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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 28, 2008 10:23:13 GMT -5
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 28, 2008 10:26:08 GMT -5
"Evil" is a word that is probably overused. In the context of the game, and certainly of this book, the word should be reserved for the dark force of destruction and death that tempts souls to wrongdoing and perverts wholesomeness and purity at every turn. Evil is vile, corrupt, and irredeemably dark. It is not naughty or ill-tempered or misunderstood. It is black-hearted, selfish, cruel, bloodthirsty, and malevolent.
//From the Book of Vile Darkness, page 5
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 28, 2008 10:39:37 GMT -5
Evil Acts
Examining the actions of the malevolent not only helps define what evil is, but it also gives an insight into the schemes of a villain. What follows is more than a list that defines evil as opposed to good. Read over the following sections to get ideas for villainous plots, schemes, motivations, and personalities.
Lying
Misdirection, tricks, and manipulation are tools of the trade for most villains. With such tools, they can lead enemies into traps, both physical and otherwise. A well-told, well-placed lie can redirect a whole army, change the opinion of an entire city's populace, or simply make an adventurer open the wrong door in a dungeon.
Some liars are compulsive; that is, they have a psychological need to lie. Others delight in fooling people. If a villain can get a foe to believe a lie, he has shown himself (at least in his own mind) to be superior to that foe.
Intelligent villains often concentrate on gaining ranks in Bluff to facilitate their lies. Of course, being liars themselves alerts them to the fact that others probably lie just as much as they do. Thus, they often have a high Sense Motive modifier as well.
Lying is not necessarily an evil act, though it is a tool that can easily be used for evil ends. Lying is so easy to use for evil purposes that most knightly codes and the creeds of many good religions forbid it altogether.
Cheating
Cheating is breaking the rules for personal gain. When evil villains cheat, it's not just at games. They create contracts with clauses that they can manipulate to trick others. Villains manipulate officials so that evildoers are set free instead of going to prison. They rig their enemies' equipment so that it breaks or does not function properly. Cheaters may threaten the lives of a councilman's family to make him vote for their plan. They may use spells and poison to ensure that a particular gladiator dies in the arena so that they can earn a profit by wagering on the survivor.
Cheating can take many forms. For example, a cheater might trick two enemies into fighting each other, or fool an enemy's lover into betraying his or her loved one. A cheater might challenge an opponent to a rigged contest or a fight that is rigged, or simply make an agreement that he or she has no intention of upholding.
Theft
Any child can tell you that stealing is wrong. Villains, however, often see theft as the best way to acquire what they want. Evil people pay only for things they cannot take.
An evil character needs a reason not to steal. Fear of being caught is the most common deterrent, but sometimes a villain elects not to steal an item because he or she doesn't want to incur the wrath of its owner. For example, a drow cleric might pay for a rogue for a magic item. The cleric isn't averse to stealing from the rogue, but she pays for the item so that the rogue will continue working for her.
Betrayal
A betrayal is often nothing more than an elaborate lie, but its implications are greater. Such an act involves earning someone's trust and then using that trust against him or her. Common acts of betrayal include learning and then revealing secrets, or using trust to get close to one's enemies for an attack or theft.
betrayal does not have to be intentional--or at least it does not have to start intentionally. Sometimes a character can be tempted into betraying someone whose trust he or she earned legitimately. Children can betray their parents, a lover can betray a lover, and a friend can betray a friend. However, it can also be more complex than that: A king can betray his people, a husband can betray his wife's family, and a human can betray his entire race. Virtually any sort of link between two creatures can eventually become the foundation for betrayal.
Murder
Killing is one of the most horrible acts that a creature can commit. Murder is the killing of an intelligent creature for a nefarious purpose: theft, personal gain, perverse pleasure, or the like.
The heroes who go into a green dragon's woodland lair to slay it are not murderers. In a fantasy world based on an objective definition of evil, killing an evil creature to stop it from doing further harm is not an evil act. Even killing an evil creature for personal gain is not exactly evil (although it's not a good act), because it still stops the creature's predations on the innocent. Such a justification, however, works only for the slaying of creatures of consummate, irredeemable evil, such as chromatic dragons.
Evil beings delight in murder. It is the ultimate expression of their power and their willingness to commit any sort of heinous act. It shows that they are either powerful enough or detached enough to do anything they wish.
To particularly evil creatures, especially those with very alien outlooks, murder is itself a desirable goal. Some such creatures hate life and despise all that lives. They relish either death or undeath and thus seek to quench life whenever possible. Such creatures are usually (but not always) undead themselves.
Vengeance
revenge is a powerful force. An act of vengeance does not have to be evil, but the evil mindset usually redefines the concept as "revenge at any price." Vengeance without limits can quickly lead to all sorts of evil acts.
For example, suppose someone steals a magic ring from a kuo-toa wizard. The wizard breaks into a duergar fortress to use a crystal ball to locate the thief. The kuo-toa teleports to the thief's location--a busy tavern--and begins hurling lightning bolts into the crowd. The thief gets away and uses a nondetection spell to keep such a close call from happening again. Undaunted, the wizard magically adopts an inconspicuous form and begins to track down the thief's family members, torturing them for information regarding his whereabouts. Such a scenario depicts the evil side of revenge.
Forgiveness and mercy are not traits that most evil creatures possess. Vengeance for wrongs committed against them--or even for perceived wrongs--is the only appropriate response.
Worshiping Evil Gods and Demons
Priests who revere dark powers are as evil as the beings they serve. In the name of Vecna, Erythnul, or Lolth, these foul emissaries make living sacrifices, conduct malevolent rites, and put schemes in motion to aid their patrons. Sometimes, the activities of evil cultists are straightforward: kidnapping victims for sacrifice, stealing money to fund their temples, or simply following a dogma that requires to murder, rape, or activities even more foul. Other times, their machinations are far subtler than such overt crimes.
For example, an archdevil such as Belial might begin a scheme by instructing his followers in a town (through dreams, visions, and commune spells) to drive off families with healthy children of a particular age. In twenty years, when such children would have been adults in their prime, Belial intends to unleash a powerful cornugon to steal a valuable artifact from the local church. with few able-bodied adults available to stop the theft, the cornugon is more likely to succeed.
Evil temples are sometimes secret places hidden within unsuspecting communities. Beneath an old barn, in a warehouse, or simply in a back room of someone's home--an evil temple can be anywhere. Larger, more permanent shrines to malevolence are usually situated farther away from civilization--at least, far away from good-aligned communities. Such an evil church may be a towering structure of stone covered with macabre reliefs and filled with terrible statuary, standing alone in the wilderness. Other evil temples may be surrounded by towns or cities populated by foul creatures.
Animating The Dead or Creating Undead
Unliving corpses--corrupt mockeries of life and purity--are inherently evil. Creating them is one of the most heinous crimes against the world that a character can commit. Even if they are commanded to do something good, undead invariably bring negative energy into the world, which makes it a darker and more evil place.
Many communities keep their graveyards behind high walls or even post guards to keep grave robbers out. Graverobbing is often a lucrative practice, since necromancers pay good coin for raw materials. Of course, battlefields are also popular places for grave-robbers, or for necromancers themselves--to seek corpses.
Casting Evil Spells
Evil spells may create undead, inflict undue suffering, harm another's soul, or produce any of a slew of similar effects.
Sometimes, a nonevil spellcaster can get away with casting a few evil spells, as long as he or she does not do so for an evil purpose. But the path of evil magic leads quickly to corruption and destruction. Spells with corruption costs are so evil that they take a physical and spiritual toll on the caster.
Damning or Harming Souls
While harming one's enemies physically is not inherently villainous, harming their souls is always evil. Only the foulest of villains could actually want to cause pain to another creature's eternal aspect. Creatures without corrupt hearts simply dispatch their foes quickly, believing that sending a villain off to the justice of the afterlife is punishment enough. But evil beings like to capture foes and torture them to death, and some even prefer to torture the souls of their foes, never granting them the release of death. Worse still, some evil beings use their foul magic to destroy an opponent's soul, ending his or her existence altogether.
Consorting with Fiends
If characters can be judged by the company they keep, then those who deal with fiends--demons and devils--are surely evil beings themselves. Fiends are the ultimate expression of evil given animate form--literally evil incarnate. Destroying a fiend is always a good act. Allowing a fiend to exist, let alone summoning one or helping one, is clearly evil.
