What could possibly go wrong (game tale, sort of)

[Greenfield]

For reasons best left undiscussed at this point, a party member once saved a thief from being killed by the Devil he robbed.

To do this, the PC offered 10% of his soul. The Devil accepted. The deal included a clause where the PC could do a service to pay off the debt.

The Devil immediately proposed that the PC retrieve a holy relic called the Dagger of Helios. The PC had a year to complete the deal, with the relic to be delivered to the Devil at the same bar, one year from the date of the deal.

Now a new PC, a Cleric/Golden One has joined the party and doesn't approve at all of the deal. Being from a far land and thus without resources to call upon, he's sent a message to a major temple giving a general description of the problem and asking for help. He has not exactly talked to the party about this.

I anticipate a Sending to ask for details, and some verification. Details will include "What relic, exactly?", plus the usual who, where, and when.

The relic was taken from the altar of a temple that was still in use., by the way, not pulled from some ancient ruins.

So, what could possibly go wrong?

I have visions of the church commissioning a party of adventurers (not the PCs) to prevent the hand off, retrieve the dagger, and bring the temple raiders to justice.

But why stop at one group? How many PC-quality teams will be in that bar, that night, hoping to collect the bounty? Each sent by a different temple, of course. <hee hee hee>

And, to be true to his convictions, the PC would have to help them.

Then consider that the hand off is seven months in the future. Lots of time for word to spread. Bounty hunters, do you think?

Now I must admit that pretty much all of this came to me within seconds of reading the e-mail from the player. (And yes, nobody else at the table knows this is happening unless they read about it here.)

And I'm not normally an adversarial/predatory DM. But this player is literally asking for trouble. Is it wrong of me to oblige?

(Okay, I'm pretty sure it's wrong of me to fiendish-laugh in anticipation, but it's so hard to resist.)

Comments welcome.

 

[Grogg of the North]

I've always been of the opinion that as a DM I won't go out of my way to kill you but, if you do something stupid you'll pay the price. I think this definitely falls into that statement.

So, yea, I see the temple that had the relic sending forth adventurers/clergy to retrieve the dagger.

I see thieves sent by a guild to collect the relic to auction to the highest bidder or to sell to a collector.

I see bounty hunters being sent to avenge the deaths of the fallen temple guards that fought to stop the PCs from stealing the relic.

I see other devils/cultists wanting to steal the relic for their own purpose.

I see the Golden One fighting against the party.

And lastly, I see the devil trying to find someway to screw the party over with the letter of the contract and not the intent.

Now if you can pull this off in a massive fight between all the groups with everyone trying to steal the relic and the Benny Hill Theme blasting in the background you'll have a gaming story for the ages.

 

[Greenfield]

Well, it's both better and worse than that.

We're in a Grecco/Roman setting, and the sun god is Apollo. Helios was the Titan who had the job before him

The party traveled back in time to Pompeii, on the very hour of it's destruction, to retrieve the dagger before it could be buried.

And, as the screaming people cried out to their gods to save them from the fire falling from the sky, our intrepid heroes swoop in and steal the altar piece from the Temple of Helios, right in front of the congregation.

The PC who did the actual grab was our Druid, who turned into a Fire Elemental to get through the crowds, pretty much killing everyone he touched as the mob panicked. His rationale was that, being several centuries in the past, in a doomed city, he was at most accelerating their deaths by a few minutes. Besides, they'd actually been dead for centuries, and nothing *should* change that.

So, in terms of anything resembling alignment issues, they didn't just step off the deep end, they marched off, singing and dancing, with a brass band for accompaniment. It was grand.

If I'd been the DM at the time I'd have slapped everyone stupid for that stunt, including my own PC.

I have a tale of the Golden One's participation as well, but I'll save that for another time.

On the "better" side, the worship of Helios ended when the current gods displaced the Titans, centuries ago. There is no church to seek retribution. The note was sent to the temple of Zeus in Olympia, and they will be the ones to respond.

