I am presently playing an Asmodean cleric in a Way of the Wicked campaign. My GM has informed me the campaign will take us all the way to level 20, and since the plot, so far at least, is about us taking over the island nation of Talingarde, an angel-worshipping, monoteistic Iomedaean utopia, I started daydreaming about going Old Testament on the island.
Now we may not even make it that far, or my character may die and get replaced, who knows. But I was considering what to do with the high-powered version of Miracle against such an island, and visiting the 10 plagues of Asmodeus on them, seemed like a good idea.
I come to you, paizo board, for creative advice and input. What would be some cool calamities to inflict upon an island nation in the name of Asmodeus? Now bear in mind that while God wanted Pharaoh to release the isrealites, the result I'm shooting for is abandonning their heretical angel-worship and kneel down to Asmodeus instead.
So far I've got 2 ideas myself.
The plague of light.
For 7 days every cloud over talingarde is banished and no wind moves. The light of the sun burns brighter, and longer, irritating skin and blinding those who gaze directly upon it. The night will almost not come, in favor of the burning daylight, robbing people of their sleep and creating choking heat.
The point of this plague is to make people shy away from the light. The implicit Iomedae = light = good, Asmodeus = darkness = evil quantification is all well and good until someone makes you loathe the light.
The plague of faith unfounded.
For 3 days and 3 nights every person who enters, or comes in contact with a person who has, an Aura of Good, be they outsiders, paladins or good aligned clerics, will experience intense nausea and contract disease and pestillence. For those same 3 days and nights, no good outsider, paladin or cleric may in any way suppress or remove their Aura of Good.
The point of this plague is of course to make people revile and avoid those whom they looked up to as paragons of their faith and way of life. The angels they worship inflict disease and plague on everyone in their vicinity, while the righteous shining paladins, and Iomedaean clerics who travel the land they are supposed to protect, vest the same hurt on all they come across.
Those are my two ideas for now. Your thoughts, suggestions or attempts at creating some fitting Asmodean plagues are very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
-Nearyn
... will experience intense nausea and contract disease and pestillence. For those same 3 days and nights, no good outsider, paladin or cleric may in any way suppress or remove their Aura of Good.
The paladins probably wouldn't be affected if they're immune to disease.
Another fun one would be the plague of truth followed by the plague of lies.
(I.e. the infected can't lie for a week... "Why yes honey that doublet does make you look fat." and then can't tell the truth for a week "Yes sweetie I checked under the bed, but I can't do anything about the monster down there. Sweet dreams.")
@Petrus222:
Good suggestions. Adding them to my notes :D
And yeah, the paladins will not be affected, nor will most of the outsiders who are immune to disease :) Which is pretty much the beauty of that plague, now I think about it. As long as it is immediately obvious their pressence is the thing spreading it, the public outrage should be even more intense if they are the only ones unaffected :D
EDIT: Ah! I see I made an error. Let me correct that.
"The plague of faith unfounded.
For 3 days and 3 nights every person who enters, or comes in contact with a person who has, an Aura of Good, whether emanating from outsiders, paladins, holy sites or good aligned clerics, will experience intense nausea and contract disease and pestillence. For those same 3 days and nights, no good outsider, paladin or cleric may in any way suppress or remove their Aura of Good.
The point of this plague is of course to make people revile and avoid those whom they looked up to as paragons of their faith and way of life. The angels they worship inflict disease and plague on everyone in their vicinity, while the righteous shining paladins, and Iomedaean clerics who travel the land they are supposed to protect, vest the same hurt on all they come across."
Though this place you describe is an Iomedean utopia, I think Sarenrae might have something to say about Asmodeus using the sun to make people fear the light. She probably wouldn't let that just happen. I'm unsure how to adjudicate it, but this one just doesn't sit right with me.
I do like the idea of being plagued with lies though.
What about a plague of being bound to your word? Even innocous statements, like "Sure, I'll get right on that." or "You can have dessert after dinner" (without the intention of giving dessert) ends with the person being forcibly compelled as if by Geas to complete the stated action.
