INFERNAL CONTRACTS
I understand you’re apprehensive. You’ve heard the stories—someone like you, someone like me, and a stack of pages that turns out to be a bear trap in disguise. I won’t tell you those stories are all lies, but no one writes an opera about a deal gone right. Partnerships like this are never as complicated as what you’ve heard from poets and anxious priests. You want what you want, I want what I want, and just so everything’s tidy, we write it all out. What could be more aboveboard than that?
"But you’re worried, I know. So here’s the contract. Read it over. Be clear, be certain, and when you’re ready, make your mark.
"Take all the time you need. I’m happy to wait."
—Honest Avallolantri, phistophilus
In an attempt to change the course of fate, desperate souls sometimes seek forbidden lore or audiences with the gods. Some try to tread in the footsteps of heroes to attain such wonders, while others devote themselves to pushing the boundaries of magic. No matter their methods, most of these supplicants fail.Frustration and disillusion aren’t enough to shatter every ambition, though. When miracles prove too distant to reach, pragmatic mortals seek lesser wonders and more mercenary paths to greatness. Those who search widely and prove their earnestness find entities more than willing to fulfill any mortal dream—and all it costs is the seeker’s immortal soul.
Infernal contracts are an expression of a timeless truth: Mortals desire more. Many mortals dream of worldly wealth and otherworldly power, but in the vast planar scheme, their existences are brief and their bargaining power limited. The devils of Hell offer a way around such limitations. Banking on mortals’ incomplete understanding of how the multiverse works and the true value of their intangible souls, devils offer every mortal dream for what appears to be no price at all. To seal the bargains and prove their honesty, they create officious infernal contracts—elaborate written promises no less binding than the chains of Hell.
Of Hell’s contract makers, phistophiluses—also called “contract devils”—are best known for being the finest authors of infernal bargains. The rulers of Hell—Asmodeus, the archdevils, and their demigod ilk—are also storied dealmakers. But infernal contracts are not the purview of contract writers alone. The forces of Hell stand as a largely unified threat against mortal life, and most specimens among the legions of devilkind can requisition tools from a vast, treacherous arsenal. Thus, any mortal encounter with nearly any devil has the potential to end in an offer: What would you give for greatness?
NEGOTIATING AN INFERNAL CONTRACT
Not every devil is interested in entering into a contract. Most devils focus their energies on fulfilling orders from diabolical superiors, and others simply prefer not to waste the time negotiating with mortals. If a remarkable mortal presents herself, though, a devil might be convinced to enter into a bargain.
At their most basic levels, infernal contracts are a simple trade. The devil provides whatever the mortal requests (within the devil’s power), and in exchange receives the mortal's immortal soul, to be delivered to the devil at the moment of the mortal’s death.
Some devils, like pit fiends, can grant wishes, effectively giving a mortal almost anything she desires. In the case of such powerful devils, the terms of a contract should be agreed upon between a player and the GM.
Less potent devils don’t have the power to grant wishes, but they can certainly still create more specific sorts of infernal contracts, such as the ones detailed at the end of this article. In all of these cases, the price is the same—the mortal signee’s soul, which is damned to Hell upon her death.
At the GM’s discretion, a devil might accept some payment other than the signee’s soul. In any situation, what the devil gains should be significant and unique, such as a one-of-a-kind object, or even an artifact. Alternatively, it might be an act committed by the mortal that’s certain to damn her soul, such as murdering 1,000 innocents or destroying a good or chaotic artifact.
Devils generally don’t enter into infernal contracts with evil creatures, as such creatures’ souls are already bound for evil-aligned planes. Also, regardless of a mortal’s intentions or potentially positive results, entering into an infernal contract is always a lawful and evil act.
CREATING AN INFERNAL CONTRACT
Once terms have been agreed to, a devil has to create the infernal contract. Contract devils have the easiest time of this, making use of their infernal contract ability to instantly create such a document. Devils of demigod-level power can likewise instantly call tailor-made infernal contracts into being as though they also had the infernal contract ability, though the effects they can create prove more potent and variable. Other devils can also create infernal contracts, but might have to employ less immediate techniques.
