Putting Magic flavor on the Table; Black Devotion

About a month ago, I published an alternate alignment option I called Color Devotion. The intent behind this option was to provide an option that would allow PCs and NPCs that occupy a spectrum of possible allegiances and philosophies between good and evil. As some sort of reflection of player complexity, characters might possess any combination of one or more color devotions. 

The first of these devotions I will explore is Black Devotion. Black Devotion has a reputation for being synonymous with evil. While in opposition to altruistic behavior, the ambitions of Black Devotion can drive acts of great heroism and foul villainy. for further exploration of Black as a character philosophy, I can heartily endorse the Dice Try YouTube Channel and Mark Rosewater's essay "In the Black," both of which I leaned heavily into trying to figure out how this would look in my game.

Black Devotion

 

BLACK

 

Black Devotion represents the pull of your ambitions and the allure of power.

Allied Devotions Blue and Red

Rival Devotions White and Green

Black Magic When spellcasters manifest Black aligned spells, they may feel a sense of gratification with the surge of power the magic brings. sometimes their awareness of their own mortality builds into a wave of furious anger.

Casting black spells can not require Black Devotion, that would prove to be quite unbalancing for a Pathfinder game. What happens instead is, Black magic starts to pull on the characters that use it.

Adapted From In The Black

Black devotees want power.

Black devotion's greatest strength is its willingness to do whatever is needed to achieve its ends. Fighting a threat devoted to Black is challenging because there is nothing they're unwilling to do. Black devotion allows actions that other devotions cannot bring themselves to do. On the downside, black devotion's lack of taboos can often get devotees into trouble. Black devotees will use themselves as a resource. In some ways, black devotion's greatest enemy is not the other devotions but itself; the philosophy most likely to be responsible for a black devotee's downfall is black devotion.

What does Black Devotion Want

Black devotion looks at all the other colors and feels that each of them sees the world as they wish it to be. Black devotion is the only realist, the only devotion to look at and see the world as it is. An individual is free to have whatever they want, provided they have the power to obtain and keep it. This makes power the most important resource because it's the one thing that can guarantee your ability to control your life and, thus, your happiness.

It's important for everyone to understand that black devotees didn't make the world greedy. The world was already greedy; black devotees had just learned how to thrive within it. Black devotion has two big things on its side. One, it understands and accepts the system better than anyone else. And two, black devotion doesn't place any restrictions on itself that make its success more difficult.

Black's philosophy is very simple: There's no one better suited to look after your own interests than you. Therefore, if everyone looks out after their own interests, you've created a system where everyone has someone looking out for them. In addition, black's system allows everyone the opportunity to succeed. Will everyone succeed? Of course not—but once again, that's not because of black devotion. That's just how the world works.

The weak will fail. That's what makes them weak. Doing anything to help them is both prolonging the inevitable and risking failing alongside them. It's not personal to a black devotee. Black devotion does what it needs to do to succeed. If others can't do the same, well, then they deserve their fate. Others see this as black devotion being heartless, but black devotees realize it's just being pragmatic.

There will always be those who suffer. Once again, this isn't black's doing. It's an inevitability of life. Black's just the one devotion that owns up to the truth and acts accordingly.

How Does Black Devotion Get There

Black devotion believes the key to success is the ability to take advantage of any opportunity. Other devotions come up with reasons why they can't do something; black devotees don't have that limitation. If black devotees need something, they can't let anything stand in the way. This means no taboos, no restrictions, no rules, no morals, no sympathy, no hesitation, and no regret. If you see something that will advance your agenda and help you acquire more power, you take it.

Black devotees watch as others create reasons why something is off-limits. Black devotion can have no such weakness. Black devotees seek out ways to bypass these types of restrictions. Life is hard. Individuals don't have the luxury of passing by opportunities. One must take advantage of every opportunity, no matter the cost. These choices often come at a steep price, but that's the key to success—accepting that the things you need will come with a cost you will have to pay.

Because of this philosophy, black devotion makes use of many resources that others reject. For instance, one of black devotee's most effective weapons is death. The other devotions feel it is "wrong" to meddle with such a force, but to black devotion, not making use of something as powerful as death is the true crime.

This is another reason that black devotion is so centered on itself. Many costs require the sacrifice of others for your own advancement. Because it puts itself first, black devotion is always willing to make this trade. The weak must fall for the strong to thrive.

Others will try to flavor a black devotee's choices as somehow inherently wrong, but black devotion understands that results are what matter, not perception. Caring about what others think of you is a weakness.

What Does Black Devotion Reject

Black can't stand when others seem to reject the basic truths of life. For example, there are those who are willing to do things not for the good of themselves but rather for the good of others at the expense of themselves. Black considers these individuals to be idiots; dangerous idiots, because they take away black's ability to motivate them. Fear, pain, threat of death—what do you do when individuals would rather suffer than do what you want them to do?

