Dungeons and Dragons Lore: The Soul Trade

Just how does the trading of souls work in the lower planes, and what are they used for?
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[@theknave1915]

"it's okay, he had a bit of an accident. But his soul is one of a kind, I'll give you good price"

[@Mysticallineage]

“Jimmy, what he struggles to remember of his former self, is fucked” absolutely amazing line

[@thomasjames7568]

If a solid gold fiddle is worth $2,000,000 and a gold coin is worth $2,000 then that means the events described in The Devil Went Down To Georgia would be an encounter where a Bard bets his own soul for 1000gp and bragging rights.

[@seanwarren9357]

Had a campaign decades ago where there was a soul beholder. It occupied an island on a trade lane in my characters seas. Had a water mage that towed some giant clams on in my fleet. Ended up trading a huge black pearls to an elven queen for a suit of crystal platemalil and a sword set that were enchanted to work as a soul battery and discharge. Character was named Aldor Maxis and was epic level + by that time. I helped a group of adventures battle it. It had absorbed around 10k souls at that point, when I drained it. I was neutral so I sat on the battery for years intending to trade them away to an evil and good God, but ended up starting a race instead by reverse engineering the armor and settling them all free in crystaline bodies, and ultimately, became a god in the process. :P Good times. 👍👍

[@00784865]

Oh thank you. I wanted to get into the soul economy for a long time with a pirate character of mine that wants to make a interplanar trade empire.

[@StevenLockey]

You forget to mention that this only applies to evil creatures that aren't dedicated to a god.

[@strangent404a7]

All hail +£#;÷;& I guess

[@draxthemsklonst]

Atheists go straight to Ahriman/Asmodeus. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJTMYmmnfZyZp7s

[@cobblegen1204]

No, those are people who hate the gods, not those who simply don’t believe in them.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Damn kiwi! You know Jimmy the knife too,its a small world!

[@AJPickett]

Son of a bitch owes me $50

[@michaelkelligan7931]

@@AJPickett robbed me of 18 gp 31 ep 43 cp and a semiprecious stone worth 26 sp 😠😠

[@lythnookwemin]

I played an incubus(3.5) that took part in this during a down time. My DM had no clue what any of this was. This was a nice video, even if I did take 4 years to find it.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Ah, a favorite subject of mine. A conjuror of sufficient power can leapfrog and wax in power by soul trading. If... you take the necessary precautions of course. A little double-dealing and don't mind double-crossing.

[@KillerandUndertaker]

I think this is the first time I've ever heard you use the word "fucked" it really gave a strong impact to the foul end Jimmy met. Great video as always AJ! Thank you for the work you put into your channel, it's one of my favorites.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, I can see this video is getting a strong reaction from a lot of people! Very interesting.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

The soul trade! Excellent name for an inn or perhaps a "head" shop,lolx2 g8 vid kiwi!

[@JanusHoW]

I don't know if this is mentioned, but the soul trade places an extremely high value on particularly noble souls. In a major example... (POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR _DESCENT INTO AVERNUS_ INCOMING) The soul of a 10th level+, good-aligned cleric or paladin (or perhaps another divinely-oriented character, such as an aasimar or Divine Soul sorcerer - DM's discretion of course) that is _genuinely willing_ to sacrifice _everything_ for the city of Elturel is easily worth more than the souls of an entire city of regular people. If such a character offers to exchange their soul for those of the people of Elturel, Zariel will agree to it without further question. After all, an archdevil will never make a deal that they don't get the better part of...

[@coreyshorter8526]

coffee house of the damned ....so Starbucks has opened up shop in the afterlife.

[@AJPickett]

And they still put too much sugar in it.

[@johngleeman8347]

What a great place to start an adventure!

[@alanschaub147]

[@coreyshorter8526]

@@AJPickett and still misspell your name

[@warpdkirby]

Wait, who did the hags create to stop an army of paladins? That sounds monstrously dangerous.

[@AJPickett]

They created Anthraxus the Decayed.

[@AkhshamiKsyAksKhaos]

That witch model...hmmm...Legend (1985)...

[@andrewmcgrew9843]

How does the soul trade interact with spells like resurrection? If a night hag sells the soul of a creature to a demon and that creature is suddenly ressurected, is the demon just SOL or does it have some control over whether the soul returns to the body?

[@AJPickett]

That is a story based question, so it is subjective.. if it is a player character, the demon is shit out of luck, if it is an NPC the players are trying to rescue and they have to go and deal with the demon in order to free the soul, then there is some possible control by the demon. Depends how the DM wants to play it.

[@anadice9489]

I wonder if the night hags have an insurance policy for that. The odds of a soul getting resurrected is probably low enough to justify a (mostly) honest partial refund policy, but the possibility of it could be or seem high enough to get the fiends to buy into insurance. Now I'm trying to imagine how a lower planar insurance company might operate. Could picture night hags actively encouraging priests on the prime material to run a resurrection service for profit (ideally among other spells and services that pull in profit but don't interfere with the night hag's primary business), then the night hag takes her cut of that, both recuperating the loss from actually having to pay refunds and fueling the perception of a need for insurance. Insurance, of course, would be higher for the more valuable souls (which may or may not actually be all that valuable, and may or may not just be planned resurrects, vanishing before the fiend could find out that this was just a completely average soul).

[@adamholcomb1906]

This fits well with season 9 in D&D with the soul coins that are souls that are minted into coins in the nine hells....this will also be a thing for my AL character as he also will learn of the soul trade and as a Necromancer be very interested in😈🕷🕸💀🤷🏼‍♂️👍🏼👍🏼💯

[@DkKombo]

This is where I would play both sides, going there for a trade or two with most of the hags, becoming the most infernally trusted of the evils, while leading a great order of gods there and making it out like a bandit. Salvation is a bitch huh?

[@gabef9538]

Id like to see a farming game baced on the soul trade.

[@strangent404a7]

*wanna give me your soul for this nice pumpkin?*

[@kd9749]

‘And so he’s very dead’, now that’s how you open a video

[@stanxley]

I'm a bit worried over how many times I've listened back to this video.

[@seamusfish7009]

Here wuz Seamus! Seamus is on the job hunt.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Good luck man!

[@AJPickett]

Happy hunting!

