Seven Deadly Sins

[WolfKook]

Another poll-like post: If you were planning a campaign around the seven deadly sins, what domains/DLs/NPCs/creatures/adventures (Canon or non-canon) would you use for each one of them?

(BTW, the sins are anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride and sloth)

I've got my own ideas on this one, but I'll post them later...

[Undead Cabbage]

I played a campaign last year in which the players were outlanders sucked into Ravenloft. While travelling through to mists, each character was asked a question, each one being based off of the Seven sins (some more obviously than others). They were:

What in life gives you purpose -Pride
Where do you find pleasure- Lust
Which thing can you never have enough of- Greed
How much is too much to have- Gluttony
When is it appropriate not to act- Sloth
Why do you want what others have- Envy
Who do you hate- Wrath

The questions were on purposely made vague so as to leave room for a range of different answers, and also so my players didn't catch on that they were the seven sins. Some questions, such as the wrath question, were very direct, and took the sin by the throat. Others, such as the lust question, made things broader, and perhaps subject to interpretation.

[Gwenfloor]

Greed- Nova Vaasan Nobles, extorting the poor by taxes and chokeholds, making others' lives miserable if it will add a few more coins to their coffers.
Nobles in Richemulot, Borca, and Dementlieu could also fit the role.
Wrath- Malocchio Aderre, his passionate drive for revenge against the Vistani and their allies, willing to burn an entire nation to the ground if it means one more dead Vistani.
Envy- Azalin of Darkon. He lives like a king, and has absolute control and authority. His only wish that was not granted was to escape the Demiplane of Dread, and he was willing to sacrifice his nation's economy, capital, even himself to escape. For a Darklord, he has got things very well in Darkon, but his drive to escape blinds any positive foresight on his part. His obsession with magic, and his curse to never learn any new spells, is also another manifestation of Azalin's envy.
Pride- Diamabel of Pharazia, a renegade angel who seeks perfection. If he cannot atain it, he will delude others into thinking that he is perfect. He is arrogant enough that he believes that he is a god, and that he can make no mistakes. In Ravenloft, even the deities made mistakes, so Diamabel's pride is greater than that of any god, for seeks to be more perfect than the gods.
Gluttony- Ironically enough, the clergy of Zakata. Regardless of what they say, they hoard all the food for themselves, and sacrificing the majority of it to Zakata. They are hypocrites, for if gluttony is a sin, then Zhakata is a sinner, as his demand for endless supplies of food is one of the core roots of gluttony.
I cannot think of a character for Sloth and Lust. Perhaps somebody else can.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Pride- Diamabel of Pharazia, a renegade angel who seeks perfection. If he cannot atain it, he will delude others into thinking that he is perfect. He is arrogant enough that he believes that he is a god, and that he can make no mistakes. In Ravenloft, even the deities made mistakes, so Diamabel's pride is greater than that of any god, for seeks to be more perfect than the gods.

Actually, it's even more fitting than that. Despite what he might boast of his 'holy' status and 'purity', Diamabel was originally a man, not an angel.

[Jasper]

Lust would have to be Ivana. She craves both the physical actions that are denied her as well as the uncontrolled lust for power, wealth and secrets.

[Gwenfloor]

I think that Sloth would go to the Illithid God-brain of Bluetspur. Despite his massive psionic capabilities, he orders his Mind Flayer slaves to do all the work for him, and if the Illithids and the God-brain were more industrious, with their supernatural capabilities and genius intellect, they could transform Bluetspur into an economic powerhouse. Instead, they pour all their effort into creating some superior slave race to do all the work for them.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The God-Brain might be suitable for Sloth. OTOH, a creature that can't do any work (because it's stuck in a pool of slime) isn't exactly being lazy in the willful, self-indulgant sense.

