Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Balor

[@keatonr776]

Fun fact: The balor was based of of Tolkien's description of the balrog, but then in turn the Peter Jackson movies based the physical description of the balrog off of dnds balor.

[@justnoob8141]

Huh, neat!

[@That80sGuy1972]

The AD&D Balrog is a nerfed version of Tolkien's version of the Balrog... so AD&D had to come up with a demon worthy of Tolkien's vision. Tolkien's version is far more terrifying, being visibly both of fire and shadow... something any movie cannot that only books can make us imagine because we all have our own views on what that would look like. That goliath being having a sword and tangling whip was a great true-to-source reference and it matched Gandolf's down-low divine ascension. He may not have become a god but he did ascend to angelic status by killing that demon who should have one-sided killed him at that battle.

[@michaelnelson8618]

​@@That80sGuy1972 Not an ascension! It was more of being reborn with more of his power - a reincarnation. Gandalf is as old as the Balrogs and from the same race of spirits, so the power difference isn't all that great until you consider that he was NOT ALLOWED to use much of his "divine power" and to instead contend with Sauron through ideals and encouragement.

[@sanddry738]

Seeing all the depictions of Balors really makes me wonder just how terrifying it would be to see an absolutely ripped demon with a possible 24ft. Wingspan flying over a kingdom with fiery legions over the horizon. Probably a bad day for sure. Great video as always!

[@jacopoarmini7889]

honestly, apart from the Balrog reference, I find bizarre that demons, the embodiment of Chaos and destruction, have their champions look so orderly and (relatively) "pretty". I would have imagined a chaotic mass of darkness and fire, rather than such a physical threat.

[@AJPickett]

The Tanar'ri are engineered by the Obyrith, hence the types.

[@Ryker2608]

The fact the Balor wasn't a legendary monster was goddamn criminal

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

Oh, hey, I know these guys! My brother, a friend and I blew one up last week with a makeshift bomb trap starring 400 fiendfire cannonballs, 3000 bottles of holy water and a whole lotta crits. Needless to say, we're dealing with drow in the underdark now. Through the CRATER.

[@drakeford4860]

Considering the nature of Demons, best be prepared for him to be back. And really, really irate about the whole exploding ordeal.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Oh come now. Just a crater? I'm disappointed. I created a second sun in the Underdark, committed genocide against the drow and mind flayers and no one on the surface realized anything was different aside from the occasional spelunker going blind from looking down.

[@TraciPeteyforlife]

Which Drow city did you guys blow it up over?

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

@@TraciPeteyforlife dunno, but it's about to be my brothers ratling character's new city-sized meth lab.

[@OrdinaryTrevor]

A detailed look at the depraved demons of the Abyss... interrupted by a Paw Patrol advertisement. I laughed pretty hard!

[@maarek71]

They were called Balrogs originally in D&D. TSR was sued and changed the name to Balor.

[@nomadjensen8276]

Yeah they had to take hobbits out of D and D too. Tolkiens estate or something involving Tolkien company or brand name(cant remember specifics) sued them. Only reason they got to keep Orcs and Elves is because there are tons of references about orcs,elves and dwarves in historical mythology.

[@rejvaik00]

@@nomadjensen8276 Orcs and Elves are on the public domain also they are too generic and can't be owned. Contrast this with the Balrog, who was invented by Tolkien and as a result has a definite and proven date of conception therefore it can be copyrighted and owned *BUUUUT* only for a limited time. US law allows for life of author +70 years to hold a copyright

[@damianmorningstar3150]

@@rejvaik00 did not stop GW from trying to copyright Elf or Elves

[@rejvaik00]

@@damianmorningstar3150 again I'm not surprised, there are morons who genuinely try to copyright generic names for easy money Take for example AR of the AR-15 rifle, the manufacturing company Armalite Rifle wanted to trademark AR for exclusive use but it was shot down by courts because the Term AR had become a generic term and wasn't subjected to legal protection

[@Secret_Takodachi]

Do: Fight like a Balor Don't: Fight a Balor The most consistent way I've found to kill Balors is to find something bigger & meaner to do it for you!

[@juggalox1000]

they are also known for jumping off high places and stomping on prone victims

[@gabrieladerre2862]

I've been eagerly awaiting this! Yay! I'm also excited for Pit Fiends, and Glasya! Awesome!

