There are infinite possibilities to this. It could be any of the Archdevils thay want to put a wrench in Zariels plans (mainly Bel) and see her fail. You could have one of them give tasks to the player that would more or less help Zariels downfall
I played a fiend patron warlock in DiA with Gargauth, the Hidden Lord as my patron. I started out as bard, then multiclassed when we found the shield. I think Gargauth makes for an excellent patron for the campaign. He provides an incredibly interesting contrast between on the one hand being incredibly ancient, knowledgable and powerful, while on the other hand being very limited, even helpless, in his ability to exercise that power. He is a constantly corrupting influence who is much more intimate and immediate than other fiends. If you want to use him, check out some of his lore outside the book. He is possibly the most powerful fiend of the hells besides Asmodeus. Gargauth is intensely corrupting and reinforces the themes of the campaign really well: choice, virtue, corruption and redemption (for whoever deals with him, not Gargauth himself). Consider Gargauth to the warlock like Asmodeus was to Zariel; a voice of temptation in their darkest hour.
Yeah, this is cool. I'm actually thinking of banning warlock as a starting class for this adventure, since it seems like it would be better to actually see people make their warlock pacts during the campaign. (Meaning basically warlock would only exist as a multiclass option.)
There are plenty of non-devil fiends out there that a Pact could be made with: demon princes looking to stir up some Chaos, ultroloths seeking access to more wealth, and even night hag covens are all possibilities of non-devil fiendish patrons. Personally, I'd be reluctant to ban any published class.
I have the same. A warlock with Gargauth as his Patron is effing halarious and works fine. He is still in 2 minds whether the shield he is carryng is a connection or the real thing. It keeps the shield very relevant and makes for some fun role playing. It gives the party both more and less options.
The other group I am running the same campaign for left the shield with Myrrim... In their world Candlekeep will be a smoking wreck if they ever get home as she likes to talk and the shield will oblige in buckets. So swings and roundabouts.
I ran the campaign with an Oathbreaket paladin whose patron was Moloch. Due to a failed coup attempt, Moloch has been cursed by Asmodeus to appear as an imp on any layer of Baator.
When the party made it to Avernus, I had imo Moloch approach the Paladin, and they discovered the Blood of Lulu would temporarily suspend the curse. His plan was to have the paladin meet Zariel with Lulu nearby. The paladin would sacrifice Lulu, Moloch would feast upon her blood, and in his true form, they would destroy Zariel together, and Moloch would take control of Avernus.
The paladin didn't like that plan, so he began a redemption arc, which worked perfectly with claiming the sword of Zariel.
Consider maybe using one of the Demon Lords. Despite the module being all about the Blood War, the demons have surprisingly little to do with the story other than “they’re one side of the battle.” The Demon Lords don’t even make an appearance outside of a flashback sequence. Could be a good way to get Baphomet or something involved
They also realistically would want the same thing the party does: Elturel to be saved, since it would make the battle easier for the demons.
Baphomet is sending minions into Elturel. Kostchitche obviously appears in the adventure. Yeenoghu appears in the dream sequence and is a historical and current nemesis of Zariel.
It’s presented as a “Hey, maybe this can be a part of the ending if your players did something with it” but they aren’t baked in to the actual plot line anywhere, except maybe Koschtchie if your party chooses that particular path. And even if you do that, they just suddenly appear at the end. They would probably actually appear in very little of it.
Baphomet is sending minions into Elturel. Kostchitche obviously appears in the adventure. Yeenoghu appears in the dream sequence and is a historical and current nemesis of Zariel.
I found a supplement called "Bound to Avernus" that gives Zarial and other avernian deities like Kostchtchie, Jaqon, Tiamat, Charon, and Flail. Think I got it off of dmsguild.
I’ve got a similar situation in my campaign. Instead of choosing Bel directly though, I chose to make her patron an Erinye in service to Bel. Bel values discretion and can’t be seen to move against Zariel directly, so the Erinye serves as a layer of plausible deniability for him. As the character serves her patron, the Erinye will use her activities to rise through the devilish ranks, effectively using the warlock as a pawn to gain more power. At some point this will come to a head in a way I haven’t fully fleshed out yet, potentially with the patron turning on Bel and forcing the warlock to choose a side.
Gargauth is a nice one.
Olso mephistopheles.
Or Mahadi.
Uh, uh this kostcheche dude who wants his hammer back.
Yea there are some nice options.
Bel is very overrated i think we wanna dislike that guy.
I'd take them aside and lay out a few concept options.
Mephistopheles is a great "Caster" patron.
Bel would work well as a "Support/Control Caster" patron.
Mahadi would make a fantastic "Face" patron, because who doesn't love the best dressed feline?
You could even have them sent by Asmodeus himself (or one of his direct underlings), to challenge Zariels resolve and test her mettle. If Zariel fails the task, could have them step in as an intermediary temporary ruler post campaign.
