Esper the bard: "That's right a demon orc" Me: A dork"

@sammydaley3228

2 жыл бұрын

well the alternative is an oamen

"how should these demons mechanics and lore be written, boss?" "hmmmm, *abysmally* "

“Someone say demons?” Asked a man in green colored armor with a large rifle at the ready.

@ShadowWolfTJC

5 жыл бұрын

Coincidentally, I kinda pictured the Manes as being akin to Doom 2016's Possessed Humans, the Hezrou as being akin to Hell Knights, and the Barlguras as being akin to Pinky Demons.

@thar5518

5 жыл бұрын

Or a huge man in silver/grey knight like power armour with a double barreled .75 cal machine guns on his wrist and a blue glowing sword

@jcons114

5 жыл бұрын

Rip and Tear!

@clitcrusader4897

5 жыл бұрын

This works for both doomguy and master chief

@flaschosaurius2205

5 жыл бұрын

Demons ? I sense some sincere heresy here ! Exterminatus is on the way

It makes sense that they want to get to the material plane. It's like a game. They don't face repurcussions for their actions because they can't be killed there.

@FreedomAndPeaceOnly

4 жыл бұрын

Like griefplayers in a videogame. :D

@suckafish441

10 ай бұрын

​00 p 3:04

@suckafish441

10 ай бұрын

😊😊0😊😊

I think you did the Barlgura dirty. Imagine him as this massive gorilla sneaking through the jungle, a demon escaped from the abyss and using the jungle as his hunting ground. He can use the trees as his cover, to hide and sneak around, picking the party off. With the right setting ans maybe a few tweaks, he can be a great low-mid level monster fight

The old rule with demons (and devils) was that the shorter the name, the more dangerous they were.

@Dankschon

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, like for example: "Ex".

@mechzilla569

3 жыл бұрын

Angelo Adriano the most dangerous demon Z

@LEAHPLAYSYT_MM2-YT

3 жыл бұрын

Or c

@vagledip5190

3 жыл бұрын

"N"

@StevenMichaelCunningham

3 жыл бұрын

🥱😶🤨🤭

For the Barlgura with it’s stealth spells and low hitpoints, not to mention it’s ape like appearance, I think it’s meant to be more of a drop ambush predator. Hides itself above a path, then drops down in the middle of a group of intruders, them tears them to pieces before they can react.

@enriquecabrera2137

5 жыл бұрын

good catch

@Klaital1

5 жыл бұрын

@@enriquecabrera2137 At least in 3rd edition it specifically goes into detail about how the Bar-lgura are intelligent and use their magical abilities craftily and make great scouts and skirmishers who enjoy setting ambushes and attacking by surprise.

@elgatochurro

5 жыл бұрын

it also has invisibility, my players personally dont stealth, the heavy armor user carries a torch or light cantrip or such... so basically hes always giving away their position

@thomaspentecost2189

5 жыл бұрын

I was actually about to post a similar answer, but I was going to add that because of its low hit points, it would work in a group, surprising weaker party members and pummeling/beating them to death, allowing other higher CR demons to show up and distract the more powerful PCs.

@FreedomAndPeaceOnly

4 жыл бұрын

For some reason I imagine 3 red dots in a triangle suddenly appearing on someone and a quiet gnarl sound appear before the attack.

I like your Slayer based rankings!

@ZedStone1

5 жыл бұрын

\M/

@lordofchromium1534

5 жыл бұрын

I’m not the only one who noticed that... neat Metal isn’t dead

I think I figured out why the Barlgura has disguise self and invisibility. Picture this: deep in the swamp you get surrounded by bullywugs, when suddenly a crazed bullywug runs out from the woods, and begins brutally killing its own kin. As it does this, the party becomes confused and worried, but soon this bullywug begins growing in size. Tusks begin to painfully grow out of its mouth, and red fur begins to grow on it. The party soon realizes that it was not a bullywug, but in fact a balgura. It looks over its shoulder, eating a bullywug that it ripped into shreds, and lets out a painfully loud roar. You could also do something where the balgura suddenly ambushes the party with invisibility, but I like the disguise self thing more.

Heard your breakdown of the Barlgura abilities, and thought, "Sounds like some predator shit to me," and the description does say it takes trophies from kills much like a hunter would, so I think that might be where they're going with it.