@Claxon: Definitely also added to my notes. That venue of thought is thematically appropriate and can be used for more than just my end-game I feel :)
On the topic of the sun? Maybe. Personally I would not rule against it, more than I would rule that you could not split the sea, because you did not worship Besmara, or create a vast epidemic because you did not worship Urgathoa, but I definitely see where you are coming from, and I understand you're trying to protect my expectations, so thank you :) I'll make sure to pass these plagues to my GM a -long- time in advance so I know if I'm prevented from a mechanical standpoint.
If Sarenrae will not permit my little sun-scheme, then perhaps it merely appears as thought the sun is what is the cause of their pain, while in truth the spell has hexed every person in the country, and they merely percieve the sun and the light to be the cause. An unbreakable illusion, or wide-scale transmutation if you will.
|
As this is actually a third party adventurepath it is supposed to be Asmodeus vs. Mitra who actually is a sun deity. Sarenrae would be a better fit in this conversion.
As for Asmodeus, our group is assuming he's the same Asmodeus as the one in Golarion and has all his traits. Although he is called Prince of Darkness, he doesn't have darkness in his portfolio or his domains.
Portfolio: Tyranny, Slavery, Pride, Contracts.
Domains: Evil, Fire, Law, Magic, trickery.
As for the plagues, you don't have to do 10. Numbers associated with Asmodeus are 1 (He's the first.) and 9 (He's ruler of the ninth level of hell.) so 1 plague for each layer of hell should work. One plague related to fire would seem necessary.
The island is big though, so I'm not sure how much you can accomplish with 1 Miracle. You might want to focus on a densily populated area. (Or one city per plague)
@the David: I did actually consider exactly that, that is, do the 9 plagues, one for each level of hell. I have not made up my mind yet, though.
Personally I imagine you can accomplish something quite significant with 1 casting of Miracle, especially if you go for the super-charged version that requires the magic to be channelled through a rather costly diamond. But, just as with Claxon above, you may be right. My GM may have an entirely different image of what can and cannot be done with that spell, than I do, so I'll keep that in mind when I ask him about my plagues. Thank you.
About a plague related to fire, any suggestions? In my head I'm weighing lighting the sky on fire, against lighting the ocean on fire.
About a plague related to fire, any suggestions? In my head I'm weighing lighting the sky on fire, against lighting the ocean on fire.
A plague of meteor swarms?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
About a plague related to fire, any suggestions? In my head I'm weighing lighting the sky on fire, against lighting the ocean on fire.
A lack of fire would be worse. No candles, no torches, no warm food, no cooked food, no warmth...
About a plague related to fire, any suggestions? In my head I'm weighing lighting the sky on fire, against lighting the ocean on fire.A lack of fire would be worse. No candles, no torches, no warm food, no cooked food, no warmth...
OH MY! That's brilliant!
OH MY! That's brilliant!About a plague related to fire, any suggestions? In my head I'm weighing lighting the sky on fire, against lighting the ocean on fire.A lack of fire would be worse. No candles, no torches, no warm food, no cooked food, no warmth...
It certainly is!
Just a couple random ideas off the top of my head:
Plague of Imprisonment: for 3 days, every door, window, and gate in the city is magically sealed. Not even a Knock spell will open them.
Plague of Broken Swords: Anything held by a creature with a good aura gains the broken condition, as though the creature had the Wrecker Oracle curse.
Plague of Demonic Visions: All citizens of the city start seeing illusions of Demons and Undead running about the streets of the city or attacking citizens. Creatures with a Good aura are immune to this effect.
Plague of Misheard Lies: Randomly and inconsistently, citizens of the city will hear the opposite of what someone is sayings (i.e. "You are free to go" becomes "You are under arrest," "That will be 5 gold" becomes "Take it, it's free," etc).
Plague of Firewater: Any water in the city instantly ignites into hellfire if it is poured, drawn, or splashed.
@Master of the Dark Triad, Jaelithe and revaar: Notes! Glorious notes!
@Jaelithe: I personally disagree with the gods not letting eachothers followers run roughshod all over the place. This is something that is gonna vary from GM to GM, are the gods hands-on, or hands-off types. Personally I prefer hands-off, bigger fish and all that, hence the nomination of mortals(divine casters) and servitors(divnely empowered creatures) to work their will on the different planes.