[@rickeymariu1]

All hail the demons of the ancient world. The Balrog. Always will be called such in my games

[@Maxbeedo2]

You could argue few monsters got nerfed more in 5E than the Balor. They removed ALL of their spell-like abilities which included Implosion, Firestorm, Power Word Stun, Dominate Monster, Blasphemy, Greater Dispel Magic, Unholy Aura, and Insanity, meaning they have no long range options (the tactics even mentioned they PREFER range, as an overlord/boss should while his minions do the dirty work). Their Whip doesn't grapple or restrain enemies whatsoever (just pulls them), so the Fire Aura (which does 3d6 instead of 6d6) rarely comes into play except against melee fighters CHOOSING to be hurt by it. Definitely give them more cool abilities if you plan to use them in 5E.

[@sanddry738]

I can only imagine older Balors laughing at the 5e versions. It sucks that such a huge creature got so nerfed. Hopefully future editions may restore the lost abilities.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah absolutely just treat the standard monster listing as the base template and modify from there.

[@jgr7487]

"... their worse enemies: the armies of the 9 Hells, &, by extension, Celestia." I like how both are intertwined in a weird way

[@mrl9418]

The Satinic Panic should be the name of an Inn

[@thehat222]

Oh ma gawd I'm stealing this

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Good idea. ;)

[@mrl9418]

The people of Toril : "Who's Satin ??"

[@little_hunt3r]

@@thehat222 Count me in!

[@mikeburns6118]

I like it.

[@khamulthewack4732]

Yes. My favorite demon *that definitely isn't a Balrog, it's a totally original creation of Wizards of the Coast*

[@draxthemsklonst]

I get your point, but it's TSR that did D&D at first...they stole the idea. WOTC purchased D&D way after.

[@TenositSergeich]

How intresting it is, seeing how many newcomers are not even all that aware of history of the game. Thankfully, AJ Picket's series of videos also delve into edition history a bit, so that helps.

[@chrisdupuis2523]

I feel like the Balor should have remained the top dogs in the Abyss. Go ahead and add more variety by all means, even add other strong types of demons, but adjust the mighty Balor accordingly. These should be CR 20+ beings on their way to becoming demon lord's in their own right.

[@Zero8880]

I remember there was a Balor who held a Molydeus captive in his castle dungeon. Apparently, the Molydeus had questioned the Balor's commitment to the Blood War. Enraged, he took the Molydeus captive and keeps him alive, but constantly tortures him by having acid constantly dropped onto it's wolf head's eyes while it is schackled. The Balor has to keep the Molydeus alive bc he now uses the Molydeus's Vorpal Ax in battle along with his own vorpal electric sword. What a badass and terrifying opponent to see in battle!!!

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Molydeus are powerful but much of that stems from whom they are bonded to if I remember. Thus if the Balor does not fear the demon lord the Molydeus serves then it just comes down to raw might. And if the Balor doesn't fear that demon lord...why would it fear the mouthpiece of such a lord? So I can really see this situation playing out. Especially as an insult to the demonlord that dared to question HIM.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

OMG OMG OMG I have been waiting for this one for so long thank you so much

[@matthewhartshorn5204]

I smash that like before I even start the video when you give us monster ecologies. :)

[@sypandacat7236]

Same!

[@Junkzillabox]

"Fly, you fools!"

[@whoaitstiger]

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake."

[@jeremygriffin620]

Fantastic as usual brother! Love the demon videos! I really appreciate the intros and background on some members of the big six.

[@Giles29]

Used to hate running into these guys, even in a high-level campaign. Unless you have some way to negate their Gate ability, in a few rounds you'll be up to your eyeballs in an exponentially growing swarm of demons. Worst game I was ever in, the DM had us encounter Demogorgon and five balors. Bard: "Come on, guys. We can take them." Spoiler alert: no, we couldn't

[@Michael-cf9cj]

I'm actually working up my own version of Demogorgon right now. Best case scenario, you only have to worry about facing Demogorgon and one suped-up balor ... and a dozen suped-up mariliths. And yes, they can summon more, as can Demogorgon ... but they won't need to.

[@jakecrichton562]

I've been waiting for these guys for a while now! Thanks for another one AJ!

[@H3xx99]

Everyone should read the RA Salvatore D&D books. They're really good. Just don't expect anyone to take you seriously if you make a drow ranger that dual wields scimitars. Hey AJ, topic change, I'm not sure if you've covered them individually, but I'd like to know more about the Dwarven Gods. My favorite character worships Dumathoin, and I'd like a better understanding of that.

