Devils and Demons in Ravenloft

[HyperionSol]

I'm just curious about the consensus since I had an idea to bring infernal enemies for an adventure. I just hope to pick the brains of the people who know Ravenloft inside and out.

Considering the metaphysical nature of Ravenloft, trapping summoned creatures inside the mist, would Devils and Demons hesitate to answer summoning rituals? Demons who just wish to go out and destroy things perhaps may not care and allow themselves to be summoned since spilling blood helps increase their power. Devils may be more hesitant to answer a summons, especially if they were knowledgeable about Ravenloft. They may have virgin territory and even fertile ones depending on how desperate the people are, but likely they could not go back to the Nine Hells to cash in on their contracts. Maybe overeager Devils or ones hoping to perhaps make their own little kingdoms in the Demiplane of Dread would willingly go there. Still, could Devils who do get destroyed in Ravenloft be sent back to the Nine Hells like anywhere else in the Prime Material Plane? Would their contracts still be valid considering the Dark Powers likely own the souls of the majority of the people since they created their ancestors?

My adventure idea is that a Devil was summoned into a printing press as a contract for a struggling publisher in Port-A-Lucine. A bit of a botched ritual as well as a punishment from the Dark Powers for coming into their world uninvited. The press prints the Devil's words and it turns the publisher's business into a cult while books printed on the press drive people to crimes or summoning more Devils to expand the new cult's influence. The party has to find the source of the script, but the Devil wants to be sent back to the Nine Hells so it can cash in on the contracts it made via its printed books.

Anyway, any insight or answers would be appreciated.

Thanks

[alhoon]

Some fiends can be trapped in Ravenloft without their knowledge. Like the printing press fiend you mentioned. Although to be honest what you describe sounds more like a fiend that has tried too many Power rituals*


*If you don't know what I refer to, the way the dark powers trap fiends is tempting them with rituals that give them increase power but bind them more and more and more into the land. When the fiend does the final step, he is trapped for good, as a darklord.
Your printing press fiend sounds like a not-that-cunning, mid-power fiend, manipulative and all just not that powerful or supernaturally cunning, that got a bit too greedy and now spends his days lamenting in his printing press.
I would say that such a fiend could be a darklord of a tiny domain or you could use the "Reality Wrinkle" rules that judge that an area around the fiend is controlled by him and beyond the powers of the darklord and subverts even the dark powers. The more rituals that fiend does the smaller the area gets. If you go by "nearly trapped, reality wrinkle" then I would say the printing press fiend's area covers the publishing house. If you go by "tiny domain" I would go with the ... the publishing house.
Fiends that accumulate rituals have much less chance to escape Ravenloft through the rare portal.

My main suggestion: Grab Van Richten's Guide to Fiends if you don't already have it. It's for 2e but the material is usable in all editions.

[HyperionSol]

*If you don't know what I refer to, the way the dark powers trap fiends is tempting them with rituals that give them increase power but bind them more and more and more into the land. When the fiend does the final step, he is trapped for good, as a darklord.
Your printing press fiend sounds like a not-that-cunning, mid-power fiend, manipulative and all just not that powerful or supernaturally cunning, that got a bit too greedy and now spends his days lamenting in his printing press.
I would say that such a fiend could be a darklord of a tiny domain or you could use the "Reality Wrinkle" rules that judge that an area around the fiend is controlled by him and beyond the powers of the darklord and subverts even the dark powers. The more rituals that fiend does the smaller the area gets. If you go by "nearly trapped, reality wrinkle" then I would say the printing press fiend's area covers the publishing house. If you go by "tiny domain" I would go with the ... the publishing house.
Fiends that accumulate rituals have much less chance to escape Ravenloft through the rare portal.

I would say that this fiend is relatively new to the domain, tempted by powers and little competition in souls to claim for their advancement. Likely it answered the publisher's call for a contract and it took the opportunity to cast a power ritual in Dementlieu. LIkely it fumbled, or the Dark Powers started to get their hooks into this Devil, trapping it in a printing press.

With what you told me, likely they would be printing the rituals necessary to empower themselves, but tie them to the land for its followers to cast for it. It prints them in books from the press, and the books are slated to be sold across the Core. It wants to be free and collect its dues, but its way of saving itself will only doom it to being a Darklord of the publishing house.

I'll look up the VGtF. Thanks!

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

Still, could Devils who do get destroyed in Ravenloft be sent back to the Nine Hells like anywhere else in the Prime Material Plane?

Going off of base 3rd edition rules, an extraplanar creature can be brought to the Material Plane by summoning or calling. A summoned creature isn't fully present, and is returned to its plane of origin unharmed if slain. In Ravenloft, summoning can only bring things that are already within the Mists. A called creature is brought completely to the Material Plane, and actually dies if slain. By those rules, a devil in Ravenloft would be destroyed if killed, as it has no soul.

I think there is peripheral lore in Planescape that suggests that dead devils can possibly be reborn as nupperibos at the bottom of the infernal hierarchy. Whether or not a devil can escape Ravenloft this way would be a gray area, and since it involves entering a state of near-mindlessness and limited power, I don't think it would be an appealing way to leave.

Beyond either of these perspectives, if you have established that destroyed devils return to Baator when killed on the Material Plane, then escaping Ravenloft by this method is a complete gray area.

[Resonant Curse]

Assuming you manage to destroy the phylactery for the fiend, it would be permanently slain barring a wish spell or artifact being used or similar high powered option. Outsiders/Fiends brought to Ravenloft are fully dragged in, thus the creation of the phylacteries. (See Van Richten's Guide to Fiends). Summoned spirits from the horn of val halla permanently die if I remember correctly as an example (although those fall into a weird area of what they are since petitioners killed are permanently killed and normally those summoned just go back to Valhalla)

It isn't all that often explicity stated, but outsiders have a wide range of how much they know about the demiplane. Planescape paints it as pretty much they know it exists, they know it is hard to leave, and that you don't usually want to go there and that is about it for the average person that even knows about it. Isolde knew about it, as did the Gentleman Caller (He knew she was prohibited from going there and went to escape her, she knew celestials are banned from going there). Most others probably either assume they are smart enough to escape and that theybare better than those idiots that got trapped or don't realise exactly where they are going and are just as surprised as outlanders when they arrive. For summonings when it isn't a specific named being the fiend is just grabbed at random and dragged along for the ride. (See Hellbound: The Blood War boxed set or Faces of Evil: The Fiends for Planescape) I don't believe they know where the destination is. For example, yugoloths sometimes keep other fiends around on hand in case a summoning happens and they shove the unfortunate fiend into the summon area to avoid being pulled away.

[Resonant Curse]

There is actually a printing press in Sigil that is housing part of the essence of an evil diety and it loopholed its way into Sigil despite the ban on gods. I believe it was mentioned in In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil. Kind of surprised they never brought that up again.

[DustBunny]

For summonings when it isn't a specific named being the fiend is just grabbed at random and dragged along for the ride. (See Hellbound: The Blood War boxed set or Faces of Evil: The Fiends for Planescape) I don't believe they know where the destination is.

From what I remember from Manual of the Planes (2e), a summoning essentially opens a doorway with a minor compulsion to enter it, but there is no indication of where to gate leads. All the fiend would know is that some mortal is ripe to 'make a deal'.

As to why they would enter despite not knowing the end point - weak fiends either can't resist the compulsion or are jumping at an opportunity to gain status by corrupting a soul, while stronger fiends 'just know' they can best some weak mortal wizard and so do it for some amusement in corrupting someone and gaining another soul.

Of course once they find the gateway has led them into the mists and trapping them, they wont be happy to say the least.