Hey all,
I recently made a topic asking for creative ways to deal with the below situation and you can see the result below. Any feedback is appreciated as usual, but I think I'm happy with the outcome.
So...
A player of mine had gone through three characters by the time we made it to the end of book 2, so I allowed him to come back from the dead in any way he saw fit. So when he came to me and said he'd obtained the true name of a Balor, I decided to work with it. This is his final Pathfinder game, before he moves over to 5E.
I decided the only thing powerful enough to bring him back would be a Balor Lord, and so, using the Balor Lord as his lapdog, every time he now dies, the Balor brings him back. Little does he know, the Balor Lord allowed him to obtain its true name and is working on a rather sinister plan itself.
On top of this, Goruks return from the grave has upset the natural order of life and death and as such, Pharasma is far from happy about it. He has just recently been visited by a Vanth (Psychopomp) who tried beckoning him over. I've worked it so through Pharasmas will, only he can see the Vanth, as they're intent on keeping their presence hidden from those they have no business with. It will only attack him while alone, but if he slays it, more and more will come, until he faces Pharasmas Herald herself. Adding to the dangers of this, the Balor Lord is actually the one guiding Pharasmas army behind the scenes. Via its loyal servants residing on the material plane, he's having them commune with Pharasma to give away Goruks location. Why? To speed up the process of possession of course, for every time Goruk dies, a little more of the Balor Lords essence seeps into his mortal body.
Note: To anyone reading this, Goruk is a NE Anti-Paladin (Insinuator).
- Area fills with static electricity.
- Floor goes black with thick, unnatural misty darkness.
- Goruk steps out from it anew (every time he dies, but see below).
Deaths:
2 deaths: The dark aura of the Abyss appears to have tainted your soul. You feel great joy when slaughtering your opponents and an oddly comforting level of anticipation when near death, like something wonderful is about to happen. You feel a lot more confident in your own abilities and have a permanent +4 to Charisma.
4 deaths: Something feels off about your body. It's like your bones don't fit properly, and your muscles are pulling hard against them. Permanent -1 to hit, +2 to damage.
6 deaths: You've grown a foot taller and weigh an extra 50 pounds. The previous -1 to hit and +2 damage is replaced with a permanent +4 to strength. Your filed tusks have also grown considerably.
8 deaths: Your skin has darkened in hue, appearing closer to black than grey, while under direct sunlight it glows red. Your aura of evil has grown into something awful. Animals avoid you and children cry in your passing. All non-evil creatures within 30ft of you take a -1 penalty to their saves, skills and attack rolls (this is a fear effect - DC 10 + Cha mod + Character level negates). Your Con permanently increases by 4.
10: Your dark vision improves to 120'. Sometimes you hear a voice, like something is talking inside your head. Your prolonged contact with pure darkness has caused you to suffer from light sensitivity.
11: The voice gets louder.
12: The voice gets louder still, and makes it hard to focus.
13: The voice makes it hard to hear your own thoughts.
14: The voice is one with you. It's like you're looking through somebody elses eyes. Your body feels sluggish. You take a -4 penalty to Dex and to all Reflex saves.
15. Goodbye Goruk - Make a DC34 Will Save (10 + Balor Lord Charisma Mod + Number of Deaths) or lose your body permanently. If Goruk makes this save, the DC increases by 1 with every future death.
Lost body: Your soul is banished to the Abyss. If you haven't already realised, the Balor Lord is now in possession of your body and is doing god knows what with it on the material plane. Calling its true name has no effect as it's now bound to your physical body in your stead. You are now considered an Evil Outsider and are no longer tethered to your body.
- You have one way to deal with this:
A side quest to claim an ancient text from within the Abyss, where you'd need to perform some kind of ritual to reverse the final stages of the Balors control over you. Through reading this, you realise the bond is far too deep and to permanently remove the link between yourself and the Balor Lord, you must kill yourself when whole in body once more, killing the Balor Lord with you.
- This gives the PC's one final fight after the BBEG of Rise of the Runelords (hopefully not before - don't abuse this for your own (and the parties) sake (player).
Several years after the defeat of Goruk, either by his own hand or outside forces, a child struggles to sleep. All night long it can hear an unknown and yet familiar voice in its head; "Who....are....you?". "Who are....you?". "Who are you?". "WHO ARE YOU?". At that moment the child wakes up, aware of all past events that occurred during the course of the Rise of the Runelord campaign. Then the child spoke up, its face widening with a grin; " I...am Goruk-Rel!"
Roll a d10 (re-roll on a 10) to determine the race of this child:
1. Aasimar
2. Dwarf
3. Elf
4. Gnome
5. Halfling
6. Half-Elf
7. Half-Orc
8. Human
9. Tiefling
10. Re-roll
Campaign end.