[@BlackWingedSeraphX]

Bro, you've got to do one of these on the Pit Fiend! You really know your stuff! ^^

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

So I was reading somewhere that Dead God's can still create packs with mortals like a warlock pact so my question wouldn't it make sense for a God like Amen Ra or Horus or any of the Egyptian Pantheon that have been deceased on the Forgotten Realms to make a pact with a warlock under the condition that they revive their worship?

[@AJPickett]

Depends on how dead the God is on that particular plane.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

the egyptian pantheon are still alive and active.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

So the Egyptian Pantheon in the Forgotten Realms are pretty dead right but they still exist in other Realms if for example a mortal with an aptitude for knowledge and Magic came across some artifact of Horus or raw or ideally a piece of their physical body left behind or spiritual body however you want to look at it would that mortal be able to become a warlock in service of that dead God like Ra or Horus cuz I understand that a cleric to them wouldn't make much sense but a warlock's not exactly is bound up as a cleric isand since the Egyptian Pantheon was already granted permission to have followers in the Forgotten Realms there should be no problem from the over God

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

@@zacharyhawley1693 Ra was killed by grubish the orc God

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

@@zacharyhawley1693 who was himself had his eye ripped out by the god of the elves

[@gregavant1992]

I'm surprised that there was no mention of Tarnhem (father of Acererak) or Glyphimor (general of the armies of Orcus) in the named balor part of the video. Still though, I learned a lot of the history that I didn't know. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into your videos!

[@mrl9418]

"These powerful demons dont just sit around" - AJ

[@drakeford4860]

While the Satanic Panic was absolutely ridiculous- and surely a headache at the time- I feel like it actually did the lore of D&D a lot of good. The efforts they went through to distance themselves from the "satanic" bits also went a long way towards distancing themselves from being discount LoTR, and pushed the game into creative frontiers it likely would never have traveled otherwise. So... thanks, I guess, to all those loopy fruit bats out there. If it weren't for that ridiculous crusade against "demology" in D&D, then we wouldn't have the more complex and layered demology of modern D&D. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

[@bentmetal666]

DND got a huge amount of free publicity from the Satanic Panic boosted the sales tremendously, put the game on the map on a national level. 60 Minutes even ran an episode about DND, "There no such thing as bad publicity"

[@paulh3892]

These monsters are so evocative and iconic! What an absolute unit!

[@Ryker2608]

Its criminal the balor had no legendary actions right out of the book.

[@bullfrogjay4383]

What level should a party be at before realistically challenging a Balor ? This thing sounds crazy strong and hard to kill.

[@AJPickett]

Realistically? oh, CR and levels are pretty wild when you get to the point where the characters feel like they can take on the entire nine hells, because that is realistically what you are looking at, the Balor is a general in charge of an unbelievably lethal military force, so, lets just assume you are talking about "How do you kill a Balor when you are just a mortal?" well, you have to isolate and trap the balor, then kill them. So, it is imperative that you remove the balor's access to the nine hells and all of their resources... that's the real trick and a sufficiently smart and motivated adventurer can do that well below level 19, a less clever player will never beat a balor, the balor will just throw minions and horrors at that player character group until they pose no threat, and then order a minion to take their souls, they are not even important enough for the balor to want to waste its own time murdering them.

[@Mortablunt]

@@AJPickett *Abyss

[@Zeitgeist78-u2v]

I remember back in the days when I used to play 2nd edition D&D, our DM would pit us against Balor and that usually end up getting one of us with our head lopped off (didn’t they used to wield vorpals?). It never ended in a good note… 😢

[@chriscalvin5083]

Good video AJ

[@Harrowed2TheMind]

