The Role of Souls

ascetics who was badly beaten,and then accepts five temporary negative levels to use teleport and transport herselfand the ascetics to safety.Margos’ work is now finished,and she is bearing eight temporary negative levels.Weary from her efforts,she returns to Heaven (like a called outsider,at no cost to her,as described above).There she rests and waits for her temporary negative levels to dissipate.

It is possible to play a game with saints as one or more player characters.Such games are best handled with one-shot adventures (or a series ofsuch adventures) or in campaigns where it would not be unusual for a character to appear for only one session (such as when a friend visiting from out oftown wants to join the weekly game).Allowing saints as player characters also gives players the opportunity to see or play their own dead characters who are now famous and serving a deity.

Martyrs

Martyrs are those who have died because oftheir commitment to a religion or a similar high principle.In most cases a martyr is someone killed by an enemy ofthat religion or principle,quite often by execution rather than in simple combat.As the ends that these mortals meet are usually long,drawn-out,and painful deaths,often as a result oftorture or a brutal killing such as being burned at the stake,martyrs are rewarded in Heaven with a dwelling place closer to Heaven’s heights or their deity (see Chapter Four:Planar Geography).Martyrs often become saints and are sent back to the mortal world to save others from fates similar to their own.

Martyrs use the same game rules as saints,except that any spell that directly relates to their martyrdom (as decided by the DM) bestows one less temporary negative level than normal.For example,ifSaint Joan (Joan ofArc) were sent to the Material Plane to rescue a pair of“heretics” about to be burned at the stake,she could use the quench spell to put out the fire by accepting only three temporary negative levels instead offour.However,ifshe wanted to use quench to harm a rampaging fire elemental,she would have to accept the normal four temporary negative levels because rampaging fire elementals were not responsible for her death.Martyrs can make interesting characters,and they have as many or more reasons to return to the mortal world as saints do.

Angels as Enemies

Most fantasy games feature the battle ofgood against evil,with the player characters on the side ofgood.However,this does not need to be the case.Angels can easily be the enemies in a conflict, such as is described in the “Adversaries Campaign” subsection at the beginning ofthis chapter.Remember that evil characters are not the only ones who might have to fight an angel.Those ofneutral bent may find themselves on the sharp end ofan overzealous trumpet archon’s sword,and from time to time even followers of different good deities may come into conflict over a difference of opinion,especially when a common holy site,relic,or individual is concerned.Tasked with the destruction ofan ancient magic item, an angel might refuse to consider any option other than destruction,declining to budge even when the heroes explain that they need the item to lure an evil entity into a trap.An angel might be surrounded by corrupted angels and not realize it,then respond with violence when its “allies” are attacked.Angels can be possessed by magic jar and similar effects just as mortals can,and a group ofunlucky heroes might find themselves forced to battle seven solars in their inner sanctum just because four ofthem are secretly under the sway ofevil.

Ofcourse,the most common reason for angels to be the enemies ofthe player characters is ifthe PCs are evil or serving an evil cause.While heroic characters might venture into Hell in order to wipe out as many fiends as they can in a short time,an evil group might decide to raid Heaven for loot,vengeance,or the sheer fun of tackling good on its home territory.The forces ofHell have attempted many sorties against its counterpart,and player characters might believe that they have a better chance ofsucceeding in their efforts than previous “incompetent” attempts.

As mentioned in the “Alternate Pantheons and Theology” section on page 49,don’t let the conventional depiction ofangels close your mind to the opportunities for angelic adversaries.Like mortals,angels can have very complex motives and have long-term goals that would put an elfor lich to shame.Even angels are willing to perform borderline acts to preserve or plant the seed ofgreat events far in the future.

The Role of Souls

Young acolytes sometimes ask why demons torture souls in Hell. The obvious answer is out ofmalice,for the evil fiends enjoy inflicting pain on an otherwise helpless soul.It alleviates for a time the emptiness within the demon.However,there is more to it than that.A soul is the essence ofa creature,the remnant ofits life energy and the collected knowledge it acquired while alive.By torturing souls,fiends cause them to release some ofthis energy,which they can use to recharge a demon’s magic,feed a creature that lives on life force,heal damage,or power most magical effects.After all,the death knell spell can draw upon the waning life force ofa dying creature to help the caster.A naked soul is even more vulnerable to this sort ofattack,and evil fiends can tap its stored power without the taint ofmortal flesh attached to it.

Fiends aren’t the only ones who draw upon the power ofsouls in this manner.Heaven,too,gains a benefit from its souls,though it does so without pain or torture.A soul in Heaven naturally releases this energy through joy and devotion to a cause,usually through song or some other creative effort.This causes the soul no discomfort and the energy recharges naturally when the soul rests.Good deities attract this magical power and redirect it outward to their servants (angels) and to the environment ofHeaven itself.This flow ofsoul power is what fuels many ofthe natural effects of Heaven.This benign drawing ofenergy is slower than demonic torture but generates greater energy overall,as it requires little effort on the part ofthe soul and no attention by angels or any resident ofHeaven.(Hell’s tortures require constant attention to focus the energy,and the targeted soul holds out as long as possible,for the pain ofits torture increases the more energy it loses.)