Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Babau

[@erbelisle]

I see one of my illustrations, I give a thumbs up!

[@AJPickett]

What's your web site Eric?

[@erbelisle]

www.ericbelisle.com My illo is at 8:00 ;) Made for Pathfinder if I remember well. And good job with your channel!

[@AJPickett]

Thank you! I really love the dynamism and life to your illustrations, they are hands down some of my favorites and the attention to detail is superb.

[@erbelisle]

Thanks man! Keep up the good work!

[@martinfiedler4317]

@@erbelisle That IS an excellent illustration!

[@gargoyle7800]

I remeber when I was little, my mother told me not to go outside at night or the Babau will get me, I live in Transylvania.

[@MechanicSilo]

Lol, "-but I personally suspect it was a primitive precursor to the infamous AXE POISON"

[@zacharyhawley1693]

This is the demon you summon when you want to give everyone a hug :D Mr.Huggles the third.

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

When Grazzt spawned them, were they bouncing baby babaus?

[@AJPickett]

as appealing as the alliteration is, the lore alludes to an adult arrival.

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

@@AJPickett So, Bumbling Boomer Babaus, then.

[@mrl9418]

Grazz'd ❤ An extraordinary gentleman.

[@mrl9418]

Congratulations on liking my remarkable comment

[@That80sGuy1972]

I can see an evil archmage using a ward that summons one or more of these as a security device for when he is not home. After the Babau are gone and intruders are in pieces, one relatively intact body tortured to death, a golem goes into the area and dutifully cleans up... then re-setting the ward. The evil archmage notices the new stench and wildlife and the dump pile a hundred yards away and chuckles. He then looks through the deposit chest and sees what trinkets were left from the dead intruders, chatting with his mindless golem about the new toys.

[@anathema1828]

Nice work on describing the spooky vibe!

[@jacopoarmini7889]

"ninna nanna ninna-oh, questo bimbo a chi lo do? Lo darò all'uomo nero che lo tiene un'anno intero..." how NOT to make your children go to sleep, I mean, the lullaby has you choose between a year with a Babau or a goddamn week with a Hag!

[@kevinchristiansen4348]

awesome ah I love your commentary on the baubau demon! I subscribed mister mighty gluestick!

[@purplehaze2358]

I will always adore that intro music.

[@treymoir5516]

Evan Grazz'd is no match for... Axe-Poison!!

[@stephanieriffee2456]

I thought it was Verin Graz'zt adviser who oozed the unnerving spiritual slime? I remember you saying so on an earlier video of Graz'zt. If they both do then I don't want to run into either of them or these things in our game lol.

[@TenositSergeich]

Honestly, the thing I hate about official 5e lore is that damn EVERYTHING bad must be inherently tied to demon lords, archdevils, elemental princes of evil, any other big bad bugaboos in the sky. Such remarks may sound weird about an actual demon, but the whole "spawned from Graz'zt's blood" thing limits their use immensely, as there is no way that a babau serving, say, Kostchitche or Demogorgon or just a young independent balor on the way to success will not raise questions "is this tied to Graz'zt somehow?" At least it is just presented in style of just-so story and does not destroy any awesome lore about them (looking at you, Bodaks).

[@keonikuahuia8538]

Loving these demon videos. Just got my Demogorgon figure built and I can't wait to send my players into the abyss.

[@raymondharnack4160]

For anyone looking into summoning I highly HIGHLY recommend the Babau. Massive utility spells for an enterprising warlock to take full advantage of. Heat metal and darkness namely. Decent melee and weakening ability makes them terrors against close combat enemies as the already are resistant to non magical S,PB.

[@theatreofcontroversy]

Thank you for makign Axe Poision offical cannon! Next step is getting it in to the next Book -- i am proud to say I was there where that fellow stream view made some bad joke about using an axe on a family memeber and then some other saited soul coined the pun and axeposion was first extracted and distilled from the weeping wound of a steam chat joke that fell flat

[@axepoison255]

You'll always be our #1 Aaron.

