By faffing around, my PCs have released a young demon in a rural low-magic setting. I thought they will deal with him, but no. Now there is a CR 6 demon running around a region, populated mostly with commoners in small villages.
He has been imprisoned for about 100 years, so he could be pretty pissy. Also he's an edgy motherfucker.
TLDR: Free demon, wat should he do?
Don't just go the whole "lol, I kill people" route. Hav him corrupt people, possess people, get him to manipulate those in power to achieve greater levels of chaos and discord than he ever could just by killing and burning. Remember, he's had a long time to plan this.
>Also he's an edgy motherfucker
Ha ha, time for cambions!
Have him hunt down the players, only to reward them, since they released him and just let him go, he figures they meant to, and demons don't like owing debts.
However, soon after they'll find themselves being hunted by a angel/paladin. If they kill them, then have more start coming, but also have some allies in the form of demonic being be willing to aid them.
If they surrender, are beaten, the Angel/paladin will force them to hunt down the demon.
Since he's young and inexperienced, you can have that reflected in his actions.
Like one village, he just straight up stands in the town square demanding for worship and sacrifice. People run away scared, panicking, screaming so he just kills them all. Then he goes to the next.
He can try a more subtle route, with subterfuge and political games, which falls pretty flat in Bumsville, so he razes them to try again somewhere else.
Maybe he'll take the mayor's daughter hostage so they will play into his plans, but then accidentally kill her since he forgot how weak people are.
Just a bumbling idiot leaving destruction and despair in his incompetent wake.
Longterm plans. If the demon can take human form, he plans to assume lordhood over the region, even though it may take many, many years and much work on his behalf. He'll rule as a benevolent dictator-type of lord, replacing himself as his human forms "die" of old age. Eventually he hopes for this region to be an industrial powerhouse in whatever realm it is situated, slowly, over generations, introducing a new religion with hidden demonworship and usurping the capitol/king.
Long term plans.
Why would a demon pay back his debts tho
not him, but because the demon knows it will cause havoc and also push the players away from good
That's devils, not demons. Unless he's not playing D&D, then ignore that.
Party is ruthlessly hunted down by elite demon-killing holy warriors who dealt with the demon off-screen.
TPK for being inconsiderate monsters.
I say this, but have him make progress and get better and get better for as long as the PCs let him run around, until he this level:
And becomes a prober BBEG in his own right. Have it be as inspiring as it is horrifying.
Everyone falls a step in the alignment spectrum and gets hunted by 6 Level 6 paladins.
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he should probably marry the daughter of a local lord and just be in charge from now on, that way if the party runs into him again it'll be a good story hook; he has to find a way to kill them before they tell someone he's a demon.
What's the demon like?
What does he do?
Have him do what he does in the area they released him I guess.
Don't have him chase down the players, that's tacky as fuck.
Have him summon imps and the like.
PCs will stumble on them stealing/harrassing/killing people periodically until they deal with the demon.
and / or :
Have the demon team with the local bad mage to create a dungeon and gain power over the local lands.
>low magic setting
>a bunch of paladins show up out of nowhere and slaughter the party or force them to cooperate
Dumbasses
Like yeah, maybe a paladin shows up, but if there were really a bunch of them with nothing better to do than fuck up some random minor demon in bumfuck nowhere that would kinda kill the tension, right?
Maybe a like, level 2 or 3 paladin shows up or something, tries to fight the thing, at which point the party could offer to help. If OP decides not to make a campaign or half campaign about figuring out how to stop it
Or the OP can do the logical thing and have the Demon terrorize the PCs until they fucking murder the thing. Demons deserve to be destroyed in every instance, every setting, and by every character in all of fiction.
it settles down, selling ice-cream with very bizarre flavors.
Not bad flavors, but bizarre.
Hence the "make a campaign out of figuring out how to kill it"
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>it settles down, selling ice-cream with very bizarre flavors.
>Not bad flavors, but bizarre.
>Demon in human form pushing a cart
>Hawking his Earthworm-Pomegranate and Turkey-Tapioca ice creams, looking for salts and a wand of Freezing ray, maybe a cow or goat.
>Armored Pally approaches
>Will this be a bowl or a cone?
>*Detect Evil* DIE, VILE FIEND! *flips cart*
>Cone it is then.
>Breath weapon
The demon tries to take over some of the towns. After a month or so, he might have a good number of hicks flying his banner. He also tries to recruit any trolls or other local monsters as allies.
The king calls together his bravest knights and men-at-arms to face the demon. They know it'll be a tough and bloody fight, so they send out a call for other men and war-priests to join them. Without the players' help, they'll probably prevail, albeit with heavy casualties. If they fail, then the countryside gets a new Demon-Lord who is essentially legitimate because no-one could stop him.
A lot of magic rules emphasise tit for tat exchanges, particularly with creatures that have been summoned from elsewhere or who indulge in Faustian bargains themselves. The party have performed a service for the demon, so it may be bound by its nature to do something for them. This might be the key to trapping it again (and might be how it got imprisoned in the first place)