Diabolical Intermediary: Barring any extraordinary circumstances, most devils with the greater teleport ability know a place they can go to have an infernal contract created. This might be a portal back to Hell, a contract devil lurking on the same mortal world, or a more unconventional source. In any case, the devil can use this method to have an infernal contract created for it. However, doing so takes time. The Creation Time entry listed in each contract’s description on pages 66–67 notes how long it takes for most common devils to have an infernal contract of that kind created. This represents a combination of the devil’s travel time, influence in negotiating with other devils, the detail put into the contract’s creation, and the time it takes to return. At the end of this period—unless the mortal has done something extraordinary to hide himself—the devil returns with a contract.
Contract Training: Although most devils cannot instantly create an infernal contract, there are those that see the value of such an ability and develop the talent over ages of study. This exceptional training, deep within the Fallen Fastness of Dis, the sunken libraries of Stygia, or the other blasphemous vaults of Hell, manifests as the Infernal Legist feat.
Infernal legIst
You can instantly conjure an infernal contract into being.
Prerequisite: Devil subtype.
Benefits: As a full-round action, you can produce an infernal contract. To receive the contract’s benefit, a mortal must sign its name of its own free will. Upon doing so, that mortal’s soul is sworn to Hell. As long as the infernal contract remains in effect, the victim cannot be restored to life after death save by a miracle or a wish. If a mortal is restored to life, you immediately sense it and gain the benefits of a discern location spell targeting the resurrected creature.
RESEARCHING AN INFERNAL CONTRACT
An infernal contract is a baffling linguistic labyrinth, rife with eons-old legalese, otherworldly citations, and near-endless clauses and counter-clauses. One might consist of a single scroll covered in fine handwriting, while another might be volumes of printed text bound in sable.
Skimming an infernal contract and getting the gist of it takes only a matter of moments. Reading one in its entirety, though, can take hours, if not days. All infernal contracts have a number of knowledge points (abbreviated as “kp”) representing the sum of the contract’s information. To research an infernal contract, a character must succeed at a Linguistics check or a specialized skill check as indicated by the contract in question. The DC of this Research check varies, but if the researcher uses the more specialized check to perform this research, she gains a +2 circumstance bonus for using precisely the correct skill for interpreting the contract, as opposed to the more general use of Linguistics. Attempting a Research check requires an uninterrupted 8-hour period of research—characters cannot take 10 or 20 on this check. Each additional 8-hour period of research on the same contract grants a cumulative +1 bonus on Research checks. Up to two characters can use the aid another action to assist a researcher.
Succeeding at a Research check reduces the contract’s knowledge points, similar to dealing damage to a creature’s hit points. As the knowledge points decrease, the contract reveals its secrets. The amount of kp reduced on a successful Research check depends on the nature of the contract’s primary researcher. A character with the ability to attempt any Knowledge check untrained (such as a bard, loremaster, or skald) reduces a contract’s kp by 1d12 + the character’s Intelligence modifier. Other scholastic characters (alchemists, arcanists, investigators, wizards, and so forth, at the GM’s discretion) reduce the contract’s knowledge points by 1d8 + the character’s Intelligence modifier. All other characters reduce the contract’s knowledge points by 1d4 + the character’s Intelligence modifier. Rolling a natural 20 on a Research check acts like a critical threat. If the researcher confirms the critical hit by immediately succeeding at a second Research check with all the same modifiers, the resulting
knowledge point reduction is doubled. Rolling a natural 1 on a Research check results in an automatic failure, and the collection’s knowledge points increase by 1d8.
Because of the purposefully obtuse nature of infernal contracts, some researchers reach a dead end in their understanding of the document and are unable to further decrease a contract’s knowledge points. Failing two consecutive Research checks means the researcher has completely misunderstood the contract’s terms. In this case, the contract’s knowledge points return to maximum and the researcher can’t attempt to research that particular contract again until he gains a level.
Infernal contracts hold only the overt terms of the agreement and, potentially, oblique provisos. Unless a GM stipulates otherwise, no knowledge other than that specified is gained through researching a contract. Not every infernal contract has hidden language—some are completely forthright. Those that do contain cunningly disguised traps, though, can have their secrets revealed by reducing the contract’s kp to its hidden condition threshold. Note that it is possible for a contract to have multiple hidden condition thresholds—the ones detailed below have only one each. If such an unfavorable term is called out to a devil, it will usually acquiesce to changing the contract—though doing so means creating the contract all over again, and the new contract is by no means assured to be free of insidious new provisos.