[@theatreofcontroversy]

That means a lot comeing from you AP -- i'll make my con save now..... 2! dang!

[@rickeymariu1]

Axe Poison! Nice refrence A.J. Thanks for the vid.

[@florenmage]

I love to destroy creatures like this in fantasy because I've always thought that torture is the most evil act torture being defined as sadistic pain inflicted on real people

[@cristiancojocaru9821]

He is literally the boogie man in romania, just thought I'd put this out there.

[@TenositSergeich]

Well, it seems that a lot of words for bogeymen start from "'b". Wonder why is that.

[@jeremygriffin620]

Love the demons man. Thanks as always!

[@crpineo]

So, if there's more than one in a fight, targeting the same character, does the character need to make multiple saving throw for their gazes, per Babau, or would they all have been combined into a single roll? I probably could have worded that better, and more coherently, but too sleepy to determine how

[@adamholcomb200]

This was a awesome video💯. I’m anticipating a video on one of my other favorite demons Hezrou or the Shadow Demon😈😈👍🏼👍🏼💯

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Love the video keep up the good work can't wait to see the next one any hint on what it might be

[@josephsorrendino780]

Another great video. Thanks.

[@Babbleplay]

I just never really took to the Babu..... That horn coming out of the back of the skull looks more like a defect than an intended feature.

[@chriscalvin5083]

Good video AJ

[@purplehaze2358]

Homebrew creature: Leviathant (play on words of leviathan and elephant) Its basically an elephant thats bigger than a tarasque. Much like there significantly smaller counterparts, they travel in massive herds and have strong social bonds. These groups have been known to strip small continents of plant life entirely in there search for food. Though unlike there smaller relatives, they often go into deep hibernation for hundreds of years and wake up only to feed for 20 years. They can live up to 30000 years. Much like whales, they have an entire ecosystems on there bodies, such as large external parasites, birds that cling to them and eat these parasites, and animals that cling to them specifically for the purpose of transportation. When one of these creatures die, there corpse is swarmed by predators. Predators that often fight over territory suddenly find an indifference to each other as they fill there stomachs, knowing very well that this food source could last them for there entire lives. Some animals even follow these herds, waiting to eat the small animals that these creatures churn up from the ground just by walking.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

thats a great idea for a creature. however behemoth was the legendary beast of the land - incase you want to change the name or something. this total reminds me of what i've seen done with dragon turtles and (very big)whales in fantasy. 👍👍👍

[@purplehaze2358]

+The Dark Master thank you.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Dr Bright no thank you, that idea is truely epic, well litterally epic. you could have intire civilisations on the backs of herds. in the setting i'm putting together prime material planes are massive expanses, because they are hollow with the same gravity/mass, not like an inverted sphere, but caverns, like mutiple layers of underdark untill you hit the magma. so you have as many continents as we do countries. Imagine the impact of migrating herds of levithants would have on places like that, with multiple empires of elves, halfelves and humans the size of ancient rome vying with each other & working together to keep the green tide(orks) down. imagine what hobbits/halflings would think about leviathants? would leviathants have names? how intelligent would they be? and imagine them on the battlefield? or better yet crippling the agriculture of an entire kingdom? I loved the mumakil from lord of the rings and other gaint eliphants. but you've taken it to the next level... 👍👍👍

[@purplehaze2358]

+The Dark Master To answer your question about there intelligence, they are roughly the same as normal elephants. Meaning they can feel emotions and are self-aware. Also, how are you going to go about the whole civilization on there backs thing if they hibernate for hundreds of years? Just wondering. I first used them in a game where we had to stop them from destroying the town we lived in. While that one was a decent campaign, my best use of them is when we had to take care of a dragon infestation and we used a herd of them to scare off the dragons temporarily.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Dr Bright Kind of like a tree city thing, save each leviathants back is the equivalent of a tree, in the herd, with mobile bridges so they can travel between each levithant. with the whole 20 year migration & feeding being seen as a semi mythical event. So i suppose it would be abit much for them to be all natural sorcerer/shaman/alchemists communicating though magic and dreams, using the contents of their own massive stomachs while on the march to do spells(on their scale) specific to the type/types vegitation that they eat. never comminating in speech oraly or telephatically, just lost of symbolism, empathy, telepathic elephant noises, eye staring visions, shared images of possible futures & the general unspeaking animal god of nature trope. with distinct personalities akin to their life experiences and talents/view points/skills.