[@smile-tl9in]

it give me an idea of a good campaing hook misterious deaths in the jail the adventurers will discover that the warden made a deal with night hags to discetly give them criminals to inflict nightmares upon against a share of what the trade will bring. He also can choose said criminals based on which ones the local crime lords want to see disappear

[@krispalermo8133]

20 some years ago my game house was playing Planes Scape. Tired playing around with Magic Jar for soul trade, even worked with combining spells from all of the hand books to make so form of low level Soul Stones. Other than being a 15th-level wizard casting the 8th-level spell: Imprisonment With AD&D2e rules we went with 13th-level wizard. 1.) Bestow Curse: to weaken pollymorph save. 2.) Polymorph Other:Turn the victim into a turtle the size of a mouse, then make them hide in their shell. 3.) Flesh to Stone: end up having a small 1/2 lb rock the you can use as a sling stone. 4.) Ensnarement : To call/ summon a night hag or baator devil and trade them the "stone turtle," to take back to Hell with them. As for set one through three, it is best to do so under the spell Improve Invisibility . Other player / characters tend not to trust "collectors." If there are enough players that have to be split between two DMs to run the same encounter. Well, you get away with small things for awhile. And if you are playing a Deus Ex Machina that is use to keep players alive for the game.& to push the plot forward , then yeah, you can collect the villians after their defeat . With D&D3e rules, well we / I , really figure out how to bend the rules for magic item creation.

[@mrl9418]

Oh this will whip up a Baatoric Panic!

[@freakyskull516]

**furiously scribbles notes**

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

I can't believe the Soul Trade isn't done via Soul Train

[@AJPickett]

The ground is too slippery

[@dragonlord498]

that will be 10 soul maggots for your hades burger

[@JohnA...]

just don't ask whats in the burger

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

It amazes me how little information is out there regarding this. It's still unclear what EXACTLY are the options for soultrading with regards of, what is the worth, what can you buy with it, or what kind of service, what other uses do they have, or if your character seeks godhood (yup), how much would you need, or can you start linking certain peoples souls to you for that etc. Questions, questions ;) Seems to me people are hesitant to discuss it out of superstition or something. This clip covered a lot already :)

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

You said that there is three places that Jimmy's soul could have ended up I would like to offer a 4th option If Jimmy worshipped a god that approved of his methods and way of living then Jimmy would end up in that gods realm all gods need followers and one of the best ways to do that would be to offer a get out of hell "free" card

[@AJPickett]

Very true.

[@rockyable8916]

Creating a Hades portion for an ongoing Planescape-esque campaign and this helped me flesh out soooo much. Thank you AJ!

[@dragonturtle7645]

1.) So all souls that enter the lower planes (presumably from Pandemonium to Acheron). What about the other planes? 2.) Do all arrivals at the lower planes become maggots or is it just for those who acknowledge the gods but do not devote themselves to one in particular (or at least were not claimed by one)? Basically, if you worship an evil god/goddess such as Bane, Lolth, or Tiamat, is this also your fate? 3.) Are souls outside the Grey Waists valued (such as devils wanting anything from the Grey Waists to Pandemonium because the lawful nature of the plane and their new form would balance them out) or are they just abandoned, sacrificed, or used as a last resort? 4.) Is it possible for someone to hang on to their former selves through some sort of spell/enchantment/item or a deal with an infernal or lawful power? 5.) Do maggots need to eat/drink/sleep/breath? 6.) Are they immune to the environment of the plane they spawn or (at least as much as the natives)? 7.) Is that trait of grouping maggots a trait specific to the grey waist? 8.) Would being used as physical components destroy the maggots permanently, or just cause them to re-spawn somewhere else on the plane? 9.) Do undead care about how strong a maggot is? 10.) Can you shift a maggots alignment by just leaving them in a plane for a long time (or powerful magic)? 11.) Is it that Demons and Devils have no use for Maggots on their home plane, or just no use for most of them, but may still find something of use? 12.) Would a Demon/Devil rather take an old, worn out, larva from the grey waist, or a fresh one from the more chaotic/lawful sides respectively? 13.) Are the larva made from those mortals who have stayed in the grey waists to long considered fresh? 14.) If someone is found to have disrupted trade, can they make up the difference, as a sort of fine, to avoid punishment? 15.) How dose this work for those who have sold their soul, or have it stolen?

[@AJPickett]

*DEEP BREATH* 1.) I am working on a video about Petitioners and Celestials right now, so, that will answer this question. 2.) Quite often, a god will directly promote the soul into a fiendish form, as they already serve that power willingly. 3.) Souls, at the very least, are infernal energy sources, so all of them have some value, also, the larvae have useful qualities as an organic resource. 4.) See Number 2. 5.) They don't need to, but they do tend to bite each other a lot, so, they may feel constant hunger or are just really nasty. 6.) Yes, they are now considered "Petitioners" which basically means an outer plane immigrant. 7.) Yes, but it is more often the case than not on the lower planes, the Larvae are more likely to appear on certain layers. 8.) They respawn, a little (or lot) weaker than before, having less recollection of who they were. 9.) Unsure, it should not matter for the Lichs purpose. 10.) I suppose so. 11.) Yes. 12.) They would get and use both of them, one does not turn down free souls. 13.) Yes. 14.) No, they are immediately executed, there is no real legal process, the Yugoloths are judge, jury, and executioner. 15.) See Number 2. Stealing a soul is different, the souls destined for other planes are well protected, which is why Hags have to hurry when they drag an evil soul back to Hades.

[@smile-tl9in]

@@AJPickett i have other questions : Can you trap the soul of evil individual and give them to someone on the higher planes for safekeeping ? Basically is there jails in heaven ? Because otherwise the only way to get rid of a villain for good is to destroy the soul...An evil act. And are you rewarded for doing so ?

[@EdricLysharae]

​@@smile-tl9in, we did that in a campaign: We'd managed to capture one of the arch villains in our campaign (a very evil human who had learned how to directly manipulate the souls of mortals)... by successfully polymorphing him into a clam. My paladin walked up to a Throne Archon holding up a clam and said, "This is the most evil being we have ever encountered. Since his soul will escape if he does die, we humbly request, and thoroughly entrust, his welfare to your safekeeping." The Throne Archon initially quirked an eyebrow, realized I was a paladin who would not deliberately say an untruth, gazed upon the clam with detect alignment, and then raised both eyebrows. I think that evil clam still being held by the Wardens in Jovar, the sixth heaven in Celestia.

