#dnd-lore

1 messages · Page 19 of 1

sharp owl
#

The whole "cursed geography" approach felt a little forced/kitchen sink

sonic ridge
#

Ey, got a question all, what lives in the abyss other than demons? (Also do alu-fiends and cambions live there alongside succubi and incubi?)

arctic flax
#

depends on the layer/realm. the one thanatos resides in is all undead

#

the creatures/layout of the abyss depends on the ruler of that particular realm

sonic ridge
iron saffron
#

Gnolls and ghouls live on Yeenoghu's layer.

#

Minotaurs live on Baphomet's layer.

#

Not many mortal creatures can live (long enough) in the Abyss as it's a very inhospitable place for non-demons.

sonic ridge
iron saffron
#

I personally wouldn't allow that since they are more powerful (resistances and immunities) than the standard playable races.

sonic ridge
iron saffron
#

Back in 3.5E some were playable at the DM's discretion but they had higher level adjustment (so a +7 level adjustment meant that at level 1 they had the XP equivalent of a level 7 PC, which meant it too much longer to get enough xp to go to level 2).

#

Why not just reflavour aasimar or tiefling?

arctic flax
#

same with minotaur, orc, yuan-ti

white ravine
#

Unlike say, a halfling, getting hit with banishment as a succubus is an immediate pseudo-death

#

However if you scrub that out, you now have to deal with little miss permanent charm effect and her toadies.

#

Not to say this is unfeasible, just taking skill to work

#

As for other inhabitants of the abyss, any sort of mortals work. Enslaved or not theyll be scarred, mutated, and at least a little mad. Id imagine its possible that some freshly warped in adventurers to be attacked by escaped slaves out of pure desperation for real edible food instead of fruit full of razor barbs or diseased meat.

#

On top of that, unholy beings of any kind will be here. Dying devil outposts, yugoloth trade settlements, gehrehleth roamers, undead swarms, patches of toxic plants, the works.

#

Each layer bearing a unique twist

sonic ridge
arctic flax
#

angels are celestials, fiends would be their opposite

sonic ridge
arctic flax
#

i guess if you used an angel celestial, youd use a demon as a fiend

sonic ridge
sonic ridge
arctic flax
white ravine
#

For example, an angel of kelemvor would likely be sent to snuff out liches or atropals

#

(Kelemvor being a god of death and thoroughly hating undead)

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Overall...harder to say. Anything that crops up from the lower planes will be on the general kill list, but the order of priorities will vary

#

And there are a LOT of things that lives in the lower planes...

hazy fox
#

I kinda have a question.
Any idea if Ravenloft still had Caliban, especially in newer editions?

crude blaze
#

Doesn’t sound familiar to me as far as 5E goes

iron saffron
#

5E Ravenloft is rather limited to what's (officially) in Curse of Strahd and Van Richten's.

serene crater
#

quick question but would there be a way for someone to gain control of the modrons and if so, would there be any limitations on what they could do with them. I know Orcus did it once but I forgot how

iron saffron
#

Orcus killed the previous Primus.

white ravine
#

Used the DND equivalent of the 'undo' button on him, then from his weird magic control center pointed them to do his bidding

#

That is until he left and another primus spawned

dull bone
iron saffron
#

Yup, I'm glad I have my older edition books/boxed sets still.

north vault
iron saffron
#

Which edition? 4E angels were lawful servants of the gods (of the Upper Planes) regardless of the gods' alignments.

north vault
#

Well I was thinking 5e but considering 4e lore, I suppose I get it

iron saffron
#

Older editions had celestials of different types from the various Upper Planes, angels tended to be LG, there were Guardinels that were NG (I think), Eladrin were CG, etc

north vault
#

And it is true that angel is just a word that means messenger. It would require someone that actually sends the message

iron saffron
#

5E is very limited in terms of updated lore.

north vault
#

We might need an update on the celestial planes one of those days

iron saffron
#

We'll see with 5E Planescape but I wouldn't hold my breath on it.

north vault
#

Yeah. Also any lore about the eladrins from pre-5e days needs to be thrown to the trash since the word Eladrin now strictly designates elves from the feywilds

iron saffron
#

Well, there are different tiers of eladrins:

  • mortal (Material Plane)
  • Feywild
  • celestial
white ravine
#

Not much of a servant if they don't serve

#

And as for the servants of gods thing, MM lists it at the very start and its mentioned a fair bit across older editions

'An angel is a celestial agent sent forth into the planes to further its god's agenda for weal or woe.'

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Any normal archon or planar native that shows promise to a god can get promoted into an angel as their divine toadie

north vault
#

Counterpoint: Elven gods. If they were to send a celestial for something, considering the immensely chaotic bent of the entire elven pantheon, I doubt they'd want a lawful one

sonic ridge
#

(tho this isn't lore related, so pm me if u do)

north vault
#

So angel is not a species then, just a job. You're an angel while on a mission given by a god. Outside of that, you're not an angel, just a celestial?

white ravine
north vault
#

I certainly would not want a devout follower

#

Also, you can be chaotic and devout

white ravine
north vault
white ravine
north vault
#

I mean, I think it's a good way to explain but not exactly the official stuff. More like an extrapolation

#

I fail to see how that relates to the point yet

iron saffron
#

If you want more variants of angels there's 3E's Anger of Angels by Sword & Sorcery, which has more "Biblically accurate" angels.

white ravine
north vault
#

Sometimes uninformed opinions bring you new perspective.

white ravine
white ravine
north vault
#

(Also 3e lore mentioned twin solars in the service of the Seldarine who are described as chaotic good)

white ravine
#

I did mention earlier that the alignment isn't rigid

iron saffron
#

There are plenty of non-angel celestial servants. Again, in older editions there were celestials that were native to other planes other than Celesta -- there were the animal-headed guardianels and the elfin eladrins.

#

Yes, past editions the angels weren't locked into LG but reflected to their gods' alignment.

white ravine
#

It is a bit goofy that in 5e they lock it to LG when they have creatures in the same exact book with more freeform alignments

north vault
#

I'm not sure that 5e really locked them LG.

#

But I'll check my monster manual

white ravine
#

Solars, Planetars, and Devas are all LG

#

And thats all the angels we got

iron saffron
#

5E locked them in to LG probably because they had to be "lawful" to be obidient to the gods (regardless of their alignment) they serverd.

north vault
#

I mean, are they "locked"? Goblins are also CE, but adventures are full of CN or even CG goblins

white ravine
#

Not really, no

#

As you said earlier, at minimum CG is available

north vault
#

Just because the entry in the monster manual says "lawful good" doesn't mean a lot. (We should bring back the "often", "typically" and "always" thing)

iron saffron
#

"Locked in" as in Outsiders (creatures native to the Outer Planes) tend to be 99.99% of the same alignment of the outer plane of existence they were created from.

white ravine
#

Personally, I hate those. I wish they just explained alignment in a proper way instead of the meandering nonsense they wrote down and then tried to skip right past

#

I will say though there is a technical argument that LG fits any angel since the world they grow up in would see their perspective as LG buuuut that's as shallow as a puddle in summer.

iron saffron
#

3.5E outsiders had "Always [alignment]" but even then there was the caveat that there were always exceptions to the rule (like fallen angels)

north vault
white ravine
iron saffron
#

Again, that's why 2E Planescape and 3.5E introduced other types of celestials besides angels.

north vault
#

Well then, an angel born on Arborea would be chaotic good.

#

For a given definition of born

iron saffron
#

Sure

north vault
#

So they're not locked.

iron saffron
#

...

north vault
#

Not locked LG, I mean

iron saffron
#

In past editions they weren't

#

You're going to make me pull out my 3.5E MM aren't you?

north vault
#

Also, just answering with three dots is very passive aggressive, I would advise avoiding that in the future

white ravine
#

...

#

I

#

Im very confused on where

#

Okay, hold on

north vault
white ravine
iron saffron
#

I'm out. I have other things to do.

north vault
#

OK I really didn't understand.

white ravine
#

Not 5e though but then again when does 5e do anything by older editions justice

north vault
#

That's why we need that Planescape book to clear it up

white ravine
#

HA!

#

HAHA!

#

Like we're gonna get anything meaningful in that book.

north vault
#

Which seems unlikely indeed but one can hope

white ravine
#

Most we're gonna get that I'm moderately intrigued by is the fact they're gonna bring back higher end modrons

#

But then I expect them to take the concept, split it like a watermelon, then take a vacuum hose to the inside.

north vault
#

Never liked Modrons as a concept I admit.

#

Too silly for my tastes.

white ravine
#

Modrons are...they're weird, but it makes sense why they're weird.

#

They can be terrifying if done well though

north vault
#

I wouldn't mind if we were to completely get rid of them and retcon them

iron saffron
#

They were more wierd in AD&D when they were organic.

white ravine
#

Yeahhhhhhh

north vault
#

But I suppose if people manage to do interesting stuff with them, well...

white ravine
#

Even WOTC would never get rid of em. Might as well saw off a leg while they're at it.

north vault
#

Why? They weren't in 3.5's monster manual and it went well

white ravine
#

Especially after they put back together the cosmology 4e gave horrid birth to, no way they'd cripple it again

north vault
#

Yeah OK to be fair, 4e was a bad time for D&D lore and cosmology.

white ravine
north vault
#

Forgotten Realms writers are still having nightmares of 4e

iron saffron
#

4E was utter crap in terms of lore. They did 180s to everything before hand. I ignore most of it at my table.

north vault
#

Remember that whole weird Abeir and primordial stuff that made no sense?

white ravine
#

I liked it, but its just lacking in detail

#

Parallel Primordial dimension

north vault
#

Eh, if they wanted another planet, they should have given it a history

white ravine
#

Well yeah

#

Lack of detail

north vault
#

I don't know what Abeir even was besides an excuse to bring Dragonborn into the setting

upbeat forum
#

The forgotten realms wiki says the following about Ugudenk: “Ugudenk had no organized cult, just a few isolated maniacs who sought to draw the Squirming King's attention to people or places that they felt had wronged them” Would it be possible for one of those maniacs to actually draw the attention of Ugudenk to a certain place? And if so, how?

white ravine
north vault
white ravine
#

Take five people and mutilate the hell out of them, and at minimum something will start watching

north vault
#

Thing is: Ugudenk is just a giant worm, almost devoid of intelligence or goal

#

It would take a lot to actually get its attention, more to survive its attention

white ravine
upbeat forum
north vault
iron saffron
#

A lot of the demon lords are just mentioned in passing.

white ravine
#

If anything, opening a rift to Ugudenk's realm and then attacking him would make him instinctively lash out through the rift

north vault
white ravine
#

Likely would kill the madman doing it, but it'd come through and smash apart everything in self defense

iron saffron
#

I'm using Kerzit, a minor demon lord, as a guardian of an artifact spellbook. There's barely anything on him so I made up his statblock.

north vault
iron saffron
#

Yes, I have the 3.5E Hordes of the Abyss, Book of Vile Darkness, and the 4E Demonomicon

upbeat forum
# north vault That's interesting. Why does the character believe that?