[@TraciPeteyforlife]

I'm starting to fully understand just why the Queen of Scubas doesn't want to have a sexual relationship with Graz'zt. Babau are likely the most vile demon to ever come out of the Abyss.

[@AmaryInkawult]

TraciPeteyforlife well definitely up there in the top 10 most vile creatures. I'd give it a 7. The number means a lot to me.

[@leorblumenthal5239]

In the 2E Ravenloft supplement Van Richten's Guide to Fiends, there is a Babau called The Whistling Fiend, who seems to draw on the bogeyman origins of the name. The Whistling Fiend whistles a jaunty tune while committing mass murder, and wielding a demonic glaive. It terrorized the Domain of Dread of Darkon, where it killed off an entire town, leaving few survivors to spread the tale.

[@Greenscyth22]

I get why all demons are evil, but why do so many delight in torture? Not a lot that just eat/kill you, more that just inflict pain. Zuggtmoy's followers come to mind with their vile rituals they perform on captive victims.

[@AJPickett]

You kind of answered your own question.. they delight in it, whereas your average human will get a laugh out of harmless misfortune (such as clips on FailArmy) demons, completely lacking in empathy, get a kick out of destroying things and over thousands of years, they will get bored with the same old, same old murder, and get more and more twisted and exotic in the ways they murder and ruin things to satisfy and amuse themselves.

[@pedrohenrique-et3fs]

thats how they reshape their victims soul to become another demon

[@jacobfreeman5444]

They hate anything that isn't completely ruined. Even the chance at redemption must be removed. A demon is more like a pile of mismatched jagged shards forced together then a well put together entity.

[@roccowagner8280]

Babau means "moron" in Catalan

[@edwardburns1986]

Can you do a video on the deep scion

[@Aquamentus11]

I haven't seen you do one on the wood giants/voadkyn....not sure if they even exist after 3e

[@thedarkmaster4747]

So what would be better at psychological torture? nalfeshnee or babau?

[@AJPickett]

too close to call.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

AJ Pickett is it more of the case that a nelfeshnee would leave you catatonic where a babau would give you skitzophrenia? shaken to stone verses split into countless psychotics.

[@antwan1357]

Bababau kinda remind me of certain power players always seeking an advantage even when it doesn't make sense .Psychic, magic , doesn't have poison goes out and finds it . Uses psychological warfare and any advantage it can find. I guarantee this is based upon a particularly annoying player. As a GM I approve.

[@keithlarsen7557]

I'd like to see a Babau pop off all that good stuff in my hood. Gas station boys got +3 Glocks in their belts.

[@delongjohnsilver7235]

Ah, yes! This is our warlock’s most common summon! Time to start using that psych degree

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

Last thing you wanna hear from a demon: "So, how does that make you feel?"

[@jakecrichton562]

What a great spell set! These guys sound like fun. Where do they appear in 5th? Or do they not?

[@AJPickett]

volo's guide to monsters

[@Krom1hell]

Actually it's more of a "Bau Bau" :))....but then, that's at the origin of the folklore you're talking about :P....

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Nice!

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Oh and Thursday is my birthday I know it's a huge favor to ask but can you possibly do a video on psionics or work it into the schedule it would be the most amazing birthday gift and it would mean a lot I understand if you're too busy

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

Thanks.

[@shanevitak4310]

The what poison?