As for the Devil trying to foul the deal: This mission was laid with so many booby traps it isn't funny. The way I play a Devil in a deal, he can't actually lie when making the terms. And he didn't.

The deal, as proposed, was: "I have heard it said that in the ancient city of Pompeii beneath the ashes there stood a Temple to the fallen god Helios, and that in that temple there was a altar piece, the Dagger of Helios. Bring that to me and your debt is paid. And, to show that I'm being fair, you have a full year to complete the task. You are to deliver the dagger to me one year from tonight, in this very bar."

He spoke the truth, technically, when he said that he had heard of the dagger, and where it was. He didn't say that he had heard this from a reliable source, or whether he knew for certain that such an item existed at all. Also, the bar they were in was on an island that is known to vanish and reappear. (I looked up some ancient maps of the Aegean Sea, and this island appeared on some, but not on others. How much fun is that? ) So the Devil doesn't even know if this bar will be reachable at all on the night in question. Now he'll be there, not because he expects to receive a holy relic, but because he expects to collect a soul. The PC owed 10% of his, but the deal was that if the PC accepted a task and failed, the penalty was the other 90%

Oh, and the PC later bargained away another two tenths of his soul, so I get to screw with him again, and then again, even if this works out somehow.

Honest, I didn't set out to be an evil DM. It just sort of happened.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Geeze! That's just screaming for the DM to screw with the party. Either having inevitables showing up because the PCs screwed up the time line or have them find out that Helios was about to intervene, since his worshipers had passed his test of courage/loyalty, but then some idiot stole his dagger and he couldn't enter into the mortal realm.

 

[Greenfield]

An Inevitable *did* show up and read them the riot act. One PC was cast into timeless space for the duration. Other penalties were given, but I wasn't too harsh.

You see, another DM ran that adventure, and at least one player/PC (me) kept asking why we were doing this. The closest thing to an answer we got was because this was the game the DM had planned.

I talked to him last night by phone and sort of described the group's behavior, from an "outsider's point of view". It went something like this:

A group of adventurers entered a town at the hour of it's impending destruction, when the people were crying out to their gods for salvation.

One entered a temple, boldly declaring that"The golden one is here, make way, make way". The people, believing him to be a divine messenger, cleared a way for him. When he discovered that he wasn't in the temple he wanted to desecrate, he simply turned and left without another word, leaving the crowd speechless with shock.

As fire fell from the sky around the temple of Helios, a PC turned into a pillar of living flame and walked through the place, ordering people out of his path. Any who failed to clear the way became smouldering corpses left in his wake. He killed temple guards, worshippers, any who got in his way without concern for rank or station and stole the holy relic from the altar, then fled.

So how is there an "L" or a "G" on any of those character sheets any more?

Our presence there at that time, and the nature of our mission was dictated by the DM. That is the only reason I can think of why the gods haven't slapped them down, hard.

Oh, that and the fact that the gods in question are currently dead or imprisoned. (Kronus, whom the previous DM mislabeled as the god of Time, was the one who sent the Inevitable, and mentioned that being currently dead was a real inconvenience. )

Referring to another thread, the Golden One has a black mark on the "Defend the weak and helpless" line of his code of conduct.

And, of course, he's the one who dropped the dime on the PCs.

What's more fun, the new emperor of Rome has had an unofficial contract out on the party for a bit. Something about us being the ones who helped his predecessor become Emperor, and who might try to restore him to the throne.

With this excuse, he can make that contract official. Of course, the way our game world is structured (each DM has a region that they and they alone run) I don't get to actually do that. Rome is someone else's sovereign territory and I have to keep my hands off.

By the way, I wrote up the tale of how they got this mission about the dagger. It's in the Story Hour forum, one of the Curse of Darkness tales. It was a one-session throw away, when the previous adventure ended sooner than expected, and I had to fill in while someone else got a story ready. I'd just intended it as a plot hook someone could use.

