Joshua Randall
Legend
I always figured the problem with "A Paladin in Hell/The Abyss" is that it's too easy for the player to make his character incorruptible. Sure, there might be some ultra-dedicated role-players who will allow the DM to corrupt their paladin - but most won't.
So the trick is: what can you do to tempt the player into compromising his character's moral principles?
There have been a number of good ideas in this thread already. I'll just venture a couple more.
First, I'm assuming the player desperately wants to get his character back to the rest of the group. You need to play on this desperation. I would go so far as to tell him, "We really can't have you rejoin the group until you get out of The Abyss." This is deliberately conflating the "you" of the player with the "you" of the character.
Now, what is he willing to do to get out? Is he willing to...
... give up his cohort? Maybe. I don't know how devoted your player is to his cohort. It depends upon whether you let him run the cohort himself, or whether you run it for him. It also depends upon how useful that cohort is to him, how long they've been together, and a bunch of other intangibles that you would know better than me.
... give up his dead cleric friend? I assume he's lugging the guy around for a reason, but the cleric is dead after all. The cleric's soul is safe in wherever, and there's not much the demons can do to the body that the Tomb of Horrors hasn't already done, right?
Perhaps some power in The Abyss offers the paladin a way out. But only two can leave. Does he take his live cohort? Or the dead cleric? ("Good riddance!" the demons would probably think, to that one.) Or does he selflessly send his cohort through with the body?
It still might be too easy for the player to resist these temptations. So, how careful is he?
Suppose he is set upon by a powerful enemy: the Winter Wight tracks him down, or some random demon desides to squash him. While he fights, another demon arrives and turns the tide of the battle - getting back at a rival demon, or just banishing that interloping Winter Wight. Afterwards, the helpful demon offers to point the paladin to a way home, saying, "I just need to borrow your dagger or something as a focus while I open the gate." Of course the demon has no intention of returning the borrowed item, and will later use it for some nasty ritual....
Again, a paranoid player might see through this, too. So how about my final gasp.
Your group is probably pretty close to going up against Acererak himself, correct? They've been fighting his minions for months of game-time. There have been deaths galore. They've lost friends, gold, and items. They should be itching to put a stop to the demilich, forever.
The paladin in The Abyss is shown a vision of his group fighting Acererak... and failing. One by one, his friends die in gruesome ways, until only he is left... and the vision goes dark. Allow the player to use divinations or other investigation tactics to learn that this is an absolutely true vision: if the group confronts Acererak, they will fail, and all will die. Unless... there is a certain demon who has information, information that will allow the group to succeed. Will the paladin trade with this demon? Is stopping Acererak worth compromising his principles? (I assume the group knows or can guess what kinds of awful stuff will happen if Acererak is not stopped.)
It's possible that none of these dilemmas will tempt the paladin's player. But, by targeting the player, rather than the character, I think you make the game that much more interesting. The player wants to rejoin his friends, he wants information about their foe, and he might get a little sloppy about lending things to demons. If the player can overcome all those pitalls, then he (and his character) deserve to escape from The Abyss.
So the trick is: what can you do to tempt the player into compromising his character's moral principles?
There have been a number of good ideas in this thread already. I'll just venture a couple more.
First, I'm assuming the player desperately wants to get his character back to the rest of the group. You need to play on this desperation. I would go so far as to tell him, "We really can't have you rejoin the group until you get out of The Abyss." This is deliberately conflating the "you" of the player with the "you" of the character.
Now, what is he willing to do to get out? Is he willing to...
... give up his cohort? Maybe. I don't know how devoted your player is to his cohort. It depends upon whether you let him run the cohort himself, or whether you run it for him. It also depends upon how useful that cohort is to him, how long they've been together, and a bunch of other intangibles that you would know better than me.
... give up his dead cleric friend? I assume he's lugging the guy around for a reason, but the cleric is dead after all. The cleric's soul is safe in wherever, and there's not much the demons can do to the body that the Tomb of Horrors hasn't already done, right?
Perhaps some power in The Abyss offers the paladin a way out. But only two can leave. Does he take his live cohort? Or the dead cleric? ("Good riddance!" the demons would probably think, to that one.) Or does he selflessly send his cohort through with the body?
It still might be too easy for the player to resist these temptations. So, how careful is he?
Suppose he is set upon by a powerful enemy: the Winter Wight tracks him down, or some random demon desides to squash him. While he fights, another demon arrives and turns the tide of the battle - getting back at a rival demon, or just banishing that interloping Winter Wight. Afterwards, the helpful demon offers to point the paladin to a way home, saying, "I just need to borrow your dagger or something as a focus while I open the gate." Of course the demon has no intention of returning the borrowed item, and will later use it for some nasty ritual....
Again, a paranoid player might see through this, too. So how about my final gasp.
Your group is probably pretty close to going up against Acererak himself, correct? They've been fighting his minions for months of game-time. There have been deaths galore. They've lost friends, gold, and items. They should be itching to put a stop to the demilich, forever.
The paladin in The Abyss is shown a vision of his group fighting Acererak... and failing. One by one, his friends die in gruesome ways, until only he is left... and the vision goes dark. Allow the player to use divinations or other investigation tactics to learn that this is an absolutely true vision: if the group confronts Acererak, they will fail, and all will die. Unless... there is a certain demon who has information, information that will allow the group to succeed. Will the paladin trade with this demon? Is stopping Acererak worth compromising his principles? (I assume the group knows or can guess what kinds of awful stuff will happen if Acererak is not stopped.)
It's possible that none of these dilemmas will tempt the paladin's player. But, by targeting the player, rather than the character, I think you make the game that much more interesting. The player wants to rejoin his friends, he wants information about their foe, and he might get a little sloppy about lending things to demons. If the player can overcome all those pitalls, then he (and his character) deserve to escape from The Abyss.
