Gfreak2x9
Explorer
Hello Everyone,
I wanted to discuss Cheliax because I will be segwaying into a Chelish campaign shortly. I wanted to get some perspective on a few things before I dove into it head first. First off let me say that I have read the companion "Cheliax, the Empire of Devils" and it was very informative, however I desire the perspective of other Dungeon Masters before going forward. With that said, please try to keep responses limited. I'm not looking for everyone's two cents on the matter, I'm looking for a fellow DMs advice...
Slavery: Slavery is a huge part of the Chelish culture and is arguably a foundation for their society. I am having trouble with this in particular because I can't decide on how to implement it into the story without making Cheliax a horrible nation that should burn. The society is LE and although Devil worship is the chief religion, we cannot as DMs simply plaster a villain on every corner and expect this society to function! There has to be some sort of order, there has to be rule of law, there has to be a reason for people to generally behave! Yet at the same time, I have to have slaves in every city for this to seem accurate to the presented information within the books.
My first thought was to run Cheliax (and I mean no offense to anyone here by saying this) as if it were Pre-Civil War Southern America! Expect rather than a "White" upper class, Cheliax simply has an upper class! However even this itself presents problems. First of all since race is no longer a factor, what makes a slave? Is someone born to it? If not whats to stop Jim from next door from knocking out his neighbor and selling him as a slave? How is this regulated? In American History it was your skin. If you were White you were blessed, and if you weren't then you lived a mostly terrible life. In real life Blacks helped Blacks escape and Whites who saw the horror of it helped them. Well how is this supposed to work in Cheliax? You're a Teifling slave. But many other Teiflings around you are upper class. Do they just look down on you as a disgusting slave and go about their business? If so how do they not end up developing a racial hatred like those few Blacks who were freed, only to enslave their fellow brothers and sisters to do the same back breaking work that they had once done?
What stops the infighting? What stops people from rebelling against the Chelish machine? I understand that the Church of Asmodeus and the HellKights are there to enforce but do we really believe that they are able to root out all of it? Even the real life KKK could do no such thing. There were people in the south, Black and White who knew it was corrupt and terrible regardless of what was said by leaders. Thats why the underground railroad was never fully shut down. It simply had too many people on both the Black and White side of the fence who refused to allow slavery to continue.
I have come up with a solution of my own. The country also respects Asmodeus and his doctrine. He is in fact, the God of Contracts and Slavery. Well why not have each slave bound by legal contract. Perhaps after 10 years of slavery they are set free? Or perhaps Slavery itself is reserved for criminals or enemies of the state? But even this idea has flaws. I don't see very many ways of running Cheliax other than making them Tyrannical as hell (pun intended) and outright killing any and all who oppose the Chelish way of life. With this said, this place is awfully dangerous for the average player character to be roaming around in.
Devil Worship We have a paladin in the group. Not just any Paladin either, a LG follower of Sarenrae. How on earth am I going to get this one passed the HellKnights? According to the book they rule as Judge, Jury, and Executioner and therefore need no other consent to kill him on sight. True a DM might say that word of his death might spark a war between nations. However one could argue that the Chelish have just as much reason to kill him and sweep it under the rug! They keep an iron rule with the Church of Asmodeus keeping the public fearful. If some random guy can simply walk into town and preach the Gospel of Sarenrae, then they aren't much of a force to fear now are they? I'm struggling with how to make him keep his head down, while also staying true to his LG preaching litle boy scout! I keep imagining how an encounter with a HellKight would go, and I'm not coming up with many positives.
The solution that I have come up with is that he needs to hide his faith well in order to avoid problems with the Church of Asmodeus and the other crazies of Cheliax. But again, there are holes in this as well! If questioned what is he to say? Is he to say "Yep I sure to love Asmodeus! Praise the nine hells!" well Sarenrae won't be too happy about that now will she?
Although I am not going to shy away from this challenge, I do find that DMing this is going to be rather difficult. This society is very different to what we are used to, even in D&D! I expect it to challenge both myself and my players with a new way of thinking. Things will be forced to be more morally gray and decisions will be harder. If another DM has any advice, or perhaps someone who has either run an encounter or played an encounter within Cheliax, your advice would be appreciated! Also anyone who can back up an opinion with Lore is welcome to put in their two cents.
DISCLAIMER: Please for the love of god don't make this a post about US Slavery. I made my comparison, thats enough! Please keep your responses limited to advice and lets not start some political discussion about he Civil War and whatnot. I'm here to discuss my campaign, not the internet's feelings on US History!