He’s a monk and he learned his monk skills in a monastery somehere in the mountains where they teach that there’s a great worm in the earth and that they must sacrifice stuff to him in order to keep him satisfied so that he doesn’t angrily emerge from the ground. Of course, those sacrifices do nothing at all, since they aren’t enough to get the attention of an obyrith, but those monks do not actually understand what the “great worm” is

north vault
kindred cloak
#

Ok, so I'm quite new and need someone to explain. The difference between editions in DnD is in the gameplay and how its played right? There's no difference in lore? so if something was lore in 2nd edition, would it still apply to 5th edition?

north vault
#

But consider the possibility that nothing is true

white ravine
ionic rivet
#

Also WoTC/D&D appears to be moving away from forcing a standard lore across the entire D&D game - you can chose to use previous lore, use setting and adventure books to establish lore, or make your own.

kindred cloak
#

So, rule of thumb? Following the lore of older editions is fine as long as it hasn't been changed or retconned?

north vault
#

Remember in 4e when half of the gods of the Forgotten Realms turned out to actually just be aspects of another god, but then it turned out that it wasn't the case?

white ravine
kindred cloak
#

Like for example, the Seldarine god Labelas Enoreth. Most of his information is from earlier editions and so it's fine to continue that in new editions?

kindred cloak
north vault
ionic rivet
#

Use whatever lore you want.

kindred cloak
#

thank you for the help

iron saffron
#

I ignored most of the 4E FR lore...

north vault
#

As you should. It's garbage

uncut wolf
#

orcus can speak giant elk

#

giant elk is also a language for some reason

#

like there are some implications when you give a monster the "all languages" thing

#

because that means zariel can just talk to a giant elk

#

or a giant eagle

foggy seal
#

I think Giant Elk should have more established lore besides “elk but giant.” Is there any place I can read about Giant Elk lore

magic jackal
#

Well fun fact, they do.

#

Both of these make it abundantly clear they're not just "Elk but Bigger"

crude blaze
soft silo
#

I've got a big question for the forgotten realms loremasters out there - does the official forgotten realms lore ever cover whether or not dragons engage in construction, both constructing buildings (temples, forts, cities etc) and constructing governments (has there ever been a dragon society with dragon government and dragon political hierarchy)

#

I'm working on a campaign where one of the major characters is a female brass dragon disguised as a human, who uses the disguise to run a casino in the major city I'm building. My thought process is that she uses the casino as a way to effortlessly accrue a mass of wealth to add to her hoard, but that made me think, would her home just be some cave somewhere? Do dragons enjoy building actually nice structures? Would a dragon disguised as a human order the construction of a huge manor within which to hoard their treasure?

#

At the end of the day it doesn't necessarily matter because I'm just going to make up that yes they in fact do, but if there's pre-existing lore that covers that I would love to use it to make the process much much easier

jolly cargo
#

Hey guys

#

What's the deal with dracolich phylacteries

iron saffron
#

What about it? The Monster Manual explains it.

jolly cargo
#

Yeah I found that chapter

sick urchin
#

For my character's background, could i ask for opinions in here about the common sense/knowledge of a normal human farmer of a small in the outskirts village in the sword's coast? Things like, would villagers ever have seen magic, are bugbears considered friendly, etc.

upbeat forum
elfin hornet
#

What is the deal with this White Plume Mountain? I keep seeing it on items and stuff

sharp owl
#

It's an adventure, those items are from that adventure

elfin hornet
sharp owl
#

ok

white ravine
spark haven
# soft silo At the end of the day it doesn't necessarily matter because I'm just going to ma...

I can't provide specific citations but there's a non-zero number of dragons who spend a great deal of time in humanoid form, by choice or not. Dragons need hoards, almost at a biological level, so yeah it'd make sense for a dragon whose circumstances call for it to construct a building for their hoard.

I highly doubt that every dragon hoard is personally excavated by the dragon themselves. Many many many dragons already delegate construction and management of their domain to minions or allies so it's not really a stretch that they'd do so while shapeshifted

tame locust
# soft silo At the end of the day it doesn't necessarily matter because I'm just going to ma...

The legacy D20 Menace manual includes at least one dragon running a business. I'm pretty sure you can find that source online for reference. I think there might have been a similar entity in D20 past. I'm sure there are other dragon leaders I'm just not aware of. From what I can tell, dragons seem to favor financial domination over political power, which isn't all that surprising, since their main goal is to have gold and jewels.

My visuals of dragon hordes is limited, but they seem to often include constructed pillars, and there is a noticeable preponderance of gold coins over gold nuggets. Not all of those are D&D content...

Considering that many reptiles take over tunnels made by others, and occasional references to dragons and dwarf mines, it seems reasonable to assume that when possible, dragons prefer to put their horde in a tunnel at least partially dug by others.

Considering the added cost of smelting gold, it also appears that dragons are oddly partial to manufactured gold, rather than gold just in its raw form.

If, as suggested, the gold horde is a draconic biological necessity, and if indeed most gold is manufactured, and most hordes are supported by pillars, the obvious question arises: why are there so often human-scale passageways to the horde, and why are the coins all human sized?

Given the largely solitary nature of dragons, it makes sense to assume that in their normal biological context, dragons must be the masters of vast numbers of humans who dig their tunnels and offer them gold.

sharp owl
#

d20 modern isn't a D&D setting and thus is largely outside the scope of this channel

white ravine
zinc falcon
#

Hi everyone! I'm writing up my character's backstory atm and I was wondering if it's unusual to create towns within the realm being used for the character to accommodate the story I'm writing for him. Essentially I want him to come from a small to medium sized town that slowly became the victim to the influence of an elder brain and started to war with a nearby port town that became the victim to the influence of an Aboleth the two towns essentially becoming a proxy war for the two entities. My character would have found a way out before the situation got too bad. We're playing 4e in Nentir Vale so I can basically choose anywhere in Nenthir that would be appropriate for these circumstances. I'm relatively new so I am also not 100% sure about the lore of these two entities and if there are additional circumstances I need to consider regarding what would make this setting appropriate.

#

Also looking for a possible symbol for one or both of these entities as a breadcrumb my character could find to push him in the right direction to discovering the truth, if such a symbol/s exists

tardy wasp
#

How does alignment work in the case of natural-born lycanthropes? Are they just stuck in a specific alignment from birth, or do they have a greater level of control over their natures?

urban sinew
magic jackal
#

That's not really what this channel is about

hollow raptor
#

@tardy wasp...that question is better posted in the character discussion thread. To answer the question...it is up to you and how you want to play that character. A certain Drow Ranger comes to mind when it comes to breaking stereotypes for D&D races.

sonic ridge
#

So, I am studying into half fiends and have run into a question, Is a half fiend's race a fiend like their fiend parent, or is a half fiend an outsider like tieflings and aasimar

white ravine
#

Half-fiends are called cambions, which are the direct blood-children of the fiend and mortal

#

Tieflings and aasimar are more cursed/blessed babies.

#

If your mother was carrying you when your village was ravaged by demons, youve got a solid chance of popping out with horns and a tail

#

@sonic ridge

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

A cambion would be a fiend, a tiefling is planartouched

#

Planartouched humanoid for that

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Ehhhh...

#

A tiefling and cambion look similar but are a lot different

#

Outsider is the 'non-mortal' term...at least how id describe it

sonic ridge
# white ravine Ehhhh...

But at the same time cambion are only half fiends? Meaning they could (if wanted) fall under the same as tieflings?

white ravine
#

Nooo...no no no

#

Biggest example of differences I can use, growth cycle.

#

A tiefling ages like any other person

#

When a cambion does a great act of evil, they spontaneously get a growth spurt

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

A cambion toddler can waddle into a barn, only to walk out smeared in blood as a teenager

#

The similarities are almost entirely visual, under the hood there's a lot of craziness

iron saffron
#

Tiefling have the blood of fiends in them. Think of it like a mutation that can skip generations.

#

Cambion are the result of an union between a mortal and a fiend.

white ravine
sonic ridge
white ravine
#

They can be, carrying the ups and downs of being well...hellspawn.

#

Holy water burning, turning effects, banishment if your feeling cruel...

iron saffron
#

This is going beyond the scope of this channel. I wouldn't allow a cambion because they're OP compared to the typical playable races.

white ravine
#

They are quite strong though yes.

iron saffron
#

Use a tiefling and reflavour it.

#

Flavour is free.

white ravine
#

Though of course, cambions are almost always kill on sight...there's room to balance in that regard.

sonic ridge
iron saffron
#

Why not just use tiefling and reflavour it that way you don't have fuzz around with the game mechanics of trying to balance it.

sonic ridge
iron saffron
white ravine
iron saffron
sonic ridge
#

(the OG question being are cambions fiends or outsiders/planetouched)

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Aye.

tame locust
# zinc falcon Also looking for a possible symbol for one or both of these entities as a breadc...

Wow...

That's significantly more lore in a character backstory than I would expect. While entirely possible, i'd definitely talk to the DM before getting too attached here, as it may call for adjustments to the world, or campaign that the DM may have planned.

Abboleths and mind flayers alike can cause conditions might lead to unique tall tales.

The aboleths build underwater cities, which might feature unique symbols, or recognjzable architectural features. However, since most people who meet an aboleth will become enslaved, and forced to live underwater, there may be no way for a local to learn these things.

An elder brain requires Mind flayers, and have a lot of detailed information, a complicated life cycle, and technology. They will leave a trail of brainless corpses in their wake. They often engage in political intrigue, and experiments. You may see brain incubators, the various half-horrors, mind flayer glyphs, access to the underdark, and of course, they frequently work through cultists.

Mind flayers have religion, so there would be a variety of symbols and evidence that could easily indicate their activities.

sonic ridge
storm dagger
sonic ridge
sonic ridge
#

Ey, I have a question, who knows a decent bit about half fiends/cambions (need some advice on certain choices)

iron saffron
#

Didn't you ask this earlier today?

sonic ridge
#

U able to answer em by chance?

heavy fulcrum
#

Bit of a lore question about the Shadowfell. What sort of circumstances would lead to a regular person interacting with it?

white ravine
white ravine
sonic ridge
# white ravine Just say it here

I made a vid on alu-fiends, I think it best explains my thoughts on the race (in it I say it's humanoid, but could easily be a fiend as well)

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Links work as long as it has context, but what of it?

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Doing that mostly cripples them since they get the downsides of both

#

Splash em with holy water and they burn, hit em with hold person and they lock up

#

Go for one or the other, but both...nahhh dont do both.

sonic ridge
white ravine
#

Tieflings tend to get mistaken for fiends at birth

#

Frankly, it's not worth the risk of them being a cambion...

#

You do not want a cambion baby.

sonic ridge
crude blaze
white ravine
jade fable
#

So im all about lore and i love lord of the rings and rop. Harry potter and now d&d. I played a bit of dnd in high school 10+ yrs ago and the two “campaigns” were homebrewed hard. Fast forward to my 9th post potter depression 8 months ago and i found drizzt. And Faerun. and my people.

crude blaze
white ravine
crude blaze
white ravine
sonic ridge
#

How do I go about naming a half demonic race?

iron saffron
#

Taps on channel's sign:

For discussion of the lore of the various official D&D settings. Wherever possible, please indicate which setting you're talking about, eg [Forgotten Realms]/[FR], [Eberron], [Dragonlance], etc

split crystal
#

So I’ve been reading up on Faerun and saw something in Dead Magic

#

So what would happen if someone like a Lich went there? Would they lose using magic? Would they simply die?

#

Is it just mechanically the same as an Anti Magic Field spell?

#

Because it mentions magic and supernatural abilities just Unravel when there are in there

iron saffron
#

Lich aren't magical they're Undead (who happen to be spellcasters).

split crystal
#

Alright I was wondering when I read “the knot of the Weave they carry with in them unravels.” This is inference to beings with innate Supernatural abilities.

iron saffron
#

Well, Undead are supernatural...

white ravine
#

It's...fickle. They mainly affect spells and spell-like effects

#

Best way I can summarize it is with this idea

#

If you walk into an antimagic field, does it undo any cure wounds you've ever had?

