Help Needed With Succubus [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help Needed With Succubus [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sephraem
12-19-03, 05:57 AM At last, I'm going to have a chance to play the succubus I've always wanted and for this gal, I have some pretty impressive goals in mind. The problem I'm having is getting to grips with the fine detail.

I'll start at the beginning.

Summoned very recently to the prime material to be a living icon for an evil cult, she is secure in terms of followers/supporters and a base of operations. On the other hand, she can neither remember her home plane, nor knows anything about the prime material and so is struggling to familiarise herself as quickly as possible.

The cult is based in a lawless region occupied by many warring factions of humanoids. Her first goal is to unite the tribes in order to stand against the so-called 'good' humanoids who oppress the 'evil' humanoids and suppress their expansion. Meanwhile, her followers are to spread the word of her coming and raise her up into a messianic type figure, hopefully extending her worship throughout the country.

Once she has a sizeable force, she hopes to expand her territory and 'free' the humanoids from the tyranny they have been subjected to until she came to save them.

Her ultimate goal is to ascend to godhood.

However, I'm really struggling as to the 'message' she should bring. Obviously, 'humanoid enmpowerment' is a key part, and I was hoping to use hypocrisy as part of her ethic.

I like the idea of encouraging people to love one another (she is a succubus, after all) and yet fostering resentment of the 'good races' that have never shown the humanoids any kindness (so there's a good excuse to stomp all over them unless they bow down and worship). Meanwhile, she uses that love her followers have for her to manipulate them into assisting her with attaining her goals.

Also, I'm very keen to have an 'all races are welcome' policy with the claim that 'all are beautiful' and no one should be excluded on grounds of race. After all, what sensible future deity is about to exclude potential worshippers?

I'm unsure of the detail, though, as I said. Is it enough to be this vague?

Additionally, when she becomes a deity, is her 'profile' going to be large enough with these rather limited ideas and ideals?

Any help would be gratefully received. :)
Morka
12-19-03, 10:05 AM Perhaps should you also consider to try to sedduce some good humans, increasing the amount of worshippers and weakenning the human cities.

You should also create some an order of "high priestess", some female humanoīds you will increase the charisma through illusion and enchantment magic. Their mission will be to spread your message, and "date" (don't know how to say this without falling into mature matter) as much male as possible. After all, your goal shouldn't be to keep all the males for yourself, since your cult will fall after one generation.

You should even encourage interspecies breeding, officially because the "heart has no eyes", but also to create a generation of stronger warriors.
Sephraem
12-19-03, 10:14 AM Originally posted by Morka
You should even encourage interspecies breeding, officially because the "heart has no eyes", but also to create a generation of stronger warriors. On this, Morka, you have absolutely read my mind. I was thinking along the same lines, and contemplating her having a child sometime later (when she gets a lot of down time) with her cohort, a troll. Whether it ends up being a troll half-fiend or a succubus half-troll, the resulting offspring will be immensely powerful when it's grown... :D

I hadn't thought at all about a proper priesthood (not good at fine detail) and initially, it's going to be hard for her to buff anyone long term without the use of magic items. That is to say, she gives them magic items and pretends the items represent her power. Dodgy, as we'll be playing in a fairly high magic setting. Once she actually attains godhood, everything will become easier, it's keeping the followers interested in the meantime that I forsee being difficult.
Morka
12-19-03, 02:50 PM Originally posted by Sephraem

Once she actually attains godhood, everything will become easier, it's keeping the followers interested in the meantime that I forsee being difficult.

You're right, since she's not a god yet, the need to have younger followers is not rush. Once she reach godhood, she shall be able to create an order of "temptress/dominatrix".

The strenght of a succubus is to lure mortals, one by one, to bring them gradually to CE alignment. This way, the succubus could easily gain a dozen of followers, but will have some troubles to create an army.

