The Blood War: Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right?
Animated by Meagan Kenreck (@meagankenrekt)
The Blood War is the greatest conflict of the D&D Multiverse, but it’s hard to use in a campaign. For some, it’s too big—how do player characters get involved in a multiplanar conflict between the endless legions of the damned? For others, it’s too small—why hasn’t this massive war drawn in other planar factions and embroiled the entire Multiverse in war? Let’s find a way to make it just right for your game.
What the Hell is the Blood War?
The Blood War, as described in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, is a nigh-apocalyptic conflict that has raged for eons across the Lower Planes. Demons clash against devils in an endless conflict for dominion over the Abyss and the Nine Hells—and eventually all of the cosmos. Because of the cataclysmic consequences of an end to the Blood War, all major powers in the Multiverse desire to see that it is a war waged eternal, lest the victor set their sights on conquering the rest of existence.
Meta-textually, the Blood War was first introduced to the story of D&D in 1991, in the Monstrous Compendium: Outer Planes Appendix for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. The Blood War quickly became a crucial component of the Planescape campaign setting—and was a core aspect of the cult-classic video game Planescape: Torment—which itself gave rise to the “D&D Multiverse” we know of today.
Why did the Blood War begin? If there ever was a reason, it has long been forgotten. The Archdevils and Demon Lords care not why the war began, they strive only to end it, and claim primacy over the Lower Planes.
The Scourge of Scale
How big is too big? The answer is: when the player characters can’t meaningfully affect the world around them. And in a conflict as far-reaching and monolithic as the Blood War, most characters cannot change its tide, no matter how much they try. Even ignoring their phenomenal cosmic power, there are ten Archdevils and eight Demon Princes in Tome of Foes alone, each with their own armies of hyper-powerful fiends. No group of PCs can affect meaningful change in such a conflict; all they can do is fight to survive.
Depending on what kind of campaign you want to run, you may love this feeling of powerlessness… or you may hate it. In my experience, Dungeon Masters tend to be the ones who enjoy survival games, while players find the constant struggle for survival to be just a little too similar to trying to survive in the real world. Unless you’re playing D&D with people you’ve played with before, it’s a safer bet to play a game focused around escapist fantasy rather than one of gritty survival. Unless you’re trying to be really depressing and avant garde, a story that starts with brutal, oppressive warfare, should end with a heroic victory at the end, as the 20th-level PCs finally storm the Nine Hells and kill Asmodeus outright, and then swoop into the Abyss to trap Demogorgon in an inescapable demiplane.
The trouble, of course, is that most campaigns peter out before that glorious victory can take place, leaving an unsatisfied taste in the mouths of both player and Dungeon Master alike.
But this need not be the case! The Blood War is a conflict of overwhelming scale, but there are ways to explore its vastness as either a heroic Star Wars-style fantasy adventure, or as a brutal Saving Private Ryan- or This War of Mine-style campaign of suffering. Don’t forget that victories occur even in brutal stories and even heroes have setbacks. People die in both, often en masse. Remember Alderaan?
What’s most important to the tone of your brutal or heroic story is whether or not it has an optimistic or pessimistic outlook. People have hope in heroic stories, even in hopeless situations. But in real war, hope is fleeting. Every day of survival only prolongs the suffering. Which tone works best for your campaign?
Here are two plot hooks for each mood that will help get your campaign off the ground.
Low-Level Brutal: Lost Souls
The characters awaken in darkness, submerged in icy water. They burst from the water, gasping for breath, and pull their bodies onto the bank of the river. They can remember nothing of their past lives… only that they are dead, and they have crawled from the water of the River Styx. Their souls were bound for the Lower Planes, but they were knocked from their ferry when their merrenoloth ferryman was killed in the crossfire of a Blood War skirmish.
The Blood War has granted them a second chance, an opportunity to save their souls from the Lower Planes, but they must struggle upward from the Styx, making deals with mercenary yugoloths, sneaking through shelled-out extraplanar battlefields, and making grim deals with devils to find a way back home and escape this foul war.
High-Level Brutal: Endless Legions of the Victorious Damned
Asmodeus is dead, and the other archdevils are soon to follow. Chaos is spreading throughout the Multiverse in the wake of their defeat. The characters first hear of this dire victory in Sigil, the crossroads of the Multiverse, when the city is instantly engulfed by demons. A legion of undead bodaks emerge from Sigil’s monolithic Mortuary, led by a balor under the direct command of Orcus himself, and surge into the streets of the City of Doors to claim it in the name of the Abyss.
