Most evil gods and fiends demand sacrifice. When they say
sacrifice, they mean the sacrifice of a living, intelligent creature.
Commonly, the victim is a humanoid, but dark powers
might demand the sacrifice of anything from a medusa to a
giant to a beholder. The main criteria are that the creature be
alive and have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher.
The sacrifice must be made in a ritualized manner. It’s
fine for a blackguard to say that he is dedicating every foe he
slays to Vecna. But in truth, Vecna appreciates and rewards
his followers for victims killed in a ceremony and at a place
dedicated to him. This means that the ritual takes time, and
it probably involves extra participants and unholy trappings
(for examples of sacrificial gear, see the executioner tools
and other equipment in Chapter 3).
In a world suffused with magic, evil gods pay attention
when someone makes a living sacrifice to them, and they
often reward their followers for doing so. In some abstract
sense, the sacrifice adds some small mote to the god’s overwhelming
power, and in return the evil deity is sometimes
willing to grant a boon or a blessing in return.
SACRIFICE REWARD SYSTEM
The reward a servant of an evil god gets for making a living
sacrifice to the god depends on many factors. The primary
factor is the Knowledge (religion) check result of the character
performing the sacrifice. Each of the other factors is
represented as a modifier to the check.
Each evil deity has his or her own predilections and preferences
for sacrifices, and different deities give different
rewards to their followers. The following system of sacrifices
and rewards is just a starting point; give each evil power in
your campaign its own unique sacrifices and rewards.
If a follower performs multiple sacrifices, the bonuses on
the follower’s Knowledge (religion) check do not stack for
every sacrifice; a separate check is made for each victim.
Most deities give only one reward per day per temple, no
matter how many victims are slain. The leader of the sacrifice,
called the celebrant, can perform multiple sacrifices
and consequently make multiple Knowledge (religion)
checks, then use the best result to determine what reward
might be granted by the deity.
The actual reward earned by the performance of a living
sacrifice varies from religion to religion. See Table 2–2,
below, for some typical rewards that might be granted by an
evil deity and the DC of the Knowledge (religion) check to
qualify for each one. Many deities will have their own specific
rewards to offer. The celebrant can choose what reward
is sought and prayed for, but the deity might grant another
reward, especially if the Knowledge (religion) check result
is significantly higher than the DC of the reward sought.
The celebrant can’t take 10 or take 20 on this check, and no
one else can help with the check.
WHAT IS A SACRIFICE?
Sacrifice is the offering of the life of a sentient being to an evil
deity or powerful fiend. The victim is trussed, tied, or otherwise
immobilized so that a ceremony may be conducted that culminates
with the murder. In many rituals, blood is a sacred
symbol of life. When that blood spills during the ritual murder
of an innocent creature, the blood (and sometimes even the
soul of the creature) is dedicated to a nether power of malevolence.
Bloodless forms of killing, such as strangulation and
drowning, are possible during sacrifices, but usually those
that are despicable enough to practice this profane art prefer
bloodier deeds.
SACRIFICE AS A REQUIREMENT
Sometimes a special situation may arise in which rather than
granting a boon, a deity demands a sacrifice to avoid divine
punishment. An evil god might demand a sacrifice from a
disobedient cleric (or one who has failed to perform a required
duty or quest) before granting him new spells. Periodic sacrifices
might also be required to power a temple’s defense
system, such as an antimagic field, prismatic walls, a unique
forbiddance or unhallow effect, or something similar. Typically,
the Knowledge (religion) check DC for such required sacrifices
is 25, and no other reward is forthcoming for conducting the
evil ritual.
Dark Craft Rewards: Experience points and gold pieces
can be granted as rewards after a sacrifice (see the last two
entries in Table 2–2, below). These so-called dark craft
rewards have no actual physical manifestation, but the celebrant
senses their presence like a shadow on the soul. Dark
craft gold pieces and dark craft experience points can’t be
used to buy goods or attain higher levels, but they can be
used instead of actual gold pieces or experience points when
making a magic item. Only a single application of dark craft
experience points and dark craft gold pieces can be applied toward a magic item’s creation process. The time spent creating
the item does not change when the celebrant uses dark
craft resources.
