Introducing Contract Devils

[Bjarkmundur]

This is the second post on contract devils, now with a little bit more structure.

Design Goals:
- Create a mechanic for my players revolving around contract devils
- a Contract is a way to get what you want/need, but increases the difficulty level of the session for that person.
- I'm trying to avoid as much of the "you have to become evil" part of the whole thing as best I can. It's more designed as a general risk-reward mechanic.
- Each contract should have a end-clause. Meaning you can either suffer this difficulty increase indefinetly, or do some one thing to end it.

Problems:
- I need a clear limit to what the player can ask for, or at least a general table that shows that with added benefit comes added reward.
- It needs to make some sense, at least for this specific devil. This is largely based on how he will increase the difficulty.

Idea for contract 1:
You make a contract to gain X. Eftir your recieve X, each downtime a devil will appear and attack the character. A table shows what devils it could be, and what kind of reward it buys you. Your soul is always included in the contract. This might be some bigger scheme for the devil, maybe something he's doing with his devils. There is a reason why he's throwing minor devils at the party. What could it be?
What's the end-clause? A boss battle?

Idea for contract 2:
You gain x, but each downtime you have to send x gold coins to the devil in question.
The end clause is you have to give him a magic item of at least y value.

Idea for contract themes:
maybe we can have some connection between what you get and what you give? Like some sort of theme? You can gain 1d6 on all damage rolls, but each long rest you have to sacrifice a percentage of your HP to the devil.

Can you guys help me flesh this out?
I want the entire experience to be fun The negative consequences of the contract can be difficult, but I want them to be fun-difficult.

[MrStabby]

My instinct, which I feel might run contrary to yours would be to make them quest based.

So... the evil aside... you get given a boon for corrupting souls, leading people astray or possibly a quest against a named individual or desecrating a church.

But this needn't just be evil. Contract angels could also work with objectives to redeem, consecrate or convert.

[NNescio]

Flip through Fiendish Codex II the 3.5e splatbook and adapt it for 5e. There's also a used car salesman Harvester Devil (AKA the Falxugon, which basically is a conniving devil that specializes in making deals) inside there, and the Pacts Insidious. Oh and rules for court cases in hell Baator in case you are an unsatisfied customer and want your money soul back.

[Sigreid]

You get x but from now on you can only use this hellfire weapon when you fight. The mortal doesn't even need to be told that every person he slays with that weapon will be damned for eternity.

[Bjarkmundur]

Yeah I did my fair research on devils after the last thread. It seems I'm more in love with the concept of contracts than the devil part. That gives me the idea of giving someone else the role of making deals with adventurers. Maybe more of a cursed object scenario. It accomplishes the same thing, but completely sidesteps the whole 'evil' part of it.

The only problem with that though is the dynamic. A seller of cursed object is never going to let the adventurer know what the curse is, and the player is more free to back out after negotiation starts. With the devil scenario the curse is presented to the player before hand, and the deal is permanent until the end clause takes effect.

[Sigreid]

Eh, you'd be surprised how many people can be told about a curse up front and think they can out smart it.

[Slipperychicken]

Payment
Death's Door: Take away one a PC's death saving throws. The PC dies on his second failed death saving throw instead of his third.
Hemophilia: PC has disadvantage on death saving throws, and is vulnerable to slashing damage
Unlucky: Once a session, the devil can make a PC reroll a successful check. He will use this power as best he can to kill or harm the PC
Sickly: The PC's hit point maximum is reduced by half
Bum Leg: The PC's movement speeds are each reduced by 10 feet, and standing up from prone costs all movement instead of half
Lazy Eye: The PC always has disadvantage on perception checks and ranged attack rolls, and his passive perception is reduced by 5 accordingly
Hideous: The PC always has disadvantage on all checks made to influence others in any way and is always charged 20% more in all transactions where he is present
Unfocused: The PC always has disadvantage on concentration checks, and tests involving more than a minute of effort
Restless: Any time the PC completes a short or long rest, there is a 10% chance that he will not benefit from it (chance scales with magnitude of deal)

Boon
Fortune: As the 'Lucky' feat, but only one luck point. If he already has the Lucky feat, then he gains an additional luck point instead
One More Spell: The PC gains an extra spell slot of the maximum level he can cast. If his maximum spell level changes, this slot changes level to match
Riches: The PC receives currency or trade goods equal in value to his character level times 2,000 gold pieces. Non-refundable
Better, Faster, Stronger: The PC permanently increases an ability score of his choice by 2
Diabolic Tutelage: The PC selects one skill, toolset, or language. He gains proficiency in it. If he already has proficiency in it, his proficiency bonus for it is doubled
Indefatigable: The PC is affected by exhaustion as if it was one level lower (i.e. level 5 exhaustion is treated as 4)

To make things easier to balance, I'd consider offering prepackaged deals to each PC, and/or having the GM choose costs to any special request from the PCs. Having a general upper limit is a good idea (which may be justified in lore terms by the limits of the devil's power). All deals are non-negotiable, you take it or leave it.


Eh, you'd be surprised how many people can be told about a curse up front and think they can out smart it.

Of course the same is true IRL, but you need look no further than typical threads about devil-deals.

[AnimusBane]

If you haven't had a chance I'd suggest looking at decent into avernus, it flashes out the ability of devils to make infernal contracts and that will probably save you a good bit of work.

I'm currently using it to make a Fey bargains style idea.

[Fable Wright]

"We're using microtransactions now. There's an upfront cost to buy in, of course, and that gets you the baseline experience, but if you want to skip the level grinding aspect that's going to need a few payments here and there. Nothing major. Now and then, you'll get to see how well other users of our product are doing, and have special time limited discounts to buy in to their level."

The fine print of the contract states they they now own your data and metadata pursuant to the item, how it's used, and about its users.

[Kane0]

Is this supposed to be a downtime thing or an active adventuring thing? I could see proficiency in calligraphy/writing kit coming up along with the usual Insight and other skills.

[Morollan]

Why does it have to be devils? I know there's the whole "making a deal with the devil" type of fantasy trope but if you're worried about the evil side of things why not go with something say, Lawful Neutral. To me, that's the ultimate in contract law as they are absolute sticklers for the word of the contract. Modrons or Inevitables perhaps?