Uses for Souls

Nightlight.
Or use it as a bookend.

Interestingly, it only sheds light on the Plane of Shadow, and actually draws light into itself on the Material Plane.

Oh yeah, and it's the size of a D20, not big enough to be a bookend.

Embed it in a living dragon's chest. Instant worldender.

Power a Flying Dutchmann style ship, manned by ghosts temporarily leaving the gem to do work before returning.

Use it as a seed for a new world.

The first one seems ill advised, considering that we're trying to save the world.

The second and third look promising, however... I wonder if we could use it to set up our own kingdom to rival the Fylkirate...

>innumerable souls
>if I tried to count them, it would take me more than my mortal lifespan
>something which only happens when used on either cursed items, or artifacts.
>relatively low-magic
>magic is viewed as devilry
You're going to end the world OP, don't touch this shit. Take it to the Church, don't let anyone do anything with it.

But I am the Church, and the other Church is led by a mortal king who proclaimed himself an incarnation of the god of the hearth.

apparently the book of vile darkness has uses for souls, but fuck that i want to do dumb maths stuff.
so: according to the d20PFSRD, which while not d&d 3.5e is the only resource i currently have available for this autism, ordinary souls are worth about 10-100gp each to the right person (going from 'vermin' to 'commoner')
so let's start making a lot of assumptions: first; assuming that the average commoner soul costs about 50gp (lowballing it by at least half, according to the pfsrd), and assuming it takes some weird month-long ritual to count a soul, assuming that the 'if you tried to count them' thing is 100% true, and also assuming that the average lifespan of a human is around 60 years in this setting...
you can count up about 720 souls over your lifespan and still not count all of them
assuming it takes only a day to count one soul, that's 21,900 souls

for 720 souls at 50gp/soul, that crystal is worth at least 36,000 gp
for 21,900 souls at 50gp/soul, it's worth 1,095,000gp

let's go overdrive:
assuming that each soul is at least a commoner and is valued at the recommended 100gp, and that you can count a soul every 2 seconds, that's 30 souls per minute, 1,800 per hour, 43,200 per day, roughly 15,768,000 per year, and 946,080,000 over a 60-year lifetime (imagine if they'd said that to an elf or something?).
that's 94,608,000,000gp and possibly more!
fucking radical.

but anyway, chances are your DM's not using the d20pfsrd rules (or, indeed, any rules) for putting a gold price to harvested souls and chances are good that the best you'll get for selling it is somewhere around my first guess, assuming you managed to find someone to sell it to - if you showed it to most devils or whatever they'd probably shit a brick hard enough to hit escape velocity from the recoil, and 'most all humans won't have any idea what the average worth of a harvested soul is.
really though just check the book of vile darkness or something.

Unfortunately, there aren't very many uses for gold in this setting, as Magic Items are rare enough that they can't be bought or sold aside from low-level scrolls and potions. Even if we could sell it that'd give us so much gold that we would have the same problem as with the souls, we wouldn't know what to do with it all.

I have checked the BoVD, I found rules for using Souls as extra material components, and for using souls as XP to make magic items (10 xp per soul).

I'm actually afraid of having a fiend find out about the gem, especially because I OOC know that the Wizard has had some dealings with fiends in the past (He sold the soul of my last character to a demon to save her life). The wizard is my best friend IRL, so we've discussed what we would potentially do with the Stone at length. One of the ideas he brought up was turning the soulstone into his phylactery, as he's actively pursuing Lichdom.

My latest character's deity is the one connected with the stone, according to a 150 year old wizard elder from my barbarian Cleric's tribe. Of course, said elder also ordered us to put the stone back, but he's a wizard and arcane mages are mistrusted all over the world.

don't be silly, there's always uses for gold - buying land or castles, funding your own private armies, getting the best possible gear money can afford, pimping that gear out even further, and literally murdering people with it assuming that you have enough.
seriously if you somehow manage to actually get 94,608,000,000 gold fucking pieces out of this you could probably drown a small country with that shit.

but i guess if you're really strapped for ideas you could throw it really hard at a wall or something

>What should we do with the stone Veeky Forums?
Obviously evil and ridiculously powerful item in the hands of the PCs: what could possibly go wrong?

>Should we return it to the Crypt like one of my Tribal Elders told us?
Not unless you can improve security, after all, you guys got your grubby little mitts on it.

>If we do use it, what are some creative uses for souls?
Literally anything...

>System is D&D 3.5.
Not familiar with the nuances of it.
In my setting, a soul is a powerful source of energy and a gem with a tiny fraction of the souls in your item would make any BBEG cream their panties and drop whatever they're doing to get it.
You would be carrying the equivalent of the modern world's total content of nuclear power in your pocket.

>The setting is relatively low-magic due to actual wizards, clerics, sorcerers, and druids being exceptionally rare and magic items being near-unique.
That just makes it even more phenomenally rare, valuable, and dangerous.