So while I agree that it would make sense in some way, I'd personally call shenanigans if I use a casting of Miracle to turn the sky purple, but another god just reverses it because she doesn't like purple. It invalidates my effort, and my god's efforts and I would consider it bad practice, and bad storytelling. Another, equally powerful caster countering my Miracle with one of his own, on the other hand, totally legit IMO.
@Jaelithe: Fine advice on the plans within plans. But let us leave the topic of divine intercession, direct or indirect here. I am more interested in hearing some more of these lovely suggestion you and the others have posted. :)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
'Plagues' that would discourage things used by the good faiths and encourage the use of things used by the evil faiths would seem appropriate.
1) Some sort of massive regional Spellblight that causes positive energy to have a chance whenever it affects someone or is used by someone to promote the growth of unhealthy life (like tumors or infections or buboes that split open and release flies) could be one approach. Any positive energy effect has a 50% chance of something gross (and yet, totally appropriate for life-engendering positive energy) occurring instead, or even, in addition (so that an injury healed also causes a foul-smelling pus-oozing scabrous growth to form over the site of the injury, healing the damage, but at the cost of deformity). Infernal healing, a healing source preferred by Asmodeans, and available even to arcane casters, has no such ill side effects, as it doesn't use positive energy.
(People are encouraged to shun the positive energy healing sources of good clerics, and seek out infernal healing.)
2) Wooden holy symbols of Asmodeus (or silver holy symbols to other archdevils) in the affected region begin to glow with a soft ruddy warmth, and feel heavy in the hand, conferring a +1 to Fort saves to resist extremes of heat or cold, as well as to other saves / checks that would be affected by the Endurance feat, as if they are 'spiritually nourishing.' A silver holy symbol to Asmodeus has double the effect (+2 to the relevant saves and checks, like half the Endurance feat). The effect lasts for 24 hours after the great ritual is performed for anyone, and can be 'recharged' by performing an obeisance to Asmodeus, and wearing the symbol openly, thereafter.
(Basically equal to a free trait (half-feat) for anyone willing to openly wear a 25 gp. silver holy symbol of Asmodeus openly, and perform a ritual praising him every morning, encouraging people to both openly wear the symbol, and to at the very least praise his name every morning for a minor sense of well-being, lessened hunger, greater endurance, less subject to extremes of cold and heat, etc. Combined with some judicious weather control and / or engineered famine, many common folk might find themselves willing to look the other way, and make the required prayers, no matter how much it upsets local Iomedans.)
3) Contracts overseen by Asmodean advocates, and bearing his pentacle seal, are enforced with the effects of a bane spell, cursing those who violate their agreements until they make right the terms of their contract, or purchase a 'forgiveness' from the Asmodeans.
(People are encouraged to have their written contracts done in the presence of an Asmodean advocate, to 'ensure' compliance and fair dealing, with anyone protesting being automatically hit with the 'you wouldn't refuse a lie detector test if you weren't guilty' / 'you wouldn't be so concerned with your privacy if you weren't hiding something' assumption of guilt.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Make a plague where food touched by the peasantry/lower classes instantly rots and turns foul. People starve while the nobles continue to live as normal. They could try to ptotect food stores from rotting by keeping the peasantry away. Leads to riots, which leads to a heavy handed 'government crackdown'. Yay for tyranny!
|
|
Make a plague where food touched by the peasantry/lower classes instantly rots and turns foul. People starve while the nobles continue to live as normal. They could try to ptotect food stores from rotting by keeping the peasantry away. Leads to riots, which leads to a heavy handed 'government crackdown'. Yay for tyranny!
Oh, that's cold. Instead bloody peasant uprisings. I love it!
Don't forget to leave blueprints for guillotines lying around.
And, obviously, make sure to get the hell out of dodge. Once heads start coming off, the mob is not easy to stop, and will always be looking for new people to 'j'accuse!'...
@Pizza Lord: A great way to mechanically interpret the intended fallout. Thanks alot, very helpful :)
@Set and Verteidiger: Thanks for joining. I really like your suggestions. The positive energy malformities and food spoilage have found a cozy spot in my heart :D