My players are joining an infernal legion

[RangerWickett]

So the PCs had heard rumors about The Golden Legion, who are marching across their stone age world collecting magical and physical resources -- rare portals, gem deposits, mineral veins, the occasional bloodstain of a fallen godling -- and this past session the PCs finally got to talk with one of their companies.

Three PCs with huge cojones just walk up to this camp of a dozen 7-foot tall, gold-chain-wearing devils, and they wave hi to the company commander, then strike up a conversation. With some clever fast talk they get the commander to admit that, yeah, the world is basically doomed (it's going to be torn apart by the energy of a dark star [read: black hole] in a few years), so the legion is just gathering what they can before the place is blown up.

And then the PCs, god bless them, say, 'So you've got a way off this world? Hey, can we join your legion of enslaved infernal beings who are tasked with strip-mining our homeworld? In exchange, we can tell you where you can find some interesting magic to plunder.'

Oh, but they had terms. They each wanted to have 5 legion devils of their own under their command. And they each wanted a horse.

Of course, it's all a ploy to get close to the legion's leader, maybe steal some of their power, and find a way to escape the world on their own, or better yet save the whole place from its fate. But I've got to admire the casualness with which they made the offer.

 

[Kaodi]

How strong are your players compared to the devils? Have they thought that they might not survive the machinations of their own underlings, ?

 

[RangerWickett]

A few sessions ago I mentioned 'legion devils,' and one of the players went all metagamey with, "Ah, they're just minions."

Then they met a solitary legion devil out in the wild. He demanded they come with him to meet his commander. The party refused, saying they had this complicated matter to deal with, involving an ogre city with three rival factions, two of which were hostile to the party. They couldn't possibly go to the legion until that was resolved.

The legion devil proceeded to sneak into the city, kill the second in command of one of the factions, pin the murder on the second faction, and provoke a small civil war which gave the PCs a chance to sweep in and clean up the mess.

They respect the legion a bit more now.

(And they believe that the legion devils are magically bound to obey their commander, though they suspect -- rightfully -- that they also answer to a higher authority.)

 

[TarionzCousin]

Of course, it's all a ploy to get close to the legion's leader, maybe steal some of their power, and find a way to escape the world on their own, or better yet save the whole place from its fate. But I've got to admire the casualness with which they made the offer.

I hope not. I hope they plunder their planet and escape.

Ryan your games always sound fascinating. Do you have game logs posted somewhere?

 

[Saeviomagy]

I remember fondly a game where every time we met a bad guy who seemed tough, we offered to do his bidding in return for some reward, backstabbing our previous boss. We then merrily went about our way as adventurers and covered up our actions so noone actually knew it was us doubledoubledoublecrossing them.

Until we ran out of bad-guys with conflicting schemes, that is. Then we had to face the music. But at least we'd levelled up by then.

 

[RangerWickett]

I hope not. I hope they plunder their planet and escape.

Ryan your games always sound fascinating. Do you have game logs posted somewhere?

Nothing current, no. I had a few storyhours for previous campaigns, and a couple years back I posted a thread about the 'climax' of the first part of this game. We went on hiatus and restarted back in January.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/197996-how-end-world.html

I'm fairly convinced that I'm not the creative one, I just benefit from imaginative players who run through my planned 'epic fantasy adventures' and turn them into unexpected shapes. Like D&D balloon animals.

 

[RangerWickett]

I remember fondly a game where every time we met a bad guy who seemed tough, we offered to do his bidding in return for some reward, backstabbing our previous boss. We then merrily went about our way as adventurers and covered up our actions so noone actually knew it was us doubledoubledoublecrossing them.

Until we ran out of bad-guys with conflicting schemes, that is. Then we had to face the music. But at least we'd levelled up by then.

Nice. In our case, the PCs handily pointed the legion company in the direction of some powerful magic -- in particular, an insane wizard whose experiments in time magic have a tendency to turn every living thing in a wide radius into silt and rust. I'll have to decide whether the legion will nevertheless succeed and end up with, like, time traveling devils.

Oh, plus the party's wizard bonded with a source of dream magic, and so now every night he gets to cast 'sending' to someone else who is asleep, for no cost. I figured it would be a nice way to stay in touch with home when they're out adventuring, but he just realized he can try to send to people he's merely heard of, even if he hasn't met them. I panicked at first, then realized it's a great way to foreshadow later developments.

I think I need to reread some of Sagiro's storyhour to get a feel for how to use dream magic.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Nothing current, no. I had a few storyhours for previous campaigns, and a couple years back I posted a thread about the 'climax' of the first part of this game. We went on hiatus and restarted back in January.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/197996-how-end-world.html

I'm fairly convinced that I'm not the creative one, I just benefit from imaginative players who run through my planned 'epic fantasy adventures' and turn them into unexpected shapes. Like D&D balloon animals.

Oh yeah. I read that. Very cool.

Having great players can make a game better, but the DM needs to be creative, able to wing it, say "Yes" to their wild schemes, and allow them to drive the game.

 

[Umbran]

Not really related, but I figured folks who read this might also wonder...

Has anyone ever heard of a "fernal legion"?

Or, perhaps worse, an Implinal Legion?

Maybe I should just stop now.

 

[haakon1]

Opps, dupe post