Funny you mention its absence of spell-like abilities, when I use this monster and exact absence as an example as to why I far prefer Pathfinder over 5E when monsters are concerned (save for Legendary Actions/Reactions and Lair Actions, which I have definitely stolen for flavor and crunch!). Look at its monster sheet, see how barren it is. Such a legendary creature - a general of the Abyss, no less! - has little more than melee attacks, resistances, a fire aura, the ability to teleport, and their Death Throes. That's pretty much it. Meanwhile, the Pathfinder version has close to a dozen spell-like abilities, some of which are really important to the monster's concept are are severely lacking in 5E, plus skills, feats and even natural attacks, should it resort to using them, etc. Namely, the ability to DOMINATE monsters and create their own armies by imposing their sheer willpower towards lesser beings quite easily. Also, it has no freaking skills? You'd expect a general of the Abyss, with easily thousands of years of battle experience under their belt, to at least be an expert diplomat (when they want to), be freakishly intimidating (no Intimidate, really?) and know the planes and strategies as well as their back pockets (that's their job, after all). I'm not even talking of the Pathfinder 2E version, since I'm not a big fan of the edition yet, but this MONSTER is just SCARY. I mean, sure, it's super simple to handle and you can create such a stat block within 5 minutes if you wanted to, but it definitely lacks depth and oomph, definitely requiring DM customization to complete it, in my opinion (hence your suggestion of adding sorcerer spellcasting, for instance). That being said, continue the great work. I am quite obsessed with your channel, to be honest!

[@Michael-cf9cj]

I'm rebuilding the demons using 1st, 2nd, and 3rd edition as guidelines, but keeping in mind the reduction in general power levels that happened with 5th edition. A good bit of it doesn't make the demons more powerful, but increases their versatility so they're not so much brute beasts anymore. For example, the balor has a much wider range of spells. They grapple with their whip. They have a number of skills. Any balor with a name should be a legendary creature, so they'll have some kind of legendary powers, even if they're more limited than, say, Demogorgon.

[@shamusfarmer]

Awesome, I've been dying to see ecologies on more fiends!

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

You mention toward the end you’ve heard your videos make good listening for someone’s daily commute? All I do is commute (truck driver) and I’ll throw on a playlist and just let the miles roll!

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Ah yes. one got in a fight with a gray wizard who fell off a cliff. They're also a perfect companion for an aspiring demigod/ ascending demon lord.

[@DeanNatheos-eq3hl]

Excellent 👌 and have a good evening and thank you for the video.

[@ragnar40kblackmain]

In Pathfinder they blow up when they die......I found that out the hard way.

[@duabbit1179]

ragnar40kblackmain they blow up in d&d 5e too

[@zrampagegaming2674]

@@duabbit1179 welp that not good for me im currently playing a 5e character with a balor living/sealed within them

[@skuarf]

They always blow up on every edition. FUN.

[@melissawardjohns220]

Yeah my character has to fight 50 balors. He did the contract to save the party from certain death. (I'm the cleric of the party...) So I am having my character pay wizard colleges and temples for any information on the fifty on the list to learn how he needs to prepare to do as promised.

[@ThengelB]

DM: You can get +2 to check if you know name of summoned outsider. Me on next session: 😈

[@That80sGuy1972]

The most fun I had with a Balor was with a trapped one. A top-tier evil wizard had one trapped in his stronghold. It was kept as the main power source of his stronghold and many of his unsavory minions. The party got to the area, quite accidentally, where the Balor was trapped. The Balor said "His forces are approaching. You don't stand a change. Destroy these binding ruins my power will return to me. In gratitude, I will help you destroy him and his forces." While the party debated, the evil top wizard himself showed up leading his best minions. "Stop debating, fools. You don't know what is going on. I am the force of law and order around here." The Balor said "Release me now or be overrun by him and his forces." The wizard, wide-eyed, offered "Join my legion and live like kings, it is your only good option." The players, noticing the Balrog had zero powers because the chamber drained every abyssal drop off of it, decided to kill the Balrog. As the Balrog faded to nothing, it laughed. The wizard's minions fell apart, some transformed back into tiny animals, some turned back into statues, etc. The wizard teleported away. Not much later, the players tracked down the wizard and mercifully gave him a quick death. What happened to the Balrog? It became a reoccurring bad guy for the players the rest of the campaign. Here's the twist they did not know. If the players let the wizard go, the Balrog would have killed him upon return and forgot about the player characters.

[@That80sGuy1972]

Forgive my regularly referring to my Balor as a "Balrog." Since I watched the Lord of the Rings movies, the words are interchangeable in my head.

[@krispalermo8133]

That was a great plot, been in a few games like that myself. Your DM knows how to run good games.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Love the Balors AJ!

[@arminiuschatti2287]

So, Errtu already had a chip on his shoulder before he met Drizzt? My favorite Balor is Grintharke.

