I need advice for an adventure featuring a succubus and a FC1 Lilitu


Advice

Dark Archive

As the title says. I stumbled upon the Lilitu in the Fiendish Codex 1 and I think she's perfect for a short adventure. This pretty much sums it all up:

"A Lilitu is born from the ashes of a slain Succubus. The ritual of transformation and ascension is different for each Succubus but always involves a decadent and shocking ritual that culminates in the sacrifice of an entire congregation of faithful worshipers who believe they are worshiping a benign deity."

The purpose of a Lilitu is to convert worshipers of other deities to a demon lord. For a Succubus to be able to transform into a Lilitu she must be able to cast divine spells.
This gave me an idea for an adventure. A Succubus is trying to become a Lilitu, and the players must try to stop her. Okay, so it's not te best idea for an adventure, and it's probably one of the first things you'd think of when you'd read about the Lilitu. But I like it, mostly because of the epic boss battle.
Imagine fighting the Succubus in a temple. People are locked in, trying to escape. Then, as you kill the Succubus, the temple starts to burn. The Succubus turns into a Lilitu and you have to defeat her again.

For this adventure, I was thinking of a Succubus with the Cleric template. She'd be a follower of Lamashtu, posing as a cleric of Pharasma. She's basically corrupting people with sex, trying to convince them that Pharasma wants them to have many children. (What? She's a Succubus! You didn't see this coming?) I'll add women giving birth to horrible monsters for the boss battle. (And men, possibly.)
Now there are some problems. The first is that Succubi are immune to fire damage in Pathfinder. (They had fire resistance 10 in 3.5.) This isn't much of a problem because I can easily drop the immunity. It seems odd that they have this, as other demons don't.
The other thing is that a Succubus can't cast the Gate spell necessary to open a gate to "one of the deepest furnaces of the Abyss." I could always handwave this.
Obviously, the players are a potential problem. They could find a way to defeat the Succubus without killing her, thereby ending the encounter.
I'm sure there are other problems I'm overlooking. I'd also like some advice on other encounters I could add, or some ideas for the rest of the plot.

Shadow Lodge

Great idea.

I would not call the PCs' interference a problem. Just plan for it. Make it very difficult for them to neutralize or kill the succubus without the ritual taking place. If they manage to do so, then they have succeeded at their objective. If you have built up the encounter with care, this should be a suitable climax in itself. I would recommend preparing a description of the gathering evil of the ritual dispersing to hammer in the fact that they have averted something really bad. If the ritual is complete, they face an alternate challenge that is also awesome.

Quote:
The first is that Succubi are immune to fire damage in Pathfinder. (They had fire resistance 10 in 3.5.) This isn't much of a problem because I can easily drop the immunity. It seems odd that they have this, as other demons don't.

Or the profane ritual could burn the succubus with a supernatural fire that specifically bypasses this immunity.

Quote:
The other thing is that a Succubus can't cast the Gate spell necessary to open a gate to "one of the deepest furnaces of the Abyss." I could always handwave this.

Candle of Invocation.

Dark Archive

Huh, that candle would work, and it would be a great boost for the Succubus. She should have 8500 gp worth of treasure, so it's possible. (It's a bit of a dick move, but it's probably just a one-shot adventure.)

I was considering using something that works like Flame Strike (Half fire damage, half unholy damage) as the source of fire. I still feel I need to handwave this. Although the fire shouldn't kill the PCs, it should kill the Succubus and her followers. (At least, that's the intent.)

The Succubus Cleric would be CR9, the Lilitu would be CR12. I want to add a burning building hazard and some demons to the encounter, so I guess I'm gonna have to crunch some numbers.


If it matters, the lilitu already exists as a CR 17 demon.

Silver Crusade Contributor

I believe the David is talking about the 3.5 version, from WotC's Hordes of the Abyss (aka James Jacobs gives away his OCs, the book).

Shadow Lodge

the David wrote:
Huh, that candle would work, and it would be a great boost for the Succubus. She should have 8500 gp worth of treasure, so it's possible. (It's a bit of a dick move, but it's probably just a one-shot adventure.)

Or you could add the Candle as extra since it's a plot device rather than an actual treasure. (If they do capture it, it's not like it will unbalance anything.)

the David wrote:
I was considering using something that works like Flame Strike (Half fire damage, half unholy damage) as the source of fire. I still feel I need to handwave this. Although the fire shouldn't kill the PCs, it should kill the Succubus and her followers. (At least, that's the intent.)

Have it originate from the succubus. On lighting the candle during the ritual, she willingly ignites herself with profane fire, which spreads to kill the worshippers and possibly injure the PCs. As the followers die, she burns hotter until entirely consumed - at which point the Lilitu emerges.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

One thing that occurs to me is the question of just how nit-picky you want to make the powers of evil. If becoming a lilitu requires the sacrifice of an entire congregation, and you’re planning on having the PCs interrupt the sacrifice, what happens if even one person gets saved (thinking in fairy-tale terms)? Of course, the PCs shouldn't know the exact tipping point precisely. Maybe have the ritual not quite work, but almost? Negative levels, or, conversely, the advanced template if everything goes wrong for the PCs? That way, the heroes can still be happy that they were able to save as many people as they could, but the players still get to think about gazing into the unfathomable abyss – the Abyss so evil and fecund that unless they get a perfect ending (and save everyone), something gets up from the ashes. It depends on how horrific you want the story to be, I guess.

Dark Archive

Actually, that would be a quote from Fiendish Codex 1. I could decide to alter the ritual to my tastes, though.

As for the Candle of Invocation. It gives a +2 morale bonus on attacks, saves and skill checks, as well as allowing the Succubus to be able to cast higher level spells. (Although not at a higher caster level.) That's enough magical treasure as it is, though I suppose she could have extra gold and jewelry. I can probably even justify it as her followers giving up their material possessions.

Shadow Lodge

It was my understanding that using the Candle of Invocation to create a gate was an alternate use that entirely consumed the candle without allowing the user to gain other benefits. However, I re-read more closely and it looks like she could light the candle, prepare spells, and then gain the +2 morale bonus up until the point at which she activates the Gate, consuming the remainder of the candle.

If that's your plan then some extra non-magical treasure sounds like a good idea.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / I need advice for an adventure featuring a succubus and a FC1 Lilitu All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.