Occasionally, a spellcaster may summon a fiendish creature to accomplish some task. Such an act is evil, but not terribly so. However, some characters, particularly those who worship demons or devils or see them as valuable allies, may work with (or for) fiends to further their own ends. Worse still, some mortals sell their souls to fiends in order to gain more power or support. Although dealing with fiends or selling souls is risky at best, the lust for power is a temptation too strong for some to resist. But fiends have great power, infinite life spans, and a delight for double-crossing others, so it's not surprising that most characters who ask for a fiend's aid end up on the wrong end of the deals they make.
Creating Evil Creatures
Some villains are not content with simply consorting with, summoning, or controlling evil creatures. They feel the need to go one step further and actually create such creatures with foul experiments or evil magic.
Evil warlords sometimes create legions of horrible monsters (or have their underlings do so) and lead them into battle against the forces of good. Demons, devils, and other foul creatures guard their fortresses. The desire to create is strong, and so is the desire to have a large number of easily controllable minions. Both creation and control demonstrate power, and power-mad villains are all too common.
Another way to create evil creatures is to allow the monsters themselves to remake fallen foes in their own images. For example, a bodak’s victims rise the next day as new bodaks, and a werewolf can spread its evil by infecting others with lycanthropy. Characters who foster such processes are often interested in spreading evil for evil’s sake. Such evildoers love the chaos, death, and suffering that such monsters bring.
Using Others for Personal Gain
Whether it’s sacrificing a victim on an evil god’s altar to gain a boon, or simply stealing from a friend, using others for one’s own purposes is a hallmark of villainy. A villain routinely puts others in harm’s way to save his or her own neck--better that others die, surely.
The utter selfishness of an evil character rarely leaves room for empathy. He is too consumed with his own goals and desires that he can think of no reason not to succeed at the expense of others. At best, other creatures are cattle to be used, preyed upon, or led. At worst, they are gnats to be ignored or obstacles to be bypassed.
Greed
Greed is so simple a motivation that it hardly seems worth mentioning. Yet it drives villains perhaps more than any other factor. Greed is tied into most of the types of evil behavior mentioned here. Ambition taken too far--particularly advancement at the expense of others--can manifest itself as greed. Lust for wealth, power, or prestige can lead to jealousy, theft, murder, betrayal, and a host of other evils.
Bullying and Cowing Innocents
Bullying is simply a symptom of an obsession with power. A villain who has power over another likes to brandish that power to prove her own might, both to herself and to others. Such brutes feel that power has no worth if others do not know about it.
Although the archetypal bully is a strong and powerful thug, other kinds of bullies exist as well. Sometimes a bully uses magical might rather than physical prowess to cow those around her. Sometimes the power is political in nature. The ten-year-old princess who forces bards to sing songs of her beauty or else face the wrath of her tyrannical mother (the queen) is indeed a bully.
Bringing Despair
Evil creatures often enjoy spreading pain and misery to others. Some do this because breaking the spirits of others makes them feel superior; others sow despair for the sheer joy it provides them.
Sometimes encouraging misery runs counter to other evil goals. For example, a blackguard interested in bringing despair might leave his enemies alive but wounded, defeated, and broken (and maybe even cursed or magically corrupted). However, refusing to finish off one’s foes isn’t always the wisest course of action, because the blackguard’s enemies might heal themselves and oppose him again, with a vengeance.
Similarly, a misery-loving fiend might tell a captured foe his plans before he kills her, just to revel in his victim’s despair. Such a creature wants its enemies to realize how utterly defeated they are.
A villain with a love of misery may attempt to break his foes, either instead of or before killing them. Straightforward techniques such as torture can break an enemy, and so can more elaborate schemes, such as destroying the good aspects of an enemy’s life, one by one. If the villain’s foe delights in the beauty of an ancient forest, the evildoer might command fire elementals to burn it down. If the foe has a lover, the villain could capture and torture the loved one--or turn him or her against the foe. The villain might also frame the foe for others’ crimes, spread lies about him, destroy his home, or infect him with a disease. A crafty, despair-loving villain makes it unusual for the foe’s loved ones to speak his name except as a curse.
Despair-loving creatures delight in spells such as bestow curse, contagion, and sorrow. Such villains love using any magical effect that does more than simply kill their foes because they consider death too pleasant an end.
Tempting Others
Temping good individual to do wrong is an evil act. Plots with this goal are largely the purview of demons and devils that seek to corrupt mortals in order to taint their souls. The products of a tempter’s work are larvae, the physical manifestations of evil souls on the Lower Planes. Larvae are valuable to fiends; in fact, they are a form of currency in their own right. Some demons and devils, particularly erinyes, succubi, and glabrezu, spend almost all their time corrupting mortals with offers of sex, power, magic, or other pleasures.
When evil mortals tempt other mortals, often the temptation comes in the form of a bribe to get others to do what the villain wants. For example, a wealthy man might convince a woman to kill her father in return for a vast sum of money. Unlike a demon, the wealthy man doesn’t care about corrupting the woman’s soul; he just wants the father dead. Still other mortal evildoers might tempt someone to commit an evil act for the sheer pleasure of spreading temptation.
//From the Book of Vile Darkness, pages 7-9
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Post by wblackspur on Mar 29, 2008 1:36:02 GMT -5
I will sooooo pay good money fer bones.
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 29, 2008 7:54:38 GMT -5
Fetishes and Addictions
//Due to the somewhat graphic content, and the possibility of younger players (minors) reading this section, I shall refrain from explaining in detail what these Fetishes and Addictions are, and will only stick to listing them, with 1 or two being excluded. I am not comfortable in revealing more information passed that, and find that there are limits on certain things that can be posted.//
Cannibalism Masochism Self-Mutilation Sadism Psychopathy Alcoholism/Drug Addiction
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 29, 2008 8:12:07 GMT -5
Lingering Effects of Evil
Great acts of evil and towering amounts of sin take a huge toll on the people involved, and the evil often lingers in the location where it manifested. Worse, the echoes of evil remain even when the evil itself is gone. Powerful evil can change a creature’s body and soul, and acts of foul malevolence can mar a location or an important object forever.
The lingering effects of evil are based loosely on the level of evil involved. Creatures, locations, and objects can be marked with one of four degrees of evil: a bad feeling, a lasting evil, a great and powerful malevolence, or darkness like the world has never seen before.
A Bad Feeling
Even a short act of violence or a minor act of evil can have lingering effects after the event has passed. This type of evil can mentally scar a person who experiences or watches a horrible event. It can leave a sinister mark in a location where some act of evil once occurred. These events can also cause undead to rise of their own volition: A ghost might haunt the place of its murder, or a mohrg could linger in the spot where it was wronged. Acts that can cause this degree of lingering evil include the following.
- A gruesome, bloodthirsty murder. - The proclamation of a foul edict, such as one that mandates the murder of infants to keep a new king from being born. - A single sacrifice to an evil god or fiend. - The animation of dozens of undead creatures. - Abuse, starvation, and mistreatment of captives. - Casting a permanent or long-lasting spell with the evil descriptor.
A Lasting Evil
Evil events so great that they last for a long time few and far between. This degree of evil requires true malice and intentionally committed foul deeds. Some events of lasting evil include the following.
- Building an evil temple. - Multiple sacrifices to an evil god or fiend. - Summoning multiple fiends. - Committing a mass murder or storing the grisly trophies of such a crime. - Multiple possessions of innocents. - The long-term presence of a lich, nightshade, or other powerful undead. - The long-term presence of an evil outsider on the Material Plane.
A Great and Powerful Malevolence
Only a few events involving this degree of evil exist in an entire world, unless your campaign world is a particularly evil place. These are events of true and terrible evil, which include the following.
- Building a portal to the Lower Planes. - Bringing powerful fiends to an evil temple on the Material Plane. - Committing daily multiple sacrifices over hundreds of years at an evil temple or altar. - The presence of an evil god walking the Material Plane.
Darkness Like the World has Never Seen Before
Generally unique in all the world, such an event scars the nature of reality. Such a scar will probably never heal. The worst of all fell events might include the following.
- An act of genocide. - The birth of an evil god. - The murder of a god, demigod, or legendary hero of light.
//From the Book of Vile Darkness, pages 35-36
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 29, 2008 15:06:59 GMT -5
What is good?
Many characters are happy to rattle off long lists of sins they haven't committed as evidence that they are good. The utter avoidance of evil, however, doesn't make a character good--solidly neutral, perhaps, but not good.