#

Dead magic and by extension antimagic zones don't undo existing magic, they just block fresh magic from being made inside

#

It's odd, and can easily come down to DM fiat

static oracle
#

I might say that a lich would be unable to reconstitute if their phylactery was inside an antimagic field.

white ravine
#

Phylactery, probably. Then again if a lich puts their phylactery in an antimagic field they deserve to die.

lean brook
#

Hey ya'll I have a question about Fey Bargins. Im running wild beyond the witchlight and one of my players wants to make a deal to basically nerf themselves to a commoner. CAN ANY FEY DO THAT? They are walking up to one of the NPCs they made friends with and are asking them to basically take EVERYTHING away.

#

That seems like a pretty strong thing. If they can take power they could GIVE power right? So that would cause issues with PC's just asking friendly NPCs to give them level ups basically.

#

Is there a good resource of structure for Fey Bargains?

#

They are nerfing their character because they promised another hag they would work for them and kill the party. So they are trying to save the party from them.

white ravine
#

A rough idea to work by (since fey deals are fickle) is that a fey doesnt care of the letter of an agreement, just the spirit of it.

#

If you offer to give your heart for something, a fey will either court you or sacrifice you. You dont know which until they do it.

unkempt tusk
#

What is the lore of Izzet engineers?

sharp owl
#

So preface; Izzet is a guild from a Magic the Gathering setting, not a D&D setting (Ravnica). There just happens to be a D&D setting book for it. It's not however a setting within the D&D cosmology. As such, you're gonna find more information on lore pertaining to Ravnica/Izzet from MtG sources

#

As for Izzet engineers, they're just that, engineers for the Izzet League. Asking "What is the lore of Izzet engineers" is a bit like asking "What is the lore of IBM mechanics?" There isn't really specific lore. Do you maybe mean the lore of the Izzet League itself?

unkempt tusk
#

Oh well that’s the background my dm gave me so I was wondering how I would make a backstory and stuff for it

sharp owl
#

The information should be in the background, but the Izzet Engineer background is just the name of "I'm part of the Izzet League". Maybe you're a Beamsplitter Mage or a Fluxcharger or an Electromancer or Flectomancer or Chronarch or Staticaster

#

If you want to deep dive Ravnica lore, I'd recommend the MtG wiki and looking at cards from the various Ravnica sets (also double check with your DM how close he's sticking to the lore first)

foggy flame
#

How are entirely new magic spells created in the DND universe? The process/requirements?

sharp owl
#

There's nothing specified and it varies from spell to spell and author to author

modest badger
#

2e Planescape:

"Part human and part something else, tieflings are the orphans of the planes. They can be described as humans who've been plane-touched. A shadow of knife-edge in their face, a little too much fire in their eyes, a scent of ash in their presence- all these things and more describe a tiefling.

Although implied infernal as teifling= teufel= devil

3.5 Races of Destiny:

Tieflings appear human at a glance, although they all possess one unnatural feature that reveals there infernal heritage. At the least, tieflings have a disturbing demeanour or carry a whiff of brimstone about them, but most also possess small horns, red eyes, or needle-sharp teeth. In extreme cases tieflings may have a barbed tail or cloven feet. No two tieflings have the same appearance.

4e, Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms

heirs to an ancient infernal bloodline , tieflings have no realms of their own but instead live within human kingdoms and cities. they are descended from human nobles who bargained with dark powers

5e PHB:

tieflings know that this is because a pact struck generations ago infused the essence of Asmodeus—overlord of the Nine Hells—into their bloodline. Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable.

*Could also refer to the Asmodeus adopting all tieflings into his bloodline

Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance.

SCAG:

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.

obsidian gate
#

also SCAG:

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.

sonic ridge
#

Ey, quick question, what kind of races are most common for mind flayers from the underdark to kidnap and use?

modest badger
#

Also, also- if you go by the theory that some tieflings are descended from Cambions, rather than being affected by a pact or fiendish energies, then Cambions being descended from concubi means that their type changes from demon, to devil in 4e, to just "fiend" in 5e

obsidian gate
#

there are Infernal Cambions in 5e

white ravine
sonic ridge
modest badger
# foggy flame How are entirely new magic spells created in the DND universe? The process/requi...

There are rules for making new spells that can be used as guide lines.
AD&D 2 Chapter 7 had rules that were mostly meta, of how to discuss and rule a new spell, but had rules for what the character had to do which boiled down to:

  • Research time (2 weeks per spell level, then a check is made, and if failed needs another week before a new check)
  • Cost (Needs a labratory and 10d10*10 gp per spell level)
  • The implication is that this is a wizard doing this, as they are the ones with spell books and must learn spells. Clerics are given spells- new spells then would be a creation of their god.

There is no special lore thing involved. Just time and research. 5e has rules for creating a magic spell, but only from the DM side in the DMG.

lean brook
# white ravine If you offer to give your heart for something, a fey will either court you or sa...

Well the thing is they are literally making just a deal to basically turn themselves into a vegetable so the hag can use him to fight his friends.

The deal they wanna make is basically: “I want to make it so if I ever kill a hag I become weak, dead, blind, ect.” There is no real ‘I want this you want that’ going on. They just want to kinda game the system to get out of ANOTHER deal they made. So I was wondering if certain Fey only had certain level of power when dealing in bargains

foggy flame
white ravine
#

And if you want, have the fey manifest it as a glass flower or something to put in their hair for fun

#

Generally though, an archfey of any kind would suffice

lean brook
#

Ya, they are trying to roll up to just some random elf and ask to be turned into a level 0 basically. I think the best a normal fey would be able to do is make them THINK they forgot everything until the deal is fulfilled or broken.

#

An arch Fey COULD remove their power tho. They’ve been messing with hags so

white ravine
#

Thats not a bad idea

mighty raptor
#

I am not sure if this is the right channel but if you cast meteor swarm over the Waterdeep, how much of the city would that cover ?

iron saffron
#

This isn't a lore question.

#

The spell already describes the area the spell affects.

magic jackal
#

If you have a lore question, you can probably just post it here, you don't also have to put it in #dnd-discussion

sonic ridge
magic jackal
#

well you def won't get thorough ones in #dnd-discussion, the chat moves very fast often on multiple topics at once, and they'll just refer you to here anyways most likely.

sonic ridge
magic jackal
#

Nope

sonic ridge
#

So where the heck does Alu come from in Alu-fiend, Mainly wondering where Alu comes from in Alu-fiend because I am trying to name 4 to 8 similar races, and want to know where they came up with Alu

vital heron
sonic ridge
magic jackal
#

Probably some derivative of All-Fiend

#

¯_(ツ)_/¯

#

All -> Alu

sonic ridge
vital heron
#

In fact, the other definition of the term, from the 1e manual is "Semi-Demon"

magic jackal
#

Not meaning anything, sometimes names aren't 100% literal

sonic ridge
vital heron
#

Mmm I'm looking now and it does say Alu-Demon (Semi-Demon) and Cambion (Semi-Demon). So I guess Semi-Demon is more of a classification than an alternative definition.

iron saffron
#

In the earlier editions the cambions were exclusively male and the alu-demon were female (it depended on their parentage).

vital heron
#

Looking at uses of the word Alu across different languages, I don't think there are any definitions that fit ideally, at least not that would be repeatable on discord in the year 2023.

#

Though a Potato-Demon would be funny.

sonic ridge
vital heron
#

If they are using a real-language, the finnish prefix making them "underdemon" wouldn't be awful.

arctic flax
#

it could be the evolution of the word gallu which were demons or devils in ancient sumerian / mesopotamian

vital heron
arctic flax
#

they were the offspring of hell

lean brook
magic jackal
#

well they probably wouldn't be able to erase your memories or anything

#

maybe charm you temporarily

#

that's pretty powerful stuff, only really the purview of exceptionally powerful fey and archfey

lean brook
# magic jackal that's pretty powerful stuff, only really the purview of exceptionally powerful ...

hm… well the player is banking on them being able to make that deal as a ‘loophole’ to a stronger feys contract.

I already feel they will be pissed if they aren’t allowed to make a deal because I wanna ‘ruin their clever sneaky plan’

So I’m like… at a impasse. They already have someone dying on a time limit so they don’t have time to go find another arch Fey (there isn’t even one in the module)

magic jackal
#

I mean, you are the DM, you're allowed to say no, or come up with an alternative solution or just make up your own lore

lean brook
#

True….

magic jackal
#

my own suggestion though would be to consider the narrative consequences of setting a precedent that most any fey could erase your memories if they wished

lean brook
#

Ya. That’s also a HUGE concern

#

I don’t want to give my players the idea that ALL fey are god beings

magic jackal
#

not saying don't do it necessarily, just there are things to consider for the structure of the world beyond just what the player wants, remember, you don't have to cave to everything the player wants (that sets a precedent too)

lean brook
#

Ya… thanks Tea. I appreciate the input. ❤️

magic jackal
#

Np!

gray ember
#

Do we have any faerun examples of people being turned into fey?

iron saffron
#

Are there examples of people turned into fey (other than Iggwilv)?

#

Fey is an creature type from the Feywild...

grim siren
iron saffron
#

Yeah, 5E ||Tasha (aka Iggwilv) is now a Fey creature type...||

grim siren
#

I think it would have been cool if that transformation was part of the adventure and not somehting that happened in the background lol

crude blaze
iron saffron
#

Sorry.

random gazelle
#

hey guys, i have a question, why the other incognita continents are never explored or mentioned? (there is a equivalent of america and a massive australia but they are never mentioned, to what i know).

grim siren
grim siren
random gazelle
#

oh my bad, toril

grim siren
#

The following continents have no info on them.

Osse
Anchorome
Katashaka
Arandron

iron saffron
#

Is Dari Sinora part of Maztica or Anchorome?

iron saffron
grim siren
#

That is because it was first mentioned on Ed's twitter in 2021

grim siren
iron saffron
#

So it maybe just another name for Katashaka?

gray ember
iron saffron
#

Nope it's a creature type with origins to the Feywild.

iron saffron
unkempt merlin
iron saffron
#

I know. There are fey in the Material world, that's why I wrote "origins to the Feywild" rather than are "from the Feywild."

unkempt merlin
#

Right, but that could cause confusion based on Orc's impression

#

Since origin is often used to mean well. Origin. Where one originates from.

iron saffron
#

I wonder if there were tsumami every time a big island/country/continent got teleported back and forth between Abeir and Toril...

unkempt merlin
#

(As for the becoming a fey thing: if people can be corrupted into fiends and other creature types, then there isn't really any reason they couldn't become fey. After all, hags make more hags from mortals)

grim siren
#

for me it goes
WOTC Hardback
Ed Greenwood and Co
AL Modules

iron saffron
#

I'm going to say for my table it's not on Toril any more... mostly because I'm going to have my PCs sailing around Chult and I don't want them to accidentally find a lost continent.

#

Hmm. So originally the Isle of Dread was on Oerth but 5E DMG has it as part of the Plane of Water and the island occasionally appears on the Material Plane. This is great for me because I'm setting the Isle of Dread as part of my 3.5E conversion of the Dungeon Magazine adventure path, Savage Tide, to the Forgotten Realms setting instead of its original Greyhawk.