[@nullvoid4063]

Phenomenal work as always AJ! I would also like to request a video on fleshwarping and fleshcrafting. It's a topic that encompasses everything from Aboleths and Illithids to Demons and Drow. I found it a fun topic to research, and besides, what player character wouldn't want to have corrosive spit or acid dripping tentacles attached to their face? (a *boring* player character, that's who!)

[@thedarkmaster4747]

I second this, it's a good topic. XD

[@Menzobarrenza]

This would be amazing.

[@AJPickett]

Roger that!

[@kevinchristiansen4348]

I love the soul trade in dnd reminds me of how you become a stronger man in real life.. you get rid of all that junk in your heart my favorite of the 9 hells is minarous

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

that's not how you become a stronger man Kevin. Its actually the opposite.

[@AJPickett]

@@nicholasschoonbeck6866 So your counter argument is essentially "Nuh uh!"? :)

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

@@AJPickett oh I need to actually explain to grown men why cutting out emotions is a bad idea? There's a very common myth held me men these days that the Alpha male is the top dog in any given situation, based on the idea that the Alpha wolf in a wolf pack is the tough as nails leader but that's not how wolves actually operate. There is an Alpha male but there is also his mate, the Alpha female & together they guide the pack, who choose to follow if the guidance is good, but the pack would drive out any wolf that was overly aggressive & 'tough guy'd' his way through life. It makes me sad that you don't at least know better AJ, but I suppose given out last conversation, you learn more towards 'men's rights' than you do opposition of toxic masculinity. But good men, embrace their feelings & soft side & I would think that an educated man like yourself would be aware of how much history there is from great thinkers who said that often. Sadly, here in America especially, men have been conditioned to try to avoid all sensitivity & feeling & its created a dichotomy that has fostered male violence, the most terrible form being the incel community. Now, aren't you glad you challenged me with your snitty comment?

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

@@AJPickett I mean, the whole video is about what happens to bad people & this guy is like Yeah! That's how you become a real man! And you're like, Yeah dude! Let's be awful human beings so we can be strong men. lol

[@stevenwatkins5430]

Coming from an old school dm that has played from first edition I must say I really enjoy your videos.... would have been great to have you as a resource ALL those years ago well its cool to at least have you around now.... So thanks for all you do. By the way do you run a game online now? Would like to get in if possible or at least get together and hash over ideas Thanks again dude

[@AJPickett]

I'm not currently doing anything outside of my local gaming group, but I would like to at some point.

[@ben5056]

If you are going to be evil make sure to become immortal cause the afterlife sucks

[@AngelusAnsell]

You cannot ever convince me that this entire video was not made as an excuse to use that "scum and villainy" line.

[@lokenlok3114]

Evil coffee shop, I love it!. I wonder where true neutral souls go, if I had to guess reincarnation like steel dragons.

[@jacobweatherford4696]

That's what I'm thinking.

[@AJPickett]

True Neutral souls go to the Outlands, aka Plane of Concordant Opposition, home plane of the Rilmani, the border towns and the Spire (with the city of Sigil high above).

[@krispalermo8133]

My friends years ago did the " evil coffee shop," in the Nine Hells. Other people watching the game/ story being told asked, " How can a Chaotic Netural LIVING Bard be having coffee in a Lawfull Evil Hell ?" ( Simple, a job is a job, yeah my character stands out in Hell, but my character stands out even less in the Higher Realms of the Heavens than a devil does. Also for chaotic " My Word is My Honor" but I will do the job by My ethics and not Yours.) I only did things that were questioning moral , not evil, just something to pass the time away. In one game I played a devil, in the deal you made with me. You Have to Chose Hell. Burning witches alive is what good Christians do, even now we know burning anyone alive if Fucking evil. But at the time they though they were doing GOD's work so that made them Good People. "Here is your choice, work to reform your church to stop burning people alive and risk being hung or burn yourself. And Pray Your GOD forgives You ! Or join me and you can Feel The POWER of Hell Strengthen YOU ! What is Your Choice ?"

[@Dick_Mustang]

You had NO business leaving Meg Mucklebones on screen for that long. All the nightmares from my youth came rushing back! 😆😆

[@philipboardman1357]

So, my Bard just sold his soul in exchange for a cool magic item.

[@jonathanwells223]

Philip Boardman that’s the exact situation that inspired the doom game series

[@RylanBones1]

What would you purchase a soul with? Gold? What use has a night hag for gold? Armor? Useless for a spellcaster, same with most weapons. What would the price of a soul be?

[@ArvelDreth]

Other souls, probably. More powerful souls can be manipulated and turned into more powerful minions, it seems.

[@AJPickett]

Gold is the most widely accepted currency for the Hags, but they are very shrewd and can also trade in secrets, barter for goods, rare components, terms of service (be very careful with that one, as hags have a habit of killing "ex-employees" to protect their trade secrets), Hags don't just trade for what they want or need, they trade for what OTHERS find valuable, to increase their own influence.

[@krispalermo8133]

When D&D3e came out close to 20 years ago, they change a lot of the systems. 1.) Magic items were easier to make, but they cost some of the spellcasters current Xp level total. 2.) Mid level wizards could call/ summon Out Siders at lower levels, meaning you could call a Fire Jinn and trade magic treasure for Wishes. 3.) Every magic item has a small amount of "Life Force" within it. Some Fiends can drain that energy to increase their own HD. Like back in AD&D that a dragon can only gain a new age level after it has gain enough gold and magic treasure. My game shop had some ideals about soul trade items back with AD&D but the system did not work well. D&D3e works better. Best system out there is World of Darkness: Mage the Awakening. A "Wish" can bring your XP up just below achiving your next class level. What kind of magic items does a Wish grant the caster ? That is your cost.

[@charlebrownga]

We need a grubs guide to the afterlife so we can maximize our potential so we can become high up in the demonic order and not fodder for night hags.

[@AJPickett]

Step one, Bite Everything.