Being good requires a certain quality of temperament, the presence of virtues that spur a character, not just to avoid evil or its appearance, but to actively promote good. As expressed in the Player's Handbook, "Good implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others."
Good is not nice, polite, well mannered, prudish, self-righteous, or naive, though good-aligned characters might be some of those things. Good is the awesome holy energy that radiates from the celestial planes and crushes evil. Good is selfless, just, hopeful, benevolent, and righteous.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, page 5
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 29, 2008 17:31:38 GMT -5
Exalted Deeds[/u] These acts of goodness are concrete, positive means by which the heroes of the world fight against the darkness of evil. They are the meat and drink of the exalted hero, and should serve as an inspiration for how to play a character of good alignment, suggesting not only common actions but also motivations and personality traits. Helping OthersWhen a village elder comes to a good character and says, “Please help us, a dragon is threatening our village,” the good character’s response is not, “What can you pay?” Neutral characters might be that mercenary, and evil characters would certainly consider how to collect the most benefit from the situation. For a good character, however, helping others is a higher priority than personal gain. A good character might ask a number of other questions before leaping up from her seat and charging to the village’s aid: good characters aren’t necessarily stupid. A good character can be cautious, determining how powerful the dragon is and whether additional reinforcements are required, but she should never say, “Sorry, I’m out of my league. Go find another hero.” It’s just good sense to learn as much as possible about a foe before plunging into battle. Even more, a good character need not be naively trusting. Some might go to great lengths to verify that the elder’s story is true and not some villain’s attempt to lure them into a trap. All her caution or suspicion still doesn’t undermine a good character’s responsibility to offer help to those in need. Altruism is the first word in the Player’s Handbook definition of good, and helping others without others without reward or even thanks is part of a good character’s daily work. So who are these “others” a good character is supposed to help? Again, the “good is not necessarily stupid” rule comes into play. Obviously, a good character is not required by her alignment to help evil characters or those who are working at cross-purposes to a good character’s own goals. However, altrusim often blends into mercy in situations where a villain asks for quarter and aid (see Mercy below). In any case, altruism is tempered by respect for life and concern for the dignity of sentient beings, and good characters balance their desire to help others with their desire to promote goodness and life. CharityOne specific aspect of helping others is charity: providing material assistance to those in need, particularly those whose situation in life robs them of pride and respect. Offering food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, lodging to the homeless, care for orphans and widows, and hope to the hopeless are among the simplest and yet most profound of good deeds. Good characters offer this sort of assistance to needy people without regard for their moral character and with the utmost concern for their dignity. The idea that creatures too weak to better themselves deserve their low position is a hallmark of evil dogma. Good characters reject this notion completely, recognizing that most poor and needy people are the victims of circumstances, not of their own weakness or failings. HealingHealing wounds, removing disease, and neutralizing poison are a concrete embodiment of a good character’s respect for life. These deeds are not inherently good, since they can be performed selfishly or in the interests of evil. Even so, healing magic involves positive energy, which is closely linked to holy power. Many good characters devote their lives to healing as an expression of their morality. Pelor is a god of healing, and his clerics with the Healing domain make it their mission to share Pelor’s beneficence with others through healing. Even paladins, whose mission is primarily to smite evildoers, have the innate ability to heal wounds and remove disease as a reflection of their pure goodness. A character devoted to healing views the power to heal as a gift of celestial powers and is generally careful never to use that gift in a way that would cheapen or taint it--by healing evil characters, for example. On the other hand, some view healing as a means of grace, believing that every cure light wounds cast on a blackguard cannot help but lead the villain closer to repentance and redemption. Personal SacrificeA good character doesn’t just help others or fight evil when it’s convenient for him to do so. Even the most generous altruism, when it comes without sacrifice or even serves one’s own self-interest, is neutral at best. A character committed to the cause of good champions that cause in any circumstance, often at great personal risk or cost. Forfeiting any claim on a reward for one’s deeds is a simple form of sacrifice touched upon in the previous section. Voluntarily donating money, goods, or even magic items to a temple, charitable institution (an orphanage or aid society), or other organization is another financial sacrifice often practiced by good characters. Exceptionally virtuous characters might swear sacred vows, forever sacrificing the enjoyment of some worldly pleasure--alcohol or stimulants, sex, or material possessions--or cause of action, including violence. True heroes of righteousness, all too often, sacrifice their own lives to save the lives of others. Worshiping Good DeitiesThe deities of good are the highest exemplars of the principles of virtue, righteousness, and purity. By offering them worship, sacrifice, and service, good characters cultivate their own personal virtue, assist the cause of good in concrete ways (supporting the charitable work of the church and strengthening the clerics and paladins who serve as the deity’s agents), and extend the deity’s reach in the world. Not all good characters worship good deities. Some serve neutral deities like St. Cuthbert, Obad-Hai, or Olidammara, while others put the claims of good above the dogma of any deity. Nevertheless, virtually all good characters are willing to cooperate with the churches of good deities, recognizing them as allies with a common cause. Unlike evil deities, good deities usually have temples and shrines in open, public places--often at or near the center of bustling cities. In fact, the worship of good deities is one of the forces that often helps to cement humanoid communities together, serving to unite the populace in a common activity and a common set of ideals. This is particularly common among nonhuman races of good alignment, including halflings, dwarves, and elves, where good alignment is the norm and a single deity often claims the allegiance of an entire community. However, it is common for even human cities to be drawn together in the worship of Pelor, who commands at least the respect of neutral citizens as well as good. Of course, in evil cultures, the worship of good deities can be both a crime and an act of rebellion. Casting Good SpellsGood spells alleviate suffering, inspire hope or joy, use the caster’s energy or vitality to help or heal another, summon celestials, or channel holy power. Particularly in the last instance, good spells might be just as destructive--at least to evil creatures--as a fireball. Not all good spells involve only sweetness and light. Good spells don’t have any redemptive influence on those who cast them, for better or worse. An evil wizard who dabbles in a few good spells, most likely to help him achieve selfish ends, does not usually decide to abandon his evil ways because he’s been purified by the touch of the holy. On the other hand, there are certain spells whose sanctified nature demands a concrete, physical sacrifice from the caster. No character can draw upon such holy magic without being changed for the better as a result. MercyFor good characters who devote their lives to hunting and exterminating the forces of evil, evil’s most seductive lure may be the abandonment of mercy. Mercy means giving quarter to enemies who surrender and treating criminals and prisoners with compassion and even kindness. It is, in effect, the good doctrine of respect for life taken to its logical extreme--respecting and honoring even the life of one’s enemy. In a world full of enemies who show no respect for life whatsoever, it can be extremely tempting to treat foes as they have treated others, to exact revenge for slain comrades and innocents, to offer no quarter and become merciless. A good character must not succumb to that trap. Good characters must offer mercy and accept surrender no matter how many times villains might betray that kindness or escape from captivity to continue their evil deeds. If a foe surrenders, a good character is bound to accept the surrender, bind the prisoner, and treat him as kindly as possible. In general, it’s a good idea for the DM to make sure that the players aren’t punished unnecessarily for showing mercy to opponents. If every prisoner schemes to betray the party and later escapes from prison, the players quickly come to realize that showing mercy simply isn’t worth it. It’s fine for these frustrations to arise once in a while, but if they happen every time, the players will rightly give up in frustration. ForgivenessClosely tied to mercy, forgiveness is still a separate act. Mercy means respecting the life of an enemy, treating him like a being worthy of kindness. Forgiveness is an act of faith, a willingness to believe that even the vilest evildoer is capable of change. Good characters are not enjoined to “forgive and forget” every time someone harms them. At the simplest level, forgiveness means abdicating one’s right to vengeance. On a deeper level, if an evil character makes an effort to repent, turn away from evil, and lead a better life, a good character is called upon to encourage the reformed villain, let the past be past, and not to hold the character’s evil deeds against her. Forgiveness is essential to redemption. If those she has harmed refuse to forgive her, a character seeking to turn away from evil faces nothing but hatred and resentment from those who should be her new allies. Isolated from both her former allies and her former enemies, she nurses resentment and quickly slides back into her evil ways. By extending forgiveness to those who ask it, good characters actively spread good, both by encouraging those who are trying to turn away from evil and by demonstrating to evildoers that the path of redemption is possible. Bringing HopeIf