Or How do you persuade the players to sign away their characters’ souls?
You wouldn’t think that navigating a page of impenetrable legalese would make for a good session, but my players recently really enjoyed a session which involved two rather different contracts.
Signing away your soul
A contract with a devil, where the protagonist is persuaded to sign away their soul in return for unworldly talent, unexplainable abilities, or some other amazing gift, is a classic trope of stories. Faust is probably the best-known of these, and Tartini is reputed to have made a bargain with the devil in a dream, with his “Devil’s Trill” sonata his best attempt to re-create the marvellous playing of the devil in his dream.
This very rarely ends well for the protagonist, although there are a few who are said to have beaten the devil – see the eponymous widow of the Poozies’ song, or the seamstress who raced the devil to sew a shirt. For most of them, they think they can trick the devil, but it turns out the devil has had much more practice, and gets through some legal loophole so the protagonist rarely gets to even enjoy what they sold their soul for. And then they spend eternity in hell…
With such a track record, which your players will be aware of, how could you possibly persuade them that having their character signing might be worth it?
Well, I almost managed it. I was just defeated by a very holy paladin of the watchers.
The Campaign Background
My players have known right from the start that the campaign is about demons trying to break in. The very first session had Plaresh Spawn tunnelling up into the market and chomping through the stallholders, the stalls, and the shoppers, and they had to cope with this, then looked for the source and found (and closed) a portal that had been opened beneath the market.
What they have been coming to suspect, is that maybe devils might be getting involved.
A character (who only stayed for a few sessions; sadly the player didn’t fit in) had an imp as a familiar.
A gang member they knew was involved in the demon summoning was trailed to a building near the docks. They staged a raid on this building…and I decided they were too certain in what they were doing, and turned it around so that they had invaded a random secret location of a completely separate organisation. They encountered a character inspired by Lord Vetinari from the Discworld novels, who welcomed them, offered them coffee, and then contracted them for a mission (the same mission they had already taken on for someone else – remember the Alexandrian Three Clue Rule).
This character, Omar, has developed into a major player in the campaign. Like Vetinari, he has his finger on absolutely everything and knows everything that is going on. He also has high-level contacts and can pull strings. He has sent them on other missions. He even rescued one character from jail (when she tried to get a discount by pointing out she was a wanted criminal) … in return for another mission.
And there have been hints that maybe he has some sort of otherworldy assistance / talents / connections.
Devil’s Advocate – A Guide to Infernal Contracts
I decided it was time it became more explicit, particularly since the whole campaign was inspired by the Blood War between demons and devils, introduced in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and referenced now in the DMG 2024.
And a demonic contract seemed like just the thing. The only issue was how to introduce it, so I asked for suggestions on the Alphastream discord (where all the best people hang out).
Sulicius pointed me at Chris and Jack’s video of a devil negotiating – how about just 7/8s of your soul? Fun to watch, but I don’t think I could pull off the hard sell patter, and anyway (spoiler alert) he never does sign.
More usefully, Keith Ammann (of The Monsters Know What They’re Doing fame) pointed me at Devil’s Advocate – A Guide to Infernal Contracts. This has some great ideas, ways to think about what the devils require (and why they are so desperate), and even a sample contract.
I’ll not steal his thunder – it’s only a few dollars, and if you get it through the link above, you’ll be supporting my blog – but here’s what I took for my situation.
First, you need a plan, and a thing the character(s) might need desperately enough.
You also need a contract.
The devil needs souls to fulfil their quota to be able to progress. But if you start with that straight out, you’re unlikely to get a sale unless the character is REALLY desperate.
So you need a contract that appears reasonable, but with options to escalate. Or you need to lead them on gradually, start with something that seems small, and gradually introduce more (with higher prices, obviously).
But maybe, even if they’re a devil, they really do need something from the character(s) that’s more important than souls – like assistance in preventing demons taking over the prime plane, for example.
The deal
So how do I get them into a position they need to negotiate?
They have been thwarting all sorts of attempts at opening portals, and have started to come to the notice of the organisation trying to bring this about. This organisation has started moving more openly – getting the head of the storm guards (the magic arm of the guards) assassinated in a way that made it look as if he was complicit, and clearly infiltrating the guards. In conjunction with some of their tame guards, they set up an ambush, opening some portals at the characters’ feet, and then when the (handily nearby) guards appeared, claiming it was the characters who had opened the portals.
The characters got taken into custody, despite their efforts to argue their case (I did say the guards were in on the act…). Omar heard of it, and sent his henchman (a character referred to as “not necessary” because when first asked his name, he told them that was not necessary) to negotiate with them on terms for getting them free.