The island is connected to the Material Plane by means of a regular storm that sweeps over the island. Travelers who know the strange tides and currents of the plane can travel between worlds freely, but the storms also wreck ships from the Material Plane on the island’s shore.

grim siren
#

ooooooo good choice

heavy fulcrum
#

Question about Shar Clerics. From what I understand they only take people who have experienced tragedy and pain, but in the process they take their memories of the event from them? Is that correct?

foggy flame
#

What’s everyone’s favorite “uncommonly encountered” dragon?

heavy fulcrum
#

Also, they get bestowed a new name after completing their trials to become a part of the Clergy and forming their Own Secret. Is there any sort of category of names typically used for that?

white ravine
#

A demon isnt thrown into the abyss because banishment simply soes that to demons, a demon is thrown back into the abyss by banishment because thats the hole it crawled out of and its returning it to there

white ravine
sonic ridge
#

I have a game mechanics question, so if you have a race (using gnome as an example) do each of those races subraces count as a race, or are they all in the same (so for example are deep gnome, forest gnome, and rock gnome all separate races, or are they all just the gnome race?)

foggy flame
iron saffron
gray ember
tame locust
gray ember
#

I was asking for a faerun set campaign where the DM wanted us all to have a plot point of being turned into something else (I.E. Our EK Warforged once being an elven wizard)

#

We didn’t remember until after that WF aren’t part of Faerun so we’re departing from offical lore a little bit lol

iron saffron
#

DM's fiat to allow whatever at their table.

gray ember
#

Yea, we were hoping to stay within established world rules and such but ehhhhhh it be what it be

fickle blaze
#

So since drivethrurpg is having a sale rn that includes older dnd booms, would anyone have any recommendations for (3e, 3.5, 4e) books that would be good reads for general forgotten realms lore?

iron saffron
#

The 3E Forgotten Realms Campaign book

fickle blaze
#

Thanks!

jagged apex
jagged apex
# iron saffron Are there examples of people turned into fey (other than Iggwilv)?

firbolgs, supposidly the reason the examples of them in 5e are so different is cuz those individuals are those that mirgrated to the feywilds in the days of like 4e and were changed over time by the plane's energy, as this is very much a thing in dnd lore, the longer you spend on a plane of existance, beside the prime material plane supposidly, the more you are changed by the energies of that plane to become more like those who originate there

#

plus in iggwilv's case enough stories have been told about her that easily a fey being representing her from those stories and tales could have formed in the feywild, i don't have the full book of wild beyond the witchlight which said statblock is from so i am not sure the entire context if it says one way or another that is the real iggwilv if it does clear the possibilities up in there

#

did some digging on the forgotten realms wiki and it seems it is the real her that is a fey, as cited from christpherkins in that book on her history section for the forgotten realms setting "Over time she transformed into a fey being and refocused her studies on that newfound state of existence rather than demonology." so she has reserialized canonically to understand her new abilities and limitations it seems (not considering this a spoiler as it does not directly relate to the plot of her story in that and is just the explanation of her time in her domain and change in interests before the events at least as i understand it of the adventure in the book take place)

unkempt merlin
#

Considering she is the daughter of the mother of hags it's not that far fetched

jagged apex
#

so now being an archfey, presumably she has now a near if not completely infinite lifespan so long as she is not killed in the ways other such beings can die, ie murder from fatal wounds, in her case probably specifically in her domain of delight and knowing how smart she is even if this speculation of how one would kill her is incorrect, she likely has the knowledge of how one would do so is well hidden https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archfey

jagged apex
#

||"She was eventually betrayed by the three daughters of Baba Yaga, the hags of the Hourglass Coven, and their cronies in the League of Malevolence."|| wonder if said 3 would be her sisters via adoptive family or what?

#

||also before reading that did not know baba yaga had actual children, i thought she only ever had adopted select young girls||

#

never mind, derp, it states the relationship on her little tab info card thing on the wiki 😛

#

given the subjective nature of time in the feywilds i wonder how long she'd need to dedicate to her new research to become as wellversed in archfey as she is demons and demon lords, assuming she can keep all that knowledge in her new fey noggin'

#

cuz if i am not mistaken, in most cases fey nature in any capacity makes one rather aloof for lack of a better term by mortal standards

#

this is why even if not direct fey and only of fey ancestry, people, especially dwarves, are known to get annoyed with such folk when dealing with them for a prolonged period of time

gusty pier
#

first time I stepped into the Feywild, no-one would give me any info without solving some inane riddle

jagged apex
#

now i just imagine the idea of trolls that obsess with riddles, is from when a troll accidently wondered into the feywild and never came back out XD

gusty pier
#

saying I was 'willing to burn the entire Feywild to the ground' after the 4th fey recited some absurdist lyrical riddle, is an understatement

jagged apex
#

lol, gunna need a lot of fire power literally, since like most planes, the feywild is supposidly infinite in scale XD

#

though more often than not i hear fey in dnd being associated with things like the rule of 3 more than something like dealing in riddles, so maybe you just got unlucky with the territory you crossed into XD

gusty pier
#

they gave me the unanswerable riddle from Alic in Wonderland

jagged apex
#

lol, tough probably was either try to answer it or risk pissing off the queen, pick your poison i guess XD

#

though other times fey just have weird, to us, and different standards of types of logic, like goblins how they are currently in the wider multiverse also fey descendant

#

in their case to quote what is cited about their personality norms as a people on the forgotten realms wiki from "races of faerun"
"Young goblins were taught from an early age to rely only on themselves, and that to survive, they needed to be aggressive and ruthless. To a goblin, it didn't seem logical to treat others as well or better than you would treat yourself; rather, they believed in preemptively removing potential rivals before they could become a threat. Expatriated goblins would sometimes try to recreate the circumstances of their culture, preying on the weaknesses of others in non-goblin communities."

#

basically, if people treat me like shit, why should i be the nice guy? XD

graceful jolt
#

Do the Githyanki name their ships?

#

If so, is there a naming convention?

quartz lagoon
#

has there ever been an artistic depiction of eilistraee's Cresent Blade?

#

is it like a shotel/kopesh? or is the cresent shape more integrated somewhere on the edge of a blade?

vital heron
quartz lagoon
#

dang, the new era of dnd would be a great oppertunity to impliment it

vital heron
#

"The blade was curved, resembling a crescent moon attached to a leather hilt."

#

I think a Khopesh would be a good way to depict it, personally.

hazy fox
#

Yeah, interested that I learned about it now.
By the way, was it from 2E or 3E era?

vital heron
#

3e

north crane
#

Is forgotten realms the same as normal dnd?

vital heron
north crane
#

Just making sure.

I’m enjoying writing out my Ilmatari Paladin atm. And was curious

quartz lagoon
north crane
quartz lagoon
#

Good point!

molten osprey
#

Cresent moon with a hilt sounds like a sickle to me

dull bone
#

On the flip side though, I MISS Greyhawk.

iron saffron
#

At least in 5E it's mostly the Sword Coast.

#

The Candlekeep Mysteries anthology did touch a few non-Sword Coast locales though.

vital heron
#

Yes: most of the forgotten realms material takes place in the sword coast.

dull bone
#

My bad friend.

vital heron
#

It's okay.

queen sand
#

Would an Oni and Orcs as a race regularly work and not be unusual to be seen together?

iron saffron
#

Sure, oni would use the orcs as their underlings.

Strength and power are the greatest of orcish virtues, and orcs embrace all manner of mighty creatures in their tribes. They proudly welcome ogres, trolls, half-orcs, and orogs into their ranks. As well, orcs respect and fear the size and power of evil giants, and often serve them as guards and soldiers.

white ravine
#

I'd imagine an Oni would keep orcs as guard dogs at its rotten little hovel it lives in, or using them to cause distractions while it goes about its baby-eating business.

fossil basin
#

What's the relationship between Vampires and bats?

magic jackal
#

Well, vampires can summon animals, some of which can be bats, and vampires can change their shape into a couple different forms, of which a bat is one.

iron saffron
#

This goes back to European vampire folklore, which the D&D vampire is based on.

north crane
fossil basin
#

You know I understand bats

#

But according to monster manual vampires can also summon wolves for some reason?

iron saffron
#

Again, based on European vampire folklore.

#

A lot of the original D&D monsters are based on creatures of the myths and legends of various real world cultures.

fossil basin
#

Hmmm

#

Surprised there's no chupacabra in dnd

iron saffron
#

Most of the original D&D monsters were European-based.

fossil basin
#

I see

drowsy wraith
#

So has it ever been explained what shattered the first world introduced in Fizbans

dull bone
#

Not to my knowledge, though I'd guess Dragons since it is a dragon book.....

magic jackal
#

If you read the 4th through the 8th verses of the poem, it seems to detail that the first world was fraught with chaos with the arrival of new gods and other mortals, and then tiamat rallied her children to fight them while bahamut attempted to make peace

#

it recounts that tiamat was temporarily imprisoned, then freed, and went on a campaign of destruction

#

and the very next phrase is how the world is now sundered across infinite realities and how bahamut and tiamat both mourned, and how sardior was sundered

#

I think the logical assumption is that this is recounting that Tiamat and these new Gods and her children and these new humanoids went to war, caused great chaos in the First World, then she went on a further campaign of destruction, and this hubristically backfired on everyone, causing the first world to be shattered.

jagged apex
summer latch
#

I know from books/video games that Mind Flayers can enslave various creatures and turn them into thralls... is this just a representation of the in-game "dominate monster" spell that they have? There's gonna be a Mind Flayer in an upcoming game of mine, and I was wondering how this enslavement would work within the game mechanics

crude blaze
#

If you’re talking mechanically, yes, it’s the use of the Dominate Monster that really gets the job done. But if you’re worrying more about NPC/monster thralls they might have, I wouldn’t worry about whether or not the Mind Flayer’s stat allows for it.

tranquil heron
#

Is there anything out there on Lyktion, Baphomet's castle in the Abyss?

iron saffron
#

Nope.

zinc falcon
#

Would a cultist of or creature enslaved/enchanted by a mind flayer or elder brain actually speak Deep Speech to another such entity or do they communicate telepathically?

white ravine
#

Not worth the words...

flat fox
#

What is the origin of the Tarrasque? Is it just a natural creature from the Prime Material Plane?

iron saffron
#

There's no one recognized original of the tarrasque. 2E Spelljammer hints that the planet Falx is the homeworld to the species that the tarrasque belongs to.

reef sentinel
#

Like in stranger things

#

Lol I really want to get the actual lore

zinc falcon
#

Whats the approximate range, if there is one, for enthrallment by either Aboleth of Mind Flayer? Range of maintaining that enthrallment I should say

fathom arrow
#

When you create a ghoul with the create undead spell is the dead creatures minds sorta almost back or is it still completely gone?

iron saffron
iron saffron
fathom arrow
#

I think its a lore question it only has to do with the story it doesnt affect damage or anything just wanna know if theres anything that says the mind of the person comes back a little or not could affect the story

spark haven
#

"ghoul" is a relatively loose category of undead

#

probably about as precise as "zombie"

iron saffron
#

You asked a ghoul derived from the Create Undead spell. There isn't much lore behind the spell. If you want lore about the ghoul check on the ghoul statblock in the Monster Manual.

#

How "mindless" the ghoul is is up to the DM.

flat fox
#

What are Gods actually capable of doing? Like, is their power to manipulate the Material Plane only available if they take a physical form via an avatar or can they influence their domain from anywhere?

spark haven
#

depends on the god, the setting, the season

flat fox
#

Like in forgotten realms

spark haven
#

Forgotten Realms has Ao, who simultaneously has infinite capacity for intervention and infinite disinterest in doing so

flat fox
#

Yeah, but he's an Overgod, I'm talking "conventional" Gods like Bahamut, Bhaal, or Tyr

#

Are their powers limited to their spheres of influence? Like Tyr being the God of War. And if thats the case, just how much can they influence them?

iron saffron
#

Tyr is the god of justice, not god of war

#

Each god has a portfolio and domains they preside over.