the most soullessly evil villains relish spreading despair and devouring every last shred of hope, it naturally follows that the cause of good involves rekindling hope in the face of despair. This might be the most nebulous of all good deeds, hard to define or measure, but it also might be the heart and essence of good. All the other good deeds discussed in this section, in addition to their often concrete and physical benefits to people in need, have the additional intangible benefit of increasing hope. A man whose body is wasting away from disease actually has two illnesses: the physical disease that consumes his flesh and the despair that gnaws at his soul. Healing him not only heals his body, it also restores his lost hope. A woman who throws herself on a paladin’s mercy and turns from her evil ways struggles along the difficult road to redemption. The paladin’s mercy and forgiveness offer the most important assistance along that road: hope, a vision of the reward that lies ahead. Hope in its truest form is more than just a vague wish for things to be better than they are; it is a taste of things as they might be. When an exalted bard comes to a city that groans under the oppressive rule of a pit fiend, he may inspire hope by singing tales of liberation or by demonstrating force of arms against the pit fiend’s diabolic minions. But the best hope available to the oppressed residents of the city is when the bard simply shows them kindness, thereby reminding them of what it was like to live under a more benign rule. He brings them together in community, whereas the devils have been turning them against each other, sowing distrust alongside despair. By experiencing a taste of kindness and freedom, however small, the citizens are inspired with hope. That hope empowers them to resist the devils, with or without the bard’s force of arms. Redeeming EvilPerhaps the greatest act of good one could ever hope to accomplish is the redemption of an evil soul. Bringing an evil character to see the error of her ways not only stops her from preying on innocent victims, but helps her as well, winning her a place in the blessed afterlife of the Upper Planes instead of an eternity of torment and damnation in the Lower. While acts of charity and healing might help a person’s body, redeeming an evil character helps her soul. Holding a sword to a captured villain’s throat and shouting, “Worship Heironeous or die!” is not a means of redemption. Sword-point conversion might be a useful political tool, but it is almost entirely without impact on the souls of the “converts.” worse, it stinks of evil, robbing the victim of the freedom to choose and echoing the use of torture to extract the desired behavior. True redemption is a much more difficult and involved process, but truly virtuous characters consider the reward worth the effort involved. Of course, good characters recognize that some creatures are utterly beyond redemption. Most creatures described in the Monster Manual as “always evil” are either completely irredeemable or so intimately tied to evil that they are almost entirely hopeless. Certainly demons and devils are best slain, or at least banished, and only a naïve fool would try to convert them. Evil dragons might not be entirely beyond salvation, but there is truly only the barest glimmer of hope. On the other hand, a good character approaches every encounter with orcs, goblinoids, and even the thoroughly evil drow with heart and mind open to the possibility, however remote, that his opponents might some day be transformed into allies. Creatures that are “usually evil” can be redeemed. This is not to say that a good character’s first thought in an ambush should be, “How can I redeem these poor orcs?” However, if the ambushing orcs end up surrendering, there is ample opportunity to seek their redemption. //From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 5-8
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Post by ancientempathy on Mar 30, 2008 14:03:13 GMT -5
The Straight and Narrow[/u]
The choice to follow the path of exalted deeds means picking one’s way among complicated moral issues and painful dilemmas. It means questioning some of the common assumptions about what’s acceptable in the context of a D&D adventure. While the previous section outlined positive actions good characters can (and should) perform to improve the world and better the lot of those in it, this section discusses some of the difficult choices and decisions that characters trying to live up to high ideals are likely to face when those ideals make contact with reality.
Ends and Means
When do good ends justify evil means to achieve them? Is it morally acceptable, for example, to torture an evil captive in order to extract vital information that can prevent the deaths of thousands of innocents? Any good character shudders at the thought of committing torture, but the goal of preventing thousands of deaths is undeniably a virtuous one, and a neutral character might easily consider the use of torture in such a circumstance. With evil acts on a smaller scale, even the most virtuous characters can find themselves tempted to agree that a very good end justifies a mildly evil evens. Is it acceptable to tell a small lie in order to prevent minor catastrophe? A large catastrophe? A world-shattering catastrophe?
In the D&D universe, the fundamental answer is no, an evil act is an evil act no matter what good result it may achieve. A paladin who knowingly commits an evil act in pursuit of any end no matter how good still jeopardizes her paladin hood. Any exalted character risks losing exalted feats or other benefits of celestial favor if her commits any act of evil for any reason. Whether or not good ends can justify evil means, they certainly cannot make evil means any less evil.
Some good characters might view a situation where an evil act is required to avert a catastrophic evil as a form of martyrdom: “I can save a thousand innocent lives by sacrificing my purity.” For some, that is a sacrifice worth making, just as they would not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the same cause. After all, it would simply be selfish to let innocents die so a character can hang on to her exalted feats.
Unfortunately, this view is ultimately misguided. This line of thinking treats the purity of the good character’s soul as a commodity (like her exalted feats) that she can just give up or sacrifice like any other possession. In fact, when an otherwise good character decides to commit an evil act, the effects are larger than the individual character. What the character sees as a personal sacrifice is actually a shift in the universal balance of power between good and evil, in evil’s favor. The consequences of that single evil act, no matter how small, extend far beyond the single act and involve a loss to more than just the character doing the deed. Thus, it is not a personal sacrifice, but a concession to evil, and thus unconscionable.
Good ends might sometimes demand evil means. The means remain evil, however, and so characters who are serious about their good alignment and exalted status cannot resort to them, no matter how great the need.
Sometimes a situation might demand that a good character cooperate with an evil one in order to accomplish a worthy and righteous goal. The evil character might not even be pursuing the same goal. For example, a brief civil war has put a new ruling house in power in a drow city, and the new rulers start actively raiding the surface world. A party of good adventurers travels into the depths of the earth to stop the drow raids. At the same time, a party of evil drow loyal to the deposed house seeks to overthrow the new rulers and restore their house to its position of power. The two groups have different but mutually compatible goals, and it is possible--within certain limits--for them to cooperate with each other. However, the good characters must not tolerate any evil acts committed by an evil ally during the time of their alliance, and can’t simply turn a blind eye to such acts. They must ensure that helping the drow will put a stop to the surface raids, which might entail a level of trust the drow simply do not deserve. And of course they must not turn on their erstwhile allies when victory is in sight, betraying the trust the drow placed in them. Such a situation is dangerous both physically and morally, but cooperating with evil creatures is not necessarily evil in itself.
Violence
Violence is part of the D&D world, and not inherently evil in the context of that world. The deities of good equip their heroes not just to be meek and humble servants, but to be their fists and swords, their champions in a brutal war against the forces of evil. A paladin smiting a blackguard or a blue dragon is not committing an evil act: the cause of good expects and often demands that violence be brought to bear against its enemies.
That said, there are certain limits upon the use of violence that good characters must observe. First, violence in the name of good must have just cause, which in the D&D world means primarily that it must be directed against evil. It is certainly possible for a good nation to declare war upon another good nation, but fighting in such a conflict is not a good act. In fact, even launching a war upon a nearby tribe of evil orcs is not necessarily good if the attack comes without provocation--the mere existence of evil orcs is not a just cause for war against them, if the orcs have been causing no harm. A full-scale war would provoke the orcs to evil deeds and bring unnecessary suffering to both sides of the conflict. Similarly, revenge is not an acceptable cause for violence, although violence is an appropriate means of stopping further acts of evil (as opposed to paying back evil already committed).
The second consideration is that violence should have good intentions. Launching an incursion into orc territory is not a good act if the primary motivation is profit, whether that means clearing the treasure out of the ruins the orcs inhabit or claiming their land for is natural resources. Violence against evil is acceptable when it is directed at stopping or preventing evil acts from being done. The third consideration is one of discrimination. Violence cannot be considered good when it is directed against noncombatants (including children and the females of at least some races and cultures). Placing a fireball so that its area includes orc women and children as well as warriors and barbarians is evil, since the noncombatant orcs are not a threat and are comparatively defenseless.
Finally, the means of violence must be as good as the intentions behind it. The use of evil spells, obviously, is not good even when the target is evil. Likewise, the use of torture or other practices that inflict undue suffering upon the victims goes beyond the pale of what can be considered good.
Within these limits, violence in the name of good is an acceptable practice in the D&D universe.