"Sorry Hezrou, 5e turned you into demonic fart ogres." lmao

@FreedomAndPeaceOnly

4 жыл бұрын

I can see people being too lazy to organize a group that can tackle lowlevel demons effectively so whoever organizes D&D in general, has _"nerfed"_ the Demons in order to balance things out. Never appease the whiners or casuals in a game. Never.

@nonachyourbusiness1164

4 жыл бұрын

@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly Or play in whatever way you want just having fun with it. It's only a game dude

@FreedomAndPeaceOnly

4 жыл бұрын

@@nonachyourbusiness1164 It is only fun and games until you despair over the inability of other players. ;)

@benjohnson7793

2 жыл бұрын

@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly you are being to harsh here. I like a challenge but not everyone does and this game is meant to be for everyone

@benjohnson7793

2 жыл бұрын

@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly For some people dnd is a way to relax

For the Balgura... invisibility and disguise self make sense for an Apex Predator type of threat. That Brutal savagry makes me think that the idea was a magical stalker/hunter and like a Lion they are expected to try and stealth there way up to there prey and ambush; the low HP makes think that even more because attacking in small numbers in an ambush fashion leaves foes weakened enough that the low HP is in similar amount to those that were ambushed at most. Strongly suggestive stating+mostly non-existent expressing still lands it in D tier, but I hope I was able to make sense from your confusion.

Fun Fact: the Goristro was so boring that its first appearance (in TD91) was to make up for forgetting to include it the MMII hat mentioned it along with some other demons that did appear. Gary termed it a "big dumb demon."

I thought that the way D&D afterlife works is unless your soul is claimed by a god, if your evil you'll go to the 9 hells if your Lawful evil, hades if your neutral evil, or then to the abyss if your chaotic evil. i don't know that is how it was explained to me. Also hades basically sells its souls to the demons and devils.

@2g33ksgamingttv3

2 жыл бұрын

Evil souls become these evil larvae(or good souls that were corrupted into doing evil acts) and then the three different fiends(yugoloths, devils, demons) along with liches, necromancers etc will barter with the larvae for making new fiends or as sources of power.

I hope you can do a video on the common monsters like orcs, goblins, etc. those are my favorite and I love to RP them.

@CRydon200

5 жыл бұрын

General Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way I think he already did that

Barlgura = ambush predator demon. They arr savage but prefer to attack by surprise and to pick prey off, one at a time. Hence the low HP and abilities centered around concealing itself.

@Bluecho4

5 жыл бұрын

Exactly. The Barlgura practices ambush and hit-and-fade tactics. A brute can be employed in different ways, including using animal cunning. If nothing else, even a rock-stupid animal wants to avoid dying, and will use basic tactics to ensure this. Barlgura's use these spells to do just that.

@mathewpoole3589

5 жыл бұрын

@Lance Clemings Oh they are still bruisers, just more of the cowardly kind. Looking at the artwork in the video, you can see that they want to avoid a frontal assault. Instead preferring to attack the person at the rear. Whether or not that person is still alive is debatable, but the Barlgura has its hand over their face muffling any screams, while it watches the party move on. The bruiser part comes in during the actual combat. As a group they'll team up against a single target and pummel it to death, and tearing it apart with shear ferocity. Factoring in surprise attack damage, and a squishy character could easily k.o'd in the first round. A burst attack and escape method could be easily employed with them ambushing, causing some serious damage then breaking away with their invisibility spell. Their lower HP is a weakness in 1v1, but as a group it is offset by their numbers. So they would rather avoid attacking on their own.

@Bluecho4

5 жыл бұрын

@Mathew Poole Indeed, a good way to employ the Barlgura would be to team him up with a bunch of trash mobs, either "normal" monsters or lesser demons. While the trash mobs engage first and tie up the party, the Barlgura "dives", picking off select PCs and then departing. Better yet, the Barlgura might use Disguise Self to appear like one of the trash mobs, only to show his true strength when a PC runs over, thinking they can dispatch him with ease. If the Barlgura was a little smarter, the DM could have used them by having their Disguise Self take the form of an "innocent victim" being assailed by the trash mobs. The PCs try to save the Barlgura, only for it to spring its ambush at an appropriate time. But that seems like a plan just slightly too sophisticated for its Intelligence score as is.

