#dnd-lore

1 messages · Page 15 of 1

unkempt merlin
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That's a symptom of their actual lore

jagged apex
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plus even at base they have a bonding ability

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so basically magic dog with magic bond, similar to a familiar

unkempt merlin
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Valenar animals are awakened to advanced intelligence and power by the touch of an ancestral spirit.

jagged apex
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anyways, will wait and hope more reply with their input on beast or not for the Mortiss, since is getting late by me, probably just check in the morning

jagged apex
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i just noticed, is possible that they sort of got quasi-adapted to the 5e continuity as i am noticing 5e has the similar jammer leeches, which unexpectedly are plant creatures

unkempt merlin
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Barnacles that's why. Despite being animals are seen as plant like

vital heron
jagged apex
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kind of like how things like scorpions are technically arachnids

foggy seal
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So, why did Demogorgon specifically become the one demon to rule them all? Why is he the strongest? Is there any reason or explanation for as to why he’s so powerful or did it just happen?

iron saffron
jagged apex
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like in lore across editions he use to be able to murder other demons around him to bolster his own power

iron saffron
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It helped that he had Dagon as a mentor.

jagged apex
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mentor/manipulator, and he had been forgotten by the queen of chaos and she and her figure head had overthrown the orignal one, so when miska was sealed away, since obox-ob became so vastly weaker to what he had been, demogorgon cut a swaft to power and the title of prince of demons, even now obox-ob is in hiding still trying to amass/regain enough power to try to retake his throne, but has yet to get enough to where he feels he has a shot it seems

eager bay
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Does anyone know the lore of souls in 5e? Like their value and power? I’m making a BBEG who manipulates souls to create armies of undead and make powerful warlords, But I wanted to know if that wouldn’t fit the bill for 5e lore

iron saffron
eager bay
iron saffron
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The souls first stop in the Fugue Plane where they wait to be picked up by proxies of their deity to be escorted to their gods' domains.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fugue_Plane

Devils will sometimes try to bargin with evil or godless souls to go back with them to Hell with promises of being a lemure and later promoted to strong devils.

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Undead don't need souls. Most undead are soulless.

eager bay
# iron saffron Undead don't need souls. Most undead are soulless.

I think that’s a good indicator then for who is a high level goon for the BBEG

Low level undead get no souls

High level undead will

I also like the Fugue plane as a plane that the party can go to, I’ll probably use that later on in the campaign

Thank you 🙏

jagged apex
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one thing that helps is the 5e item known as a soul coin, which uses a soul as the power source of said magical item

white ravine
jagged apex
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him being the first is a bit wonky, but usually at least the first or one of the ones from the first batch of tanari demons, but was deemed a failure by the queen of chaos, boy dose she feel dumb now i bet XD

iron saffron
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Not the first demon but perhaps the first tanar'ri. The obyrith demons were in the Abyss before Demogorgon.

jagged apex
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indeed

jagged apex
# eager bay Does anyone know the lore of souls in 5e? Like their value and power? I’m making...

this is some good indication of context https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Afterlife#Bargains_&_Raids

plus far as i know nothing directly contradicts the exitance of the "baston of unborn souls", as Ashardalon, who moves his domain and set up a lair there, was name dropped into 5e via fizban's, though they don't mention his lair or the location it is in, but they don't imply he lairs elsewhere

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could have your big bad pose a similar threat Ashardalon had at the time had he not been stopped in that adventure

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though to my knowledge it the value and power of souls is never given a hard figure, not even in 5e, closest thing being the magical item of the soul coin and the charges the soul within gives it before it runs out of juice

white ravine
# jagged apex him being the first is a bit wonky, but usually at least the first or one of the...

It's kind of sad when you think about it. Demogorgon has been rejected and pushed down by everyone who has met him, and now he's a lonely god on a throne of skulls. No demon lord can challenge him in a meaningful way, and he's shown that despite his extremely violent nature he is capable and craving of love. I don't think he wanted to be born as the monster he is, but when people insist...he's going to be the monster they always said he is.

foggy seal
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What is Demogorgon’s relationship with the other demon lords? I know he feuds with Orcus and Graz’zt, but what about Yeenoghu and Baphomet and Juiblex?

iron saffron
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If it doesn't mention a relationship with a specific demon lord then he doesn't have much of one other than contempt and hatred. Demons aren't very complex creatures.

white ravine
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Orcus and Graz'zt are tied for 2nd place, but those other demon lords all hold prominent places. Rivals all the same.

iron saffron
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Orcus and Graz'zt wants Demogorgon's crown as the Prince of Demons.

foggy seal
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Do demon lords fear/are they capable of fearing anything, such as archdevils or empyreans or something?

white ravine
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Oh absolutely.

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Demon lords are still thinking feeling beings, they just have different wants and desires than a standard person

foggy seal
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Is there a story behind Baphomet’s glaive, Heartcleaver, or is it something he just has with no explanation/backstory?

white ravine
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Nooot really, just somethin' he has.

void whale
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Anyone know what the Drannor part of Myth Drannor means?

white ravine
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Given its name, it probably means one of its surnames

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Love, might, song, bands, etc.

jagged apex
jagged apex
grim siren
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There has never been an official response as to what Drannor itself means. Several realms authors on the Candlekeep Forum postulated that if they were able to write more about the City of Song they would write something like.

To the elves, mythals were tied to places and to natural energies as well as mystical energies, thus the term Mythal. When standing alone, "myth" as a title hints that the area has a mythal, while its meaning shifts; many elven cities have singular names, but when they have titles ala Myth Drannor, the title underscores its translation as "place set apart from others."

Drannor is an odd word in Elvish but very loosely translates to Common as "No hatred, nothing but love/passion/true essence."

Thus, Myth Drannor becomes "The Place Apart for No Hatreds," in some sense. Too bad it didn't fulfill that promise.

  • Steven Schend, Realms Author and Designer

Again nothing official but as official as it gets save for asking Ed Greenwood over on his discord server.

north vault
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Makes sense when you consider that Myth Drannor was one of the earliest attempts at collaboration between different species.

foggy seal
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What’s the difference between the process of becoming a demon and the process of becoming a devil?

white ravine
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Because if you just mean dying and becoming one, that's straightforward

sharp owl
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You sell your soul to a fiend

  • If it's a devil, you emerge from the River Styx as a lemure
  • If it's a demon, you emerge somewhere in the Abyss, usually related to the demon you sould your soul to, as a low class demon
foggy seal
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Huh. I thought demons were too animalistic to make deals dndCheers

white ravine
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Demons aren't animalistic, they're all still smart

sharp owl
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They're just chaotic

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Chaotic in the "you can't trust them to keep their word" sense

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And sometimes in the "completely unpredictable sense" too

white ravine
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But they're also a (very high emphasis on air quotes here) "society" of reformed souls of serial killers, psychopaths, and other nasties.

sharp owl
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you can sell your soul to a demon, but it's not like an infernal contract where they're still to the letter. It's more like a dodgy handshake and a wink

white ravine
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An animal will kill you to eat, a demon kills you for fun.

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...Then eats you anyways.

iron saffron
oblique turret
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also demons existed first (or at least tanari and obyrith were before them even). According to 3e lore the celestials made the devils to fight the demons but then they turned on them. But devils still genetically hate demons so thus the Blood War

livid mantle
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In lore what does someone have to do to be a dread lord im just curious on an example of what you would have to do

oblique turret
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make up an interesting enough backstory and pray for a really open minded dm

livid mantle
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Nah im just wondering cause idk its always been smt i have been curious in is there like an in lore thing that makes you a dread lord lol

oblique turret
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do you mean arch devil? Dread Lord is warcraft talk

calm crest
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Do you mean in Forgotten Realms?

iron saffron
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Apparently part of the cause of the Blood War is that Asmodeus wants the Shard of Ultimate Evil (he has a sliver of it in his Ruby Rod), which is drilling at the bottom of the Abyss (and creating new layers).

iron saffron
calm crest
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It’s listed as the highest rank of the Zhentarim faction in FaerĂ»n. Is that what you mean?

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Or do you mean a Ravenloft domain lord?

grim siren
void whale
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ah. so named after the main caster and a dwarf. there yah go

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thanks. cool to know.

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I was trying to find out because i was considering using it as an elvish surname

modest badger
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@tulip prairie
Just for reference-
1977, Monster Manual- briefly mentions 'black elves' as legends that no one thinks exists. No stats given.
1978, Hall of the Fire Giant King- Drow make their debut and are given a statblock as an enemy
1978- The Drow series of modules: Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-toa, Vault of the Drow, really flesh out the drow in D&D, especially the latter, which has Erelhei-cinlu, the city of drow in greyhawk, explaining their culture.
1981, Fiend Folio- Drow appear as an enemy stablock, but there are also rules for stat generation for them. This wasn't really intended for play, but could be used as such.
1985, Unearthed Arcana- Drow appear as a fully playable race

tulip prairie
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So the Drow were under Lolth might have spelled her name wrong. But in the monster manual they separated with her. Question is why and how did the Drow do and why? Ask my Lore experts lol

tulip prairie
modest badger
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Honestly depends on each edition. In 1e Lolth was not responsible for creating drow. She's not really an 'elven' goddess yet, just a demon queen of spiders, who happens to be favoured by drow (who also worship other gods, such as the Elder Eye, who becomes Ghaunadaur in 2e).

2e is where Lolth becomes a lot more responsible for 'making' drow, especially in the FR setting if I recall.

iron saffron
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Each edition added more lore to Lolth and the drow. Eventually it was revealed that Lolth was once Araushnee, Corellon Larethian's consort, but she broke away from the Seldarine. In FR lore, the dark elven (Ssri-tel-quessir) followers of Lolth were cursed with demonic blood and become the drow, exiled to the Underdark.

modest badger
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(Btw, for anyone wanting to find any of those old Dragon+ articles, this is the only way I know of doing it. You have an address Like this : https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://dnd.dragonmag.com/2021* which shows all URLs prefaced with that date, which means swapping out the year should be able to get others. No guarantee all have been archived though)

inner trellis
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Question:

CAREFULL! EXTREMELY MINOR TOMB OF ANHILIATION SPOILERS

||Would/could the death curse also affect other planes of existence?
For example the Fey-Realm etc? ||

unkempt merlin
inner trellis
unkempt merlin
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Note: ||It only affects the material plane, but going to another plane doesn't halt it if its in progress||

inner trellis
molten osprey
molten osprey
magic jackal
molten osprey
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idk, Paladins aren't good by default, so no reason to assume that anti-paladin types are evil

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5e antipaladin could just be a guy who means well, always tries to do the right thing buy he has no convictions or dedication so he never manages to stick through it before he flies away to some other cause that catches his attention

magic jackal
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Nono

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The level 20 feature of oathbreaker paladin is called dread lord.

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Also, by definition of the DMG, oathbreaker paladin is exclusive to evil paladins that break their oaths for specific evil reasons.

molten osprey
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oh suuure... they have to be evil, but a hex blade who kills someone every morning to enslave their soul for a day isn't 😛

magic jackal
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not true, also false equivalency?

molten osprey
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well, sarcasm at least

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my dark humorous head cannon has a lvl 6 hex blade warlock sneaking off to kill a homeless dude while the other casters are prepping their spells

foggy seal
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In the Forgotten Realms, is there somewhere where people accidentally come out of different worlds? Like, someone is from Greyhawk and then they take a portal that leads to the Forgotten Realms or something like that? Does that exist? A multiversal portal, in other words.

modest badger
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I think in a few places- msot attach to earth. Apparently foxes were smuggled into Faerun from france by halflings. A few people were also, in older lore, actually from Earth.
And deities and their chosen slip through a lot- Dead Gods 2e had interesting interactions between Greyhawk and Faerun as a goddess maneuvered pawns between the two. There might even be a portal to Narnia in one of the forests.

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https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fox (Foxes might just be a Greenwoodism, as it was in a Q&A)

One source claimed that foxes were never native to Toril, and were actually brought from Earth, most likely France, by an adventurous halfling trader named Altho Minstrelwish around 12 DR. He had plans to sell their fur (particularly their tails, termed "brushes") for fashionable attire, but found few halflings were interested because of their distinct smell. Fox meat, whether roasted or stewed, was even less popular. In the end, he let the foxes run wild, and in time they displaced the native Faerûnian lynx. The hin word for "fox" was rennard, after the French word for a fox, renard.

Nobanion is Aslan: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Nobanion

Nobanion was an interloper deity, having only established a presence on Toril around the mid 1000's DR. Ancient texts referred to him as Aslan, and some legends claimed he entered the Realms through one of the magical pools in the Weathercote Wood.