[@devinward461]

I would buy that book, I feel like they could really play up the dark comedy angle on that one

[@aviongris4233]

Thank you AJ. This was very insightful. :)

[@Doomseer]

Your videos help me take my mind off politics and for that I can't thank you enough. Keep up the good work and I hope you do another magical items video, maybe one which features magical items only able to be used by hags.

[@SkullCowboy333]

So the good of the infernal is the evil of the celestial, is the reverse also true? How many souls would be worth each of the gems that bind the Evil Elemental Eye?

[@AJPickett]

Impossible to say, depend on the seller, the buyer, each of their level of understanding about the nature of the gems and their motives for selling or buying.

[@samsamsamsamsamanilla5281]

@AJ Pickett, another great video! I'm pretty old school AD&D, wasn't the cosmology set up like souls travelled the ASTRAL PLANE to get to their after life, the ETHEREAL PLANE connected to the elemental planes? Please correct me if I'm incorrect in my thinking, thank you and keep up the good work👍

[@AJPickett]

You are correct, but, the fugue connects ethereal and astral planes.

[@samsamsamsamsamanilla5281]

@@AJPickett Gotcha, thank you👍

[@DCdabest]

I think that's the only time I've heard you swear in any video haha Enlightening and entertaining as always AJ! Even at Gross Factor 5.

[@MindFeather]

totally brilliant, and so useful on so many levels for my campaign. i'm gonna have to work out a video response cuz i've got me a dark sack of questions and it's bulging in horrible ways. but -- i've got 2 or 3 more videos to listen to first, and probably a few others i need to review. thanks for all you do, boss.

[@DeedeeDirt]

So how do toy feel about the things that'll be introduced in decent into avernus? Soul coins and infernal war machines? Internal chickens?

[@AJPickett]

Well, infernal war machines seem a no-brainer, as the energy of the souls being harvested could power them, the coins would be a lot easier to carry around than the medium sized Larvae and Infernal chickens.. well, Baator was a planet, with life forms native to it, long ago.

[@catominor7306]

Nice to see this as soon as I got home from a long day at work. Love your work m8

[@GiblixStudio]

very helpful info. There is a chance my group might end up in Hades today. Dealing with Night Hag, Bearded Devils, Hordlings etc. Used stuff from AD&D to create interesting enemies and make it all feel more threatening and bloody. As part of a deal to get the PC's out alive... One of them could "unlock" some hag abilities through her own backstory. Where she was the spawn of a green hag, the one the group captured and killed, but the PC never turned into a hag due to interventions she's not aware of yet.

[@AJPickett]

Let me know how it goes.

[@GiblixStudio]

@@AJPickett Just finished and got home. It started back in town. The party druid flew back as giant eagle with a cleric NPC and cuffed/gagged Green Hag on her back. They went to prepare the upcoming ritual that involved more of the local clergy. To transfer the baby in the hag womb back to the female human and vice versa. The rest of the party was coming back from the ruins in the foggy mangrove through the woods. While using a newly found Gloom Chest of Holding that is connected to the Shadowfell instead of Astral Sea...and they used the cold energy to create friggin slushies. Well they needed to relax a bit I suppose. So the ritual was already a few hours in progress when the rest of the group made it back into town. Everyone went to the location, except for the firbolg ranger which went to the stables to check up on his Kruthik youngling that he's taming. Then 2 Bearded Devils and 7-8 Hordlings made it into town. Split up into two groups. One went to the center, where the stables were to wreak havoc. The other group went towards the ritual and do their best to disturb it. During the fight around the ritual 5 of the 6 clergy were killed...which gradually weakened the ritual until it eventually failed. One of the hordlings carried the green hag and tried to get away, but got killed out on the street. With the hag being dragged back indoors. Female was crying in agony now with while grabbing her womb. The party then decided to remove the hag and try to make a deal with the hag to reverse what was happening. Saving the baby and woman. Some good intimidate and social rolls resulted the hag to reveal a bit more of what she meant with "a life for a life... I'll take a third from on of the party members". The party cleric almost made the deal resulting in some inner party drama. Until he casted hold person on the party rogue...and rolled to smash the hag's face to a pulp. He then proceeded to assist the remaining clergy member to do a c-section on the woman to get the hag baby out of her and save the woman's live. A nice skill challenge from 4e was applied which he succeeded well. The hag baby was wild and scratch him a few times, but then the cleric used Inflict Wombs to kill the hag foetus he was holding. But the woman survived. Next day the group split up in two. One half stayed in town helping to fix things, help the injured etc. The other half decided to go back to the ruined abbey in the foggy mangrove. Hiring some people in town and also got the high level local druid to come with them. The druid could use Tree Stride to get them back to the location within 30minutes instead of 6 hours. When going back to the hag's chamber the large, floor to ceiling, mirror with odd symbols now had a whirling effect going on. Behind it they could see into a dank gloomy room. The mirror had a Gate spell on it to Hades. At first they wanted to destroy it, but required some powerful magical item to do so...and the only one who had that was the cleric back in town. The high level druid basically went back, rested up and took the rest of the group back to the ruined abbey. In this chamber with the portal were now 2 lvl 1 rangers, 2 lvl 1 priests, a lvl 8 druid and 4 lvl 4 PC's. The Tabaxi Rogue of the group was elsewhere in the ruins trying to gather loot they had left behind in their previous visit. As usual they threw a rock through the portal. Then something living. Nothing seemed to happen in the 10seconds those things were on the other plane. Then the ranger put a rope around his waste and walks through. I mentioned the transition as if an oppressive feeling of pain, sorrow, depressing started to way on his mind. He looks around the room, sees a window to the side and a door in the back. From behind the door he hears something talking and decides to leave immediately. After some deliberation the party cleric uses the gate to go through. He looks out the window and sees Larvae, Lemurs, Bearded Devils, Yugoloths and more in narrow streets and tall buildings that provide a real claustrophobic and depressing atmosphere. Then he hears the same two voices behind the door. Something female and something deep and growling. Since he understands Infernal and has a high perception roll... it was easy enough to pick up several sentences. "The larvae supply has to be met. The master won't be happy if we can't supply the army". You should've seen the faces when the player of this Trickster Cleric decided to cast Disguise Self to look like a Hades Hordling himself, then use Pass Without Trace to roll a 28 in total. He then carefully opens the door and walks into the next room. There are 4 other hordlings watching the discussion between a Night Hag and Bone Devil. And he just blends right in and listens to the conversation to pick up some information. Had to improvise here and dropped some lines for one of the 4-5 story lines I got going on. Information about the Blood War where the Devils war against the Demons. And now there is a third faction that has to be dealt with. The Night Hag having plans setup within the Valley of the Material Plane to harvest Larvae/Souls from. Meaning the supply has not been stopped, but merely delayed. How a young innocent boy in the capital was manipulated to turn into a necromancer, which the group had dealt with several sessions before and at the time seemed to be nothing more then your typical "Kill the undead side quest". The group learned that there are ruins in the valley that let these devils open more portals. The Bone Devil also mentioned a possible Abishai ally as a hint of what might be going on as well. Eventually the disguised cleric snuck back towards the door. He then stupidly enough, asked where those portals might be. His rolls of deception were bad and both the Hag and Devil saw through it immediately. The cleric ran towards the mirror gate, but the Devil was faster and was right on his heels. Cleric used Mirror Image and with the multi-attack the Bone Devil breezes through without effort. Everyone in the ruins sees the cleric run towards them followed by this massive horrifying creature. As soon as the cleric jumps through the portal... the Lvl8 druid NPC casts Wind Wall and the lvl 4 PC druid casts Moon Beam. The Bone Devil tries to push through, but isn't strong enough. He shouts and demands the PC's to tell their names. You know for future scrying purposes, but none of the PC's were dumb enough of course. The trickster cleric then used his mace Shatterspike to try and break the sides of the mirror. Apparently the magical protection proved to be quite sturdy since it took almost a minute to break the mirror, at which point the Wind Wall would fade and a full blown fight would've happened. Upon breaking the mirror an arcane burst of energy occurred. Pushing everyone 15ft back and prone. While also turning Shatterspike to dust in the process. Players said they experienced it as really intense. And that the story of the campaign is really ramping up. From just some local town issues they now got themselves involved in something much larger. Can't wait till their next foray into Hades proper.

