Scholars and "Not-So-Demonic Pacts"...

[wonderfly]

Hello,

In my Conan game that I'm running, I have a player who is running a Khitan Scholar, who started out at 1st level as a Independent. But time has passed, and at the end of the last adventure, I had him enter into an agreement with a Yaggite, (the Elephant head creatures from the Conan story "Tower of the Elephant")...the scholar hunts down the Yaggite's missing "Jewel of the Elephant" and in return, the Yaggite grants the scholar spells...

But I've been thinking about this, and I just realized: Isn't this basically a Demonic Pact I've entered him into? Yet in reality, I guess it might be called a "Not-So-Demonic Pact"...

I know you can gain new "backgrounds" for how you learn spells as you go along, so should I make him stick to the Demonic Pact rules when learning spells from now on? The problem is, from what I can tell, a Yaggite isn't an evil entity...so he's not going to get corruption points this way...so how can I make this "Pact" he's entered into with the Yaggite into a bad thing for him?

 

[Evilschemer]

Demonic pacts should provide lots of power for little effort, and in return you are cursed or corrupt.

Not-so-demonic pacts should provide less power for more effort for little or no cursing or corruption.

More powerful the Dark Side is not. Seductive it is. Easier.

 

[Anonymous]

You'd wish REH was a little optimistic and included the opposite, right? :roll:

 

[Zul Daire]

Do you really want to make it a bad thing for him or do you feel you need to.

The bad part could be if he does not fulfill his part of the bargain or slieghts the Yaggite in some way.

Other forces (coclaves) could turn the scholar against the Yaggite offering a kings ransom or place within their heirarchy in exchange for the "Heart". We all know what happened to a certain sorceror who knew a Yaggites vengence.

or

The group wanting the jewel could be under the guise of more benevolent god such as Asura or Ibis waiting in the wings to take it after the heavy lifting is done and usng it to enslave the Yaggaite to their own ends riddeling the scholar with guilt.

I would go with more of a story rather than a mechanic.

Or look over the Rule of the Master in the Sorcery chapter.

Now if the player is acting greedily about it the whole way then maybe something more severe could be applied like corruption or a basic pact.


A great friendship or rivalry could unfold.

 

[wonderfly]

Do you really want to make it a bad thing for him or do you feel you need to.

I just feel I shoud keep him in check a little bit...I don't really want it to be too bad of a thing for him.

The way he's running his scholar now, his character is a bit selfish in his quest for power. He has no Code of Honor or Allegiances...and his character is casting some strange looks towards one of my female NPC's...he's admitted to being more than willing to make human sacrifices to gain power.

Frankly, I look at this as the exact opposite of a demonic pact. With those, the demon demands you do vile acts. Here, the Yaggite's probably going to be unhappy if the sorcerer does perform some vile acts! :shock:

Thanks for the help, Zul Daire...