Many Mulhorand people (especially Mulan people) were apparently Earthens trafficked into Faerun (Although preeeetty sure that lore is now dropped like a bad potato): https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mulhorand

In response to a plague that killed much of its people, the Imaskar Empire captured over one hundred thousand humans through the use of two portals opened to another world. These portals were then closed and all connections between the two worlds were sealed; the captured peoples, now called the Mulan, were enslaved by the Imaskari.

foggy seal
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So there’s no specific location, then? Just the occasional portal?

modest badger
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Not that I can recall off the top of my head. There's a few doted about, connecting to different places.

molten osprey
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Tyr is THE Tyr

unkempt merlin
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A number of gods are just irl gods

molten osprey
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he and a few other Norse gods moved to FR to reestablish themselves when their power base on earth was dying out

unkempt merlin
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Yea

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Tyr was the only one who made himself "big" though

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The entirety of the Mulhorandi pantheon is the irl Egyptian pantheon from earth. Hence why the mulhorandi people are also from earth

molten osprey
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humans aren't natives to begin with

iron saffron
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Neither were orcs or elves.

calm crest
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I just like the fact that on Mystara/The Known World, gnolls were canonically created from hybridized gnomes and trolls, rather than demonically infused hyenas.

grim siren
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It's fun with Mulhorand because only like half of the Egyptian Pantheon came. The rest stayed back on Earth. Called the Pharaohic Pantheon. That is why gods like Anubis are not in the Realms .

hazy fox
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On the other hand, we have “independent setting that were inserted very later” like Kara-Tur (even if Eastern Realms TRIED to adjust to Faerun, not sure if “local region not knowing their own origin” would work with literal gods walking on earth or divination is a thing
oh, do I need to mentions that Wa persecute Chauntea worship.) and Al-Qadim (though credits due for actually considering Faerun from start to feel less weird).
And only Shou Lung and Tu Lung seems to be integrated in Grand History, but not much on other region (even Malatra, which 2E live campaign try to have crossover with Spelljammer through crash sites causing the area to get alien invasive species, complete with ogre sized scorpions, exploding frogs, patrol eating fauna, and maybe well-built locals who thrive there compared to outsiders and good AC through their hard abs).

hazy fox
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Not sure about Maztica, but the writer just went “screw it” by essentially shoving in Orcs, Ogres, and Goblins after writing themselves into corner. And probably throw it under the carpet.

digital perch
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On a scale of 1-10, how likely am I to get into a fight with a bunch of devils that my characters fiance has debts with after I cast ceremony on her and assume her debts through marriage and tell them to get bent?

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We're level 18 so pretty darn scary powerful characters, still expect to twist some nipples over this though.

rustic coyote
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Devils do care about their binding contracts id say. If your fiancee is still alive i dont see why theyd come after you though unless she died but at that point im sure the contract mentions some sort of stipulation that they get her soul if she doesnt pay it off.

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If she refused to pay it and broke the contract then I suppose it depends on how powerful the devil was. No devil is gonna risk getting killed and demoted if its too risky.

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But im sure the contract is magically bound to her soul given its from a devil.

white ravine
drowsy wraith
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Does Forgotten Realms have gunpowder?

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How are sea battles done in the Realms if no cannons and such

sharp owl
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It has a magically made substance functionally identical to gunpowder that isn't gunpowder.

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The chemistry required to make gunpowder doesn't work in the realms

vital heron
magic jackal
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So yeah what happened is Gunpowder was deemed too dangerous for Mortals, either to themselves or they threatened to progress too quickly, or it may have threatened the tenuous balance of artifice and magic which existed in FR, I don't really remember the exact reasoning for it in-universe, but Gond worked a divine-magical decree that rendered gunpowder inert.

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Gond also introduced Smoke powder to the people that would later become his Church, who carefully guard the secret of its creation. It may be that Gond didn't want Gunpowder outstripping the prominence of his and his Church's smokepowder.

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Smokepowder is almost identical to Gunpowder save for a few key differences, chief among them is that it's magical and therefore susceptible to anti magic effects.

silent atlas
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Hey if a sorcerer tries to claim the black staff do you think i can havr them attune to it but have it treated as a staff of power porbably add a buff or too

unkempt merlin
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lorewise? no I don't think it would work. rulewise it definitely wouldnt

silent atlas
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I just fined it abit asinine the the aer to the black staff has to be a wizard i wanna give my players the opertunity the inhairit it

iron saffron
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Well, because lore-wise the staff belonged to the original Blackstaff (Khelben Arunsun) who was a wizard. His soul (and subsequent holders of the Blackstaff title) are in the staff itself. Thus, they choose the heir to be a fellow wizard.

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If you want to talk about game mechanics part of the staff then head on over to #dm-discussion

molten osprey
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it's been held by sorcerors, the catch is you need to be The Blackstaff to wield the Blackstaff, it's as much a symbpl of Office as anything

magic jackal
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I'm pretty sure it's explicitly stated that the requirement is to be a skilled spellcaster, not specifically a Wizard.

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At least Lorewise.

calm crest
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Class sorceress or level title “sorceress” (8th level m-u)?

magic jackal
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What

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Class Levels.

calm crest
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Just wondering, since the staff predates the sorcerer class.

magic jackal
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Ashemmon, 5th(?) Wielder was also a Sorcerer.

grim siren
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The blackstaff khelben arunsun has always been a wizard or arch mage

magic jackal
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But yeah suffice to say Lorewise several casters who weren't wizards have been the blackstaff and have been able to wield and attune to the blackstaff.

grim siren
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While the wiki calls Tsarra Chaadren a sorceress, and That was the mechanics at the time. She was far less "Innately magical" than a 5e sorcerer. She's more akin to an Arcane Archer. She Studied Magic like a wizard true in Blackstaff tower for over a decade in true wizard fashion.

silent atlas
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Does the religion that warships bahamut have a specific name

grim siren
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Depends on the setting

white ravine
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There's also the Platnium Cadre of Tymanther, but they're all dragonborn

silent atlas
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Fearun

grim siren
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Other than the Orders mentioned above. Not really. Bahamut was very careful about not wanting temples everywhere so he really does not have a large following outside Tymanther, Chessenta, and Bloodstone Valley.

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The Talons followed a Ptarian Code. But that is as deep as organized bahamut religion goes n

silent atlas
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I have my party meeting a bahamut church in water deep for a quest line and im trying to give them a name

grim siren
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Ptarians or Xymorists would be a decent name I have used both

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(Xymor is another name for Bahamut)

silent atlas
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How is it pronounced

grim siren
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ZIE-mor

silent atlas
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I mean ptarians

grim siren
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P is silent

sturdy tide
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I have a lore question, I do ask that here, right?

unkempt merlin
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Yep

silent atlas
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"Tar ee nn" like that?

sturdy tide
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What is the lore reasoning behind feats, why does my character randomly gain the ability to talk in people's heads or move things with my mind?

vital heron
zenith dust
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it's the same as gaining a new level's abilities that aren't feats. it's not like you level up in the woods somewhere and someone hands you a manual to learn how to destroy undead or whatever

white ravine
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Heres a question. Do yugoloths have their own language?

iron saffron
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In past editions, levelling up was something that happened automatically after a long rest but you actually had to take days (if not weeks) of downtime after finding a mentor and spending X amount of gold to train.

sturdy tide
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0_0 I think I'm more confused...

iron saffron
# white ravine Heres a question. Do yugoloths have their own language?

Yes they do.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Yugoloth#Language

Yugoloths had a complex language reminiscent of the odor of rotting roses and whispering wind blowing across sand. Despite most being telepathic, they could also choose to speak, a common choice when talking to non-yugoloths to make their messages properly conveyed and something relied upon by ones like the arcanaloths. True to their backwards nature however, while most would speak to convey simple ideas and use telepathy for the important or complicated messages, yugoloths did the opposite.

spark haven
iron saffron
spark haven
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It's up to your DM to come up with an in-campaign story for why Grugnor the Barbarian suddenly has psychic powers

sturdy tide
spark haven
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if your DM allows you to take a feat that has no narrative connection to the adventures you've been having...that's on them. or you, for picking a feat that doesn't align with your characters tory

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There's no rules against it, but there can be narrative friction

sturdy tide
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Can I talk to you in DnD discussion rq?

foggy seal
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Is the Feywild like the Abyss in that it creates all the whimsical wacky creatures in it like a factory, or are Fey made some other way?

spark haven
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The Feywild is, in pretty much all representations, explicitly a reflection of some other reality

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An image distorted and taken to extremes

iron saffron
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The Feywild and Shadowfell are echoes of the Material Plane.

spark haven
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A place where the myths and dreams and nightmares of the reflected plane become manifest and multiplied

iron saffron
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The Abyss is a "living" plane that spawns demons.

spark haven
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Both places are super deadly to visit, but for different reasons

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The Fey generally don't want to harm you, they just have such an alien grasp on experiencing reality that they don't understand or care how painful it is to be turned into an immortal daffodil planted in front of your family's home

foggy seal
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Is there any way to get to the Feywild besides magical portals?

iron saffron
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Plane Shift

spark haven
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I'm sure the Astral Sea will take you there

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one way or another

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here's the problem

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you've asked "how can I travel between places that are physically impossible to travel between, without magic?"

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it's all gonna be magical portals at one level or another

iron saffron
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The Astral Plane connects the Material Plane to the Outer Planes. The Feywild and Shadowfell are part of the Inner Planes (at least in the Great Wheel cosmology).

spark haven
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just pick your poison: a god sent me, a magical accident, a magical on-purpose

iron saffron
foggy seal
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When people go to the Feywild, what’s their impression like? Amazed? Horrified? Do/have people ever come back to tell the tale? Do commoners have any idea about the Shadowfell or the Feywild or the Abyss in the Forgotten Realms?

iron saffron
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Probably from stories from parents to scare their kids or from the clergy.

rugged rivet
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How long ago in history did the blood war start? like, how old would a character need to be to have been around at its beginning?

iron saffron
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Eons ago.

rugged rivet
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my character has a weird backstory, so i wasent sure if there was a date lol

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he was around at its infancy

iron saffron
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Okay... and he's starting at level 1?

rugged rivet
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no

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also, his backstory gives him nothing. i made it be he was constantly reincarnated every time he died being zariels right hand. when she went to darkness, he lost his memory but kept being reincarnated

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i was just trying to guage his age

iron saffron
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The Blood War happend "shortly" after the Dawn War, which was the war between the gods and primordials... long before mortal races were created.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Blood_War#The_Battle_Begins

While it was unknown exactly when the first battles of the Blood War were fought, it was believed by scholars to have begun some time following the Dawn War, the conflict between the gods and primordials.

rugged rivet
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oh dang, so my character probably saw the full visage of gods

iron saffron
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Your table, your lore. Your character's backstory is irrelevant here.

rugged rivet
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yeah, i was just trying to figure out lore accurate timeline, but i guess it was never documented like that

white ravine
iron saffron
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¯_(ツ)_/¯

white ravine
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Any ideas of a good name?

iron saffron
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Yugoloth

white ravine
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That could be funny.

molten osprey
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he shouldn't know any current mortal languages. Infernal/Celestial or the primordial tongues would be about all that would be the same

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Even draconic has evolved over time, as the draconic spoken by mortals is not the same as Auld Wyrmish

molten osprey
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instead of reincarnation, he could have just been trapped untethered in the astral floating for eons

merry scaffold
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can someone help me find if there where some notable dwarfs from around 1300 (birth date)? or that where arctive somewhere around 1350 other than Bruenor

shrewd bobcat
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Are Shadar Kai bound in any way to the Elven Pantheon?

grim siren
shrewd bobcat
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Does anyone know a 5e Elvish language translator?

merry scaffold
merry scaffold
#

so basically no, they are bound to the Raven Queen

spark haven
#

you can view the user list to see moderators. the "ownership" of dnd and this server is very abstract and well beyond the scope of this channel

#

there's probably a better channel for this but for the life of me i don't know it

tame locust
#

Once upon a time on the internet, I found a website that claimed the lore of Dungeons and Dragons eventually meshed into the history of earth... something to do with Conan and Hercules, or something...