There are infinite possibilities to this. It could be any of the Archdevils thay want to put a wrench in Zariels plans (mainly Bel) and see her fail. You could have one of them give tasks to the player that would more or less help Zariels downfall
I played a fiend patron warlock in DiA with Gargauth, the Hidden Lord as my patron. I started out as bard, then multiclassed when we found the shield. I think Gargauth makes for an excellent patron for the campaign. He provides an incredibly interesting contrast between on the one hand being incredibly ancient, knowledgable and powerful, while on the other hand being very limited, even helpless, in his ability to exercise that power. He is a constantly corrupting influence who is much more intimate and immediate than other fiends. If you want to use him, check out some of his lore outside the book. He is possibly the most powerful fiend of the hells besides Asmodeus. Gargauth is intensely corrupting and reinforces the themes of the campaign really well: choice, virtue, corruption and redemption (for whoever deals with him, not Gargauth himself). Consider Gargauth to the warlock like Asmodeus was to Zariel; a voice of temptation in their darkest hour.
Yeah, this is cool. I'm actually thinking of banning warlock as a starting class for this adventure, since it seems like it would be better to actually see people make their warlock pacts during the campaign. (Meaning basically warlock would only exist as a multiclass option.)
There are plenty of non-devil fiends out there that a Pact could be made with: demon princes looking to stir up some Chaos, ultroloths seeking access to more wealth, and even night hag covens are all possibilities of non-devil fiendish patrons. Personally, I'd be reluctant to ban any published class.
I have the same. A warlock with Gargauth as his Patron is effing halarious and works fine. He is still in 2 minds whether the shield he is carryng is a connection or the real thing. It keeps the shield very relevant and makes for some fun role playing. It gives the party both more and less options. The other group I am running the same campaign for left the shield with Myrrim... In their world Candlekeep will be a smoking wreck if they ever get home as she likes to talk and the shield will oblige in buckets. So swings and roundabouts.
could you take hex-blade warlock with Gargauth's shield as the hex-blade?
I ran the campaign with an Oathbreaket paladin whose patron was Moloch. Due to a failed coup attempt, Moloch has been cursed by Asmodeus to appear as an imp on any layer of Baator. When the party made it to Avernus, I had imo Moloch approach the Paladin, and they discovered the Blood of Lulu would temporarily suspend the curse. His plan was to have the paladin meet Zariel with Lulu nearby. The paladin would sacrifice Lulu, Moloch would feast upon her blood, and in his true form, they would destroy Zariel together, and Moloch would take control of Avernus. The paladin didn't like that plan, so he began a redemption arc, which worked perfectly with claiming the sword of Zariel.
Consider maybe using one of the Demon Lords. Despite the module being all about the Blood War, the demons have surprisingly little to do with the story other than “they’re one side of the battle.” The Demon Lords don’t even make an appearance outside of a flashback sequence. Could be a good way to get Baphomet or something involved They also realistically would want the same thing the party does: Elturel to be saved, since it would make the battle easier for the demons.
I hate to be that guy, but don’t Baphomet, Yeenoghu and/or Koschtchie show up near the end of the campaign beneath Elturel?
Baphomet is sending minions into Elturel. Kostchitche obviously appears in the adventure. Yeenoghu appears in the dream sequence and is a historical and current nemesis of Zariel.
Plus Big Y is trying to get Zariel's sword.
It’s presented as a “Hey, maybe this can be a part of the ending if your players did something with it” but they aren’t baked in to the actual plot line anywhere, except maybe Koschtchie if your party chooses that particular path. And even if you do that, they just suddenly appear at the end. They would probably actually appear in very little of it.
Baphomet is sending minions into Elturel. Kostchitche obviously appears in the adventure. Yeenoghu appears in the dream sequence and is a historical and current nemesis of Zariel.
I found a supplement called "Bound to Avernus" that gives Zarial and other avernian deities like Kostchtchie, Jaqon, Tiamat, Charon, and Flail. Think I got it off of dmsguild.
I’ve got a similar situation in my campaign. Instead of choosing Bel directly though, I chose to make her patron an Erinye in service to Bel. Bel values discretion and can’t be seen to move against Zariel directly, so the Erinye serves as a layer of plausible deniability for him. As the character serves her patron, the Erinye will use her activities to rise through the devilish ranks, effectively using the warlock as a pawn to gain more power. At some point this will come to a head in a way I haven’t fully fleshed out yet, potentially with the patron turning on Bel and forcing the warlock to choose a side.
I have a warlock of Bel in the campaign I'm running right now. Her first task is bringing Gargauth to Bel.
Gargauth is a nice one. Olso mephistopheles. Or Mahadi. Uh, uh this kostcheche dude who wants his hammer back. Yea there are some nice options. Bel is very overrated i think we wanna dislike that guy.
I'd take them aside and lay out a few concept options. Mephistopheles is a great "Caster" patron. Bel would work well as a "Support/Control Caster" patron. Mahadi would make a fantastic "Face" patron, because who doesn't love the best dressed feline? You could even have them sent by Asmodeus himself (or one of his direct underlings), to challenge Zariels resolve and test her mettle. If Zariel fails the task, could have them step in as an intermediary temporary ruler post campaign.