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Need help creating an Infernal Contract
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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7433924" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>I think you have to be careful of crossing the line between outwitting the players, and cheating them.</p><p></p><p>Invisible ink? That's cheating. Just as you cannot hold a person to a contract in a language they cannot read, you can't hold them to a contract written in ink they cannot see. Outwitting the players will make them angry with your devil. Outright cheating them will make them angry with *you*, which probably isn't the desired result. </p><p></p><p>Consider that the "you couldn't read this, because it was hidden" could be applied to *any* document the PC signed, at any time in their lives, retroactively. That's profoundly unfair. It is the "rocks fall, everyone dies" of the soul. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p><p></p><p>In terms of fictional themes, the devil's power comes from following rules - he can't do whatever he wants, but within the restrictions, they have great power. The contract has power not just because it was signed - anyone can write words on paper. It has power because the character *agrees to terms*, and puts their will on the paper. If the character does not know the terms, they cannot agree to them.</p><p></p><p>You want a really good example of a deal with the devil? Disney's "The Little Mermaid". Ursula the Sea Witch makes a deal with Ariel. There is nothing in the terms of the agreement that is hidden. It is only the fact that the customer is desperate, and does not fully understand the value of what they are agreeing to pay that screws them over.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 7433924, member: 177"] I think you have to be careful of crossing the line between outwitting the players, and cheating them. Invisible ink? That's cheating. Just as you cannot hold a person to a contract in a language they cannot read, you can't hold them to a contract written in ink they cannot see. Outwitting the players will make them angry with your devil. Outright cheating them will make them angry with *you*, which probably isn't the desired result. Consider that the "you couldn't read this, because it was hidden" could be applied to *any* document the PC signed, at any time in their lives, retroactively. That's profoundly unfair. It is the "rocks fall, everyone dies" of the soul. :p In terms of fictional themes, the devil's power comes from following rules - he can't do whatever he wants, but within the restrictions, they have great power. The contract has power not just because it was signed - anyone can write words on paper. It has power because the character *agrees to terms*, and puts their will on the paper. If the character does not know the terms, they cannot agree to them. You want a really good example of a deal with the devil? Disney's "The Little Mermaid". Ursula the Sea Witch makes a deal with Ariel. There is nothing in the terms of the agreement that is hidden. It is only the fact that the customer is desperate, and does not fully understand the value of what they are agreeing to pay that screws them over. [/QUOTE]
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