best orientation for Blood War and yugoloths [Archive] - Wizards Community

best orientation for Blood War and yugoloths [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ryryguy
03-08-07, 03:32 PM I didn't ever play or read Planescape and just have heard tidbits about the yugoloths and their role in the Blood War. What's the best place to find a good general overview of this lore?
Witch
03-08-07, 03:38 PM Hellbound: the Blood War, most likely :)
Faces of Evil: the Fiends has good yugoloth information too.
Rickiel
03-08-07, 03:43 PM Also check out Planewalker.com!
celtredleg
03-08-07, 04:28 PM Planewalker is probably your best bet. Hellbound is great, but I had to drop $90 for it, and was happy to find a copy at all.
ryryguy
03-08-07, 05:28 PM Yeah, I'll definitely check out Planewalker.

What exactly are Hellbound and Faces of Evil? Novels, campaign supplements, what?
PunkRockBard
03-08-07, 05:49 PM planescape supplements.....

You can go to paizo.com or rpgnow.com and download them for a much cheaper price.
Witch
03-08-07, 05:59 PM Yeah, I'll definitely check out Planewalker.

What exactly are Hellbound and Faces of Evil? Novels, campaign supplements, what?

They're not novels. They are 2nd edition (I think Planescape) supplements that are entirely flavor-oriented (I've yet to finish Hellbound, but Faces of Evil definitely is). They're written very well, and they're most intrigueing.
Shemeska the Marauder
03-08-07, 06:16 PM Hellbound is great, but I had to drop $90 for it, and was happy to find a copy at all.

Only $90? Lucky :P

But to mirror what folks have said already, "Faces of Evil: The Fiends" and "Hellbound: The Blood War" are wonderful books that handle the topic in more detail than anything before or since. The print versions are in high demand and a relatively small print run, so buying the pdf for a few $ is the easiest alternative.

I'd also add in "Planes of Conflict" for some more info on the 'loths and the NE planes in general. And of course if you have specific questions, some of us are quite willing to field 'em.
http://arcanofox.foxpaws.net/shemmywink.gif
Witch
03-08-07, 06:23 PM That smiley disturbs me, Shemmy :( For some reason, I don't like it when a 'loth winks at me.
ryryguy
03-08-07, 07:53 PM And of course if you have specific questions, some of us are quite willing to field 'em.
http://arcanofox.foxpaws.net/shemmywink.gif

Thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it as I read up... in the meantime here's why I'm interested.

The campaign I'm running is actually using an alternate cosmology, so I probably won't be using these materials straight up, but I'd like to look at them for ideas.

At some point I hope to have a nice writeup of my campaign cosmos backstory to post, but here it is in a nutshell. I'm using the "Orrery Cosmology", where the planes all sort of move around and orbit the Material. Each of the four elemental planes is closest to the Material plane during a particular season and is "ascendant" during that time.

(I don't think my players read here, but just in case...)
However, in my cosmology, it wasn't always that way. The Elemental planes originally were in more balanced orbits - metaphysically speaking, the Material plane was always ascendant over them. Thousands of years before game time, there was a great cosmic catastrophe which knocked them into the more eccentric orbits. This corresponded with the start of the Blood War, and it's generally believed that the fiends somehow caused the change, possibly by accident.

The secret truth is that the change was actually intentionally engineered by the genies, who were able to access the Observatorium (only accessible once every other millennia or so) and fundamentally change the planar relationships. This was a wildly successful power play, granting them ultimate dominion over the Elemental planes. As a side effect, this greatly diminished the power of the jann, who had previously roamed the Elemental planes as freely as they do the Material. But after the change, their vulnerability to conditions on those planes developed (the 48 hour time limit thing), and the true genies gained the power to dominate them (while on their native planes).

The PC's are all half-elementals, one from each element. They don't know it yet, but they were actually created by the only jann who still survives from the time before the change. (She's spent a lot of time in a slow-time demiplane waiting for the Observatorium to be open again, which it will be shortly.) She eventually plans to use them to reverse things and make the Material dominant again, ending the subjugation of the jann.

