The Value of Lorebooks

The Value of Lorebooks

I've been reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes recently, and something has struck me about the first chapter, the one for the Blood War. It is how the paragraphs that list and describe each ruling archdevil and the layer of The Nine Hells that they rule function as both a travel narrative and bestiary, and at the same time they are seeds for adventures; a tool to inspire dungeon masters.

It is a treasure trove of inspiration. I've read only part of the first chapter and I've already started thinking of several ideas that I would like to use in a campaign. I went over and re-read that part so that I could delve deeper into the lore and its layout and how it can be used. Just one piece of lore can spark an idea that can span a whole campaign, and this book has a wagon full of chests bursting with lore.

For those that haven't read the book or are otherwise unfamiliar with D&D Lore, the Blood War is an ages-long feud between devils and demons. The demons boil up from their home plane, the Abyss, and assault the first layer of The Nine Hells, Avernus. The devils push them back out but are unable and/or unwilling to push further into the Abyss. So the infernal creatures are perpetually at war with each other.

The chapter deals with both the devil-ish and demonic side of the Blood War. The section I just finished reading was for the Lords of the Nine, the nine archdevils who rule the layers of The Nine Hells. It talks about the lord, their personality and traits and the kinds of deals they make with mortals. It talks about the layer that the lord rules, its environment and history and its purpose within The Nine Hells as a whole. This is where one gets to the high grade campaign fuel.

Each section lists possibilities for adventures by mingling them with the lore. The first layer, for instance, has multiple tie-ins for adventurers seeking any number of things.

First of all, Avernus is the front line for the Blood War, and that alone has many opportunities. If you want a mass combat, you can find an endless horde of demons or devils. If you're looking for infernal weapons or armor, scavenge after a battle. Nothing wrong with looting the bodies of dead devils, right? Perhaps the adventurers have been recruited as scouts, impartial messengers or mediators, or maybe even assassins by some devil of interest.

Even if the Dungeon Master plans to avoid the Blood War directly, there are still innumerable forts that have been built to hold back demonic hordes. These forts may have been abandoned as the Blood War shifts to a different front, or perhaps they have been destroyed in battle. In their time, they may have stored treasure of many kinds, from magic items to demonic lore to forgotten trinkets that still hold value to some quest giver.

The second layer of the Abyss, Dis, is an active metropolis. Lots of arms-dealing is done here, and so is a lot of mining. This is where the supplies that support the Blood War are created. Adventurers could come here seeking weapons or armor, they might be searching for an item to be used for some other adventure, or just looking for work in one of the busiest places in the planes.

They might get involved in some intrigue involving the de-facto ruler of the plane, Tivisius, who is the true ruler's second in command. They might be contracted by the true ruler, Dispater, to seek out some nugget of lore, which could lead them anywhere in the planes, or to a lower layer of The Nine Hells.

This is not an exhaustive list for these two layers, not by any means, and it is only the first two layers. There are seven more with just as many potential adventure seeds waiting to be developed by Dungeon Masters and played out by the adventuring party. I can go further.

The third layer, Minarous, is ruled by Mammonon. Mammonon is listed as potentially the richest entity in all of the planes, due to his obsession with seeking out opportunities for enrichment and his eye for efficiency. So if you found some supposedly priceless artifact that no one in the Material Plane can pay full price for, then Mammonon can, and he might throw in something more valuable than gold to seal the deal. Of course, you have to reach him first or contact him somehow, and that can be its own adventure, because everything involving Mammonon has a price. 

That is the other thing, Mammonon is said to be one of the safest demons to make an infernal pact with because he might not ask for your soul. If you have "the wealth of a dozen kingdoms", then you can buy arcane power and influence from him with mundane money. Of course, stealing from him is also an option. 

He is an excuse for the Dungeon Master to go all out and make the most complicated puzzles, the most deadly traps, and the most numerous guards; dungeon obstacles that would be fairly called "unfair" or "unbalanced" if in some ruin created by mortals. But this is Mamonon, for whom no expense is too much to protect his vault, and who has had multiple mortal lifetimes to advance its security.

However, he is also incredibly stingy, so despite the wealth in his vault, the layer itself is shambling and decayed. It is a Wretched Hive if there ever was one. Such a place could be the scene of literally hellish criminal activity, or an opportunity to stir up trouble for Mammonon, and possibly an attempt to unseat him as the lord of the layer.

The fact that the layer is a swamp gives rise to other more implicit opportunities, only hinted at by what is present in the book itself. It may be that the comatose princess the adventurers are trying to cure was soulnapped (kidnapped via soul theft) by a night hag who plans to auction off the poor girl's soul in Mammonon's town. So they could try to track and kill the hag, participate in the auction or bargain with/steal from the entity who purchased the soul.

Wow, this is getting long, and I've only covered, briefly, some of the potential adventurers from three of the nine layers. Which, itself, is only one part of one chapter of one book. So, as you can see, there is a lot of inspiration a dungeon master can draw from a good lorebook. 

They don't even have to use the full "Nine Hells of Baator and Blood War" cosmology if such a thing wouldn't fit in their campaign. The idea for the night hag auctioning off souls could happen in the Material Plane amid some devil cult, or maybe a school of necromancers, or some other entity. Just one aspect of one section of lore can spark an idea that could fill a campaign, one adventure or even just a single session or two. That is the Value of Lorebooks.

For other 5E D&D books containing useful lure, you can turn to the Dungeon Master's Guide

To read my review of the entire book, click here

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.