Cleric of Asmodeus. HELP NEEDED!

[Dizn]

Hey good folks.

I'm starting RotR soon as a GM and one of my players wants to play as a Cleric of Asmodeus. His new to ttrpgs and I'm new to the setting, so I'm trying to figure out how to make said character work.

Note: I'm also using the Pathfinder for Savage Worlds rulebook instead, but I'm more interested in the lore and background aspect of said character rather than the mechanical parts.

Any suggestions or pit falls for such a character for this adventure path?

Best regards,
Dizn

[The Raven Black]

I think it can work as long as he is deeply concerned with protecting Sandpoint. Maybe his family lives there, or he got a vision from Asmodeus showing it's primordial to protect the town. Or he signed a contract with the town to protect it. Or several of those.

Maybe he would like to become a Hellknight and wants to show he can restore order in a town before taking on bigger duties.

What is the rest of the party like and how do they feel about it ?

[Dizn]

The Raven Black wrote:

I think it can work as long as he is deeply concerned with protecting Sandpoint. Maybe his family lives there, or he got a vision from Asmodeus showing it's primordial to protect the town. Or he signed a contract with the town to protect it. Or several of those.

Maybe he would like to become a Hellknight and wants to show he can restore order in a town before taking on bigger duties.

What is the rest of the party like and how do they feel about it ?

Rest of the party does not know about the Clerics involvement with Asmodeus. I wanted to keep it secret, since its an interesting plot hook for the others to find out.

1. I have a Sorcerer (been in town for about 2-4 weeks, did a job for the mayor that went south.)
2. Traveling Bard that's here for the festival and to make money.
3. Rogue nobleman from Magnimar who's currently written as a cousin of Kendra Deverin.

Hellknight thing is something I'd like for him to consider. I could make him a apprentice Hellnight, and Sandpoint is the job he has to succeed at. It also involves in killing a Demon I believe, which there are two in the first book.

I do have a question regards to what do Asmodeus faithful actually gain out of worshiping him? And I'm wondering also why did said character choose specifically that deity and not someone else? Asmodeus does deals, so I assume there's something he would want from the PC? Thinking about a crossroads devil pact to save himself or someone else etc.?

Prince of Darkness doesn't really care about mortals all that much, so I do wonder what made him like said PC?

[The Raven Black]

It is usually hard in PF to hide your deity when casting spells.

Asmodeus promises power, rightful authority and dominance to his faithful.

Asmodeus would love to convert all mortals to his worship, thereby extinguishing free will.

Becoming a Hellknight entails killing a Devil. Not a Demon. But killing a Demon is pretty sure to earn you points in the eyes of Hellknights.

[Nicolas Paradise]

I would definitely ask the player what would be their motivation to protect what is ultimately a small coastal town.

The biggest thing you can do to make Rise a successful campaign is to have a party that bonds together over Sandpoint and it's peoples and to a lesser extent Varisia and the World at large once the threat of Karzoug is revealed.

A Cleric in Golorian would have a hard time hiding what they are especially if they cast their spells in front of people as showing their holy symbol is part of most of their casting. Asmodeus is also fairly prideful.

If you do have this character in this game make sure to keep track of Sin points from day one. While you should never look to trap a player in a gotcha or spoil their fun. Sandpoint is a peaceful mostly good town and those who do bad are often brought down by hopeful heroes.

I would say such a character is actually a better fit for Curse of the Crimson Throne tho as Korvosa is connected to Cheliax and has active Asmodeus worship.

[Dizn]

Nicolas Paradise wrote:

I would definitely ask the player what would be their motivation to protect what is ultimately a small coastal town.

The biggest thing you can do to make Rise a successful campaign is to have a party that bonds together over Sandpoint and it's peoples and to a lesser extent Varisia and the World at large once the threat of Karzoug is revealed.

A Cleric in Golorian would have a hard time hiding what they are especially if they cast their spells in front of people as showing their holy symbol is part of most of their casting. Asmodeus is also fairly prideful.

If you do have this character in this game make sure to keep track of Sin points from day one. While you should never look to trap a player in a gotcha or spoil their fun. Sandpoint is a peaceful mostly good town and those who do bad are often brought down by hopeful heroes.

I would say such a character is actually a better fit for Curse of the Crimson Throne tho as Korvosa is connected to Cheliax and has active Asmodeus worship.

Okay, I was actually un-aware that Clerics cast their powers by showing their holy symbol. I assume other classes have an easier time hiding their powers origin, though? I'll forward said message to my PC and see what he thinks.

Is a vision received from Asmodeus to go help the city of Sandpoint enough of a reason to be there? According to the lore, Asmodeus dislikes Lamashtu as she won't keep promises, and there are a couple of her followers in the town or nearby hinterlands.

In addition, we included a Student of Faith archetype from the Anniversary Edition Players Guide. His a small town Clergy, a woodsman and a avid gambler. I'm not sure why he wants Asmodeus as his god, perhaps it just sounds cool? He's a first timer and could not know the consequences of such a ordeal perhaps.

