How might a mortal push a claim on the throne of purgatory?

[MonkeySage]

Say this mortal believes it is his birthright to sit on the throne of Purgatory. How might he:

1. Get mortals to recognize this claim?

2. Get psychopomps to recognize this claim?

3. Actually try and take the throne he desires?

Especially if its current occupant is a deity, lol.

[Zsaber0]

1. By force!
2. By force!
3. By force!

[Dancingdeath]

Keep in ming that unless your DM is comatose during these attempts you WILL eventually draw the attention of said deity. Most likely long before you're capable of taking it on. Maybe wait until you have whatever power level you had in mind to challenge a deity first. Like level 30 or so. With artifacts and enough epic gear to choke a time Dragon. And maybe a time dragon. In my campaign you'd still probably die but it sounds interesting either way.

[ATHATH]

Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel. I suspect that he might have a plot for how to take over purgatory lying around somewhere.

Personally, I'd polymorph myself into (or become) a Psychopomp in some permanent or easily-sustainable fashion, then just start doing Psychopomp-y things (or just official become an honorary Psychopomp by saving the world from an undead menace or something). Eventually, I'd just rise to the top of the heap (seeing as I'm destined to become the ruler of purgatory and all) and assume the position in the formal, standard way (some key assassinations and/or bribes might help the process along, of course).

[Wristlet Eater]

I think it is important, why does this mortal think it is his birthright?

[Hackulator]

Just buff your Diplomancy high enough to convince everyone you are the rightful ruler of purgatory.

in other words, just ask nicely.

[logic_error]

Just buff your Diplomancy high enough to convince everyone you are the rightful ruler of purgatory.

in other words, just ask nicely.

+ bluff + potion of glibness.

[Red Fel]

Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel. I suspect that he might have a plot for how to take over purgatory lying around somewhere.

Please. That's like being the mayor of a bus station on FourSquare. Purgatory? Who even lives there? Pun intended.

Let's get this rolling, shall we?

Say this mortal believes it is his birthright to sit on the throne of Purgatory. How might he:

1. Get mortals to recognize this claim?

By whatever means he has at his disposal. Force has been mentioned. Cult of personality is another. Deception, too, a good Bluff check. Or simply having a strong patron. Or, if you care to actually put in the leg work, gain mastery over the souls of the living and the dead, that's a solid one - if mortals see you control who lives and who dies, they'll believe you rule Purgatory. Lots of ways work here.

2. Get psychopomps to recognize this claim?

Much harder. Psychopomps are generally attuned to the will of the cosmos. They come for the living because it is their time to die. To have something attuned to the will of the cosmos recognize you as ruler of Purgatory, you need the cosmos to recognize you as the ruler of Purgatory. And that means either actually being the ruler of Purgatory, or rolling one Hells of a Bluff check in order to make reality itself recognize you as said ruler.

Of course, if you can pull off that Bluff check, you basically are the ruler of Purgatory, at least until the rightful one comes along to put you in your place. That answer also works for basically everything else.

3. Actually try and take the throne he desires?

Basically, this involves convincing reality that you own the role. Again, a powerful enough Bluff check could theoretically fool reality itself. Otherwise, your best bet is to depose/replace the existing ruler.

Have fun with that.

Look, it's hard to tell exactly how to accomplish this deed, given that we know nothing about the mortal in question. Of particular relevance is-

I think it is important, why does this mortal think it is his birthright?

This. If he is, for example, the son of the current ruler, he has a claim of being the heir to the throne. If he has mastered the migration of souls and all matters of life and death, he has a claim of qualification. If he is insane, he is insane. But there has to be a reason.

[MonkeySage]

He's been able to prepare and cast divine spells since he was a toddler. He could also channel energy and command the obedience of the undead. He's a cleric with no deity, and there's actually something of a prophecy involved, something he's doing research on. Basically, according to the prophecy, he is meant to rule the dead.

Where most clerics use a holy symbol, he uses a silver coin bearing a symbol of his own design: a carnation and an oar. It's a symbol he's had dreams about. When he performs funerary rites, he's commissioned gold obols with this same symbol, which he uses as one normally would use an obol.

(Before the alignment question inevitably comes up, neutral. :P)

[Wristlet Eater]

prophesy

It's actually spelled 'prophecy'. 'Prophesy' is the verb, so to prophesy is to create a prophecy.

[MonkeySage]

The gm has said that he would work with me on a homebrewed non-evil path to lichdom, since when I pitched my idea to him, he seemed interested.


That's one of my first steps: become immortal.

[ATHATH]

What are the laws of Purgatory like? Is there some loophole that you can use to get in?

"and command the obedience of the undead"
Slight problem here- Psychopomps really, really, REALLY hate undead. You having the in-born ability to command them might make you ineligible to become ruler of Purgatory.

Thought here: What if you convinced (or "convinced") the current ruler of Purgatory to pass his title on to you (or name you his heir)? Any ideas on how to do that, Red Fel?

[Red Fel]

Thought here: What if you convinced (or "convinced") the current ruler of Purgatory to pass his title on to you (or name you his heir)? Any ideas on how to do that, Red Fel?

Here's the thing - Purgatory is boring. Like, sitting in a train station boring. My guess, then, is that the current ruler of Purgatory probably wouldn't mind retiring at this point - he just can't, for whatever reason. Maybe he has to be dethroned by force, maybe he has to recover his lost memories or hear the magic words, maybe he needs a special relic, or whatever, but he is unable to step down voluntarily.

It's less a question of convincing him to pass the title on, then, and more a question of enabling him to do so. And that is a little thing called a Quest Hook.

Talk to your DM today about Quest Hooks! Available wherever fine plot threads are sold.

[RoboEmperor]

ice assassin deities to gain divinity.

Once you have enough divinity just go murder the deity.

[MonkeySage]

It would appear that throne is "Vacant". As in, it doesn't exist yet.

[RoboEmperor]

It would appear that throne is "Vacant". As in, it doesn't exist yet.

1. If there is no one managing purgatory, just go there and act like a king. Use your magic, powers, minions, etc. to lay down the law. Don't need to be a god to force souls into doing your bidding. Devils in the nine hells did something like this. Archdevils are not gods, but they are close enough, and all achieved their power through harvesting souls and then using that power to laydown the law. Demons are similar.

or

2. Based on the setting, you gotta read up on how the deities became deities and homebrew your way into a god based on that.

or

3. If you want 0 homebrew, ice assassin deities to bestow divine levels onto you until you amass enough divine levels to become a god. Then just take the empty throne.

[ATHATH]

It would appear that throne is "Vacant". As in, it doesn't exist yet.

Then the throne's not worth having. If it was, some devil or another would have taken it by now- and they've had an eternity (or however long it's been since someone's ruled Purgatory) to do so.