[@venkelos6996]

I just wish it was easier to give such monsters cool stuff, but in a way that players don't get it after the fight, every time. I totally get that players like, and want loot, particularly magic items, and I do often criticize other game elements that feel more like parts of a video game, and not a table top RPG, but when players can take anything off of a corpse; when everything in its inventory is actually up for grabs, it can be annoying. It's sort of like lightsabers in certain Star Wars games; you have to be careful when you introduce someone who has one, or you might see the party getting one before you planned. 5e magic items can be very game-changing, between their impact on bounded accuracy, and being a source of damage that bypasses damage mitigators, and so I tend to be very frugal with them, at least for a good while. It makes it harder for me to include them in incidental encounters, since it can be difficult to prevent players from getting them, if that's nor when I want them to.

[@iatebambismom]

Can you just make the items crumble to dust, turn into pools of acid or just cause damage when they are touched? The DM is the overgod of their own game after all, rules be damned.

[@jacobwilson8579]

I wouldn't be surprised if their was a armadillo demon...is there AJ

[@AJPickett]

By the end of this series, we shall know for sure.

[@thefox347]

Hey AJ can we expect a spoopy Halloween themed video in the future?

[@AJPickett]

A custom monster, yes.

[@thefox347]

@@AJPickett I'll keep an ear to the ground for the video then.

[@Yuudaddy]

Where are the Yugoloths?! So many Devils and demons, no wonder that people forget about them...

[@yaldabaoth2]

Not attracting too much attention is kind of the Yugs modus operandi though.

[@AJPickett]

I made one video on them so far, but they are extremely expensive to work with.

[@Yuudaddy]

@@AJPickett Those bastards...

[@TenositSergeich]

And, well, sadly enough, D&D never tried to do anything intresting with various yugoloth types much, working just with yugoloths as a whole. Exception being the arcanoloths, who are mostly popular because they are least dependent on yugoloth society and usual way of life and because Planescape had a couple of intresting arcanoloth NPCs. But the rest are either mercenary cannon fodder or nebulous schemers, these two stereotypes tied together only by race and in-universe speculation. Even if they are quite hard to compare, Pathfinder's take on daemons is much more maleable, even if almost impossible to get to not work as adversaries.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

AJ Pickett you still don't have enough souls? 😮 Well, hells bank does have a devils price. 😈💰

[@allanstpaul9937]

How do you defeat them.

[@a-a-ron9730]

By killing them in the Abyss

[@jamestrotman3238]

+A-A-RON thank you A A Ron

[@ericwalston2344]

Isn't the sire of these vile beasts related to the daughter of Asmodeus?

[@AJPickett]

Glasya is known as the Daughter of Asmodeus. Graz'zt is one of the offspring of Pale Night.

[@ericwalston2344]

Isn't Graz'zt the son of Asmodeus and Pale Night?

[@AJPickett]

Could be, that is one of the rumors.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

the nursery rhyme lullaby actually comes from the Hebrew Lilith abide Lilith being the mother of demons was said to eat newborn children in their crib and the lullaby was a prayer said to protect the child from Lilith Loosely translated it means Lilith abide and go away

[@AJPickett]

Ah, thanks, very interesting.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

You might even say it's a lili bye?

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

I see what you did there pretty funny

[@jacobwilson8579]

Also not to hog the coments on this but do you think you could do some warcraft monsters

[@meat0delislice722]

D&D horrors yay!

[@NanoMayTry]

I enjoy everything thing in Japanese and romantic languages like Latin and Italian rhyme easily.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

2:08 So at any point, would you say that any devil captured during that wasn't tortured for the share sake of it? as in my mind it kinda renders the term "captured" unnecessary... don't get me wrong, if so im not complaining, it's just a lore based facepalm movement. i can imagine lines like "Don't let them capture you, fight to the death." & "we're completely surrounded, why wont they attack?" and just this giant net of magical non lethality decending. they must go through thumb screws like nobody's buisness. *keeps watching vid on demons from hell* >XD

[@bhatfield1417]

Merrnsteerrss

[@axepoison255]

Punching way above the one word weight class.

[@brandondabbs2593]

Haha Glazia is hot.