Suggestions for Inter Abyssal War needed!!

[Yvhv_Weide]

ok. so. titlae says it all! in my homebrew campaign, the main hook is that a conflict between two demon lords (orcus and malcanthet. yes, i know she's 3.5 material but i have roughly converted her over to pathfinder.) is spilling over into the world the players inhabit. The players will at some point have to make a few rather tough choices:

1. To side with Orcus or Malc against the other.

2. Decide the fate of many innocents and not so innocents on behalf of said force, in order ot impede the other.

3.To fight the "Champion/Chosen One" of the opposing side, and thus breaking their power on the mortal realm, and hindering their plans, as these "Champions" are basically conduits of their will, picked form their most powerful or devout followers.

As you can imagine, part three of this, is th emost difficult part, from a mechanic view point. Mostly because, i cant decide on how to tailor out Orcus' Champion. Malcanthet's champion was easy. (Hers is essentially a 15th level cleric with the Love and Lust Domains/Sub Domains) Orcus' is proving more difficult. i cant decide if i want to build them as an anti paladin, an evil cleric, an evil inquisitor, and evil oracle... cant make up my mind. This is mostly because of how i see orcus.

Honestly, i havent even been able to pick out what kind of creature orcus would choose as his champion, and what kind of boons he would grant them. I would think, seeing as his thing is death/undead, he could grant them (if a spell caster) lichdom, or (if a non spell caster) vampirism. (as an aside, this champion will have th ehalf demon template put on them, as perverting their "humanity" to grant them more power, is something that i can see happening"

i was at first, going to use just a demon that had gained more of their lord's favor, but that idea is...too basic. a demon just rising up through the ranks and such...is meh to me. and i dont want to use an orc or gnoll, as they are always "the bad guy". im trying to ask i guess, what would be a good idea for the Champion of Orcus Race wise, and class wise?

[Yvhv_Weide]

Also, as a side note, im using a homebrew cosmology and such, so RAW Cosmology and such, are kinda out the window. this is not taking place on golarion. its full on homebrew.

[Brother Fen]

See Savage Tide!

[Yvhv_Weide]

savage tide? is that a module or a rule book?

[Zhangar]

Savage tide is a Dungeon magazine adventure path.

The greatest sign of Orcus's favor would be to be to grant the champion not merely undeath, but the sort of "living" undeath that Orcus has - IIRC, 3.5 Orcus counts as both an undead creature and a living demon at all times, and gets to apply whichever would be most beneficial when resolving effects (so he heals from both positive and negative energy - and effects that are specifically anti-demon or anti-undead fail against him).

I may be horribly mis-remembering the James Jacobs Dragon article, though.

Also keep in mind that the champions don't necessarily have to be divine casters. Malcanthet's champion could be, say, a bard with unusually potent mind control abilities (and possibly capable of compelling the obedience of creatures that would normally be immune), while Orcus's champion could be a straight up necromancer. (Though I suppose clerics make better necromancers than necromancy-specialized wizards...)

Both champions should be relieved of any hit dice limits on what they can command/control.

Having the champions break the rules in very specific ways reflecting their patrons could help a lot with making them scarier.

[Goth Guru]

How about a paladin that died still corrupted. Like a death knight, but with added demonic powers.

[Tiltedleft]

A child with a sorcerer bloodline who died. Orcus's gift is the blessing of undeath and the ability to cast as a high level sorcerer, all their latent power awakened. How the child died is mutable, but have them be obviously emotionally unstable, with no concept of right or wrong.

Essentially an innocent corrupted by undeath, but still possessing some appearance of innocence.

[Brother Fen]

Savage Tide wiki.

[Shiroi]

If you wanted a corrupted paladin, there's the Grave Knight, they're bound to their armor which is perfect for a full plate paladin. It's sneaky, they're not as strong as a vampire or lich but if you don't know what you're fighting and you keep the armor it becomes the worst mistake of your... Well, it's not really your life anymore now is it?