Here's how the yugoloths come in. They know that it wasn't the fiends that caused the great change, and have been trying to figure out exactly who did it and how, figuring (correctly) that if they can reproduce the method, they can greatly increase their own power. I've already introduced an ultraloth villain who is questing for this goal. I don't know a whole lot of the official lore on yugoloths, but I imagine there is kind of a yugoloth secret society set up by their ruler. Advancement in the society is gained by uncovering secrets related to the past catastrophe, so they compete and scheme against each other while trying to figure it out.
If you have any suggestions for things from the Planescape lore that would enrich this sketchy backstory, I'd welcome them! :)
PunkRockBard
03-08-07, 10:14 PM Have at it , RyRyGuy. The Yugoloths are intriquing buggers...i think You'll enjoy using them. Another advantage is that...due to them not being used as much in this edition...You have more creativity as a DM. Go for it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ryryguy 03-08-07, 03:32 PM	I didn't ever play or read Planescape and just have heard tidbits about the yugoloths and their role in the Blood War. What's the best place to find a good general overview of this lore?
Witch 03-08-07, 03:38 PM	Hellbound: the Blood War, most likely :) Faces of Evil: the Fiends has good yugoloth information too.
Rickiel 03-08-07, 03:43 PM	Also check out Planewalker.com!
celtredleg 03-08-07, 04:28 PM	Planewalker is probably your best bet. Hellbound is great, but I had to drop $90 for it, and was happy to find a copy at all.
ryryguy 03-08-07, 05:28 PM	Yeah, I'll definitely check out Planewalker. What exactly are Hellbound and Faces of Evil? Novels, campaign supplements, what?
PunkRockBard 03-08-07, 05:49 PM	planescape supplements..... You can go to paizo.com or rpgnow.com and download them for a much cheaper price.
Witch 03-08-07, 05:59 PM	Yeah, I'll definitely check out Planewalker. What exactly are Hellbound and Faces of Evil? Novels, campaign supplements, what? They're not novels. They are 2nd edition (I think Planescape) supplements that are entirely flavor-oriented (I've yet to finish Hellbound, but Faces of Evil definitely is). They're written very well, and they're most intrigueing.
Shemeska the Marauder 03-08-07, 06:16 PM	Hellbound is great, but I had to drop $90 for it, and was happy to find a copy at all. Only $90? Lucky :P But to mirror what folks have said already, "Faces of Evil: The Fiends" and "Hellbound: The Blood War" are wonderful books that handle the topic in more detail than anything before or since. The print versions are in high demand and a relatively small print run, so buying the pdf for a few $ is the easiest alternative. I'd also add in "Planes of Conflict" for some more info on the 'loths and the NE planes in general. And of course if you have specific questions, some of us are quite willing to field 'em. http://arcanofox.foxpaws.net/shemmywink.gif
Witch 03-08-07, 06:23 PM	That smiley disturbs me, Shemmy :( For some reason, I don't like it when a 'loth winks at me.
ryryguy 03-08-07, 07:53 PM	And of course if you have specific questions, some of us are quite willing to field 'em. http://arcanofox.foxpaws.net/shemmywink.gif Thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it as I read up... in the meantime here's why I'm interested. The campaign I'm running is actually using an alternate cosmology, so I probably won't be using these materials straight up, but I'd like to look at them for ideas. At some point I hope to have a nice writeup of my campaign cosmos backstory to post, but here it is in a nutshell. I'm using the "Orrery Cosmology", where the planes all sort of move around and orbit the Material. Each of the four elemental planes is closest to the Material plane during a particular season and is "ascendant" during that time. (I don't think my players read here, but just in case...) However, in my cosmology, it wasn't always that way. The Elemental planes originally were in more balanced orbits - metaphysically speaking, the Material plane was always ascendant over them. Thousands of years before game time, there was a great cosmic catastrophe which knocked them into the more eccentric orbits. This corresponded with the start of the Blood War, and it's generally believed that the fiends somehow caused the change, possibly by accident. The secret truth is that the change was actually intentionally engineered by the genies, who were able to access the Observatorium (only accessible once every other millennia or so) and fundamentally change the planar relationships. This was a wildly successful power play, granting them ultimate dominion over the Elemental planes. As a side effect, this greatly diminished the power of the jann, who had previously roamed the Elemental planes as freely as they do the Material. But after the change, their vulnerability to conditions on those planes developed (the 48 hour time limit thing), and the true genies gained the power to dominate them (while on their native planes). The PC's are all half-elementals, one from each element. They don't know it yet, but they were actually created by the only jann who still survives from the time before the change. (She's spent a lot of time in a slow-time demiplane waiting for the Observatorium to be open again, which it will be shortly.) She eventually plans to use them to reverse things and make the Material dominant again, ending the subjugation of the jann. Here's how the yugoloths come in. They know that it wasn't the fiends that caused the great change, and have been trying to figure out exactly who did it and how, figuring (correctly) that if they can reproduce the method, they can greatly increase their own power. I've already introduced an ultraloth villain who is questing for this goal. I don't know a whole lot of the official lore on yugoloths, but I imagine there is kind of a yugoloth secret society set up by their ruler. Advancement in the society is gained by uncovering secrets related to the past catastrophe, so they compete and scheme against each other while trying to figure it out. If you have any suggestions for things from the Planescape lore that would enrich this sketchy backstory, I'd welcome them! :)
PunkRockBard 03-08-07, 10:14 PM	Have at it , RyRyGuy. The Yugoloths are intriquing buggers...i think You'll enjoy using them. Another advantage is that...due to them not being used as much in this edition...You have more creativity as a DM. Go for it.