A Deal with the Devil


 
“The Devil went down to Georgia (or wherever your player’s adventures have taken them)
he was lookin' for a soul to steal
he was in a bind
'cause he was way behind
and he was willin' to make a deal
When he came upon this young man
sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot
and the devil jumped
up on a hickory stump
and said boy let me tell you what
I guess you didn't know it
but I'm a fiddle player too
and if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy
but give the devil his due
I'll bet a fiddle of gold
against your soul
'cause I think I'm better than you.” 

                                                              - The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Charlie Daniels)

My mind wanders from time to time.  This weekend, while binge watching Arrow, I saw the episode that Billy Joel appeared in.  That got me to thinking about “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and more specifically the lyrics.  I thought that “Rock and Roller Cola War” would make a really good title for an adventure, especially as a follow-up to the Battle of the Bands idea I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  But, try as I might, I couldn’t figure out where I wanted to go with it but my train of thought did carry me to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and I said…”Hey, now there’s an adventure (or at least an awesome encounter) if ever I heard one.

A devil approaches one of your players’ party members and challenges him to a musical duel.  The stakes, you ask?  One instrument made of gold versus one soul.  A search through assorted Monster Manuals and other sourcebooks revealed to me that only one devil in any of my books has Perform as a skill.  That is the Archdevil Levistus.  The Book of Vile Darkness lists his Perform skill at +42.  That is damn near insurmountable for all but the most accomplished player characters.  Then again, Perform isn’t a single skill; it’s a group of skills like Craft and Knowledge so ranks in one type of performance don’t carry over to another.  I divided by three (one for Percussion, another for Stringed, and the last for Wind Instruments) gave him a score of 11 ranks (plus his hefty Charisma bonus) in each.  We’ll assume, for sake of the story that this encounter happens after the events surrounding the death of the Hag Countess and Levistus’ release from his icy imprisonment.

Ok.  That’s a bit more reasonable.

The Lord of the Fifth, Levistus, rules over the layer of Stygia. He appears as a six-foot-tall humanoid with very pale skin, dark hair, and a goatee. Were it not for his entirely black eyes and pointed teeth, he could pass for a human.  Hmmm… that sounds familiar…

Everett: What'd the devil give you for your soul, Tommy?

Tommy Johnson: Well, he taught me to play this here guitar real good.

Delmar: Oh son. For that you sold your everlasting soul?

Tommy Johnson: [shrugs] Well, I wasn't usin' it.

Pete: I've always wondered, what's the devil look like?

Everett: Well, of course there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.

Tommy Johnson: Oh, no. No, sir. He's white, as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He loves to travel around with a mean old hound. That's right.

                                                              - O Brother, Where Art Thou?

How you decide to handle the contest between the devil and the bard is entirely up to you.  If you want, the other PCs can join in, sing back-up or provide musical accompaniment and you may want to arrange things so it is a series of contests spread out over the course of the night since the fate of a soul is a lot to let ride on a single die roll.  But, I digress.  After bouncing the idea around throughout the course of this evening, I think that I’m going to insert this encounter into the 1920s chapter of the campaign I am currently running.  The players’ find their characters gathered in the dimly-lit, smoky taproom of a Chicago speakeasy when a man calling himself “Levi” appears and challenges one of the PCs or a close ally of theirs.  I just like the mental image this gives me.  Plus, if I use the ‘20s, then it sets up a possible encounter with another Archdevil – Mephostopheles who the party’s family members may have met back during the Old West.

Comments

Post a Comment

Recent Posts

Smoke Powder Golem

Image
Smoke Powder Golem                                     CR13 (Original drawing of Smoke Powder Golem)   A Smoke Powder Golem is a blending of technology and the divine magic of Gond created to serve as temple guardians.   On average, the golem stands 12’ tall and weighs 8,000 pounds.   The smoke powder golem resembles the more common Iron Golem except its right arm has been replaced with the thick barrel of a bombard.   A large “backpack” has been built onto the golem and contains the ammunition for the golem’s cannon (internal magazine of six shells).   Firing the cannon causes the next shell to automatically, move into the firing chamber.   The golem smells of oil and sulfur.   N Large Construct Init: -1; Senses: Listen +0, Spot +0 Languages: Understands the langua...
Read more

Beldam (Other Mother from Coraline)