@mathewpoole3589

5 жыл бұрын

@@Bluecho4 There is a blurred line between intelligence and learned behavior. Creatures like ants are not that smart. But they build elaborate nests that have separate food storage, brooding chambers, and graveyards. Not to mention their ability to find their way in and out of places. As such an observant Barlgura may notice through multiple observations. That humans often trust orangutans. Or that they may even approach one that's wounded to both aid or kill it. These Barlgura could theoretically teach/show this to other Barlgura

@ChitenBugMan

5 жыл бұрын

I had one convince my Dwarf Barbarian that there was a massive Dire wolf (he had a deeptooted psychological fear of Wolves) using it's phantasmal killer and then killed the cleric after beating me half to death. Fun times, ranger kicked it's ass though

When I DM, I like to describe all demons as sort of different from eachother, it does not seem logical to me that creatures born out of the abyss and pure chaos are neatly separated into categories. Of course I undearstand the authors Ideia behid it because it wouldnt be possible to have the monster sheets otherwise... But still, I like to give them some good diversity when describing each individual demon to sort of give them a unique chaotic identity,

@Bluecho4

5 жыл бұрын

It's probably such that while every demon is technically unique, the Abyss is no stranger to patterns (albeit wild ones) and convergent evolution. Technically, no organism in existence is _exactly_ like another; all humans have individual traits that differ, and it would be safe to assume the same for other humanoids in DnD. Nonetheless, organisms also trend towards similar traits in other ways, especially when they are related, or seek to embody the same ecological niche. Demons birthed from the same "area" of the Abyss might trend towards certain sorts of forms, simply because proximity breeds similarity. It's not like the unbridled Chaotic Neutral parts of the multiverse - where literally anything could happen - nor can the Abyss be wholly uninfluenced by things and places it comes into contact with. Evil itself influences the Abyss, causing limiting it by virtue (or perhaps vice) of having to conform to the needs and impulses of wickedness. The Abyss can vomit forth varied forms of life, but they all still trend towards barbarity, violence, selfishness, and indulgence. It is not, therefore, truly chaotic. Why, then, would other forms of contact - even between abyssal creatures already extent - not engender a degree of similarity? If nothing else, Demon Princes, once birthed and risen to power, have their own ideas about what is right and proper. Demon Princes don't see the multiplicity of forms as being virtuous (in the twisted manner that demons see as "Virtue"), only those traits that conform to their personal standards. Namely, those traits most like themselves. As such, while wide swathes of the Abyss might be a stew of endless creation, the realms belonging to the Demon Princes will be forced towards certain forms, both from the passive influence of strong demons at their center, and if for no other reason than because those same strong demons will kill any fiends not amenable to their purposes. A demon not pleasant for a Demon Prince to look at - comparatively speaking - will be destroyed, its uniqueness wiped from the multiverse to make way for something more to the master's liking. Baphomet will favor hunters, Zuggtmoy will promote fungus, etc.

@gustavosanabio473

5 жыл бұрын

@@Bluecho4 I like your idea! Here, take this! *throws you a little star*

@GrimgoreIronhide

5 жыл бұрын

I think they more or less say that this should be the way you do it in Hordes of the Abyss. It's been a while since I have read it, but this is hardly an uncommon sentiment. The demons just need it more than most.

@recursiveslacker7730

2 жыл бұрын

Tanar’ri forms are as uniform as they are because the original Obyrith demons created them as slave warriors at the Queen of Chaos’s behest.

I wish that we got statblocks for Arch devils in their angelic form. Imagine a devil trying to get his original holy power back. Just a thought.

@TheCatgirlGaymer

5 жыл бұрын

I would love that.

@Digitalhdwmn

4 жыл бұрын

@Carter Gourley except laziness

@lukeshaul820

7 ай бұрын

That can't happen. And in the real world most of the Christians reading this are now wondering what drugs you are on.

Probably my biggest beef with demons and devils in the D&Dverse is their actual designs. CONCEPTUALLY the idea of devils as militant, tyrannical conquerors bent on controlling the cosmos and demons as ravening, chaotic hordes bent on tearing it apart for their own amusement, and perpetually at war with each other, is amazing. In practice, I feel like the design elements, a lot of which are grandfathered in from old editions, let it down, because they're either too random (Frog monsters! Vulture people!) or look too much like each other (Balors and Pit Fiends both being huge, bat-winged, horned, balrog-like demons, both sides having sexy humanoid tempters/temptresses). There's no common design thread that tells your eye "This is a demon" or "This is a devil" and nothing about any of their designs that could not also have been a design for a non-fiendish monster from elsewhere in the manual, except the aformentioned Balor/Pit Fiend because they literally look like the stereotypical horns/batwings/hooves. Compare this to, as an example, the Chaos forces in Warhammer or to a lesser extent the minions of the Prime Evils in the Diablo series, where the different flavors of evil are really given a distinct design aesthetic, you know instantly when you're fighting the forces of Nurgle vs those of Khorne, Tzeentch or Slaanesh. I'd love to see something like that in D&D.

