
With all the talk of rules for diabolic bargains coming in the forthcoming Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus book, this seems like a good time to post my guidelines for demonic bargains in The Liberation of Wormwood. I see these as a baseline way to approach dealing with demons; since demons are creatures of chaos, there's certainly room to add other possibilities here as well.
WHEN
YOU CALL ON THE DARK
Those
who crave power in Cinderheim often draw upon the unholy might of
demon lords to make their desires manifest in the world. Survival is
fraught amid the deadly wastelands of Cinderheim; growing stronger
through demonic aid can mean the difference between seeing another
sunset and dying unknown and unmourned.
Magical
power is sometimes gained from demons through unconscious, pernicious
influence. Although they are often blunt instruments of chaos, some
demon lords are crafty enough to bend mortals to their will without
attracting notice.
Sometimes
a character consciously strikes a bargain with a demonic entity and
trades their service and their immortal soul for a supernatural gift.
Demons are little more than power given hateful substance; they have
no qualms about sharing that power with others who might advance
their aims and be corrupted to their chaotic, destructive purposes.
A
player character should always be aware that they have the option of
pursuing a bargain with a demonic force to gain additional power. A
powerful demon, such as one of the demon lords trapped beneath the
encampments of Cinderheim, might offer temptations subtle or
otherwise—dangling the promise of power in front of a character
caught in a precarious situation.
Accepting
a demon’s offer of power, whether consciously or unconsciously, is
always an act that damns a character’s soul. When they die, their
soul is forfeit to the Abyssal Disunion and cannot be resurrected. A
lost soul is initially refashioned as a lowly manes within the
Disunion. As the newly formed demon spreads disorder, chaos, and
violence, it grows in power and might evolve into a more potent form
of demonkind. It is even possible for a tainted soul to eventually
become a demon lord as powerful as those who have warped Cinderheim
into a vast abyssal infection of tainted deserts and corrupted
wastelands.
DEMONIC
REWARDS
The
gifts granted by the demon lords of Cinderheim fall into these
categories found in the Other Rewards section of the DMG:
-
Charms.
Charms are often the initial offering a demon grants to a bargainer.
Because charms are a finite, exhaustible resource they function as a
form of addiction. A demon uses the promise of renewed charms to
lure a bargainer into dependence upon them for magical aid. Demon
lords withhold charms from those who do not feed their needs and
desires.
-
Dark
blessings. Dark blessings are the demonic
equivalent of the blessings bestowed by the gods. The demon lords of
Cinderheim are powerful enough to offer dark blessings in return for
a character performing an act that significantly advances their
aims. The promise of a dark blessing is used to coerce characters
into service. They are often accompanied by bodily corruption that
marks the recipient as being favored by a demon lord.
-
Training.
Demon lords visit the mortals they corrupt in their fevered dreams
to teach them proficiency in skills, grant them feats, or give them
inspiration. This training is frequently also used to test the
bargainer’s loyalty and cement the bonds of servitude. Through
training, a demon shapes a bargainer into a useful tool. The
training offered by a demon lord may also change a character’s
personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw.
-
Epic
boons. Epic boons are only granted to a demon
lord’s most powerful champions. These gifts are bestowed
exclusively upon faithful and fanatical disciples who have served
their masters well. When a demon lord offers an epic boon, it is a
sign that they feel assured that their servant’s loyalty is beyond
question.
OPTIONAL
RULE: HUNGRY FOR DEATH
Due
to the influence of death-hungry demons in Cinderheim, a death saving
throw
succeeds on a roll of 15 or higher.
SIGNATURE
SPELLS
If
a character enters into a bargain with a demon lord and has the
Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature, the demon may add
additional spells to the spell list for their class, thereby
expanding the spell options available to them.
The
demon lords of Cinderheim’s major encampments grant the following
spells to their followers, cultists, and champions:
-
Druuz.
Identify (1st level), augury (2nd level), speak
with dead (3rd level).
-
Narah.
Expeditious retreat (1st level), enlarge/reduce (2nd
level), gaseous form (3rd level).
-
Raaz.
Hunter’s mark (1st level), enhance ability (2nd
level), haste (3rd level).
-
Thanor.
Charm person (1st level), suggestion (2nd level),
vampiric touch (3rd level).
-
Yaza.
Dissonant whispers
(1st level), phantasmal force (2nd level), animate dead
(3rd level).
-
Yrkali.
Wrathful smite (1st level), spiritual weapon (2nd
level), aura of vitality (3rd level).
-
Zulor.
Bane (1st level), beast sense (2nd level), erupting
earth (3rd level).
The
independent demon lords listed below grant the following spells to
their followers, cultists, and champions:
-
Abrigrax
the Deceiver.
Disguise
self (1st level),
invisibility
(2nd level), hypnotic
pattern (3rd level).
-
The
Flayed Horror. Ray of
sickness (1st level),
ray
of enfeeblement (2nd
level), bestow curse
(3rd level).
-
Kyrus
Vor. Searing smite (1st level), hellish rebuke
(2nd level), fireball (3rd level).
-
The
Motley Princess. Hideous laughter (1st level), crown
of madness (2nd level), blink (3rd level).
-
Sadireth
the Vile. Grease (1st level), web
(2nd level), slow (3rd level).
BODILY
CORRUPTION
The
demonic nature of Cinderheim can physically corrupt those living
within it, and those who bargain with demons often find their bodies
altered in strange ways. Players may roll on the following optional
table to see how the demonic forces of the desert have transfigured
their characters or they may simply pick a result that appeals to
them if they so choose.
d20
|
Corruption
|
1
|
Bestial
horns grow from their head.
|
2
|
Spiny
ridges or coarse patches sprout from their body.
|
3
|
Their
body is covered in fur, scales, or feathers.
|
4
|
Their
body is covered in boils or weeping sores.
|
5
|
Their
body is entirely hairless or exudes a slimy sheen.
|
6
|
Their
ears are oddly shaped or their nose is nonexistent.
|
7
|
Their
hair, eyes, or tongue is unnaturally colored.
|
8
|
Their
limbs are unusually long or are strangely gnarled.
|
9
|
Their
skin is leathery, withered, or oddly textured.
|
10
|
Their
skin is unnaturally colored, patterned, or marked.
|
11
|
Their
spine is crooked or abnormally twisted.
|
12
|
Their
teeth are long fangs or protruding tusks.
|
13
|
Their
tongue is forked, elongated, or otherwise uncanny.
|
14
|
They
have a misshapen head or are animal-headed.
|
15
|
They
have extra or fewer fingers than usual.
|
16
|
They
have ferociously clawed hands or misshapen digits.
|
17
|
They
have hooves instead of feet or misshapen feet.
|
18
|
They
possesses a tail or other extraneous appendage.
|
19
|
They
possesses extra, although sightless, eyes.
|
20
|
Useless,
vestigial wings sprout from their shoulders.
|