HMmmm, a character who killed a demon lord of the abyss and became it's new boss . . . would become the new demon lord (of that part) of the abyss, and become an NPC. Clean and simple.
To my mind, if you kill Zurlplargh of the Uncountable Maws - you can then claim it's throne. If you do, you become Zurlplargh of the Uncountable Maws. Also to my mind, you cannot kill planar overlords. They are, essentially, a function of their plane, and will simply return once the dust settlesn and some new thing has managed to secure their place.
Maybe, if you look closely, the new Zurlplargh has slightly fewer maws, and speaks with a slight hint of the voice of the poor PC who decided this was a good idea.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Having someone who has access to demonlord level abilities just sounds awesome and all those minions at your beck and call, love that part the most. Not to mention the intimdating ability to destroy a troublemaker with just a mere thought. Priceless. That's my idea anyways
Yeah, there's never going to be "Abyssal lord" as a background option.
That being said, if you kill a Demon Prince and seize their power and their layer of the Abyss for yourself, you'll become a Demon Prince but you won't become a carbon copy of the old one. The Abyss is the plane of evil and chaos, which means that it's changeable. A Demon Prince alters their layer to suit their desires, so the layer will reshape itself upon you gaining control of it: if someone killed Koschei the Demon Prince of Wrath, they could possibly become the Demon Prince of Fire and transform his layer from a frozen wasteland to a burning lava field.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Honestly I’d be more interested in a “fallen demon” background where you play AS the demon who lost his or her power and is trying to reclaim it. I’m sure there are balance issues, but I’m just throwing it out there: strength, intelligence and/or charisma, two ability score increases of your choice, the abyssal and infernal language, sanctuary among the devout, a feat normally reserved for tieflings, a set of fine clothes and 25 gold?
As a fellow player of the game, I always wanted to try playing a character that are usually enemies of players in the game, particularly boss type enemies. Being able to count yourself as one of those very highly regarded legendary characters and creatures of the game, that's what it's all about. Take the ogre named Shrek for example. Does he let the fact that he is an ogre, a very dangerous monster that most people with common sense would avoid, get him down? No, he made his way from being a monster people avoid to becoming a legendary hero of the land of far, far away. That's my idea anyways.
Edit: Seriously, this is what a game where you were allowed to do that would look like- the players arrive at the game, everyone sits down, and the GM announces that Bob's character, Baphomet, has killed all the enemies in the entire adventure without being harmed once. Congratulations, you've won, good game. The GM then packs their stuff back up and goes home.
If you really want to play a demon character, there are better RPG systems out there for it. Demon: The Fallen, for example. In D&D, if you want to play a character of a type that's typically adversarial, play an orc or a bugbear.
Having someone who has access to demonlord level abilities just sounds awesome and all those minions at your beck and call, love that part the most. Not to mention the intimdating ability to destroy a troublemaker with just a mere thought. Priceless. That's my idea anyways
Well, it's a heck of potent power trip fantasy for sure, assuming that one finds a GM who can run a session around this idea. Most everyone your character deals with will either be a minion or will be easy prey for your character and minions. You could stomp through the world as you wish, until a powerful adventuring party or army of NPCs, or maybe god or two or three decide that you're causing too much trouble to allow you to continue.
During all of this mayhem, what are the other PCs in your party going to do, or are there any other players at this table? Do the other PCs stomp and slay as additional minions under your command? Are the other PCs equally as powerful as you? If so, why are beings as powerful as you assisting you, as you can "destroy a troublemaker with just a mere thought"? Rhetorical questions all; no need to answer them.
As gaming goes, it just seems to me like not much fun for the GM, or for any other players at the table. To each their own, I suppose.
I don't usually play with a full party. I am the kind of guy who works best alone, maybe with a second player twice my experience level in terms of capabilities as a failsafe against hostile enemies and player killers and focusing on skills that help keep me going. Like crafting armor, giving myself regenerating hit points, and being able to hit like truck to anyone who has the audacity to try something stupid. Someone who has the skills to get things done without worrying about people killing me every time I go about making my rounds. This is basically my previous experience as a runscape player under the name robinadam1.
Yeah, that's something you can do in a video game. D&D tends to put significantly more limits on what your character can do because you're part of a group.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Back then, I was just another gaming enthusiast who collected pokemon cards, played yugioh cards at school, and played runscape in between this. I met with my runscape buddy years before I learned he was friend with a former friend of mine a few years ago. Shows how small the world can be. He was also the reason I was probably one of those very highly frowned upon twink character types who has access to the best gear and money in abundance. I don't mind admitting that most of my success was attributed to that. Level 48 fighter ranger and mage, at your service, direct from runscape!