#

Gods have lost and gained portfolios but Ao has the final say

flat fox
white ravine
#

They can create, destroy, transform, travel, loads of stuff

flat fox
#

Is there a limit?

white ravine
#

Depends on the gods power

#

Moradin for example can do many more things than tiamat, and can also block tiamat from doing something if he deems fit

#

(Greater vs Lesser gods)

iron saffron
#

There are levels of divine power (from lesser to greater divine power):
exarchs
demi-gods
lesser gods
intermediate gods
greater gods
overgod

white ravine
#

Such as say...balloon himself up to the size of a planet.

iron saffron
#

3.5E Deities and Demigods is a great resource if you want to find out more about D&D deities' powers.

foggy flame
#

@iron saffron I would like to know more .gif

iron saffron
eager bay
#

could an aboleth theoretically overtake a mind flayer hive mind and use it in a plan?

iron saffron
#

As a DM: sure.

foggy flame
iron saffron
#

If you have specific questions there are lots of lore nerds here who can answer.

jolly cargo
#

How do the planes fit into Spelljammer

#

Like what's the deal with like

#

Like shifting to the Elemental Plane of Fire while in space what's up with that

#

Is the plane of fire another planet or do you go to Fire Space

sharp owl
#

No, it's a whole other plane of existence, like the Nine Hells or Mechanus or The Abyss

#

Spelljammer is a setting that crosses two places; the material plane and the astral sea, as well as the transition space between them that is called wildspace

#

If you were to planeshift from any of those three locations to the plane of elemental fire, you'd end up at the plane of elemental fire

jolly cargo
#

So the fire plane is still just the fire plane

sharp owl
#

Yep, just like all the other planes

jolly cargo
#

But what about the Feywild and Shadowfell since they're more 1:1 reflections of the Material plane

#

Is there Feywildspace

#

Like generally, any given location in the Material has a corresponding one in the Feywild and Shadowfell

#

But what if that location is in space what's the corresponding look like

sharp owl
#

No, wildspace only exists as the interface between the prime material and the astral plane

jolly cargo
#

Ok so Wildspace is not part of the Material plane

sharp owl
#

It is

#

It's where the material plane and the astral plane overlap

jolly cargo
#

But it doesn't have an equivalent in the Feywild

sharp owl
#

If the material plane is like the land, and the astral plane is like the sea, wildspace is the beach

#

No, it doesn't, because only the prime material plane overlaps

jolly cargo
#

Cool

#

Feywildspace is kind of a slick name though it's a shame it isn't real

fresh token
#

Can the Shadar-Kai get to Krynn?

dull bone
#

Yes, via a Spelljammer. Or through Sigil, the City of Doors.

fresh token
#

I thought so

dull bone
#

Fun way, Spelljammer. Adventurous/dangerous, Sigil.

iron saffron
#

The Astral Plane/Sea is a transitionary plane between the Material Plane and the Outer Planes.

native osprey
#

I don't know too much about dnd lore, but I was trying to make a paladin character who represented a dead god, and I was looking specifically at Chronos, but is he the same person/god as Labelas Enoreth, meaning he's not dead?

iron saffron
#

Labelas Enoreth is the elven god of longevity.

#

Chronos is an aspect of Labelas Enoreth

native osprey
#

so was chronos a real god or just an image made for one aspect of labelas?

iron saffron
#

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Chronos#cite_note-DD-117-2

Chronos was an ancient deity, the god of time, ironically lost to the ages. Religious texts and ancient histories spoke of him in passing. He was known to have been worshiped by the nation of Orva but it was unknown how he died. Shrines of Chronos still held power millennia later.

Some time after Orva sunk below the Vast Swamp, Chronos became an aspect of Labelas Enoreth.

#

It's not uncommon for gods to take over the mantle of weaker/dead gods.

native osprey
#

ohh ok I think I understand what that means now

iron saffron
#

Labelas will answer the prayers of any remaining followers of Chronos.

native osprey
#

thank you sm

plucky cloud
#

I am glad that Forgotten Realms is back in the main universe again. The 3E/v3.5 system of abandoning entire sections of lore from 2E & 1E has been corrected. I used to enjoy delving into older Realms lore for my v3.5 campaigns. For example, Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, and the supplement for Zhentil Keep (which mentions a Scro working for the Black Network).

prime rivet
#

so this isn't about official dnd stuff but more of a question regarding lore and worldbuilding in general
roughly how many gods, off the top of ones head, would be required for a homebrew world?
i'm assuming there must be around a minimum of 20, for sepearate patrons for the various worshipping classes

sorry if this question is super misplaced! i just felt it was more lore-related than homebrew-related

spark haven
prime rivet
#

ah tyty!! that wasn’t visible to me before, much appreciated! :D

spark haven
#

godspeed

eager bay
#

How much do gods interfere with mortal affairs in FR?

white ravine
#

Decent amount. Umberlee for example is known for sinking ships on a whim if the crew doesn't give her offerings before setting out to sea.

eager bay
#

I imagine that they tend to be fairly hands-off, preferring to carry out their will through a select few trusted individuals (clerics, different from your standard priest might I add), choosing only to intervene directly when absolutely necessary

white ravine
#

Ilmater is also known for randomly possessing people under extreme stress (torture, slavery) regardless of if the person is good or evil to break them free and set them upon their captors.

eager bay
#

Yeah

#

I guess I picture clerics as more like warlocks in how they operate

#

maybe it's just me, but these "gods" make me think more of them Lovecraftian swiggity-swooties

white ravine
#

Varies on god

eager bay
#

Just for the sake of convenience, take Eldath as an example

white ravine
#

In a sense they are

#

Gods see in like...4th...5th dimensional nonsense.

#

Seeing across space-time since they are spacetime

iron saffron
storm dagger
#

And even less after the second sundering

severe storm
#

Do Baalspawn still exist historically in 5e FR?

white ravine
#

Iirc, nope.

#

Last two fought, one died, prophecy got fulfilled and Bhaal resurrected

iron saffron
white ravine
#

Oh. Neat.

iron saffron
#

Dead gods in D&D stay dead as long as Marvel / DC Comics characters do... (except for Uncle Ben)

severe storm
#

Ok, so I don't know if this is adventure spoiler or if it's made up by the DM, so I'll spoil it just in case. Bhall related
||In today's game Bhaal was referred to as one of the three dead gods, is Bhaal currently dead at the time of Icespire peak adventure?||

iron saffron
#

He's alive but very weak (demi-god level power compared to intermediate god before dying).

severe storm
#

Is that widely known?

iron saffron
#

I think only to his followers, who are now cultists (see Baldur's Gate: Descent to Avernus)

severe storm
#

Is that an adventure module?

iron saffron
#

Yes (it came out in 2019?) ||It's meh.||

severe storm
#

Ok then, I will look no further into this to avoid any spoiler stuff. Thank you

foggy flame
#

New to the world of DND. Am I crazy, or does like everything happen on the sword coast?

#

Almost everything I’m reading seems to 😅

iron saffron
#

There's been some dips to Chult (Tomb of Anihilation), Icewind Dale (Rime of the Frostmaiden), and other parts of Faerun (Candlekeep Mysteries) though.

foggy flame
#

Are vestiges a thing that ever gets explained in a book? I’ve been reading about Ashardalon and at the end it says he’s a vestige now, but not where that info is from or where I can find out more

coral ermine
#

Why is Vecna the undying king so mean

unkempt merlin
foggy flame
#

At first it was just a term, but then I found a google search result saying:
“A vestige is a mysterious spirit of a being who by all accounts no longer exists anywhere within the multiverse, and yet somehow can be summoned by practicioners of pact magic.”

#

And then I found the 3.5 book Ashardalon’s vestige is discussed in, moments ago. So finally reading about it 😁

white ravine
white ravine
wet turret
#

the dude lost his eye and had his hand cut off by his own general....

jolly cargo
#

Liches be evil

white ravine
#

Gotta be, the process is horrific.

jolly cargo
#

Yeah

#

Good people don't pursue lichdom

#

Because you have to do things that good people won't do

waxen path
#

So question

#

if i wanted to have an aberrant dragonmark can i gain it from having my character survive a dragon attack

#

would that make sense?

#

like thematically or lore wise

magic jackal
#

Aberrant Dragonmarks in their native setting, Eberron, actually manifest typically as a combination of the mixing of bloodlines between Dragonmarked Houses.

#

They're not literally marks made by a dragon when it attacks you.

waxen path
#

oof

#

I was thinking like u absorbed draconic energy or something

magic jackal
#

You should consult Eberron Lore if you want to learn about what Dragonmarks actually are supposed to be.

waxen path
#

or they leave a lasting mark that forever burns or something

#

well how did they get the mark?

#

and wouldnt my character have to be like literal royalty

#

to have one

magic jackal
#

It's a manifestation of something called the Draconic Prophecy, which is more or less a record of all things.

Dragonmarks began manifesting on the humanoid races of Eberron semi recently (on a cosmic scale), and the Dragonmarked began to organize themselves into houses or families based around those marks.

Nowadays you've got 12 Dragonmarked houses, who pass down the Dragonmarks through bloodline.

#

You can think of it like fancy magic tattoos you're born with that also happen to be omens and portents that few can understand, or interpret.

#

(I'm not an expert on Eberron, I invite anyone who is more knowledgeable to correct me.)
Also you can read up on this yourself online.

waxen path
#

so what u r saying is its only blood related

#

hmm

#

how about "gift of ___ dragon"

#

how does one get those

magic jackal
#

Take a wild guess

#

(and read the sourcebook they come from)

#

That's Fizbans ^

waxen path
#

a dragon gifts you its power?

#

thats so hard to work with😭

magic jackal
#

sure, like I said, check Fizbans where the gifts come from

#

It's more informative and anything I say would literally just be quoting that book

waxen path
#

I dont own the books

#

plus its like 50 bucks a book or i would

unkempt merlin
#

Dragonmarks can arise in "unmarked" families as well, which often results in them being adopted into the houses (but not always)

Aberrant Dragonmarks are most commonly a resulting of two different marked bloodlines mixing, but it's not a guarantee of it (as in the child doesnt always have an aberrant mark or even a mark at all) and in a similar vein to regular marks, it's only the most common way due to the nature of the marks, but aberrant marks can also arise randomly just like the normal marks

waxen path
#

randomly you say

unkempt merlin
#

Yes

#

It's mostly random in the sense of "an unknown heir left the house in the past and their descendants never manifested a mark: until you" kind of thing

#

But again for aberrant marks it doesn't work exactly like normal ones

dull bone
crude blaze
#

Make note that aside from a few things on DDB (like Unearthed Arcana), there are no legally authorized PDFs. But yea, DDB’s digital format is generally cheaper than print.

sharp owl
#

Important note; D&D Beyond does not offer PDFs. There are no legitimate PDFs of D&D fifth edition published books (by which I mean books like the Player's Handbook, Tasha's etc)

magic jackal
#

(I think jgilbert meant to recommend just buying the books on DNDbeyond, exact terminology notwithstanding)

waxen path
#

still pretty expensive tho

crude blaze
#

I think both Davyd and I were just pointing out the distinction so people don’t go out looking for PDFs

waxen path
#

bout a hundred different books

crude blaze
#

Yeah, unfortunately, while the Basic Rules are free, the supplementary stuff can definitely rack up a pretty gnarly bill

eager bay
#

The books are collectors' items 🤷‍♀️

#

Get the basic rules to learn on, homebrew your own stuff, learn PC building & look up monsters & spells on Beyond, download a free (legal) full rules summary from e.g. DriveThru... the books are really nice to have 🤷‍♀️

magic jackal
#

Seems like this is no longer a question for lore

eager bay
#

Well... unique NPC stats from the Frealms may be the one thing you DO need the hardbacks for. That's kind of lore.

waxen path
#

well i just wanted to know the right lore because i was wanting to multclass a rogue sorc

jagged apex
#

for those who have the early access to bigby's, which of the major giant types seems most likely or fitting to be used for an example of a member of the orginization known as "The Worldroot Circle"?

waxen path
#

and i wanted to mostly be rogue but if i got a dmark and wasnt a sorceror it wouldnt make sense

eager bay
#

Nice....

