Redoing Devils

Was reading reimaginings of DnD enemies and started having my own ideas for Fiends, which I've always thought were ridiculously fucking boring in regular DnD. I've also thought the alignment system also sucked, but the super-old version with just Law, Neutral, and Chaos was potentially interesting, and my idea ended up slotting perfectly into that. 

Angels are Law, Devils are Neutral, Demons are Chaos. Angels are basically automatons created by gods to carry out their wills. Demons are a type of emotion-spirit manifestation created from primordial chaos being shaped by desires cranked up until they become sins, and Devils are fallen angels who developed free will after being influenced by chaos and desire. Angels and Demons are sorted on one axis by "purity', which measures how much they've been shaped by the collective cultural unconsciousness versus how close they are to mindless primordial law or chaos, while devils don't have a "pure" form. Demons and angels are kind of like an AI fused with a Freudian id. They can't really be reasoned with, only forced into submission, overwritten on the letter of cosmic laws, or overwhelmed and shaped by strong emotion. Devils, on the other hand, are fully sapient in the same way as the mortal species, though they overwhelmingly tend towards self-interest and individualism.

Almost all devils have one or more goals, objectives, desires, or plans that they dedicate their immortal lives to pursuing, usually via copious amounts of elaborate scheming. This tendency is so engrained in devilkind that they find the idea of living without a grand ambition or overarching master plan to be utterly alien. Some scholars speculate that this aspect comes from a desire to fill the hole made when the devils sever themselves from the Divine Plan, with their personal schemes serving as a substitute, marrying order and structure with chaotic selfish desire. Others simply say that the devils habitually scheme in order to keep from getting bored with their innate immortality.

The minds of devils are far closer to those of mortals than most across the Planes either know or are willing to admit. Despite their potentially highly alien forms, they are capable of genuinely experiencing the same emotional spectrums as humans or other sapient species, though their own thoughts, feelings, and personalities are heavily shaped by their cosmically-scaled origins and existences. Additionally, it has been speculated that a massive amount of self-determination is needed to break away from the angelic hive mind, and that only the devils with the strongest desires and egos make it out. Even among devils, some fear that if they become too complacent, humble, or selfless they may fade out of existence or be re-assimilated into the hive mind of pure Order (others also fear that giving in too much to their desires and base lusts could cause them to degenerate into mindless Chaotic demons). Even a fairly altruistic devil is usually incapable of pure self-sacrifice, especially the concept of sacrificing their existence to save someone or something else, as devils tend to fear death even more deeply than mortals do. 

This general tendency towards selfishness, though, is not a universal and innate quality. And even the more malevolent among devilkind will usually be willing to help someone else out if they believe there's something in it for them, while others may ultimately arrive at surprisingly moral and benevolent codes of conduct derived from a basis of self-interest.

Another facet of the setting I'm considering is having three types of sapient/player species to go with the three alignments, with my current idea being humanoids, goblinkind, and scalefolk. Humanoid includes elves, dwarves, etc as well as humans, goblinkind is orcs, goblins, ogres, etc. The catch is that while there are three types of intelligent folk, three alignments, and three cosmic outsider types based on those alignments, the Three Great Tribes don't actually map directly to the three alignments or even have any innate push towards them. Despite this, scholars have spent many years trying to map the Three Tribes to the Divine Tower Axis, arguing endlessly whether, for example, humans are more Lawful than Saurians or if halflings are more likely to be Neutral than goblins. 

Another side to this argument concerns which gods or celestial powers created which species. One theologian might argue that Demons created Goblinkind, Angels created Humanoids, and Devils created Scalefolk. Another might say that anyone with a brain could tell that humans are Chaotic and thus the creation of Demons, orcs are rigidly disciplined and thus the Lawful creations of angels, and that Iguanids are in-between and were created by Devils. Then another chimes in and says that obviously the cold logic and technological prowess of the reptile folk means they were the ones created by Angels, and then a schism happens and now there's a prophet saying Devils created all three Tribes. Despite these arguments, there is actually not even definitive proof that the mortal races were actually created by the Outsiders, or even that the Outsider types predate them.

