#dnd-lore
1 messages · Page 70 of 1
then nothing google gives me, they just exist
Yeah, that tends to be the general consensus. They’re not inherently good or evil from an alignment perspective, they’re just forces of nature with motives we don’t understand.
they arent even evil technically
At most, they might be evil to mortals, but you know. Different perspectives.
all cleric domains are suggestions
also I would typically argue a cleric of Hadar wouldnt exist as they aernt a proper god that responds to mortals, hence warlock bonds instead
True, tho it does say in xanathers that clerics can also worship an ideal. But that doesn't really help
an ideal is different from an entity that gives power. both can be sources, but I'm saying you would not likely 'actually' get power from Hadar.
similar to how Clerics of Vlaakith are not actually getting power from her
The relationship between someone and an elder evil tends to line up more with Warlocks than Clerics anyways
That said, the relationship between a Warlock and their Patron tends to be more transactional than that between a Cleric and their god.
Kinda why I personally don’t tend to make GOOs/elder evils available to Clerics right off the bat.
I see what you mean. Thx
Is there any more hidden lore about Laduguer, the god of the Duergar (Grey Dwarves). I found a little bit, but not very much of it
I've looked there
theres a bit more lore in Tome of Foes, but thats all covered in the wiki iirc
Because my character is sharing a body with Laduguer, so me and my dm are trying to find some cool things to add to the campaign to tie my character in more
also, its worth to note:
In 1383 DR, Laduguer and Deep Duerra were both destroyed[4] and their home plane of Hammergrim dispersed into the Astral Plane[4]. Most Worshipers of Laduguer did not realize this, however, as Asmodeus took up the guise of Laduguer in an effort to gain more followers.
The wiki also lists a bunch of sources for more info.
Probably not free, but the sources are there.
I was thinking of a character to make and was browsing through different dieties and I think I've settled on Eilistraee. The lore for them is super interesting. I think a Seldarine Drow Bard would go great with her as a patron. And the whole premise of her trying to return the drow to the surface and reconciling with the surface elves and live peacefully is cool.
So, I have been looking into Time Gods and I need some info on Amaunator after the Second Sundering. I read that the Domain of Time became his after regaining the status of a Greater Deity around the Second Sundering. I’m already aware of Chronos/Labelas Enoreth but I’m trying to also have a human centric god of time in my Setting.
Can I have an elder brain as my patron? (The Many subclass)
(Idk if I should post this in #third-party )
The Many Subclass is third party, and thats a question to ask your DM
Good point
Is there such a thing as the feywild and shadowdark intersecting in dnd
Hey, I got question about Notic's
L5
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Amaunator is a great place to start.
Not intersecting, but it is completely possible to create a gate from one to the other.
I assume you mean nothics?
@cinder cloud this what I decided to settle on when it came to time in my setting.
Time Gods Amaunator of Native Faerun Time Magic and Labelas Enoreth of Elven Time Magic.
The Nexus of Time is a construct that is like the Weave of Magic. That is why both Amaunator and Labelas Enoreth are needed for it to follow properly on Astolis. They work in tandem to make sure the Nexus isn’t disrupted or corrupted by malevolent interlopers. Also, Amainator works closely with Mystra to help guard the secrets of major time magic and time travel. While Labelas Enoreth does the same with Corellon.
yea, I can't spell.
are those meant to just be through away monsters or can you turn them into something more scary?
That's not really a lore question. You can read more about them here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Nothic
What you do with them is up to you.
thanks
every monster is scary in it's own right, especially aberrations and monstrosities, not everyone is an adventurer, let alone a powerful one so these things can be truly terrifying or at least disturbing in the right context, especially to the average person on any of these worlds
Have Urds ever been mentioned in current (5e) lore?
As far I can see, there is a singular mention in Chapter 1 of Tyranny of Dragons / Hoard of the Dragon Queen
They also have a statblock, although I believe it’s only referred to as “winged kobold.”
Urds are just the name for winged kobolds given by other kobolds yeah
Oh HECK yes! I couldnt find them due to only searching for "Urd"
Got all the info I needed once switching to "Winged Kobold".
quick question, though is it possible for a mortal to become a demon in FR?
Pretty sure that's what manes are
technically, yeah, is what happens if your soul is sent to the abyss as i recall or if you wind up traveling to the abyss and either spend too long there or die while there, granted i could be wrong, but pretty sure it is a thing especially since recently we did get detailed stuff for demonic possession
Yes, when they die.
I forgot that could happen in death, but is it possible either when they are alive or if they could retain their old memories post demon transformation
How is relation between half orcs and dragonborns? I am developing the story of my character who is a dragonborn who was banished from his clan. I am thinking of him staying at a half orc village for some time before he started the adventure
There isn’t a set relation
What setting as well
I imagine there would be certain default attitude. Like humans and others would generally dislike orcs, goblins etc
Not necessarily true for every setting. Not every setting even has orcs, leg alone dragonborn.
Setting is mostly forgotten realms
In FR, they dont have any outright relationship
May also depend on specific group
They are both minorities in the Realms, so they have that in common.
But as far as specific relationships between the two? Nothing notable.
there basically is none at least none that is known or noteworthy, but given what little is known to similarly disliked races such as tieflings, probably postive https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonborn#Relations_with_other_races
as long as you are not a true dragon, in the forgotten realms at least, they will be pretty open minded about other races on average
like to my knowledge tieflings similarly viewed the way half orcs are and thus the two tend to get along, so if they are tolerent towards tieflings, i see no reason this would not extend towards half-orcs too
what are some creatures that might lair or live with cloud giants
those that live in the air, in a particular cloud giant's menagerie or really high mountains if memory serves so some kinds of dragons and other flying creatures or those that live in places high up
ic ic. Trying to flesh out a cloud giant's stronghold, and was wondering if there are any creatures that just gather around them
Prehistoric lions are known to be kept as pets: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Spotted_lion
ooh, right Spotted Lions!
i feel bigby's could be useful as a tool as i believe it has a similar section for giants of doing that sort of thing as fizban's did for dragons
... right, ive neglected that book for too long
G’day lads, lasses and undecided! I kinda need help, I want help with a brain exercise regarding cross dimensional politics between water deep and the United state government
Thx m8
Does anybody know of a podcast, YouTube series, or the like that covers most if not all D&D lore for the Forgotten Realms? I really wanna get to know some lore and I figured that this’d be the best place to start
A.J. Pinkett(?) has a YT channel
Thanks pal I’ll check them out
Pickett, like the fence, not pinkett
i knew i got something wrong, thank you Scarlet! 🙇
I used to be pretty into The Dungeoncast a while back. They’re essentially just one guy teaching lore to his relatively new to the hobby friend. They’re both pretty funny, and I think they air their own campaign from time to time.
does ashardalon have any titles?
There is also DragonTalk on YouTube. D&D's very own channel. By the game designers themselves.
It's also called Lore You Should Know
Or LYSK for short
The Lore You Should Know video lists starts with Anauroch Desert. With Adam Lee!
does not appear to https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ashardalon
at least in published materials, which makes sense to a degree i guess if he is still held up in his lair in his bid to live forever or what ever
cuz if i am not mistaken most of the titles and aliases given to a dragon is usually by the "lesser" races as the dragon would view them, based on the dragon's acts
Looking for starting places on achieving godhood in Forgotten Realm lore
Karsus’ Avatar is the only guaranteed way, but has a number of reasons why it’s unobtainable in the modern era.
It doesn’t have to be anything for a player character more like a Big Bad Evil Guy/Non-Player guy. I was kind of thinking like a step approach,
KA does have some highly exotic ingredients that are known (and some unknown), and time travel back to the age of Netheril when high magic existed is still possible.
So getting the components and finding a temporal conduit could all be steps of achieving godhood.
Okay, that’s a starting point.
Killing a god (possibly with the assistance of a god) is also a known method of achieving godhood, such as during the Time of Troubles.
I was kind thinking of taking approach that doesn’t include Lichdom but still has the person be immortal.
I really like killing the god idea or like amassing enough divine energy to become a god.
Vampirism? Becoming a god’s Chosen? Having a large number of Clones stashed away? Being petrified?
These are how some other major figures have achieved immortality in the Realms.
I went with the Mind Transfer and Clone approach
I made it they’ve been able to imbue in their cloned bodies a high level of regeneration and agelessness. However, they still need to transfer their consciousness to new bodies because of the extreme mental and physical exertion of their Arcane Research.
I think I found something that’ll help me online about how Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul’s process of harvesting Divine Sparks to become demigods and then trying to kill a god.
well no matter what, you ain't gunna become a god in the forgotten realms without Ao's approval at least as new god, else you gotta kill and replace an existing one which is near impossible without very specific artifacts, that are no longer known to the public, to do
That’s the trick part the world isn’t Toril but a place that Forgotten Realms god learned about from both Ao & Asograth for Bahamut/Tiamat after the Second Sundering
Well, if it's not in Realmspace, a lot of what was discussed doesn't apply. Different worlds have different rules for godhood.
Okay, I’m just trying to making align with Forgotten Realms lore as much as possible since I’m using its pantheons. Though this character is aware of the multiverse and Toril.
Like the gods kind of settled this world Starting with Bahamut and Tiamat; Then the other gods with their pilgrims initially from the realm of Toril or souls chosen to be resurrected by their patron God.
So, I could put my own spin on Forgotten Realm stuff without having to worry too much cannon stuff. However, I started to have to check the lore when it came to larger themes
So have the events of Bg3 been canonized or no?
They are presumably semi broadly canon
There are tons of variables so it’s unlikely any FR source will outright say what happened.