>Arcane magic is viewed as devilry in most of the world, to the extent that wizards are arrested, executed, lynched, or locked in their own towers by the lords of the land.
But I'm sure everyone will be totally cool with you shopping around for someone to split a few atoms off the ol' soul nugget to power some gear.
Yeah, you guys will be just fine.

>TL;DR - What are some cool uses for souls in a setting with rare, but extremely powerful, magic?
In my setting, permanent undead and constructs can't be created easily. A strong source of magic is needed to animate anything permanently.
Using a soul is a simple solution, but is typically viewed as the worst, most despised form of necromancy.
With that gem you could create an army of undead or, more tastefully and easily, patchwork golems like at the end of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
They would even be capable of simple intelligence, if not speach.
Or, if the souls have retained identities, the spirit army in Return of the King.
>no user, you are the demons

That's what I mean, we'd buy castles and armies and fund entire campaigns to conquer the world, and we'd still have the same problem of having more than we could spend. And that's assuming we could possibly find someone to sell it to.

Well, I mean, we wouldn't go around and say "Hey, I'm making magic items with a gemful of souls, how can you help me?"

>Well, I mean, we wouldn't go around and say "Hey, I'm making magic items with a gemful of souls, how can you help me?"
Well, that's good, but unless one of you is a skilled artifcer, you're gonna need help.
At best, you are in the situation of having a million kilos of cocaine.
You have to be careful of those who would condemn you for having and using it and anyone you get to help you with it might try to steal it.

Golem enforcers may be your solution.

Move to Plane of Shadow.
Use as nightlight.

Purchase tiny books.

Go full Fullmetal Alchemist and use it as a phylactery. Every time you die you just use up a soul instead and regenerate.
It's functional immortality. Plus you could always refill it, just so long as you have a positive k/d ratio you'll never permanently die.

The only good thing one can do is shatter the accursed stone, granting final freedom and peace to the damn souls trapped within.

Barter with an archfiend, the soul gem for an infinite army of fiends to exact your revenge and maybe save the world.

It's worth noting that we're relatively low level at this point, and these are just plans and ideas for later down the line. It's also worth noting that as far as we know, the stone is known of only by the most learned scholars in the world.

We've already taken as many precautions as we can at our current power level, we've put the thing into a lead-lined pouch and cast every protection we know onto it (even if that amounts to like, two spells).

Another thing that is interesting about the souls is the fact that we learned to stay the fuck out of the plane of shadow with it when we discovered a horde of pale white figures packed closely together and stretching out as far as the eye could see. My cleric promptly identified them as lost souls... and when they saw the gem they freaked the fuck out.

We don't actually know if that would work. We asked our wizard friend about it, but he was adamant that we simply return the stone to its resting place.

Yeah, from what you have said, this thing is clearly not only bad news, but pretty horrific. I think you need to do everything you can to find a way to free the souls trapped within then destroy the thing before anyone else falls victim to it's horror.

See if you can sell the souls 1 at a time, to extraplanar beings in exchange for power, knowledge, items?

I would find a way to extract and contain souls at small amounts at a time so as to not have to let the beings know about the gem.

Where would you even get that many souls from? Do like, ALL souls get trapped in there on death? Does the afterlife even still accept new intake or does the soul stone grab them all before they can petition at the pearly gates?

Eat it. Bring it into your being. And save those souls with your own. Become their god and deliver them rest.

Or fuck I don't know explode into flesh and terror I don't know how these things work.

You represent the Church correct?
Try looking for any scrolls, manuscripts, documents, or even local legends about the stone, it's soul-keeping properties, or perhaps the necromancer who made it.
If there is anything written down, it will probably be held in the Church.

As for "alternative" purposes, it contains an unnumerable amount of souls; sounds to me like you are carrying the start of a motherfucking ghost army in your pocket.

From what we've gathered so far, the Stone was created 1500~ years ago, during the reign of King Bellophant of Feldannr, before his ascension to Ansuzhood (Demigodhood).

Most people know Bellophant as a heroic king who was wise and just. However, we've discovered that he was actually a powerful necromancer who protected his people with armies of the undead. After his death and subsequent ascension, there was a civil war in the region over whether or not to worship the new godling. It ended with the people deciding to bury the truth, and worship only the aspects of him that they liked.

So as far as we can tell, Bellophant, the Deity that I worship, created the stone. It might store the souls of the countless enemies he destroyed, it might store the soul of everyone who died while he lived. It might be the afterlife of anybody who worships him. We DON'T KNOW.

The worst part about this is the fact that the religion of the land isn't centralized for the most part. The only really centralized and structured sect of the faith is 'Fylkirate' and they believe that the God of the Hearth has been incarnating himself as the mortal emperor of Kaizare for the past thousand years. I am decidedly NOT a Fylkirate, I am an ansuzian. I worship the Gods and the ancestor heroes that came after them.

It's the phylactery of Bellophant's advisor, I fucking guarantee it.
Eat it.

It's the afterlife for your religion. Calling it now.