@magicalsealand5076

5 жыл бұрын

It is odd how games Workshop has turned all of there factions a unique aesthetic while wizards of the coast has not

@itspetz7421

5 жыл бұрын

Honestly it probably wouldnt be to hard to make a DnD campaign where you storm slaneesh's palace or stop a cult of zeetch from takeing over a planet.

@CrazyPangolinLady

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah. I was just looking up the difference between a manes and a lemure. One is chaotic and one is lawful. But most artwork of the lemure looks like an ever changing bunch of slop, which I would think would be MORE chaotic than a regular fat zombie. But whatever.

@maxmustermann2417

4 жыл бұрын

well said

@esperthebard

4 жыл бұрын

I agree that there should be some more aesthetic distinction between the types of fiends. That said, according to D&D lore, devils were originally angels, but they became corrupted by endless fighting against demons, so story-wise it is supported that devils would bear some resemblance to demons.

Esper, I would to hear your thoughts on the Demon Lords and Lords of Hell. X3

@johngleeman8347

5 жыл бұрын

@bryan diaz varela I don't recognize that quote. Xp

@benjohnson7793

2 жыл бұрын

I second this

I’ve said it before but MONSTOSITY TIER LIST

@hamstsorkxxor

5 жыл бұрын

Yes! Can't wait to see my favourite D&D monster (the owlbear) get an S-rank ;)

@christianlangdon3766

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah wish i could ask for elemental but they for whatever reason have so little

@buboniccraig896

5 жыл бұрын

But there are so many monstrosities. That would take like 4 videos. But on the other hand, they would be really cool 4 videos.

@critsfreaks9970

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah I know

@lisagaughan7154

4 жыл бұрын

@@hamstsorkxxor sorry but Esper has a wierd sense of style. I almost left the video after he hated on many of my fav monsters.

Barlgura - You are overthinking this demon. Intelligence doesn't necessarily equal instinct. His abilities actually make perfect sense if you think of it as a hunter/ambush monster. Oh, a giant canyon the adventures have to get over or a giant hole...that if they fell would definitely do some damage making them easier prey. Enter invisibility and phantasmal force, you can't see it, but it can see you and effect you with spells, hide that under a general perception roll offsetting it to the DC, if they fail, "that's enough for you to notice a rickety bridge across the cavern(or hole) that looks like it supports your weight", because of the flavor text of phantasmal force, the person will just think the other's are blind and can't see it and walk to their doom...the RP in this creature's abilities is also better than you gave it.

Thank you for this! I recently started DMing a campaign focusing on the Blood Wars with Demons as the main villains. This has been very helpful and interesting.

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it's helpful for you. Part 2 will be out soon.

@MadSwedishGamer

5 жыл бұрын

Nice.

I wanna see a campaign where the party plays as demons. You could make at least a whole session out of trying to get to the surface I think

Actually I like the simplicity of many of them. I imagine throwing a big army of them onto a kingdom and the party leading some units of a defending army. They are still versitale enough to challenge players in multiple different ways by placing different demon units at different locations and letting faster ones outflank them, but simple enough to not feel wasted as simple foot soldiers.

One of my favorite improvements to write onto the bulezau is improving the tail. giving it a 10 foot reach, letting it grapple while attacking, and giving it multiattack can make for some fun attacks. drags you in with its tail, starts carving into you, etc. Maybe it grabs you with its tail, then throws you into the ground mid-jump. raises the CR a bit, but makes it a way more memorable fight. Climbing speed, or at least letting it grab onto walls, also helps make it annoyingly mobile.

Amazing work, Esper. I love the use of old black and white images from old school Dnd and your exhaustive lore research. I hit that button right away!

It would be cool if you did a part three to this, where you went over the demon lords. Maybe not a straight ranking; like you said they’re a bit beyond the scope, but a comparison of the various ones and the demons that serve them. “Yeenoghu has the most interesting campaign potential because these three demons that directly serve it mesh well with their mortal servants the gnolls” Etc. Etc.

