So my group defeated ex-devil lord Geryon last night. Our tiefling rogue is a Sensate, the planescape faction that enjoys new sensations. He wants to know if it is safe to eat Geryon's heart. I'm inclined to say ok, it's just a heart. What do other people think? Should there be some magical implications about this?
There aren't any alignment changes necessary, I already moved him to CE after the dragon turtle soup hunting expedition. I ruled that hunting and killing intelligent creatures purely for the culinary benefits is an evil act.
EDIT: Corrected spelling.
*Sensate
That's so what I meant. Sensorites are a Doctor Who alien.
So far my suggestions to him are either to serve it braised in an elven wine, or perhaps served with a nice mole sauce.
Besides a save vs Poison, it probably won't pose a problem for the ingester.
How do you eat a body part from a creature that disappears after it's dead? Is he no longer a devil?
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Totally fine to apply a random effect. There was an old edition of Dragon magazine that had effects for devouring dragon hearts, with the legend of mystical properties. I'd include effects that have both pros and cons, and they have to eat the entire thing so only one gets the benefit/curse.
Maybe Geryon's Fury, gaining his brutish strength but also an irrational mindset (+4 inherent STR bonus but -4 to Will Saves), etc.
Of course, a demon's heart should be darkest, blackest, vilest of all things. Could just be Fort save or die. You're eating pure evil after all.
Haven't put much thought into it, just tossing out an idea.
Actually I would say that there would be lot of repercussions. Heart of such innately magical being as fallen devil lord should be a minor artifact in its own right. Taking into account that character is tifling already the effects can be very unpredictable - if he is of devilish bloodline it could react in some strange synergy with the heart, possibly granting him more devil traits. Maybe essence of Geryon remaining tied to him and making him "righteous" inheritor of ex-devil lord seat and possible target of hostility (or atempts at manipulation) of Lords Of Nine Hells or even subject to Asmodeus attention.
If he is of demonic descent... Well, it can be "interesting" experience, but certainly not pleasant one. Possibly twisting of his innate nature. Intense sickness, Geryon's essence fighting against demonic blood, that kind of stuff.
And alignement matter is not so simple - he may gain supernatural evil and lawful aura (taking into the account nature of late Geryon) while remaining chaotic evil in his outlook and actions - which may cause strange dissonance.
Either way I suggest dreams of Geryon past and whispers from vestiges of the devil's spirit tempting him to turn into lawful evil entity and then trying to become new incarnation of Geryon's essence. Perhaps as a something entirelly new.
How do you eat a body part from a creature that disappears after it's dead? Is he no longer a devil?
I thought that was only when they have been summoned to the material plane. When you march into his lair in hell I'm fairly certain he leaves a corpse.
You know, I don't know what's more crazy awesome: the fact that people post questions like this, or the fact that D&D actually has a rule that can answer them.
In Book of Vile Darkness, there is a disease called soul rot that is contracted by eating the flesh of fiends. I don't have the stats for it handy, but it is in the book.
How do you eat a body part from a creature that disappears after it's dead? Is he no longer a devil?I thought that was only when they have been summoned to the material plane. When you march into his lair in hell I'm fairly certain he leaves a corpse.
Oh, hells bells. Yep that'd do it.
You know, I don't know what's more crazy awesome: the fact that people post questions like this, or the fact that D&D actually has a rule that can answer them.
+1
Oh, hells bells. Yep that'd do it.How do you eat a body part from a creature that disappears after it's dead? Is he no longer a devil?I thought that was only when they have been summoned to the material plane. When you march into his lair in hell I'm fairly certain he leaves a corpse.
I should also mention that this is their 3rd encounter with him. This time they brought an NPC cleric with them to spam Dimensional Anchor. The fight also included 2 Pit Fiends, 2 Horned Devils, and 6 Ice Devils. It also took two sessions to run (about 2.5 hours per session).
You know, I don't know what's more crazy awesome: the fact that people post questions like this, or the fact that D&D actually has a rule that can answer them.
In Book of Vile Darkness, there is a disease called soul rot that is contracted by eating the flesh of fiends. I don't have the stats for it handy, but it is in the book.
Ah, that isn't one of the books I own, but I can probably track down a copy. Of course, if it is easy to cure he'd probably be ok with that.
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At the very least, grin evilly and ask him to make a fortitude save. Reardless of how high he rolls, mutter 'interesting...' and scribble a few notes- this will at least keep him on his toes :P
My name is Wonko the Sane, and I approve of this message.
Soul Rot seems like a pretty solid repercussion for it.
Indigestion?
Well, that dosnt even couver the paracitic worms you would get from eating the raw heart...
and he should get a whopping amount of XP for eating the damned thing too! And yes, altering him, more powers, changes + and - to stats etc to character... this would come from the artifact in question... it was a godlevel being after all :) And if they killed it, they must of all got a lot of XP for that one...