[@GiblixStudio]

btw I'm spending quite a bit of time looking at all the vids. even those from years ago. Some really nice stuff. Also the descriptions of possible implementations are interesting. Watched the Roper vid from years ago as well as the Xorn. Which both are creatures that exist in the next large dungeon delve that is coming up. Using modified existing adventure modules to flesh out the core adventure I want to run for this group of newcomers. Red Hand of Doom. And after that flesh out stuff from lvl 10 to 20 with Rise of Tiamat being the center piece with lots of stuff added around it. Depending on the outcome of the Tiamat fight... the world is either doing well. Or the next campaign is a 100 year fast forward into a more apocalyptic setting :P

[@iamzid]

Good and evil are a bit subjective, I'm sure that the hags view what they do as being the correct course of action.

[@venkelos6996]

This video sort of isn't what I hoped for, but it was still very interesting, and a topic I really wanted to know more about. What I was hoping for, I guess, was the Infernal Soul Trade, where Devils of ranging power makes deals with mortals of ranging need, that eventually nets the contractor that soul. How much is that soul worth? Why would Devils make deals for less than all of that soul? What uses do they put these souls to, and how many are necessary to be impressive, when they sometimes seem to do a lot of work for one? In a different game, Soul Brokers could collect them, and use them as currency to buy their own new powers, and promotions, but do these Devils? Do they give Asmodeus heaps of souls in return for elevation to the next level of Devilish advancement?

[@sagejoker666]

Fascinating video

[@CNNBlackmailSupport]

"...and that's how marriage was invented"

[@chriscalvin5083]

good video AJ

[@cavareenvius7886]

I have a question. I play a Lizardfolk and after a long time not playing i could rejoin the last session. DM put me in a Coffin inside a Mage Tower the rest of my party invaded. After I was freed and we fight some gargoyles and a wizard apprentice I did what a Lizardfolk does. I ate the corpse of the wizard and took the head as trophy. DM says that my alignment changes from neutral to evil. The eating wasn't the thing that turned me evil but the trophy. He argued that the NPC would see me as evil because of the human heads (its two now.... And a pig skull from dinner) is he in right? It's not like I walked in and started to murder-hobo them. They kidnapped me first.

[@AJPickett]

The DM is correct, it is very unusual behavior for Lizard Folk who are almost entirely practical in their outlook.. if the skulls do not serve some practical purpose, they would not bother carrying them around. If I could sum up Lizard Folk it would be "They do what they have to do, no more, no less, no apologies".

[@cavareenvius7886]

@@AJPickett thanks for the quick reply. The trophies have a practical purpose. They will be used to make some bombs or other weapons. Well at least I'm not as screwed like our Dragonborn Bard, who joined me in the feast and ate the vocal cords of the wizard. He turned from lawful good to chaotic evil. That was his price for the vocal powers.

[@karlbrooks5693]

Yellow worm stout... AKA Budweiser.

[@joshuamourning6650]

Harvesting souls one beer at a time

[@stonedsimian2871]

Glad I found this channel

[@MistahBryan]

@13:11, so if I so much as SNEEZE and ANYONE in the middle of a Trade looks my way... I get executed? Wow!

[@demonofparadise]

*sighs* - executed

[@dragonballtalk8527]

I enjoy all your videos good audio quality on my device today

[@charlebrownga]

I wonder where I'd end up? I can vary from neutral to lawful evil on any given day.

[@EdricLysharae]

Acheron?

[@carlborneke8641]

So if Neutral Evil souls are them most valuable because of a lack of Law and Chaos then it makes me wonder what value a Neutral Good soul would have in comparison to a Chaotic Evil or a Lawful Evil soul.

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

hey AJ if a mortal dies on an outer plane are they doomed to an afterlife on that plane EG if a mortal dies in the abyss do they become a demon?

[@darthchocolate7911]

@ Scortch 2000-This is an excellent question. I've always wondered what would happen to the soul of a paladin who perished in battle facing the demons of the abyss?