@benjohnson7793

Жыл бұрын

Great idea

I am currently running Out Of the Abyss, and this was very helpful. Great content, i will be eagerly awaiting part 2

Like I said in a previous video do a video about dragons and dragonkin. Throw in drakes, hellfire wyrms, dragon turtles, and the works for your rankings.

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

I've already started working on the dragons ranking ;)

@Darknight4434

5 жыл бұрын

There is hellfire wyrms and those alternative dragons for 5e?

@williethenerfherder2193

5 жыл бұрын

@@Darknight4434 you can just send them over from previous versions of d and d. Homebrew that shit to be stronger if you want.

@Hazel-xl8in

5 жыл бұрын

WillieTheNerfHerder kobolds!!!

@Darknight4434

5 жыл бұрын

I know I can, but still things cam get unbalanced. I was just curious about it

"Easy dc" >Dc14 con check For a condition as deadly as paralysis, which Id say is the deadliest condition, a dc14 is very scary. Like even if you have +5, that still means you need to roll 9 or higher. And until you do so all attacks against you crit. Combined with its multi attack this thing is very deadly.

@esperthebard

3 жыл бұрын

You're referring to the shoosuva. I didn't say it has an "easy DC", I said the poison DC of 14 is a bit low. True, paralysis is one of the most crippling conditions, but the shoosuva has to hit with the attack first, then the target has a fail a DC that is a little under average for a CR 8 creature (DC 16 is average). Also keep in mind the paralysis comes from being poisoned, and poisoned is a pretty easy condition to cure (e.g. 2nd-level spell Lesser Restoration, paladin's Lay On Hands). It's AC is also a bit low, 14, compared to the average for a CR 8 creature, which is AC 16, as well as its 110 hp (176-190 is average). Supposedly these somewhat low stats balance out due to the shoosuva's three proficient saving throws and damage resistances. It's not a badly done monster, I just wanted to clarify because it seemed you had a slight misunderstanding.

@carpedm9846

3 жыл бұрын

@@esperthebard @Esper the Bard oh, yeah youre right I suppose. I just think that the condition being paralysis instead of something like stun makes up for the lower dc, as insta-crit with advantage is always intimidating. But god damn your voice is even heard through your texts. Have a great day you smooth talker. Or evening/night depending on your timezone.

Ah the Vrock, I remember fighting a few along with Camazotz in Ixala

SLAYER!!! I fucking love these tier videos, 10 thumbs up buddy! Keep the metal and d&d scene alive!

Now that we have done Demons and Devils, how about Celestials

@SubSimpich

5 жыл бұрын

To be fair there aren't a lot of Celestials in 5E and it would be a really sort video, but even though I know this, I'd still want to see it too.

@AlgaeNymph

5 жыл бұрын

@@SubSimpich Pathfinder does a better job with celestials, having them be more than just boring "paladins with wings." I think you'll like Arshea~

@SubSimpich

5 жыл бұрын

@@AlgaeNymphGuess I better check that out

I created a homebrew artifact-rarity maul and put a goristro in it, so it just goes to show that even lower-tier demons in this ranking can be the perfect demon for a particular role in the game.

This is so so good, that I have been missing this is making me mad at myself. Thank you, this is really good stuff, kind of like crack, I want more!

I also love the Vrock. Can be used in so many situations and I just throw it in if I need a quick demon.

On the Balgura, phantasmal force could be used to slow down and distract enemies, though this is somewhat out of place. However invisibility is a great skill for them to have due to their inability to tank ranged attacks and their low hp, meaning that they can get up close and deal damage before being hit

the slayer song titles for ranking demons is one reason I love you.

12:50 A-hem... "I can make mini-me's :D" *blows up Gohan*

long time coming but thank you so much 😊

probably one of my most defining memories ever playing D&D involved one time where my Kenku rogue got caught in a hopeless one-on-one fight with a Vrock that screeched and... then proceeded to snap all of her weapon. The nearby Succubus wanted my rouge as a 'pet' though, and the two started fighting amongst themselves, which gave the rest of the group time to come and save my battered and broken character.

Perfect timing! My party just entered the abyss!

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

Into the realm of infinite strife and vileness ... may strength be in their hearts!

Yet another reason 3.5 was the golden age of Dungeons and Dragons. The demons were much more fleshed out and all scary

You help make monster ranking much better and less cluttered I love your videos from your friend the modron

Found your channel a few month ago and watched a few of your Ranking videos which I really liked. One of them was your devil ranking and I couldnt wait for the demon one. Now it is here and I cant wait to see it. (Ps sry for bad english)

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Barbas and welcome to my channel! Where are you from?

