The most interesting situations I’ve encountered in D&D have been when the players have to make a decision that they know will affect the future of their characters or the campaign. Like all of you, I always enjoy the big campaign-defining moments, but I also enjoy much smaller single-character decisions. These prompt the player to explore who their character really is, and sometimes prompt unexpected growth. One important aspect of these decisions is that, though the player may not know the exact details of the situation (as in life), these are intentional decisions made with nearly full knowledge. These are not accidental agreements with deceitful Archfey disguised as satyrs (which certainly have their place). Rather, these are deals with devils, trading a slice of their soul for some direct favor; a contract that both sides willingly sign.

Most of my current campaigns take place in the Dark Matter setting: “A rip-roaring futuristic campaign setting for DnD 5E by Mage Hand Press.” One of my favorite organizations in this setting is called The Cabal. If you’d like to learn more about their story, I highly recommend checking out the setting. But for now, I’ll let Mage Hand Press explain it in their own words:

The Cabal is an enterprising office of soul brokers, who arrange lucrative contracts in exchange for parts of a signee’s soul. Such contracts are fair, clearly spelled-out, and never offered unsolicited; moreover, most contracts exchange only a percentage of the signee’s soul for a disbursement...

I created Thal’groth as the local representative of The Cabal; he is a red tiefling with impressive horns and a tail, but noticeably more devil and less human than one would normally expect from a tiefling. He carries himself with just a bit of posh, confident in the deals he offers the characters. Those deals could span the entire breadth of player desires, though bigger deals require bigger payment, which may cause problems for the characters down the road. Here, I present a few of the deals my players took, one of a roleplaying nature and two that were mechanical.

Roleplay Effects

One of the PCs, Raven, asked for an in-character favor, something I had not considered. Fortunately, I had some time to figure out the details, as I didn’t want any effects to take place until the character had fully realized their benefit of the deal.

His sister had previously been kidnapped; though they had already rescued her, his ask was to get revenge on her captor. It took a few days, but an envelope from Thal’groth addressed to Raven eventually arrived. Others tried to open the letter but to no avail. When Raven tried to open it, he had a momentary out-of-body experience (not unlike how I describe scrying) showing him how to get to the target. The letter itself, however, offered a word of warning against going after the individual, as they were very powerful. But as expected, they set out for vengeance, and, with some difficulty, they achieved their goal. Upon their return, there was another letter waiting, but this time I had printed it out to give to the player. The first half was the letter from Thal’groth to Raven, congratulating him on a successful mission and trade. The second half was for the player: Raven’s half of the deal, inspired by the seven deadly sins.

In the interest of preserving player agency, I am giving you a choice as to how the loss of a “sliver of your soul” affects your character. You gain one of the following flaws (your choice):

• Envy: I can’t resist swindling people who are more powerful than me.
• Gluttony: I am too enamored of ale, wine, and other intoxicants.
• Greed: I can’t resist taking a risk if there’s wealth involved.
• Lust: I am easily distracted by the promise of information.
• Pride: I refuse to back down. Push me, and I’ll push back.
• Sloth: I am quick to judge others, though I rarely take action myself.
• Wrath: When something upsets me, I have a tendency to fly into a rage.

Mechanical Effects

The mechanical effects were the ones I had planned ahead of time: one to enhance attacks and one to regenerate spell slots. Thal’groth offered the one that I thought would most benefit the character, though the decision as to which one to accept was still up to the player; one player took both.

Attack Bonus

After making an ability check, saving throw, or attack roll, but before you know the outcome of the roll, you may choose to add +10 to the result. Once you have received this benefit, you may not do so again until you complete a long rest.

Spell Slot Regeneration

You may regenerate some exhausted spell slots as a bonus action. The spell slots you can regenerate depend on your caster level. Once you have received this benefit, you may not do so again until you complete a long rest.

You may regenerate up to a total cost equal to half your caster level rounded up, dispersed as you see fit. You can regenerate spell slots no higher in level than 5th, and you may only regenerate exhausted slots.

Soul Die

As this is a trade for part of the character’s soul, there must naturally be some downside. When a character receives their first Cabal-granted ability, they also unlock a soul die. This soul die feature will apply to all their Cabal-granted abilities.

Initially, they have no active soul die. When one of these abilities is used, the character receives a d20 as their soul die. If they already have a soul die, it is instead replaced by the next smallest die (d20 to d12, d10 to d8, etc). If the character already has a d4, they are unable to use the ability.

When a character with a soul die makes a saving throw, ability check, or attack roll, they must also roll the soul die. If the soul die rolls a 1, the result of the saving throw, ability check, or attack roll is treated as a fail, overriding any critical successes of the main roll. If the soul die is a d8 or smaller, the roll is instead treated as a critical fail. When either of these happens, the soul die is replaced by the next highest die. If the soul die is already a d20 when this happens, they will again have no active soul die.

For the sake of player discovery, I did not initially reveal the specifics of the Soul Die to them. Once they used the ability for the first time, I simply gave them a d20 and told them to roll it whenever they made a saving throw, ability check, or attack roll and tell me the result, altering the narration and swapping out the die as needed.

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