Redeeming Deskari

[Zhentarim]

Could a cleric of Deskari quest to make Deskari Choatic Neutral, then Chaotic Good?

[WbtE]

Absolutely.

But it's up to the DM, the dice, and the players as to whether these quests could succeed.

[legomaster00156]

There is precedent for a demon lord "rising", but it's firmly in the realm of AP spoilers. :smallwink:

[Frosty]

Could a cleric of Deskari quest to make Deskari Choatic Neutral, then Chaotic Good?

Anything is technically possible. I mean, you can quest to do anything. It dirsntnmean you'll succeed however. Deskari has never shown any sort of hint that he wants to or can change however.

[atemu1234]

There is precedent for a demon lord "rising", but it's firmly in the realm of AP spoilers. :smallwink:

Do tell, child. (I've never heard of this before) (Use spoiler tags if you must)

[Psyren]

As others have said, you can quest for anything you want. Succeeding is another matter.

It'll be pretty hard to quest without spells though if you fall outside one step of his alignment.

[Serafina]

Kinda.
You can't really play a Chaotic Good priest of Deskari and still get the benefits of worshipping Deskari.
In order to do that, you'd have to play a Chaotic Neutral character. Turning your deity Chaotic Neutral, because you want to reject evil, is perfectly valid - at that point, since even partial redemption of a demon lord is a major act of good, you can easily turn Chaotic Good yourself, and Deskari might follow.

Alternatively, you can just worship a deity of redemption which is Chaotic Good, or a concept. You can still have your character quest to redempt Deskari - justifying that is complicated because there really isn't anything good about Deskari or his portfolio, but I'm sure you can manage.

[Frosty]

What kind of strategy would you advise to change a deoty'a core philosophies?.

[QuidEst]

The answer to "Can I do X?" is always "If the GM okays it, then yes."

Since you asked the question anyway, I'll answer based on the setting.

No.

Anybody trying to (somehow) convert Deskari to good is not going to qualify for spells from him. Setting that aside (say, in the form of a deluded Oracle with inspiration drawn from Don Quixote), they can try it, but they're going to fail. Even if Deskari were a regular demon instead of a demon lord, he would be the concentrated essence of destructive chaos and evil formed over centuries, all but incapable of reformation (and that would be heavily reliant on deific intervention). Normally, alignment should just be a way to describe your character rather than defining them, but aligned outsiders are an exception. A demon lord is a step above that, and unless they've been hinting at pursuing such matters themselves on their own terms, one puny heretical "worshipper" is not going to make the slightest difference in the worldview of a demigod older than humanity.

Deskari, Demon Lord of Infestation and Locusts, Usher of the Apocalypse, has no reason to consider changing. Even CN is incompatible with his goals and very being, and his portfolio certainly isn't going to fit CG.

[Frosty]

The answer to "Can I do X?" is always "If the GM okays it, then yes."

Since you asked the question anyway, I'll answer based on the setting.

No.

Anybody trying to (somehow) convert Deskari to good is not going to qualify for spells from him. Setting that aside (say, in the form of a deluded Oracle with inspiration drawn from Don Quixote), they can try it, but they're going to fail. Even if Deskari were a regular demon instead of a demon lord, he would be the concentrated essence of destructive chaos and evil formed over centuries, all but incapable of reformation (and that would be heavily reliant on deific intervention). Normally, alignment should just be a way to describe your character rather than defining them, but aligned outsiders are an exception. A demon lord is a step above that, and unless they've been hinting at pursuing such matters themselves on their own terms, one puny heretical "worshipper" is not going to make the slightest difference in the worldview of a demigod older than humanity.

Deskari, Demon Lord of Infestation and Locusts, Usher of the Apocalypse, has no reason to consider changing. Even CN is incompatible with his goals and very being, and his portfolio certainly isn't going to fit CG.
As far as I know, Ragathiel didn't need divine intervention in order to become Good, right? And he was born a devil!

[icefractal]

This falls outside of any existing rules, so it’s something you’ll have to talk with the GM about. And given that it’s at least a major side-quest, if not the focus of the campaign itself, it’s only going to work if the other players are on board too. That said -

The big question is whether deities exist of their own accord and merely have worshippers, or if they’re shaped by their worshippers. I’m not sure what the canonical answer is for Golarion. Assuming the latter, since I think it’s more interesting, some possible steps:

1) Take actions to increase the influence and number of CN Deskari worshippers, while diminishing the influence and number of CE and especially NE worshippers.
2) As part of this, expand Deskari’s dogma in a more CN friendly way. Destruction can create an opening for new growth - wildfires in forests, for example. Locusts are part of the natural order, as is infection. More of a focus on “destroy the old weak stuff so that new better stuff can exist” rather than just “destroy it all”.
3) If you can get some CN Druids on board, all the better. This will provide a large potential pool of N Druid worshippers to replace the NE ones Deskari would lose by shifting to CN.
4) Depending on how malleable gods are, this might be enough. If not, perhaps performing some symbolic actions, like re-enacting famous actions of Deskari with a more CN slant, or taking steps to tie Deskari more strongly to pure Chaos (Get artifacts that are strongly linked to him and stick them in Limbo? Slip raw chaos into his drink?)
5) Going from CN to CG would be basically the same process, but probably harder. It’s difficult to tie infection and starvation into a Good viewpoint. Maybe a “tough love” / “evolution through struggle” approach like what Apocalypse (from Marvel) claims to represent. Although by that point, it may be possible to shift the portfolio a little also.

[legomaster00156]

Do tell, child. (I've never heard of this before) (Use spoiler tags if you must)
Alright. Major spoilers for Wrath of the Righteous below.
It is possible, towards the end of the campaign, to try and redeem Nocticula, demon lord of shadows, lust, and assassins. This is in no way a sure thing, and a lot of the details are left up to the GM to determine, but it is explicitly stated to be possible for the Mythic heroes. If you redeem her, she ascends to full godhood as a CN deity of outcasts and the night.