[@AmigoRoberto]

I concur. I didnt know I needed an answer to this question until now

[@zacharyhawley1693]

It depends. If he was resolute of faith. He's gonna be just fine. His god or powerful servant will come for him. A paladin about to fall or has fallen to temptation. Or whose faith has crumbled in such a place of great evil though... he's screwed.

[@cameronscott9399]

@@zacharyhawley1693 so basically, if they're worth saving they'll be saved by something of the plane he's meant to go to and if not he's stuck

[@zacharyhawley1693]

@@cameronscott9399 Essentially. Might even be the PC's if the paladin isn't in immediate danger. Its not the first time a stranger just hires an adventuring party without disclosing their celestial ties and or nature. Adventuers tend to not attract alot of attention. That a god or celestial being can. "Hey, expenses paid just bring back this person."

[@volstadgermaine2510]

Dark business today Mr. A.J., dark business. Still very interesting though. Hags are such cool, and seemingly endlessly versatile villains.

[@defiantnight2668]

So when do souls become petitioners to evil gods, and when do souls become larvae? Mainly the first question since you made it sound like ALL evil souls turn into larvae.

[@AJPickett]

Larvae are the petitioners, they transform into fiends through means specific to the plane they are on.

[@defiantnight2668]

@@AJPickett Oh. So all of Lolth's and Vecna's followers, for instance, would become larvae? Thanks for answering my previous question, I love this kinda stuff! Do they travel to their gods' plane, or are the other evil planes and demiplanes barren of petitioners that aren't larvae or some kind of fiend?

[@AJPickett]

@@defiantnight2668 If an evil or good person doesn't give any sort of worship to any gods, they just wind up on the plane that most closely matches their alignment over the course of their life, but, when they do worship a god, they tend to go to that gods plane of existence.. if they match the alignment, they basically incarnate as a native of that plane, if they don't match, they become petitioners, kind of in a holding pattern as they work out their problems to better align with the planes ideals, in whatever fashion that god and that plane require.

[@defiantnight2668]

@@AJPickett Oh, huh, I was under the impression that all the dead became petitioners. That they might incarnate as natives of that plane explains a few things and adds a new depth to certain creatures... Cheers, your videos give me a much better understanding of how to handle the outer planes.

[@krispalermo8133]

@Defiantinight , Lolth's followers turn into large spiders. Lolth also sucks the souls out of spellcasters that fail her one too many times.

[@ahmedakmal9244]

Great video! amazing topic, not discussed a lot amazing content i will fav this cuz i'm gonna watch it a lot

[@electromancer2645]

You just gave me so many ideas

[@AJPickett]

Thats my job :)

[@Immersion-rpg]

Would I be correct in assuming that this is the fate of those without a patron god? Like where would an acolyte of Bane go? Surely to Bane's realm right?

[@AJPickett]

If it comes down purely to what alignment they were (most often) in life, then yeah, they just funnel into the appropriate plane. Otherwise, they do get directed to specific locations where their fate is tied into what their gods do. Souls that purposefully deny or work against all gods, they end up forming a part of the Wall of lost souls, which is a horrible edifice of eternal warning in the form of a huge wall made up of the lost, trapped forever on the murky and very boring Fugue Plane.

[@paulturbo7563]

Thanks AJ Pickett.

[@chickenmonger123]

I don’t really get it. If I was a Wizard I’d make it my life’s mission to craft as many Rings of Mind Shielding as possible. Which will invariably disabuse evil of their pick of souls by keeping them in the Prime Material Plane. Where as anyone Lawful/Good will be far more likely to actually depart for their afterlife. And more to the point, you’d think anyone familiar with the Outer Planes would largely desire eternal oblivion as an alternative where you go when evil. It would be relatively cheap to do for a cabal of Wizards. After all the item is only uncommon, and the primary issue with Wizards is how valuable their time is when you can even find them. Which is reduced heavily when it is the Wizard themselves who wants something from themselves. (Add in Nystuls that Wizards would be using Nystuls Magic Aura on everything.) It would build slowly. 20 days for an uncommon item, however anyone who wanted to ignore the afterlife would be down. And after a 20 years, which is a small amount of time for many, you’d be way way ahead even with a single level 3 caster. And since there is no direct spells to use in its crafting, that leaves at least 2 Nystuls castings per day. And I doubt the Inevitables will care because you aren’t resurrecting anyone, or breaking the orthodoxy of mortality. Add in that you might Animate an object and slave it to a soul in the Ring, you which is apparently doable all the time for the amount of constructs left in dungeons or employed by baddies. Or, slave a animated undead to the ring. Probably a Skeleton. Even better if the remains used are the souls. The way NPCs use necromancy, you should have many opportunities for making cheap afterlife options. These effigies would have the intellect of the souls, the impenetrability of The Ring of Mind Shielding, and the low level but perpetual bodies that could be scrounged. That Mind Shielding would probably additionally prevent a lot of the controls necromancers and mages would use to command the vessel. I just can’t see a world that doesn’t have an underworld of afterlife fugitives who haven’t actually embraced undeath as it is commonly understood. Just running around in perpetual twilight, knowing what they knew in life, and some trying to earn a resurrection.

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL hail the mighty glue stick

[@aliceofspades]

"Jimmy is f@&$ed." He certainly is! Thanks for explaining this fiendish economic system to us!

[@baronbeat2210]

I would like to learn more about the torture stations.

[@odinvov1146]

If onnes soul was trapped in a soul gem/coin, what would the soul experience? Anything?

[@jonathanwells223]

Odin VoV unending pain, indescribable torment and utter hopelessness

[@AJPickett]

I don't think it would be at all pleasant.

[@odinvov1146]

Well if it where me, and was locked in a prison of nothingness, silence, and darkness. I think that would be mentally taxing on me then pain and torment. I mean at least I fill something.

[@odinvov1146]

I guess it would have to be based off your philosophical standpoint. Perhaps it's not the same for everyone, just your own personal hell.

[@Darkboarder4]

If the person is conscious but without sensory stimulus it could be similar to anything from a sensory deprivation tank, solitary confinement, or scp 2701. So trippy hallucinations or mind shattering sensory deprivation.

[@nicolasdiaz1542]

How do you tell if a soul is quality? Is it size or some more esoteric quality?

