ranging from exorcism to banishment and as extreme as killing the druid and resurrecting him in a new body, or even item options, such as a permanent item of protection from evil, which would stop the demon from controlling the victim, though not necessarily from influencing them. Exorcism is a measly level 1 spell, so it's not like it's hard to get access to or anything. The big deal in my suggestion would be the players actually finding out that the druid is possessed in the first place.

Roleplaying a character's resistance to a possessing force can also be quite fun, as long as it's played fairly from the DM's end.

[atemu1234]

Possession isn't necessarily forced a forced character destruction. There are means to get the fiend out of the possessed character, ranging from exorcism to banishment and as extreme as killing the druid and resurrecting him in a new body, or even item options, such as a permanent item of protection from evil, which would stop the demon from controlling the victim, though not necessarily from influencing them. Exorcism is a measly level 1 spell, so it's not like it's hard to get access to or anything. The big deal in my suggestion would be the players actually finding out that the druid is possessed in the first place.

Roleplaying a character's resistance to a possessing force can also be quite fun, as long as it's played fairly from the DM's end.

Yes, it can be undone. Selling your soul is a little more permanent (especially for druids, as it makes you either LE or CE), but can also be undone, eventually, maybe.

[Laurellien]

Another thing to consider is his manifestation upon the Material Plane. Would he appear in his full demonic glory? Or would he perhaps try to appear as a mortal man to put his supplicant at ease?

[Douglas]

Another thing to consider is his manifestation upon the Material Plane. Would he appear in his full demonic glory? Or would he perhaps try to appear as a mortal man to put his supplicant at ease?
Whichever he thinks would be more likely to get the victim supplicant to call on him again in the future. His real goal in providing aid like this is corrupting the caller, and the forced alignment shift per request is one of his biggest tools for doing that. Ideally he should provide aid with a just-obvious-enough catch, leaving the recipient believing that he successfully outwitted Pazuzu to turn his double-edged help into a genuine pure positive, and that it's safe to call on Pazuzu again to repeat that accomplishment. The real catch then doesn't become apparent until a few calls later, when the now-chaotic-evil character is doomed to the Abyss.

[Sith_Happens]

Another thing to consider is his manifestation upon the Material Plane. Would he appear in his full demonic glory? Or would he perhaps try to appear as a mortal man to put his supplicant at ease?

Full demonic glory, for sure. And ham it up a little:

"TO WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU CALL UPON THE PRINCE OF THE LOWER AERIAL KINGDOMS? SPEAK, AND PERHAPS I SHALL INDULGE YOU."

[daremetoidareyo]

I might entreat you to consider having some of the good people just let the druid die. Nay, they may insist that he dies instead of requisitioning power from evil.

If no one floats this as a way to end the conflict, perhaps pazuzu himself should ask him why the heck he thinks that he is so special that he doesn't get to die. The answer to which will be represented in how he is helped. Maybe it's vanity (the belief that he serves a higher purpose) in which case pazuzu refers to the druid as his "peacock." Infusing him with a possession by some sort of vain peacock based demon. All wildshapes are frail but beautiful while he is posessed.

Maybe because the quest serves pazuzu's desires too, in which case the druid has to lay an egg to represent his consorting with a deity that the PC is so committed to. How the PC gets that egg fertilized is up to your nightmares but should include some getting pecked violently in the head. The half fiend has to then be put somewhere

Maybe the PC claims to offer a deal. In which case Pazuzu insists that the PC makes an offer, and pazuzu keeps asking, "is that all?" See how deep the PC digs himself. And then accept. This is a demon, afterall.