Relationships
Implicit in DnD’s definition of good--altruism, respect for life, and making sacrifices for the sake of others--is a sense that good is about maintaining a certain quality of relationship with others. A good character’s relationships with other characters should be built on a mutual respect for one another, whether that relationship involves the companionship of an adventuring party or in the intimacy of a marriage.
There is nothing inherently evil about human (or humanoid) sexuality, and being a good character doesn’t necessarily mean remaining a virgin. Certain relgions and cultures in the D&D universe encourage or at least condone some people taking vows of chastity, but these are similar to vows of poverty or abstinence--rooted in the belief that giving up the enjoyment of a good and natural thing can have positive spiritual benefits, not derived from an attitude that sex is evil. However, a good character is bound to realize that sexuality is laden with traditions of exploitation and abuse, an area of interpersonal relationships where power dynamics are often manifested in unfortunate--really, evil--ways. A good character is not opposed to sex in principle, but will not condone exploitative or coercive relationships such as prostitution, the use of slaves for sex, or sexual contact with children or others without the power to enter freely and willingly into a relationship of mutual respect.
Also within the context of respectful relationships, good characters exercise caution in the use of compulsion magic to force others’ behavior. Spells such as dominate person, geas, and suggestion allow a caster to control another person, robbing that person of free will. This may not be an inherently evil act, but it certainly carries a tremendous ethical responsibility. Forcing anyone to commit an evil act, of course, is evil. Furthermore, a creature under compulsion should be treated the same as a helpless prisoner, since that creature no longer poses a threat, at least for the duration of the spell. Once an enemy is dominated, for example, he should not be killed, but shown mercy and treated the same as a prisoner who had willingly surrendered. (The same holds true for charmed and compelled creatures.)
Perhaps the most important area of relationships for player characters involvers a character’s interactions with the other members of the party. A good character respect the other characters, treats them fairly, and values their lives as highly as his own. That said, he is within his rights to expect the same treatment from them. Neutral characters are often joined to adventuring parties through bonds of friendships and loyalty to the other characters, and a good character respects those bonds and can trust a friend, even one who is not also good. Evil characters, however, typically join adventuring parties for purely selfish reasons. Paladins, of course, are prohibited from associating with evil characters, but other exalted PCs should also steer clear of evil companions, unless the evil character is attempting to reform herself and making progress toward neutrality at least.
Good characters in parties that also include neutral characters carry a weighty burden of responsibility. They should serve as examples of the good life, demonstrating the virtue and the reward of following the righteous path. They must steer their neutral companions away from evil deeds, and ought to encourage them toward goodness, as gently or as bluntly as the individual case requires. Good characters can be guilty by association with neutral characters who commit evil deeds, and simply turning a blind eye to the questionable acts of their companions is not an acceptable option.
This important prohibition can cause a great deal of friction within an adventuring party. Some players build their characters on the idea of being roguish, unsavory, perhaps a little brutal. If the paladin in the party is constantly getting in the way of that character’s approach to things, everyone’s enjoyment of the game is at risk. Many of these problems can be eliminated at the outset by working to achieve a consensus among the players regarding what kind of game you are going to play. That doesn’t mean that everyone needs to agree to play good characters and stick to the straight and narrow, but players who want to play neutral characters need to know up front what they’re getting into, and the whole group needs to decide to what extent ethical debate is going to be a part of every game session. If everyone’s happy with the paladin and the rogue constantly being at cross-purposes, and the group decides to make that a central part of the roleplaying experience, that’s fine--as long as the players treat each other with respect and the characters don’t split the party into two warring factions.
Divided Loyalties
For better or for worse, a paladin is not just good: she is lawful good, sworn not just to uphold the principles of good but also bound by a code of conduct, and subject to local law as well. Many paladins are also members of a specific deity’s church, a knightly order of some sort, or both. At the best of times, these various loyalties--her code of conduct, her church’s laws, her order’s demands, the laws of her nation, and the abstraction of her alignment--are all in harmony, and her path is clear before her. When circumstances are not so ideal, she finds herself torn between conflicting demands: her superior in her knightly order commands her to kill a brutal murderer who has escaped punishment in court on a legal technicality, for example. Her personal code requires that she punish those that harm innocents, and this killer certainly falls in that category. However, her personal code also instructs her to respect legitimate authority, which includes both her knightly superior and the local law that has let the killer go free. The demands of her good alignment suggest she should punish the wrongdoer, but the demands of her lawful alignment insist that she obey the judgment of the court. It is entirely possible that either her superior or the magistrate in the case is corrupt or even possessed. Whom does she obey? How does she sort out the conflicting demands of her loyalties?
Paladins are by no means alone in this situation. Any character who tries consistently to do good eventually finds himself in a situation where different loyalties are in conflict. Chaotic good characters might care far less about a potentially corrupt or at least ineffectual court system, but they might have other personal standards or obligations that cause conflict in similar or different situations. In the end, however, many such conflicts boil down to a question of priorities, and for a character who aspires to exalted deeds, good is the highest priority. In the example above, the murderers must at least be captured, if not killed, before he can kill again. If she has reason to suspect corruption, either in the court or in her own order, the paladin must attempt to uncover it, though it might mean being cast out of her order, punished under local law, or both. Her paladin hold and her exalted status remain intact, since she acted in the cause of good even when that required questioning the legitimacy of authority. Magistrates or knightly superiors who serve the cause of evil while posing as agents of good are not legitimate authority, and the paladin is right for exposing their corruption.
What does a good character do when he is opposed by good? Two good nations might go to war, two good adventuring parties might be working toward opposite goals, or two good characters might become bitter enemies. As discussed under Violence, above, violence against good creatures is not good. When conflict arises, as it certainly will at times, good characters must use every diplomatic means available to avoid the outbreak of violence, whether between nations, smaller groups, or individuals. In the D&D universe, if one side’s goals are actually evil, a relatively simple commune spell can make that abundantly clear. Diplomacy might not always work, but the outbreak of violence is not just a failure of diplomacy, it is a failure of good and a victory for evil.
Crime and Punishment
When dealing with evildoers who are citizens of the realm specifically, or members of the civilized humanoid races (dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, halfing, human) in general, it is often preferable to bring evildoers to justice in the form of legitimate legal authority rather than meeting out that justice oneself. When fighting through a dungeon, characters needn’t switch to subdual tactics when they suddenly encounter evil dwarf minions. But if those minions surrender, it is best to take the prisoners back to town to stand trail for their crimes. When the adventure takes place in a city and the opponents are citizens of the city (rather than evil monsters from the sewers or deeper underground), subduing opponents and turning them over to the city watch is preferable to killing them and possibly being forced to stand trial for murder.
The principles of good make certain demands about how criminals are treated. The death penalty for serious crimes is commonly practiced and widely accepted and does not qualify as evil, even if many good characters, firm in their belief that redemption is always possible, would rather see even the vilest criminals offered the opportunity to find their way to righteousness during their imprisonment. Torturing prisoners, either to extract information or simply as a means of punishment, is unequivocally evil, however.
This leads good characters (especially lawful good characters) into a dilemma: Is it wrong to turn a prisoner over to legitimate authorities knowing that the prisoner will be tortured and abused in captivity? Fortunately, the answer is straightforward, if sometimes difficult to implement. Yes, delivering a person over to be tortured, even if the person is thoroughly evil and the torturers are a legitimate authority, is evil. How to avoid being out in that position is a more difficult question, and one that depends greatly on the circumstances.
Being Ahead Of Your Time
Heroic characters often end up at odds with their culture and society. The standards expected of good characters in D&D, especially those who lay claim to exalted status, bear much more similarity to modern sensibilities about justice, equality, and respect for life than to the actual medieval world that D&D is loosely based on, and that is quite intentional. It is certainly possible that your campaign world might be a more enlightened place than medieval Europe--a place where men and women are considered equal, slavery is not practiced in any form, torture and capital punishment are shunned, and the various human and humanoid races live together in harmony. In such a case, an exalted character can live in relative peace with her culture, and focus her attention on slaying evil creatures in ruins and dungeons or rival, evil nations.
On the other hand, your campaign world might more closely reflect the realities of life in Earth’s Dark or Middle Ages. Perhaps women are not viewed as men’s equals or even sentient beings in their own right, slavery is widespread, testimony from serfs is only acceptable if extracted through torture, and humans of a certain skin tone (let along nonhumans) are viewed as demonic creatures. It is vitally important to remember one thing: these factors don’t change anything else said in this chapter (or in the Book of Vile Darkness) about what constitutes a good or evil deed. Even if slavery, torture, or discrimination are condoned by society, they remain evil. That simply means that an exalted character has an even harder road to follow. Not only must she worry about external evils like conjured demons and rampaging orc hordes, she must also contend with the evil within her own society.