The upcoming FR setting book next year will talk about Baldur’s Gate. So we will presumably learn who the current leaders are in the aftermath
Maybe stuff like Rolan running Sorcerous Sundries now
IIRC, it falls under another continuity
^ modules, novels, etc are all one path the canon could take, not what the canon actually is
Like I am pretty sure stuff related to it will be mentioned by the upcoming setting book next year
it is not specific to toril, is setting wide
yes and no, there is no 1 canon, but so far in published materials none of the events have been referenced so we do not know what events occurred or in what way if any so far, it is specific to it's own canon, anything else is yet to be confirmed as being applicable to any other, best you will get is the consolidation that the forgotten realms wiki attempts much like it does with the various editions
I bet two new Dukes will be mentioned in the upcoming setting guide
If anything is "Canonized" It will be the narrative path that changes the world the least. That is the Replace Your Divots ideology that feeds into the realms since 2014.
BG3 assumes an ending to Descent Into Avernus. The 2024 DMG while undated, reinforces that assumption. As a newer book. We will see but I have a figure that the world state if advanced will be the one that changes the world the least.
||Like I am pretty sure that Ravengard is alive, and the Absolute were defeated will be part of it||
Yes, I am certain those will be mentioned but the specifics unless mentioned in another medium will be murky.
BG1 and BG2 were not accepted into FR canon until those terrible trilogy of novels canonized them and gave us the default Bhaalspawn of Abdel Adrian. Who was then referenced in the DnDNext playtest Murder in Baldur's Gate
Not quite FR canon follows the games more, as the novels are not consistent with future events
Abdel is also the name of the first Pregen in the games
each form of media is it's own continuity
so even when referenced, they are not bound to any specific outcomes and events could play out differently, they are will all come down to any mandates and specifics from the higher ups or the author of what ever may reference it
Prior to the 2021 statement on canonicty which is not available anymore IIRC, Printed Materials Handled by TSR/WOTC always took precedence over other media.
Why is North Reckoning called North Reckoning?
What is North Reckoning It’s not something I have heard of?
Oh it’s one of the time systems
It’s called North Reckoning cause it originated in the north like how Dale Reckoning is called as such cause it came from the Dalelands
Checking details and NR largely fell out of use in favour of DR
And now I'm over here, with an odder inquiryt
For D&D based fanfictions, how do people feel about non-human protagonists?
Drizzt is literally the most popular D&D character with a book series.
Not a short series either. I think it’s just shy of 40 books.
I have googled around a bit about a question I had, and this topic seems to be a huge source of arguments for some reason.
I have seen threads of people going absolutely hog wild :D
But because of that, I still have no idea which is the correct answer, if there even is one.
Are non-sentient undead flesh/bone puppets on magical strings, or do they still have a soul?
depends on the specific undead
What is Yin-C Ban the duke of again? hes one of the elemental evils right?
Drizzt is that Drow, he is the reason I begin learning about Forgotten Realms. I started the with The Way of The Drow Trilogy, than circled back to the start of the series and I’m currently on The Companions book. It’s a great series to read even though it’s long.
Also, Happy Holidays to Everyone in the Thread!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas to those here
Also to clarify, I asked my question because I was going to write a Fanfiction seeing a non-human protagonist. Just still making sure people are interested in those while I theorycraft things, like design and whatnot
So, with that, I've a question. Y'all mind if I ramble for a bit while awaiting a lift to a Christmas event?
Ask away! Although note that this is meant to be the channel to discuss official lore, so theories and worldbuilding might be a better option for #dm-world-building .
In my defense, this would be more for writing D&D stories, such as Fanfiction. I wasn't sure which channel would be ideal for that, as I was referred here.
Would this be better suited for Arts and Crafts, technically?
Yeah this is sounding more like an arts and crafts thing but please be aware we do have text limitations to avoid spamming and large blocks of text. Consider using Google Docs to create and share your work. Also make sure anything you share follows server rules for approrpiate content. Thanks!
Prince of Evil Air
Also Yan-C-Bin
Are there undead oozes?
Honestly, my goal was just to get some insights, from potential readers, on what sounds more interesting.
If I write Fanfiction, it'd be uploaded to AO3 or Fanfiction.net given...well I don't want to drown chat with that. I'm not even sure Discord can handle it. Never tried. Seems like a fun litmus test to conduct down the road.
sort of, there is stuff like the blood amonite, which is noted as being such https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Blood_amniote
and is listed as being a type so at least in older editions they were a thing
I do have a lore question. For illithid psionic seals, could a non-illithid possibly learn how to use them and imbue them into items or themselves?
What about raising a slain ooze?
and argument could be made that the closest thing in 5e is the slithering tracker in regards to undead ooze https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Slithering_tracker
I'm guessing we don't have anything like that? Talking about stuff such as plasmoids or ochre jellies that have been raised from the dead.
not likely, least to my knowledge, seems largely specific to them but there is so little info you might be able to make the argument, would check the cited sources for potential important details https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Psionic_seal
quick question for demon princes. In order for them to ascend, do they need a domain much like how gods need a unique domain to ascend?
That's what I'm seeing. There's not really a lot of information on Psionic Seals, or even the application of them
well where the lore leaves blanks that is usually where the DM or reader is encouraged to fill in the gaps with their own logic
last i checked a demon prince simply needs to conquer and remain in control of any layer of the abyss for 30 days straight, it is really the only requirment
So theoretically, a non-illithid could utilize Psionic Seals.,
far as i can find, the Blood amniotes are the only example of a proper undead ooze in published materials at least within the forgotten realms
the main reason I ask is because demons like orcus and zuggtmoy have specific titles for what they're demon lords of, but hmm
the titles are largely self declaired
they basically claim over something and fashion themselves around that to seem to any lesser beings, like mortals, that don't know any better almost god like
I see
or they otherwise are something core to their identiy, such as orcus being the prince of undeath, he despises the living, mortals, demons, even other undead, his end goal is to be the last living/unliving concious in the multiverse and any thing else just be an extension of his will
i see
and with him seemingly at the cost of true god hood effectively created a means by which he will always come back as he has died multiple times where any other being would have died for good, so his acts are more so to speed the process along, as he honestly could just wait for the natural death of the multiverse, but he really wants that peace and quite, so he ain't really gunna do that if he can speed things up
demon princes are basically the big players among the demon lords
alrighty. that def helps as I'm trying to cook up a bbeg's plan to become a demon lord, though I wasn't sure of the rules other than conquring an abyssal layer
well with technically infinite layers and some of the known ones not even having a known demon lord, the published lore definitely gives you plenty to work with
is just some of those layers they have no lord is do to it being so difficult even for them to survive in let along alone do so for the 30 days or rule it
heck, forget which but i believe juiblex and orcus teamed up and just completely wrecked one layer that had a portal to hell once that hell was using as a back door in the blood war, if i am not mistaken but the portal of course no longer works
basically it does not care who or what you are, if you prove you are strong enough to rule, the abyss will grant you the power and title should you prove you are strong enough, presumably why you need to conquer a layer and maintain control for 30 days straight, of course will likely twist your mindset to be more chaotic evil and to the nature of demons, but that is a bit less clear if that is something the abyss actually does to your perception/world view so feel free to take that bit with a grain of salt
alrighty, thanks for that info. It'll help out with what I'm planning
Strange qustion any link to the Dragonborn from befor they showed up are the the ones from dragonlance?
is there a good link to read there history vs well the voids or dislocation of having a lore
the FR wiki might have it, though I don't think that's in violation of the rules
they are completely unrelated
draconians are magically mutated and birthed from corrupted true dragon eggs
Yeagh not a great explanation kind of hints they were the ones from Dragonlance. they kind of were in an evil alliance kind of controlled and broke away. hence they could be
only due to that would not be the name they were known by
no, fundimentally dragonborn and draconians are entirely different entities, they look similar in some cases, but are not the same nor related
If all terninators were man killing terminators we as humans would not look at one and go of that's a borg
oh well no info leaves a big open ? to play with
that has literally nothing to do with this situation
you can do what you want in your games at your table, but what is and is not in published materials is another matter entirely
there is no official lore that says they are not the descendants to the draconians. the little bit of the dragonborn lore says they were once part of an evil and they were troops that sounds like they use of the draconians.
-_-
that is not how that works, we literally know for a fact they are two entirely different beings and have no relation to one another
cuz we also have also literally nothing even suggesting a connection
i'm not here to argue hoss i was looking for a D&D provided bit of information since i can see in the forgotten realm how the dragonborn came from somewhere else. they were once a shock troop race. That they do not talk abought who they use to be and why they came to the forgotten realms. that they may have chosen the name dragonborn vs staying with Draconian is by far a more likely. hence the reason i was hopeful to find a D&D released link that says so.
well you could have asked that rather than just spouting stuff about them and draconians
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonborn
there are two kinds of dragonborn in the forogtten realms' history, the true race we have today, and their predecessors, the connection between the two how ever is not known but far as i know there is ment to be a connection between the two iterations https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonborn_of_Bahamut
i did at the start
a lot of their lore is uncertain, but is contained to the forgotten realms setting and narrowed down to a hand full of beliefs among their people
dragonborn have nothing to do with dragonlance
which i tried to explain to you
it would have been clearer to have simply asked is there any published history on the dragonborn as we know them today?
because again, they have no connection to the dragonlance setting, thus the question did not really make any sense, so i thought you were under some misinformation so i tried to clear it up for you
as for draconians, info on them is consolidated on the setting's deticated wiki if you do not have fizban's treasury of dragons of the 5e dragonlance materials
Draconians are made from corrupted eggs of true dragons, entirely different from dragonborn
iirc, the module itself says that dragonborn players would be from another setting/world
Hello all
Do beholders regrow their eyestalks?
Do slaadi’s gets keep control over them between transformations (ie red slaadi gem all the way to death slaadi)? Can they have multiple gems having control over them?
Plotting for a campaign
No they don’t. There’s a Beholder in Fearun in the Zhentarim who only has a few of his stalks left after some fight that took them
though they likely could via magical or otherwise unnatural means, spells and potions of regeneration are a thing even if hard to acquire
far as i know, such a scenario is not addressed
Is the aberrant dragonmark at all connected to actual dragons
I believe it’s attached the the Dragon Gods mostly?