So my group defeated ex-devil lord Geryon last night. Our tiefling rogue is a Sensate, the planescape faction that enjoys new sensations. He wants to know if it is safe to eat Geryon's heart. I'm inclined to say ok, it's just a heart. What do other people think? Should there be some magical implications about this?
There aren't any alignment changes necessary, I already moved him to CE after the dragon turtle soup hunting expedition. I ruled that hunting and killing intelligent creatures purely for the culinary benefits is an evil act.
EDIT: Corrected spelling.
Safe ? Depends :)
I would expect at the minimum a HD+CON-based version of both blinding sickness & devil chills as follows:
Type: disease, ingested
Save: Fortitude DC # (10 +1/2 Geryon's HD +# Geryon's CON bonus at full health)
Onset: 1d3 days
Frequency: 1/day
Effect: 1d8 Strength damage (if more than 2, target must make an additional Fortitude saving throw to avoid permanent blindness)
Cure: # consecutive saves (3 +# Geryon's CON bonus at full health)
Now, if you want to add in extra goodies for enduring the disease, then I would suggest that IF the character "toughs it out", then you give him some goodies. The Strength damage can't kill him. Perhaps the longer he endures the affliction, the more goodies are granted. If he somehow endures for a numerically appropriate number of days of game time (going blind, suffering at least some Strength damage throughout the ordeal), then he replaces Geryon as a campaign-ending boon.
Ya like 6+6+6 days or the next dark of the moon :)
Deinol, just curious what level your characters were, and where you found Geryon statted up?
I believe there was a web enhancement for BoVD (3.0) that included Geryon, but since you said you didn't have that book, maybe you got his stats elsewhere??
Anyway, I plan to tackle him myself w/ a new party, but that's likely a few years away at this point.
At the very least, grin evilly and ask him to make a fortitude save. Reardless of how high he rolls, mutter 'interesting...' and scribble a few notes- this will at least keep him on his toes :P
+1
I've done this before. Had a player confused for months.
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I would custom make a Feat with help from the Player. Then, when he levels to another Feat he can take it . . . . Assuming you guys are already epic level, it should certainly be an epic level Feat, and since game balance at high levels is already a bit, um, unbalanced and unequivicable, I wouldn't worry about it being too powerful a Feat.
The other option I see, if he's been looking to add a specific Feat already, is to design two Feats based on Unearthed Arcana's "Traits and Flaws." You can give the PC a permanent curse that balances with the free Feat.
Either way, work with the Player on it!
He had a great idea for his PC and brushing it off with some pathetically mundane Fort Save is weak.
Giving the Evil-DM-Laugh is cool but it only works when you actually go back and design something and if the Player isn't so jadded to not care about Evil-DM-Laughs anymore. (Players like the one forementioned that was astounded for months are a rare find.)
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Well, that dosnt even couver the paracitic worms you would get from eating the raw heart...
Who said anything about eating it raw? He put it in his bag of cold storage and brought it back to Sigil and paid a top chef to cook it. He's eating it braised in elven wine.
Deinol, just curious what level your characters were, and where you found Geryon statted up?
I believe there was a web enhancement for BoVD (3.0) that included Geryon, but since you said you didn't have that book, maybe you got his stats elsewhere??
Anyway, I plan to tackle him myself w/ a new party, but that's likely a few years away at this point.
I modified the web enhancement version of the stats. That you can download without owning the book. I tweaked his spell selection since he mostly came with lame spells. Order's Wrath and Destruction were fairly nice effects. I also maximized one of his fireballs, although that doesn't do as much against my group anymore. I also gave him 3/day greater dispel magic, which he used to remove some imprisonment type spells that the archivist put on him while they worked on the Pit Fiends.
My party was 14th level, but I've run this game for 4 years now at basically the slow xp chart. They are way above the standard wealth per level. The tiefling rogue wields Starscream (renamed Sword of Kas) and neothelid leather armor which is fairly nice. Also boots of hellstep (3/day short dimension door as a swift action. Our dwarven archivist has a divine version of the Staff of the Magi (called the Staff of the Cardinal.) Our centaur barbarian has the Molars of Vecna (turn into vampire 2/month for 8 hours.) Which means he can full attack with 3xgreat sword, 2x hooves, and 1xbite (with level drain on 1 natural attack.) We also have a human pact binder who has learned some custom bindings. From previous adventures such as Modron March, Infinite Staircase, Dead Gods and Die Vecna Die.
The Geryon fight was the conclusion of A Paladin in Hell, next on the agenda is the Coliseum Morpheuon (from Rite Publishing).
I would custom make a Feat with help from the Player. Then, when he levels to another Feat he can take it . . . . Assuming you guys are already epic level, it should certainly be an epic level Feat, and since game balance at high levels is already a bit, um, unbalanced and unequivicable, I wouldn't worry about it being too powerful a Feat.
They aren't epic level yet, but I plan on running an arc from level 16-20 that will slowly turn them into demigods. I'll probably work on developing his fiendish connection during that, and unlock some feats for him.