What you can do is have this dozen of followers be your personnal guard. If you choose those followers well, you might be able to gather many slaves, force them to fight, and establish a name amongst the evil tribe. Then, by diplomacy, you could have 3 other tribes to join you.
Sephraem
12-24-03, 08:59 AM Well, one of the things I'm hoping is that she will be able to get the tribes to identify with her because she can take on the shape of a member of each race - she won't hide that she's not one of them, just play on the fact that it's obvious she's come to help them because she can physically represent them as well as politically.

When dealing with important members of each tribe, she will be able to take the form likely to be most pleasing to them so that should help her win a few points. Of course, initially, she'll be relying on her ability to gather information to find this out, but eventually she'll have the aid of magic so that she can fine tune it.

I'm taking the Leadership feat and because of the bonus to charisma her score is pretty high. Her highest level follower is 6th level (and therefore has as many HD as her) so I anticipate them being quite active in the campaign, and probably very useful as spies as well as missionaries.
JDRoundtree
12-31-03, 01:39 PM Well,
I hate to go so dark, but hey, when you're a history nerd it comes natural.
Have you thought about looking at some of the fascist movements of the mid 20th century.
Although it seems like an act of Blasphemy to call it such, Hitler always referred to Nazism as a spiritual movement and not a political movement.
If the Catholic Church hadn't been so much a part of the Italian identity, Mussolini would have tried to supplant it if he could have.
Perhaps you could have this dark icon succubus call to some of the things that fascism did in garnering its support.
I would have her play up unity amongst her followers, and while yes, you wouldn't cut off potential worshipers, nothing solidifies people like a common enemy.
You could have her preach that there are those that are worthy to follow the cult, and those that aren't, galvinizing her minions in support of her and against the other races/ countires.
You could even take it to a racial level, saying that there are those that could be "freed" of their "delusions," and brought back to the true path...
that way, if your icon did wage war against another realm/race/peoples, they could then allow people that were conquered to "repent"
It's not unlike the inquisition in Europe.
Seriously, awful though it is, check out fascism, particularly the Nazi's New World Order in Europe, the crusades, and the inquisition, and you'll see just what kind of awful things that people will do in the name of a "messianic leader"
Malavus
01-06-04, 10:03 PM Interesting character.

One idea to help with the fact that she is not a goddess, yet.

You could have her pose as a powerful agent of an imprisoned Goddess. A powerful agent who is able to help new converts achieve their goals, and accrue power themselves. Such as assisting the Orc lieutenant overthrow his leader and take control of the tribe. By using charms and other nice befuddlement magics, you could easily enough convince most humaniods that you were very instrumental in the attainment of their new roles. For that matter, you may HAVE been instrumental.

Anyway, you gather loyal followers for this "Goddess" figure who will reward them all greatly when she is freed. But she may only be freed by the slaying of the non-believers and naysayers, for they hold her in the other reality. In this way you can build your power base without having to come off as a Goddess right at first, but still having the bargaining power of one to some degree. And it gives a good engine for conquest.....

Just a thought.
Morka
01-08-04, 03:18 PM Did you tought about the Fiend of Corruption or Fiend of Blasphemy PrC?
Sephraem
01-12-04, 06:16 PM JDRoundtree: That's a great idea! Very much what I'm looking for!

I hadn't made the Nazi/Crusades kind of connection, but now that you mention it, it seems almost perfect! A dictatorship... Exactly! :D

Malavus: Good thinking! My only problem with this is that she personally refuses to acknowledge any god. When I first thought about the character, I was thinking about levels in Ur-Priest, so that she would steal power from the gods. That's now going to manifest itself as a 'Thou shalt not worship false idols,' kind of thing, and I really fancy the idea of her trying to set herself up as a deity. I suppose she could pretend to be an avatar of an imprisoned goddess and get her followers to 'reawaken' her powers. Definitely opens up some ideas.