The Ebberon ones that made the world
Including the one named “Ebberon”
far as i know it is connected to dragons the same way as the others, just the aberration is do to it manifesting on a different race than the others and thus is kind of a mutation of these things
these should provide more/better context
dragon marks are related to the draconic prophecy https://eberron.fandom.com/wiki/Draconic_Prophecy
technically it's nature is unknown but is somehow connected to the progenator dragons and heavily studied by true dragons of eberron because with their incredably long life spans they are one of if not the only such creatures that can do so
it's more so connect to the setting, which is made from the bodies of the 3 progenator dragons according to it's creation myth last i checked
Thank you
Have Lolth clerics and other worshippers ever been on the surface to enact Lolth's will in the FR?
do night time raids count
in many cases to raid for slaves, or to get sacrifices. But Lolth is a manipulative mistress she enjoys pitting her own on each other. one of her favorite tests is to manipulate people you depend on allies or lessor priestesses to atempt to kill you then inform you that the hit is abought to happen to test you.
Noted, thanks.
i Love running Drow undercity games.
I have a surface drow who acts as a free agent/acolyte of Vhaeraun, Eilistraee, and Vandria Gilmadrith, and through his pacts he does special jobs for all three but he primarily worships Vandria.
So I was trying to learn more about Lolth Drow as they tie into his backstory.
can vampirism be cured in 5e?
Yes, kind of.
The monster manual says that a wish spell could be used to accomplish this. Killing the vampire and resurrecting them the usual way would also work.
so vampirism is body-bound? Not soul-bound?
It seems so, yeah. Although the soul they do have is probably in pretty rough shape after a while.
thankss ❤️
The soul of a vampire’s host body does go to an afterlife whilst the vampire is animate, at least in some cases.
I don’t believe that is the case in D&D
Intelligent Undead keep their souls in their body.
Or literally are their corrupted souls
It is the case for Shadow Sun vampires, at least, which is an admittedly obscure example.
Is there a main source for the DnD lore? Like a players handbook for the context around people, places, things, etc.?
There are many different settings, all with different lore
Fair enough, I’m sure it would be way too much to condense down but I thought I’d check
Here's one for the Forgotten Realms, for example: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page
Arguably the biggest and most used setting in D&D. There are many others. Greyhawk, for example, is featured in the latest DMG.
The new dungeonmasters guide has a lore glossary that touches on a lot of key points of dnd lore from across a lot of years and sources
I got a question about Yuan-ti
Malisons can essentially appear in any form so long as it's heavily serpentine, yeah?
Appreciate the info @versed hare and @cinder cloud !
Another inquiry, a continuation of the Psionic Seals topic. With how little info there exists on them, DMs and storytellers can just...drum up what they can do, yes?
yeah that is basically how it works in regards to anything with little or not hyper specific and super detailed info in the lore
and dnd in general to be honest, is not really exclusive to the lore
Are there any living notable Black Dragons in 5e lore?
Ebonde- wait living
Could take a look at this list
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Black_dragon#Notable_Black_Dragons
Theres a lot
the two Wyrms of the Mere i find interesting as to my knowledge is rather rare for chromatic dragons to get along or worth together, let alone twin black dragons, given black dragons are renowned for their cruelty
🧹 cleaning things up - and back to official D&D lore discussion
srry if this isnt the right spot to ask but anyone got reading recs? i've been reading thru avatars and faith cuz ive been interested in the pantheon for the forgotten, does anyone have anything newer that covers similar stuff?
Chapter 6 of the new DMG has some pretty tightly and well written overall summaries of general DnD cosmology, well worth a look.
i am assuming you mean the forgotten realms pantheon, but there are multiple as the forgotten realms is way more than just the one world or the one continent that recent years heavily focused on
i did say forgotten ya i meant forgotten realms
well there is none
i was hoping for stuff thats more in depth than a chapter in a book but i'll look into this
as i said, there are many pantheons in the forgotten realms
but the one most likely to be revelevent to recent stuff is the faerunian one https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Faerûnian_pantheon
judging by the sources in this page i fear there may be more books for me to read....
the forgotten realms wiki consolidates and sometimes summarizes info from the various editions the setting has been involved in so if wanting detail and viewing it in a sort of singular timeline kind of manner, that would be a good place to start and check the sources cited to see the full context
how can u say there are none and then that thats so mean haha
because there is no 1 pantheon for the entire setting
faerun is only 1 continent on 1 specific world in the setting
Hm. So 5e didn't go much in-depth about FR in a collected effort outside of SCAG, and that was only really for the sword coast.
Ed Greenwod has produced an absolute insane amount of details, but it's mostly distributed in the old setting guides they brought out.
Look for Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide and Grand History of the Realms
to my knowledge there is no flat out setting wide pantheon that would otherwise just be every single god worhsiped in the setting
The elves have their own, the dwarves, the duergar, the drow, they all have their own pantheons
Perhaps DriveThruRPG has pdfs of those old guides.
yes, those are specific species and cultures
i think ur being too obtuse about my query
the forgotten realms is the entire setting created by ed greenwood and all the worlds that make it up
thank you everyone else for the suggestions im noting them down 
i literally was just clerifying things and providing you win a link to the page of the pantheon you most likely were thinking of based on what you said
i want... books... on the pantheons....
well those are mainly something you are only gunna find in older editons or 3rd party
Start with the FR wiki and then check their sources if you need more.
mainly 2e and 3e in regards to older editions
that is more or less what i said earlier, all be it not in those exact words
"Faiths And Pantheons" from 2002 may be valuable to you
i'm eyeballing that one rn haha
just remember that book is specifically for 3e, so any edition beyond that, it may not all apply, only anything not directly contradicted by newer lore
i was more hoping for like reading recomendations rather than penning thru citations in wiki pages...
As much as i hate it, SCAG and Tome of foes could be potential sources for 5e
yay scag explodes
Tome of Foes i enjoyed, although it was more about the cultures then a bit about their gods
wouldnt hurt to learn about their cultures too
well to my knowledge there is not just flat out books in recent years dedicated to such things and novels are technically their own continuity so anything they might contribute is questionable until reiterated in sourcebooks and or adventures or at least referenced
personally i think cultures compared to their religion is usually rather invaluable in learning y things are
if you are wanting to do that, you may wanna keep this page bookmarked, as there are lot of pantheons in the setting some specific to races and their cultures, others more so a collective consciousness of the people of a part of one of the worlds https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Pantheons
those listed on the forgotten realms wiki have at least some history connected them to the setting even though in some cases only parts of those pantheons would get involved and become part of other pantheons over time
or for less setting specific, the new dmg's lore glossary, that at least covers some of the major and iconic names in dnd's history
thanks but again i'm not looking for wiki recomendations...
Another flick here, but with Psionic Seals, and how open ended they are, theoretically, would it be possible for an illithid to use them to imbue psionic powers into weapons? I ask because Mind Blades exist, and those are just psionic swords, so the idea could work in theory, yes?
this is true but that isn't exactly reading recommendations... not wut im looking for...
Ill take a look, thanks Big Ti
So, Psionic Seals and items? Seems feasible from a lore standpoint, yes?
far as i can tell and is known, that could be actually how they do that
Hmm, curious. So an innovative mind flayer could design a suit of armor using Psionic Seals, flavored like mystic abilities, and fight a party"?
honestly this sounds more so like you are asking about for the sake of your own games in which case it does not really matter, but far as i can tell yes, but the catch would be similar to the similar items that were introduced in volo's guide to monster, though that is legacy now so not entirely sure if those items are ment to be taken into consideration
not sure there is any one specific sources but any of the ones that focus on covering and describing the planes would be the place most likely
also it varies from layer to layer
like avernus is basically a wasteland where it regularly rains literal fire
honestly, best source for that would likely be the 5e adventure decent into avernus if wanting a 5e source as the bulk of that takes place in that layer
Tons of different biomes. Even within a single layer.
Most layers have a general "climate" but still have a lot of variation
The most common biome in Avernus for example, is a sort of desert wasteland. But it's got forests, mountains, swamplands, and more in different places. As well as more fantastic environments like lava riverlands and the likes.
I have one final question, but I'll hold it. The topic of Avernus' layout is quite interesting.
Kinda didn't think actual hell would have a biome.
I mean this with complete seriousness
I thought it was just fire and actual mayhem down there
it's kind of meaningless, as pointed out in the adventure, infinite in scale makes travel via the conventional means a pain
Even the plane of Mechanus, the place of perfect order, has climatic variation between regions.
if they acquire one, more or less
I'll ask my question, then. Entryways to the Underdark are everywhere and in hard to reach areas, yes?
Can be
Entrances to the underdark are mostly just. Caves.
So sometimes they are fairly easy to access, sometimes not
So for a lot of caves, there's a 75% chance one slip and someone's sent to D&D Brazil
I use Brazil not as an insult to the actual locale
Theres no real stastic, but yeah
But for the meme
the wiki even includes the image of avernus and even the map that was included in the adventure which at least would give you a general sense of major locations in relation to one another, but the distances between them are basically not gunna be a static thing so the infernal engines are the optimal way to my knowledge to get around
So thereotically, would there be Underdark entryways out in Chult?
far as i know, nothing stating there are not any, and far as i know the entire underdark and least on toril is connected so there is likely little distinction
Curious. I'll remember that.
honestly if you are familiar with the monsterverse, the underdark in dnd is not too different from the hallow earth
My understanding of the Underdark largely relates to Never Go into the Underdark
Purely because it's incredibly dangerous
yeah but there are still people that live there
and other creatures, it is dangerous by a normal person's standards, that is why is kind of a dumb idea to intentionally go into the underdark unless you are an adventurer or someone that is otherwise very powerful and can defend yourself
True. I'll research into it further.