Nowadays, when I try to find out about that, I typically just learn more about the real world history of developing Dungeons and Dragons, which, while interesting, is not what I was looking for.

iron saffron
#

The old Dragon Magazines had articles with D&D NPCs, such as Elminister, chatting with real world authors, such as Ed Greenwood.

tame locust
#

I was looking more for... BC/AD earth year equivalents for events that are detailed in the D&D lore history.

iron saffron
#

There's no official crossover. There were Conan modules back in 1E but those were under license

tame locust
#

Ah. Thanks.

woven bronze
#

So we're in a homebrew campaign, so I don't know how much he follows lore of official settings, but we're in a plane of dreams. What's y'alls best guess as to what would happen to us when we sleep in the plane of dreams?

iron saffron
#

Which setting is this campaign in?

woven bronze
#

Homebrew

#

Hence the emphasis on it being a guess based on what IS official

iron saffron
#

The only Plane of Dreams I know of is a brief mention in the 3.5E Manual of hte Planes as an optional/alternative plane of existence.

woven bronze
#

Well there's the plane in Eberron

iron saffron
#

I know nothing about Eberron. /shrug

#

If it's homebrew then I resort to the default, "Ask your DM" answer then.

woven bronze
#

Fair. All I know is we're chasing a cult and they worship someone known as "The Dreamer" which my best guess would place as some kind of uber-beholder since that's the kind of creatures they deal in

iron saffron
#

I checked the Region of Dreams (as it's called in the 3.5E Manual of Planes book) and I didn't see anything about what happens when you sleep there (time moves at 1/10th the pace of the Material Plane).

woven bronze
#

Yeah, I was just asking here to see if anyone might guess as to what will happen. We got beat heavily by some dream eladrin with blink dogs, so we need to long rest

iron saffron
#

Dunno. Maybe you'll do an Inception type of a dream within a dream?

woven bronze
weak crescent
#

This may be a silly question but... There's nations like Amn, Cormyr, Calimshan, Tethyr etc but what does the Sword Coast or Savage Frontier belong to? Is it just a region that isnt part of a nation/country?

spark haven
#

"The Sword Coast" is like "North America" or "The Balkans"

#

it's just a very broad name for a big swath of land

#

it has no hard political/cultural boundaries

#

Maybe "New England" is a better analogy

#

right? a whole bunch of different states and geographies, you could theoretically count parts of Canda if you're being generous

vital heron
# weak crescent This may be a silly question but... There's nations like Amn, Cormyr, Calimshan,...

most of the sword coast is politically dominated by a confederation of City-States called the Lord's Alliance. I haven't read the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, so I don't know if there's a more specific statement there, but from what I have read I've always felt it was implied that the individual city-state borders/spheres of influence don't necessarily touch, so there's areas of ungoverned wilderness in between their territories.

grim siren
#

Yeah the Sword Coast super sucks to live in. Called the Empty Lands by some locals. It was a place you had to get through if you wanted to get anywhere of importance. While famous cities such as Waterdeep, Neverwinter, and Luskan are apart of the Sword Coast. Get 30 miles away and law and Order functionally disintegrates. Monster attacks were not only common place they were expected. This made the people of the Sword Coast far more rugged than they southern counter parts.

Dark cults, demon attacks, devilish incursions, dead empires, Shadow Kings, myriad of connections to both domains of delight and domains of dread, and worse dot the sword coast.

The Lord Alliance tries, but outside the major population centers, merc companies like the Flaming Fist are more reliable.

snow laurel
#

I got inspired reading an old "Pelor, the Burning Hate" thread, which, TLDR, is about how Pelor, good god of the sun, is actually a whitewashed version of the human-supremacist lawful evil god Zarus, who's the "god of humanity" in the same way Moradin is god of dwarves or Gruumsh is god of orcs, and I'm wondering what, if any, shenanigans can I get up to by combining that with the OneDND lore that Sigil is either the homeland or humanity or at least the first place mankind and the common language were recorded. Thoughts? I'm thinking maybe Zarus' transformation into Pelor could be tied into the Lady of Pain's hatred of gods somehow.

shrewd bobcat
#

D&D has a lot of instances of Gods taking new names/portfolios and/or splitting/merging to become new Gods.

So, If there’s no lore for it, feel free to make up your own

iron saffron
snow laurel
#

I... am doing what I want? I'm soliciting suggestions.

iron saffron
#

I suggest going to #dm-discussion if you want suggestions for lore at your table.

drifting jacinth
#

Can anyone explain me more wise why Phoenixes are so extremely dumb?

calm crest
#

They’re just embodiments of elemental energy?

#

I’m not sure there’s a better lore answer to that.

drifting jacinth
#

Huh xD because only 4 INT


calm crest
#

Puts it pretty much smack dab between fire elementals and mundane birds.

crude blaze
#

Intelligence is also just generally a weird stat in D&D

#

They want it to mean sapience, but then skills are all defined by just like
 memory and information recall.

calm crest
#

True. One day I’ll make the 1 Int Volo’s orcish wizard


#

Doesn’t matter of you’re as intelligent as bread mold, you can still use book learning to cast a mighty fine magic missile!

iron saffron
#

The phoenix along with the elder tempest, leviathan, and zaratnas are essentially great elemental beasts.

white ravine
# drifting jacinth Can anyone explain me more wise why Phoenixes are so extremely dumb?

First, intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence is actual brainpower, wisdom is more your senses. High wisdom means your more perceptive, pick up on things quicker, and notice things others dont. High intelligence means your smart, simple as.

If memory serves, elementals are much more stunted outside of their home plane, which is why their stats are like that. When you put an elemental back in its home turf, things like its intelligence would jump back up to more reasonable levels

#

For example, taking an
water elemental and putting it back in the water plane would put its intelligence at around 10. Its weird, I know.

spice radish
#

Not too far fetched. sounds similar to those studies where children do better in school when theyre in a better environment (food, sleep, other stress) When youre removed from your ideal environment, things like memory, decision-making, learning, etc take a nose dive and you seem more stupid

still drift
#

Question: Are there any events when a Red Dragon has become good? Not mind controlled to be good or magically changed but went though a series of event to change their nature to become a better person?

iron saffron
#

DM decides if a particularly red dragon isn't CE.
As per MM:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mm/introduction#Alignment

The alignment specified in a monster’s stat block is the default. Feel free to depart from it and change a monster’s alignment to suit the needs of your campaign. If you want a good-aligned green dragon or an evil storm giant, there’s nothing stopping you.

still drift
#

That does not really answer my question. I was asking if there any time in the books or novels where such a thing happened

unkempt merlin
#

So I assume you are specifically asking for settings where red dragons are always evil by default?

#

Cause there are settings where they aren't, like Eberron

iron saffron
#

Alignment or PBIF is up to the character creator, or in case of monsters/NPCS, the DM.

calm crest
#

Dragon-sized Helm of Opposite Alignment would be a rule/lore-supported way to make it happen.

magic jackal
#

Fyrentennimar was forced to become a Good-aligned creature by magic

#

I think Lux maybe too

#

Mistinarperadnacles Hai Draco was noted as an exception to Red Dragons' typical personalities

foggy seal
#

Out of the three fiend factions (Demons, devils, yugoloths) which one is the strongest/most powerful?

unkempt merlin
#

The implications lorewise is demons on a technical level. Due to being infinite.

calm crest
#

Devils are generally more individually powerful and organized, demons are far more numerous but inhibited by infighting, and daemons/yugoloths lag a ways behind as mercenary entities without any real big powerhouses.

iron saffron
#

Despite fewer in number (relatively), devils are more organized.
Demons have the numbers on their side.

foggy seal
#

And yugoloths just aren’t in the running?

iron saffron
#

They're mercenaries in the Blood War. They lack the power, numbers, or organization to be threat to either side.

calm crest
#

The leaders of the yugoloths are about half the CR of any name-brand fiends.

iron saffron
#

We won't even mention the demodands...

calm crest
#

Or hordelings.

unkempt merlin
#

The Devils and Demons have at least one God on each of their sides (well. Within each of their factions. There are many sides within each). The Yugoloths.... don't.

foggy seal
#

So why are they hired by both sides of the Blood War if they’re that weak?

iron saffron
#

They're not "weak" just weaker.

#

Yugoloths are more organized than demons and expendable for devils.

calm crest
#

Assuming the lore has been retained from AD&D, daemons/yugoloths also have the benefit of always reincarnating roughly as powerful as they “deserve” to be, whereas other slain fiends can either die permanently or come back at the bottom of the food chain again.

grim siren
#

Not to mention their ability to be infiltrators a demon prince hires a band of yugoloths who then sneak into a foward camp of devils while posing as mercenaries to that devil and then report all the info back.

elder sage
#

When was the giant pit added to the Yawning Portal Inn in Waterdeep? Was it added with Tales from the Yawning Portal, or before that?

Back in the City System boxed set (and other early Waterdeep materials) the well was locked away in a back room. That well remains, but is now a secondary entrance and the big one in the main tavern room was added.

#

Alright, I think I've found the first reference to the larger 40 foot well - the 1991 Ruins of Undermountain boxed set

hidden current
#

is it true most campaigns take place in western faerun?

unkempt merlin
#

Short answer: impossible to say

#

Not super a lore question though

vital heron
hidden current
#

ok i should have said published ok, so since most published ones are in the sword coast should i just stick with a map of it or would it be best to get a map of all faerun, ps i am talking about a map to put on my wall

spark haven
#

"should" is a loaded word, is this for reference or for fun?

#

you won't find a decent wall-sized print that's also factually worthwhile

#

you could probably find plenty of stylized worldmaps that'd scale up to poster size

vital heron
magic jackal
#

There's also the interactive map of faerun, you can just google that

#

it's pretty decent.

#

online tho

sharp owl
hidden current
hidden current
eager bay
#

what's the least memoriable part in D&D lore

modest badger
#

Well no one would really remember that, would they?
Questions like 'what is the least memorable' or 'most complicated' lore aren't exactly great questions. Way to vague, not really fun to answer.

hidden current
#

is negative energy and necrotic energy the same thing?

eager bay
#

Where does weave come from.

vital heron
# hidden current is negative energy and necrotic energy the same thing?

You could argue that they are equivalent, because they both pertain to the negative energy plane. However, I interpret them as slightly different things, in the same way that positive and radiant energies are slightly different - positive heals, whereas radiant, still a positive-aligned energy, does not usually heal the living.

The reason why I would consider Negative and Necrotic energy as different is that Negative Energy is said to heal/repair the undead, while Necrotic Damage, at least in 5e, does not.

So, if we are taking inspiration from the game mechanics (which is not necessarily the wisest course in a lore conversation), I would consider them related, but slightly different things.

sharp owl
sharp owl
hidden current
mellow moth
#

how can i map real life europe to fantasy

so far i have:
dwarves:
regular dwarves for germany
halflings for england
giants for scandinavia
elves:
various types throughout scotland (mid concentration), ireland (high concentration), wales (mid concentration), and brittany (low concentration)

my brother suggested centaurs for hungary, but idk about finland or the slavic nations

my only rule for this is to not represent anyone with an "evil" race bc some of the more sensitive/proud members of that culture will get mad at me

spark haven
#

Gonna be hard to do this without stereotyping someone

iron saffron
mellow moth
#

oh ok

void whale
#

What happens when a Devil dies on the prime material plane. Does it cease to exist? Does it reappear in hell?

#

does the method of killing matter?

harsh quest
#

I think it just dies

#

And...

#

No?

#

Unless you exorcise it maybe...

void whale
#

Looking for the lore here. It doesnt sound like you know.

harsh quest
#

Thanks... But yea I have no idea

iron saffron
harsh quest
#

Ah

void whale
#

aside from trapping their spirit

#

can they be destroyed entirely?

#

Can they be destroyed entirely whilest in hell?

iron saffron
#

If they're summoned they're not at risk of true death. However, if they die on their native plane (Hell) then they're dead-dead.

void whale
#

what if they entered the prime material through a gate spell or something but were not summoned

#

or portal

iron saffron
#

That's more risky for them.

white ravine
spark haven
#

Barring exceptional circumstances, I imagine like being directly smited by a deity or something, yeah a devil just wakes up as a lemurian or whatever they're called, the little soul worms

iron saffron
#

Each time they die on another plane they face demotion for failing a mission, so devils are more risk averse.

regal wraith
#

How often do people go into Undermountain?

void whale
#

not to meantion theres a tavern in waterdeep that's basically themed around its entrance to undermountain and adventurers are always going in

#

tons of them die

#

The tavern is the Yawning Portal i think

#

it's probably the only well known entrance. the rest arent known by the average citizen of waterdeep

regal wraith
#

If you sat there, how many people do you think would come in and out on any given day?

void whale
#

I dont think a group goes in every day. more like one or two adventuring parties a week. but im basing that off some half remembered dialogue from a neverwinter nights game

grim siren
#

It costs 1gp a person to get lowered into the portal. And 1 gp to get hoisted back out again. Around the 50 feet point (15 meters), the well grew completely dark and on reaching the floor, one entered a sandy floor with stone walls decorated with shields. These shields were rusty to the point of uselessness but for one purpose: people who wanted to be drawn up hit these shields and the noise made that way was considered a sign that people below wanted to be pulled up from the dungeon.

void whale
#

I think passage to and from skullport (through secret passages) is way more common than adventurers entering undermountain through the yawning portal though

grim siren
#

Most def, people entered the portal to loot and for the adventure. You would go through skullport for literally anything else.

regal wraith
#

hmmm yeah I can imagine a lot of people sneaking by into skullport but don't really have an idea of the turnover of the dungeon level. it indicates that the patrons might wager on adventurers going down (as if that is commonplace) but i kinda feel like parties entering would not be an everyday thing

void whale
#

skullport was basically a thriving black market and underdark trading hub

#

yeah lots of reason to travel in between. cool history there. but yeah. from what i remember, when "i" went into undermountain, it had been since last week since the last party went in. that implies at least a couple days ago. neverwinter nights 2, i think

hidden current
#

question, how did talbor zazrek become a high lord when he was an ex adventurer?

sharp owl
#

What about being an ex adventurer would make him ineligible for becoming a high lord?

