In my mind the weakest part of SCAP was when Kaurophon entered the campaign. With him being a half-fiend I felt it would be hard for the party to swallow that he was looking for redemption and trust him. I just had an idea of how to solve this dilema without changing too much of how Kaurophon works.
My idea is that instead of Kaurophon coming from some unknown place he's in fact from Occipitus itself. Also, instead of being a human with the half-fiend template he's in fact a new race (that works pretty much the same) that's half-fiend/half-celestial. The logic behind this is that the celestials trapped in Occipitus eventually mated with the fiends there.
In my mind it would be easier to get the PCs to swallow Kaurophon's story with him having at least SOME celestial blood flowing through his veins. Please tell me what you think, and if it's a totally crazy idea (it IS way past my bedtime).
That's actually a really good idea, at least from a role-playing perspective. From a mechanics perspective it gives me a headache. How is he affected by spells like unholy blight and holy smite? Is he affected by the worst effects of both? Does his alignment register as both evil and good at the same time? Does he suffer planar trait penalties based on alignment no matter what plane he's on?
My idea was that he would have something like a taint of both good and evil, so he wouldn't be affected by either. My thoughts was also that he wouldn't come to his full powers until he had "chosen sides" so to speak. When he fully commited to either good or evil he would become a full celestial or a full fiend. As I see it Kaurophon hasn't fully commited to evil yet, but the sacrifice of an ally in the climax of Test of the Smoking Eye should do the trick.
Good idea Evilash.
The idea of celestials mating with fiends doesn't sit well with me, though. a romance between a single celestial and a fiend is the stuff of legends if you ask me. Enough of them mating to become an entire race is not realy logical. And adimarchus would definitely not aprove of such a foul union.
Perhaps some of the celestials trapped in the cysts where not entirely dead yet. In time, a few survived and regained conciousness. Only one had such a strong will to survive that he managed to claw his way out of the cyst. In fighting his way out, he shed some of his goodness and replaced it with the evil that now courses through the plane. He became Kaurophon.
The idea of celestials mating with fiends doesn't sit well with me, though. a romance between a single celestial and a fiend is the stuff of legends if you ask me.
Fair enough... I mean, the one in Jesse Custer's head could even make a suggestion to God ;)
Perhaps some of the celestials trapped in the cysts where not entirely dead yet. In time, a few survived and regained conciousness. Only one had such a strong will to survive that he managed to claw his way out of the cyst. In fighting his way out, he shed some of his goodness and replaced it with the evil that now courses through the plane. He became Kaurophon.
Good idea, I think I will go with that :)
I actually really like the idea of Kaurophon as some sort of celestial being (maybe a Petitioner?) trapped in a cyst for centuries, only to finally emerge tainted with evil, and thus a dual nature. It makes him a MUCH more compelling character, and he would probably earn the party's sympathy as well as trust. Very cool idea.
OK, I have made a first version of semi-celestial/semi-fiendish Kaurophon, please critique. I've tried to keep him as close to the original as possible, while still giving him some celestial flavor. I've also made some adjustments to his spells.
Kaurophon; Fiendish celestial Sor11: CR 14; ECL 14; Size M; HD 11d4+33; hp 62; Init +3; Spd 30 ft, fly 60 ft. (good); AC 14, touch 13, FF 11; BAB +5; Grapple +2; Atk: +4/+4 melee (1d4 - 1, Claw), -1 melee (1d6 - 1, Bite); SA Daylight, spell-like abilities; SQ Darkvision, immunity to disease, damage reduction 10/magic, spell resistance 21; SR 21; AL CE; SV Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +8; Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 24.
Languages spoken: Common, Abyssal, Infernal
Skills and Feats: Bluff +21, Concentration +17, Knowledge (Arcana) +16, Knowledge (Planes) +9, Spellcraft +18; Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Spell Penetration.
Spell-like Abilities: At will--Daylight;3/day--Darkness, Poison;1/day--Aid, Blasphemy, Contagion, Cure serious wounds.
Sor Spells Known (6/8/7/7/7/5): 0--Acid splash, Detect magic, Ghost sound, Mage hand, Message, Open/close, Prestidigitation, Read magic, Touch of fatigue; 1--Expeditious retreat, Grease, Magic missile, Ray of enfeeblement, Shield; 2--Glitterdust, Invisibility, Rope trick, Scorching ray, Touch of idiocy; 3--Dispel magic, Fireball, Haste, Slow; 4--Dimension door, Evard's black tentacles, Greater invisibility; 5--Telekinesis, Wall of force.
[b]Possessions:[b] Traveler's outfit, Belt pouch, Lesser amulet of the planes, Cloak of charisma +3, Wand of magic missile (9th), Wand of web, Bag of holding 1, Large silver mirror, Scroll of disintegrate (arc), Mass scroll of suggestion (arc).