Duergar slave trade lives in the underdark
The new DMG actually kinda touches on this (and I think the Nine Hells were discussed lightly in MToF too). Avernus is mostly a desert wasteland and warzone, Dis is a bunch of canyons that house an infernal metropolis, Minauros is a smelly bog, Phlegethos is volcanic and ash-covered with rivers of magma (classic archetypal "Hell"), Stygia is a frigid tundra surrounded by a frozen sea, Malbolge is a "seemingly endless mountain slope", Maladomini is a ruin-covered urban wasteland, Cania is another frozen wasteland (though beyond the explicit difference of a frozen sea, not much is mentioned about how that differs from Stygia), and Nessus is a realm full of pits with fortresses built into them and Asmodeus's lair sprouting out of a massive chasm like a giant stalagmite.
Very vague descriptions from 5E material, but still enough to at least build upon, I think.
If you can get your hands on it, I would recommend checking out Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes for some basic information on the Nine Hells and their archdevils. It's only the (iirc) first chapter of the book and also includes information on the demon lords and their respective layers of the Abyss. It's not enough to give you every last detail, but might at least be enough to get the gears grinding.
2e’s Planes of Law or the Manual of the Planes would be older sources that should still mostly be accurate, other than changing rulers.
Yeah, there are plenty of older sources out there with a lot more detail than what 5E offers, but 5E's philosophy for the most part has been to give a vague idea for you to make your own.
Which I understand is not very helpful if you're looking for specific details, but hey. I only know 5E, so that's all I've got to offer 😅
Why is it called the "Forgotten" realms?
Well beyond the "because that's what Ed Greenwood (original creator of setting) called it, I think it's because there have been so many kingdoms/realms/cultures/civilizations that have risen and fallen in the setting. Can't really go anywhere without running into evidence of them, but many have disappeared into the ages without having a name, e.g. forgotten.
Gotchaa I was wondering if it was a starwars type setting where we aren't sure if it takes place in our past or future.
“Forgotten Realms” isn’t an in-universe name. As far as I know, no one in Realmspace actually calls it that.
Okay folks let's keep things on topic
So what's the oldest known civilization in the mythos? I'm not sure if "first" is applicable here but who were the "first" people of the forgotten realms?
Kinda depends on what you mean by civilization. It also depends on what setting you’re asking about.
there are technically multiple best we know, the greatest of those in the forgotten realms being arguably the Sarrukh, one of the creator races https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Sarrukh
far as i know the furthest back we know of civilization of any kind in the forgotten realms is during the days of thunder, back when Abeir and Toril were still one singular planet known as Abeir-Toril
but that is not the only planet that has people living on it in the forgotten realms setting, but it is the main one that is focused on most often
The aboleth are also known to be older than almost every other species.
true but most might not count them, so take your pick more or less
Stygia is a sheet of ice floating on a frozen sea. Cania is a glacier hundreds of miles thick. Cania is the least habitable layer of hell, and temperatures get as low as -60⁰F(-50⁰C) Cania is more similar to the plane of ice
The answer is that Earth and the Forgotten Realms were connected, and over time the people of Earth have forgotten about the connection, and thus the realms became "forgotten". Source: https://x.com/TheEdVerse/status/1580693088183283712
Ohh sweet so I kinda called it!
The oldest "known" civilizations were the creator races.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Creator_race
Before that was the ice age (the Shadow Epoch) and the Blue Age before that, when primordials and gods waged war over Toril.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Epoch
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Age
quick question in regards to holidays in FR. are there any dedicated to Asmodeus by any chance
Hm. None that I can currently find.
Was there a beholder that held the title of xanathar during the spell plague
What would a half-orc half-Drow be called?
Spell plague wasn’t super long ago iirc so logically yes
I mean, I’ve heard a lot of portmanteau names for the half races
Dwelves
Olf
Gnelf
Gwarf
Dorc
Droc
forgotten realms wiki does have a list https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Holidays
i see alot of this humans fighting or whatever with elves
diversity or something idk if its the right word, im not english
is that a lore thing? or just people deciding to separate them like that
hey, what are the powers of the mind flayers called? I mean, I know its mind control and psionics, but isn't there a category that it all falls under or something?
Psionics is the category: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Psionics
They've had that since being introduced in AD&D
Its either psionics or the arcane, which the latter is taboo to illithids
thanks for clearing that up.
The answer to your question depends on the setting you are discussing, and even then, what time period and where.
ah makes sense, time and period i see
And setting and location
yes yes
thank you
Can an awakened beast learn spells?
theoretically, sure
That's a rules question, not a lore question.
But I am not concerned with rules. I'm concerned with the lore.
Whether or not a creature can do something is a matter of rules, not lore.
If you are asking if there are any awakened creatures who have ever learned spells, that's a different story
(And there are none, as far as I know)
That doesn't make sense. I want to know if something such as an awakened rabbit or deer can learn magic the same way a human or elf might.
the forgotten realms wiki should give you what you need regarding magic from a lore standpoint
anything that it does not, is more likely to be a rules or mechanics thing
I'm asking if a specific kind of creature has the ability to learn magic.
I'm not concerned with mechanics so I'll keep using this channel until a mod actually tells me I'm in the incorrect channel. Thank you.
Mechanics and Lore can intercept, but in this case the only thing I think that can support this is mechanics and 'Nothing says they can't'.
Savage Species from 3.5 went into how Awakened animals could be spell casters, but how you needed to use best judgement for physiology and if they'd be capable of verbal or somatic components.
I however cannot recall any specific canon characters that are representative of awakened animals as spell casters.
So what sort of lore would you be looking for?
I'm mainly wondering if I could turn a harmless looking creature into an an enemy warlock or wizard.
far as i know most if not all intelligent beings can learn magic, though study is often difficult via being expensive or a magic user willing to teach you being hard to find, but far as i know nothing prevents one from doing so, but obviously they would not be able to perform the gestures needed for Somatic components, depending on their biology and anatomy, thus limiting their capabilities. nothing i can find in the 2024 books suggests they can't
but given historically it was possible in a past edition, if there is nothing more resent that says they can't, i see no reason to assume they can not still potentially learn given they now have sufficient intelligence to actually understand the concepts needed when learning magic, least in the manner wizards do
regardless of what the published lore says, you can do what ever you want in your own games
so either way you should be good
i doubt it would be the strangest thing in the multiverse
heck some animals/creatures are out right naturally able to replicate the effects of certain spells historically even
magic in dnd is as much a part of the universe as things like space, time, gravity, ect...
I really like the idea of a bunny rabbit leaping at you and booping you with its paw only for you to receive unholy amounts of necrotic damage.
Not the rabbit!
if this is something for your own game specifically , arguably a more fitting palce would have been #dm-world-building
I'm aware I can do anything I want in my games, but I never like to stray too far from the basics of Forgotten Realms lore.
cuz lore channel is less "what you can" and "can not do" and more so what is stated in published materials
Do archdevils have portfolios just like gods? Just like how Tymora's thing is luck and Abbathor's all about greed?
Most don't, but some do align with them. Mammon and greed, for example. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mammon
Don’t know about Forgotten Realms, and this is an awakened plant, but there’s a tree named Oalian in Eberron who’s a very powerful Druid.
I see.
Not WOTC, but Eberron’s creator has published a 3rd party Worg race, which can use their paws for somatic components
And have a known subset of casters (in Eberron)
https://media.wizards.com/2015/images/dnd/resources/Sword-Coast-Map_LowRes.jpg
Where would the Stormwreck Isles be located on the map of the sword coast?
Aren't Duergar the Kings of the underdark slave trade?
That would be the drow
Druegar just keep their slaves for themselves. like Illithids
Smithing, hating any race that isnt druegar and treating them very poorly within the city, slaves, native magic, hating mind flayers
Ah, ok
What are Shadowfell natives if Feywild natives are Fey?
Shadarkai, death giants, among others
Because looking at the Shadar-Kai PC race it lists them as regular humanoids
their creature type has nothing to do with their origin. You dont have to be fey or something else to be native to a place
Yeah I was just looking if there was a general term for those who are native to the Shadowfell
not really no. The shadowfell is quite the diverse place, especially with the Domains of Dread and their Lords
Beings that have lived in the Shadowfell for an extended period and have become suffused with its energies are sometimes known as Shades.
iirc, its also a plane representing a lot of negative emotions?
does that apply to all creatures? Asking because of death giants
“Shadowspawn” appears to be a generic label similar to the category of Fey.
As far as I know, it has only been applied to ex-humanoids, but it seems like reasonable nomenclature.
Overall, seems like the Plane of Shadow lacks a specific term to refer to its inhabitants en masse.
Between Neverwinter and Leilon (not pictured on the big map), somewhere
Likely closer to Neverwinter, where the High Road is closest to the coast
Can Shadar-Kai be Banished?
Not every creature that lives in the feywild is a Fey
Yes but I mean those native to the Feywild or those changed by exposure to its energies
Not every creature native to the feywild, either.
Fey are magical creatures closely tied to the forces of nature. They dwell in twilight groves and misty forests. In some worlds, they are closely tied to the Feywild, also called the Plane of Faerie. Some are also found in the Outer Planes, particularly the planes of Arborea and the Beastlands. Fey include dryads, pixies, and satyrs. (2014 MM)
A lot of natives of the feywild are, contrary to popular belief, not actually of the Fey creature type yea
They are creatures, so yes
Similarly, while a lot of the natives of the shadowfell are Undead, there are many who are not
Isn’t the entire realm Undead?
As in it’s made of negative, entropic, necrotic energy?
No
I don't think so
Yeah, I think it's referred to as a "mirror realm"
Yes but in contrast to the Feywild, the Shadowfell is made up of negative energy
The Feywild is made up of positive energy
You are thinking of the Negative and Positive energy planes
Why do Shadar-Kai get necrotic resistance then?
Is it just because of the Raven Queen?
Yep
The way I understand it is that the Feywild is a more vibrant echo of the Material Plane
It's not explained. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadar-kai_(elf)
While the Shadowfell does have a lot of necrotic energy in specific places, it's not a world of necrotic energy itself
Like the upside down from stranger things
Kind of, yes.