He presented them with a contract, offering them freedom in return for “one act of surveillance at a time and place of the Administrator’s choosing”. Of course, the contract was far more involved than that, and included penalty terms for not upholding their side, including immediately forfeiting their soul.
I drew up the contract (inspired by the example in Devil’s Advocate, though somewhat toned down), and handed it to them at the table.
They took it and read through it. All was fine until they got to the penalty clauses and the “terms bound corpus juris infernus, judged de jure infernum in the Courts of Phlegethos.”
They pointed out that forfeiting their soul was a harsh penalty under the circumstances, and negotiated that down to becoming indentured for a week (a month was my initial offer), and added a clause that it will not act against their family or associates. They negotiated that the Consideration (surveillance) would not include either the Toney or Linden houses.
With those amendments, three of the four present were willing to sign, but the player playing the paladin of the Watchers said there was no way his character would ever enter a contract with a devil. So that was that. I didn’t have a plan for them completely rejecting the contract ☹. So thinking quickly on my feet, I had the assistant leave and Omar himself come by. He claimed the intention was never to use such a strict contract, pointed out their mutual enemy, and eventually they agreed to shake on an agreement to do some surveillance for him in future in return for their release. He also suggested it might be prudent to leave the city for a while.
A second contract
Having extracted themselves from this situation, they then had another transaction to complete. The players had said they would like a base they can use, so on their way back from the previous expedition (the battle to relieve Gairston), they got diverted in a blizzard to a ruined and abandoned castle (based on Ragnar’s Keep – having developed a setting, I might as well get something out of it). After their arrival in town, they asked around and discovered the current owner, and had agreed a fee of 500 daros (gp) for purchase, so they needed to finalise the sale.
Having already had my contract-writing whetted, I decided to come up with another contract for the sale, which also hinted at the fact that there may be squatters or other undesirable characters and creatures present, and that it would be their responsibility to take active ownership. Also that the condition of the property was “as seen” and no warranties were made.
In consideration for 500 daros, Seller transfers all title to the property known as “Ragnar’s Keep”, located 11 miles north of Akorros along the North Lake Road, between the road and the lake shore, to the Purchaser(s), along with the surrounding lands boundaried to the west by the lake shore, to the north, east and south by boundary markers designated RK, along with fishing, hunting, farming, logging and mineral rights within said lands and rights to build, demolish, or reconstruct said buildings on said lands, and to conduct any such business as Purchaser(s) see(s) fit.
Sale is made “as seen” and no warranty is made as to condition of building or surrounding lands and constructions, nor to fitness for any purpose, nor to the presence or absence of any creatures or other inhabitants. Purchaser(s) is/are responsible for claiming and enforcing said access and ownership, and evicting, negotiating with, or otherwise coming to terms with any such creatures, as Purchaser(s) see(s) fit.
In witness thereof, and as acknowledgement of receipt, this contract is signed and sealed This 6th Day of Kaldmont, 998 AC, in 3 Mestri Court, Akorros, Darokin
Conclusion
Dry though it may seem, the players really enjoyed this session and interacting with the two different contracts. I achieved a sufficient degree of legalese to make it interesting and realistic, with enough nuggets sprinkled through them for the players to spot and engage with, and without making either too long and tedious. But I didn’t manage to get them to sign their souls away…
I also have to thank my players for going along with the railroad with (mostly) good grace. I did need to introduce more story elements. But it wasn’t the fairest way to approach it.
If you want inspiration for your characters, I can heartily recommend Devil’s Advocate – A Guide to Infernal Contracts, available through DriveThruRPG either on its own, or as part of one of two bundles:
- Hell in a Handbasket, including also “Blood War Bestiary” (monsters of the lower planes), “Champions of the Blood War” (demonic and diabolical player options), “Monster Loot – Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus” (harvesting options from monsters in the adventure), “Taverns, Inns and Taprooms: In Hell”, and “Treasures of Avernus” (Blood War-themed magic items)
- Zariel’s Bargain Bundle, including also “51 Soul Coins”, “Attack on Avernus: The Wrath of Tiamat”, the “blood War Bestiary” as above, “Hellbounds Heists”, “Heroes of Hell” (Nine Hells class archetypes and NPCs), and “Legacy of Heaven and Hell” (50 new subraces and 49 new racial feats for Aasimar and Tieflings)
And if you buy any of these through the links above, you will support all the investment I make to be able to write this blog.