So yeah, right now I'm sort of feeling like that shark from Finding Nemo, repeating, "Fish are friends, not food", over and over again as I struggle with the temptation to just plain unleash unholy hell on the party.

The mission, or at least the method of its completion were not of their/our choosing. And, over all, I wouldn't make anything of it. But this player's actions are just begging for it.

 

[Unwise]

Thanks for sharing the stories, it sounds like it could be an interesting session.

I'm not saying that this is necessarily the case, but it is a common temptation for GMs to feel like they should punish PCs for acts against their alignment, or acts of stupidity. I feel that this is a temptation that should be avoided. No matter how callous or stupid an act is, the consequences of it should just be based on cause and effect. In my games I try to ensure that there is no punishment, just causality. It is a hard line to walk, as I tend to cackle with devilish glee when I see them make a foolish mistake. It also really annoys me when they roleplay poorly.

In the case in point, I really can't see how anybody cares that they stole the item in question. No political power cares about the fate of people hundreds of years dead, none of the gods necessarily need to take insult about it either, as it is a dead gods artifact. I think it is a perfect example of stealing from somebody nobody cares about. If there is to be any divine intervention about this, wouldn't it make sense to just be based on the fact that A) some god wants that artifact for themselves or B) Apollo is afraid that they might be cultists of Helios, and he wants to nip any chance of resurrection in the bud. I'm not quiet sure why the earthly churches would get involved in this at all of their own accord. If the churches don't care that much, what if they just tell the PC dobbing on the others "well bring us the dagger" without giving him any real support.

Regarding the deal with that devil, I really like the idea of the bar being on the island below the sea. They get there and find it is gone, but can see it deep down under the crystal clear water. The devil is sitting there, apparently being able to breath underwater. If they did not try to arrive early, have they got the time to try and track down water breathing spells to get down there and deal with him? If they did arrive early, the devil doesn't, what do the PCs do as the water rises and the whole places starts sinking? The devil just teleports in at the allotted time.

Also, note that he said "I have heard stories that..." then said "Get me the dagger of Helios..." he did not say that the dagger that he had heard stories of was in fact the dagger that he asked for, he just said that some people believe that. He could know full well that the dagger of Helios is kept in a volcano lair of some dragon. Now, as it turns out, he owns the guys soul, however that dagger that they are carrying is actually of some worth to him (it just isn't the Dagger of Helios), he would give the guy 30% of a soul for it...This way he gets the dagger he really wanted (a Dagger of Defilement, he tricked Pompeii into putting it on their altar thinking it was holy, thus bringing Helios's wrath on them) and still gets to keep a fair bit of the guys soul. I would say that there are certain tropes to be stuck to in certain settings, if "never deal with a devil" is one of them in yours, feel free to screw the PCs.

If it does turn out that this is not the right dagger, what happens to the cleric that gave the false information? What if angels etc do turn up to reclaim the artifact and find they have been (indirectly) lied to. Zeus is not really the forgiving and rational sort.

 

[Greenfield]

This tale may take a stranger take yet.

The Cleric/Golden One sent a message to Olympia, by messenger. He doesn't know anyone there to target a Sending to.

I asked him to write me the message, word for word, in an e-mail. He introduces himself, talks about the Relic (but doesn't name it), identifies the Devil (by type at least), and confirms that the one is to be given tot he other.

He doesn't identify the group, the location or the date. He does include a lock of his own hair, so they can Scry him and open communications. (A caster has a 5% chance per caster level of using Message through a Scrying spell.)

The message will take time to get to Olympia, a month at least by mundane courier services. They haven't gotten back to him with any questions about the who, what, when or where.

He's currently in mid battle against a Marilith demon, and has cast Repulsion to try and keep it away from him. It would pretty much drop him in a round if it focused its damage output on him. The Marilith made the Save against the spell. Some of his allies didn't, so they can't come to protect him. His back is against a wall (literally) and she's in striking range. There's a really good chance that the character will die, and since he's the only character in the group that can currently cast Revivify there's no quick return from that. (We've removed Raise Dead and Resurrection from play.) The other way to return him would be a trip to the Land of the Dead to retrieve his soul. His character is from Finland and I, for one, don't have a clue what their land of the dead looks like.