How is that different from negative energy?
Shadowstuff is specifically the fabric of the Shadowfell. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadowstuff
It's the dark reflection of the Material Realms, so it's mostly made up of a shadowstuff and otherwise just... land.
Negative energy is the energy of death and entropy, it is unrelated to light and darkness.
same way the feywild is made up of different stuff than the positive energy plane
the PEP and NEP are two planes of their own
Negative energy is just raw energy.
Now, the shadowfell can be considered to be about the "low" emotions. Melancholy, sorrow, and other passive things. The feywilds tend to be a bit more active.
When an archfey gets their heart broken, they don't just get depressed. They entomb themselves in citadels of ice built from their tears and send a curse that haunts the land.
Creatures from the shadowfell are just naturally gloomy.
Yeah, the Feywild is a place of extremes, the Shadowfell is more stagnant
It should be mentioned that the Shadowfell came about because of the merging of two Inner Planes
Specifically the Negative Energy Plane and the Shadow Plane
The Shadow Plane was specifically a dark reflection of the material world
The negative energy plane was the source and endpoint of all negative energy on the material worlds
They merged them in 4e because of events as a way to make these planes more interesting exploration targets for PCs
So saying the Shadowfell is made of necrotic energy isn't wrong just... also incomplete
Negative energy is the elemental force of Entropy, the end of all things.
That is also different, somehow, to necrotic damage btw
Necrotic damage is more like... generic rot
Er, the Negative Energy plane wasn't merged with the Shadowfell, as far as I know.
That was the lore in 4e
I don't know if they continued it in 5e
They didn't.
Specifically in Forgotten Realms in the Time of Troubles the planar barrier broke down
They redid a bunch of the planes during that time
Some stayed, others went back to normal
In 4e the FR lore states that Shar siphoned some of the energies from the Negative Energy plane but they did not merge as far as I can tell.
After the Spellplague, the Negative Energy plane collapsed into the Elemental Chaos, mixing with all the other Inner Planes.
Huh so that's what the wiki says
I'll check their source
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide from 2008
A 4e sourcebook
So I guess we were both right
typically, the newer lore supersedes the old
That is fair but I'm not finding anything on this subject that is newer
The Negative Energy Plane is back and presented as a physical place (in the form of a dome over the outer planes) in the 5e 2014 PHB appendices
Ah I see
When they reset everything from the Spellplague, they really did undo pretty much everything
Okay then
That's good
Seems the Wiki needs updated cause I checked the cited page as well and couldn't find anything refering to the negative energy plane merging with the other planes as well
Yeah.
Did 2024 do any big planar reworks?
It recognized Exandria and all the M:tG as formal settings (i.e. material planes).
Done.
Granted, it also recognized Athas as an official setting, despite it historically not being part of the same multiverse, either. So currently a bit unclear exactly how connected they all are.
Athas was mentioned in 2014, so that's not surprising
Sure, but my point is that the settings mentioned in the DMG aren’t necessarily part of the core cosmology.
All settings consist of a primary material plane unless otherwise stated (i.e. Spelljammer, Planescape, Ravenloft, etc.)
The worlds of D&D are part of an immense cosmos. Most campaigns and adventures play out on worlds on the Material Plane. The rest of the multiverse consists of different planes of existence defined in relation to the Material Plane. (Source: 2024 DMG)
In addition:
Material Realms. Most D&D worlds are located on the Material Plane, which has two planar echoes: the Feywild and the Shadowfell.
I dislike this but I'm generally just against merging IPs like this offically. I appreciate that there are some expanding of the MtG settings such that they can be D&D settings but this is more an issue with the watering down of MtG than expansion of D&D.
Basically this opinion is simply an extension of my dislike of how more than half of all MtG content we'll be getting for the next year will be crossover content instead of offical MtG content.
the IPs were already "merged"
Both Planeswalkers and Exandria were mentioned in other products before the 2024 DMG.
I am aware and am not disparaging this. Just lamenting an unfortunate corporate decision unrelated to D&D lore so it is best we move on
It's also acknowledged as its own separate plane in the cosmology section of the new 2024 DMG
Missed that, but unsurprising
I'm glad to see it making a return
The concept of entropy being an elemental force always fascinated me
Particularly with its inverse in the positive energy plane being a thing
This implies a lot about the physics of D&D worlds
Are Reapers/Celestials of Death a thing
Assuming you mean the grim reaper type of creature, yes. There are Death Giant Reapers from Bigby's Guide to Giants, there are Reapers of Bhaal in Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Reaper Spirit from the Book of Many Things that is summoned by the Spirit of Death spell. That's just from 5e.
There is also the entropic reaper from 3.5e Libris Mortis
There are a couple of reaper-like angels in at least one of the MtG books too
Not to mention the Angel of Rot an undead monster from this book
I have a question for you
Which planes have the greatest temporal difference to the material plane naturally?
My players are pretty high level and one of the concepts they want to explore as a feature in their keep is a time-dilation chamber, either as a trap or as a beneficial feature.
Feywild is the only one I know of.
Well apparently the Negative energy plane was at one point 2-to-1 faster than the material plane but that was later changed
Ah answering my own Question: seems this was changed in 3e
It was a thing in 1 and 2 e but 3e simplified the planescape setting for ease of play
That said apparently Ebberon had 3 such planes
As it was never intended for PCs to actually planarly travel there
And... I'm sad to see they changed the moons from planes/moons to just moons in 5e
Previously the moons were outright the planes themselves
i don't recall that being the case
thats why the destruction of the moon prevented dal quor from being reached (easily)
since it was a powerful portal
I certainly do from reading the original material back in 2007
Previously the moon wasn't destroyed, just powerful magic kept it far away
thats. not true?
Idk I'll have to look at the book once again. I own a physical copy and I'm remembering it after not reading it for a couple years now
My current research is from google and stackbase which are at best tritary sources
iirc it’s more that the moons represent connection
Are surface drow, or just drow in general if they stray from Lolth, allowed to worship Vandria Gilmadrith?
There is no "allowing" to worship
bit of flawed logic there, cuz that would imply they have to follow rules or authority that would determine what they can or can not do
Even if worship of a certain god was forbidden, one could always do so in secret
I only ask bc Vandria is of Dark Elf descent bc of Araushnee, but it wasn't clear if Drow worshipped her or not.
drow are elves and Vandria has no specific allegiance to one kind of elf over another https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vandria_Gilmadrith#Worshipers
she is of the Seldarine, not the dark seldarine, thus most drow societies especially that allign with lolth or her pantheon would not likely consider worship of her
those that break away from lolth's influence i see no reason to believe they would not be open to them, though most such drow more often than not tend to favor Eilistraee given her worshipers are noted as being mainly composed of quote "Drow exiles; drow seeking an alternative to their society"
but to my knowledge, nothing would stop an individual from worshiping Vandria
What would be a good plot hook for a male Dark Elf who worshipped Vandria.
though you may have to check the old sourcebook, races of the wild, as i don't see her dogma listed on her wiki page https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vandria_Gilmadrith#Worshipers
so just going by the wiki, unless you check the sited sources, seems the information is incomplete especially compared to other gods who do have their dogmas detailed
her most devout worshiper is named " Rauvor Mreldryn" but he does not have a page on the wiki, and comes from a thing on twitter where ed greenwood talked about the god's worship
Not a topic for #dnd-lore .... might try #dm-discussion
Thank you
Or if it's a player character, #character-discussion
I got a funny question this time
Out of all the races in Faerun, which do you think cooks the best
I speculated halflings, due to LOTR connections, but I wanted to see what people here thought.
Halflings are known for their hospitality aye
although thats more a question for #dnd-discussion or #dm-world-building i feel
Ah. Fair enough. I'll circle over to Discussion, then. Thank you!
In the forgotten realms who would someone sick pray to for healing? Lathander or Ilmater?
Lathander is usually revered by elves iirc. Illmater is less culturally chained
Thanks
Might be worthwhile to hedge your bets. Most non-priests don’t venerate a single deity exclusively.
Ya most people would say something like "please gods give me strength enough to survive"
They might name Illmater specifically but also their own personal favorite
That sounds like baseless rumors
They haven't even announced 6th edition or any plans for it.
i gree i am quite annoyed that lolth always supports baenre for zero reason eevn though her protiflo clearly states she's meant to be very random and very chaoetic appreantly banere is "too far" from that
also lolth is on the new DMG special cover. she aint going anywhere
i do think that if lolth allowed baenre to collapse it would truly show "no house" is safe from her
eithier it's a power move to showcase she isnt truly insane or the fact that she's just giving good treatment
Does any magic exists in dnd world where you can transfer consciousness from one body to other?
Is it not dumb to be an atheist or an agnostic in the world of DnD?
In D&D the gods are real so there isn't really atheists/agnostics.
But there are many who don't worship or follow any gods - basically they don't care if the gods exist or not.
Well atheist is someone who doesn't believe in existence of god, so in dnd world that would be dumb. But not worshipping seems reasonable
In D&D, the closest you could probably pull off is misotheism, which is the dislike/hatred of the gods
You acknowledge their existence, but dislike them all the same.
Cuz like UndyingNoob said, the gods are pretty much confirmed to exist (save for a couple of exceptions, like Eberron where the gods aren't confirmed to exist, which causes a lot of strife between different religions), but in most settings they definitely exist. Hard to deny the existence of something that's confirmed to exist.
