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What a devil wants
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<blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6919895" data-attributes="member: 6669384"><p>I played with this one.</p><p></p><p>"You owe me a debt, and never let it be said that I am anything but fair. I will offer you ways to pay that debt. You may accept or reject any of them.</p><p></p><p>Complete a task, and your debt is paid. Accept a task, and fail to complete it, and you're mine, body and soul.</p><p></p><p>I will make each of you three offers. If you reject all three, your life is forfeit. </p><p></p><p>Here is my first offer: It has been said that in Pompeii, beneath the ashes, lay the Temple to the Titan/deity Helios, now dead and gone. On the altar of that temple it is said there is a item, a dagger. Bring me the Dagger of Helios, and your debt is paid. For one of you.</p><p></p><p>And so none may call me ungracious, you have one year to complete this task. Bring the dagger to me one year from tonight, present it during the witching hour (midnight), and one debt is forgiven.</p><p></p><p>Do you accept?"</p><p></p><p>**** </p><p>Note that bargains may be offered at any time. It's an ongoing plot hook, a way for you as a DM to motivate the players.</p><p></p><p>Now the Devil, in this case, is upping the ante. He has their lives, he wants their souls. And while he won't lie to them in the making of a contract (it would invalidate the deal), he can be as creative as he wants with the truth.</p><p></p><p>Yes, it's been said that that holy item is in those temple ruins. Perhaps he asked a friend to say it to him, so he could truthfully make that assertion. There is no guarantee that such a dagger is in that temple, or if it happens to be (by chance) it may not be near the altar.</p><p></p><p>Also note that the Devil never said where to meet, nor how they should find him to deliver.</p><p></p><p>Additional nasty: The "witching hour" is after midnight. So let's say they took the challenge on Septober 17th. They don't deliver on the evening of the 17th, but very early in the morning, between midnight and one. Deliver early or late and you've failed. Can't find the artifact? You've failed. Can't find the Devil? You've failed.</p><p></p><p>Now your game may not include the real-world city of Pompeii (buried in 79 A.D.), but you can name or invent any ruined city of legend.</p><p></p><p>In my game the Devil told them where to meet, but it was on an island that wasn't always there. It appeared and vanished for weeks at a time.</p><p></p><p>If you want a similar element, make the offer while they are on a ship at sea. "Bring it to me on this spot, one year from now. I'll be waiting." Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a ship back to that exact spot?</p><p></p><p>Make it three tasks for the group, as a whole. Otherwise this becomes a multi-year plot driver.</p><p></p><p>So why would the Devil make this offer? First it keeps the heroes busy for the forseeable future. Second, it holds the possibility (nigh certainty) that he'll end up with lives and souls. Third, even if they somehow succeed, the fact that they traded a holy relic to a Devil will destroy any good reputation they might have, and may well endanger their alignments.</p><p></p><p>BTW: Devils trade contracts around. Even if they gather the power to kill the Devil rather than pay him, the contract would still be enforced by his "boss", someone bigger and nastier than he is. The brute-force solution is a guaranteed loser: If they kill him they can't deliver the dagger to him, and they lose.</p><p></p><p>Yeah, it's a Devil's bargain.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Greenfield, post: 6919895, member: 6669384"] I played with this one. "You owe me a debt, and never let it be said that I am anything but fair. I will offer you ways to pay that debt. You may accept or reject any of them. Complete a task, and your debt is paid. Accept a task, and fail to complete it, and you're mine, body and soul. I will make each of you three offers. If you reject all three, your life is forfeit. Here is my first offer: It has been said that in Pompeii, beneath the ashes, lay the Temple to the Titan/deity Helios, now dead and gone. On the altar of that temple it is said there is a item, a dagger. Bring me the Dagger of Helios, and your debt is paid. For one of you. And so none may call me ungracious, you have one year to complete this task. Bring the dagger to me one year from tonight, present it during the witching hour (midnight), and one debt is forgiven. Do you accept?" **** Note that bargains may be offered at any time. It's an ongoing plot hook, a way for you as a DM to motivate the players. Now the Devil, in this case, is upping the ante. He has their lives, he wants their souls. And while he won't lie to them in the making of a contract (it would invalidate the deal), he can be as creative as he wants with the truth. Yes, it's been said that that holy item is in those temple ruins. Perhaps he asked a friend to say it to him, so he could truthfully make that assertion. There is no guarantee that such a dagger is in that temple, or if it happens to be (by chance) it may not be near the altar. Also note that the Devil never said where to meet, nor how they should find him to deliver. Additional nasty: The "witching hour" is after midnight. So let's say they took the challenge on Septober 17th. They don't deliver on the evening of the 17th, but very early in the morning, between midnight and one. Deliver early or late and you've failed. Can't find the artifact? You've failed. Can't find the Devil? You've failed. Now your game may not include the real-world city of Pompeii (buried in 79 A.D.), but you can name or invent any ruined city of legend. In my game the Devil told them where to meet, but it was on an island that wasn't always there. It appeared and vanished for weeks at a time. If you want a similar element, make the offer while they are on a ship at sea. "Bring it to me on this spot, one year from now. I'll be waiting." Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a ship back to that exact spot? Make it three tasks for the group, as a whole. Otherwise this becomes a multi-year plot driver. So why would the Devil make this offer? First it keeps the heroes busy for the forseeable future. Second, it holds the possibility (nigh certainty) that he'll end up with lives and souls. Third, even if they somehow succeed, the fact that they traded a holy relic to a Devil will destroy any good reputation they might have, and may well endanger their alignments. BTW: Devils trade contracts around. Even if they gather the power to kill the Devil rather than pay him, the contract would still be enforced by his "boss", someone bigger and nastier than he is. The brute-force solution is a guaranteed loser: If they kill him they can't deliver the dagger to him, and they lose. Yeah, it's a Devil's bargain. [/QUOTE]
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