@likeanOVERLORD

5 жыл бұрын

@@esperthebard germany

@likeanOVERLORD

5 жыл бұрын

@@esperthebard never played dnd but always thought the lore is cool since I read a few books about the dark elve drizzt

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

@@likeanOVERLORD Wilkommen!

I like how you used many pictures from the original 1E monster manual!

Ironically, Hezrou are much more interesting as described in Pathfinder. They inhabit bodies of water like swamps and waterways, but more interesting is their presence blights the surrounding area, causing plants to wither and gnarl and making water foul and brackish. Their mere presence can mutate people, turning them into deformed mutants. Their immense strength combined with their laziness means they often bully lesser creatures into servitude, and apparently boggards are their favored servants. You could easily write an adventure about a suspicious and deformed community that distrusts outsiders, making the players assume it's just a backwards town with horrid practices, only to pull back the curtain a bit and steadily reveal it is the influence of a demon.

If I had to take a guess the Balgura was designed to be savage ambush predators they're meant to use illusions to hide and then strike savagely.

Esper? Esper? That’s a color shard in magic one that I love dearly.

I've been waiting for this for so long!

As always a great video! If I could make a request for an upcoming video, id be very interested in your take on celestials and or gods! Thanks and best regards

Would you ever consider doing a monster ranking for the Creature Codex or The Tome of Beasts by the kobold press?

Chasme reminds me of those nasty mosquito vampires in the Darkest Dungeon blood court DLC

@Bluecho4

5 жыл бұрын

Now I'm imaging the headaches that a party could face, when they not only get their blood sucked by a Chasme, but find out later that they've contracted an abyssal disease. A disease that drives them towards bloodlust (and bloodthirst) and madness. Fun for the DM, and not so much for the party. Some may ask "but diseases are so easy to get rid of in 5e!" Yes. Which is why you don't have the symptoms of the disease manifest until much later. Hopefully after the PCs have already been driven to attack someone, and/or passed on the infection to someone else. I don't understand the logic of DMs who tell their players immediately that they've caught something. Diseases rarely work that way, and letting them know will just mean they cure the disease at the first opportunity. Instead, make the Constitution saving throws for the player, behind the screen, and silently keep track of the illness's progress, the players and their characters none the wiser. It's not unfairness, if it's 1) realistic (or at least verisimilitude-inous), and 2) part of the challenge. It's the same reason you don't tell the players to make Perception checks they didn't themselves ask for, because even a failed check made out of the blue tips them off and biases their behavior in an unrealistic way.

@Klaital1

4 жыл бұрын

@@Bluecho4 The disease is the least of their worries when fighting a Chasme, just take a look at how insanely hard they hit, averaging whopping 40 damage per hit, more than half of which also reduces the targets max hp, and instantly kills them if it reduces their max hp to 0. Level 6 characters can't take too many hits like that.

Great video! Keep up the good job

A while back, I considered a modification of an old adventure (N2 - The Oracle), but that went in a completely different direction than that one. Instead of the corruption of the land being a result of a "Gypsy Curse" (which, by the way, kinda offensive, DnD 1e), it's the result of a clan of orcs that fell into veneration of Baphomet. Years ago, after one too many defeats and being driven from their former home, the orcs renounced Gruumsh and began cult-ing it up with the Demon Prince of hunters. Culminating in a "human" sacrifice to Baphomet (namely the adult orcs who opposed the shift to abyssal worship), and the birth of a Tanarukk. When that Tanarukk reached adulthood - twisted and evil as all Tanarukk inevitably are - he forced himself into a leadership position of the clan. The priests of Baphomet backed him, since he was a simple orc, easily manipulated by advisors. With their prompting, he called for the opening of a portal to the Abyss, which he made from a defiled orcish fighting fit. The act of making the portal requires the sacrifice of many lives, as well as the drawing of life from the surrounding area (hence, what brings the player characters out to investigate). Such a concentration of abyssal energies, though, also attracts the attention of two other abyssal cults: a cult of gnolls and madmen that venerate Yonogu, and a cult of rat-men and wererats that venerate some Demon Prince of pestilence that I would make up. If the party starts investigating, they might attract the attention of orcs within the clan who remained loyal to Gruumsh, and who hate what the clan has become. They might try to get the PCs to solve the problem for them, but would need convincing that the PCs aren't useless against demons. And so would try to get them to attack and destroy one or both of the other cults, to prove their mettle. After all, the non-abyssal members of the orc clan survived by feigning loyalty and keeping their heads down. They don't intend to rush into betrayal and the possibility of failure, unless they can be sure that the PCs can handle the Tanarukk, the abyssal priests, and any more demons they might summon from the abyssal spawning pit.