Good point about some settings not having confirmed deity existence thus allowing some room for atheism/agnosticism.
is most dnd settings though it is more so where you do not venerate or worship a god or view them as beings worthy of worship, rather than the definition of such thingsi n our own world
that likely would fall under enchantment most likely as it is magic that effects the minds of others https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Enchantment
else could be necromancy like with the clone spell
You could believe that they aren’t really Gods, rather really powerful beings, akin to nice demon lords
Like a bunch of pretenders
And/or believe in a true god unlike all the others
there is a reason, is just likely not stated, remember they are known as the first house, and have some rather important connections in lolth worshiping societies https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/House_Baenre#Activities
also lolth worshiping drow society is basically a sort of organized chaos that rewards subterfuge and backstabbing and really only punish those that fail and or get caught
heck, the reason she does not simply strike drizzt down, is cuz he amuses her, mainly do to the hatred his existence inspires in her followers
she has honestly never needed much more reason, good or otherwise, to do what she wants other than she wants to
her personality is rather detailed cuz it is so complex and to blindly follower her without question basically would mean an early grave https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lolth#Personality
so it just seems clear that for what ever reason, be it a whim or something house baenre did, they have earned/gained her favor
honestly i doubt anyone but lolth herself would be capable of knowing why, at least we as the reader definitely can't make sense of her behavior and logic, between being a former elven god and a powerful demon, she is effectively alien twice over compared to the logic and thinking of us humans
The spell Magic Jar is a good example
Lathander is a human god, not an elvish one
oh, must have mixed him up with someone else
So.. my character is a 22 year old paladin knight called Pafiro that has the actual Sun as his patron. and the lore is that the deities of each region rebelled, and used an all out attack to weaken Solaris (the sun) as much as possible. Solaris used its remaining strength to bless a human infant with a limited respawn system (more than 3 deaths each region is PERMANENT death. No loot will be able to be looted when permakilled since it just falls apart along with him like in Elden Ring.), and Solaris sent its Right Hand; Mercury, to guide Pafiro as a spirit when he reached 17. After that, Solaris went into a deep slumber, passively providing safe spaces (basically sites of grace.. like in Elden Ring) around the regions. The rest of the party members might also be those that were blessed by Solaris' Boon since infancy despite their ages since Solaris was beyond time itself, even when gravely weakened. It really depends if my future group will agree to it.
not really the place for that sort of stuff
oh, ight
How would a sea shanty from the sea of swords sound?
Asking for an illuskan character
I think the Drizzt books have a good example
Look for the ones that focus on Captain Deudermont and his crew
I noticed in the new version of the wish spell, it specifies near the end that if your wish would in any way effect the city of sigil, or its ruler the lady of pain, that the spell fails. What’s up with that? That’s like a really random and specific place lmao
The Lady of Pain doesn’t appreciate anyone tampering with the fulcrum of the multiverse, and has been known to thwart the meddling of greater deities as well.
In the module Die, Vecna, Die!, the plot revolves around ||Vecna achieving greater godhood while in Ravenloft, then using it as a planar backdoor into Sigil (where deities aren’t normally permitted) in a bid to control the entire multiverse. Not particularly surprising that the LoP would be more thorough now, as her will canonically caused the 2e to 3e transition in the aftermath of her casting Vecna out of Sigil.||
Ah so deep lore stuff
That’s weird, but cool
That’s an interesting thing for them to add on to the new wish spell
As Sigil is central to the primary D&D multiverse, and thus somewhat setting neutral, I think the intent is to just solidify the LoP’s status as equivalent in power to an overdeity.
And is thus an example of very powerful entities possessing veto power on even the mightiest of modern magics.
So quick question, why are worgs fey now?
My assumption is because of their connection to goblinoids, who also are becoming Fey as monster stats and having Fey Ancestry as PCs
Because in folklore, goblinoids have always been Fey.
Huh.
They decided to tie them back into their folkloric counterparts, who were always sort of the “demons” in their respective folklore.
And in lore they've always had heavy connections to the feywild
And it’s not like goblins haven’t been living in the Feywild for ages now anyways
And, even though the plane wasn't specified, they've been said to have come from a different plane for a long time
Yeah, I think the most recent lore says that goblins were Fey creatures whose god was killed by Maglubiyet, who then conquered them
Odd.
The title of overdeity is something a bit of a misnomer. No overdeity holds power outside their native setting and in theory they can control the gods of that setting but that word specifically has only been used in conjunction with Ao and maybe Io.
The Lady of Pain isn't an overdeity. She's beyond such things. Her rank is Lady of Pain and nothing matches it.
She's on par with an overdeity in that both are so absurdly powerful that the PCs, gods, or anything cannot effect them or do anything they dislike in their domains.
Other DMs can homebrew their own overdeities but offical content hasn't really labeled any being of power explicitly an overdeity besides Ao unless they've just recently named LoP as one which I think would be a mistake.
Is the cult of dragons still active? Or completely dissolved? I am thinking of adding a backstory to my evil leaning character, that he was briefly part of it. I could just make it as he was part of some branch or split group of it, even if the main one has been dissolved
Yes, the cult of the dragon still exists and is active.
They recently tried to ||summon Tiamat||
In everyone else's opinion, what is the most terrifying layer of the abyss to be stuck in?
basically it is the spell warning you not to mess with the lady of pain, incase you are new to the dnd multiverse
far as i know it is also still fractured, one sect worshiping tiamat and her corrected version of the prophecy the cult was founded on, and the other that still follow their original goals
Yes. My intent was never to say she is an overdeity, only that approximately “Lady of Pain : Sigil :: Ao : Realmspace.”
not really a lore question, since is rooted more in opinion and something subjective, more question for #dnd-discussion i think
There are a few Abyssal layers with no known exits, so that’s worth considering.
she is comparable to an overdeity within sigil, but she is something far older and more powerful if memory serves
Are there actual sea shanties, or just things that might help me get an idea?
like even when vecna basically glitched his way in and became a full fledged god while in the city, cuz back then it apparently took time to take effect, they were in a stalemate, hence why the adventurers in the adventure are an important factor, they basically tip the balance
RA Salvator is basically the Tolkien of Forgotten Realms and did a lot of lore stuff for the setting in the 80s
and she can normally out right keep gods from entering the city of sigil, regardless of their power
Yarp.
not really
RA Salvator is heavily responsable for the modern depiction of the drow, the rest of the setting that would be it's creator, Ed Greenwood
As I had previously mentioned, the LoP’s power is sufficient to be canonically responsible for the multiversal changes caused by the transition of 2e to 3e.
but there have also been a hand full of writers allowed to write for the setting which is why there are some people in the realms that resemble earth cultures despite Ed deliberately making sure such things did not exist originally
I'm not certain if you'll find actual shanties in the book. It's just the first place I'd look for such a thing if I went looking
yeah, if memory serves, she basically reworked the multiverse so that vecna and nobody else for that matter could use the same "glitch" of sorts to bypass the whole "no gods allowed" thing
Only two gods have even been in Sigil. Vecna, despite failing his scheme, losing much of his power, and having his plan eternally invalidated, was comparably lucky.
the funny thing is if memory serves, vecna did it by accident, was mainly just trying to escape the domains of dread
Aoskar was much less fortunate.
A shame, I'll see if I can find similar sources from from actual artists.
I'd give it 7/10 odds that you'll find actual shanties though if you looked there
Closest accent/country to Illuskan anyone?
Given his portfolio of secrets and forbidden knowledge, my understanding is that while Vecna had no intention of being stuck in the Domain of Dread, Cavitus, he chose to make the best of a bad situation by abusing Ravenloft’s multiversal access.
I mean as a real world reference
Explicitly no real world reference exists because the creators didn't make those types of connections.
Also generally Illuskans would have an "Illuskan" accent which would be the baseline of the language for common I think? Meaning they wouldn't have an "accent" that is perceptible.
Either that, Waterdeep or, Baulder's Gate
dang it, tried to link it but the bot got rid of it cuz it uses the goddess' less than savory name
Now I'm curious
remember, they are not ment to normally corilate to real world cultures or countries, that is something usually added into the setting do to guest or other writers other than the setting's creator
there are characters with such ancestory so if any have been voiced in some media, you may look to those for inspiration if wanting to try to be close to the lore as possible, else might be better to simply ask ed greenwood https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Illuskans
Yeah, a bit of a shame that the types of humans don't work the same ways as Irish, Dutch etc. In the forgotten realms. Thanks, I'll focus my accent more around being a pirate then.
not really a shame at all
As for sea shanties, any sea shanties sound pirate-y
heck, would probably cause more problems than good if they did intend 1 to 1s from the get go
ah, found a list on them on the forgtten realms wiki, so that could give you at least a handfull of realms sea shanties https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Shanties
The last time they did something like that, we got the Oriental Adventures....
Thanks, this helps a bunch
Dare I call out wizards of the coast for not having detailed enough lore?
not everything is ment to be detailed and what lore is created may not be what you deem "enough"
Also, using other cultures as a basis for settings/locations has not gone well in the last attempts
Again, see Oriental Adventures
plus the setting's creator, Ed Greenwood easily can answer such questions about specific peoples in the realms, all you gotta do is ask, and then wait
which they have hesitated to revisit for years now cuz how back then they were more rooted and stereotypes and less than culturally sensitive compared to any attempts that would be made now adays
but we do know we will be seeing one of those such setting's 5e version in detail with the new wave of realms sourcebooks they teased that will becoming after the revised monster manual, such as Calimshan and debatable if it should be counted in the same vain, but also the Moonshae Isles, both of which have not been detailed since older editions, and only been mentioned in passing in recent editions so far to my knowledge
If we ever get Kara-Tur again, they better rework it to hell and back
I'd assume the sword coast at least had some specific speech patterns and habits.
the potentual cultural misrepresentation issues aside, i would like to see a modern official kara-tur, i find that part of the realms interesting as a setting from what i have seen via older materials
I am hoping they give it a neon dynasty treatment!
well the land masses of toril do resemble some from earth though with differences of course https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/c/c7/Toril-3e.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190515202219
sword coast is pretty easy to find examples of speech in that part of the realms, given how heavily it is focused on, just know that if you go off of media such as film and games, take with a grain of salt as some liberties sometimes are taken
the recent dnd movie, honor among thieves, is probably one of the easiest examples as in ed's video pointing out the minor nit picks of inaccuracies to the lore and how they could have been fixed, their speech was not one of them
Might just make her a Scottish Pirate and claim to be from far away, since there's so much unknown land.