Once a contract’s kp is reduced to 0, the researcher discovers a flaw that could allow for an early termination of the contract. A mortal might exploit such a loophole to terminate the contract, and in so doing lose the contract’s benefit but regain her soul. The specifics of this loophole might not be simple to engineer, but they hold out hope of an escape. Not all infernal contracts contain such flaws, although the four detailed on pages 66–67 do.
ESCAPING AN INFERNAL CONTRACT
The easiest way to avoid entering into an unfavorable infernal contract is simply not to sign one. If that isn’t an option, thoroughly researching the contract and being aware of dangerous provisos and potential loopholes can mean the difference between life and damnation.
When an infernal contract is signed, two copies manifest: one for the mortal signee and one for the devil. The mortal is free to do whatever he pleases with his copy, though destroying it is rarely directly helpful. Devils tend to do one of two things with their copies. Many keep the documents close at hand, securing them in vaults or in the care of guardians of their choosing; most, however, send their contracts back to Hell for safekeeping, typically to the Fallen Fastness in Dis, a massive archive rivaling Heaven’s Great Library. (In fact, some say that the Fallen Fastness was torn away from that lofty structure during the heavenly rebellion eons ago.) In this infernal library, contracts are protected by countless diabolical scholars, the sanity-shattering complexity of the library’s organization, and its planar inaccessibility. For most mortals, retrieving a contract from Hell is unlikely in the highest extreme. Yet even once an infernal contract is signed and secured, there are still routes by which it might be changed—or escaped.
Transferring a Contract: A devil might be convinced to adjust the terms of an infernal contract to apply to a different mortal. Just as in the case of the original signee, the new mortal must enter into the contract freely, accepting the benefits but also the damnation. Occasionally, a damned mortal can convince a second mortal to take his place in an infernal deal, or a particularly self-sacrificing mortal might decide to take on a loved one’s contract. In either case, the devil must deem the new signee an equal or more valuable partner. Only the devil that created the original document (or had it created) can adjust the terms of an infernal contract, which must be done in the presence of the former signee, the new signee, and one copy of the original contract. Once the new signee commits her signature to the contract, with the devil as witness, the former signee’s name is erased and both copies of the contract immediately change. The effects of the adjusted contract is left to the parties involved, but most commonly, the former signee loses all benefits and conditions of the contract, while the new signee gains them.
Destroying a Contract: If both copies of an infernal contract are destroyed, the contract ends. The mortal and devil lose all benefits of the contract, and the mortal’s soul is released to follow whatever natural course it might upon death. This requires obtaining both copies of the contract, which isn’t easy; a devil guards its contracts and isn’t likely to let a mortal go back on a contract without a fight. Recovering the devil’s copy of a contract might require the mortal to harrow the depths of Hell itself.
If the mortal signee has already died and her soul is already in Hell, destroying the contract does not transport the soul to its proper afterlife. The best the petitioner can hope for is to be liberated from her tortures, and her escape is made even more challenging by the fact that her soul is now free game for all of Hell’s various deadly denizens. Moreover, the weight of having made a deal with a devil stays with a soul for the rest of its existence. Even after escaping a contract (or Hell itself, in the previous case), a mortal might still be forsaken by his deity and find himself condemned to Hell or any of the other evil-aligned planes. Actual salvation might require much more than the mere destruction of the infernal contract.
SAMPLE INFERNAL CONTRACTS
Though the denizens of Hell share many goals, their schemes are far from uniform. The infernal contracts they create vary widely in cost, effect, terms, and methods of escape. The following are contracts common to some of Hell’s best-known inhabitants. Most reflect the power, influence, and predilections of the devil offering the contract. However, GMs should feel free to use these examples as guidelines for creating their own custom infernal contracts. Complexity, Research checks, and kp are further detailed under Researching an Infernal Contract on page 64. Additional infernal contracts appear in this volume’s adventure and in the entry for the rust devil on page 62.
readIng an Infernal ContraCt stat BloCk
The sample infernal contract stat blocks detailed below contain the following sections.