Image
I watched the movie “ Coraline ” for the first time this weekend.   Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen snippets of the film here and there over the years and I recognized the character when the movie started but I have never sat down and Watched the movie (or read the book).   By the time the show was over, I have to admit that I was fascinated by the entire thing.   The animation and pacing were incredibly well done and the main antagonist was delightfully wicked.   This is who I want to focus on today – Beldam, a.k.a. the Other Mother.   Some viewers may think that she was some sort of demon, offering children their heart’s desire in exchange for their souls, much like a crossroads demon but I feel like she more closely resembles a faerie, a member of the Unseelie Court who is allowed a great deal of independence in her operations.   I also think that since the protagonist, Coraline, was just a child that Beldam wouldn’t necessarily have been overly power...
Read more

The Magic of Mario-World Power-Ups for D&D

Image
Not so very long ago, one of my kids suggested that I write a blog post about using the Power-Ups from the Mario Brothers franchise.   Now, to be honest, the last Mario game I played was Super Mario 3 back whenever it came out but I thought, “Sure, why not?”   Well, it turns out that the number of Power-Ups has expanded exponentially in my almost 30 year absence.   Seriously, at the time of this writing, there’s like SEVENTY-NINE different ones available and that doesn’t even touch on the banana peels from Mario Kart. That said, instead of trying to stat out all of them, I’m just going to focus on the ones from the Super Mario Brothers game and call it good.   These include the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, the Invincibility Star, and the 1-Up Mushroom.   That’s it.   If you want the Penguin Suit, the Raccoon Suit, or a Yoshi, look somewhere else because I’m not going to cover those here. The Super Mushroom is pretty straightforward. ...
Read more

The EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle

Image
1976 GMC Motorhome Palm Beach model 26' Crew: 4     Passengers: 19 Cargo: 425 lbs.* Init: -4 Top Speed: 60 (6) - approximately 35 - 40 mph Defense: 6 (-4 size) Hardness: 10 SZ: G (8' wide x 26' long x 10' high) Purchase: 45     Restriction: Mil (+3) * each unused passenger slot allows the vehicle to carry an additional 100 lbs. of cargo. • 6 wheels with reinforced tires • Communications: High-Range Radio, Compass, GPS, Night Vision (via driver's periscope) • Back of vehicle opens for assault ramp Armaments: • 7.62mm Machine Guns (x2, forward arc) • Flamethrowers (4/side, fire-linked, over rear wheels) • Light Tank Gun (rear arc) • Rocket Rack (roof-mounted, retractable, 6 rockets) Despite performing well on its one and only (unauthorized) mission , the prototype EM-50 was decommissioned and flown back to the United States and placed in storage at the Sierra Army D...
Read more

A Horse By Any Other Name (Part 6)

Image
One Month after the Summer Solstice (Seventh Moon, 1000 ALB) Ra'ziir follows along beside Foil Hat, "What makes you think this 'Abacus' knows anything about planar travel?" The conspiracy theorist replies, "Oh, he's a wizard, knows all kinds of things about conjurations and summonings. If he doesn't have your answers, he'll probably know who to ask." "My little ponies!" Grotto winnies, "The confection shop is this way! How can we expect to confront this unknown on the word of the paranoid pony? We should surely go to this confectionery and get some information from another source. Are we to trust this one only because it was the first we encountered? More information is needed! We should fill our bellies, get reliable corroborating information there! Are we to blindly trust this one to lead us to a trap in the vulnerable state we are in?!" Grotto insists. "Plus that is where these phillies are!" Grotto thinks to ...
Read more

🎶 🎶 He's a Were-House 🎶 🎶 (to the tune of "Brick House")

Image
One of my players recently tagged me in this picture, more or less daring me to see what I could come up with. There are already other versions of this concept out there (I really like this one ). I know that larger versions of Mimics exist and I could convert them to whatever edition of the game we are playing but that would be cheating and doesn't fit the "spirit" of the post. This is what I came up with... Faizard Skitterbrook the Were-House CR: 3     Medium Humanoid (Human/Shapechanger) HD: 3d4    Hp: 8 Init: +1     Spd: 30' AC: 11 (+1 Dex), t: 11, ff: 10 or 15 (+1 Dex, +4 Mage Armor spell) Attacks: (BAB+1/Grap +1) ; +1 Staff: 1d6 (20/x2) or +2 Light Crossbow: 1d8 (19-20/×2, 80') SA: Arcane Spells (CL3; DC12 + spell level; 4/3/2); Improvised Weapons SQ: Transformation Align: CN    Saves: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4 Str: 11, Dex: 13, Con: 11, Int: 15, Wi...
Read more