Demonic Pacts with Lord Gogmak

This write-up is from my Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign where a player character has formed a pact with a demon lord…

Lord Gogmak

Lord Gogmak is a mighty demon, worshipped by several cults across Europe, including the cult based in Blexham House in Southwick, London.

Pacts with Gogmak

Lord Gogmak will enter into pacts with mortals who offer up their immortal souls and service in exchange for Lord Gogmak’s assistance, generally with some task/quest (their great work). Once the task is complete, the character’s soul is forfeit. They will join Gogmak in the afterlife when their mortal life ends, or when their body is taken by another new devotee of Gogmak (this latter part is not disclosed nor explained explicitly by most of Gogmak’s cults to new potential devotees).

Lord Gogmak will grant an artifact or ability intended to assist the mortal with their great work. Each use of this artifact or ability has a 1% cumulative chance of causing a mutation (I use the mutation tables in Cults of Chaos – that is an affiliate link). Artifacts are not intended to be transferred to other mortals, and each use of an artifact gifted by Gogmak to somebody else requires a Save vs Magic or the unauthorized user will suffer a mutation.

Lord Gogmak will not allow a mortal who has entered a pact to complete a great work to fail at their quest unless they give up by themselves. If the mortal should die before the completion of their great work, they will immediately awaken in the body of another of Gogmak’s still-living devotees (one who has already succeeded at their own personal quest), effectively “reborn”. The new body’s previous soul is banished from this existence to the afterlife with Gogmak, and the mortal has another chance to finish their great work.

Rebirth Procedure

1. Determine the body’s age. Roll 1d10. 1 or 2 = young adult (12+2d4 years), 3 to 4 = mature (20+1d4 years), 5 to 8 = mature (20+5d4 years), 9 = middle aged (40+1d20), 0 = old (60+1d10 years).
2. Determine the body’s biological sex. Roll 1d100. Female on 51 or lower for young adult and mature characters, otherwise male. 50/50 split for middle aged and old characters.
3. Roll 3d6 for STR, DEX, and CON. Middle aged bodies roll 1d12 for each year past 40 – on a roll of 1 to 3, no attribute loss, otherwise lose a point of STR on a roll of 5, 8, 11, a point of DEX on a roll of 6,9,12 and a point of CON on a roll of 4, 7, 10. Old bodies also lose a point of STR on a roll of 1, DEX on a roll of 2, and CON on a roll of 3.
4. Replace the “reborn” character’s re-rolled physical abilities with the numbers generated for STR, DEX and CON respectively.
5. Retain the rest of the character’s INT, WIS and CHA, along with any skills, levels, XP, and class abilities. Hit points can be re-rolled with new CON modifier if any. Gear and equipment remains with the original body!
6. The Referee must determine who your character has “replaced”. This will generally be a cultist who has offered their soul to Gogmak who has already completed their “great work”, although sometimes it will be a cultist who otherwise offered their soul without such a geas, or perhaps an unfortunate victim of the cult.
7. There is a 1 in 20 chance that the new body already has a mutation (sustained during the previous occupant’s tenure). If they have a mutation, there is a 1 in 20 chance that they have another, and a 1 in 20 chance that they have another after that, etc.