Part of what appeals to me about this idea is, besides the whole innate and immutable good and evil thing being generally terrible, one of the biggest problems I've always had with DnD and especially Planescape is that Fiends are super fucking boring and there's literally never any reason to do literally anything to them except kill them on sight.

Like, if literally every devil is an asshole superlawyer who will always, always, ALWAYS twist any contract they make with someone to screw them over, congrats- you've walled off a ton of interesting plot ideas, because now every player who bothers to read the rulebook has a neon sign reminding them to never, ever make a deal with a devil or interact with them in any way other than murder. And for that matter, why do NPCs even bother making deals with devils and demons so often? It seems like even in-universe people would eventually figure out it's more trouble than it's worth.

Whereas just by axing the "every devil is innately pure evil and will always try to fuck you over in a contract" rule, boom, you can create a nearly endless new stream of possibilities for plots and character interactions, because now when the PCs are in a situation where they might make a deal with a devil, they actually have to seriously consider it. They might even have to, you know, roleplay!

Another idea for the Outsiders in my setting I had is that while archdemon is an objective designation of a demon with a particular level of power and archangel designates an official rank within the angelic hierarchy, archdevil is a subjective term of respect that refers to a devil who is respected by a other devils, meaning that a devil could be considered an archdevil by some but not by others. 

A devil that is able to persuade other devils to accept a subordinate position under them is very likely to be considered an archdevil even by their enemies due to being able to command that much respect or fear from other devils. Most alliances between devils are structured as equal partnerships, at least on paper, and even a devil who is able to assemble a large group of other devils into this kind of arrangement working towards a common goal is likely to be considered an archdevil.

Also toying with the idea that devils with the right abilities can pose almost perfectly as a mortal, another type of outsider, or even a god, it's impossible for a devil to ever perfectly or even very convincingly impersonate another devil. Even devils with similar forms will have some difference in their appearances, and anyone who sees their true form will always be capable of telling the difference between it and another devil, no matter what illusions or magical effects the devil uses.

Among the most dangerous groups of devils are the Orders Anathemic, cults and types of devils that are considered dangerous and warped by almost any devil who is not a member of their group. One of the most common types of Anathemic devils are the Penitent, whose devils who believe that they are still capable of following the Divine Plan, either believing that they can return to angelhood through atonement or that their fall was a part of the Plan to begin with, and that they have a place in the divine hierarchy as testers of the faithful and punishers of the sinful. 

In practice, these devils dedicate themselves to hunting down non-Penitent devils and finding ways to influence the mortal world to test and punish "sinners". Penitents are one of the very few types of devils who will actually attempt to twist the letter of any contract they make to fuck over the summoner, since they believe that anyone who tries to make a deal with them is committing a sin by dealing with devils and must be punished.

Otherwise, contrary to their portrayal in many mythologies and folkloric tales across the planes, a devil will only go out of its way to twist a contract just for the sake of cruelty if it is dealing with someone it really, really hates. Experienced diabolists know that the secret to getting a good deal out of a devil is to make it mutually beneficial, ideally creating a situation where the devil benefits only if the summoner also does. One of the central tenets of mortal diabolism is that it is much easier to get a devil to strike an honest deal or do a good deed than it is to get one to do something that risks sabotaging its personal plans or wellbeing.

Another one of the ideas I had was to give devils a set of seven spells/powers based on the seven deadly sins that they can use themselves but are mainly designed to allow them to offer things mortals would ask for, like gold or power. Before that, I had an idea for a feat/spell/power that made the devil or someone they gave it to supernaturally talented at music and gave them a bonus to any social interaction or magic done while playing music or singing, with the idea being that that would represent the "sold your soul to the devil for musical talent" angle. 

Now that I have the seven deadly sins idea, I'm considering folding the music power into it as the Lust one since it would save me the trouble of thinking of one for that one that isn't too creepy.