Cheliax, Empire of Devils

[Lylandra]

Slavery is not that much of a problem, nor does a society with slaves have to be evil at all. As being said, serfdom wasn't really much different from slavery as whomever your head of family was had a say on what you were allowed to do or not. Remember, there were no such thing as modern nuclear families back then...

BTW remember that Saranrae & Asmodeus joined together at the Dawn of Time to defeat and bind Rovagug, the Rough Beast. You could certainly play up this 'Auld Alliance' aspect, you could even have a somewhat sympathetic LN Thrunist Inquisitor seek out the Saranrae Paladin's aid against the threat of a Demonic or Far Place incursion, replicating the ancient cycle once more... And have the PC richly rewarded by Thrune when successful. Of course this all suits Asmodeus' own plans just fine...

Also this. Asmodeus (as a deity) is the eldest god alive. He doesn't give a damn for mortals per se and even cares less for whom else they worship unless they are fine that he is the most powerful and his rule is absolute. This is reflected in Cheliax by the fact that shrines to other gods and even priests of them are allowed, but they have to ceremoniously admit that Asmodeus is the God of Gods. So unless your Paladin went on a Holy Crusade in Cheliax or started preaching against Chelian doctrine, he'd not be challenged at all. If you consider what [MENTION=463]S'mon[/MENTION] said, your Cheliax episode could culimate in one big temptation for your Paladin. He might like the respect and power given to him. He might like the absolute order and draconian "justice".

For his worship of Sarenrae: Be sure to offer him rituals of cleansing within his temples after his job is done. Sarenrae (and most gods) is not stupid. She knows her follower's hearts. So as long as the Paladin stays true in his faith, she will not let him fall from grace for paying lip service to Asmodeus in order to stay alive. This would be completely up to him and his actions.

However, themes like this are not for every player or GM. If you feel like being unable to handle it, then don't. Don't go there unless you are absolutely sold on the idea. Evil themes and societies dominated by evil hierarchies are hard to portray sensibly. Using a black&white "darkness, corruption, injustice, torture everywhere" scenario then yes, such a society would not stay stable for long.

For example, think about why people would *like* to live in Cheliax. What reasons could one give for why life is better there than elsewhere?

When we were playing evil characters who had the job to overthrow a superficial holier-than-thou LG government, we wanted the people to *love and fear* us. We claimed that everyone had a place in the infernal hierarchy and that life was easier if everyone knew where that place was. We claimed that only the strong are powerful enough to protect and do the hard decisions for those who are weaker/inferior. And we brought religious freedom. Worship whomever you want as long as you and your god also bow to Asmodeus.

 

[Gfreak2x9]

UPDATE: We have completed the first session and it went much better than expected! I did re-read the source material and I found that there were in fact some details I had missed. I appreciate those that chose to legitimately respond with their knowledge as I had requested! I will now go over how I chose to run the session so that others may weigh in on my decisions and be able to reference this thread should they choose this campaign setting...

First and foremost I made sure to revisit the actual population of Cheliax. As it states in multiple sources Teiflings exist here but they are a minority. In short although it may called "The Empire of Devils" Cheliax is by no means populated with Teiflings in every home and Tavern as far as the eye can see! I chose to make them slightly more common in my game, simply because I thought it would be cool.

In regard to the HellKnights, it wasn't really an issue. The Party was able to learn of their existence and chose to steer clear of them as well as the Church of Asmodeus (if you can really call it a Church) as often as possible.

I also chose to remember the golden rule of D&D, what is written in the Rules/Lore is a guideline! I stayed mostly true to what was written in the PDF, I did however take some creative liberties with my own game. I chose to make the HellKnights more of a secret police that only chose to show themselves in certain circumstances. Is this accurate to the lore? Not really. Did my players like it? I've never received so many compliments on a session in my life! Everyone seemed to really enjoy it! They told me Cheliax felt very alive, and real to them. They felt the need to lay low at times, while feeling free to speak as they wished at other times. It is important to note that I used the PDF as my base and built upon it rather than outright changing all written lore.

I found that a mixture of research, prepared encounters, Improv, and some custom changes of my own made for an awesome night of gaming! I normally prefer to stick to the written Lore but I am very happy with my decisions and so are my players!

I would also like to touch base on the Player who runs the Paladin and what he thought of all this. For the sake of simplicity and his own privacy I will call him J. J had not played D&D for a few years and was having some trouble role playing. He built and good paladin, he had a goal, but he couldn't seem to bring out the character. He admitted to struggling with this and wished that he could just figure it out! All my worries and fears were totally blown out the window with him. He took this setting and ran with it! He role played more this session than any other, and today he texted me some oaths he had found online and explained how he wanted some of them to really define his character! He said that he felt the setting was in a way challenging but very fun for him and his character. Because he is doing so very well, I have a little surprise set up for him and the Party!

In conclusion I will state a few things I've learned from this.
#1 When in doubt re-read the source material.
#2 Rather than follow the Lore to a T, add your own bit of flavor for an awesome custom experience.
#3 Don't underestimate a players ability to preserve the life of their Character! They may surprise you!

 

[Arilyn]

Really glad to hear that your campaign is getting off to a great start.
Definitely make it your own. Some of the modules and PF arcs I've run end up not even remotely the same as what's written in the pages, and other times they are pretty close.