He chose the Elemental Domain: Abadar, Asmodeus, Gozreh, Pharasma, Sarenrae, Shelyn, Torag - are part of it. Which of these would suit a half-elf Cleric better who wants to wield fire?

[The Raven Black]

Gozreh is quite the outdoor deity. Sarenrae and Torag both fit the small town clergy IMO, with Sarenrae being more open to gambling. Sarenrae is about redemption, so a bit more open-minded. However Torag is big on protecting your people, so an almost too-perfect fit for the AP IMO.

[Nicolas Paradise]

The Lamashtu bit only last to the end of book one but maybe that is enough to get the character to care for sandpoint.

The Gambling angle and greed could help tie the villains of book 2 and 3 to make said character a target.

The big problem I see with Asmodeus is that ultimately he is an evil deity and most hero's aren't evil. It isn't impossible but ultimately the character needs a motivation to keep committing heroics and saving people that doesn't put them at odds with the party.

Also when this character become high level and thus very powerful what do they want to do with that power once the bad guys are out of the way? This isn't as big of an issue as most people don't do epilogs or victory laps but it helps to see how a characters journey might be affected by knowing what the maxed out version of that character does with their power.

It could work, it just depends how the evil devil worshipping part of that character will affect the party and plot.

If you haven't read through all of the AP I would take some time to browse through the late parts of book 2 particularly Xanesha and Ironbriar to see how you can play off of that. The damn in book 3 as well as Lucrecia. Look through Runeforge in book 5 and see how sins and sin points may affect such a character. Finally in Book six think if such a character would want to fight and ancient evil wizard tyrant and even if they do, do they just become the big bad after that.

[The Raven Black]

The Cleric could also decide to reject Asmodeus and follow another deity during the AP.

[Dizn]

Nicolas Paradise wrote:

The Lamashtu bit only last to the end of book one but maybe that is enough to get the character to care for sandpoint.

The Gambling angle and greed could help tie the villains of book 2 and 3 to make said character a target.

The big problem I see with Asmodeus is that ultimately he is an evil deity and most hero's aren't evil. It isn't impossible but ultimately the character needs a motivation to keep committing heroics and saving people that doesn't put them at odds with the party.

Also when this character become high level and thus very powerful what do they want to do with that power once the bad guys are out of the way? This isn't as big of an issue as most people don't do epilogs or victory laps but it helps to see how a characters journey might be affected by knowing what the maxed out version of that character does with their power.

It could work, it just depends how the evil devil worshipping part of that character will affect the party and plot.

If you haven't read through all of the AP I would take some time to browse through the late parts of book 2 particularly Xanesha and Ironbriar to see how you can play off of that. The damn in book 3 as well as Lucrecia. Look through Runeforge in book 5 and see how sins and sin points may affect such a character. Finally in Book six think if such a character would want to fight and ancient evil wizard tyrant and even if they do, do they just become the big bad after that.

To clarify where we are currently with his character is as follows. The character is from Korvosa. Instead of doing Student of Faith, we changed it into Asmodean Demon Hunter. They are sort of a Van Helsing type person, but more magical. His tried to be apart of the Hellknight order, but wasn't well suited because of his personality, so decided to do his own thing by hunting rogue demons and various other entities that don't follow the law. They like high stakes gambling that at best of cases leads to other owing him, which eventual leads to them joining his faith, or taking their souls. So he gambles with money, lives and everything in-between. I still think the reason for being in Sandpoint is from a vision, but he's there to kick some ass by any means necessary to get the job done and fulfill his duties.

Yeah, I really should check out the last two books, since those have the most vital information for the entirety of the AP. Its in interesting thing to consider what happens once an Evil person defeats another evil.

[Dizn]

The Raven Black wrote:

The Cleric could also decide to reject Asmodeus and follow another deity during the AP.

His far too committed to playing a Asmodean Cleric at this point that a switch most likely will not happen. I can always take his powers away if he starts behaving differently and perhaps that would prompt him to change his deity.

[Nicolas Paradise]

Do you mean that maybe he is a Devil hunter? All demons in Pathfinder/ Golorian are Chaotic Evil and thus don't follow laws and aren't from hell. Devils are Lawful Evil and from hell and Asmodeus is their ruler.

Also not needed but a note is that followers of Asmodeus are often prideful like him so wouldn't wish to hide who they are.

Despite being evil Asmodeus holds Law above Evil and thus his followers should never seek to break local laws.

Depending on how evil a person / follower they are Clerics of Asmodeus often sacrifice a small animal when preparing spells(but are not required to).

Obviously this is your game and your player but there is a lot of nuance to having an evil character at a table.

Also Grambling is definitely a chaotic act and cheating isn't an option as an Asmodeian so it may be something he needs to break before he can become a more powerful Cleric. Unless he just sees it as pointless fun and doesn't care if he wins or loses.