Morka: I did think about the fiend classes. I love them and it was very difficult for me to decide not to use them in the end. I've decided to go with the bard all the way. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sephraem 12-19-03, 05:57 AM	At last, I'm going to have a chance to play the succubus I've always wanted and for this gal, I have some pretty impressive goals in mind. The problem I'm having is getting to grips with the fine detail. I'll start at the beginning. Summoned very recently to the prime material to be a living icon for an evil cult, she is secure in terms of followers/supporters and a base of operations. On the other hand, she can neither remember her home plane, nor knows anything about the prime material and so is struggling to familiarise herself as quickly as possible. The cult is based in a lawless region occupied by many warring factions of humanoids. Her first goal is to unite the tribes in order to stand against the so-called 'good' humanoids who oppress the 'evil' humanoids and suppress their expansion. Meanwhile, her followers are to spread the word of her coming and raise her up into a messianic type figure, hopefully extending her worship throughout the country. Once she has a sizeable force, she hopes to expand her territory and 'free' the humanoids from the tyranny they have been subjected to until she came to save them. Her ultimate goal is to ascend to godhood. However, I'm really struggling as to the 'message' she should bring. Obviously, 'humanoid enmpowerment' is a key part, and I was hoping to use hypocrisy as part of her ethic. I like the idea of encouraging people to love one another (she is a succubus, after all) and yet fostering resentment of the 'good races' that have never shown the humanoids any kindness (so there's a good excuse to stomp all over them unless they bow down and worship). Meanwhile, she uses that love her followers have for her to manipulate them into assisting her with attaining her goals. Also, I'm very keen to have an 'all races are welcome' policy with the claim that 'all are beautiful' and no one should be excluded on grounds of race. After all, what sensible future deity is about to exclude potential worshippers? I'm unsure of the detail, though, as I said. Is it enough to be this vague? Additionally, when she becomes a deity, is her 'profile' going to be large enough with these rather limited ideas and ideals? Any help would be gratefully received. :)
Morka 12-19-03, 10:05 AM	Perhaps should you also consider to try to sedduce some good humans, increasing the amount of worshippers and weakenning the human cities. You should also create some an order of "high priestess", some female humanoīds you will increase the charisma through illusion and enchantment magic. Their mission will be to spread your message, and "date" (don't know how to say this without falling into mature matter) as much male as possible. After all, your goal shouldn't be to keep all the males for yourself, since your cult will fall after one generation. You should even encourage interspecies breeding, officially because the "heart has no eyes", but also to create a generation of stronger warriors.
Sephraem 12-19-03, 10:14 AM	Originally posted by Morka You should even encourage interspecies breeding, officially because the "heart has no eyes", but also to create a generation of stronger warriors. On this, Morka, you have absolutely read my mind. I was thinking along the same lines, and contemplating her having a child sometime later (when she gets a lot of down time) with her cohort, a troll. Whether it ends up being a troll half-fiend or a succubus half-troll, the resulting offspring will be immensely powerful when it's grown... :D I hadn't thought at all about a proper priesthood (not good at fine detail) and initially, it's going to be hard for her to buff anyone long term without the use of magic items. That is to say, she gives them magic items and pretends the items represent her power. Dodgy, as we'll be playing in a fairly high magic setting. Once she actually attains godhood, everything will become easier, it's keeping the followers interested in the meantime that I forsee being difficult.
Morka 12-19-03, 02:50 PM	Originally posted by Sephraem Once she actually attains godhood, everything will become easier, it's keeping the followers interested in the meantime that I forsee being difficult. You're right, since she's not a god yet, the need to have younger followers is not rush. Once she reach godhood, she shall be able to create an order of "temptress/dominatrix". The strenght of a succubus is to lure mortals, one by one, to bring them gradually to CE alignment. This way, the succubus could easily gain a dozen of followers, but will have some troubles to create an army. What you can do is have this dozen of followers be your personnal guard. If you choose those followers well, you might be able to gather many slaves, force them to fight, and establish a name amongst the evil tribe. Then, by diplomacy, you could have 3 other tribes to join you.