#

Have you tried making it in Beyond?

waxen path
#

yes

#

i think i got it to make more sense now

#

what im going to do is give him gift of gem dragon

#

make him a soulknife rogue

#

take magic initiate sorc

sharp owl
#

This channel is for discussing official lore, not for character builds and concepts

waxen path
#

k

dull bone
#

Yes, I was suggesting D&D Beyond....... sorry for any misunderstanding.

jagged apex
# waxen path well i just wanted to know the right lore because i was wanting to multclass a r...

there are probably some lore connections that help lore explain the change in my opinion would be the shadow magic sorcerer, most easily the suggestion in it's flavor text, tracing your lineage to an entity from that place as there are various beings in the shadowfell that could have various interaction with those of the prime material plane and we got more in bigby's even with death giants being reintroduced, what race is your character as there might be one entity more fitting than another (ping me in #character-discussion with the answer so we can continue it there)

drowsy wraith
#

Right. Do half minotaur half dwarfs exist

jagged apex
#

ie any child they concive will be born a minotaur, fiendish or otherwise

iron saffron
modest badger
#

Half-minotaur's have stats and some lore in Dragon #313 for the Realms, and is a 3.5 template.

Half-minotaurs are generally larger than their non-minotaur parents. The lower half of their bodies are built like that of their non-minotaur parents, while their upper halves are covered in thick shaggy hair. Their faces are elongated, with full snouts, and horns jut from the sides of their heads.

Meaning that using this, you could get a mixed heritage dwarf-minotaur

#

Using OneD&D rules, you could also do so. Lore wise, there is that Dragon Magazine article. Not sure if Krynn has any, considering minotaurs are more common there

hallow spade
#

Where can I learn more about wood elf lore?

grim siren
#

Which setting?

jagged apex
sharp owl
#

In general doesn't really work

#

You have to be specific

#

The default setting is Forgotten Realms, maybe that's where you wanna start?

waxen path
jagged apex
# modest badger Half-minotaur's have stats and some lore in Dragon #313 for the Realms, and is a...

though would likely be preceded by a lot of deformed stillborn out of those that they did manage to to conceive and eventually would get one potentially that is healthy enough to actually be born, cuz one thing that tends to be almost universal in published material with dwarves in dnd is their genetics in their biology much like their god and their societies are rather ridged and against change, plus in the forgotten realms at least dwarves being in love with someone of another species/race instead of another dwarf are considered mentally ill basically

modest badger
#

...You're putting in a lot of conjecture there

#

Sources and citations and official lore please

iron saffron
#

Don't be a MrRhexx...

raven needle
#

what legs of travel should one expect and prepare for if one wants to travel from Thay to Estwilde?

jagged apex
iron saffron
#

MrRhexx can be unreliable because he puts his own spin on lore without any citation...

jagged apex
#

though not much is there, like the majority of info on the topic is not really included in the cited content of the wiki page, one such vid being part two of AJ Pickett's video on the dwarves

#

at about the 3 minute mark

#

he has a much better reputation for accuracy and citation compared to mr.rhexx last i checked

iron saffron
#

Yes, AJ Pickett is more reliable than MrRhexx is.

unkempt merlin
#

"Accuracy for citation" isn't a high bar when rhexx doesn't include any (but yes he is generally good about it)

modest badger
#

Still curious to see what sources he has. The Wikia does tend to actually be pretty good at including official soruces

#

Although also, the wikia focuses on Forgotten Realm lore in most cases.
Like it will not include Mul's in that from Darksun, or characters from Krynn or Oerth.

jagged apex
#

also from what i can recall in the likes of the forgotten realms part of their supposed rigged genetics is cuz of how moradin made them and he is not known to forge souls for crossbreeds as it is said that each soul of a dwarf is forged by moradin himself

jagged apex
#

but on other worlds like krynn, eberron, and oerth, i find no mention of any sort of half dwarves, and given oerth is also where moradin is their patron deity and head of their pantheon, likely he is as strict if not more so than he is with those in the forgotten realms

#

so my earlier statement that they are rare to put it lightly, at least looking at those hand full of notable settings seems to be a fair one, though i accept the possibility i could be wrong

modest badger
#

Greyhawk has Derro who originally were human-dwarf mixes forcibly created by Suel Racial supremists in horrific eugenics programs.

#

Yeah Scarlet Brotherhood of Oerth is the utter worst.

eager bay
#

Why are true dragons uniformly a given alignment?

#

Like gold always being LG, red always CE

modest badger
#

There are exceptions to their alignments, but they do strongly lean towards alignment

eager bay
#

Right

#

Wouldn't they be able to be any alignment tho

sharp owl
#

No, because that's not in their nature as supernormal beings

#

It varies from setting to setting, but dragons are general not mundane creatures and as such are tied more closely to various supernatural forces in the multiverse

#

This influences and shapes their nature, much in the same way other similar supernormal beings are like fiends and fey

#

For example, it's less so on Eberron, but much more so on Krynn

unkempt merlin
#

Dragons in eberron are just as likely to be any alignment in theory, but due to the nature of the Daughter, they all are very easily pulled into evil alignments if they don't resist her influence

sharp owl
#

It's like how they can draw power from their hoard and that sustains them, rather than needing to eat food and drink water

sharp owl
eager bay
crude blaze
#

They’re not bound to alignment based on scale color

sharp owl
eager bay
#

oh mb

#

But yeah, more like how Eastern dragons be forces of nature

sharp owl
#

This channel is about D&D lore

#

It's not about real world mythologies

unkempt merlin
sharp owl
#

Cool

eager bay
sharp owl
#

All I remember about Eberron dragons is the ones that guard the pit where The Daughter is contained will throw themselves into the pit when their watch is ended (if I'm not misremembering?)

modest badger
#

It does seem very strongly tied to Bahamut vs Tiamat, who were a thing, even if unnamed, since 0e:

DRAGONS: These additional varities of Dragons conform to the typical characteristics of their species except where noted. There is only one King of Lawful Dragons, just as there is only one Queen of Chaotic Dragons (Women's Lib may make whatever they wish from the foregoing).

  • Greyhawk Supplement, 0e, 1976 (Thanks Gygax).

And yes, in early AD&D Gold dragons were 'Asian' dragons.

There is also that they are tied to elements so it might be connected to how D&D has 'Elemental Evil (insert element)' and Elemental good. This is the concept behind Temple of Elemental Evil, the Archomentals, and seems to be being retouched in Glory of the Giants. However that is conjecture on my side.

eager bay
#

which I like

sharp owl
#

Thanks Discord

#

@eager bay don't circumvent the language filter

eager bay
#

d'oh

crude blaze
#

Anyways, my point was that Eberron is proof that Dragons don’t need to be locked by alignment. Fizban’s also has different alignment suggestions per dragon type

eager bay
crude blaze
#

And I bet that come 2024, their Monster Manual is gonna have chromatics and metallics with “typical” alignments.

unkempt merlin
# sharp owl All I remember about Eberron dragons is the ones that guard the pit where The Da...

The Daughter of Khyber's influence leads all dragons to fall into "the evil that lurks in the heart of all dragons"
According to some sources chromatic dragons are more susceptible to her influence but it seems kinda unclear overall

And yea the dragons who
guard her are executed after they finish their tour of duty so they don't go out into the world having been exposed to her influence (as proximity to overlords alone can do that)

crude blaze
unkempt merlin
eager bay
#

Yeye, like how 3.Xe had "usually," "often," and "always" certain alignment

unkempt merlin
#

There are many alignment bound creatures in eberron

eager bay
#

aah kk

modest badger
#

Semi related but interesting, Council of Wyrms, 2e had this:

There are essentially three different types of rogue dragons. The first is simply those who go against their basic nature. A good-aligned chromatic dragon or a metallic dragon with evil tendencies are both considered rogues. This type is rarely tolerated within its own community, but the dragons may find a place in another dragon domain
(...)
Sometimes a dragon simply goes against the nature and tendencies of its type. This new attitude toward life can be nothing more than a slight variation, as when a dragon remains good, neutral, or evil but shifts from lawful to chaotic or vice versa. A more radical shift, as when a dragon changes from good to evil or neutral, causes much more tension within the community. Situations that create this type of rogue include a radical change in beliefs or a new outlook on life, a traumatic experience of some type, deeply felt rebellion against the clan establishment, or the difficult weighing of options in order to make a conscious choice. A significant number of dragons go rogue to protest the attitudes and agendas put forth by their leaders. In most clans, if a dragon disagrees with its lord, it can suffer alone in silence or voice its protests-and be silenced permanently. A better solution to some is to strike out on their own, becoming dragons without clans rogues.
Now Council of Wyrms was it's own setting, even if it used much of the core lore. Still no explanation as to why one group is often X or Y, but that does seem to be tied to Bahamut and Tiamat still.

dull bone
#

I had Council of Wyrms and forgot this tidbit......

modest badger
#

ANd 3.5 Dragons of Faerun had a Neutral aligned Gold Dragon druid called Gildenfire, Miirym (The Sentinel Wyrm) was a neutral silver dragon, and played loosely with the lawful/chaotic nature of most dragons

fresh token
#

I was really hoping when they came out with the new dragon material they would move towards Lawful Evil for the chromatic dragons. It always made more sense goven Tiamat being lawful evil.

modest badger
#

Neither is strictly chaotic or lawful. The three main dragon types (metallics, chromatics, gems) are based on the good/evil axis. Metallics= good (Some lawful, some neutral, some chaotic), Chromatic = evil, gem = neutral.

#

Which is why for Council of wyrms, a dragon who was usually meant to be Lawful shifting chaotic was weird, but a shift along the good/evil axis was an anomaly:

This new attitude toward life can be nothing more than a slight variation, as when a dragon remains good, neutral, or evil but shifts from lawful to chaotic or vice versa. A more radical shift, as when a dragon changes from good to evil or neutral, causes much more tension within the community.

#

Blue Dragons are Lawful Evil for example. Most other chromatics do tend to be Chaotic Evil though.

iron saffron
#

Well, in 4E the metallic dragons were mostly "Unaligned" (aka Neutral) rather than Good / Lawful Good aligned (4E only had Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil alignments).

modest badger
#

Oh that's true, 4e intentionally redesigned dragons so you could fight metallics for some reason. I recall there being a design note somewhere saying it's boring you couldn't fight them.. ah found it.

  1. Not all metallic dragons are good. Some metallic dragons are, in fact, of evil or chaotic evil alignment. Silver and gold dragons are not often evil, but it's not uncommon to find truly evil representatives of the baser metallic dragons, such as iron or cobalt dragons. Some evil metallic dragons regard weaker creatures as miserable rabble to be enslaved, plundered. or toyed with on a whim. Other evil metallic dragons harbor a twisted view of Io's Charge and shape human realms to fit their own dark desires, using whatever means are effective.

DRAGONS YOU CAN FIGHT In previous editions of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS' game, metallic dragons were portrayed as staunch defenders of good, and player characters rarely found reason to battle them. That's changed now, Although some metallics—especially among the silver and gold dragons—are fearsome champions against evil, you can't tell a metallic dragon's alignment just by looking at it anymore. Some metallic dragons are evil, and many are unaligned—which means they won't hesitate to battle heroes who intrude in their territory or interfere in their business. Even otherwise benevolent dragons might find themselves at odds with good heroes. For example. A copper dragon might be momentarily overcome by natural avarice, while a silver dragon might decide that honor demands that it slay intruders it catches in a shrine it is sworn to protect. Every dragon poses a potential threat to a party of player characters, regardless of the sheen on its scales.