Also a Scottish pirate sounds really fun
Haven't seen it, I'll check out
the scottish deities have heavy influence in the realms via the moonshae isles last i checked, well the celtic gods as they are known, one of them also being part of the faerunian pantheon https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Celtic_pantheon
though looking back i may be wrong about them in relation to the moonshae isles as seems according to the wiki page at least chauntia and some other gods are the major gods worshiped around those parts https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Moonshae_Isles#Religion
Nice to know there's some culture I can trace it back to though, thanks
yeah toril has gods from many settings, even our own world, or at least dnd's version of earth, such as the egyptian gods aka the Mulhorandi gods
and across the forgotten realms too, is just most thiings that are focused on tend to happen on toril mainly
if you want here is the link to the wiki's list of the pantheons that have at least some influence or history with the forgotten realms in some capacity https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Pantheons
but as shown with the mulhorandi gods, they obviously may have different names than our world cuz well, those locations are specific to earth, so naturally they would be called something else on an entirely different planet
Why are pantheons such a big part of the lore?
well they are a part you can focus on and possibly cuz of the fact gods are real and do sometimes get involved, be it directly or indirectly especially with major events
like most of the ones that caused the in universe reason for the changes between editions is cause the goddess of magic was killed for a various reasons, and them having to learn the hard way why trying to kill or replace mystra is a pretty bad idea
plus in dnd on worlds like toril where the gods are known fact of existance, is rare for there to be cultures that don't vernate gods of some kind
It'd be great if they added some traits to cultures though, like variation in craftsmanship.
Gods are such a big part of the forgotten realms, but a good portion of people aren't even religious.
not everything in dnd is hyper detailed, some have more info than others and others are less cultures and more so ethnicities like Illuskan for example
eh, you might be surprised, cuz veneration of the gods even if only casually is pretty common
Ah well, I can't expect them to create whole cultures.
cuz i would very much not say most people in the forgotten realms are not religious, maybe by real world standards but that is hardly an accurate measure
like to my knowledge, not being relgious in the forgotten realms would definitely put you in the minority of the population of mortals
Definitely not most people, but acknowledging the gods' existence doesn't mean they're religious.
It's pretty hard to deny the gods' existence in the forgotten realms, I'm talking more about the worshipping aspect.
concepts of our own world rarely translate to dnd 1 to 1, this is very much one of those things
while i could be wrong, i am fairly sure that "religous" implies some different stuff compared to how it is used irl
Cause some drow are like "I worship spider mommy" and others are like "We hate and oppose spider mommy" and the rest are like "I don't really care, did that tiefling give me an std?"
Best way I could put it idk
not everyone who is part of a faith is a zealot if that is what you mean
plus with drow many cities are strutured around the believes and tenants of one of the dark seldarine's faith's the most well known being one of lolth's do to that being where driz'zt comes from
plus often racial deities are usually heavily rooted in the creation and culture of those races and why they tend to also have their own creation myths
if you want cultures without as much heavy ties to deities, you might be more at home with the eberron campaign setting
as the deities of eberron are more like philosophies and not even confirmed if they even exist or not, as divine magic is basically powered directly by one's faith in that setting
Lorewise, where could cowboys appear in Faerun? Odd question, yeah, but I had an idea for an artificer, and I want to be lore accurate.
Almost all beings in Faerun worship many gods; as a rule, only zealots and clergy venerate just one deity. In other words, a farmer could mainly revere Chauntea, but also pray to appease Talos to keep crop-damaging storms away, Malar to keep beasts from attacking him or his folk in the fields, and to send vermin elsewhere, Talona to keep disease and blight at bay, and so on.
Source: Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms
The only artificers in the realms are in Lantan and a small population of rock gnome tinkers who have mastered their art.
Huh
The ones in Lantan are especially secretive and do not share their knowledge with the rest of the world, let alone travel far from it, at least not freely
The difficulty here is what is meant by cowboys?
Cattle herders? There will be some of those around.
Frontier folk?
Firearms?
If in Greyhawk, you'd have the perfect diety in Murlynd who is literally Paladin Sherrif Cowboy God of Artificers.
So Artificers, according to official lore, are extremely small in number and extremely reclusive
at least in the "traditional" artificer sense
They are rare
Artificers (intentionally) have very flexible flavor
Rock gnomes are not that rare in the FR however
Plenty of enclaves
Drat. I was gonna try making High Noon Jhin for a friend's campaign, but wanted to justify how
Rock Gnomes are less than 1% of the global population
They are quite rare compared to the rest of the races
that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme. A lot of groups that are not that rare are less than 1% of a population
So, theoretically, artificers can't even exist in Faerun, because those who teach the secrets just...don't.
At all.
Artificers exist in Faerun plenty
they aren't particularly rarer than say, proper clerics in the realms.
They are just more likely to be more concentrated in areas
I see.
They are not plentiful. They are rare.
But no yeehaw artificers exist. Which is entirely valid. Just wanted to know to justify a foolish idea. I'll sans it and go with something more managable.
Like I said, so are clerics
Clerics are common
A number of the PC classes are, definitionally, rare
no, priests are common. Proper clerics are not
...okay so hang on
What would be the difference between a priest and an actual cleric, then?
As far as classes go, they are common. We've obviously moved from talking about general populations of race to populations of adventurers by class.
A cleric is chosen by a god
Not necessarily
A priest is just a dude who is a member of the clergy for that god
We are talking the Realms, so yes
Ah. So they were directly chosen by their God for a purpose, as opposed to just someone who practice's that God's ideologies.
Not all clerics serve gods, their power comes from the strength in their beliefs
That is not correct in the Realms
In the Realms, clerics are chosen by the god and bestowed power by them
A god can choose a cleric, but they don’t need to be involved at all
Clerics were elite agents of gods, empowered beyond the capabilities of regular priests and sworn to follow and obey the tenets of their religion in ways that the average mortal couldn't.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Cleric
...that's a curious thing. But regarding artificers, with this in mind, artificers wouldn't openly advertise being one, then?
Given how rare they are?
not really any specific answer for that
In a bunch of different ways, an artificer is very similar to a wizard
artificer isnt a job title
If they were from Lantan, no, they likely wouldn't.
In 1487 DR, Lantan was returned to Toril as part of the Second Sundering, and Lantanese ships began to travel again to the Sword Coast. People who traded with them said that the Lantanese were more secretive than before, and that their technology was more advanced as well.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lantan#History
I meant it more of the lines of someone with the means to artifice wouldn't go about advertising that they can
Which, given the Faerun, is a valid reason.
Again, not necessarily. If they were from Lantan, it's likely they would be secretive.
they are not the only ones, they are the largest concentration of artificers
The Imiskari are the only other artificers I know of, and they're all dead
That gives me something to note for RP. Someone gifted with the means to artifice, probably out of respect for the mentors and craft, wouldn't go out of their way to let people know unless they're close friends.
AJ Pickett covers artificers in the realms rather well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8-7CiQ-OyU
to my knowledge many of Gond's faith are artificers, even if not in the means of the class
Inventors, tinkerers, perhaps... but not formal artificers
I'll check it out. Another question, then. For Druids. Are most just...neutral and uncaring, or can there actually be legit evil druids?
evil druids do exist, yes
There can be evil druids, sure.
Ah. So a friend was right. They were arguing that druids aren't always happy nature lovers but can genuinely be evil
evil in dnd is nuanced, it is not always molevilent
Just self-serving, no?
the shadow druids which make an appearance in bg3 are a good example i feel https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Druids
A character’s class isn’t generally indicative of their alignment. Save for maybe paladins, who at least in the 2014 PHB have subclasses that say what alignment they tend to lean towards.
their alignment is technically true neutral, but they very much to others seem evil
Right. BG3 reminds me of two more questions. Do all spells look the same in lore, or do they differ between caster.
And I already forgot the other question. Had a brain lapse while I was eating.
It's a complicated topic
no, in the lore there are at least minor differences such as the caster's sigil https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mage_sigil
Spells look as they are described in their descriptions.
OH. Found it. Theoretically, would a Counterspell fail if the caster can't understand the language of the other person's spell?
Individual casters can put spins or unique touches on those spells
each mage has their own sigil that is like a sort of signature
Dungeon Soup gave me the idea, so I wanted to check if that's lore-accurate
tasha's and the recent phb cover this well, basically your spells can look how ever you want so long as mechanically it lines up with the spell's intent, with personalized spells and themes, even gives an example of one who's magic missiles look like chickens https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/tcoe/0gqawlEa2tjXGxpc/03-007.png
which i find halarious
That I did notice. I was informed that most, if not all spells, were either created by the Goddess of Magic or made by an errant wizard
So, them being flavorable, In lore, makes sense to me
Whether or not you can do something like that is also dependent on your DM, so you'll need to ask them what sort of reflavor they'll alow
True. It'd be quite out of pocket for someone to reflavor their Magic Missiles to do Poison damage
basically the apperance of one's spell is to what a warrior their fighting style is, each can be uniform or unique, depending on the will of the individual
Indeed, I'd run any thing you write for backstory etc. past your DM, since their Realms may be different than the one in published materials
that would not be reflavoring, that would be a mechanical change and is different from what is being described in the case of personalizing spells
I'll factor that in.
I was considering a Lizardfolk Warlock who drew some inspiration from primal Rage. As such, his Thunderwave is just him roaring at the enemy.
basically the lore and the game itself encourages you to make your magic LOOK how you want, you are not bound to any singular depiction, those are at best just exampels to give you an idea how they look in universe
flavor is purely cosmetic, it may look different but mechanically is the same
I see. Well, this answers the extent of my questions.
also talks about your own character rather than just something that might be written in published mateirals would be more so a thing for #character-discussion
I'll probably shift there for some of this discourse, yes. Thank you.
Is Azharul a form of Tiamat?