hidden current
#

well wouldnt high lords usually be nobles rather than adventurers?

unkempt merlin
#

Adventurers are often nobles, why wouldn't the reverse be able to be true?

hidden current
#

ok i guess so

#

plus it says he is a puppet ruler used by the zhentarim so that probably helped him

kindred spindle
#

What peaceful animals can be found in forests?

unkempt merlin
#

In a specific setting or?

kindred spindle
#

a forest?

unkempt merlin
#

I meant a specific dnd setting. creatures in a forest isn't exactly a lore question so I wasn't sure if you had a specific thing in mind

iron saffron
#

This channel is about official D&D lore of official campaign settings (Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Spelljammer, etc)

hidden current
#

not entirely sure if this counts as a lore question but how many miles is thornhold to waterdeep?

iron saffron
hidden current
#

got it thanks

white ravine
fringe dagger
#

If there is one thing I don’t like about new Dragonlance, it’s that there are no protagonistic Dragon Riders in it unlike the original one.

timber nova
#

What’s your favorite cosmology variant?

timber nova
#

Ie great wheel, great axis etc

white ravine
#

Wheel

molten osprey
#

i usually default to the wheel, but as a DM i play it pretty fast and loose. Crystal Spheres Floating in a disc formation the Astral, intersecting disc formation of mythological/alignment based, elemental in the gooey center. That said, it's beyond the understanding of a character so alot of how it works depends on their own perceptions

iron saffron
#

Great Wheel. I didn't care for 4E's Great Axis.

calm crest
#

I’m partial to Great Wheel with phlogiston separating Wildspace rather than the 5e hybrid Great Wheel with Astral Sea. Although I also kinda like the unique and kinda wacky BECMI cosmology.

hidden current
#

lore question relating to the movie, dont tieflings usually have pink or red skin? why was the tiefling druid's skin the same as a humans

#

is it because she had human parents?

iron saffron
#

¯_(ツ)_/¯

#

Movie isn't game lore.

vital heron
final lichen
#

Tiefling skin spans the whole range of human skin tone in addition to red tones.

hidden current
#

oh ok my bad

molten osprey
#

FR lore makes them normally human in skin tone

#

Purple babies have an oddly higher infant mortality rate

modest badger
# molten osprey Purple babies have an oddly higher infant mortality rate

Not canonical lore, just your edgy inference.

The canon lore for 5e FR is this:

During the Spellplague, Asmodeus consumed the divine spark of Azuth and thereby achieved godhood. Subsequently, Asmodeus and a coven of warlocks, the Toril Thirteen, performed a rite wherein the archdevil claimed all tieflings in the world as his own, cursing them to bear "the blood of Asmodeus." This act marked all tieflings as "descendants" of the Lord of the Nine Hells, regardless of their true heritage, and changed them into creatures that resembled their supposed progenitor.
(...)
Since the ritual that spread the curse of Asmodeus a century ago, tieflings have been born on Faerûn that belong to other infernal bloodlines, but those that bear the mark of the archdevil (and their descendants) remain the most numerous examples of their kind by far.

Also from SCAG, 'Varient tieflings' of other infernal bloodlines were described as:

Your tiefling might not look like other tieflings. Rather than having the physical characteristics described in the Player's Handbook, choose 1d4+1 of the following features: small horns; fangs or sharp teeth; a forked tongue; catlike eyes; six fingers on each hand; goatlike legs; cloven hoofs; a forked tail; leathery or scaly skin; red or dark blue skin; cast no shadow or reflection; exude a smell of brimstone.

-SCAG

hidden current
#

calathanorgoth is refured to as male in dragons of faerun but as female in cult of the dragon. which is it?

molten osprey
#

Tiefling
Regions: Mulhorand, Unther, Thay.
Racial Feats: Deepening Darkness, Fiendish Bloodline, Improved
Energy Resistance, Outsider Wings, Planetouched Animal
Affinity.
Level Adjustment: +1.
Carrying the taint of evil in their very souls, tieflings are persecuted and feared in most parts of Faerûn. Those with gross
physical alterations are often killed at birth, and even those
with less noticeable physical traits are sometimes killed by their
own horrified parents. Occasionally a tiefling is born to someone
indifferent to its appearance, determined to redeem it, willing to
exploit it, or evil enough not to care about its nature, and these
tieflings are most likely to survive to adulthood. Most tieflings
are evil, but a few have managed to overcome their bloodline’s
influence to make their own choices about good and evil.

modest badger
#

Varient tieflings are closer to how tieflings were first presented in 2e, with the popular 'Tiefling appearance table' where you could get very strange appearances from various shades of skin, nails, eyes, or features like spines, feathers, scales, and strange limbs like tails, hooves, wings so on.

3.5 kept some of that variance, but also went more wings, hooves, tails.

4e is were we get tieflings as they are depicted now- red skinned, large tailed, forehead horns, an intentional design choice:

A common origin meant we could give tieflings a unified appearance, and that look could be edgy instead of ugly. This cohesive origin allows players to imagine what their individual tiefling is like, as they would with a human, without worrying about a list of possible devilish traits. Further, knowing that every tiefling shares a similar body shape makes it easier to write new material for tieflings.

  • Wizards presents Races and Classes
#

Ah so my bad not your edgy inference, but 3.5 being edgy. Conflicts with lore from 4e onward though, where a majority of tieflings in FR are as you see in the artwork onwards.

modest badger
#

Could also be an in universe biasm- seeing as the male pronouns come from the prose written about them in universe, could be people assuming that the dragon is male, when in reality she is female.

hidden current
#

so bassically no way to know for sure

cerulean lagoon
#

Do Liches need their head in order to control their body?
Say theres a weapon that crushes the head of a Lich, would the Lich be out of business until it can rebuild the head or what would happen? Less a rule question (as liches can not receive critical hits) and more of a question regarding the mechanism behind lichdom in regarding their body control.

hidden current
#

calathanorgoth is a dracolich so dont know if he/she has a cloaca anymore to inspect

modest badger
#

Nor is gender based on such even still.

warped epoch
#

What would you call a hybrid of a mage and healer?

modest badger
#

a bard

#

Less sassy answer-
Mage and Healer are not defined classes in D&D 5e.
Mage in older editions typically referred to an arcane spellcaster but typically a Wizard (especially in AD&D, particularly 2e). 'Healer' was technically a class in 3.5, but from a supplement book.

However if you mean mage = arcane caster and healing magic = divine, then Bard would be the answer, as they are the only 'Arcane class' to have healing magic traditionally, which is typically divine magic only. (And now Divine Soul Sorcerer and a few others potentially)

The line between Arcane and Divine is bit more blurred now.

timber nova
#

The material plane covering the skin, the ethereal plan being the blood, the elemental plane being muscle, the astral sea being the skeleton, and the realms being organs

scenic beacon
#

hi everyone. where can i find a current and good copy of the map for FR? i keep seeing postings using pre-spplg.

hollow raptor
#

Some pretty good fan made versions for sale out there on Etsy.

modest badger
timber nova
#

The material planes(plural) are disk shaped “worlds”(complete with continents and oceans) that rise from plateaus that jut out from the ocean. These plateaus along with the underdark that connects them cover the gods body

#

The inhabitants of the material planes generally believe that there’s is the only one to exist

iron saffron
#

The Material Plane has many worlds. Spelljamming ships is a way to travel between the worlds' Crystal Spheres through the phlogiston (pre-5E Spelljammer)

timber nova
#

That’s the thing about my universe, it is possible to physically travel to all the worlds, but it’s incredibly difficult to do so without portals, which lead to people think that the worlds are in separate dimensions

iron saffron
#

Where are you getting the source for multiply Material Planes?

#

Well, this channel is about official D&D lore not homebrew lore.

timber nova
#

Oh okay here should I post it then?

iron saffron
#

Sigil is the City of Doors that leads to various worlds/planes.
There's also the Infinite Staircase that leads to infinite worlds/planes.

iron saffron
foggy seal
#

When a Giant Barbarian that’s raging becomes Large, how much does their height change by, and do the rules for jumping change?

white ravine
foggy seal
#

Oh wait, I clicked lore by accident

white ravine
foggy seal
#

😅

restive summit
#

Do Psionics use the Weave?

#

Like, would Psionics work in an Antimagic Field? (Lore-wise not rule-wise)

white ravine
#

Psionics work fine in antimagic

white ravine
unkempt merlin
magic jackal
#

As I recall, as recently as 3.5e, creatures which used Psionics were treated as their own Weaves.

#

and it functioned more like Ki than like traditional Spellcasting.

white ravine
#

Yup.

iron saffron
wet crown
#

What’s with ettercaps?

white ravine
wet crown
waxen ibex
#

Hi. Quick question here.
In Forgotten Realm Setting, Is there any well-known books about military art(like "Art of War" in our world) or famous strategist (like "Sun Tzu")?
(I want to make my new character quotes such things. Of course I can made up such stuff but if anyone already established in the setting, I want to use it in some occasion)

grim siren
waxen ibex
shy nexus
summer latch
#

So, I recently found out there are giants that live in the Underdark... are there any known settlements I can look at as an example? It seems like it would be difficult for giants to live comfortably in the Underdark since they can't really navigate the tunnels that well.

vital heron
modest badger
#

Stone Giants as well, but then they can do things with stone.

#

And fire giants in magma caverns and such

crude blaze
#

Could be wrong though, I haven’t looked the stats over in a hot minute

#

Either way, creatures that generally reside long-term in the Underdark are acclimated to it. And a lot of the Underdark isn’t just tunnels, and many tunnels don’t have to be just humanoid sized.

white ravine
#

It's also important to note that underdark tunnels are huge. It's not too hard for a giant to bumble around down there, at least compared to average caves where even a normal person gets stuck

median berry
#

speaking of Gracklstugh, I wonder just how humanoid the Spider king is, if you wild shape into him, can you wear any EQ because of his "Vaguely humanoid" shape?

white ravine
#

I wouldn't allow players to wildshape into the spider king, since they're more a...special case.

#

It'd be like if you could wildshape into a shark but also grow legs

obsidian gate
#

wildshape is not meant to replicate specific NPC characters. its meant for regular examples of a species.

iron saffron
#

Wild shape is limited to Beasts any way.

obsidian gate
#

see also "Onyx" from Aquisition Incorporated.

white ravine
iron saffron
#

I don't know that particular character.

white ravine
#

Mutant two headed spider...thing. Vaguely described as a drider but...worse?

#

It's vague.

iron saffron
#

Shouldn't it be a Monstrosity then?

obsidian gate
iron saffron
#

¯_(ツ)_/¯

#

Well, this is outside of the context of Lore anyway...

white ravine
iron saffron
#

Where's its statblock? I couldn't find any reference to it when I googled and checked the FR wiki.

white ravine
#

At least, that's where its referenced

iron saffron
#

Ah, that I have.

silent atlas
#

Hey how likly is a dragon to fight to the death to defend its lair

iron saffron
#

Check out Fizban's or the older editions' Dragonomicon for dragon lore.

#

Treasure can be replaced, its life can't. Most would rather flee (and probably be shamed it got beaten by adventurers in its own home).

white ravine
#

A red dragon for example would almost always prefer to die fighting than survive by running

#

Admitting they've been beaten for them is worse than a violent death.

silent atlas
#

I was thinking of having chomatic dragon make its lair in a abandoned bahamut temple

median berry
white ravine
#

Premium real estate

pseudo tide
#

Are changelings able to tell who other changelings are if they are disguised?

white ravine
silent atlas
#

I was thinking od doing a brown or blues dragon burowes into the temple room they in to inisiate the fight maby with them fighting it multiple time throughout the temple as it flees the room and goes to another after taking damage

white ravine
#

What climate is the temple in?

iron saffron
silent atlas
#

Desert 🏜 potentially calishman

median berry
white ravine
silent atlas
steady verge
#

Are there any clans of dragons and/or dragon riders in any major D&D settings like Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, or anything like that?

#

Need inspo

white ravine
#

Dragonlance is built on the back of that idea

narrow hinge
#

How do I upload pictures

iron saffron
#

You can't.

#

And that's not a lore question.

ionic rivet
#

You can put the image on a file sharing service like google drive and share the link to it that way but yes, not a lore question.

narrow hinge
#

I was gonna upload a picture of my cat and ask if they could 1v1 Zariel

iron saffron
#

Not a lore question still.

white ravine
ionic rivet
#

Posting things that are generally off-topic to the channel you post in is a quick way to earn warnings from the mods.

thin parrot
#

What’s the lore behind curse of strand’s spear of kavan?

white ravine
thin parrot
thin parrot
white ravine
#

Not good form to ask for information about a campaign your in

iron saffron
#

This would be meta-knowledge and your DM wouldn't appreciate it...

steady verge
#

Yeah sorry but you shouldn’t be asking questions like that

#

Because then you have a advantage over other players

steady verge
#

Completely forgot Dragonlance existed even though I have the campaign

zenith dust
#

you can ask whatever lore question you want, we aren't policing your table

steady verge
#

Is there stats for like, a minor Devil Lord that would probably challenge 3 level 10 players a Bard, Cleric, and Fighter, respectively, but also not TPK them?