When the celebrant completes a magic item created by
the use of any dark craft resources (as little as 1 gp or 1 XP),
the item is tainted with evil. Others can sense this evil, as
described for an object of lasting evil (see Lingering Effects
of Evil, later in this chapter). Dark craft experience points
and dark craft gold pieces can be combined with the
destruction of souls to make a magic item even easier to
build (see Souls as Power, later in this chapter).
Table 2–1: Typical Sacrifice Elements
Knowledge
(Religion)
Sacrifice Element Modifier
Conducted in a ceremony lasting at least an hour +1
Conducted on an altar +2
Conducted in a desecrated area +1
Conducted in a unhallowed area +2
Conducted in the presence of a creature important
to the deity (a demon servant, for example) +2
Conducted publicly (in the street or on the steps
of a public institution) +1
Conducted before more than 10 followers +1
Conducted before more than 100 followers +1
Sacrifice is tortured for 1 day prior to death +1
Sacrifice loses extremities to hungry demon prior to death +1
Sacrifice is good-aligned +1
Sacrifice is pure or virginal (as determined by the DM) +1
Sacrifice has 1–5 HD or levels +1
Sacrifice has 6–10 HD or levels +2
Sacrifice has 11–15 HD or levels +3
Sacrifice has 16+ HD or levels +4
Sacrifice is a cleric of another god +2
Sacrifice is a race or character type hated by the deity +1
Sacrifice is willing, but duped or controlled +1
Sacrifice is genuinely willing +3
Table 2–2: Typical Sacrificial Rewards
Check
Result Effect
15 Aid upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
15 Bull’s strength upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
15 Cat’s grace upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
15 Endurance upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
20 Divine favor (cast at 20th level) upon the celebrant for 24
hours.
20 Protection from elements upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
20 Bless upon those witnessing the ceremony (one individual
per HD of the victim) for 24 hours.
25 Magic vestment (cast at 20th level) upon the celebrant’s garb
for 24 hours.
25 Evil outsider appears and serves celebrant for 1 hour per HD
of the victim, serving as described in the lesser planar ally
spell.
25 Divine power upon the celebrant for 24 hours.
30 Greater magic weapon (cast at 20th level) on the celebrant’s
weapon for 24 hours.
30 Bull’s strength upon those witnessing the ceremony (one
individual per HD of the victim) for 24 hours.
30 Cat’s grace upon those witnessing the ceremony (one individual
per HD of the victim) for 24 hours.
30 Endurance upon those witnessing the ceremony (one individual
per HD of the victim) for 24 hours.
30 Evil outsider appears and serves celebrant for 1 hour per HD
of the victim, serving as described in the planar ally spell.
30 Spell resistance upon the celebrant for 24 hours (use celebrant’s
level to determine SR).
35 Magic vestment (cast at 20th level) upon the garb of those
witnessing the ceremony (one individual per HD of the
victim) for 24 hours.
35 Evil outsider appears and serves celebrant for 1 hour per HD
of the victim, serving as described in the greater planar ally
spell.
35 Divine power upon those witnessing the ceremony (one individual
per HD of the victim) for 24 hours.
40 Limited wish for the celebrant.
40 Greater magic weapon (cast at 20th level) upon weapons
involved in the ceremony (one weapon per HD of the
victim) for 24 hours.
45 Control weather (cast at 20th level) as directed by the celebrant
for 24 hours.
50 Wish for the celebrant (this monumental display of power
happens only once for any given individual).
Varies Dark craft experience points equal to DC × 3 (minimum DC
15). The celebrant determines the number of dark craft experience
points (and thus the DC) sought prior to the check. A
failed check indicates no dark craft experience points gained.
Varies Dark craft gold pieces equal to DC × 5 (minimum DC 20).
The celebrant determines the number of dark craft gold
pieces (and thus the DC) sought prior to the check. A failed
check indicates no dark craft gold pieces gained.