No, he was a separate dragon god who was killed by Tiamat
She then consumed his divine essence, taking over the things he had dominion over
According to the wiki at least https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Azharul
oh, in the Tiamat's page it says Azharul is her Aspect/Alias
That could be an instance in which she was pretending to be him at some point
Because she’s known for being a deceiver until she gets the opportunity to strike
The map that I looked at earlier, it had a bunch of unknown land. Could someone explain that to me?
This here
It means what it says on the tin.
Except one of those is Osse . https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Osse
On new SCAG book, any idea if Cormyr will be explored?
Also there are also lores on Shou Town or attempt at trying to get Kara-Tur characters closer to Faerun back in 3E and 4E.
One such detailed place being Marsember's Xiousing district.
(Though some of baggage from past writings kinda stuck around.)
Can anyone point me to an online resource that explains the lore of magic in DND?
Try this https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Magic
Although different campaign setting might have different magic system (Ex: forgotten realm's magic system might be different from Eberron's, etc)
The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide will have five settings,each with their own adventure genre:
Baldur’s Gate
Calimshan
The Dalelands
Moonshae Isles
Icewind Dale
A return to Dalelands will be the closest to Cormyr
Yeah, just not sure if the Shou town in Marsember (one of Cormyr's big cities) along with the baggage--I read it and kinda saw some of things that would have issues--might be one reason (even if it's just magazine entry and closest official update being Unapproachable East)...or seeing as not worth updating since "too generic" (especially being more medieval knights theme) even by DnD standards for eye catching.
is not a new SCAG book
SCAG is specifically the sword coast, whcih at least half of those listed locations i am fairly certain are outside of what is considered the sword coast
Was there anytime deities/gods/goddesses became mortal and was in mortal realm? Talking lost their powers (temporarily or permanently). Thanks!
Indeed! Check out the time of troubles in forgotten realms
Will do thanks!
Quick question, but for Bahamut, does he have other celestials under him along with dragons like other gods?
Sure, although most are dragon kin. https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Bahamut#Relationships
His palace is in the plane of Celestia, after all
Within the palace are four gates to the elemental plane of air, each guarded by a warden archon.
is there an endonym for mind flayers and beholders? i was just kinda thinking about it
or wait
illithids
but do beholders have one?
Illithid isn't a group name, it's the "formal" name for mind flayer
You can have one illithid or many illithids
Beholders are pathologically isolationist when it comes to their own kind, so there's no group term specifically for them
The closest might be "beholder-kin" that refers to the various beholder-like creatures such as gazers, mind witnesses, etc
NP MP
Do elementals have intention on its own, like do they want something or they're just merely existing?
A beholder, sometimes called a sphere of many eyes or an eye tyrant,
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Beholder
did see that on the wiki but that really didn't feel like an endonym to me
like, i can't see a beholder calling themself a sphere of many eyes
The primordials, rulers of the elemental planes, fought a long war to destroy the material plane. That's all they really want to do is subsume the material and throw it into chaos and reduce it to the elements
However, the lore there is likely very centric to the Forgotten Realms. Elementals in other settings may function differently.
For example: https://eberron.fandom.com/wiki/Elemental
Beholderkin
A beholder is so vain they would likely never share their name or title with another
Beholderkin is a term for monsters related to beholders, i.e. beholder adjacent
They would call themselves perfect
yes, but an elemental being's world view is very alien to what you or i would think of
to my knowledge when you conjure them via a spell, outside of their native plane they become significantly less intelligent as the form they are bound to is likely far a smaller than what they could potentially have in these planes where their associated element is effectively plentiful
Do you have a source for the idea that elementals have lowered intelligence when they're summoned?
no, it is something i learned form AJ Picket's lore videos regarding elementals
though far as i know nothing contradicts that idea, though take with a grain of salt i guess just to be safe
I looked and couldnt find anything in the transcripts. Granted I only looked up two videos
I mean if the elementals conjured via spell they're pretty much your servant. Perhaps they act differently if "naturally spawned"?
Are there any whale related or similar creatures/monsters in any setting?
Kindori are celestials, but they’re effectively “space whales”
Kindori? Interesting 
Why you asking? 👀
Trying to find some creatures to add to Malakas' motifs
to my knowledge it has more to do with the energies that make up their actual essence or life, having less to inhabit as their bodies are made of their corresponding element and are more so something they pilot, and summing them into another plane that element is often far less abundant than their native plane where there is plenty all over the place
older editions had ocean striders https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ocean_strider
Kar’lassa are giant underwater behemoths tied to the planes in Eberron
They aren’t really whales but they’re giant whale-shaped legendary creatures
So how is that Gods can have overlapping domains?
So many gods of death, war, nature etc etc
- Because there are multiple ways of viewing domains so different gods cover those different views. For example a god of the glory of war vs a god of tactical warfare vs god of merciless war
- The reach of gods can be limited and even regional so a given domain is covered by one god in region a and a different god in region b
- Gods compete for domains
- Some gods occupy multiple domains and so attract different followers. e.g a god of nature and trickery would attract different followers from a god of nature and life, thus they can co-exist
Plus other reasons
Depends on setting as well. There are gods with identical domains that don’t compete for worshippers on the same world.
So in theory I could be a god of death as inevitability assuming that specific facet of death has not be taken by another god and my buddy next door could be the god of death as release
plus in the forgotten realms at least, many gods can share domains of the lower rankings but with the higher ones they need to be different enough else one must concede to the other or the two become one, there can be any number of lesser deity and lower ranking with the same domains
or like how in the forgotten realms the god of death is Kelemvor, but below him are the likes of Myrkul, who is known as a lesser god of death and more specifically of decay and exhaustion where as Kelemvor is the over all god of death in the forgotten realms ie the one that judges the souls of mortals
Any Gods of Usurpation exist? Feel like that might be an unclaimed domain itself.
Not a question for this channel, try #dm-world-building or asking your DM
In Moonshaes, one of the children of the Eartmother is a big super-natural Whale called Leviathan. (Darkwalker on Moonshae)
AC Odyssey taught me "malaka" is a rude word in Greek.
You might be better off asking in #dm-discussion or #character-discussion , but I'm not quite sure what you're asking.
becoming a drider? is there something specifically that has to be done or can it be just wronging loth greatly?
ping pls
did metallic dragons also enslave dragonborns or it was only chromatic ones?
given the dragonborn hold no difference between the two and have a bias against trusting any true dragon, including metallics, it implies the dragons of abeir all, regardless of kind treated them as slaves
I think the ritual itself is up to the DM, but the implication seems to be that it’s a bad time
keep in mind, abeir was effectively off limits to the gods, no gods means no tiamat or bahamut influencing, thus no holy war between the two kinds of dragons that wound up happening on toril, other than physically, when they refer to dragons they are presumably referring to dragons as a whole, excluding any minority or individuals that may have been kinder
from what i recall in one edition it was considered a blessing of sorts, pretty sure that was 4e, but far as i know in forgotten realms is usually something done to them by lolth far as i know
Setting dependent iirc. FR says becoming a drider is a curse, but Exandria says it’s a blessing.
I could be wrong though, I don’t have my books in hand.
Also editions.
It was a blessing in 4e.
(Though not sure if it should work like…”fickle” blessing. Like either super powerful Drider or complete mess.)
(Also sometimes logic can apply…like how you would be “cursed” if you retain your intelligence and also stronger in drider form aside from being shamed that you need a boost.)
im the dm
Then you decide
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Drider#Creation
Yeah, it is described as "agonizing" and requires a demon to channel Lolth's power. It happens when a drow fails the Test of Lolth but lives.
Drow mages could also be turned into driders via failing a loyalty test.
(The third method involved a drow promised for the Demon Web Pits but subjected to a test and failed)
There's a pattern here in case you didn't notice 🙂
what could be included in a loyalty test
Up to you. You might be able to find more in the book Drow of the Underdark, which is where the lore comes from.
okay ty
This is explicitly correct. Glad to see someone else understands the nature of Elementals. It's so rare for people to understand them.
It's usually explicitly mages that get turned into Driders too given how rare it is for nonmages to fail and then subsequently survive. So most Driders are also former clerics or wizards and are subsequently very dangerous.
Gond worshiping gnomes
Gond, the god of invention, gave some gnomes the secrets to, not exactly gunpowder but basically gunpowder
Before this point actual gunpowder had been rendered innert by Mystra and the Weave I believe? So any firearms brought in on spelljamming vessels just didn't work.
Gond did it
Gond's clerics create magic gunpowder so it can be stored safely in anti-magic fields
typically Lantan
It' s also hella unstable and no sane person outside the church of gond dare use it
Which is why it hasn't caught on to much wider use outside Pirates, who have been largely misinformed to the product's safety, and Gond's followers
I should mention this is old AF lore back when Earth was a visitable place in the D&D multiverse and Mordikainen was Steve Spielberg
1e-2e lore is wild
So, traditionally, gunpowder based weapons aren't really a thing in Faerun
Gond also kinda stopped them from working
gunpowder based weapons aren't a thing because gunpowder is completely inert
smokepowder (which is basically just magic gunpowder) weaponry and explosives do exist in Faerun
And via Smokepowder, there's no need for actual firearms, then?
?
No, they are actual firearms
They are literal guns, its just that gunpowder is replaced with smokepowder
they function identically
Just not gunpowder based
they just switched the gunpowder component
That makes sense
Smokepowder is literally just magic gunpowder
So instead of gunpowder, any firearms in Faerun are based using Smokepower.
yes
Which seems arguably stronger
The distinction exists just so WotC/the DM can decide how the physics works
So any gun expert can be told "no it's not actual gunpowder so it works how I say it works"
Which guns would be around, then? Typical Fantasy ones like flintlocks and pepperboxes?
weaker because anti-magic turns it off.
you can also dispell a barrel of it i think
Yea basically
no its exactly the same
The drow pirates from the Waterdeep module, Dragon Heist, have some pistols