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Put your best ideas that are relevant to the idea and see if we can't get dnd beyond to add this to our background options! Boom!
HMmmm, a character who killed a demon lord of the abyss and became it's new boss . . . would become the new demon lord (of that part) of the abyss, and become an NPC. Clean and simple.
Yeah, hard to make a character like that a party member without ruining balance, morality, and power dynamics
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To my mind, if you kill Zurlplargh of the Uncountable Maws - you can then claim it's throne. If you do, you become Zurlplargh of the Uncountable Maws. Also to my mind, you cannot kill planar overlords. They are, essentially, a function of their plane, and will simply return once the dust settlesn and some new thing has managed to secure their place.
Maybe, if you look closely, the new Zurlplargh has slightly fewer maws, and speaks with a slight hint of the voice of the poor PC who decided this was a good idea.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Having someone who has access to demonlord level abilities just sounds awesome and all those minions at your beck and call, love that part the most. Not to mention the intimdating ability to destroy a troublemaker with just a mere thought. Priceless. That's my idea anyways
Yeah, there's never going to be "Abyssal lord" as a background option.
That being said, if you kill a Demon Prince and seize their power and their layer of the Abyss for yourself, you'll become a Demon Prince but you won't become a carbon copy of the old one. The Abyss is the plane of evil and chaos, which means that it's changeable. A Demon Prince alters their layer to suit their desires, so the layer will reshape itself upon you gaining control of it: if someone killed Koschei the Demon Prince of Wrath, they could possibly become the Demon Prince of Fire and transform his layer from a frozen wasteland to a burning lava field.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Honestly I’d be more interested in a “fallen demon” background where you play AS the demon who lost his or her power and is trying to reclaim it. I’m sure there are balance issues, but I’m just throwing it out there: strength, intelligence and/or charisma, two ability score increases of your choice, the abyssal and infernal language, sanctuary among the devout, a feat normally reserved for tieflings, a set of fine clothes and 25 gold?
Why would a ruler of the abyss bother with adventuring?
As a fellow player of the game, I always wanted to try playing a character that are usually enemies of players in the game, particularly boss type enemies. Being able to count yourself as one of those very highly regarded legendary characters and creatures of the game, that's what it's all about. Take the ogre named Shrek for example. Does he let the fact that he is an ogre, a very dangerous monster that most people with common sense would avoid, get him down? No, he made his way from being a monster people avoid to becoming a legendary hero of the land of far, far away. That's my idea anyways.
Yeah, that's not going to happen.
Edit: Seriously, this is what a game where you were allowed to do that would look like- the players arrive at the game, everyone sits down, and the GM announces that Bob's character, Baphomet, has killed all the enemies in the entire adventure without being harmed once. Congratulations, you've won, good game. The GM then packs their stuff back up and goes home.
If you really want to play a demon character, there are better RPG systems out there for it. Demon: The Fallen, for example. In D&D, if you want to play a character of a type that's typically adversarial, play an orc or a bugbear.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Well, it's a heck of potent power trip fantasy for sure, assuming that one finds a GM who can run a session around this idea. Most everyone your character deals with will either be a minion or will be easy prey for your character and minions. You could stomp through the world as you wish, until a powerful adventuring party or army of NPCs, or maybe god or two or three decide that you're causing too much trouble to allow you to continue.
During all of this mayhem, what are the other PCs in your party going to do, or are there any other players at this table? Do the other PCs stomp and slay as additional minions under your command? Are the other PCs equally as powerful as you? If so, why are beings as powerful as you assisting you, as you can "destroy a troublemaker with just a mere thought"? Rhetorical questions all; no need to answer them.
As gaming goes, it just seems to me like not much fun for the GM, or for any other players at the table. To each their own, I suppose.
I don't usually play with a full party. I am the kind of guy who works best alone, maybe with a second player twice my experience level in terms of capabilities as a failsafe against hostile enemies and player killers and focusing on skills that help keep me going. Like crafting armor, giving myself regenerating hit points, and being able to hit like truck to anyone who has the audacity to try something stupid. Someone who has the skills to get things done without worrying about people killing me every time I go about making my rounds. This is basically my previous experience as a runscape player under the name robinadam1.
Yeah, that's something you can do in a video game. D&D tends to put significantly more limits on what your character can do because you're part of a group.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Back then, I was just another gaming enthusiast who collected pokemon cards, played yugioh cards at school, and played runscape in between this. I met with my runscape buddy years before I learned he was friend with a former friend of mine a few years ago. Shows how small the world can be. He was also the reason I was probably one of those very highly frowned upon twink character types who has access to the best gear and money in abundance. I don't mind admitting that most of my success was attributed to that. Level 48 fighter ranger and mage, at your service, direct from runscape!