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So in my D&D world, originally only a mortal on the prime material plane could contact a demon to form a contract, but now the demons have a foothold in the world and can start offering contacts to many more people.

How did this happen, you may ask. Someone in need contacted a demon, and that demon seized the opportunity.

That person was an architect who was running out of time to finish a building. They were expecting to have to give up their soul, or their firstborn child, but it ended up costing them a lot less. The demon simply asked for the architect to build them a house for it to live in.

However, I need the contract to be formulated for this ambiguity to work: when the demon asked for a house to live in, it actually meant that the demon could then stay on the prime material plane, as it had been "allowed" to do so. Once that demon had an anchor in this world, it then allowed many more to come through from hell, and to form more and more contracts with mortals. This in part explains why there are a lot more demons and warlocks in the world than angels and angelic warlocks.

So, how would you word this contract between a sneaky demon and an architect?

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    $\begingroup$ YOu should build me a place, a large place, to store all the welcome it can handle. The "all guest are welcome" mats, the "A home is where friends are" pictures, the "in this house we live, love laugh, make contributions to the dark lords" decals and so on. And thus a Target was born. $\endgroup$
    – SZCZERZO KŁY
    Nov 22, 2019 at 14:50
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    $\begingroup$ I am not sure this is about the rules of a world. It sounds more about a plot element for your story $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Nov 22, 2019 at 15:21
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    $\begingroup$ I'd go cheap here and just describe what it was, without spelling it. "Oh, that's my neighbour the demon BeelzeBob. How is he allowed to be on the mortal plane, you ask? Well, he ordered a house but some tricky wording in the contract allowed him to exist on the mortal plane. This one detail took up, like 15 pages of the contract. Apparently BeelzeBob had been writing that contract for 200 years before handing it out." - so you explain the approach and hint that it's long and complex but you don't need to spell out the exact contract. But it's story based, not about world building. $\endgroup$
    – VLAZ
    Nov 22, 2019 at 16:24

2 Answers 2

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In exchange for the services and might of Demon X, the signee does hereby vow to construct a domicile, of modest make, requiring no more than an hour's travel and no more than six month's work for the signee, wherein Demon X may dwell and be welcome. Demon X, being not of this plane, shall appoint caretakers of said domicile.

(Note it doesn't say how many caretakers, or specify that they must be from this plane)

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  1. In consideration for the services provided as defined in section 1, The Architect shall:

    2.1. Supply designs for a modest abode, of size and specification requested by The Demon, suitable for habitation and compliant with all relevant local and national laws and regulations; 2.2. Authorise and advise The Demon or his authorised representatives to procure any and all contracts involving the supply of materials, labour and supply for the construction of the aforementioned abode;

... many clauses later ...

  1. The Demon and his authorised representatives shall be entitled to pass and repass at all times and for all purposes over the abode detailed in section 2.1 and over any place necessary for a purpose connected to the construction of the said abode;

  2. Non-exclusivity: nothing in this contract shall require either party to contract exclusively with the other;

... many clauses later ...

  1. Termination: this contract shall terminate when:

    84.1. The services detailed in section 1 have been completed; and 84.2. The abode detailed in section 2.1 has been constructed;

...

The architect was expecting to have to use up some beer tokens twisting arms amongst his suppliers and clients to get this building constructed. He wasn't expecting the demon to set up as his own main contractor and summon forth a legion of demon representatives to form contracts with every man and his dog, each containing the strange requirement to (along with forfeiting their soul) deliver a box containing one standard nail to an address in Nowheresville. Funnily enough, the original demon doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get on with actually finishing the house, either...

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