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Playing a Risen Character

--Dealing with Epic Beginnings.

Most Risen Characters will start out fairly powerful, indeed should the character be a risen Balor, or Pit Fiend they will start out as Epic Characters. They cannot then start out the game with level 1 characters, instead they have to start with other powerful characters. There are a number of ways to do this, one would be to have the PC’s old character and or group meet the Risen Fiend, and such a situation could help ad an interesting dynamic to an ongoing campaign so long as all the players like the idea.

All the Players Play Risen Characters, dragons, or some other character that would begin powerful. The dynamics of having multiple characters that would start strong can make for an interesting game, but it should only be done by those who have played a number of sessions with more normal characters. This is because those who start epic are often less creative in their thinking then those who have had to rise to it.

Long history writes, for those characters who have played for a long time and already had characters obtain high levels, writing a history for a new character should not be to difficult and it could be fun for them to invent a character and write his story up to his higher levels. The characters stories could all end with their beginnings together or be intertwined, wiki’s could be created for free for the characters to write the stories of their new characters together. This might be the best option for those willing to spend a little time, because it allows the characters to start fresh, with new characters, helping to create a new dynamic for the Risen campaign.

--Death

For the Risen Death is not a simple matter because until they find a way to become none outsiders their death means that they go back to the plane they came from. This will not be a happy reception as they will be viewed as traitors of the worst kind and will be tortured for so long as they can be held. This means that the Risen Character cannot be raised, because they are not dead, rather they have been banished to their home plane.

One of the goals of most Risen organizations is to free such fiends from captivity, and to help the Risen become part of the Plane they have chosen to make their home. These goals can become quests in and of themselves, as the Risen PC may need to find an item to become a native of their plane, or they may need to help free another imprisoned Risen fiend.

Many times characters skim over their backgrounds not describing in any meaningful way how they came to be what they are. This takes away many game and story opportunities, as it gives the GM very little to push and pull from.

It is very important that if the character chooses to play a Risen Character they create a real background as to what their job was as a fiend, who they worked for, where they lived, who they fought against, and how they came to rise. Risen Characters being Fiends after all have likely been in existence for hundreds if not thousands of years. And the true excitement of playing a Risen Character will likely come from the struggle to do good while trying to escape a truly dark past.

Fiends have many natural powers, many of which can be too dark for a good character to use. This means that in order for a risen character to reach their full potential they must learn new ways of manipulating their natural magic to develop new powers. This is done through one of three ways. First the Risen may take a vow to some good entity, and must live according to that vow. This will begin to alter them fundamentally and so will naturally alter their powers and even their looks. Second a Risen character may roll knowledge magic checks every level they gain for each power (DC 12+Power level). Third the Risen character may take the feat Force of Good which will alter their powers.

Good Powers should whenever possible be related to the evil ones, summon angles rather then demons, hallow rather then unhallow, etc.

Fiends are distrusted beyond any thing else that someone could encounter, they will therefore have a very difficult time in society unless they are able to disguise themselves in some way. For most however this is not an option they must choose to live isolated lives, or with those who could accept such strange characters. One of the most common places for the Risen to go are the bases of Paladins or the Temples to good gods. This is because the Risen Characters strange status will allow those who reside at these places to receive specific instructions regarding the Risen.

Its important to keep in mind that in Risen Campaigns good characters are in fact good, there are certainly those who are pretending to be good but are not, but these could not be Paladins, etc. There alignment must fit their stated purpose in order to gain the powers from their god. Therefore most all paladins and clerics will accept a truly reformed Risen character.