The tiefling rogue wields Starscream (renamed Sword of Kas) and neothelid leather armor which is fairly nice.
No one has weapons named Megatron or Shockwave do they? ;)
The tiefling rogue wields Starscream (renamed Sword of Kas) and neothelid leather armor which is fairly nice.No one has weapons named Megatron or Shockwave do they? ;)
Not yet, but it is the only intelligent weapon in the group.
I modified the web enhancement version of the stats. That you can download without owning the book. I tweaked his spell selection since he mostly came with lame spells. Order's Wrath and Destruction were fairly nice effects. I also maximized one of his fireballs, although that doesn't do as much against my group anymore. I also gave him 3/day greater dispel magic, which he used to remove some imprisonment type spells that the archivist put on him while they worked on the Pit Fiends.
My party was 14th level, but I've run this game for 4 years now at basically the slow xp chart. They are way above the standard wealth per level. The tiefling rogue wields Starscream (renamed Sword of Kas) and neothelid leather armor which is fairly nice. Also boots of hellstep (3/day short dimension door as a swift action. Our dwarven archivist has a divine version of the Staff of the Magi (called the Staff of the Cardinal.) Our centaur barbarian has the Molars of Vecna (turn into vampire 2/month for 8 hours.) Which means he can full attack with 3xgreat sword, 2x hooves, and 1xbite (with level drain on 1 natural attack.) We also have a human pact binder who has learned some custom bindings. From previous adventures such as Modron March, Infinite Staircase, Dead Gods and Die Vecna Die.
The Geryon fight was the conclusion of A Paladin in Hell, next on the agenda is the Coliseum Morpheuon (from Rite Publishing).
Your campaign sounds like a blast. Seems like you've been running converted 2nd edition classics in your game. I still need to get ahold of Dead Gods & A Paladin in Hell myself; the latter especially b/c Daemonslye has been doing a 3rd ed conversion elsewhere on these boards.
You should enjoy Coliseum Morpheuon. I suspect you're a fellow patron on that, and have already browsed through the pdf. Enjoy.
Geryon was depicted with a hunting horn in the old 1st ed MM.
Make it an artifact on the order of the Orcus's Wand and make it so that eating Geryon's heart gives the eater an arcane bond with the artifact such that he'll be able to track it down and knows that it's missing. Don't tell him what it does, but you have quest fuel right there.
Since he's a tiefling, having him develop a couple of Geryon's classic fiendish trait might be nice, such as the tail with the poison stinger or the furry clawed arms.
Well, they ARE resistant to acid...
Oh, that is so...
Regardless of any negative effects the heart could potentially have (and I do think it should; this is pure evil in organic consumable form after all), I suppose it could easily enough infuse the tiefling -especially if it is a tiefling of devil ancestry- with enough energy to have him go from tiefling to full-blown half-fiend. Seems fitting enough and, from what I can tell, they are moving on into demigod territory anyway, so it should not be that much of a power boost, at least in the long run.
So my group defeated ex-devil lord Geryon last night. Our tiefling rogue is a Sensate, the planescape faction that enjoys new sensations. He wants to know if it is safe to eat Geryon's heart. I'm inclined to say ok, it's just a heart. What do other people think? Should there be some magical implications about this?
There aren't any alignment changes necessary, I already moved him to CE after the dragon turtle soup hunting expedition. I ruled that hunting and killing intelligent creatures purely for the culinary benefits is an evil act.
EDIT: Corrected spelling.
Other than Geryon slowly subsuming the character's body and soul and being reborn through him, I can't see any bad things happening because of it ...
What? It's the most likely outcome when you devour the most important part of a semi-deity right after he's just been slain after all ...
Ask him if his character liked needles, would he jump into a pit 100' deep with a base lined with 10' long spikes and no means to fly?
So my group defeated ex-devil lord Geryon last night. Our tiefling rogue is a Sensate, the planescape faction that enjoys new sensations. He wants to know if it is safe to eat Geryon's heart. I'm inclined to say ok, it's just a heart. What do other people think? Should there be some magical implications about this?
First reponse I always make to the player..
How are you asking that question? Given that no one in recorded history has eaten Geryon's heart, there would be no direct answer in Knowledge (Whatever)
He can try to research similar type cases but when it comes to dine he's ultimately on his own.
As to the consequences... I will have your DM gavel stripped from you if you don't take full advantage of an opportunity like this. :)
But ... what if you use a plushy Mr Fishy instead ?
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Geryon was depicted with a hunting horn in the old 1st ed MM.
Make it an artifact on the order of the Orcus's Wand and make it so that eating Geryon's heart gives the eater an arcane bond with the artifact such that he'll be able to track it down and knows that it's missing. Don't tell him what it does, but you have quest fuel right there.
Since he's a tiefling, having him develop a couple of Geryon's classic fiendish trait might be nice, such as the tail with the poison stinger or the furry clawed arms.
^This.
Maybe upgrade him from tiefling to fiendish or half-fiend? At high levels, a little level adjustment shouldn't unbalance things too much.