Thus beset, the PCs have no choice but to save as many people as they can and retreat to a safer location. Perhaps if they save the Kolyarut from the Hall of Concordance (see marut for more info), they can take shelter for a time on Mechanus, the plane of absolute Law. Even there, they can only cling to order for so long before the chaos of the Abyss stops the gears of Mechanus dead in their tracks.
Low-Level Heroic: The Great Tanarukk
Orcs are always scary, but orcs possessed by demons are a nightmare given flesh. When a tribe of marauding orcs led by a tanarukk lays siege to their city, the PCs must decide whether or not to fight the orcs directly—and face certain death—or follow rumors of a demon cult of the Baphomet within the city. By following these leads, they learn that not only are the crime lords of the city worshiping demon lords, but that the city’s nobles are devil-worshipers!
If the war between the Baphomet-worshiping criminals and Mammon-worshiping nobles continues, creatures like the demon-possessed orcs will constantly arise to terrorize the town. The only way to save this city is to weed out the corruption from within.
High-Level Heroic: The Harrowing of the Nine Hells
The Nine Hells have gained an unacceptable advantage in the Blood War. The archmage Mordenkainen personally approaches the characters and offers them a magnificent reward if they undertake a quest that he claims will save the Multiverse from utter annihilation at the hands of Asmodeus. They must venture into the Nine Hells, starting with the first circle of Avernus, and slay Mephistopheles, the greatest wizard of the Hells. Mephistopheles’s realm of Cania is the last line of defense before Asmodeus’s realm of Nessus, and destroying the great wizard will strike fear into Asmodeus’s heart. He will surely withdraw his armies to protect himself from harm, giving the beleaguered forces of the Abyss time to regroup and mount a renewed offense.
Wait, is that All?
Maybe the Blood War isn’t too big. Maybe it’s too small!
Why haven’t the devils teamed made a treaty with Primus, Lord of the Modrons and Being of Supreme Order to crush the demons? Why haven’t the demons sought out a way to unleash Tharizdun, the Chained God and Avatar of Entropy to wipe out their enemies once and for all? There are so many mighty creatures looking for a leg up in the Multiverse that it seems impossible that this powder keg hasn’t exploded yet. Not everyone is as preoccupied with the cosmic balance as Mordenkainen, surely at least one or two of the great powers of the cosmos have given into greed and thrown their lot in with an Archdevil or a Demon Lord to gain a place in the New Planar Order.
By this perspective, the Blood War is cast as a sort of mundane Balkan conflict when it should really be fantasy World War II! Why hasn’t the entire Multiverse taken up arms in this war? Why hasn’t the terror of this cosmic cataclysm spread to Waterdeep or Neverwinter?
This is the problem that keeps me from putting the Blood War front and center in my campaigns. Actually, it’s why I prefer to pretend it doesn’t exist when running D&D, even in published settings. It’s just more trouble than it’s worth to suspend my disbelief that such an all-consuming conflict could remain so isolated. If you’re able to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the Blood War for what it is, I envy you! It’s a very cool storyline, and I love the way the Balance of the Multiverse requires the engine of war to constantly pit cosmic evils against each other. It’s ultimately just not my cup of tea.
However, if the idea of a Multiverse embroiled in total war appeals to you, the Blood War is a perfect catalyst. Orcus has escalated the war into an arms race by discovering a way to unleash the Elder Evil Tharizdun upon the Multiverse, and Asmodeus has retaliated by enlisting the aid of Primus to put a check on the Demon Lords’ power. Meanwhile, archmages, gods, and demigods from across the Multiverse convene in Sigil and other, more secret locations to figure out how to keep the planes from being torn apart at the seams as more and more creatures and societies pick a side—mind flayers, the githyanki and githzerai, the Princes of Elemental Evil, metallic and chromatic dragons—all creatures have thrown in their lot in this ever-expanding War to End All Wars.
Or is it a War to End All Life?
By its very nature, this sort of all-encompassing story requires very high-level player characters to make it work. And these characters’ players need a deep understanding of the lore of the D&D Multiverse in order to comprehend all of the plots and motivations flying around in this ambitious crossover event.
The Blood War in Your Game
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is packed full of schemes, plots, and plans for the Archdevils and Demon Lords that will keep the eternal Blood War raging for centuries to come. But will it make an appearance in your home D&D game? Is it worth it? Is it still too big (or maybe too small!) to be worth featuring in your campaign? How will you use the most enduring conflict in the Multiverse?