#

He’s a dictator of the major city of the campaign, and there trying to liberate it

#

And yes

#

The boss will be the same size as the players, and look like just some guy, as a little twist, they’ll talk, then the fight will begin

#

I’ve been hyping him up as some giant grotesque abomination, but when they finally get there and walk in, they’ll find a man that looks like a human, completely alone on his throne

#

But obviously it will (hopefully) be a genuinely challenging fight

white ravine
steady verge
gray sand
#

Huh?

vital heron
#

Different person with a similar name, I believe.

steady verge
# gray sand Huh?

I’m Dungeon Master Acererak, while you appear to not have that title in front

#

Sorry for that confusion

indigo ginkgo
#

So what's the relationship with Shadowfell & The Negative Materiel Plane? Does the Negative Plane exist within Shadowfell or vice versa? Or is Shadowfell a span of Negativity? I have a hard time picturing the planes sometimes.

magic jackal
#

The Negative Energy Plane is a sort of foundational plane of the universe, taken in aggregate with the Positive Energy Plane and the Four Elemental Planes, make up everything else.

#

At some point in the past, energy from the Negative Energy Plane was siphoned into a demiplane known as the Plane of Shadow, which created the Shadowfell.

#

I don't remember if the Negative Energy Plane still exists as its own independent plane or not, or is part of some big elemental soup, but either way, that's the relationship between them.

#

Neither is within the other one, they're separate, death energy from the negative plane was channeled into the proto-shadowfell and made it what it is today.

indigo ginkgo
#

Ok, thx for the concise & thorough answer.

#

Do these planes exist in vacuum or do they come together as a whole to make up the cosmos? Like, is it fair to say that Negative Plane is kind of like Dark Matter in the Astral Sea or are they separate?

magic jackal
#

The planes are all separate and order themselves in a sort of system of layered planes that makes up the multiverse.

#

Think of it like a bunch of concentric spheres upon which rest little bubbles of separate realities that have a complex and dynamic interplay as they each affect one another.

#

👍

indigo ginkgo
#

Actually, on the other hand I'm reading the Dungeon Master's Guide and new questions constantly bubble into my head so I might come back to ask a new question just to understand what I'm reading.

#

Elemental Chaos is the elemental planes bleeding into one another, yes?

#

No?

magic jackal
indigo ginkgo
#

nice.

unkempt merlin
#

One can reach the Negative Plane from the Shadowfell in places where the barrier between the planes is thin. Stepping onto the Negative Plane is almost always fatal since the plane sucks the life and soul from creatures, annihilating most at once.

thorny phoenix
#

FR, 1488 DR: When people travel from the Moonsea region to the Neverwinter area do they take the roads south of Anauroch or they could dare to travel through Anauroch? I believe the Black Road through Anauroch would be considered generally much more dangerous than alternatives, right?

main saffron
#

can hexblades get their weapons from a entity outside of the swadowfell?

white ravine
#

Hexblades are generally shadowfell exclusive

unkempt merlin
iron saffron
indigo ginkgo
balmy pulsar
#

Question for the lore people:

Which god in the multiverse/forgotten realms would be most likely to have drugs/intoxicating substances in their portfolio?

calm crest
#

If you’re going multiverse, Dionysus has been in the outer planes since 1e.

compact frost
#

So- what’s up with the weave?

iron saffron
#

What about it?

compact frost
#

Is it just like mana, where it’s a source of energy like electricity

#

Or is it like a tangible product?

iron saffron
#

It's the manipulation of raw magic of the multiverse.

compact frost
#

So it’s just like a form energy

#

Much like heat, electricity etc.?

iron saffron
#

Arcane magic

compact frost
#

Alright so

#

I feel like just for me personally

iron saffron
#

Fire, electricity, etc are elemental energies.

compact frost
#

That doesn’t make sense

compact frost
#

But is it like the sort of thing where “it exists, and we can’t figure out why” sorta deal?

iron saffron
#

Well, there are different types of magic in D&D, such as arcane and divine.

compact frost
#

I was under the impression that divine casters drew power from their patrons/religions

#

Which in turn drew power from the weave

#

Like warlocks strike a bargain with their patrons to use x amount of weave energy

iron saffron
#

The Weave was considered many things, including Mystra's body, the source of magic, all the studies of casters, arcane and divine alike, and the many energies and forces that existed around the planes.

Importantly, the Weave was not magic itself, but rather a force by which its flows could be channeled, and a means by which magic could be understood and harnessed.

compact frost
#

Wait

#

I sort of get it now

#

So it’s like sort of an umbrella term I guess?

iron saffron
#

I'm correcting myself.

compact frost
#

Thanks so much for trying to explain this to me

iron saffron
#

The Weave was also a great narrative way inbetween editions to explain the new/different magic system introduced when a new D&D edition came out.

compact frost
spark haven
#

Sure, which one? it's been, what, 40 years?

#

The Weave is at different times a deity, a sort of omnipresent energy field, it can be a sort of coterminous pseudo-plane that embodies and is the purest form of motive creative energy

bleak vortex
#

Would a Metallic dragon (silver specifically) agree with the end justifying the means, so doing something morally questionable to do good?
For example kidnapping someone innocent to stop an evil family member to do something bad they have planned

iron saffron
#

This is less about lore and more on the DM to decide what the individual dragon would do.

Silver dragons are Lawful Good so they wouldn't harm the innocent person.

obsidian gate
#

Not all silver dragons have the exact same morals. They have. Strong tendency towards lawful good but ultimately, it’s up to the individual.

calm crest
#

And hypothetically, I could definitely see a negative utilitarian silver dragon still falling under the lawful good umbrella.

obsidian gate
#

And of course this is also true just for forgotten realms and a couple of other settings. Eberron dragons will have any combination of alignment and color for example

bleak vortex
maiden mortar
calm crest
viscid dock
#

What are the consequences of a person selling his soul via pact to a devil? Where do these souls go in their afterlife?

iron saffron
#

Which campaign setting?

viscid dock
#

Faerun

#

I mean forgotten realms

iron saffron
#

Souls from the Material Plane go to the Fugue Plane where they await for the proxies of their gods to pick them up to take them to their deities' domains. Devils will try to persuade souls, especially evil ones, to follow them to Hell with the promise of being turned into devils (eventually).

#

If a mortal has signed away their soul with a devil then the devil will get that soul once the mortal has died.

viscid dock
#

Interesting. I really gotta learn more about that.

white ravine
#

A better mortal life for an eternity of slavery, there's a reason why devils say to read the fine print.

crude blaze
#

There are some scenarios where a mortal might barter to be a bit higher up on the rank, but that I think typically comes with not just selling your soul, but actively serving the infernal forces.

viscid dock
#

There is a situation where a player has met a demon on a mission. It was prohibited from harming mortals, but he is tempting that player with powers in exchange for his soul. And I'm thinking about how to play it out correctly.

spark haven
#

I don't think a demon would be interested in souls, but they would be interested in leveraging a mortal's power or connections for their own ends

white ravine
spark haven
#

which is whatever specific twisted thing they like being gross about

white ravine
iron saffron
viscid dock
#

Well, it didn't asked yet. I was planning on that matter and also researching how devils do their pacts and what exactly they seek in exchange.

#

Devil* I meant devil

white ravine
iron saffron
#

Devils are created from evil souls while demons are spawn from the Abyss itself. That's why devils want to procure as many souls a possible since the don't have the numbers to fight the demons in the Blood War.

spark haven
#

That's the thing about devils. They're lawful. They will honor the contract you signed

white ravine
#

Its easy to try and cheese the party, but a group will immediately draw weapons if they notice the slightest thing amiss.

spark haven
#

YOu just gotta read the ding dang thing

white ravine
#

Not even if it was intentional, just if they notice. Doesn't even need to be a real mistake dndLol

#

To a player, the value of a soul is really not well codified for them. Until they lose it, they don't realize how much they've lost.

crude blaze
#

One way I’ve used devils is so that they don’t actually offer something for the person’s soul, but instead the soul is collateral.

iron saffron
#

Think of devils like loan sharks. They give you the power/gold up front but when it's time to collect...

crude blaze
#

The devil gives the person what they want, so long as they can complete some long-form task for them, then they will secretly undermine the task start to finish.

ionic star
#

In myth, devils will frequently offer to accept another's soul in place of yours as payment, with the hook being that by dooming another for your own benefit you doom yourself to hell anyway.

crude blaze
#

Then when the individual can’t complete their end of the bargain, the devil collects.

ionic star
#

(so they get a 2-for-one)

#

I guess that doesn't quite carry to D&D cosmologies though

white ravine
#

The big kicker with that though is that the other participant must be willing to it.

ionic star
#

Come to think of it, is there typically any way to null a devil's bargain in D&D settings? Narratively there probably should be. I'm used to Ars Magica's explicitly Abrahamic mythic Europe, where no matter what hole you've managed to dig salvation though God is probably available.

white ravine
#

(DESCENT INTO AVERNUS SPOILERS)

||The leader of a city manages to doom its entire population by tricking them in this way. He made them all swear into an oath to defend the city, binding the people to the city itself. He then made a deal to place an unholy device to define the limits of the city, and then forfeited it all to devils. Since they consented although unknowingly, they all are doomed.||

white ravine
#

If you ask for a magic item in exchange for your soul and the devil doesn't give it, your free to go.

ionic star
#

I mean for a deal where the devil's end is already fulfilled

#

It's presumably possible, because devil's aren't, like, transcendent divinities in most cosmologies. I imagine some other direct application of divine power can do it

white ravine
#

Depends on what you offered to give them, and any loopholes possible.

#

Generally though, no devil is gonna get tricked by anything that isn't absurdly mega-brained.

iron saffron
#

You have to out-lawyer the devl.

white ravine
#

Outlawyering an immortal being who's entire job is making deals is...nigh impossible.

ionic star
#

I'm not talking about finding a loophole and getting out legally, I'm talking about having a third party intercede and break the magic bond the deal represents. This is possible in Ars Magica through God (and in fact in Ars Magica the deals aren't even magical at all. It's just that the sin of making one and never repenting dooms you)

white ravine
iron saffron
#

3.5E's Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells has the Harvester Devil (Falxugon) that is basically the lawyer devil.

white ravine
#

Pact Primeval, 'Read the fine print.' as Asmodeus likes to say.

#

Once a deal is struck, your not getting out of it without a breach of contract. It's why the paper's there

#

If a god could swoop in anytime a mortal was about to pay their dues, Asmodeus wouldn't be in business

crude blaze
#

One of my favorite things about DiA was designing devil contracts

iron saffron
#

Gods are too busy/above to deal with mortals breaking a contract with a devil.

white ravine
ionic star
#

It's a shame that D&D settings don't tend to have particularly detailed cosmogonies because that's what would inform what devils actually are and where their power fundamentally originates. I've assumed in most settings I've read that they're roughly the same type of entity as divinities or planar entities, depending on setting, but that doesn't explain why their deals would hold any special power

iron saffron
#

What do you mean not detailed?

#

[Looks at my older edition books]

crude blaze
#

There’s an entire section on the Blood War in MToF

#

It does a pretty good job of describing fiends’ place in the cosmology of the Great Wheel

#

(Or at least of devils’ and demons’. Yugoloths still haven’t gotten a lot of love.)

white ravine
#

Its not even a long section compared to older editions with entire books dedicated to it

north vault
crude blaze
north vault
#

(Also, I would avoid using the word "Abrahamic", many take offence at it)

white ravine
white ravine
iron saffron
crude blaze
#

I think they were just replying to someone who said it first

north vault
iron saffron
#

Got it.

ionic star
#

Religious opinions and debates are, I was just making a reference to how things worked in Ars Magica, where the cosmology is strongly influenced by real world religions.

north vault
#

In any case, the concept of faith as a redeeming power is not exactly part of the usual D&D-style fantasy, or Tolkien and Pulp-derived fantasy. So I wouldn't expect that to work when it comes to devils.

#

The only way to get out of a devil contract is loophole abuse, or proof that the contract was breached.

#

And the contract itself probably contains a procedure that must be followed in case of a breach.

white ravine
#

It's why all devils work on *consensual * contracts. They can't force you into a contract with violence (directly) or lie about the terms of it

north vault
#

Or you know, just... Plane shift to a chaotic plane. They don't care about contracts and rules there.

