To try out Nathan's system I ran the following test:
Imagine an illithid ripping brains from human victims.
Code: Select all
Abomination of violence 6
against a stranger -2
culturally sanctioned -2
Total 2 Powers Check 2%
Abomination of violence 6
against a stranger -2
culturally sanctioned -2
1 failed powers checks for violence -1
Total 1 Powers Check 1%
Abomination of violence 6
against a stranger -2
culturally sanctioned -2
2 failed powers checks for violence -3
Total 0 Powers Check 0%
So said illithid fails on average one power check after 25 brains and on average a second power check after a further 50 brains, whereafter the Dark Powers lose interest in its violence.
- - -
Image that to improve its position, said illithid holds its punches in combat that its superior might be slain.
Code: Select all
Atrocity of Betrayal 5
against a community member 0
2 failed powers check for violence +2
Total 7 Powers Check 100%
This yields it an automatically failed power check.
Subsequently it deliberately botches the process for returning the brain of slain comrade back to the the elder brain.
Code: Select all
Act of Ultimate Darkness of betrayal 7
against a community member 0
1 failed powers check for betrayal -1
2 failed powers check for violence +2
Total 9 Powers Check 100%
This yeilds it a second automatically failed power check and gets its demoted to tending to the thralls with a stern warning.
- - -
Its mistreatment of the thralls is further violence ignored by the Dark Powers.
- - -
None of its psiconic powers rises to the level of Black Magic so it makes no progress on that front.
- - -
Cursing its fate, it starts taking the name of Ilsensine in vain.
Code: Select all
Trepass of Blasphemy 1
against own religion 0
4 failed powers check for violence & betrayal +4
Total 5 Powers Check 16%
Trepass of Blasphemy 1
against own religion 0
1 failed powers check for blasphemy -1
4 failed powers check for violence & betrayal +4
Total 4 Powers Check 8%
After doing so roughly 10 times, it has failed a further two powers checks, for a total of 6 in three categories, and is made a dark lord!
That is probably not the result we should be looking for. The betrayals in question are not particularly extraordinary and would be ordinary in neutral evil or chaotic evil communities, to say nothing of the Nine Hells itself.