If he dies and doesn't return, the church will have lost their only lead to stop the hand over. (We've eliminated the "Ask god for the answer" spells as well.)

Their best bet would be to ask a well known group of adventurers to track this down. And that may well be the PCs.

Is that an insane twist, or what?

 

[jasper]

Ok I a little confused about the timeline. But the Devil plays fair but punishes stupid. But you said 7 months to the Devi's Happy Hour.
At 6 months 2 weeks the NPC Dagger team 1 is dispatched from the home office to the PCs last known location. Dagger Team 1 will carry orders to inform any their regional church locations they pass by with a copy of their orders. And request to keep messengers on standby to report back to the home office about Dagger Team 1 progress.
At 5 months 3 weeks Olympia Office Clerk will ping/Scry for the Golden One Turncoat and get an update.
Between 5 months 2 weeks to 5 months. Dagger Team 1 discovers the PCs. Dagger Team 1 is equal to party level.
At 4 months Dagger Team 2 is dispatched from the home office if Team 1 was fail. Team 2 is Party level +2 or higher. And their orders allow them to hire bounty hunters.
At 3 months 2 weeks Dagger Team 2 arrives at party's location.
At 3 months the Devil checks with his minions and gets a report on how the pc who made a deal with is doing. The Devil may help the party behind the scene so they keep the dagger.
That all I got. But I think the Devil is going to be tick if the party fails because the player no longer has 9/10 of his soul.

 

[Greenfield]

I see two variations on this theme, and a Plan C.

Step zero: Scry/Message the Golden One as soon as the message is received, to confirm that this isn't a hoax.

Now we have two possibilities: The Golden One is still alive, or he isn't.

If the Golden One is still alive: Get as much information as possible, right away. The Golden One doesn't actually know the exact date, though he does now know the location. He can also tell them where the party is heading. They'll question about individuals involved, preferred tactics and style, etc. They'll ask the Golden One to secure the dagger, if possible, and deliver it to a temple ASAP. Least conflict that way. Failing that, they'll send messages to churches in the region, and probably commission a team to stop the group.

If the Golden One is dead when they call: Not much they can do. They'll see a dead body in the Scry, but in a world without Teleport there won't be much they can do to follow up. Spells like Discern Location don't show corpses, as far as I know, so they might see a picture but won't have any idea where in the world it is.

A general alert will go out, investigators will be sent to backtrack the original message and track the group from there, but they'll be tracing a trail that's at least two months cold.

Plan C: Presuming they can identify when/where the exchange is to be made, agents could be dispatched to simply evacuate the Inn and burn it to the ground. The conditions of the exchange were exact, and though the Devil would be happy to take the Relic off their hands, the contract is now void. No way to actually complete it.

Plan C is weak, I know. The Devil may agree to release his claim in exchange for the dagger, regardless of the letter of the contract.

And none of this takes into account what the PCs have planned either. There's considerable talk of handing over the dagger to complete the contract, then shanking the Devil on the spot.

Of course, being no fool, the Devil will take precautions of his own.

Any way this comes down, big battle scene to plan.

 

[Greenfield]

Epilogue: The Cleric/Golden one told the group about his message to the church, and their response. The church is very unhappy about the situation, but the party is woeking on alternative plans that don't involve turning the dagger over to the Devil.

One thought is: If they kill the Devil before the appointed date/place, then show up on time, his failure to appear will void the contract. It seems that there was nothing in the contract against that sort of thing, and contracts with Hell have nothing resembling a "good faith" clause.

Realistically, they're a group of 16th through 19th level characters, facing a CR 6 Chain devil. He might escape, but he won't win.

So crisis averted, at least for the moment.