Hi all, I had some spare time and got to thinking about an old thread I remember seeing, it basically boiled down to– Why can’t PC’s, (or anyone else for that matter) become fiends? It could be an interesting goal for villains and gives DM’s another of those ever elusive motivating factors for evil PC’s. I’m not that attached to this stuff and came up with it without referring to any sources so throw rocks at will if I’ve just made some stupid assumptions/judgements.
Of course the easy answer to all this is that PC’s can already become fiends by using the tried and tested method-
Step 1- be evil
Step 2- die
I figured this method wouldn’t be too attractive for characters who already had a few levels and didn’t want to have to work their way up from the bottom all over again, especially if that also involved losing your identity. Given Planescape gives us a multiverse of infinite potential I decided to rough out some different routes to fiendhood.
Tanar’ri
This is the easy one (kinda)
Step 1- be very powerful and evil, preferably taking control of an abyssal layer.
Step 2- force those less powerful than you to accept that you are a Tanar’ri.
Step 3- let the power of belief take its course.
Let’s face it, this is basically how tanar’ri change forms to become more powerful and I can’t see a logical reason why a similar method wouldn’t work for mortals. Belief’s a powerful thing.
Baatezu
This is kind of tricky and kind of simple you’d have to play within the rules but twist them to work in your favour (although if you didn’t want to do this there wouldn’t be much point in becoming a Baatezu).
Basically I see this working by striking a deal with a Baatezu that, in exchange for your soul, and whatever other means of influence you can muster, your consciousness is separated from your spirit and then re-attached once you are able to use it again (once you have been promoted to at least lesser Baatezu status)
There’s precedent for skipping past a stage or two anyway so this process shouldn’t take more than a decade or 2 if the contract was worded correctly.
The catches are that
1. You need to convince a devil to agree to create a rival for themself – you’d be significantly more powerful than other devils of your type because of your levels.
2. Your old consciousness would be entering a mind so twisted by it’s time as a fiend that the resulting creature would only technically classify as you. Kind of like how a Vampire in the Buffyverse has all the memories and experiences of the body but is, in fact, a completely different creature.
Yugoloth
This is actually why I began thinking about this subject and it could easily translate itself into game terms. The process is basically one of ‘purification’.
I’ve got a few ideas about a PrC which could allow for this. It’d be based on a combination of the Fiend blooded PrC (HoH) and the Dracolexi PRC (RotD) with mastery of Dark Speech taking the place of Draconic. The character would gradually work at removing from themselves those things which make them human- gradually rendering themselves down, through a combination of mental focus, arcane assistance and mutilation, into a creature which embodies evil. I imagine that Expertise with the Dark Speech would be essential as a catalyst for this change.
This would be a long and involved process, possibly taking the whole campaign to achieve and would involve a huge amount of searching for ancient knowledge and forgotten artefacts. This way requires no reliance on others and puts the emphasis squarely on the character to ‘better’ themselves regardless of the costs.
I have to wonder why you believe motivating factors for evil NPCs are elusive; I DM and I find it much easier to create a believable, complicated evil characters than good ones. There are numerous motivations for being evil, the most obvious is obtaining power and this can come in a variety of forms. Of course, vengence, promoting a cause that is detrimental to others (such as nationalism), and the desire for immediate gratification can also take a variety of forms. Misguided, twisted benevolence is a personal favorite. The threat of damnation is actually rather meaningless (for shallow minded villans it is never even considered). Petitioners lose their memories of their past life and all of their acquired skills and knowledge; essentially they lose their ego. Proud, masterminds are notorious for their egos; and a loss of their ego would be equated with the loss of oneself, so it really wouldn't be a point of concern what happens to the non-self that happens to be your soul.
Fiends lack the soul/body dichotomy of mortal creatures, and are essentially a soul given flesh by their plane of origin. This poses many difficulties for a presently embodied soul to become a fiend.
For the Tanar'ri, your plan is solid. But I don't see a mortal ever having enough power to take over a layer for himself (let's agree that the demon lord stats in Fiendish Codex I were for aspects just as was stated to be the case for the archdevils in FC II); considering that Abyssal lords are frequently portrayed, in flavor, as on par with the powers.
For the Baatezu, considering the huge ministry of promotions dedicated to regulating the transition of one caste to another; I don't see any "common" devils (and that includes Pit Fiends) being able to turn you into a baatezu. However, mortals are known to serve within the courts of Hell's nobility. After decades of loyal service, a powerful mortal might be able to persuade one to turn him into a fiend.
It is difficult to say anything for certain regarding the yugoloths; so that might be possible. But actual yugoloths advance through their different castes only with the assistance of other yugoloths. It would be strange for this to be the case but it still being possible for mortals to transform into one without the aid of yugoloths. Also, yugoloths are the only fiendish race that does not come from mortal souls, so this essential difference from the other fiendish races might entirely prevent mortals from becoming one. Covens of night hags have the power to transform a yugoloth into an altraloth; it is certainly possible that such a coven has the means to a turn a human into a fiend of some kind.