Contract Name: This is the name of the type of contract, potentially used by diabolic scholars and infernal barristers.
CR: This entry lists the CR of the infernal contract. It is usually equal to the CR of the devil that most commonly creates it (as listed in the Devil entry), but in the case of unique contracts created by demigods such as archdevils, infernal dukes, and whore queens, the infernal contract’s CR can vary (but is rarely over CR 20).
XP: This entry lists the experience points gained for reducing the contract to 0 kp.
Devil: This entry lists the type of devil that commonly creates the contract in question.
Creation Time: This entry lists how long it takes for a devil to create a contract and return to a mortal signee (assuming it doesn’t have the infernal contract special ability or the Infernal Legist feat).
Benefit: This is the benefit the contract grants the signee.
Payment: This lists an alternative payment the devil might accept in return for the contract’s benefit in lieu of a soul. Not all devils are open to alternative payments.
Description: This entry is a brief description of the style of the contract’s text.
Complexity: An infernal contract’s complexity is equal to 10 + (the infernal contract’s CR × 2). The number listed in this entry is the DC of the Linguistics check or other specialized skill checks required to reduce the contract’s kp.
Specialized Skills: This entry lists any skills other than Linguistics that can be used to research the contract. Using one of these specialized skills grants the researcher a +2 circumstance bonus on the check.
kp: This entry lists the contract’s maximum number of knowledge points. This is typically equal to the contract’s CR × 3.
Hidden Condition: This entry lists a hidden condition that the devil has slipped into the contract. If the signee reduces the contract’s kp to the value listed in parentheses in this entry, the hidden condition is revealed.
Termination Clause: This entry lists a flaw in the contract that could allow for an early termination of the contract. If the signee successfully exploits this loophole, she loses the benefit of the contract but regains her soul.
Unique Features: Some powerful devils add specific characteristics to their contracts, such as special magical protections. Such features are listed in this entry.
PACT OF BLOOD-TAKING CR 5
XP 1,500
Devil bearded devil (barbazu)
Creation Time 2d6 months
Benefit Attacks made with melee weapons by the contracted mortal deal persistent wounds that cause 1 point of bleed damage. Bleeding caused by these infernal wounds can be stopped with a successful Heal check, and anyone attempting to magically heal a creature with an infernal wound must attempt a caster level check. Success indicates the healing works normally and stops all bleed effects on the victim. The DC of each of these checks is equal to 10 + the contracted mortal’s Strength modifier.
Payment The signee can no longer regain hit points through natural healing.
RESEARCH
Description Infernal contracts created by barbazus are typically inelegant and rife with references to tactical maneuvers, ancient battles, and bloodletting.
Complexity 20
Specialized Skills Knowledge (history), Knowledge (planes), Profession (soldier)
kp 15
Hidden Condition (6 kp) The barbazu becomes the owner of any weapon the contracted mortal finds. Once per year, the barbazu can appear and take the contracted mortal’s best weapon. The mortal must comply as though affected by dominate monster (no save; this effect bypasses normal immunities to mind-controlling effects).
Termination Clause (0 kp) The contract seems to assure that the barbazu will not kill the contracted mortal, but vague phrasing opens the door for a broader interpretation. If the contracted mortal is killed by any barbazu or by bleed damage, the contract is terminated.
SHADOW COIN BARGAIN CR 11
XP 12,800
Devil barbed devil (hamatula)
Creation Time 1d6 months
Benefit The contracted mortal gains the ability to speak with shadows (as per the spell stone tell, but with shadows) once per day. Additionally, he gains the see in darkness ability common to devilkind (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 311).
Payment Once per week, the contracted mortal must kill a sentient creature with a piercing weapon and leave a platinum coin in the victim’s mouth. If the mortal neglects to do this, his soul is damned to Hell upon his death.
RESEARCH
Description Infernal contracts created by hamatulas typically contain references to mathematics, accounting principles, and slow deaths.