#

You can probably get help

white ravine
north vault
#

I mean, they do have rules, but I think devil contracts are considered morally abhorrent in every chaotic plane.

white ravine
north vault
#

True, forgot that bit of lore.

north vault
#

There are certainly creatures that can grab your soul when you die in a chaotic plane and prevent it from going into the Nine Hells

#

Though I must say that not all devil contracts are Faustian "we get your soul" style

white ravine
#

Well yeah

#

But as for the other things like gold payments, Orthons exist for that reason

north vault
#

Fun fact: Did you know that Faustian contracts only appeared in pop culture around the sixteenth century? There are no examples of it before that in literature or folklore

ionic star
north vault
#

But I mean the "soul contract"

ionic star
#

Oh where the soul itself is traded explicitly?

north vault
#

Yes! Plenty of examples of creatures tempting men towards some behaviours and giving them rewards for it, but the idea of a soul trade is a very recent one in culture.

iron saffron
north vault
#

But back to devils: In D&D, devils are not about opposing goodness, they are about order. Asmodeus is not so much a personification of evil as he is a personification of authoritarianism. Kind of like how Jack Kirby made Darkseid an allegory for... Well, if you've ever read Jack Kirby, you know what he was about.

#

(The man who created... Basically half of all superheroes you can think of)

ionic star
#

With the Forgotten Realms cosmogony Asmodeus isn't some separate more primeval class of entity than other divinities, so there's still the question of where the power of the bargain comes from.

north vault
ionic star
#

forgotten realms isn't where I know most though. It looks like maybe the explanation here is old magical law the primeval divinities created?

north vault
#

The idea being that the Modron Prime served as an arbiter in the rules the devils established.

white ravine
#

It's hard to say what exactly he is, which is almost as bad as the truth.

north vault
#

But you know, at the end of the day, every law, every custom and every bargain is enforced by violence. The ability to commit violence is all that you need.

#

The primeval laws of the gods is just another word for the rule of the strongest

ionic star
#

not necessarily. Magically enforced law, where it occurs in settings, is more akin to programming than human law, and the enforcement isn't violence its the effect itself.

white ravine
#

Well...not exactly for devils. Their law is literally held together with threats of violence.

#

If you disobey the devil's law, you get beaten to death.

ionic star
#

The effect that draws a doomed soul to the nine hells doesn't seem to be enforced by violence

white ravine
#

Oh, you mean that

#

Yeah no that's not enforced by violence

north vault
#

I would argue that drawing a soul to the nine hells is an inherently violent act.

#

But it was obviously not what you meant

#

And I need to stop being literal-minded.

white ravine
#

It's...'violent' in the literal sense, yeah. Not in the more punchy-kick type of violence

ionic star
#

it's a semantic point that isn't really relevant to what I was saying, yeah.

#

the point is that it's a magical effect effect that is typically portrayed as transcendent over other magic (arcane or divine) and so the question basically well, how does that work?

north vault
#

What I mean is that there is a deal between the Nine Hells, as a political entity, and other entities in other planes. The reason that deal isn't broken is because violence is threatened.

ionic star
#

If Asmodeus is a god, then the effect is just a divine effect and should be able to be directly countered by other gods

north vault
#

You're right. But Asmodeus has deals and agreements enforced by the threat of violence.

white ravine
north vault
#

Sure, another god could say "screw you, I'm keeping that one" but it's dangerous to be the one to break the peace.

ionic star
#

certainly that deal isn't respected by the Abyss, so why can't they seize a soul otherwise destined for the nine hells?

#

Even the Pact Primeval doesn't involve the Abyss as a party because they were the target of it

tame locust
# ionic star Come to think of it, is there typically any way to null a devil's bargain in D&D...

Eh... You may want to include some fine print. If they have contracts they're likely Lawful, and things may have to adhere to laws beyond the devil's contract.

If you fulfill your end, you may be good. They may assume that your part is impossible, but underestimate a mere mortal.
Similarly, if they don't fulfill their end, because they often assume they won't have to... and because they can lie to get what they want...

As stated earlier, proving that a devil did not hold up their end of the bargain can be tough. Fortunately, D&D lore is full of gods, demigods, heroes, upright or fallen, all of whom might have a bone to pick with one or more demon for almost any reason.

north vault
white ravine
north vault
#

For gods as with people, the absence of conflict is preferable to the presence of justice, to (mis)quote a certain author.

white ravine
#

Asmodeus made a deal a long time ago that since all devil deals are by consenting mortals, they're at fault for whatever fates are prescribed to them by their deals. As such, he's not doing anything wrong except following the word of law and therefore shouldn't be interfered with. Primus (being an entity of pure law) agreed, and gave him his Ruby Rod which will beat devils that defy that fact to death.

#

A devil deal is always something a mortal opts into, not something forced upon them or tricked into.

north vault
#

Actually whether or not Primus gave him the Ruby Rod varies depending on the source but yes

ionic star
#

Law is only one part of the primal forces of typical D&D settings, so it's not clear to me why this would be relevant to powers tied to good or chaos

north vault
#

It's not relevant to the powers of chaos.

#

They don't care.

ionic star
#

Like, what stops a good god from seizing a soul away from a devil's contract?

north vault
#

It's as simple as that.

white ravine
north vault
#

Well, not all gods signed it. Some weren't here for it, some weren't concerned.

white ravine
#

...Wait, im getting my terms mixed up.

#

Im mixing up asmodeus' trial and pact primeval dndLol

#

Okay, the ACTUAL pact primeval story.

#

Legend goes that asmodeus was once an angel, created with many others to help fend off the demons once they began to spawn from the abyss.

north vault
#

(This is one version, other versions were published)

white ravine
#

He was the best at killing them but the many battles changed him and his companions, leaving them disfigured and more demonic by gaining those traits to help better fight off the demons.

#

The other celestials grew fearful of Asmodeus and his kin, and he was put on trial. Asmodeus helped write the very laws he cited in his defense, stating the #1 goal of law is to destroy chaos, noting his appearance change was a sacrifice to defend the others. They couldn't refute his claims, so they let him go.

#

The gods went back to focus on the mortals, and set out precautions to keep the demons away from their creations such as mountains and oceans. However the gods never anticipated when the mortals began to tunnel through the mountains and sail across the oceans and lead the demons to their little paradise.

north vault
#

(See? That's why chaos is better. Those lawful types will abandon any conviction and debase themselves at any opportunity if it's convenient)

white ravine
#

Asmodeus came to help them by noting that while the free will to choose law over chaos was important, mortals will always be tempted by demonic promises of freedom and chaos. He then introduced the idea of punishing mortals who disobeyed the law as example to others, inventing the concept of punishment. Nobody could refute him, but some gods had gut instincts to not listen while others were on board.

#

Asmodeus, assisted by Dispater, set about enacting these punishments. Soon the heavenly realms were filled with horrid screams and burning bodies, to the horror of the gods.

north vault
#

OK so I'd just like to say that this whole thing is the version from Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells that kinda contradicted earlier lore when it was published before being seen as the definitive version by some parts of the community.

white ravine
#

(this is cool, screw old lore)

#

When brought to answer for this, Asmodeus said he was doing what was agreed upon, and then offered an accord. If the gods didn't want to see the suffering of these mortals, he'd take them to a perfect Hell to enact the punishments there out of their sight.

north vault
#

(Eh, I dunno. It's certainly an efficient lore but I find it a bit too pop-culture for my tastes)

white ravine
#

The gods were happy to see Asmodeus gone, giving him his ruby rod to make sure the pact made was upheld. It gave Asmodeus autonomy to work his punishments, among other things. Soon enough though, Asmodeus was found to be harvesting the souls of the damned and intentionally corrupting pure mortals to turn them into an infernal army.

#

When told he was given his powers to punish sinners and not encourage sin, he simply responded with those horrible words.

#

"Read the fine print."

#

And yeah, that's why the gods dont bother Asmodeus.

north vault
#

Yeah, and that's the last part that made me facepalm when reading the book the first time.

white ravine
#

Because he was absolutely in the right every single time, even though his actions were objectively wrong.

north vault
#

The idea that "the gods" (which ones?) could all miss the fine print is... Weird.

echo wraith
#

Asmodeus, the only guy to outsmart god's with capitalism

north vault
#

There's no capitalism involved.

white ravine
#

Its not really that they missed the fine print, its more that he beat the gods at their own game.

echo wraith
north vault
#

Again, which gods? Was Gruumsh there? Was Moradin involved? Was Ao involved? Mystra?

ionic star
north vault
#

That's why I dislike that lore

white ravine
#

His job is to carry out divine will, specify the fates of the damned, and allow him to draw magic from souls. With those rough parameters, he gave himself enough wiggle room to do some heinous things.

#

There's a reason why he's considered the smartest being in existence.

north vault
#

Thing is, there is no divine will. Every god has a different will.

echo wraith
#

I'm convinced (and this is my headcanon) Asmodeus used Chat GPT to write his contract

north vault
#

That whole thing feels like a monotheistic story where the editor just turned some words into their plural form

white ravine
#

Its important to note the biggest point, which is that this is the story devils pawn off to mortals, and is the most widely accepted theory. The chaos deities of course wouldn't care, but they were also the enemy in this equation.

#

In the area of this story, chaotic deities are the ones Asmodeus would be trying to kill.

ionic star
# north vault That's why I dislike that lore

yes, it seems weird to me for very much the same reason. The world isn't monotheistic and pure/corrupt is a downright weird thing for "the gods" to be talking about because they all have a different point of view about what's ideal

white ravine
#

#1 idea for law is to destroy chaos and all that.

north vault
#

It's... Hard to imagine a lawful good paladin-type deity seeing an angel torturing people and not just smiting and destroying him on the spot

#

Because that's the only reasonable answer to torture when you're good.

ionic star
echo wraith
#

God's can be arseholes tho, despite being good, just take the Greek's for instance

north vault
#

No Greek God would be good in D&D.

ionic star
#

The Greeks didn't really conceptualize any of their gods as good.

echo wraith
#

Exactly

ionic star
#

But D&D has explicitly good aligned dieties and a default assumption that divinities are evenly distributed across the alignments

north vault
#

Maybe... Maybe Hestia?

#

Moreover, the idea that lawful gods would be more opposed to chaos than to evil, as if they thought Corellon to be as much their enemy as Orcus, is weird too.

ionic star
#

so yeah...that version of the Primeval Pact doesn't make sense to me. It seems like what would be much more likely to happen is for Asmodeus to pass his trial and then be sent to oblivion anyway by a supermajority of divinities who don't have a great reason to follow the pact they signed

north vault
#

This whole thing feels so monotheistic, so out-of-place in D&D, so strange, that I can't quite understand why people like it.

#

It's Sherlock style writing where one character looks clever only because everyone else is incredibly dumb

echo wraith
#

There's a pretty good reason as to why I enjoy running d&d god's like the Greek pantheon

north vault
#

Which Greek pantheon? Because it's not the same characters in Ovides' Metamorphosis, in Hesiod's Theogony and in The Iliad

echo wraith
#

The one in which they're arses

north vault
#

Theogony then.

#

And some parts of the Metamorphosis.

ionic star
#

I don't run off the shelf settings myself. My most recently gods are metaphysically closest to 40K chaos gods, but much more numerous and varied in perspective.

echo wraith
#

Sure Mystra is the good god of magic, but magic can be very volatile, unpredictable and borderline omniscient, so I run her as such.

north vault
#

Personally I like some parts of the D&D classic pantheons, but I like to mix those ideas with some historical practices. For example, in my Rime of the Frostmaiden game, the cult of Auril is a mystery cult. They don't build churches, they meditate, they find wisdom in what is permanent, what is frozen, in the still images. They don't even seek to convert people, they want people to come to them and they try to dissuade them when they do.

echo wraith
#

Sure bhaal is the god of murder, but murder is either very obvious or very subtle, with no in-between, so all his followers are either really good at stealthily murdering someone, or they just shank someone to death in broad daylight.

ionic star
#

esoteric religions in general are fun to include and typically neglected by D&D setting writers for some reason

#

there's a default assumption that they be exoteric and concerned with revealed wisdom, conversion, etc

north vault
#

Yeah exactly. But I wanted to have cults that didn't want to preach, that didn't want to proselytize.

#

Auril's cult seemed perfect for that.

#

The elven gods, in the same way, are worshipped as a pantheon, but also as different aspect of a single principle.

echo wraith
#

You could say Auril's cult is... cool?

north vault
#

... I hate that it made me chuckle.

echo wraith
#

Stay frosty, cheif

north vault
#

So when a player was interested by elven religion, I said that elves don't dedicate themselves to one god but those that decide to be really, really religious "wear the faces", meaning that they see each god as presiding over a time in their life, a moment or an action. The hardcore ones dedicate every action they take to the god most closely related to that action and they don't see that god as something removed from them that they're asking for help, but as something they are part of.

ionic star
#

In most real-world historic polytheism, I think worship of the pantheon rather than individually is generally the norm. You'll give worship to different ones depending on context and they'll range in influence from big divinities to tiny genii locorum

north vault
#

This is actually Ed Greenwood's opinion. He finds the idea, that came from other authors, of FR characters praying only to one god weird.

ionic star
#

I've never really considered how weird it is, in this context, that D&D sheets tend to ask people to put one god on them

#

that's not to say those societies lacked people devoting themselves to one god, it's just that that was an unusual thing to do.

north vault
#

It was really only a thing in 3rd edition

#

Well, and 4th

ionic star
#

it's more common in very early polytheism, early bronze age. But that's different than D&D in another way: gods were typically patron deities of cities and early pantheons were a sort of ill-defined jumble of your local deity + everywhere you traded with

silver adder
#

does the singing sword tavern still exist in 5e?

warped epoch
# modest badger Less sassy answer- Mage and Healer are not defined classes in D&D 5e. Mage in ol...

