A Warlock in the Forgotten Realms [Archive] - Wizards Community

A Warlock in the Forgotten Realms [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
that_evil_guy
11-19-04, 09:59 PM For a future campaign I'm thinking about making a warlock who will become an Acolyte of the Skin.

The catch is that there's a paladin in the party. Now, the warlock is Chaotic Neutral in alignment (we're running with a DM that assumes that the characters have no idea what alignment is so the paladin can't go "HEY!! Your character sheet doesn't say Good so I can't travel with you.") and since he's not Evil he doesn't set off the pally's spider senses. All of the characters are friends or at least are acquaintances and we start at 1st-level.

Now, Acolyte of the Skin doesn't require you to be Evil but summoning a fiend isn't exactly nice. There's also the fact that we're supposed to be heroes. The character has a warlock mentor in the starting town who poses as a sorceress and is a retired adventurer and the DM has told us that our "push" to adventure (since most of the characters have no real reason to be adventurers) will be the assassination of the town heroes (including the warlock mentor) who are not only good people, but idols and heroes to the people of the town.

One idea is that my character has Thayan blood and is the descendent of a Red Wizard who made a pact with a dark power (demon or devil) and somehow found a way to pledge the souls of his descendents to the evil creature. (from what I understand, that's kind of a no-no) The only way to break the Pact (that he known of) would be to perform the Ritual of Bonding upon the demon/devil and merge completely with it, removing the curse from his bloodline, and essentially destroying the creatures power in the Nine Hell's/Abyss. Now, while freeing the souls of countless generations of his ancestors and removing a powerful fiend from the Multiverse is a good thing, summoning and binding oneself to a fiend is not.

I'm wondering if anyone could help me work on this to not only justify the character in a heroic campaign but also be able to work in the same party with a paladin.

This character would be driven by darker emotions and a desire to acquire enough power to avenge everyone involved (his ancestors and his mentor) but I can see him as pushing the line between Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Evil but never crossing it.

Is this possible or is there a better way to make this combination without causing too much conflict for the player who wants to play a paladin?
Sorcerer
11-20-04, 06:32 AM Paladins often have a low intelligence.
Just say, "I'm a sorcerer."
Rekuji
11-22-04, 04:35 PM Depending on the personality of your paladin, this could be a very good thing. Just make sure to talk with him about it first.

As a Paladin, his job is to promote good and stop evil. A demon or devil possessing power over the souls of an entire bloodline is very much a bad thing. This fiend is obviously not going to use these souls for good purposes. If your warlock is going to take on the great task of taking this fiend's power away from it, then what else could he do but help?

Your paladin friend could set up as a guard during your summoning ritual, ready to jump into action should it go awry and the creature escape. After some work with your DM, the Acolyte of the Skin class could be modified into a class that actually fully absorbs the demon or devil, as opposed to working with it. Not only have you done a good thing for your family, as well as removing a powerful fiend from power, you also have the honor of being the man willing to take a great force of evil into his own body, all for the greater good.
Jastra of the clawed hand
11-24-04, 11:09 AM I second that. If you could explain it to the Paladin, he might actually regard you as honorable, taking all the risk of inviting a fiend into your body to prevent it from doing harm.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
that_evil_guy 11-19-04, 09:59 PM	For a future campaign I'm thinking about making a warlock who will become an Acolyte of the Skin. The catch is that there's a paladin in the party. Now, the warlock is Chaotic Neutral in alignment (we're running with a DM that assumes that the characters have no idea what alignment is so the paladin can't go "HEY!! Your character sheet doesn't say Good so I can't travel with you.") and since he's not Evil he doesn't set off the pally's spider senses. All of the characters are friends or at least are acquaintances and we start at 1st-level. Now, Acolyte of the Skin doesn't require you to be Evil but summoning a fiend isn't exactly nice. There's also the fact that we're supposed to be heroes. The character has a warlock mentor in the starting town who poses as a sorceress and is a retired adventurer and the DM has told us that our "push" to adventure (since most of the characters have no real reason to be adventurers) will be the assassination of the town heroes (including the warlock mentor) who are not only good people, but idols and heroes to the people of the town. One idea is that my character has Thayan blood and is the descendent of a Red Wizard who made a pact with a dark power (demon or devil) and somehow found a way to pledge the souls of his descendents to the evil creature. (from what I understand, that's kind of a no-no) The only way to break the Pact (that he known of) would be to perform the Ritual of Bonding upon the demon/devil and merge completely with it, removing the curse from his bloodline, and essentially destroying the creatures power in the Nine Hell's/Abyss. Now, while freeing the souls of countless generations of his ancestors and removing a powerful fiend from the Multiverse is a good thing, summoning and binding oneself to a fiend is not. I'm wondering if anyone could help me work on this to not only justify the character in a heroic campaign but also be able to work in the same party with a paladin. This character would be driven by darker emotions and a desire to acquire enough power to avenge everyone involved (his ancestors and his mentor) but I can see him as pushing the line between Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Evil but never crossing it. Is this possible or is there a better way to make this combination without causing too much conflict for the player who wants to play a paladin?
Sorcerer 11-20-04, 06:32 AM	Paladins often have a low intelligence. Just say, "I'm a sorcerer."
Rekuji 11-22-04, 04:35 PM	Depending on the personality of your paladin, this could be a very good thing. Just make sure to talk with him about it first. As a Paladin, his job is to promote good and stop evil. A demon or devil possessing power over the souls of an entire bloodline is very much a bad thing. This fiend is obviously not going to use these souls for good purposes. If your warlock is going to take on the great task of taking this fiend's power away from it, then what else could he do but help? Your paladin friend could set up as a guard during your summoning ritual, ready to jump into action should it go awry and the creature escape. After some work with your DM, the Acolyte of the Skin class could be modified into a class that actually fully absorbs the demon or devil, as opposed to working with it. Not only have you done a good thing for your family, as well as removing a powerful fiend from power, you also have the honor of being the man willing to take a great force of evil into his own body, all for the greater good.
Jastra of the clawed hand 11-24-04, 11:09 AM	I second that. If you could explain it to the Paladin, he might actually regard you as honorable, taking all the risk of inviting a fiend into your body to prevent it from doing harm.