In all likelihood, most human (and Halfling) societies fall somewhere between the two extremes described above. In game terms, humans tend to be neutral, neither good nor evil. Human societies might tolerate a variety of evil practices, even if some humans find them distasteful. In such a circumstance, an exalted character is still at odds with the norms of her society and may occasionally find herself in conflict with it, but she can devote her time and attention to dealing with evil acts, either inside or outside her society, rather than trying to reform an entire nation or culture.
In situations where a society’s practices put good characters at odds with it, a good character’s alignment is the strongest indicator of how she will deal with that conflict.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 9-11
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Post by ancientempathy on Apr 9, 2008 9:55:37 GMT -5
I have intentions on posting information about paragons, as well as archdevils and demons. These are exemplars that a player can choose for their character to have. Please be mindful about a few important things... - Choosing a paragon from Celestia will not necessarily grant a player the knowledge of knowing about its existence. I'm just using Mount Celestia as an example. Certain things aren't meant to be known, and Mount Celestia is one of them. How do you go about introducing a paragon in your character's life then? Paragon's would likely visit your character in dreams. Images of righteous deeds and exalted ideas may be introduced. The appearance of the paragon might be seen, but I doubt the character could know the name. Since the paragons mentioned are from a plane that shouldn't be known, then a good-rule-of-thumb that I would go by is to also not know the paragon's name. I'll use my paladin, Randal Evenwood, as an example for this. I recently made him return, and now with a paragon in his life. The dreams he has of this paragon are rare, and when he does dream of the paragon, he see's the paragon's image surrounded in bright divine light more than it's actual appearance. The paladin does not know the name of his paragon either (which is Raziel, the Crusader). Upon Raziel's appearance, they discuss the best actions a paladin could take, Randal acquires a certain level of wisdom from Raziel on more exalted-paladinlike-manners, and Raziel would show, by example in the form of a scene within the dream, how one should act in certain situations and when placed against certain foes. I feel that such knowledge (in particular, the paragon's appearance and name) should be DM granted, if they feel interested in introducing the knowledge that is. - In relation to the above, limiting one's knowledge on the paragon is important too. Why is the paragon visiting you? What's the paragon's actual job from where it comes from? Your paragon might be visiting you because it just wants to aid you. On a higher spectrum, there might be a deity (your character’s own deity, in particular) that's worried your good-aligned character is faltering and leaning towards evil, so they sent a paragon to help-out. This is not the case for my paladin. The above is just an example. Should your character understand the paragon's appearance? I think it would be important to the character to at least be aware, in some manner, that their current course of actions isn't the best, and it might explain their dreams of a paragon trying to teach them what is Good. Whether they know it's their deity that's planning this all, should be knowledge beyond them. Your paragon's job is your paragon's own business. The character probably shouldn't know that Zaphkiel is the ultimate-ruler of Mount Celestia. The example might be extreme, but, hello? Again, that would be something that a DM should likely grant, if they wish. - Everything said in the above about paragon's should be practiced with archdevils and demons as well. With the possible exception that the character probably knows of the existence of the Hells and the Abyss. Limiting your character's knowledge more though, never hurts Here are some important links to read into: www.frc.proboards37.com/index.c.cgi?board=serverrules&action=display&thread=1147867029frc.proboards37.com/index.c.cgi?board=lore&action=display&thread=1172609957Interesting Links: ww2.wizards.com/Books/Wizards/Default.aspx?/fr/hellinfr
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Post by ancientempathy on Apr 9, 2008 10:19:37 GMT -5
The Celestial Hebdomad
In the days of creation, when the multiverse still quaked with the aftershocks of birth, the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia awaited the mortal souls who would protect and guide the plane as the first archons. Seven blessed martyrs who had sacrificed themselves to the cause of law and goodness emerged upon the young plane with powerful and unique forms--a mandate from Celestia itself that these beings would serve the Seven Heavens as their immortal rulers.
The seven martyrs, or their successors, together form the Celestial Hebdomad, the ruling council of Heaven. Similar to the strict hierarchy that rules the Nine Hells, the Hebdomad governs the affairs of their home plane, supervising the archons beneath them, marshalling the celestial armies when necessary, and leading troops to war against the forces of evil when Zaphkiel, their head, so commands.
In stark contrast to the archdevils of Hell, the seven paragons of Celestia (sometimes referred to as “tome archons” by scholars from the Material Plane) are utterly without jealousy, envy, or pride. Plotting and infighting are unimaginable within their ranks, and never have the armies of one celestial paragon marched upon the fortresses of another.
Like Asmodeus in the deepest Hell, Zaphkiel is an ancient ruler shrouded in mystery. He is wrapped in radiant light and bathed in holy power, as though a living extension of the heaven he rules. He is the only one of the original seven martyrs who remains in his position in Celestia--his original six fellows have all perished in the eons since their establishment. As one of the Hebdomad falls, however, another archon somewhere in Celestia rises to take its place, instantly assuming the form, rank, and power of the fallen one. Most scholars believe that Zaphkiel alone can promote another archon to the Hebdomad, which may account, along with the exalted nature of the archons, for the complete peace and harmony that prevails among the ruling council.
Barachiel, the Messenger
This empyreal figure appears as a 9-foot-tall androgynous human with silver skin and dark violet eyes. Great wings covered with silver feathers grace his shoulders. He wears a flowing violet robe adorned with tiny motes of light that glow like stars. He wields a longsword that crackles with electricity and carries a burnished silver trumpet.
Barachiel (bah-ray-kee-ehl) rules Lunia, the bottom layer of the great heavenly mountain, also known as the Silver Heaven. He commands Celestia’s defenses against incursion, though he rarely has much to do in that capacity. In addition, he is the herald and messenger of the archon paragons, even visiting the Material Plane on occasion to deliver messages of the utmost importance. He leads the trumpet archons and is a patron of mortal heralds as well.
The Citadel of Stars is Barachiel’s home on the shore of the Silver Sea. A towering fortress with gleaming white marable walls, the Citadel entertains an almost constant stream of trumpet archons coming in and going out on their missions across the planes.
Domiel, the Mercy-Bringer
This celestial entity stands 12 feet tall and resembles an androgynous human with subtle masculine traits. He has golden skin, black hair, and bright golden eyes that burn like miniature suns. His great wings are sheathed in golden feathers, and he wields a massive flaming great sword. He is bare-chested, muscular, and doesn’t wear armor. His handsome face bears a stern yet wise countenance.
Domiel (DOH-mee-ehl) rules the Golden Heaven of Mercuria, the second layer of Celestia. Great tombs and wondrous mausoleums dot Mercuria’s golden landscape, and Domiel has sworn an oath to prevent their desecration. Domiel also opposes tyranny, visiting death and ruin upon evil tyrants and all who follow them.
Aurilon, the Golden Spire, serves as Domiel’s redoubt. The 400-foot-tall tower of burnished gold rises from a pristine lake formed by the meeting of four rivers, in the middle of a verdant valley.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 125-128
Erathaol, The Seer
This being appears as an 8-foot-tall androgynous human with subtle masculine traits, white-feathered wings, pearly skin, and golden hair. He carries a beautiful and ornate quarterstaff, one end wreathed in flames, the other end coated with frost. His rich blue robes are adorned with arcane symbols stitched with silver thread and sewn with pearls. He looks both regal and wise.
Erathaol (eh-rah-THAY-ohl) rules Venya, the Pearly Heaven and the third of Celestia’s layers. A patron of prophets and seers, Erathaol forecasts planar events before they unfold and watches over children destined for greatness. He also oversees a vast library that includes thousands of historical codices, written laws, and celestial canticles.
Erathaol watches the universe unfold from Xiranthador, an undersea library-fortress made of colossal seashells set with ornate mother-of-pearl mosaics. The fortress holds more books and scrolls than ca be read in one thousand lifetimes.
Pistis Sophia, The Ascetic
A lovely 8-foot-tall androgynous being with subtle feminine traits stands before you. She has bright green eyes and silver hair. Her skin looks like polished crystal, and her wings have translucent silver feathers that catch the light. She bears a gentle, self-satisfied countenance that fills your hearts with hope.
