Character Creation Tips

Important things to keep in mind during character design ;

A word on alignment:
This is an evil campaign but it is heavily focused on Lawful Evil.
Neutral and other evil alignments (Chaotic Evil & Neutral Evul)  may be played.
Neutral, Lawful Neutral, and Chatoic Neutral alignments will be difficult alignments to maintain, as described by the adventure books, due to the core idea of the path being that your characters willingly engage in evil, even vile, acts and will consort with devils.

This campaign is not compatible with characters of good alignment

Keep in mind the themes that D&D has with the Lawful Evil alighment:
Lawful evil upholds a basic code of conduct in order to maintain some sort of sembalance of civilization. Lawful Evils are not psycopathic murderers. They do not revel in blood shed for the sake of it. This is the scope of chaotic evil.

Lawful evil is typically associated with tyranny & slavery, oppressive rules and systems that favor those already in power while keeping down the masses, and strategically outwitting your foes to bring about their demise.

The Setting
The leading rulers of Cheliax inherited their positions from those who knowingly bargained away their nation to the powers of Hell, inhabited by lawful evil fiends who exist to enslave mortal souls through trickery, subterfuge, and by signing away themselves to Hell in the afterlife through infernal bargains, complicated legalese contracts that never favor the mortal.

Life in Cheliax is not all hellfire and brimstone. Many rural peasants live in relative safety, so long as they do their job, and keep their mouths shut. Seeing a devil roam freely is uncommon, but not unheard of. All citizens and visitors of Cheliax know that speaking ill of House Thrune, the Church of Asmodeus, or Diablorie in general is a good way to end up being rounded up and dragged into a major urban area to be made an example of.


Devils differ from Demons, in that demons revel in utter chaos and suffering of all living things.
Demons want to tear your soul to shreds with their vicious teeth. Devils want you to sign it away to them on a contract.
Their are numerous other extraplanar fiends that exist between and amongst the two, but as low level characters, the differences are unimportant.

There are some character options to keep in mind, that do not usually fit into other campaigns:
Tieflings face no prejudice in Cheliax as they might elsewhere. Many are admired for their exotic appearance. (Consider Tiefling sub-category: Hellspawn, those who descend from devils)

Antipaladin, as well as Hell Knight Enforcer and Hell Knight Commander prestige classes.
(These characters represent a sort of Royal Guard for Cheliax and command fear & respect anywhere they go in the nation.
Conjurer Wizards, and Diabolist Prestige Class (Any wizard specializing in the ability to summon and command devils is held in very high esteem anywhere in Cheliax. Be warned, trying to bargain with fiends who sole purpose is to trick and enslave mortals is no easy task. Diplomacy will be a very important skill.)

Evil Priests, especially followers of Asmodeus.  (This is your chance to look at some of the evil themed domains that you typically cannot choose from. Also keep in mind that in a nation where so much of the clergy worships dark gods and channels negative energy, healing magic is scarcer than elsewhere.)

Monks - Asmodeus has his own followers in the monasteries of Cheliax, who have developed their own fighting style - The path of The Hamtula (Barbed Devil)

Shadow Magic, Shadow Races - The nation of Cheliax borders Nidal, another evil nation in service to Zon'Kuthon, god of mutilation and torture. Nidal exists in a state of eternal dusk and night.  Although of differing alignments and goals, Cheliax and Nidal have a certain...understanding. It is not uncommon to see a person of Nidalese birth in Cheliax. They are tolerated so long as they behave. Your character could very well be a pale skinned human spellcaster focusing on shadow magic, or a race which favors the eternally gloom and dark Nidal, such as a Drow, Dhampir, Fetchling, Orc (most of who cannot tolerate sunlight), Hobgoblin, or Wayangs. Remember though - Cheliax has normal day/night cycles.

Remember to try and balance your party: A party without a wide array of strengths is  a party with a huge weakness. The very typical D&D party consists of Fighter,Cleric,Wizard, and Rogue. Less precisely, these can be thought of as Meat Shield, Healer, Magic Guy, and Skills Guy. Having only gone through 3 of the books, I can say that a party without a rogue, or equally SKILLFULL character is going to face some disadvantages, as big parts of this campaign require subterfuge, stealth, and clever thinking.

Things that MAY work against you:
Being a halfling - Halflings face some of the cruelest of all oppression in Cheliax, where they are universally assumed to be some someone's slave. Free halflings are a rare and short lived thing. Gnomes do not fair much better.
Associating with Demons - The rulers of Cheliax keep their demoniacs and other demon summoners on VERY, VERY short leashes, and are quick to dispose of them the moment they think them to be too dangerous to keep. Demoniacs not in service to someone with enough clout to vouch for them are targeted for capture by Hellknights, and are refused services by most anyone in an urban area, due to the business owner not wanting to be arrested for association.

Worshipping a Chaotic Deity - Although this undoubtly happens all over Cheliax, most are willing to turn a blind eye as long as worship is done in secrecy. Openly spreading the gospel of any chaotic deity is a quick way to find yourself at the business end of the lash.