21:00 I think the illusion spells are more so just to allow for it to be able to blend in with the jungle without having to use that space in the lore for it.

The Chasme illustration from the Fiend Folio always reminded me of Layne Staley. Lol

@11:38, I recognize that art! That's the card art for Bad Ass from MTG's Unhinged set. He wanders the land in search of Good Ass.

Finally! With all the other monster rankings you've done, a demon one was manditory

Love the slayer reverences

your rankings are awesome dude keep it up

@esperthebard

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, cyber maze!

Also I could see the Barlgvta using disguise self and invisibility in a jungle like setting to quickly get out of view and move around for a sneak attack while never truely leaving combat. While It doesn't too much intellect, I think 7 intelligence is more then enough for a simple brute to know how to take advantage of its abilities if it's old and experienced enough, which many demons are. I think mechanically it can still be a 4

Love the category names!

Me and my friends are playing through a magic themed dungeon, and I was planning a mini boss where the players fight a Bulezau demon with some Gibbering Mouthers fighting along side the demon.

You made some interesting comments, like "I wish this monster existed in V5", or "that monster should have had different abilities". Well, if it's your campaign world, you can have any monster you want and any monster can have any ability you think it should have (even if it means adjusting the CR). A good proportion of the monsters appearing in my own personal monster manual never officially existed in the version I play, and most of the others are modified in some way. It's a great tool to keep even the most experienced players guessing.

Having less behavior description or even lore can be a benefit allowing the GM to create their own. 5e seems to give more allowance for individual story creation. With most of the demons that you ranked low tier, I can imagine creating so much lore with them. The ape monsters with the invisibility and phantasmal force liking to pick adventures off one by one in predator style, the Beelzebub demons being the hired assassins, The Shadow demon could ask the party to free it to go back to the abbys in exchange for loot or power (one character gaining a level in warlock), Alcolyth being used by the antagonist to create the portal or to protect the doorway to their study. The Hezrou having the same connection to the slaad as the orcs.

love the slayer songs for tier ranks awesome touch :)

I think if think of it as a 'I have no mouth and I must scream" thing, the rutterkin disease pretty cool and harrowing. No matter who you were, you're cursed to walk the world, forever as horrid, malformed cannon fodder.

I've never played D&D before this is interesting as heck

Wanted to have my party find a cult with a trapped demon found this video very helpful whilst finding my pick I chose the Tanarukk due to the way they are treated

On the Hezrou, the reason that he's been stripped of his spells in 5E is that they were spells that specifically targeted alignments (Or greater teleport and gaseous form, both of which are effective for escaping a fight or running away with a macguffin). The only spells left in 5e that mention alignments in their names now don't *actually* care about alignments, they only effect outsiders, fey, undead, and other such extraplanar types that would typically be repelled by protection from evil or good. While I like the change, I think they should have given the hezrou equivalent effects in the spirit of his original tools, spells that target specifically non-demons or non-outsiders. Personally I think that moving away from alignment-specific mechanics overall is a good thing, but spells like blasphemy, chaos hammer and the like do suffer for it.

Their abysmal roll playing. Intentional or not, that’s just gold.

yeah I was reading hordes of the old hezrou and it was so cool. all the old demons had like the same number of abilities as the demon lords even if they are weaker. 5e demons often just feel like they were made for a single purpose which works for devils but not so much demons. like hordes of the abyss specifically states that demon almost always have more abilities than they need for an encounter, so explain to me why hezrous have a classic multiattack and a stench.

Wihile I enjoy 5e at times and I think it has it's place. (It's streamlined and fast and friendlier to new players) 3.5 is the epitome of what DnD should be imo. There are of course some things that can be fixed or changed but out of all the editions, when I think DnD, 3.5 is what I think of. On another note. Awesome Video man! Also, really enjoy the fact that you picked apart things that don't make sense for each individual creature. The Barluga inconsistencies that you mentioned were kind of eye-opening. Never really thought about it like that.

my character is a lich that is weak with normal attacks but strong with crowd control abilities(stuns, mind controls), mastering armys of minions, summoning demons, and making anyone i want slowly go insane. i have been working on this character for 6 years througout both homebrew and local sessions. i am currently working towards becoming the leader in a cult that practices dark magics

I enjoyed this video. Thank you.