Pistis Sophia rules Solania, the Crystal Heaven and the fourth layer of Celestia. Embodying all that is serene and sincere, she always speaks the unclouded and undiluted truth, for in truth lies harmony and bliss. Even in the fact of conflict, she never displays a temper or allows a scowl to cross her face. She wants for nothing and inspires others to pursue self-perfection by casting off possessions and clothing--symbols of greed and insecurity.
Pistis Sophia tours the various monasteries and cathedrals that rise from Solania’s breathtaking landscape, sand she particularly enjoys long walks through fog-shrouded valleys with groups of petitioners or visiting pilgrims.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 128-131
Raziel, The Crusader
A 9-foot-tall celestial being stands before you. He is muscular with platinum-white skin, flames for hair, and bright, ruby-red eyes. He wears an ornate mithral breastplate and carries a mithral shield in one hand. In the other, he grasps a great longsword. Great wings with reddish-gold and white feathers sprout from his broad shoulders.
Raziel (RAY-zee-ehl) rules Mertion, the fifth layer of Celestia, known as the Platinum Heaven. Among his celestial peers, he is called the Firestar for his judicious wrath. Raziel offers guidance to paladins and devotes his energy to protecting the defenseless. Raziel opposes tyranny and oppression with a ferocity that is both startling and inspiring.
When legendary paladins seek the wisdom of the Firestar, they come to Empyrea, the City of Tempered Souls. Raziel doesn’t maintain a stronghold but can be found in any one of the city’s great hospitals and infirmaries, providing spiritual guidance and protection to the clerics and patients.
Sealtiel, The Defender
Standing before you is a divinely beautiful yet androgynous human with subtle masculine traits standing 9 feet tall. He has ebony skin, no hair, silvery eyes that flare like stars, and great wings with metallic golden feathers. A glittering aura surrounds him.
Sealtiel (see-AHL-teel) is a patron of the warden archons and the ruler of Jovar, the Glittering Heaven and Celestia’s sixth layer. He commands an impressive standing army of archons and other celestial beings sworn to defend Celestia against fiendish incursions. Sealtiel is also charged with preventing impure beings from reaching Chronias, the seventh and highest layer of Celestia.
Sealtiel’s empyreal fortress of Pax Exaltea dominates the sixth terrace of Yetsira, a ziggurat-city with seven terraces. Warden archons come to Vanguard to receive new assignments. Sealtiel also entertains countless celestial beings seeking enlightenment as part of their quest to reach the seventh layer of Celestia, the Illuminated Heaven.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 132-135
Zaphkiel, The Watcher
A roiling maelstrom of golden energy instills in you tremendous feelings of joy and harmony. Suddenly, it coalesces into the form of a stunningly beautiful yet androgynous figure standing 10 feet tall, with golden skin and metallic, platinum-white wings. Warm light surrounds it, and its expressions are both soothing and kind.
Zaphkiel (zaf-kee-ehl) presides over the seventh layer of Celestia, the Illuminated Heaven of Chronias. Zaphkiel embodies the perfect good, and only the most exalted creatures can stand in his presence without being consumed.
Zaphkiel watches over all of Celestia, sending advice and providing wise counsel to the other members of Hebdomad regarding their dealings with mortals and other celestial beings. Zaphkiel also protects and nurtures the innocent spirits of stillborn babies and sacrificed children.
Although Zaphkiel clearly has some interest in advancing less-perfect beings, Zaphkiel’s true goals remain inscrutable. Only the gods and th eother Hebdomad members have actually seen Zaphkiel. All other beings who have encountered or perceived the archon have either perished for their folly or achieved such a state of goodness that their essences have joined with Celestia itself.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 136-137
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Post by ancientempathy on Apr 14, 2008 7:46:59 GMT -5
Talisid and the Five Companions
The guardinals have no record of their origin. They have been the protectors of Elysium for all of the plane’s recorded history. For as long as Elysium has known the guardinals, there have been the Celestial Lion and his Five Companions, exemplars and epitomes of their respective kind. In contrast to the relatively unchanging ranks of the archons, however, members of the Companions come and go, assuming the office when they are fit for it and abdicating when they are no longer fit. Talisid, the current Celestial Lion, has held that positions far longer than normal, and few can even remember the name of his predecessor, but the Five Companions have all relatively recently ascended to their positions as representatives of their respective kinds.
Talisid and the Five Companions are rather more like an adventuring party--though an exalted one--than the ruling council of the Celestial Hebdomad or the loosely feudal court of the eladrins. The Celestia Lion and his friends wander the fields of Elysium, solving problems as they arise and smashing evil if it dares rear its ugly head in their domain. They each hear petitions and resolve disputes among guardinals of their kind, lead companies into battle, and solve problems on their own initiative when necessary.
All the actions of Talisid and the Companions are guided by the principles of goodness, in particular the ideal of friendship they embody in their work together. The Five Companions is more than an empty title: the leaders of the guardinals are the closest of companions, bound by a fierce devotion to one another that puts mere family loyalty to shame. They are not without discord, as the interests of the different kinds of guardinals may at times conflict, but they argue and clash as the dearest of friends, holding themselves and each other to the highest standards of love and good.
Talisid, The Celestial Lion
This mighty figure looks like a poised, 9-foot-tall lion-headed man with a muscular build. He has golden fur, a regal mane of golden hair, and dark, penetrating eyes. He wears exquisite robes and absently strokes his chin whiskers with one sharp claw.
Although proud of his accomplishments and those of his beloved Companions, Talisid (tal-eh-seed) does not allow pride or other emotions interfere with his mission to protect and aid the residents of Elysium. His love for the Blessed Fields has grown in the thousands of years he has served as Celestial Lion, and he takes great delight in its many natural wonders.
The wisest and most powerful of leonals, Talisid regular travels the four layers of Elysium but spends most of his time on Amoria, the topmost layer. He often assumes an animal form when traveling alone in the wilderness, taunting unlawful hunters with his trackless step and woodland stride abilities. He maintains no permanent residence, often “shacking up” with friends he has made throughout the Blessed Fields. A king among guardinals, Talisid prefers to think of himself as a humble servant of the people and demands no special treatment or consideration.
Sathia, The Sky Duchess
This tall, lithe woman has powerful wings instead of arms. Flecks of green speckle her snow-white feathers. Her face is more human than avian, but her hair resembles a feathery cowl, and her eyes are bright gold. Her feet end in talons that have an emerald-green luster and look as sharp as diamonds. Numerous small birds flutter around her, obviously drawn to her powerful presence.
The voice of the avorals, Sathia (say-thee-ah) is also a patron and muse for gifted painters and sculptors. She possesses a sharp eye for detail and has created a number of masterful paintings and wood sculptures. Most of all, she enjoys time spent with the Companions and soaring in the skies of Elysium.
Manath, The Horned Duke
A 6-foot-tall figure stands before you, his head crowned with a magnificent set of curved ram’s horns. His shaggy fur varies in color from red to gold to autumn yellow on his bare chest, and his large cloven feet are ash-black in color. A wry yet endearing smile plays across his wise face.
Manath (man-ath) is the newest member of the Five Companions, only recently replacing the curmudgeonly Duke Rhanok. The new duke of the cervidals feels he has much to learn from Talisid and the other Companions, but if he has any doubts about his ability to stand in Rhanok’s hoof prints, he isn’t showing them. Manath has brought a keen wit and sense of fun to the Companions, charming the others with his colloquial manner and prancing tongue.
Vhara, Duchess of the Fields
Standing 15 feet tall, this statuesque woman has a horselike head, shoulders of heroic proportion, and long arms ending in thick, ironhard fingers that make creditable hooves when curled into fists. Her legs are even more horselike, with a long foot ending in a true hoof. Her face is long and narrow. A long, neatly groomed mane runs from the crest of her head down to the center of her back. She is both lovely and poised.
Behind an aloof and somewhat domineering façade, Vhara (vah-rah), the duchess of the equinals, hides a profoundly generous and emotional spirit. Her fellow Companions know that she takes her commitment to equinals and Elysium with absolute seriousness and that she privately weeps when confronted by suffering that she cannot herself allay.
Vhara adores flowers of all sorts and enjoys receiving bouquets as gifts. When not traveling with the other Companions on one of Talisid’s adventures, she dwells in a spacious manse on Amoria. Her manse, Sienna Rise, stands atop a hill surrounded by fields of flowers, and Vhara is seldom seen without a small troupe of doting servants, including a male half-elf bard with a small golden hard and a female elf sorcerer with a predilection for speaking in rhymes and riddles.