Complexity 32
Specialized Skills Appraise, Knowledge (planes), Profession (clerk)
kp 33
Hidden Condition (12 kp) Once per month, the hamatula can appear before the contracted mortal and collect a debt in gold equal to 100 gp × the mortal’s Hit Dice. If the devil does not collect, the debt carries over to the next month, and the next month, and so on—likely without the mortal’s knowledge. The hamatula can erase the debt by taking one or more of the mortal’s appendages, digits, or similar bodily features, resulting in 2d6 points of ability drain to an ability score of the devil’s choice.
Termination Clause (0 kp) The contract is not for a mortal soul, but calls literally for “a priceless item with the contracted mortal’s name and blood.” If the mortal finds a priceless item, bleeds over it (taking an amount of damage equal to 1/2 his maximum hit points), gives it his name, and then destroys it in a fire, the contract ends.
VOW OF HEARTRIME CR 13
XP 25,600
Devil ice devil (gelugon)
Creation Time 1d8 days
Benefit The contracted mortal stops showing the appearance of age and gains immunity to cold damage. Additionally, she can survive indefinitely on 1 gallon of water per day, so long as it is frozen—this replaces her need to eat and drink.
Payment As a sacrifice of warmth, the area within 5 feet of the contracted mortal is always 10 degrees colder than the surrounding area. The mortal’s body is unpleasantly coldto the touch. Any liquid in the mortal’s possession, no matter how well insulated, freezes in 1 minute. This includes potions and other liquid gear; consuming a frozen potion takes 1 minute of uninterrupted work.
RESEARCH
Description Infernal contracts created by a gelugon are exceedingly complex, referencing cunning extraplanar generals, obscure predators, and natural violence.
Complexity 36
Specialized Skills Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (nobility), Knowledge (planes)
kp 39
Hidden Condition (25 kp) One year after the contract is signed, the ice devil can collect the contracted mortal’s heart. The mortal survives this painful extraction, but from then on is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy, as if he were an undead creature. The ice devil keeps the heart safe (some say within its own chest). Not having a heart neither aids nor hinders the mortal, but if the infernal contract is terminated while the mortal’s heart is missing, the mortal instantly dies.
Termination Clause (0 kp) A beautiful but obtuse clause likens the contracted mortal’s existence to living, melting snow. The mortal can take advantage of this by arranging for the creation of a simulacrum. During the casting of the simulacrum spell, the contracted mortal must wound himself and bleed over the simulacrum until he falls unconscious. The mortal takes 1d4 points of Constitution drain and falls unconscious for 2d6 hours, during which time the simulacrum must be destroyed with fire. However, the simulacrum refuses to obey its creator and attempts to escape. If the simulacrum is destroyed before the contracted mortal awakes, the contract is considered to be fulfilled.
UNIQUE FEATURES
This contract can be destroyed only by sacred fire, such as that created by the spell flame strike from a good caster.
CURSE OF THE EVER-SOUL CR 20
XP 307,200
Devil pit fiend
Creation Time 1 hour
Benefit The contracted mortal gains 1,000 years of life, can speak and understand any language, and permanently gains the effects of speak with animals.
Payment The signee must deliver 100 sentient mortal lives, sacrificed in rituals to Asmodeus or a demigod residing in Hell. These souls need not be paid before the contract is signed, but must be paid within 1 year of the signing; otherwise, the payment becomes the signee’s mortal soul.
RESEARCH
Description Infernal contracts created by pit fiends are among the most elaborate in existence, referencing deities, souls, and half-comprehensible cosmic truths.
Complexity 50
Specialized Skills Knowledge (planes), Knowledge (religion)
kp 60
Hidden Condition (20 kp) Once per year, the pit fiend can instantly transport the signing mortal to its side across any distance, even across planar boundaries, as if conjuring the mortal via a gate spell. The pit fiend can command the mortal to perform one service for it, which the mortal cannot deny and must attempt to complete to the best of her abilities (regardless of any immunities). After 24 hours or upon the completion of the task, the mortal returns to wherever she was teleported from.
Termination Clause (0 kp) The contract is exacting in defining the signee’s nature and homeworld. If the mortal were to place her soul into the body of another humanoid not native to her world, the terms of the contract would remain effective over her body, not her soul. Any soul within the mortal’s original body is damned upon that body’s death. The mortal could potentially reclaim her body after a soul within it is taken in this manner.