You should find a way to communicate with the stone.
If it is indeed Bellophant's Grand Army (tm), or his people, you could usher in a new age of your God's glory.

If it's his enemies kept in there, destroy it, so the secret of your God's true nature dies with you.

Pic
Oh your god made it? Fucking eat it.

Stick in a magical cannon.

Summon a representative of the god of death/afterlife and turn in over to them and hope for an appropriate reward.

Given his God's origins. He probably is the God of Death.

If either of those two possibilities are true, I'm fucked.

That's a good idea. I'll have to devote some time to communing with the stone, and with Bellophant, I suppose.

Bellophant is actually a relatively minor God, and is mostly a regional deity of the city of Feldannr and surrounding countryside. The God of Death in the setting is Kris Krampus, Lord of Hell and Master of the Eternal Winter. He's the setting's BBEG (so far), so I can definitively say that offering the stone to him will end horribly.

>We've already taken as many precautions as we can at our current power level
Well, that's as much as you can be expected to do, really.

>We asked our wizard friend about it, but he was adamant that we simply return the stone to its resting place.
>It might be the afterlife of anybody who worships him. We DON'T KNOW.
>It's the afterlife for your religion. Calling it now.
Yeah, assume this until given evidence to the contrary, and protect it.
Don't use for gear unless you have a clear reason and method to in defense of your faith.
Your pc pal needs to find a way to work that angle with you if he wants to use it, even if it means "converting".

>yfw y'all hit epic levels and your buddy turns your afterlife into his phylactery, wrestles your God for ownership rights, and you have to pick a side.

>pick a side.
You say that like it's a question.
Hmmmmm. Hmmmmm. Your god. Or your power hungry friend who is attempting to steal your heavy from your god. Hmmm. Decisions decisions. Pancakes for breakfast, or killing everyone I've ever held dear. Such difficult choices befall me.

Maybe you should just put it back like the elders said or find another suitable hiding place for it, and visit it to study from time to time. Could be very useful but I wouldn't fuck with it too much till you are absolutely sure of the consequences.

Look at all the people telling you to eat it op.
Now trust me here, as someone who has eaten the innumerable souls of the damned myself. My life has done nothing but improve. I've started my own business, own a car, and am currently closing on that lake front property out in the hills. You really can't go wrong with it. Now I know you still might have your doubts. Still thinking that the innumerable souls of the damned might not be for you. Now I have to ask you this. Why not just try them out for a little. Just take a few on a trial run and see if you like it. I can guarantee you that you'll be back for the rest before you even finish the first.

>Hmmm. Decisions decisions. Pancakes for breakfast, or killing everyone I've ever held dear. Such difficult choices befall me.
We need another Hellboy image here, ASAP.

But if we put it back, how will I ever cast down the Fylkirate and prove that Bellophant is the one true God-King of man?

By speaking with the souls within and allowing them to speak for themselves.
Make its existence known to the false king, and he will surely go after it, and will of course attempt to use it.
When he does, the souls will devour him from the inside out, proving that his divinity is all but a lie.

Well fuck I guess I do have hellboy on the mind today, that one wasn't even intentional.

Man, your game sounds awesome. I'm jealous, user.

In my head canon a soul is a tightly bound bundle of planar fabrics. Good souls have energies of the celestial planes and evil souls have energies of the fiendish planes. Most souls are neutral and have fiery and other elemental energies. This artifact could potentially be used to create a new demiplane or perhaps even a major plane of existence. But why would you want to do that?

It is extremely difficult to become a planar lord and to become so bound and wreathed with the fabric of a plane that one is tied to it. There are many demon lords, archdevils, archomentals, abyssal lords, celestial paragons, etc... Typically, these mighty powers rule unopposed or underneath a greater lord. However, if you were to create your own major plane you could become bound to it and rule freely without opposition. You would have the power of an archdevil and etc... and yet rule without the laws of such a place.

Now it is possible to create your plane inside the Ethereal plane or the Astral plane but I would submit a better choice would be to create your plane inside the Far Realms and rule freely without subjugation underneath an Overgod.

Would it be cooler or lamer if I said that this is the first campaign that my DM has ever run? And that we're only 3rd level so far.

A little lamer, but only because it means the ideas presented, although good, are probably not as fulfilled as they could be with a more experienced GM/Group. Still, for a first game, it still sounds pretty good

I saw the idea of communicating with the souls. If you can, and they retain memories, you could filter through them to see if the possess notable skills/knowledge, and leverage them into teaching you.

Build a massive flying castle, plug the stone into the central core. Rule the world from your celestial palace, raining fire and lightning upon any who would oppose you in your grand and mad ambitions.

Become god-kings of the universe, release so much magic into the atmosphere that it becomes a high-fantasy setting, and damn the consequences. Immortality is only the first step! You have so much power in your hands that the difference between your party of adventurers and a pantheon of gods is only academic, at best.

Use the stone. Change the world.

This.
Simple plans are the best plans.