James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and Kobold Press. He lives in a five-room apartment/dungeon in Seattle, Washington with his partner Hannah and his two fiendish kitties, Mei and Marzipan. You can usually find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
I think it is possible to have this war be self contained and for there to be no other entities to enter the war. All the good aligned beings will never ally themselves with evil, beings of order don't want to end the war as that would end the war and send the multiverse into chaos, beings of chaos can't form complex alliances due to pride or inability, ancient, cosmic, lovecraftian beings won't involve themselves as their interests are far above these petty squabbles and beings of the inner planes either don't have the power or fall into one of the above categories.
I'm actually developing a nautical campaign where the entire multiverse started to break, and it took the power of all the highest gods (good and evil), devils, demons, archfey, elementals, and powerful magic-users to put it back together (barely), resulting in an uneasy truce while they all try to hold reality together (resulting in a Material Plane that's been flooded by the Plane of Water). Perhaps it might be a good idea to use the Blood War as the catalyst for what I'm calling the Shattering. Maybe even have the PC's try to either make peace between the devils and demons, or choose a side to fight on, with their choice affecting the fabric of the multiverse.
Great article with some good adventure hook ideas!
However, personally, I don't think there's any suspension of disbelief necessary if you don't want the Blood War consuming the entire planes with everyone taking a side. For one thing, even though Archdevils and Primus are both lawful, the fact that the devils are evil as well would prevent Primus from aligning with them outright (maybe a skirmish or two, or finding other ways behind the scenes to knock the demons back a bit). Although the Blood War is an obvious stalemate between two opposing sides, the planes are actually governed by a 9-sided Cold War of sorts. Primus (just for example) wouldn't be so short-sighted to ally with the Devils to stop the demons when that would either result in the modrons being tainted evil (and therefore shifting off to Acheron or further) or just setting themselves up to fight the devils down the road. Primus and the modrons don't just oppose chaos, they oppose all 8 other alignments. Sure the slaadi embody all that they despise, but archons and devils show how law and order can be corrupted, and are perhaps more of a threat since they may appear to be short-term allies on the surface but could more subtly corrupt the order and lawfulness of the modrons.
As for high-ranking underlings of other sides trying to advance themselves and/or big changes like demons unleashing Tharizdun, etc. - that's what the PCs are for! I'm sure plenty of these sorts of things attempt to happen, but that is exactly where the PCs can step in to prevent a major shift like Tharizdun being freed, or other sides interfering. A great example of this is in the Hellbound: The Blood War boxed set, with the adventure "Strange Bedfellows." That adventure is an interesting example of an archon trying to influence the Blood War to aid the devils and the consequences of that.
So, between involving the PCs (and presuming other adventuring parties throughout the ages) and realizing the Blood War is just the most apparent fighting in what's actually a 9-sided conflict, no suspension of disbelief is necessary. It actually makes more sense that way. Having any of the other paragon races (modrons, archons, guardinals, rilmani, etc.) outright choosing a side in the Blood War actually makes far less sense given their goals and nature. Primus serving Asmodeus would take some massive suspension of disbelief! :)
I'm actually DMing a campaign that is happening right in the middle of the Blood War, and my take on this is that the PCs are pawns in the game between Arch Devils & Demon Princes, but they don't know it and won't realize it until the climatic finale !
They are following a lot of false trails thinking that they're doing the right thing, and I'm eager to see how they will react and if their actions will lead to a shift of the Blood War (for a short while) in favor of Demons or Devils ?
Fun times ahead !
Good questions!
I'd like to start off by saying that not so long ago the Underdark was considered a pit of evil. That landscape has changed and subsequently the mood, giving rise to drow houses that reject the obedience of Lolth, for one, I'd imagine that something similar is possible for the the Nine. It's no accident tieflings are stained with the mark of Asmodeus, the biggest baddest devil there. It'd be an interesting campaign to have the characters venture through the politics, gambits, subterfuge, and ultimately confrontation, only to realize they've all been manipulated.
The setting of the Nine is worth exploring, if for no other reason than Mordenkainen has opened that Pandora's box and invited us to do more than take a peek. I've read the cosmology and I think it's fantastic. The baddies are not so rigid in their thinking; they're protecting their own interests in the only way they know how, doomed I'd say to act on impulses magnified by magic.
After Tomb of Annihilation I think I'm ready for something on the scale of the Nine.
Its not too big, or too small. Its just too distant. So, devils and demons are fighting all the time... in the Outer Planes. Its like hearing about the wars with Iran, Turkey, Isreal, etc while you live in Canada, or Australia, or somewhere else far away. Its horrifying in its details, and terrifying in scope, but... its so far away. Its too removed from the day-to-day operation of most games.