Come to think of it, the darklord I've had on my mind for the Nocturnal Sea gaz, Meredoth, might be a candidate for Sloth. While he does work a fair bit on his pet projects, he let an entire colony of settlers on his homeworld starve to death, rather than be bothered seeing to their needs as was his baronial duty. And he poisons and reanimates innocent people to be his lebendtod minions, so they can perform the menial chore of procuring materials for his research, without him having to lift a finger. Meredoth's guilty of the kind of hypocritical Sloth in which a person is too lazy to do things they dislike, even though they readily "find the energy" to do what pleases or interests them. ("But I'm too tired to take out the trash, Mom!" )

[Gwenfloor]

Lust would have to be Ivana. She craves both the physical actions that are denied her as well as the uncontrolled lust for power, wealth and secrets.

Not to mention the Gentleman Caller. All he cares about is pleasure and satisfaction, even to the detriment of others.

[Nathan of the FoS]

[Wretched self-promoting plug] I wrote up a domain (Cumbre de Oro) for the Book of Sacrifices based on Greed.

The darklord is a conquistador type who killed his men and, eventually, himself, in his drive to recover the incredible wealth of Cumbre de Oro, a treasure city built by a long-deceased emperor; he got there, killed his surviving men to have the treasure all to himself, but then expired of disease, malnutrition, and exhaustion. As he died he promised his soul to any power which would let him keep "his" treasure; as they so often do, the Dark Powers heard his wish and answered it in their own way. The darklord died but was raised as an ancient dead something like a death knight, and he and his followers roam the city keeping an eye on "his" treasure. His darklord's curse is that he can't even touch the treasure himself, so not only can he not enjoy it, he can't put it all in one place to watch over it easily--so he's always afraid that someone, somewhere else in the city, is taking something without his knowing about it.

Just to keep the pot stirring, the emperor who built the city is also present as a rank 5 ancient dead, although he doesn't (usually) leave the pyramid in which he was interred, and the treasure itself bears a powerful curse; anyone who tries to get it for himself will become obsessed with it, just as the current darklord is.

In case you're wondering, yes, it was intended to be a high-level challenge.

[/Wretched self-promoting plug]

[Brandi]

It depends on how you define Sloth-- originally, accidia was not mere laziness, but a kind of timidity or unwillingness to deal with life and its problems. One might argue, for example, that that subset of evangelical Christians who stick to their megachurches and cut off all entertainment or culture that isn't "Christian enough" suffer from a form of sloth (as well as propping up some very sub-par authors, filmmakers, etc.).

For THAT form of sloth, I'd probably consider Mordenheim, driving himself deeper and deeper into self-absorbed experiments and research rather than own up to the hard fact that his wife is dead.

[Undead Cabbage]

If there's any character that gives into pride, it's Victor Mordenheim. I think reasons why are obvious just by reading his character sketch. I do believe there was use of the word hubris as well.

As for envy, Maligno. It's the classic story of pinocchio, only this time he's sadistic and he doesn't get to be a real boy.

Ivana is definately our Madmoiselle of Lust.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

FWIW, the original Black Box says that of the seven deadly sins, sloth does not excite their attention. That being said, I probably would not look to a DL as an example of sloth, and my vote would therefore go with the Gargantuan of the Carnival. His massive bulk prevents him from moving, and he orders other around like the IGB, but this only came as a reflection of a life that he already lived. He was a lazy manipulator long before he ever became the Gargantuan.

[Brandi]

If there's any character that gives into pride, it's Victor Mordenheim. I think reasons why are obvious just by reading his character sketch. I do believe there was use of the word hubris as well.

I think Pride pretty much encompasses ALL the darklords.

[Undead Cabbage]

I think Pride pretty much encompasses ALL the darklords.

True, although one could also argue that envy compasses if not all than many of the Darklords; for many a Darklord, their realm is a constant reminder of what they do not have.

I mentioned Mordenheim specifically because where all darklords might have ambitious moments, Mordenheim is continually ambitious. But you are correct, to some extent Pride is prevalent throughout a great deal of the Darklords.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Funny you should mention it. I was just musing the other day that I noticed an unintentional 7 sins theme in my campaign. My major villians have been/will be a furious clockwork golem (Wrathful at his creator's inability to finish him), a vorlog (Lusting after those who remind her of her lost love), Elena Faithold (Pridefully assuming she is still in the right), and a lich (Envious of the long life of the elves he grew up with.)

I suppose Lemot Sediam Juste could be somewhat Slothful. He places entertainment above the value of human life...