Demons and tying game books together.
Jan. 17th, 2022 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreAs part of the Blue Rose setting Kickstarter, I also received a second book, The Book of Fiends - A Malefic Bestiary for Fifth Edition. I've always loved the Lower Planes as a great source of adventures at higher levels. The mastermind behind everything the party has been fighting is an Arch Devil or the party has to enter the Abyss to recover an artifact, whatever. Demons, devils and the netherworld make a great change of pace at higher levels.
It's a great book. What challenged me as a GM/worldbuilder is integrating it with both the established pantheon of The Book of the Righteous and the descriptions of the Netherrealms in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. For example, TBotR describes Asmodeus as a fallen God, Ruling Hell while plotting the overthrow of the Court of Light. The BoF describes Asmodeus' abode in the Ninth Hell as being a frozen wasteland, whereas in TBotR he was once the Elemental God of Fire. Those kinds of things are easy to smooth over.
A bigger issue comes with how Hell and the Abyss are connected. Both TBoF and MToF agree that the "uppermost" layers of both Hell and the Abyss are marked by contact warfare between the two realms. This is easier to justify using the old-school model of the outer planes. But in TBotR, Hell and the Abyss are separate spheres in the Great Sphere, connected by the Black River. How to account for vast armies moving back and forth? Luckily, there's an answer in TBoF. Seere is the Demon Patron of Portals. Delighting in destroying the lawful order of the multiverse, Seere Could easily open a gateway for the Hordes of the Abyss to pour through into Hell.
There's still the issue of Gehenna, the plane where Neutral Evil souls end up. Of course, there's nothing stopping me from adding a new sphere, is there?
There was one Demon Lord whose write-up gave me an idea for an entire campaign. I'll write about that tomorrow.
It's a great book. What challenged me as a GM/worldbuilder is integrating it with both the established pantheon of The Book of the Righteous and the descriptions of the Netherrealms in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. For example, TBotR describes Asmodeus as a fallen God, Ruling Hell while plotting the overthrow of the Court of Light. The BoF describes Asmodeus' abode in the Ninth Hell as being a frozen wasteland, whereas in TBotR he was once the Elemental God of Fire. Those kinds of things are easy to smooth over.
A bigger issue comes with how Hell and the Abyss are connected. Both TBoF and MToF agree that the "uppermost" layers of both Hell and the Abyss are marked by contact warfare between the two realms. This is easier to justify using the old-school model of the outer planes. But in TBotR, Hell and the Abyss are separate spheres in the Great Sphere, connected by the Black River. How to account for vast armies moving back and forth? Luckily, there's an answer in TBoF. Seere is the Demon Patron of Portals. Delighting in destroying the lawful order of the multiverse, Seere Could easily open a gateway for the Hordes of the Abyss to pour through into Hell.
There's still the issue of Gehenna, the plane where Neutral Evil souls end up. Of course, there's nothing stopping me from adding a new sphere, is there?
There was one Demon Lord whose write-up gave me an idea for an entire campaign. I'll write about that tomorrow.