[@AJPickett]

typically a telepathic interrogation would work for a being without the hags supernatural senses. The more memories and sense of identity the soul has, the more value.

[@nicolasdiaz1542]

@@AJPickett thanks!

[@matthewsidewater6641]

The more willpower it has imo

[@AJPickett]

@@matthewsidewater6641 Yes, in a nutshell.

[@NoZignature]

How could mortals benefit from the soul trade? What worth besides feeding a phylactery could a soul have to a pc?

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

Larva, not so much. A soul coin, on the other hand...

[@narev6569]

There are a few (very evil) rules and spells using souls for power.

[@itzybitzyspyder]

Running infernal machinery.

[@melissawardjohns220]

You can use them as batteries for yourself. Disputable as how evil this is but evil none the less.

[@Eisenwulf666]

Well there are a bunch of rules and class options (and feats and so on..) in " the book of vile darkness" . They can be used as a drug, as currency, as components for all sorts of vile magic spells and rituals, as batteries for infernal machinery. They're the "Spice" of Dnd . The fact they're a currency accepted in all of the evil alligned planes(and many of the more neutral ones) makes them valuable. Selling or using souls is inherently evil though, so there's that

[@tommyglisten6501]

Can you talk about the Marut? I know nothing about them but they seem so cool and they have crazy high CR!

[@AJPickett]

Marut are like celestial terminators. I will be covering them in a video later for sure.

[@kajjak7001]

So what happens to a maggot that matures naturally without being caught?

[@AJPickett]

Matures? Well, from what we can surmise from the fact that Devils toss them into a huge pit full of them, when there is sufficient concentration of evil larvae, they can spontaneously evolve into Lemures (on Baator, in other planes, they take on other forms) at a rate of one per ten thousand of them.

[@kajjak7001]

@@AJPickett guess I was confused, thanks AJ your wealth of D&D knowledge is great.

[@Scrydragon]

YES! I was hoping for this video!

[@stephenclements6158]

How many sources did you synthesize for this video??? You pulled out nuggets even I didn't know, and I've studied the Blood War. AJ, top of the game as always.

[@johngleeman8347]

Oinos is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there! XD

[@Disthron]

I've got to say, the fact that these things are actually real in this world, and people know about it, really destroys your suspension of disbelief that there would be any evil humans that weren't under the influence of some kind of magic. I mean, what are these people expecting, that they will get away somehow?

[@splycer172]

I think it's more so that the average person on the material plane just doesn't know what happens in Hades. They hear about Devils and Demons and their planes from religious groups, but there isn't really a figure or group that represent's Hades aside from Night Hags, which already exist elsewhere, and the natives of Hades themselves aren't an active threat to the mortal realm like Devils and Demons. Also it's important to remember that mortals have their whole lives to be corrupted by greed, vengeance or anything else, and they don't see the bigger picture of what part their soul plays in the outer planes...or they may just be evil out of circumstance. There's never a shortage of things on the material plane that turn people to evil, or even convince them to be evil actively with promises of things like immortality.

[@GiblixStudio]

This would be one of the least reasons. There are aboleths that can control entire areas/islands. Succubi that can shapeshift and enter the court of kings. Of course there are people and entire locations that can, and will be, under influence of something that uses and manipulates it all for their own agenda's. Heck it even applies to our daily lives without even using magic and how we as societies are conditioned to think and act a certain way. In most cases people don't know it is happening to them. They're often relatively simple minded and happens over longer periods of time. However there are cases people do believe, or are superstitious, about a hag in the area. Bringing offerings to appease her for good crops, or make sacrifices willingly to reduces the negative impact the hag would have on the area. In many cases... People get corrupted easily by themselves. Doubt magic would be required to make it work. Why use a nuke to open a can of jars? However, except for the few rare individuals, nobody really knows about other realms and what happens there. In most cases the sages and secrete societies even keep the books and information away from public eye. In real life it would translate to us knowing fairly little about Hell, if it even exists. And who knows what other documentation and such the Vatican or some other organisation would have in their possession should Hell one day be proven to exist.

[@AJPickett]

This is absolutely not common knowledge.

[@Disthron]

@@GiblixStudio So, what I'm getting from this is that there are heaps of things that basically infect people with evil against their own will, and then they die and get sent to hell for something they had no control over.

[@AJPickett]

No, the devils have a contract, essentially, that says they can take souls away to be punished for deliberately breaking the laws of the gods.. if someone gets possessed and the ghost takes their body on a murder spree that they get executed for.. they don't go to hell for that, it was not their fault.

[@chrishamby1614]

As a person with red hair I wonder if there is a particular market for the elusive "soul of a ginger"

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

>Soul >Ginger Pick one.

[@Scortch-lo3xy]

@@WhyYouMadBoi HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@johnadams2196]

Aren't those the most easily manipulated??? (noob). 'Phsycic'- but where do they read the stuff from???

[@Neazriel]

How do Fiends deal with the fact of incorporeal Undead trapped in the liminal between the material and ethereal plane? Do they deploy their own bunch of dedicated soulcatchers. Is a Archdevil behind the founding of a order of Ghostslayer bloodhunters?

[@mikemccoy5092]

Interesting and informative good video

[@williamhenry8914]

The existence of the Soul Trade is proof that all the gods in DnD are pure evil

[@docbaker3333]

Well really they let it go because if there blood war wasn't there the demons would turn all of creation into entropic hellscape of chaos and evil and the Devils would try to counquer and enslave all the planes of the inner and outer spheres and even the prime so damned if you do damned if you don't.

[@lelduck6388]

It just means the good gods aren’t too powerful.

[@Michael-du2fv]

According to the Spellweavers they caused the disjuncition that caused the tear that let the seed of evil and started everything. Could say the Gods are just trying to make do with the mess they where given.

[@williamhenry8914]

@@Michael-du2fv I think that would be fair, except the devils fight the blood war. I haven't seen any evidence of the gods doing anything useful on that scale.

[@Ryan-qu4vx]

@@williamhenry8914 Well, depending on the edition, devils are originally celestials that went to fight the demons and were corrupted by the fighting. Additionally Asmodeus may have a contract with the gods allowing him to wage the war and get souls for it. Finally it is widely believed that whichever side wins the blood war will quickly take over the rest of the realms. Given all this it isn't surprising that the other gods don't get involved. They don't want to tip the balance and destroy everything.