Now, if you're involved with Planescape, that's a different matter, as the Blood War is far more relevant and even helps start off things like the Faction War of Sigil. Its a major concern for people to consider. Its a major setting piece for that particular style game. You live and work in a powder keg ready to boil over into violence at any time, basically; you're living next door to the Hatfields and McCoys. That's something that informs every interaction you make in the game. Find a rare treasure? You might have some devils looking to barter for it to give a leg up, or demons might seek to steal it from you, just because that's what they do. Need to visit the Hive or Lower Ward? Got a business deal with infernal connections?
But if you're on a Prime Material? Its already established that devils and demons have a difficult time showing up in the mortal worlds. Just how is it relevant to most games when these beings are unlikely to show up, let alone at the same time and to start a fight? As a result, you've got this setting detail that just can't quite make its way from one side of the cosmos to another. But its not like its a total wash - are you a fiend warlock? Fighting against the enemy who's associated with demons is a great justification for a Patron getting involved. In fact, that's a cannon lore bit inside the Brimstone Angel series when the writer touched on the Out of the Abyss story.
The key here isn't if the Blood War is all encompassing, or not encompassing enough. The key is that it needs to be made relevant to characters. You can make it the biggest thing in the multiverse if you want. But if all the PCs see are orcs and goblins starting up a war, they're only going to care about the orcs and goblins fighting and what they have to keep the war from spilling over, not if they have infernal and abyssal backing. Actually, having fiendish backing is rather expected - both evil gods of those races have either demons or devils under their command, after all.
As for why Asmodeus doesn't have a deal with Primus? He does. You have to remember that Planescape is a game centered around all the conflicts of the Outer Planes. The Blood War, as Lawful Evil versus Chaotic Evil, is just part of the larger Lawful versus Chaotic battle. Lawful Evil is still battling against the angels and archons of the Lawful Good planes at the same time, so Primus isn't going to throw his hat behind Asmodeus totally here, since It supports both Celestia and the Hells, but its totally willing to back offenses against the Abyss or Limbo. And its not like Asmodeus doesn't also have deals with a multitude of Lawful and Evil gods - the Big Red is the number one exporter of devils in the service of other dieties in the multiverse. Make that the only exporter.
Why don't the abyssal lords release the Chained God? A couple reasons come to mind. The Blood War originated in Planescape, and the mad gods tend to be specific to Faerun, Greyhawk, etc. There's no way of saying if any of the Great Old One Patron types are even around in Planescape, so would it even show up? Another reason might simply be the chaotic nature of the realm - the Abyss is a giant mess of demon lords constantly fighting each other. They're not a united force like the devils are - just the opposite, they're fighting everything at once, especially each other. Why would any of them want to release what would amount to a new and powerful rival? Also, who's to say the Chained God would be interested in joining in with the battle? Last I checked, these guys seem to have connections to Temple of Elemental Evils as well as abominations like mindflayers and aboliths, rather than demons and devils. And if one demon lord did try? Why, that's an awesome, awesome plot right there. PCs, the Good and Neutral gods have chosen you to get involved. Time to stop it. Oh, look, devils want to help you, because Blood War. PLOT HOOK, GO!!!!
As it stands, the Blood War is designed as a backdrop, and just part of the setting, no different than the war between drow and other elves. It provides background for more specific stories to spawn, and that's its value. It was never intended with the ability to stop, but rather to spawn more personal stories for players to engage in. In fact, lore wise, its been established that disposing Asmodeus is actually a very bad idea, and the Abyss simply spawns new demons to replace any that are permanently killed/sealed. So even if you could stop the big figures in the war, its kind of meaningless as the war will start back up again in time with just the head figures replaced after lots of deaths from the resulting power vacuum. Planescape used the Blood War to kickstart the Faction War. DMs can use the Blood War to justify any number of plot hooks, stories, or ideas in the material.
Or, to TLDR this post, its not the size that counts, its how you use it.
Hey there I am 13 year old who recently got into D&D. My problem however is that I’m kind of embarrassed to ask my friends to play with me as I’m not confident as a DM. If you have a suggestion plz reply
I thought the Blood War ended when Asmodeus the Abyss to the bottom of the Elemental Chaos. Or was that retconned and I didn't get the memo?
reference: Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
Few war stories follow people for whom the outcome of the war turns on. Most people are trying to survive it, carve out their section of it, find some sense in it. Look at the movies about say, the Vietnam War; Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, none of them deal with the high level decisions that created the war or shaped its outcomes. But all of them are deeply personal stories writ large, who's drama and tension are created by forces beyond the character's control or even comprehension.