Thank you for answering. Are there any other types out there that fit those specifications? In World of Warcraft there are Monk, Druid, Priest, Shaman, and Paladin healers. So you can choose either nature or holy based magic healing. And I definitely am thinking of an Arcane Mage. I’m creating a personal character for LARP. I prefer to heal and the arcane. I didn’t know if there were any examples of a mage and healer hybrid in DnD (I’m very new to the game).

grim siren
silver adder
brittle plank
#

does dnd have a set story?

iron saffron
#

There is no one D&D world and thus no one "story." There are many campaign settings, both official and homebrew.

vital heron
# brittle plank does dnd have a set story?

Or to look at it another way, there are several set stories that are intrinsically worlds written for D&D, but D&D serves as the medium for many stories.

The "default" or "main" story/world is the forgotten realms: this is where the majority of the available books are set, and the movie.

brittle plank
#

ok ty

tranquil heron
#

Does anyone know if there is a good Family Tree for House Moonstar in Waterdeep?

vital heron
#

Nah the houses don't have family trees published. They have a table of members who lived in the era of 3.5e and then a smattering of individuals mentioned in any other source books

#

I looked into making or randomizing one but couldn't find a satisfactory tool

severe storm
#

Quick question, is there a God of the sun in FR and what's their name? Is it just the sun they rule over? (Ping please)

white ravine
#

Well...actually no, he's just the morning god...hmmm.

modest badger
#

And Lathander to me is def a God of the Sun as well

severe storm
#

Lathlander is probably who I was thinking of, but is there any of those that are more uhhhhh warlike or like angry/vengeful? Lathlander seems a bit too nice for my purposes

#

I guess Amaunator?

white ravine
#

Pelor.

#

Pelor's the old greyhawk sun god, and he's...he's a piece of work.

modest badger
#

Pelor is fine if I recall.

Pholtus is the jerk.

white ravine
#

I mainly say he's a piece of work because of this theory

modest badger
#

Quoting the Greyhawk wikis because too lazy to grab the books:

Pelor's priests teach that the truly strong don't need to prove their power. Pelorians strive to perform so many good acts that evil has no room in which to exist, though they will fight if necessary. Pelor is wrathful against the forces of evil, and is especially opposed to the undead. However, Pelor urges his followers to remember that excessive attention to things of evil can blind one to the truly important things: compassion and goodness. These are what must be emphasized above all.

That's a fan theory above that basically says 'Pelor didn't support vengence' and yeah, Vengence doesn't seem to be Pelor's vibe.

Original source:

When Thassel Tallstak, a halfling paladin of the church of Pelor, returned home to find his family sucked dry by his vampiric nemisis, he prayed to his god to send a swarm of sunflies to reduce the vampire to ashes—a wish so unbrideled in its hate that Pelor had no choice but to refuse.

Pelor's Dogma is you cannot be blinded by hatred and the eradication of evil. And he will not enable you to do so.

modest badger
#

The the other theory's 'facts' are also taken similarily out of context:

Theory:

Further investigation revealed (in the Epic Level Handbook) that the Lord High Priest of Pelor denounced her deity and the faith. It also said that the secret texts of a prominent religion, recently discovered, call into question the church’s real goal, its actual origin and the agenda of its god.

Fact:
TABLE 3–7: 100 EPIC ADVENTURE IDEAS

84 The Lord High Priest of Pelor denounces her deity and faith.
(...)
90 The secret texts of a prominent religion, recently discovered, call into question the church’s real goal, its actual origin, and the agenda of its god.
Along with things like 'the sun is infested with parasites', or magic beginning to fail, children being born without souls- these are not canon events, these are suggested ideas for DMs to build upon. No reason is given for why the High Priest would give up her faith and canonically, she didn't. The 'prominent religion' is unnamed and again, meant to be just a plot idea for a DM, not a canonical event.

It's entirely conjecture to put these two things together. They are in no way related nor meant to be taken as factual events.

severe storm
magic jackal
#

Lathandar/Amaunator maybe

modest badger
#

Theory:

Jozan, the archetypical cleric of the Burning Hate is shown using symbol of pain, a 5th level cleric spell with the evil descriptor (PH 291). The SRD and PHB have two things to say about this:
Sneaky little bias here by saying 'Cleric of the Burning Hate' instead of 'Cleric of Pelor'. But yeah good catch, for some reason the artwork on ph 291 is captioned 'Jozan casting Symbol of Pain'.

Theory:

First, a cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.
Second, a cleric’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful-chaotic axis or the good-evil axis, but not both). A cleric may not be neutral unless his deity’s alignment is also neutral.
This means that Jozan can not be good-aligned, since he can casts evil spells. Nor Pelor can be , because he can grant evil aligned spells, that can only come from a non-good deity. So, Pelor can not be good-aligned.

Jozan is canonically Neutral Good, with the Good and Healing Domain. Pelor is also Neutral Good
PH:

For example, Jozan is a 1st-level cleric of Pelor. He chooses Good and Healing (from Pelor’s domain options) as his two domains. -PH 32
Jozan, a cleric who helps others according to their needs, is neutral good. -PH 105

But the point that a Cleric cannot cast a spell opposite to their alignment is absolutely correct. Jozan as a good cleric shouldn't be able to cast Symbol of pain. This is def a goof on the captioner/editors part, and is cited by a few people as 'Jozan is sus'

Theory

Also, Jozan has been seen stepping on the face of his allies to rise higher, rather than store his shield and mace (PH 68). That is not the act of a good-aligned being and shows quite a level of paranoia and mistrust against his allies.

Not wrong, but also a bit of speculation.

#

Malconvokers are def weird.

#

But Malconvoker's aren't Pelor 'endorsed' as the theory goes onto say.
The iconic quote for the class is a servant of Pelor, not a cleric and the abilities of the class are not divinely given.

“Take him, my slaves! Drag his soul back to your dark masters!” —Argyll Te’Shea, servant of Pelor and malconvoker

The vast majority of malconvokers are sorcerers and wizards (typically conjurers).

The concept behind Malconvoker's is an interesting one. That there is a book called the Vital Pact, written in celestial and bound in black scales that speaks of how the forces of good are smaller than the forces of evil and how the only way to balance the scales is to turn the forces of evil against each other. Each copy gives a fiends truename, and the class is built on summoning fiends and tricking them into serving you. However the flavour text calls out how the source of this book is questionable:

None can say who penned the Vital Pact, how the work mysteriously enters the possession of certain spellcasters, and where the unique closing notations come from. Even the fiends first summoned using the text seem wholly ignorant of its contents or how they became involved.** Although many malconvokers accept the Vital Pact as a boon from some hidden patron or celestial power, some scholars fear a more sinister underlying motive.** Whatever the truth, you have been chosen. Someone or something wanted you to receive a copy of the Vital Pact and take up the challenge it proposes, even if you never actually hold the book in your hands.

Connecting this to Pelor because of the iconic quote seems a bit of a leap. The class doesn't need a diety, and could be any god's servants chosen. There is also the implication these books might be trying to corrupt good beings.

#

Theory:

Looking at the relics that Pelor sponsors shows another side of this dark story. The dawnstar, if sundered or broken, deals massive damage to all other creatures (aside from the wielder) within a 30 foot radius. Clearly, this power was inserted with no thought given to the cost for the wielder’s allies. The original dawnstars were given to 4 solars who rescued one of Pelor’s paladins from Baator (known as Perdition in some texts). A question arises then: what exactly was the paladin doing in Hell? If he had died and gone to Hell, that suggests some oddity concerning his faith and alignment. If he ended in Hell due to his own dealings with the devils (which are endorsed by the Church of Pelor, don’t forget), then it seems that Pelor was flouting the Pact Primeval, an ancient law enacted before Pelor’s time. It seems that there are only a few possible answers. One, Pelor is truly of Hell, and his worshipper ended there because of his faith. Two, the paladin ended up in Hell of his own actions and Pelor gave no thought to the stability of the cosmos in order to bring him back. (Probably out of fear for what information torture would bring to the paladin’s tongue.) Three, Pelor sponsors LE paladins, known as paladins of tyranny (in a complete twisting of the term paladin) because he is a vile god of evil.

Source:

Originally gifts from Pelor to four solars who rescued a paladin from Hell itself, each dawnstar is a +3 brilliant energy morningstar. If a dawnstar is ever sundered or otherwise broken, it explodes, dealing 200 points of damage to everything within 10 feet, 150 points of damage to everything within 20 feet, and 100 points of damage to everything within 30 feet.
All those affected can make DC 17 Reflex saves to reduce the damage by half. A dawnstar has hardness 8 and 8 hp.
To use this relic, you must worship Pelor and either sacrifice a 7th-level divine spell slot or have the True Believer feat and at least 13 HD. - Magic Item Compendium

#

And again, so much conjecture.

  • Items exploding on being sundered doesn't make their creators evil. Why are you sundering the holy blade? It's not meant to eb causally used while allies are still around, it's a last ditch thing or if an enemy tries to destroy the blade.
  • Paladins lead crusades to hell. Infact, that's an adventure hook from Epic Level handbook, which this person previously quoted as canon events. There are plenty of reasons for a good-aligned paladin to end up in hell
  • We have already established Pelor is not behind Malconvoker's powers and there is no evidence for such.
crude blaze
#

I love a good malconvoker

modest badger
#

Inquisitor's Bracers are also def weird:

The harsh suns carved into these heavy steel bracers resemble grim versions of the normally forgiving visage of Pelor, god of the sun.
When you attack (can't be touch attack) and use these bracers you cast cure moderate wounds on the target- which deals extra damage to undead, but would heal the living.

Y'know, for sure, that's kinda a weird one. Hitting people you suspect of being undead, but hoping that if they're not at least they're healed is.. not the best logic.

calm crest
#

One such reason for a paladin to storm the Nine Hells is to pose for the AD&D 1e PHB art!

modest badger
#

The last point was 'Pelor's relics all seem to just be things that cause harm' which does indeed seem to go against Pelor's Dogma of 'Compassion and healing > righteous smiting of evil'. But he does have some non-weapon relics, such as Ronnam's Icon:

The icon is a crudely-made bronze holy symbol of Pelor on an unexceptional gold chain. Originally, the sun-face had twenty rays, but today only twelve remain. It counts as a divine focus for any worshiper of Pelor. For a good wearer it acts as a phylactery of undead turning and provides a +3 sacred bonus on saving throws. If a good cleric of Pelor breaks off one of the sunrays from the item, that ray slowly melts away over the course of a year like an icicle, leaving behind one drop of pure gold per day (worth 1 gp). T**raditionally, this gold is used to provide some monetary relief to those in extreme need. **No one knows what will happen to the icon when the last sunray is removed.

So, fun theory and def calls out some inconsistencies (Like Jozan depicted as casting Symbol of pain, or the weird logic of the bracers) but the rest is really, really bad logic and conclusion jumping for the sake of a fun theory.

#

So I wouldn't point to that theory with any sincerity. It's more a fun campaign idea, then anything at all official.

rotund bloom
#

Does necromancy animate bodies with negative energy, or entrap the soul and twist it?

iron saffron
#

Depends on the type of undead. The mindless undead, such as skeletons and zombies, are souless and are animated by necrotic/negative energy.

ocean cosmos
#

What would be the best location/means of travel for a planar traveller? If I am wanting to explore all of the inner, and outer planes, what would be the best way to achieve this and where should I start

#

End goal being seeing every plane/layer

obsidian gate
#

start collecting tuning forks lol

#

(for Plane Shift)

sharp owl
#

I will say that if your goal is to see every plane/layer, you might be setting yourself up for failure as the Abyss (in some settings) has infinite layers

obsidian gate
#

oh yeah seeing all layers is not really possible

sharp owl
#

There are several ways to traverse between planes, with Plane Shift being the most obvious one as already mentioned
You can travel into the astral plane and find colour pools that lead to other planes
You could also attempt to travel just to the outlands and from there access the other planes
Sigil is also an option

obsidian gate
#

yeah getting to Sigil is tricky but once you got there, visiting the other planes is easy

white ravine
#

Not even the fact the abyss has infinite layers, a lot of layers will get you killed

unkempt merlin
#

Negative and Positive Energy Planes are also something of a "death on arrival" for the most part, even with prepwork

sharp owl
#

Good point

#

Also it depends on what setting and how you qualify planes

white ravine
#

With prepwork its at least bearable

#

But even then its still dangerous

sharp owl
#

For example, the accessibility of Eberron is questionable but if you can get there, travelling to it's planes is very different than say accessing the planes from Toril

unkempt merlin
sharp owl
#

So put it at the end of your itinerary

ocean cosmos
#

Well obviously ones like the positive and negative energy planes would be off the list. But things like the Astral plane, elemental planes, and most of the outer planes

obsidian gate
#

far realms might or might not count but also not a great travel destination

white ravine
#

Even the energy planes are able to be traversed, it just asks you to do your homework. Have a friend that can pull you out for example.

white ravine
obsidian gate
#

dont tell me what to do, mom

ocean cosmos
#

Would it be easier/better to use a spelljammer ship or to use tuning forks with plane shift, OR to travel to sigil first

sharp owl
#

A spelljammer ship only gets you between the material plane and astral plane

ocean cosmos
#

But from the Astral plane I can go to each of the planes

obsidian gate
#

spelljammer doesnt have a level requirment but its also less reliable

ocean cosmos
#

Correct?

sharp owl
#

Only if you find a colour pool

#

And you don't need a spelljammer ship to get to the astral plane if all you want is access to a colour pool

#

Astral Projection will do the trick

ocean cosmos
#

But the spelljammer will allow me to visit places that might require a spelljammer

sharp owl
#

There's nowhere that requires a spelljammer that you couldn't access through other means that would also get you to other planes

#

And there's no guarantee you'd be able to get your ship through a colour pool

ocean cosmos
#

Do color pools have size constraints?

sharp owl
#

They have no minimum or maximum size

#

So you might find one and it only be big enough for a medium creature

#

Also, they're randomly spread through the astral plane

#

Not really a reliable way to get to other planes

white ravine
sharp owl
#

Yeah, I'd say plane shifting to Sigil and from there the multiverse is your oyster

ocean cosmos
#

Could a single human visit all these places within a lifetime? Counting all the prep needed for each place

obsidian gate
#

you cant plane shift directly to Sigil though

sharp owl
#

Probably not

#

Can you not?