Black is baffled by the various self-made forces that get people to act against their own self-interest. On one level, black is intrigued, wondering if there are things it could learn from these forces in order to fool individuals into believing they want to do what black needs them to do. But these forces also scare black, because they undercut many of the certainties black has built its entire philosophy around.

How Does Black Devotion Interact with Other Devotions

Black looks at blue and sees a fellow color that understands the need to manipulate and use trickery to get what it wants. Black appreciates that blue values information and uses that information as a means to achieve goals. Black understands blue's desire to have an emotional detachment with which to examine the world and do things that others often do not understand. Black likes blue's love of technology and its willingness to always find new tools to get the job done. Black dislikes that blue, at times, works towards the good of the group rather than the individual. Black also dislikes that blue is often motivated less by self-interest than by a desire to learn.

Black looks at red and sees a fellow color that isn't afraid to embrace its destructive side. Black likes that red looks within to make decisions and can put itself first. Black appreciates red's willingness to use violence and pain to encourage others to see things red's way. Black likes that red is able to ignore what others think of red and do what it feels is the correct thing for itself. Black doesn't like that red is short-sighted and often does things without understanding the repercussions. Black also doesn't like that red is willing at times to sacrifice itself for the sake of its loved ones.

Black thinks that white is dangerous. It coddles the weak and encourages them to work together. Even crazier, it created morality as an insidious tool to convince individuals to act against their own self-interest. Black realizes that white is a crafty enemy that, if left unchecked, threatens to jeopardize everything black has worked for. White is a master at propaganda, and has convinced the world that black is "evil" and must be stopped at all costs. Black can appreciate the cleverness of what white has done, but will stop at nothing until white and its minions are all dead.

Black realizes that green is also dangerous, but in a more subtle way. Green makes use of resources that black has less control over. Animals, for instance, work off of instinct and thus cannot be as easily motivated by such things as self-interest. Green also has tools that directly fight against many of black's tools. Life versus death or growth versus decay. Green, like white, is community-oriented and is able to pull together hordes of creatures that can overwhelm black's resources. Finally, green philosophically opposes an important tenet of black's philosophy, believing that individuals have the power to choose their own paths in life. Green's deterministic nature contradicts black's important belief in free will.

What Represents Black Devotion

• Death—Death is a potent and powerful force that most others write off due to taboos. Black devotees don't care about taboos. Black devotion cares about results, and death is an effective tool. As such, death has become a major weapon of black devotees.
• Undead—Death is not an end but often a beginning. Black devotion makes use of not just death but dead things. Others have issues with making use of the dead, but black devotees know they make great servants. 
• Amorality—Black devotion is not immoral, as black devotees don't believe in the concept of morality. Morality is a human construction meant to allow the weak to justify a false position of strength over those more powerful than themselves. Life is not divided into good and evil but rather into what must be done and what needsn't be done.
• Fear—Of all the emotions, fear is the one that black devotion has found to grant it the easiest time to get what it wants quickly. Fear tends to motivate individuals to do whatever it takes to remove themselves from the situation that's making them afraid. Black devotees have found this to be a very effective tool and thus use it often.
• Pain—This is another great motivator shunned by others. If you can do something simple that gains compliance, why wouldn't you use it?
• Darkness—First, no one can tell what you're doing in the dark, which makes it easier for black devotees to get away with things. Second, it scares people, so that's a big plus. Third, the kinds of creatures that black tends to make use of often live and thrive in the dark. And finally, it represents keeping things hidden, which black has found to aid in accomplishing its goals.
• Disease—Like death, disease is a potent and powerful force that most others shun due to silly taboos. It's effective, spreads easily and makes others weak—all things that work in a black devotee's favor.
• Decay/Entropy—Things get weaker over time. Black devotion has found this to be yet another natural force that it can bend to its desires.
• Insects/Rats/Spiders—Others shy away from creepy, crawly things. evoking these emotions become a key draw for black devotees.
• Corruption—Individuals are inherently selfish. Black devotion takes advantage of this universal truth, causing others to benefit themselves while helping blackout.
• Deceit—Many individuals put value in truth. They are fools. The illusion of truth as a force to be trusted is just an opportunity waiting to be taken advantage of.
• Machevelian Thinking ("The ends justify the means")—The means are meaningless. People who put value in them are wasting their strength in the wrong place. Who cares why or who or how? In the end, results are all that actually matter.
• Individualism—Black devotion's philosophy on self-reliance stresses how important it is for individuals to be able to look after themselves.
• Destruction (calculated)—The weak focus on things that take more time and energy. The strong are the ones that understand where true strength lies. Destruction is far easier than creation. Therefore, black devotion relies on destruction as a tool to accomplish what it needs. 
• Sacrifice —Sometimes, it takes sacrifice to get things done. Always starts with those that aren't yourself. Note, though, that sometimes you are going to have to be the one to sacrifice. What sets black apart is a willingness to do this when it is the most efficient course of action.