Find the way that the Blood War can spill over into the daily life of your campaign. So far I have just gotten through the Devil's section and here are a handful of plot seeds to bring the Blood War into the character's life.
These are cool story hooks. Thanks!
My home-brewed campaign world connects to the D&D multiverse, and my players are on an adventure where they'll interact tangentially with the Blood War because an enterprising young ultraloth has worked out a means to convert wounded mercenary mortals into undead and ship them to buyers across the multiverse. One such buyer is on the adventurer's home world, but the only way to shut down the operation is to journey to the Gray Waste and stop the ultraloth's profiteering at the source.
Point being, the Blood War is a backdrop and a means of setting up the motivations of the villains and their underlings, but not a central feature of most of the campaign.
"Why hasn’t the entire Multiverse taken up arms in this war? Why hasn’t the terror of this cosmic cataclysm spread to Waterdeep or Neverwinter?"
Because, for all the effort that the Lower Planes expend fighting each other, the Upper Planes expend just as much effort keeping the conflict from spreading. For every infernal diplomat dripping poison into Primus's ears, there is a celestial messenger warning of treachery. When demons seek to break Tharizdun's chains, eladrin rush to stop them. And of course, that's exactly the sort of job PCs always seem to get roped into somehow...
That's my take, anyway.
Good article - I particularly like the Lost Souls scenario.
Personally, I don't need to suspend my disbelief when it comes to the Blood War. The new book answers pretty much everything, from why the war has gone on for so long, to why there aren't alliances. It's effectively in everyone's best interest that the war continues (except for the fiends themselves), and it even suggests the cosmos is intentionally layed out to encourage this eternal war.
There are some great ideas in the book as it explains about how the war does spill in to other planes, including the Material Plane. There are also those who pursue the Balance, an active and powerful group that intentionally attempt to keep both sides equal - perhaps the demons have repeatedly tried to unleash an Elder Evil, only to be thwarted every time.
One of my favourite parts from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and perhaps the best quote in the entire book, comes from Zariel - the celestial-turned-devil - where she says she did not turn to evil, but instead decided to shoulder the burden of protecting the cosmos (by fighting demons). Whether it's true or not, it's very interesting in regards to morality, and a precedent that occasionally other cosmic forces can enter the fray.
I like what other fans are saying here. I think that the Blood War would offer many opportunities for players and DMs alike to explore the Planes. This might be on a grand scale like in "A Paladin in Hell" or the 4th edition E series, or something more like a Planescape jaunt where characters have a quick brush with the Blood War and then move on with their merry lives. In our home campaign, we have a mixture of Planescape and Spelljammer that we call Plane*Jammer. In this campaign, the PCs now have about three different vessels that they can use to sail around the Planes and explore. It's kind of like Firefly with D&D where they can take on missions or jobs throughout the Planes. In a campaign like that one, the Blood War could come alive through various types of jobs. We've already had a situation within the campaign where PCs had to choose sides between Devils or Demons to save their own skin. I'm glad to hear that the Blood War is back in 5th edition (As I mentioned before, it was supposedly ended in 4th by Asmodeus) and I'm interested to see what Mordy's book has to say about it.
I think of it like a bacterial infection. It’s present in all things, but it may not be evident or relevant in how it manifests until the symptoms become obvious. In the campaign I’m running, water has been affected across Faerun...there is a drought...but why? The answer is what the players are after and it’s effectively a race to discover how the demons obtained an artifact and how the devils and PCs can collaborate to both steal it back and destroy it. LOTS of moral gray areas for the players and foes that can ramp up in power the deeper the players get embroiled in the action.
Nice article!
I find the blood war, or rather the simple conflict between devils is excellent for adding complexity to cult-based adventures. You could have a cult of Demogorgon and a cult of Mephistopheles intent on destroying each other and the adventurers, and this playoff can lead the plot in some very interesting directions.
The 3.5E Fiendish Codices do (I think) a very good job at explaining the struggle between the Nine Hell and the Abyss, as well as introducing a bunch of cool monsters that MToF hasn't included. I've never played anything other than 5E, but oh boy do these older books sometimes bring a ton of insight into making your BBEGs real bad. Recommend looking the two books up on DMs guild if you're thinking of doing something with the blood war.
Thanks! I haven't looked at those in years.
Also, if you want lore on the Blood War and fiends, in 2e Planescape, they had an entire boxed set of several books all about it (including a comic!): Hellbound: The Blood War.