[@WarriorViking]

Errtu was a dink lol

[@robfromjersey7899]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!! Sorry, wrong franchise.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

It happens sometimes. XD

[@morganmcconal4785]

Khorne would be the balors idol.

[@mrl9418]

You are amplified.

[@melissawardjohns220]

Naw I have dnd groups that say it.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Have you started doing videos on the devils cuz their counterpart is pretty brutal to what is it called the pitfiend

[@meat0delislice722]

Demons , devils and daemons oh my!!!

[@crankysmurf]

I'm surprised that the Balors and Pit Fiends have no Legendary powers.

[@AJPickett]

"Summon army"

[@melissawardjohns220]

Have you read the stat block closer? Be glad they're not. They're scary as is!

[@crankysmurf]

@@melissawardjohns220 Considering they're the same CR as ancient white dragon, which has legendary actions, they should have legendary actions as well. They're suppose to be one of the top tier demons/devils before the ArchDevils / Demon Lords.

[@NamelessKing1597]

@@crankysmurf CR only dictates HP in 5e. You can and often do find low CR creatures that will absolutely wreck you and high CR creatures that are just damage sponges.

[@vixevinweria8400]

@@NamelessKing1597 It mainly dictates their proficiency bonus. I haven't found the correlation between a monster's CR and it's HP. A monster can have significantly more or less hit dice than another monster of the same CR, and the type of dice used is usually determined by their size.

[@georgemercer402]

The ultimate demonic trio: a Marilith, a Molydeus and a Balor... enough said

[@That80sGuy1972]

The Marilith is both so mad-respected and uber-underestimated. Mariliths are the reason that The Abyss has ANY victories in the Blood War. With all the chaotic thoughts floating around, only the Mariliths have been able to randomly stumble their crap into some coherent ideas that are tactically right via their selfish indulgences and manipulative whispers... their tactics and plans are what they did but not so intentionally by any one or group in a cohesive plan albeit they all giggle and clap at how it all happened.

[@georgemercer402]

@@That80sGuy1972 It's been a while since I last saw this video, so I might have to in order to remember why I put what I did.

[@KyleJordanGaming]

Neverwinter Nights 2 released in 2006?! Good grief. I’m officially a billion years old. :|

[@adamwelch4336]

Me too I'm a old fart

[@jackreacher4297]

Balors & Red Dragons are the two most iconic villains imo

[@TheAeroth]

Make one for cyric the mad god. He has quite the story

[@wizard380]

cyric would be really nice.

[@Rambam1776]

Very glad to see this one up. Been looking a bit for it. I wonder if the carry over is the same for the "Raloogs" From Gygax' "Gord the Rogue" Series.

[@TheBendejo]

Hi AJ, Just stumbled on your channel and loving it. I'm new to D&D lore so it's filling in the gaps. For what it's worth, I would like to request for a future video, can you fill me in on the history of the Spellplague? Cheers!

[@notsosilentbobz5797]

How's the mmo? Thanks to Mr. Gluestick, I am totally hooked on learning more about dungeons and dragons?

[@AJPickett]

The first taste is free (just kidding, it's all free.. but no less addictive)

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

Hey, thanks for the skull carpet idea. I was planning (in a coming session) to have a balor gate in to the middle of a town and be like "All this is mine, now. You may welcome your new king immediately". Now however, there will be a bunch of dretch scattering some skulls ahead of him. My players hate that I watch these videos, by the way. I love them, tho.

[@AJPickett]

Tell your players I say Hi.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

I could be wrong but i dont remember hearing you mention that the lightning shaped blades they use act as vorpal weapons in their hands when used in combat!

[@briancorvello3620]

These guys are a real BLAST.

[@nathanresendez4034]

I want to run a campaign where demons invade the material plane because some poor soul built a gateway to the abyss and now demons are just pouring forth. Granted that would be in the later campaign but I wonder how a Celestial vs Demons war would go

[@TheSoling27]

I ran an AD&D Campaign loosely based on Elfstones of Shannara -- circa 1992 -- if not handled carefully it can turn into a room a night adventure.. The gate/summon ability can draw in demon after demon after demon... because each one gets the same chance - it can grind to a halt ....