Kharash, The Stalker
A werewolf like creature with topaz eyes steps from the shadows on all fours. Measuring 10 feet long, its lithe, muscular body is covered in a neatly groomed black and brown fur. It smiles broadly, revealing rows of sharp, pearly-white fangs.
The paragon of lupinals, Duke Kharash (kah-rash) is the closest Companion to Talisid, sharing the Celestial Lion’s passion for the hunt as well as his love for the untamed wilderness. The two are nigh inseparable except when Talisid chooses to enter a populated area, at which time Kharash usually opts to remain in the wild. Although sly of tongue and not exactly shy, Kharash doesn’t care much for large groups or accolades. He adores children but is inexplicably awkward around them. His ability to remain out of sight coupled with his willingness to let Talisid speak on his behalf in public has earned Kharash the moniker “Talisid’s Shadow,” and the lupinal duke doesn’t seem to mind.
An undisputed master of the hunt, Kharash trusts his senses and intuition. He doesn’t fall easily into traps, and he studies his enemies carefully before moving in for the kill. He maintains no permanent residence. When traveling apart from Talisid and the Companions, Kharash is usually joined by a pack of his trusted lupinals.
Bharrai, The Great Bear
This bipedal bear has thick snow-white fur, eyes like shards of blue ice, and massive paws. She stands 18 feet tall and wears immaculate robes of the finest quality.
Bharrai (buh-rye) is the mattriarch of the ursinals. Some ursinals refer to her as “Mother Bear,” for she treats others of her kind like cherished children, taking great interest in their endeavors and exploits and fearing for them when they leave Elysium to study magic and fight evil abroad.
When not accompanying Talisid and the other Companions on some escapade, Bharrai resides in a great lodge overlooking a small lake, all nestled between four mountains on Eronia (the second layer of Elysium). The region enjoys hot summers and harsh winters. During the summer, Bharrai teaches her fellow ursinals about the importance of living in harmony with nature. In the winter, she turns the lodge into a college of wizardry--an isolated retreat where ursinals and visiting wizards can study and learn magic under her supervision.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 138-148
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Post by ancientempathy on Apr 14, 2008 8:20:28 GMT -5
The Court of Stars
The noble, passionate, and mercurial eladrins call the Olympian Glades of Arborea their home. Shifting between its three layers is a demiplane known as the Court of Stars--the seat of power of the eladrin people. The Court of Stars drifts about Arborea like an autumn leaf on a pool and can only be reached when the eladrin monarch, Queen Morwel, wishes it so. Portals leading to and from the Court of Stars can manifest anywhere--within the halls of Corellon Larethian’s Court on Arvandor, beneath the eternal sea of Aquallor, somewhere in the white deserts of Mithardir, or any other location Morwel fancies. No power on Arborea seems capable of opening or closing a portal without Morwel’s consent. Rumor has it that one of Arborea’s fabled attractions, the Fountain of Beauty, which has the power to temporarily improve one’s Charisma, can only be reached from the Court of Stars, and that Morwel requires some kind of gift before granting passage.
Morwel’s demiplane resembles an autumnal sylvan forest under a starlit sky. Time does not pass here, so creatures living in the demiplane (including plants) never age, hunger, or thirst. They do eat, drink, and sleep, but purely for enjoyment. Fey creatures living in the forest lead visitors to Morwel’s palace, which thrusts up from the heart of the woodlan, its spires breaking through the forest canopy. Within the crystalline walls of her palace, Morwel entertains guests, hosts parties, and discusses pressing issues with her eladrin advisors and consorts.
Queen Morwel can seem flighty and pretentious at times, but she has the best interests of her people at heart. She does not rule alone, relying heavily on the counsel of her dear consorts. Over the centuries, Morwel has taken many consorts. Currently, she has two: a male Tulane named Faerinaal and a female bralani named Gwynharwyf. Her affection for both is beyond measure.
Faerinaal is a master politician and a shrewd judge of character. Morwel relies on his guidance to handle serious matters affecting her darling subjects. Gwynharwyf is a fierce and devastating warrior whose tireless crusade against evil helps to unite the eladrin people.
Morwel, Queen of Stars
This woman bears a passing resemblance to an elf, although her beauty is awesome and otherworldly. She wears a shimmering mantle of stars that flicker out before touching the ground, and she slices her brilliant rapier through the air with playful confidence.
Morwel (mor-wel) has always ruled the eladrins. No eladrin can recall any monarch coming before her, and no eladrin can imagine the Court of Stars without her. To them, she has always been. Sine time does not pass in the Court of Stars, it is conceivable that Morwel is many thousands of years old, although no one dares ask her to reveal her age.
Morwel never leaves her demiplane, and some fear that if she did leave, the demiplane would collapse and be destroyed forever. However, she welcomes and entertains a steady stream of visitors and ardent admirers.
Although she usually appears in humanoid form, Morwel can take the form of a 4-foot-diameter globe of scintillating, multicolored light.
Faerinaal, The Queen’s Consort
This breathtakingly handsome, elflike man moves with otherworldly grace and casts a mischievous smile in your direction. He wears an elaborate midnight-blue robe adorned with silver stars and arcane symbols.
As Morwel’s consort, Faerinaal (fay-reh-nayl) provides company and counsel to the queen. He also oversees the defense of the Court of Stars should it ever fall under attack. Faerinaal’s last sworn duty is to liberate any eladrins captured by the forces of evil. (It was during such a mission to the Abyss that Faerinaal’s predecessor, Vaeros, perished.)
Faerinaal adores Morwel more than any other creature and would gladly give his life to protect hers. His alternate form is that of a 4-foot-radius scintillating sphere of rainbow-hued light.
Gwynharwyf, The Whirling Fury
A short, stock elf stands ready for battle. Her hair is a wild silver-white mane, and her eyes are as green as jade. She has a tanned complexion and clutches a pair of gleaming scimitars that seem to reflect every color of the rainbow.
A patron of good barbarians, Gwynharwfy (gwin-har-wif) is Queen Morwel’s loyal champion and a barbarian of unparalleled ferocity. As one of Morwel’s consorts, she attends to the Queen’s desires when not leading barbarian hordes in the eternal struggle against evil.
Gwynharwfy can also assume the form of a whirlwind of glittering sand.
//From the Book of Exalted Deeds, pages 150-156
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Post by ancientempathy on Jan 25, 2009 12:27:49 GMT -5
Bump
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Post by Dachshund on Jan 26, 2009 9:30:54 GMT -5
That's a lot of info...
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Post by urghargh on May 22, 2009 15:07:19 GMT -5
Bumping this thread and urging ALL PLAYERS to read it.
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Post by ancientempathy on May 22, 2009 15:29:41 GMT -5
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Post by gainreduction on May 23, 2009 18:21:54 GMT -5
Super bump for great justice!
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Post by EDM Neo on May 25, 2009 18:43:26 GMT -5
Just an observation of something that struck me as odd for a while... In the section on evil acts, under the heading, "Consorting with Fiends," the following appears: But then later, under exalted deeds, there's a picture of a half orc paladin pointing a sword at two succubi, with the caption, "a paladin must choose between destroying evil and honoring love." Conflicting messages much?
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Post by Charon's Claw on May 25, 2009 19:03:37 GMT -5
That's why it sucks to be a paladin. LOL
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Post by ancientempathy on May 25, 2009 19:06:36 GMT -5
*fairs warning shot* Maybe But one things for sure, I dont want it discussed in here
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Post by EDM Neo on May 25, 2009 20:53:09 GMT -5
I wasn't trying to start a discussion of it, just pointing out a spot where source material seems to contradict itself. I think the image was a poor choice of illustrating the point on the part of the book's author, is all. (Also, further proof that all game designers are male )
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Post by catmage on May 26, 2009 1:13:11 GMT -5
Straight males.
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Post by ancientempathy on Dec 6, 2010 11:01:01 GMT -5
*Hurls back into circulation*
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Post by The Supreme Watcher on Jan 16, 2011 20:19:36 GMT -5
Bump!
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Post by The Supreme Watcher on Apr 4, 2011 14:25:04 GMT -5
Bump again.
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Post by EDM Entori on Sept 8, 2012 20:02:34 GMT -5
BUMPITY BUMP BUMP
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