  • 4e Draconomicon 2: Metallic Dragons
#

But only mentions this for the metallics.

iron saffron
#

Also remember that the alignment in the Monster Manual is more of a guideline than a written in stone rule. The 5E Monster Manual says this:

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.
3.5E monster statblocks' alignment was either Usually, Often, and Always (the latter tend to be for Outsiders (creatures native to the Outer Planes where they were created from) and even then there are always exceptions to the rule, such as "fallen angels").

storm dagger
#

It’s why they are just going to put typically in front of monsters now

#

Unless they are an individual

eager bay
#

Though tbf, their alignment might depend on which god(dess) they worship, if they do worship any

magic jackal
#

Bahamut tends towards Lawful Good

#

and Tiamat tends towards Chaotic Evil

#

and they both strongly influence their progeny towards Good and towards Evil respectively

iron saffron
#

Tiamat was Lawful Evil until 5E and became Chaotic Evil (for some reason...).

magic jackal
#

oh, weird

#

she always struck me as chaotic evil

iron saffron
#

LE was probably to explain why she was in Hell in the first four editions.

magic jackal
#

makes sense

iron saffron
#

She's listed as LE in the DMG and a few other 5E source books.

unique bough
#

what are some cool intresting slaad facts, for my strixhaven campign i want maybe 10 questions, and some cool obscure facts that aren't easily googleable would be helpful

modest badger
#

Which ones lay eggs in you?

unique bough
#

red

#

blue ones transform you into red ones

#

red ones lay eggs turning you into blue ones

modest badger
#

How do you get green?

unique bough
#

if i recall they're kinda rare mutations

#

after 100 years, they turn into gray ones

modest badger
#

Green occurs when a red or blue infect an arcane caster.

unique bough
#

ah yeah

modest badger
#

Are Slaadi Outsiders, Elementals or Aberrations?

iron saffron
#

Outsiders in 3.5E

#

Natives of Limbo

unique bough
#

Aberrations by raw

iron saffron
#

In 5E they're "Aberrations" since there's no longer an "Outsiders" creature type.

modest badger
#

Evil trick question the answer is 'Yes'.
Because it depends on which edition. Expect an essay on my desk students, explaining the history of classification of slaads 😛

unique bough
#

lol tbf it is strixhaven so its 5e

modest badger
#

But you want fun lore that isn't just a google answer. Things like treating past classifications as canonical but outdated science can make things fun. A lot of cool random facts would also be non 5e and rely on some older edition framing.

unique bough
#

i see thats an intresting idea

iron saffron
#

Canonical is what your table makes it to be.

unique bough
#

my own question
What are blue slaads resistant too
Acid
Cold
Fire
Lightning
Thunder

#

Multiple choice

tardy wasp
#

About to start a new campaign after joining my graduate school’s TTRPG club, and we’re going to be running an adventure in the Forgotten Realms. I’d like to be a priestly character, either a Cleric or Paladin.

I’m debating between flavoring my character as either a human/tiefling servant of Selûne, or an elf/half-elf mystic of Sehanine Moonbow. In terms of… vibe, I guess, what really differentiates priests connected to these two lunar deities? Both are connected to travel, guidance, the moon, and various aspects of mysticism, so I want to know what really separates these two faiths in terms of practice and ideology.

magic jackal
#

Well, one is the Fey Aspect of the other

#

So small wonder they have a great deal in common

iron saffron
#

Sehanine is the elven goddess of the moon. She was briefly an aspect of Selune in 4E (I ignore 4E's changes to FR lore at my table...).

eager bay
#

The Abyss?

iron saffron
#

Avernus

#

See Tyranny of the Dragons

tardy wasp
iron saffron
#

5E retconned a lot of 4E FR lore

#

For example, 4E submerged most of the Chult Peninsula but its now back to normal in 5E.

eager bay
iron saffron
#

It's the first layer of Hell.

eager bay
#

Oh right

iron saffron
#

She's been there since 1E AD&D

eager bay
#

Surprised why they switched her from LE to CE then

iron saffron
#

¯_(ツ)_/¯

magic jackal
#

Because she's not native to there right? She was imprisoned there.

#

And imo her characterization seems more chaotic, and it makes more sense thematically for her to be Bahamut's diametric opposite

crude blaze
#

Wildemount’s Tiamat is LE

eager bay
#

Yeah

#

I imagine what alignment a dragon be would depend, at least to a degree, on what deity they worship, if they worship any

#

be it Bahamut, Tiamat, or otherwise

modest badger
#

I feel like that would be like a question of 'what came first, chicken or the egg' 'what came first, their alignment or their faith'. But yes, the draconimicons and I think fizban goes into detail on the dragon faiths and how dragons worship

crude blaze
#

I try not to put too much faith in people’s alignments lining up with the gods they worship

magic jackal
#

Also I don't believe Dragons are mandatorily the Alignment of their Progenitor either, it's the Skyrim Paarthurnax distinction of influence vs personal choice

#

We do have several examples in official sources of Dragons of Chromatic Persuasion being portrayed as Neutral or even Good

iron saffron
#

Well, dragons venerate rather then worship their gods.

unique bough
#

another question i made
What type of Slaad favours using weapons in combat

magic jackal
#

That'd be Gray right?

unique bough
#

Gray & Death

#

they use greatswords if i am correct

unique bough
magic jackal
#

why me?

unique bough
#

ah, you seemed intrested lol and no one else answered it

magic jackal
#

I dunno what gives the impression I'm interested lmao

unique bough
#

ah mb i apologise

magic jackal
#

no worries (btw the answer is all of the above I think)

unique bough
#

correct

eager bay
modest badger
#

Def a discussion to be had on that, but getting beyond D&D lore and more into the fact that faith is not inherent and a god existing =/= faith. But then D&D where the two are connected cus some editions have faith powers gods.

unique bough
#

is this a good question

#

When an adventurer casts Armor of Agathys at 2nd level on themselves and is attacked by a Blood Slaad, How much Damage does the Slaad Take.
3 Cold Damage
5 Cold Damage
2 Cold Damage
10 Cold Damage

modest badger
#

That's not a good question as an IG question. What is 'damage' and what is '5 damage'? to a character within the world.

unique bough
#

hmm good point

iron saffron
#

That's a meta question that breaks the immersion of the game, no?

unique bough
#

kinda i suppose but mages would have a way to calculate damage and spell types

unkempt merlin
#

thats not a lore question at all

iron saffron
unique bough
#

true mb

white ravine
eager bay
# modest badger Def a discussion to be had on that, but getting beyond D&D lore and more into th...

The argument goes something like this: '"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith, I am nothing." "But, says Man, the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and, by your own arguments, you don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and vanishes in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

modest badger
#

Uh.
In this situation it's more 'Is the individual Law Good because they worship a LG diety, or did they worship the LG diety because they were LG to start with.'

Anyway, again, the old 3.5 and 4e Draconomicons certainly had a lot on draconic faiths if interested.

shrewd bobcat
#

Strange question but
is there any setting in lore that would fit a sort of wasteland vibe?
Like Mad Max, post apocalyptic setting? Not necessarily Fallout though

#

Doesn't have to be on Faerun. So other worlds would work

old tendon
shrewd bobcat
#

hmm.. I was thinking more Eberron.
I don't know much about specific campaigns

old tendon
#

Ooh

#

I would start here

white ravine
#

Second place, the plane of Avernus. An infinitely stretching layer of hell covered in scrap metal, dead unholy warriors, and filled with armies throwing each other at one another like every other person wants to gouge out their eyes.

old tendon
shrewd bobcat
#

Problem with each of these (Eberron included) is that they are more magical calamities more then the post-apocalyptic war I was thinking

iron saffron
#

Well, then you have to homebrew your own setting then.

unkempt merlin
#

The most "mad max' style place you will get in eberron is the area covered by the Mourning, but people don't really... live there. cause they can't really.

#

most other settings are ostensibly post apocalyptic to some degree, FR has had many, Exandria had "the calamity" which was effectively a mega apocalypse 1000 years ago (that has since been recovered from). dark sun is the closest to the mad max style desert post apocalypse stuff

crude blaze
#

Tbh most of “standard fantasy” is a post apocalyptic setting anyways. Just not a “so closely post-apocalyptic” setting, if that makes sense.

#

Every standard high fantasy setting has an ancient mysteriously ruined civilization with advanced magic/technology/magitech. It’s almost built into the fantasy setting.

hallow sand
#

Interested in having a discussion with/bounce ideas off of someone who is familiar with Forgotten Realms Feywild and/or Shadowfell lore. Open to DMs. 😁

white ravine
#

What about it?

hallow sand
#

Just want some help fleshing out ideas I have for a homebrew campaign

white ravine
hallow spade
faint pier
hallow spade
#

Not even played yet at all. Created a character on D n D n beyond a few days ago. Working on a back story! Have a group that wants me as they friend but I literally know absolutely nothing. Am gonna do a campaign with my partner in a bit to learn basics as he’s been playing some years, then onto bigger things I guess. Watched some critical role but need to rewatch as didn’t follow well as was trying to multitask- it didn’t work!! Lol any resources or help appreciate. @faint pier

iron saffron
#

This isn't the channel to discuss this. Perhaps move the conversation to #dnd-newcomers?

#

This channel is about official D&D setting lore.

runic totem
#

How common are adventurers in the forgotten realms? My players are level 11, would they find people similar to their power in waterdeep, or maybe even Neverwinter

grim siren
#

Adventurers in the realms are probably more common than any other setting. Faerun has a population between 68-70Million people. With dozens and dozens of companies for adventurers and all the independent ones it would not be unheard of to say 1 in 100,000 adults were adventures at some point in their life. The higher the level the rarer the percentage. So in a metropolis like Waterdeep yes they would.

People like Lady Silverhand, Durnan, Mirt, the Blackstaff, the Company of Crazed Venturers and the Seven Scourges just to name a few.

white ravine
#

Fairly frequent. Evil never sleeps

crude blaze
#

Hot take: the spell Sequester specifically exists for Tarrasque shenanigans

magic jackal
#

I mean one of the conditions of Sequester is

"when the tarrasque awakens."
which is super funny to me

crude blaze
#

Definitely one of those spells that are better designed for NPCs/villains than for PCs

magic jackal
#

Or as a plot thing to arrange a set of circumstances to awaken 'A great hero' or Macguffin or some such

heavy fulcrum
#

Are Lolth Clerics exclusively female?

iron saffron
#

Yes.

modest badger
#

Pretty much yes. In early, early editions there were human male clerics of lolth too.
Lareth of Village of Hommlet is a male cleric who is favoured and worships Lolth. He's also like, the first cleric of Lolth encountered in D&D.

"Whomever harms Lareth had better not brag of it in the presence of one who will inform the Demoness Lolth!

Lareth was one who sought to serve both the Temple and Lolth.

#

Vault of the Drow (1e) also had male drow clerics/fighters, who presumably were loyal to Lolth considering Erelhei-Cinlu was lolth dominated and would not allow clerics of another deity to serve in their Merchant Clans, although the male clerics of House Eilserv would likely be of the Elder Elemental God.

Page 80 of Queen of the Spiders (Compilation of the Against the Giant and Drow series) has, under 'Merchant Villa':

Each villa houses the following creatures:
(...)
Drow combatants (all male):
Level 2 Fighter (17-24)
Level 3 Fighter (2-8)
Level 4 Fighter (2-5):
Officers (2): Level 2 / 5 Cleric / Fighter
Clanlord (1): Cleric/Fighter Level 4/7

Although, just now realising this either implies the merchant clans are patriarchal, where as the houses are matriarchal, made a mistake, or failed to mention the female clan leader >.>

But again on page 127 we have:

Merchant (male): Level 4/4 M; Cleric/ Fighter
So unless the Merchants worship another deity to the Noble Houses...