#

Isn't it a location within the Outlands?

obsidian gate
#

no its warded. you have to go there via portal or via the outlands

sharp owl
#

Ah, gotcha

#

So plane shift to the outlands and hike

ocean cosmos
#

So what is the bare minimum party requirements/most convenient way to travel to all these locations? My character would be a human

#

Within a human lifetime***

sharp owl
#

That's not a lore question

#

That's an "Ask your DM if this could be done in our campaign" question

ocean cosmos
#

I dont play haha. Just a fun thought experiment

#

Sorry

sharp owl
#

Then it's not really a question with an answer

white ravine
sharp owl
#

As stated, get to Sigil somehow and then use that as a base of operations to visit as many planes as you can
But reaching all the planes might be an impossible task

#

(it also depends on which setting you're basing this on)

white ravine
#

If all else fails, demilichdom.

grim siren
#

Unless its is changed in 5e one does not simply walk into Sigil from the outlands. They don't call it the Cage for a no reason. It rests atop an infinitely high peak. The most common way to get into Sigil is with a Portal Key. These keys can be anything. And the doors can also be anything many many people end up in sigil purely by accident only to find their key worked one way.

Portals to Sigil are more commonly found in the Concordant Opposition (Outlands) than anywhere else. So if you are looking to get in the outlands would be would best bet. But you best be careful lest a Tanar'ri in disguise give you a key to the Abyss instead.

foggy seal
#

Is there a documented case in the Forgotten Realms of a lich slaying a dragon? Or multiple dragons?

#

(If so, what is the lich’s name and how did they do it?)

grim siren
#

I am looking into this but we do know that Valindra Shadowmantle caused a Rage of Dragons certainly would have caused a few dragon deaths.

unkempt merlin
#

Definitely depends on what you mean by slaying yea

#

(Depending on how you mean, Dracoliches would fulfill it)

grim siren
#

There was also that time The Crystal Shard (An item with the souls of seven liches), a mind Flayer, and a Dragon merged into one becoming the Ghost King

visual hull
#

What would fit as a good spiritual weapon for a priestess of Ioun?

crude blaze
#

A big ol’ crystal/gemstone

white ravine
visual hull
#

A giant Boulder sized ioun stone

calm crest
shrewd bobcat
#

Strange question but are there any creatures in D&D that are "mole-like?"
Like Hobbits but more subterranean purhaps?
Or burrowing humanoid creatures?

foggy seal
#

Do pancakes exist in the Forgotten Realms?

spark haven
#

By name? Hard to say. But "a handful of grain flour and liquid, cooked on a griddle"?

#

sure

iron saffron
#

Various real world cultures have their take on "pancake" so it would be safe to say tha Toril has pancakes given that a lot of the cultures in Toril were inspired by real world cultures/peoples.

keen gull
#

Can something be a Abomination or Monstrosities at the same time? Such as a Creature created then Breeds so how into the wild and become semi Native?

iron saffron
#

This is more of a game mechanic rather than a lore question.

#

There isn't an Abomination creature type in 5E.

white ravine
iron saffron
#

Monstrosities are monsters in the strictest sense--frightening creatures that are not ordinary, not truly natural, and almost never benign. Some are the results of magical experimentation gone awry (such as owlbears), and others are the product of terrible curses (including minotaurs). They defy categorization, and in some sense serve as a catch-all category for creatures that don't fit into any other type.

modest badger
#

Yeah Creature types add some nice flavour, but as they change with editions and you can mostly only have one (and sometimes a subtype or template), it ends up restricting it.

Like Griffins in AD&D were just griffins. Didn't have to type anything, so they just got to be Griffins from myths.
Then in 3.5 they became Magical Beasts. Native and 'natural', but supernatural and magically influenced- or because we don't have griffins in RL.
4e decided 'well they're beasts aren't they?' because.. do they have any magical abilities or supernatural powers? In a fantays land why is a Griffin any more magical than a cow? It's a naturally occuring animal.
Then 5e went with Monstrosity, because that's it's catch all, and they don't want druids turning into griffins.

#

But now does kind of imply that griffins are not actually natural at all.

sharp owl
#

But in lore there are creatures that fit narratively into multiple creature types. For example, Tiamat is both dragonlike and fiendishly

modest badger
#

A Naiad feels both Fey and Elemental. It's def tricky to place. And occasionally 5e has to do weird things like playable Centaurs are medium sized fey, where as NPC centaurs in the MM are large sized monstrosities. (?)

white ravine
#

(thats correct)

modest badger
#

Yeah had to double check that because I wasn't sure if MPMM changed anything.
Like MM Gnolls are Humanoids, but in MPMM some gnolls are Monstrosities and I swear one book has them as fiends

keen gull
#

Okay intresting info thank you guys

modest badger
#

(I still think unicorns should be fey, not celestials, if anything, but I guess we have very few celestials in 5e)

keen gull
iron saffron
#

Monsters in 3.5E and 4E could have multiple creature types.

#

Anyway, we're out of the lore territory...

modest badger
#

I think in 3.5 You can have a single type, but potentially multiple subtypes from templates. And 4e had Origins, Types and 'keyword', where again, afaik you only have one origin and type, but can have multiple 'keywords' which end up being like subtypes.
5e played about with multiple creature types in UA for centaurs and satyrs and such, but ultimately dropped it.

#

In 5e you can also have multiple keyword/subtypes

ocean cosmos
#

Is there an armor/magical item that would keep a traveler safe in most outer planes? A one size fits most

sharp owl
#

Probably?

#

Like, there's bound to be at least one item that makes you immortal/invulnernable/nigh-omnipotent, but those are artefact tier items

ocean cosmos
#

Sorry, I mean more so something a low level could reasonably attain

#

Something that will protect from the crazy heat, crazy cold, crazy wind etc etc

unkempt merlin
#

Considering traveling the planes is unlikely at low levels, probably not no

obsidian gate
ocean cosmos
#

So if I transported myself into dnd, a complete noob, I'd basically be stuck how I am now? No way to explore the planes?

sharp owl
#

Yes, very much so

unkempt merlin
#

Portals between planes aren't incredibly common, and those that do exist are usually random and generally only go to a specific plane

sharp owl
#

If you're talking under your own power and not say becoming an apprentice or servant to the likes of Mordenkainen or Tasha, or joining a spelljammer crew, you would very much be stuck on whatever plane you're from

ocean cosmos
#

Darn. What would be the most straightforward path/game plan for exploring

#

As me in dnd, a basic human

unkempt merlin
#

Being a high enough level spellcaster to cast Plane Shift

ocean cosmos
#

Like do I need to spend years training to learn that

obsidian gate
#

if you want to do it yourself, yeah

#

you could try to find a job with a powerful spellcaster or planar traveler I guess

sharp owl
#

I think you might be misunderstanding the purpose of this channel; dnd-lore is for discussing events and stories and characters that have occurred within the canon lore of D&Ds various settings

#

If you want to get into "what could I do", that's more the point of actually playing the game

ocean cosmos
#

Sorry

sharp owl
#

What setting are you playing in?

ocean cosmos
#

I dont play 😬
I just read some of the books, watch YouTube lore videos, and browse the wiki. The idea of visiting these places always sounds so cool to me, but I think it is a drag that you have to be a super old/experienced wizard to do basically anything.

I was more looking for something akin to, IRL I can travel to say Alaska and go exploring around without dying immediately

sharp owl
#

Okay, well in lore no, the average person likely wouldn't even leave their local area, let alone their native plane

ionic rivet
#

I guess you could find a powerful wizard and pay them gold to go to another plane of existance (like buying a IRL plane ticket I guess)

sharp owl
#

You might get really unlucky and stumble into the feywild after being tricket by some pixies

unkempt merlin
#

Or the shadowfell through a shadow crossing that appears randomly

#

But it's not something that is well controlled

sharp owl
#

No, or desireable

unkempt merlin
#

And also you are likely to die upon going to most planes

ocean cosmos
#

Going to the feywild>>>shadowfell

ionic rivet
#

But D&D lore is... hopping to different planes of existence is not something that happens for most folks.

unkempt merlin
#

The feywild is just as likely to kill you as the shadowfell

sharp owl
unkempt merlin
#

Just in different ways

ocean cosmos
unkempt merlin
sharp owl
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Heck, I'd probably take the shadowfell personally. At least there death is probably the worst fate
With the feywild, you might spend a year being chased by the wild hunt, trapped in the form of a stag, before being returned to material 100 years after you've left so everyone you know and love is gone

ocean cosmos
unkempt merlin
#

You are likely to either die of heat exhaustion or literally just being caught on fire spontaneously from the heat in the plane of fire

#

The plane of earth has very little air and extremely common earthquakes and caveins

#

There is a reason Plane Shift is a higher level spell across the editions of the game

ocean cosmos
#

Ok, but what about places like the beastlands, mechanus, etc

sharp owl
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I think the only place on the Plane of Fire that is even remotely hospitable to your average non-elemental is the City of Brass

unkempt merlin
#

P much

#

And that's a pretty specific location

ocean cosmos
unkempt merlin
#

Beastlands you are likely to be devoured or killed by any number of mega beasts

sharp owl
#

They have cities that people native to those planes live in

ocean cosmos
#

Why can't I go to those places, and figure out how they get around in their own locale

sharp owl
#

Those cities aren't guaranteed to be hospitable to outsiders

ocean cosmos
unkempt merlin
#

Natives of the elemental plane of fire are immune to fire

#

They use fire for all sorts of things in their day to day

unkempt merlin
ocean cosmos
#

And most places are like this? I expected places like pandemonium or the elemental planes to be DOA, but most are like this?

unkempt merlin
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Outside of specific locations, most planes are liable to kill non native creatures

#

If you want an anolog. It's like going to a different planet. Sure superficially Mars appears similar to Earth, but the conditions on it are very different and if something were to be native to it, said thing would be very different than humans to survive there

ocean cosmos
molten osprey
#

the material planes are all rather forgiving, these are the various primes, although this statement assumes you wind up on the game world. Normal Gravity, time, yadda yadds. Oerth, Abir, Athas, etc.
The transitives have their own rules but are survivibly nuetral for lack of a simpler term, they won't kll you, but you can't live thre generally speaking.Astral, Ethereal, Shadow, etc
The inner spheres are all deadly to a prime native and require preparation and or spells to survive. there's no assumption of breathable airElemenal, negative, Positive. Positive heals you til you pop, earth crushes you, etc
Upper and lower have rules and dangers, but unless you pop into a layer of teh abyss with chlorine air atmospwere a prime native won't be normally be killed with normal prep. Like grabbing artic clothing before travelling to Cania

calm crest
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Arguably the average Cager commoner probably has engaged in planar travel at least once, just since that is the gimmick of Sigil and all. Whether or not they did so intentionally is a different matter.

grim siren
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It really depends on your setting and where in that setting. A commoner in Longsaddle in the Forgotten Realms. Probably not. But at Wild Goose in Arabel, Cormyr. To access it, one had to stand in front of the Wild Goose's door and knock on an imaginary door as they invoked the proper name of any deity. This invocation always had to include the words "I" and "enter" in whatever language was being spoken, for example, "In the name of Set, I enter." After doing so, the Inn's signboard would change to read "The World Serpent Inn" across the Inn's signature serpent symbol. You could access any plane and world from this place including seeming cut off places like Eberron.