[@wesleyferguson9678]

Weird question, but do Devils and Celestials (Like Archons Devas and Solars) have... Gender?

[@AJPickett]

If they want to.

[@anadice9489]

Only applies to fiends, but there's a whole book on them from the TSR days that actually gets into this. Answer, at least in the book, is mostly a "depends," often paired with a "varies". For example, a male Baatezu can get promoted to an Erinyes. Then she can wind up promoted into a Pit Fiend and that might change again. Unfortunately, this is decided by a higher up (with the exception of a Pit Fiend, who in a sense /is/ the higher up), and that gender gets smacked onto them whether they'd want it or not. Tanar'ri throw rigidity into the wind and they are what they will to be, with no set order, "promoting" themselves via force of will, and a Balor can just as well "promote" into a Vrock if it figures that's what it wants to be. That ties in with the capacity to switch genders at will, although it does take some willing to do, so after a while they tend to settle on a more set identity (though of course one of their own choosing). Yugoloths, coincidentally enough, are more neutral, to the point of being both simultaneously, only really changing in the context that a hammer changes into a nail puller when you use the other end of it. (source for all this is "Faces of Evil: The Fiends", which I'd recommend since it has so much material in it and practically all of it can be ported to any edition since it's nearly entirely lore-based) Ultimately though it's whatever the DM wants it to be, and they could all just as well be neuter (except for Graz'zt, because reasons).

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

What becomes of larvae that stay in Hades for a long time? Do they become Yugoloths?

[@AJPickett]

Yep, eventually. It takes a concentration of them in one place for some of them to upgrade, the ratio in the lore for the Maggot Pit on Avernus is that tens of thousands will spawn a new fiend on a regular basis, there is little other concrete information about other lower planes, but I imagine it is similar.

[@anathema1828]

Nice work on the video!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

_"He's very dead"_ 😅

[@SlothinAintEasy]

So what can I get for this kobolds soul?

[@AJPickett]

A glass of recycled Pepsi... no ice.

[@judgecurran7289]

Dragon soul!, get your dragon soul here.

[@Nox-eg3rq]

@@AJPickett oh that's just evil .. sure you're not a divel aj

[@Nox-eg3rq]

@@judgecurran7289 I have 10.000 chicken souls well that work for you

[@JohnA...]

I find this aspect of the D&D universe odd. Unlike our own world the gods, etc., in D&D are real and obvious. With this you also have the evidence that the lower dimensions are also quite real. Having that understanding being overly common you would assume that all of those across Toril, the vast majority at least, would then avoid doing "evil" actions (though having multiple gods, and who knows how many rules to follow that are probably even more absurd than the religions of the Earth) to not get drawn into the all too real suffering eternal damnation of the lower planes. As mentioned here you have paladins, and others, traveling to these lower planes and bringing back these stories constantly, why would anyone ever risk such a thing in a world like D&D. Here is another one, what about races like the Orcs, their god is not exactly a "good" god, if they follow their rules do they also get tortured eternally for their actions or are they separated into another plane since they are following the will of their god? If not, and this knowledge is common, then why would any race choose to follow such a god if they know they are going to damnation for their "evil" actions. Are they simply so short lived and ignorant to not know such a thing as even common humans seem to know? But again there are plenty in D&D who do "evil" things even knowing what their actions will get them. It makes for good stories and fun campaigns, but makes no practical sense when thought about. Well no more than someone being "evil" actually thinking they are evil since most doing wrong tend to either not think they are doing wrong or have various excuses (typically "higher power" excuses) to at the very least not feel they are doing "evil" things. Very few think they are actually "evil".

[@defiantnight2668]

Well you answered your own question for the most part. People don't purposefully do evil actions because they don't see those actions as evil, unless they're particularly cruel and mean-hearted. In that case, it's actually better for them to *double down* on the evil for the chance of later rising through the ranks to become a powerful fiend.

[@RayJackson88]

Since we're getting relativistic, it depends on what your definition of the word "real" is.

[@JohnA...]

...real, as in actually exists, isn't just a made up myth, not only in your head, etc.. Not sure how that is a hard concept, yet it seems to be for so many.

[@DetectiveBarricade]

Such races usually go to their deity when they die. As an example, orcs and goblinoids join Gruumsh and Maglubiyet respectively on the infinite battlefields of Acheron.

[@AJPickett]

@@DetectiveBarricade Indeed.

[@christianbeeker8722]

2:40 *describing the appearance of a soul larvae* I'm eating here AJ, can you tone it down?

[@dashocker760]

Christian Beeker Literally macking down on a fat meatball sandwich and he starts going off with disturbing adjectives 🤢

[@thevoidcritter]

So my campaign has an arcanaloth who uses a female persona when dealing with mortals; thinking about having my players be able to find that "evil" perfume.

[@gargoyle7800]

I need help with this question, hope sombody can see this comment so late. I heard once that soul gems have a particuar color depending on the soul's value, what colors were they and in what order?

[@AJPickett]

The value and quality of the gem is integral to how powerful a creature can have it's soul trapped in it. So, the colors of the Gems correspond to the Gem Stones by their Value.

[@gargoyle7800]

@@AJPickett I know AJ, but i had a hard time finding out the coresponding color to it's value. Can you help me out?

[@AJPickett]

@@gargoyle7800 dungeonsdragons.fandom.com/wiki/Gemstone

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

You really *could* just make it up, though.

[@rhapsody5645]

Great vid AJ. I scanned the comments but didn't see this question. What would occur in the case of evil souls in the service of an evil God, such as clerics?

[@carolinecaldwell6587]

I imagine it would depend heavily on the god or goddess, your rank in the hierarchy, as well as, perhaps more importantly for lower planes, your faithfulness and use to the god(ess) in question.

[@warlorddthorn4173]

does anyone know if there is a video about Petitioners and if not AJ Pickett i love it one comes out soon

[@AJPickett]

Okee dokee

[@boldbearings]

"vs Souuul Edge..."

[@MultiCommissar]

Great stuff. Do you know where I can read more about The Emporium? I'm looking to expand my character's backstory with it.

[@AJPickett]

I'd like to find that resource myself!