#

This of course did come before lore and ideas were really settled for D&D. There is debate on if Lareth was originally a female drow, or male drow, because the big bad of the T1-4 series was going to be Lolth, before Gygax had to put it on hold, then did the drow series, and realised he needed a new big bad and swapped in Zuggtmoy, but failed to remove all references to Lolth and the drow plot he originally had.

modest badger
#

Fiend Folio for drow also had:

Most drow clerics are female, and no upper limit to their level of ability is known; however no male drow cleric has been known to be higher than 4th level.
And it's not clear of cleric of whom. 1e drow at this time were not intrisincally tied to Lolth- were not created by her, nor worshipped solely her.

But moving on from 1e, Lolth and the drow became more connected, and the matriachal aspect pushed further and so I'd bet that post 1e, male clerics of Lolth of any race were no longer percieved as being a thing. (Also pretty sure later editions had requirement of being female to be a cleric of Lolth)

#

Yeah since 2e Clerics of Lolth are (almost) exclusively female:

"The Priesthood of Lolth is exclusively female, and is organised into noble houses, with the highest-level priestess ruling the house."

  • Monster Mythology (2e) 1992
#

Although post 2e, male drow clerics of Lolth still could exist: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Rai-guy_Bondalek
And while 5e's Lolth in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes only mentions women gaining preisthood, there is no mention or rule that she only accepts female clerics. BG3 allows male drow clerics of Lolth, if you accept that as a source >.>

modest badger
dull bone
modest badger
#

Eilistraee is fun and also has her own edition hiccups as lore keeps changing around her. Luckily turns out she's not dead and 5e has her again in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes >.>

iron saffron
#

Ignore the 4E FR lore (they merged a bunch of gods to reduce their numbers). 5E retconned a lot of that.

heavy fulcrum
iron saffron
#

Eilistraee is my favourite D&D god.

modest badger
# heavy fulcrum Ok sounds like it's very clear that they are meant to be Female only. Thanks.

'Meant' to in this case meaning that she favours women (specifically drow women) so strongly now that male clerics would be very rare and struggle greatly to survive. Not that meta wise the lore says 'Only women ever, never ever men' because the lore clearly does have male clerics throughout the editions and 5e has no such strict rule. In universe though- yeah meant to be only women.

lime pasture
#

so ive been having a liitle bit of trouble coming up with something, in my lore theres a special type of devil pact that basically only archdukes and asmodeus can make, that in exchange for gaining access to all of your knowledge and your soul when you die, you gain the ability to fuse your own power with the devil's, balancing out your power until they're equal. what im having trouble with is which deity would have countermeasures for this in battle

grave sky
#

Ok so I may have slain a preist of the deep, and now a bunch of kua-toa are running around screaming the name "Lemugugu"

Did I do a bad?

#

Like, who's Lemugugu, or- what is it?

modest badger
#

That sounds like something to find out about in game.

grave sky
#

Oh boy, I feel like I did a bad

modest badger
lime pasture
#

i mean really i just need a deity that has beef with asmodeus and fights with him somewhat regularly

iron saffron
#

Which setting?

lime pasture
#

I think fearun

#

The one with the sword coast

#

But I use a mix for the lore

static oracle
#

Where would I find how a cleric of Vecna would act?

iron saffron
modest badger
#

Was just about to post that- the citations there can also direct you to sorces that might speak about clerics

distant brook
#

Does lionin lore make them basically a template for any big cat like the tabaxi is for smaller cats?

#

Like would a tiger leonin work or would they fit more into a tabaxi?

unkempt merlin
#

Leonin lore is more a bit variable depending on the mtg setting. But a leonin looking tiger like would be fine

modest badger
#

Prides of these nomadic, lion-like humanoids rarely interact with other peoples, having all they need in their shimmering homeland and knowing the treachery of strangers.

Tawny fur covers leonin bodies, and some grow thick manes ranging in shades from gold to black. While their hands prove as nimble as those of other humanoids, leonin have retractable feline claws, which they can extend instantly.

#

Lore wise in 5e, this is all we have to go on and they are not tiger like. Ask your DM if you're wanting to reflavour that. It won't be a big difference, but official D&D lore wise...

#

They are lion-like. They have tawny fur. Some have gold to black manes.

unkempt merlin
#

In MtG lore, there are a bunch of "cat warrior" races that may or may not all be the same race. They are separated based on culture

#

The specific lionlike stuff is for Theros in particular

#

Aka Leonin in a dnd setting would 99% chance just be a variant tabaxi

modest badger
#

Which is all we have for 5e so far, but drawing on MtG lore can certainly help.

unkempt merlin
#

As tabaxi already have much variability in the type of cats they look like in lore

modest badger
#

But they are not tabaxi. That is not the lore.

#

In a D&D setting, like theros for 5e, leonin are leonin. How you introduce leonin to other settings would be homebrew in your own game.

unkempt merlin
#

My apologies, I had been answering in the context of them being a "template" in lore.

distant brook
#

Oh so lorewise, non-lion big cat leonin would be tabaxi, but mechanically they would be leonin.

iron saffron
#

They're different species

#

Tabaxi were introduced back in 1E. They had jaguar-like features.

unkempt merlin
modest badger
#

Big like saying 'Oh so elves are just humans with pointy ears right, so I can just call them humans?'. Tabaxi and leonin are similar, but are different species. But if trying to figure out 'are there any tiger people in D&D' or the like, then yeeeesss, but tricky.

unkempt merlin
modest badger
#

Tabaxi are def vary varied in 5e now:

Tabaxi's appearance is as varied as their attitudes. Some tabaxi have features or patterning in their fur like tigers, jaguars, or other big cats, while others have appearances more like a house cat. Still others have unique patterns or might style their fur to their preferences—or might even be hairless!
-Mordenkainen Present Monsters of the Multiverse

modest badger
#

Theros is a D&D setting book.

unkempt merlin
modest badger
#

It is now from MotM

#

But yes older lore had more specific looks for Tabaxi. New tabaxi lore lets them be all sorts. Which is fitting as they're creations of the lord of all cats.

#

Tabaxi from 1e Fiend Folio were Tiger like:

The cat-men are tall and lithe and move with the smooth-easy grace of cats. Their fine fur is tawny and striped with black, in a pattern similar to that of a tiger. They wear no clothing. Their eyes are green yellow and slit-pupilled. They have retractable claws.

And 6'6 on average in 1e >.> according to Dragon 91.

2e Faerun Tabaxi, In the module Fires of Zatal, were described as 'true jaguar men' and were in Matzica

Also known as jaguar-people, tabaxi have spotted coats ranging in color from light yellow to brownish red. These graceful feline humanoids are tall and slender, with retractable claws, and eyes of green or yellow.

white ravine
#

What are some easily noticed features of Krynn?

#

With or without overlap in other settings

iron saffron
#

Initially no clerical spells (before the gods returned).

white ravine
#

Hm. How long ago did that change?

modest badger
#

Draconians. Minotaurs being more of a major race. Kender.
Lot stricter alignment- limited amount of gods. Specific gods too.
No drow.

iron saffron
#

The gods of Krynn abandoned the world after the Cataclysm. They returned around the time of the War of the Lance 300 years later.

modest badger
#

Wizards are colour coded for your convenience.

white ravine
#

I have an NPC wizard that died a few decades ago in the fugue plane, and im thinkin on what theyd remember from Krynn to be different enough from FR where the current dead PC is from

#

Lack of drow and existence of draconians are a good start for that...

modest badger
#

Yeah I think it would be. That and you have how many gods???

iron saffron
#

I believe the minotaurs weren't the typical CE monsters but had their own civilization? This is from hazy memory of reading the Twins trilogy.

white ravine
#

His memory's a bit fuzzy (a complete cop out on my end since im very unfamiliar with Krynn)

#

But he's gonna be a bit of an exposition dump on universal constants between realms (such as the outer planes)

modest badger
#

Krynn has 21 gods essentially. Sometimes they have different names, but it's 7 gods to each alignment (evil, neutral, good)

iron saffron
#

I highly recommend reading the original DL trilogy series. That was a catalyst of putting more emphasis on roleplaying and character development in 1E.

white ravine
#

Whats the moon god? Any works.

modest badger
#

And you can see them in the sky as constellations if I recall- like they noticed that Paladine and Takhisis was missing because their constellation was gone

#

Solinari chose to be a moon rather than a constellation I think

white ravine
#

Okay, that works. PC is a lunar sorc so thatll throw em for a loop.

modest badger
#

Oh right- White moon = good = Solinari
Red moon = neutral= lunitari
black moon = evil= Nuitari

#

Also the colour codes of the wizards

white ravine
#

Alright...hm, anything else?

eager bay
#

Nit related tp ur chat but where can i start to understand dnd lore cause i have no idea what dnd lore is

iron saffron
#

Which official setting of official D&D lore are you interested in?

eager bay
#

I hav eno idea of nay of them

#

Sorry for spelling mistakes keyboard lagging

modest badger
#

That's a bit of a broad ask. D&D lore will just be information about the game world you join like, what races live in that world, what gods exist, so on.

eager bay
#

Idl i see people here talking another language

modest badger
#

So it comes down to the lore presented generally, such as in the Monster Manual, and then setting specific lore that is only about one setting- like Eberron is it's own world, and it's book covers it's lore.

iron saffron
#

There are many official D&D campaign settings: Forgotten Realms, Mystara, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Eberron, Spelljammer, Planescape, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, etc.

#

Lore is basically the history of the campaign worlds.

eager bay
#

Oh then thx

merry scaffold
#

What's the relationship between dwarfs and duergars?

modest badger
#

From the 5e MM:

The duergar were once dwarves, before their greed and endless delving beneath the earth brought them into contact with the mind flayers. Held in captivity for generations by the illithids, the dwarves eventually won their independence with the aid of the evil god Laduguer. Slavery had forever changed them, however, darkening their spirits to make the duergar as evil as the tyrants they had escaped. Despite winning their freedom, duergar are dour, pessimistic, untrusting creatures, always toiling and complaining, with no memory of what it means to be happy or proud. Their craftsmanship and accomplishments endure, yet they are bereft of warmth or artistry.
Duergar make war against their dwarven kin and all other subterranean races. They forge alliances when it is convenient, then break those alliances when they have nothing more to gain. They take and hold slaves to toil in the Underdark, regarding them as free labor and crude currency.

What a bleak existence for them.

#

That lore though is not repeated in MotM, where it only mentions their enslavement and psionic mutation, removing the cultural monolith of duergar repeating their cycle of abuse and being evil because they were slaves >.>

#

Duergar are dwarves whose ancestors were transformed by centuries living in the deepest places of the Underdark. That chthonic realm is saturated with strange magical energy, and over generations, early duergar absorbed traces of it. They were further altered when mind flayers and other Aberrations invaded and performed horrific experiments on them. Fueled by Underdark magic, those experiments left early duergar with psionic powers, which have been passed down to their descendants. In time, they liberated themselves from their aberrant tyrants and forged a new life for themselves in the Underdark and beyond.
MotM

stoic elm
iron saffron
#

No it's not. Spelljammer is essentially "D&D in space" (think "Treasure Planet") where you can travel between the different D&D worlds, such as Toril (the Forgotten Realms) and Krynn (Dragonlance).

#

It's a campaign setting on it's own since not every DM may want to introduce spelljamming to their campaign.

stoic elm
#

Ah, that makes sense

eager bay
#

not to mention probably Stupidworld too

iron saffron
#

Why did you ping me for that?

eager bay
#

Was just replying

drowsy wraith
#

Hey everyone

#

Can you give me lore info on Harengon

magic jackal