What would be the most insidious Celestial to turn evil?

[Coidzor]

Or, more generally, interesting alignment-locked creatures to have as alternative alignments.

So the Trompe L'oeil (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/trompe-l-oeil-cr-1/) template allows one to make a version of a creature with either its natural alignment or the creator's alignment. This allows such fun things as Neutral Succubi for Profane Gifts that are Massively Neutral acts or, in this case, Celestials with the alignment of a Fiend.

My first thought was how you could have a Succubus minion that matched whatever one's alignment was for spy and manipulation work without the risk of Chaotic Evil monkey wrenches being thrown into the mix by one's own minion/hired help, but then I stopped to wonder just how one might catch a bunch of do-gooders with their pants down by having an Evil angel playing false prophet or encouraging the worst tendencies in a group to set them up for destruction or further corruption.

[Psyren]

Trompe L'oeil abuse is becoming increasingly common so I did want to point out one potential wrinkle - nothing in either the template itself or in the Craft Construct feat gives you any control over them. Other constructs you can craft (like Homunculi and Golems) do specifically contain that line, but the TLO itself does not - and without it, all monsters/NPCs in the game world default to the GM's control.

In addition, for the alignment point - the template lists the two options (same as base creature, or same as creator) but does not actually say that the creator is the one who gets to choose which one it gets. It seems equally plausible to me that the GM would be the one to decide, and that if you're going around painting demons that you may not know what the end results of that would be until they emerge from the canvas. The template was designed for horror campaigns after all, and the basis of all horror is uncertainty.

[MintyThe1st]

There's 2 ways to go about this; Reasonably, and insanely.

Reasonably: Astral Devas are 12HD angels that look like beautiful humans with wings, they're the more traditional angel you see depicted in the real world, and always a solid choice.

Insanely: Solar. Gets Miracle 1/day and has 20th level cleric casting. Lucifer would be a good example of a real world Evil Solar.

[icefractal]

Trompe L'oeil abuse is becoming increasingly common so I did want to point out one potential wrinkle - nothing in either the template itself or in the Craft Construct feat gives you any control over them. Other constructs you can craft (like Homunculi and Golems) do specifically contain that line, but the TLO itself does not - and without it, all monsters/NPCs in the game world default to the GM's control.I'm not so sure about that. From the template:

Trompe l’oeils can be created to act as guardians and spies,
While TLE can arise spontaneously, and those ones aren't controlled, I don't see anything implying that intentionally created ones aren't, and the above implies that they are.

Also, while the general golem entry mentions being under control, it does that in the context of them being mindless, and individual entries don't. Also, Animated Object (the monster entry, which can be created with Craft Construct) doesn't say anything about control.

Edit: Also Homunculus isn't a good example, because that part is about how it's specifically under the control of the person whose blood was used, not necessarily the crafter.

[Ualaa]

Not sure the most insidious, but our current adventure (The Prologue to Rise of the Drow) has a pair of corrupted, and now evil, lantern archons against first level characters, almost immediately into the campaign.

[Psyren]

I'm not so sure about that. From the template:

While TLE can arise spontaneously, and those ones aren't controlled, I don't see anything implying that intentionally created ones aren't, and the above implies that they are.

They certainly can be, and some will act in that function. But not all, and I see no guarantees that you will get one of the ones that can, or even if you do, that they will follow your orders to the letter.


Also, while the general golem entry mentions being under control, it does that in the context of them being mindless, and individual entries don't. Also, Animated Object (the monster entry, which can be created with Craft Construct) doesn't say anything about control.

Precisely - so TLO has even less than that.

[Pinkie Pyro]

I'd pay good money to see a Trompe L’oeil Balor paladin.

[Coidzor]

I'd pay good money to see a Trompe L’oeil Balor paladin.

It'd be tricky, but if you found knowledge of a Balor with class levels, I suppose you could retrain them if you make a LG version.

I'm relatively sure that aside from (maybe) generic critters without levels, it needs to be of some particular creature that exists.

If for no other reason than sanity.