Demonbinder
Original Tabletop source: Drow of the Underdark
The demonbinder draws the essence of demons into herself to acquire their power. Such acts are forbidden, and doing so condemns the mortal to eternity in the deepest pits of the Abyss. However, the demonbinder cares little for her fate, being wholly concerned with power in the here and now. It is from this doom that she is able to invest herself with the power of fiends, and the farther she travels down the road of corruption, the more potent are the demons she binds.
Roleplaying a Demonbinder
Backgrounds of a Demonbinder
The demonbinder is an individual, whom either becomes aware of Transposition and chooses to actively subvert it, rather than rebuke or resist it, or someone whom, even more foully, decides to more actively invite it, in an attempt to bind the demons she seeks to dominate. Finally, they may also be a warlock, whom rather than merely accept to take the power they are granted as a subservient subject, attempts to overcome their master.
One thing is for certain: to become a demonbinder is to willfully court Transposition and accept the many grave dangers that come with this venture. No demonbinder is an innocent, virtuous, or even "merely misled" individual becomes a demonbinder. They may have been a good person before they were the demon's subject of interest, if they were an unwilling victim, but to react to it in this way is a profane act; one that will very likely draw a Dark Powers Check.
Religion and Alignment
Almost any goodly religion will regard a demonbinder for the abject evil she is, though some of the more painstakingly goodly faith may try to sway them from their evil ways. Even among evil gods such as the Lawgiver however, they find little favour, for these churches often recognize the demonbinder for the danger they present: any demonbinder whom loses control of that demon has just become slave to another entity that will be quite hostile.
For the demonbinder themselves, they may be of any faith or walk of life; what unites them is not so much their creeds or even outlooks on life, save for the fact that they seek to turn this demon that would dominate them into their own servant and power instead.
The Demonbinder as an Adventurer
Demonbinders in Society
Variations from the Tabletop
- This prestige class was originally presented as being a drow-only class, being from the Drow of the Underdark sourcebook, but its focus are on demons, and it presents interesting roleplay opprotunities for the most evil of characters, and as such it has been generalized and does not have the drow racial requirement.
- This prestige class originally required the character to be a warlock. This requirement is also removed, but one should note they do not gain invocations known if they are not a warlock, and they do not retroactively gain the invocations they would have gained at lower levels if they take warlock at a later time.
- To represent that a demonbinder may come from a goodly hero or heroine that reacts to being the victim of transposition poorly, the alignment requirement is removed. However, if you are good, you will instantly fall to neutral upon taking the class, as well as to Penitent virtue, and this effect will remain even if you drop it.