I wanted to discuss Cheliax because I will be segwaying into a Chelish campaign shortly. I wanted to get some perspective on a few things before I dove into it head first. First off let me say that I have read the companion "Cheliax, the Empire of Devils" and it was very informative, however I desire the perspective of other Dungeon Masters before going forward. With that said, please try to keep responses limited. I'm not looking for everyone's two cents on the matter, I'm looking for a fellow DMs advice...
Slavery: Slavery is a huge part of the Chelish culture and is arguably a foundation for their society. I am having trouble with this in particular because I can't decide on how to implement it into the story without making Cheliax a horrible nation that should burn. The society is LE and although Devil worship is the chief religion, we cannot as DMs simply plaster a villain on every corner and expect this society to function! There has to be some sort of order, there has to be rule of law, there has to be a reason for people to generally behave! Yet at the same time, I have to have slaves in every city for this to seem accurate to the presented information within the books.
My first thought was to run Cheliax (and I mean no offense to anyone here by saying this) as if it were Pre-Civil War Southern America! Expect rather than a "White" upper class, Cheliax simply has an upper class! However even this itself presents problems. First of all since race is no longer a factor, what makes a slave? Is someone born to it? If not whats to stop Jim from next door from knocking out his neighbor and selling him as a slave? How is this regulated? In American History it was your skin. If you were White you were blessed, and if you weren't then you lived a mostly terrible life. In real life Blacks helped Blacks escape and Whites who saw the horror of it helped them. Well how is this supposed to work in Cheliax? You're a Teifling slave. But many other Teiflings around you are upper class. Do they just look down on you as a disgusting slave and go about their business? If so how do they not end up developing a racial hatred like those few Blacks who were freed, only to enslave their fellow brothers and sisters to do the same back breaking work that they had once done?
What stops the infighting? What stops people from rebelling against the Chelish machine? I understand that the Church of Asmodeus and the HellKights are there to enforce but do we really believe that they are able to root out all of it? Even the real life KKK could do no such thing. There were people in the south, Black and White who knew it was corrupt and terrible regardless of what was said by leaders. Thats why the underground railroad was never fully shut down. It simply had too many people on both the Black and White side of the fence who refused to allow slavery to continue.
I have come up with a solution of my own. The country also respects Asmodeus and his doctrine. He is in fact, the God of Contracts and Slavery. Well why not have each slave bound by legal contract. Perhaps after 10 years of slavery they are set free? Or perhaps Slavery itself is reserved for criminals or enemies of the state? But even this idea has flaws. I don't see very many ways of running Cheliax other than making them Tyrannical as hell (pun intended) and outright killing any and all who oppose the Chelish way of life. With this said, this place is awfully dangerous for the average player character to be roaming around in.
Devil Worship We have a paladin in the group. Not just any Paladin either, a LG follower of Sarenrae. How on earth am I going to get this one passed the HellKnights? According to the book they rule as Judge, Jury, and Executioner and therefore need no other consent to kill him on sight. True a DM might say that word of his death might spark a war between nations. However one could argue that the Chelish have just as much reason to kill him and sweep it under the rug! They keep an iron rule with the Church of Asmodeus keeping the public fearful. If some random guy can simply walk into town and preach the Gospel of Sarenrae, then they aren't much of a force to fear now are they? I'm struggling with how to make him keep his head down, while also staying true to his LG preaching litle boy scout! I keep imagining how an encounter with a HellKight would go, and I'm not coming up with many positives.
The solution that I have come up with is that he needs to hide his faith well in order to avoid problems with the Church of Asmodeus and the other crazies of Cheliax. But again, there are holes in this as well! If questioned what is he to say? Is he to say "Yep I sure to love Asmodeus! Praise the nine hells!" well Sarenrae won't be too happy about that now will she?
Although I am not going to shy away from this challenge, I do find that DMing this is going to be rather difficult. This society is very different to what we are used to, even in D&D! I expect it to challenge both myself and my players with a new way of thinking. Things will be forced to be more morally gray and decisions will be harder. If another DM has any advice, or perhaps someone who has either run an encounter or played an encounter within Cheliax, your advice would be appreciated! Also anyone who can back up an opinion with Lore is welcome to put in their two cents.
DISCLAIMER: Please for the love of god don't make this a post about US Slavery. I made my comparison, thats enough! Please keep your responses limited to advice and lets not start some political discussion about he Civil War and whatnot. I'm here to discuss my campaign, not the internet's feelings on US History!
And have the PC richly rewarded by Thrune when successful. Of course this all suits Asmodeus' own plans just fine...