Sephraem 12-24-03, 08:59 AM	Well, one of the things I'm hoping is that she will be able to get the tribes to identify with her because she can take on the shape of a member of each race - she won't hide that she's not one of them, just play on the fact that it's obvious she's come to help them because she can physically represent them as well as politically. When dealing with important members of each tribe, she will be able to take the form likely to be most pleasing to them so that should help her win a few points. Of course, initially, she'll be relying on her ability to gather information to find this out, but eventually she'll have the aid of magic so that she can fine tune it. I'm taking the Leadership feat and because of the bonus to charisma her score is pretty high. Her highest level follower is 6th level (and therefore has as many HD as her) so I anticipate them being quite active in the campaign, and probably very useful as spies as well as missionaries.
JDRoundtree 12-31-03, 01:39 PM	Well, I hate to go so dark, but hey, when you're a history nerd it comes natural. Have you thought about looking at some of the fascist movements of the mid 20th century. Although it seems like an act of Blasphemy to call it such, Hitler always referred to Nazism as a spiritual movement and not a political movement. If the Catholic Church hadn't been so much a part of the Italian identity, Mussolini would have tried to supplant it if he could have. Perhaps you could have this dark icon succubus call to some of the things that fascism did in garnering its support. I would have her play up unity amongst her followers, and while yes, you wouldn't cut off potential worshipers, nothing solidifies people like a common enemy. You could have her preach that there are those that are worthy to follow the cult, and those that aren't, galvinizing her minions in support of her and against the other races/ countires. You could even take it to a racial level, saying that there are those that could be "freed" of their "delusions," and brought back to the true path... that way, if your icon did wage war against another realm/race/peoples, they could then allow people that were conquered to "repent" It's not unlike the inquisition in Europe. Seriously, awful though it is, check out fascism, particularly the Nazi's New World Order in Europe, the crusades, and the inquisition, and you'll see just what kind of awful things that people will do in the name of a "messianic leader"
Malavus 01-06-04, 10:03 PM	Interesting character. One idea to help with the fact that she is not a goddess, yet. You could have her pose as a powerful agent of an imprisoned Goddess. A powerful agent who is able to help new converts achieve their goals, and accrue power themselves. Such as assisting the Orc lieutenant overthrow his leader and take control of the tribe. By using charms and other nice befuddlement magics, you could easily enough convince most humaniods that you were very instrumental in the attainment of their new roles. For that matter, you may HAVE been instrumental. Anyway, you gather loyal followers for this "Goddess" figure who will reward them all greatly when she is freed. But she may only be freed by the slaying of the non-believers and naysayers, for they hold her in the other reality. In this way you can build your power base without having to come off as a Goddess right at first, but still having the bargaining power of one to some degree. And it gives a good engine for conquest..... Just a thought.
Morka 01-08-04, 03:18 PM	Did you tought about the Fiend of Corruption or Fiend of Blasphemy PrC?
Sephraem 01-12-04, 06:16 PM	JDRoundtree: That's a great idea! Very much what I'm looking for! I hadn't made the Nazi/Crusades kind of connection, but now that you mention it, it seems almost perfect! A dictatorship... Exactly! :D Malavus: Good thinking! My only problem with this is that she personally refuses to acknowledge any god. When I first thought about the character, I was thinking about levels in Ur-Priest, so that she would steal power from the gods. That's now going to manifest itself as a 'Thou shalt not worship false idols,' kind of thing, and I really fancy the idea of her trying to set herself up as a deity. I suppose she could pretend to be an avatar of an imprisoned goddess and get her followers to 'reawaken' her powers. Definitely opens up some ideas. Morka: I did think about the fiend classes. I love them and it was very difficult for me to decide not to use them in the end. I've decided to go with the bard all the way. :)