D&D 5E The Lords of the Nine Hells of Baator

[dave2008]

How "done" are these? Was going to give feedback on Asmodeus but I wasn't sure how baked in the stats were or if they were still rough

I am happy with them on a first draft basis, but complete open to suggestions and revisions. Would love to hear your thoughts as always.

 

[dave2008]

I think the first thing to remember is that Asmodeus chooses the Lords of the Nine. He put Bel in place, he put Glasya in place, he threw down Geryon and replaced him with Levistus. This is all to say that you do not need to abide by a CR progression completely. If it makes more sense to you that a lower Lord is lower CR than a higher one, go forward with that.

Also, Zariel's CR as depicted in official 5e materials is, as you know, not a straightjacket, so you can adjust the Lords as you see fit. I've always seen Bella as a placeholder, put there perhaps because Zariel wasn't really ready for Lordship.

I need to do some research. Thank you so much for reaching out!

Thanks for your feedback. That is definitely how I had done them previously. I do like the idea of the being mostly the same CR so it is really about politics, strategy, etc. that determines pecking order.

PS - I look forward to what else you can think of!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Thanks for your feedback. That is definitely how I had done them previously. I do like the idea of the being mostly the same CR so it is really about politics, strategy, etc. that determines pecking order.

PS - I look forward to what else you can think of!

It would be fun to include the Hag Countess as well. Also a placeholder like Bel, in the Planescape era.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

It would be fun to include the Hag Countess as well. Also a placeholder like Bel, in the Planescape era.

I thought lore wise she was not simply disposed (like Bel) but rather violently killed IIRC

 

[Micah Sweet]

I thought lore wise she was not simply disposed (like Bel) but rather violently killed IIRC

I need to look it up, but I believe she acted as a sort of cocoon for the true Lord who replaced her. She was torn apart and from her remains sprang the new Lord. Sorry I don't have the names at the top of my mind; it might have been Glasya?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I thought lore wise she was not simply disposed (like Bel) but rather violently killed IIRC

Ok, I was (partially) wrong about the Hag Countess. She wasn't a cocoon for Glasya, but she was violently transformed into a re-imagining of the layer in a way that was a direct benefit to Glasya, the new Lord of the Sixth. One can imagine this was a scheme of Glasya's father to pave the way for her ascension; a house-warming gift of sorts, which implies that Asmodeus put the Hag in place explicitly for that purpose. So she was a placeholder after all.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In terms of continuing the lore, one thing I thought was intriguing was the hellfire gambit Mephistopheles was working on. He was always my favorite archdevil. What if it worked, and his mortal cult was in ascendancy, but was then ruthlessly co-opted by Asmodeus, increasing the Lord of the Nine's visibility (the whole "is Asmodeus a god?" question starting to lean towards yes)? Mephistopheles was regularly confused for his boss anyway, and losing most of his cult after working so hard to build it up would be infuriating to him.

Mephistopheles, to me, was always the Starscream of Hell. I can see him engineering a conspiracy against Asmodeus that maybe never quite works out, like he's the leader of an opposition party that always makes a good showing, but never manages to clinch the vote.

 

[dave2008]

Ok, I was (partially) wrong about the Hag Countess. She wasn't a cocoon for Glasya, but she was violently transformed into a re-imagining of the layer in a way that was a direct benefit to Glasya, the new Lord of the Sixth. One can imagine this was a scheme of Glasya's father to pave the way for her ascension; a house-warming gift of sorts, which implies that Asmodeus put the Hag in place explicitly for that purpose. So she was a placeholder after all.

OK, so are do think we forget about the Hag Countess, or have her in for if you want to play in an older era, or bring her back in some way. IIRC, she wasn't a devil so therefor isn't destroyed by dying in Hell. So should could have had a contingency plan or something. If I were to include her I think that is the approach I would want to take. What do you thing?

 

[dave2008]

In terms of continuing the lore, one thing I thought was intriguing was the hellfire gambit Mephistopheles was working on. He was always my favorite archdevil. What if it worked, and his mortal cult was in ascendancy, but was then ruthlessly co-opted by Asmodeus, increasing the Lord of the Nine's visibility (the whole "is Asmodeus a god?" question starting to lean towards yes)? Mephistopheles was regularly confused for his boss anyway, and losing most of his cult after working so hard to build it up would be infuriating to him.

Mephistopheles, to me, was always the Starscream of Hell. I can see him engineering a conspiracy against Asmodeus that maybe never quite works out, like he's the leader of an opposition party that always makes a good showing, but never manages to clinch the vote.

Is thought this is in progress or has already happened?

 

[Eyes of Nine]

OK, so are do think we forget about the Hag Countess, or have her in for if you want to play in an older era, or bring her back in some way. IIRC, she wasn't a devil so therefor isn't destroyed by dying in Hell. So should could have had a contingency plan or something. If I were to include her I think that is the approach I would want to take. What do you thing?

Not being up on the lore except at high levels, I'd say stat the Hag Countess, because she seems like a cool fiend lord, regardless of current lore