D&D General Pain for power

[TorgoTheWhite]

Require them to be possesed by the demon. They gain cooll powers, but occasionally wake up surrounded by bodies, and not sure what happenend. Orr the player takes on some of the demons personality.

I like the personality quirks angle

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Here's an idea for you.

Include an option: "Give me part of yourself."

If you have a group of 6, have them write down 9-12 distinct things, or choose that many from a longer list you provide them. "All memories of a loved one". "The color blue." "Your favorite X." Etc. Things that are genuinely a part of who you are. They then put them into a box--and you secretly draw out one for each player, and seal each one in a numbered but otherwise unmarked envelope. You, meanwhile, keep a numbered list of which loss is in which envelope.

Then you give those envelopes to the players, and if they choose to make that sacrifice, they pick one of the numbered envelopes and sign it. You know what's in the envelope, but they don't. You use this. Weave it all through the campaign. Make little moments where a character can feel a sense of loss, but doesn't know why.

And only then do the moments of agony arise, when something actually important relates to what was lost--and the player genuinely doesn't know what it is, because you know, and they "forgot".

Nobody has to take this route. It could end in nothing. But if you have at least one adventurous player seated at your table....I think this could be a really, really cool direction for things to go.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

Here's an idea for you.

Include an option: "Give me part of yourself."

If you have a group of 6, have them write down 9-12 distinct things, or choose that many from a longer list you provide them. "All memories of a loved one". "The color blue." "Your favorite X." Etc. Things that are genuinely a part of who you are. They then put them into a box--and you secretly draw out one for each player, and seal each one in a numbered but otherwise unmarked envelope. You, meanwhile, keep a numbered list of which loss is in which envelope.

Then you give those envelopes to the players, and if they choose to make that sacrifice, they pick one of the numbered envelopes and sign it. You know what's in the envelope, but they don't. You use this. Weave it all through the campaign. Make little moments where a character can feel a sense of loss, but doesn't know why.

And only then do the moments of agony arise, when something actually important relates to what was lost--and the player genuinely doesn't know what it is, because you know, and they "forgot".

Nobody has to take this route. It could end in nothing. But if you have at least one adventurous player seated at your table....I think this could be a really, really cool direction for things to go.

This is a really great angle, thank you.
This particular demon doesn't care about return payoffs or transactions.. BUT, it does fuel the creation of weapons by using a part of them (all the power in the multiverse without the mortal will/spirit to enact it). I also have so many ongoing storyhooks that I don't really want the dark path for power, sidequest things. But this loss of self is very achievable without having to consume the main campaign.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

I think a combo of mechanical and story driven sacrifices will be included.. they will all be worded vaguely, per the demon, but a good insight roll will allow a player to ferret out some of the nitty-gritty/actual sacrifice being made.

I think "wear my brand" would be another good story-driven gamble. Essentially, this bound demon will try to use a character as a billboard to draw more travelers to it since it has been bound to an a anvil in a radioactive hellhole where it doesn't get to do the thing it loves anymore. "Brand" will be magical, etching itself to whatever the player wears if they choose to cover the brand, it would inevitably draw the attention of all NPC. That should be doable without usurping the main questline as well. Maybe a geas would be attached were the player must provide some level of details about how to get there