This will come in handy. Can't wait to use whole A and S tier. Now I just gotta watch video.

i can imagine a mage of some sort summoning many small and weak demons and turning them into shadow demons, that might be fun, or maybe have the player do the killing. an alkolith would be fun to use too, able to spur a plot of someone finding it and using it to open a window into the abyss

Wow, thanks for the epigraph. Though it took me a while, as I figured the exact poem. "Besy" is more closely translated as imps or fiends. Spirits, that are mostly connected with natural disasters and superstitions. Demons in Russian poetry are usually beutiful, cold entities, that toy with souls and passions. You can compare Pushkin's "Imps" (1830) to "Demon" (1823)

I’d consider donating to this guy’s patreon if there were more monsters in it. Like quite a few more. I’m definitely homebrewing this Alkiliths to have spider climb.

I ran an encounter with a tanarukk war chief. It had killed one of my PCs friends in her childhood. They found it and it was stronger and mutated with an abyssal virus to be virtually invincible. It was an encounter to remember

One character for a game I DM'ed drew a dreaded card from "The Deck Of Many Cards." Total enmity from a Lower Plane being.. The poor female had to contend with random encounters from a demon at the worst times lol..

3.5 was the first edition I played D&D in, and whenever I play these new editions they do feel so much less developed. Not to knock 5e, it's very streamlined and for people just learning the game it makes things much easier. I still like and play 5e, but only for quick sessions. If I make a multi session campaign with my pals from back in the day it's in 3.5.

@HammarPwnsYourFace

4 жыл бұрын

Get you some classic 2e books. Really. Spice some shit up

@zergtoss1

4 жыл бұрын

Pathfinder!

@zergtoss1

4 жыл бұрын

BeatingClownz 2E was soooooo in depth, goodtimes

Once used a Shadow Demon who had to 'test' the party. The stick of that fight was that at certain hp thresholds he would sink into the floor (not taking damage for encounter its sake), only to pop up one turn later with 4-5 shadows looking like it in tow XD That was one dark game of wack a mole for my player ;p

I like vrocks because the dm can just go “vrock” in a funny voice

You sound like the Alton Brown of D&D lore and I'm diggin' it

You should check out the new book "Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica", it has some really interesting and unique monsters. The Master of Cruelties might be my favorite demon now.

13:29 I did this for my campaign, it ended up cursing the pet drake of out half elf pirate. Luckily the dragon doggo got healed by a storm giant pretending to be a god

you should do a ranking on beastmaster companions for the ranger

Note in the 1st ed MM2 entry. The intelligence is listed as "Very to High" which in 5th ed would translate to a 12-15 intelligence, and a wisdom of 8-14. They employed sly tactics in their jungles. Using illusions and their mimicry abilities to harrow, lure, and separate groups of opponents. They often preyed in packs like wolves. Just carry over their 1st ed abilities (including the old list of universal demon powers ). They will then make a significantly higher CR, and be much more flavorful. Take it from somebody who has RPGed since 1982. Sometimes you just add some spices if the dish seems too bland!

I personally love the Rutterkin. Just the idea of turning a PC with limitless potential into a goomba for all of eternity kinda tickles my inner sadist. It just goes to show that no one not even the MCs are safe from demonic corruption.

@benjohnson7793

2 жыл бұрын

I would make it more of an environment effect. So the more time they spend in that environment the more difficult it is to resist the transformation

@benjohnson7793

2 жыл бұрын

Or you give the abilities to a more powerful demon

Alkilith is now one of my favourites

I could see the Balgura using Phantasmal Force to make himself look gigantic or make him seem more menacing or terrifying as for invisibility I have no clue expect for sneakiness

Love the picture at 20:17

Digging the Slayer references!

My only guess on why the Barlgura has the illusion spells is for hunting tactics such as invisibility to ambush prey..

I like how there was enough Magic the gathering art there to highlight wotc's grasp on both DnD and Mtg

Everything has been "babied" or dummied down since after 3.5. Even unicorn and griffin have be turned into just pretty cool magic animals.

@user-vm9xz4kv9z

3 жыл бұрын

How?

the disguise self for the bargura could camouflage