Evil PC of Asmodeus?


Curse of the Crimson Throne


Hi, I'm going to start up this wonderful AP in a couple of weeks. I've told my players what we are running and that they should begin to think out a concept for their characters. One of the players has approached me and said that he wants to play a Sorcerer with the Infernal bloodline (and later later levels the Diabolist prestige class). He wants to bind devils and wreak havoc in the name of Asmodeus while at that same time being very manipulative in the city. He hasn't figured out a clear goal or purpose yet as far as I know, he just likes that concept.

I'm wondering what impact and consequences that kind of character would have on CotCT. Could it work with a lawful evil PC in this AP? I also believe I read somewhere that clerics of Asmodeus have a role to play in the last module, could that be problematic? Since this player has always liked evil destructive PCs I've been allowing him in previous campaigns to play such characters, but I'm not sure if that would be good in this one since the AP's about saving the city. Please help, thanks on beforehand! :)

Dark Archive

LE's generally the least disruptive evil alignment, and IMO is usually less trouble than CN. You don't want to have too much inter-character conflict in the party, so this character's suitability may depend on what the rest of the party looks like -- if they're mostly CG/Cayden/Desna types then it's probably going to be a bit of a headache.

> ...wreak havoc in the name of Asmodeus...
I don't see Asmodeus being a really "wreak havoc" kind of guy, and doing so in his name may be particularly problematic. Manipulative, absolutely -- but he's one of the principal bastions of civilisation, law & order.

> I also believe I read somewhere that clerics of Asmodeus have a role to play in the last module...
For starters, make sure you're familiar with all of the AP before you start running it. things that happen in an adventure should come as a surprise to the players, not the GM!

Vague spoilers...

Spoiler:
Yes, the church of Asmodeus has a minor role, but it's small enough that it's perfectly possible to go through the entire adventure and barely notice them. IMO the church of Asmodeus should play a much bigger part in this AP than it does -- and doing so could make for some very interesting opportunities for the character.


Callum Finlayson wrote:
You don't want to have too much inter-character conflict in the party, so this character's suitability may depend on what the rest of the party looks like -- if they're mostly CG/Cayden/Desna types then it's probably going to be a bit of a headache.

The player that wants to be the character in question is actually the first one to tell me what he's planning, the others are still thinking. I'll be getting the others ideas in the next couple days, so we'll see what happens with the alignment balance in the group.

Callum Finlayson wrote:
I don't see Asmodeus being a really "wreak havoc" kind of guy, and doing so in his name may be particularly problematic. Manipulative, absolutely -- but he's one of the principal bastions of civilisation, law & order.

Yep, I totally agree with you. I'll see to it that I'm more clear with empathizing the lawful part of lawful evil to my player. He has previously had a quite random playstyle with his evil PCs and been doing acts like killing innocents on a whim instead of with a structured plan in mind, so he's naturally into the chaotic side of evilness.

Callum Finlayson wrote:
For starters, make sure you're familiar with all of the AP before you start running it. things that happen in an adventure should come as a surprise to the players, not the GM!

Haha, indeed! I have skimmed through the whole AP once and have done a detailed read with books 1-3, so I'm getting into detail with 4-6 right now. It seems like an especially good idea to read all of this particular AP on beforehand since there are a lot of great opportunities to foreshadow things.

Answer to vague spoiler:
That would be very cool actually, I've always had a thing for everything Asmodeus-related in Pathfinder. If I'm allowing this character he's probably going to have some contacts there, and with more Asmodean prominence in the campaign I bet the PC would feel a lot more integrated with the plot. Do you perhaps have any ideas how to involve them more into the AP in a good way?

Dark Archive

Spoiler:
The main thing the church is doing is collecting samples of blood from all the citizens of Korvosa for the Queen's impression of Elizabeth Bathory; however that's 99% off-screen, so one of the most straight-forward options will be to make that more central -- even if they don't know exactly why it's happening the PCs should be concerned by (for example) public proclamations that citizens should demonstrate their loyalty by going to give samples of their blood, the lower classes being rounded up and forcibly having their blood collected, etc. Plus, obviously, any friends & family of the PCs should have had their blood taken, even if the PCs themselves haven't.

If you want to go beyond this then I'd suggest a schism in the Church of Asmodeus -- one faction backs the Queen, the other (to which the PC is allied) opposes her; exactly why this is so would vary, but could include an incorrectly worded pact between the Queen and the devils she has serving her, or a conflict over the dragon Kazavon.

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