[@TheSoling27]

bit of a background -- been playing since 1984 -- never left AD&D --( tried 3.5 &4) came back to AD&D -- 5th seems like a simplified version -- been DM'ing since 1987 --

[@nathanresendez4034]

I was just imagining like a massive construction of a gateway and then it's just a flood of demons that flood in and would be one of those GET OUT moments. Then it turns into a war campaign of demonic forces pushing in and killing everything. Eventually I would think some celestials would need to step in and help the party in a cosmic war

[@AJPickett]

@@TheSoling27 5th edition demons can gate in a select group of lesser demons or one of their contemporaries once per day, and only for a minute, and they can't gate in demons themselves during that duration. So the endless stream of demons has been nerfed (and being in a non-nerfed situation many years ago in AD&D I say this is a good thing)

[@dediguise0018]

Fairly certain the celestials would win assuming the mortal denizens sided with them and not the demons. However “winning” might merely be containing the demons to the material plane instead of pushing them back. Frankly even if they were pushed back the damage to the material plane might be irreversible.

[@00784865]

Can you make a video on pit fiends their hellish counterparts?

[@Greenscyth22]

I wonder whats more messy, Demon politics with all the jostling and ambushing to get to the top, or Infernal politics with all the backstabbing and conglomeration of an episode of Game of Thrones? A campaign that involves PC's working either unwittingly or wittingly for some demon lord sounds fun.

[@thedarkmaster4747]

Infernal politics would look clean compared to demon politics. Kind of like a slaughter house verses a mad house full of scentient, mad cannibalistic cows.

[@krispalermo8133]

Ran and been in a few campaigns in the Lower Planes, it was .. "hellish.."

[@UCSPanther20]

It is quite fitting that Balors are beings who revel in being engines of destruction. There are few greater foes of order and good. I would also imagine them to be very violent iconoclasts, taking delight in trashing and burning holy places whenever they come across them.

[@davidfletcher6703]

Balor was also the name of the leader of the Formorians from Celtic mythology

[@mikeyHustle]

Pro wrestler Finn Balor is also named after the Celtic Balor (and Finn MacCool). He also used to wrestle as The Demon. I refuse to believe that's a coincidence, haha.

[@carloss3499]

Oh question when you kill a demon in any other plain like the material world do they flat out die or is it like devils where you can only kill them in their home plain.

[@shamusfarmer]

Home plane to kill them, I've always heard. But MY question is is anywhere in the abyss sufficient, or does it have to be the same layer of the abyss they were from originally..?

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

If you destroy a demon's form, all its stuff goes back into the abyss and it is reborn as a dretch. A fate worse than death, if you ask me 😂

[@AJPickett]

Their essence returns to the Abyss, in the case of the Balor, it doesn't flat out die, it's physical form explodes and it's essence returns to the Abyss.

[@krispalermo8133]

When a Pit Fiend gets defeated by a paladin once to many times, the Pit Fiend gets demoted . For the Balor, it is All Fun & Games with no demotion.

[@markusnavergard2387]

there is a sketch in the Mst3k episode, the sword and the dragon, where Tom servo is the DM. the first encounter he has the face is a Level 4 Balrog. Balors always makes me think of that skit.

[@picktsie]

My players are either going to fight a Balor tonight, or, they are going to run. If they're smart they'll run...

[@Yuudaddy]

It was nice to slaughter that Balor with his minions and back in Neverwinter Nights 2 but was he was still weak compared to the Red Dragon Tholapsyx. Not to mention the King of Shadows himself...

[@jacobwilson8579]

Back to hell everybody we got a date with a devil or well devil's

[@Eisenwulf666]

What not many people consider is that, while there are more powerful demons and demon lords, a balor is pretty much the highest ranking demon most players will face. Unless their DM wants to humble them with some Demon lord, since most campaigns end around the 10th/11th level a balor should be a really deadly and legendary foe. It's a being of cunning,careful planning, neigh infinite resources and unfathomable cruelty. Perfect to be the ultimate Big Bad. That's why,in my opinion,you should never call him a balor (unless it's The Balor) but "Red Maw the merciless" or "The End of All Hopes" or some other romantic and mysterious name. Make your players fear and loathe it, never show him until the very end. Think of Diablo I: all the game you hear talking about Diablo,but you never really see him, you see the despair he brought to Tristram, you encounter his minions, each more powerful than the one before and realise that they all fear Him. Then, at last you meet him and after a terrific fight you defeat him, for now at least. Your players are the heroes and can brag about having defeated Diablo(or RedMaw or Belakor or whatever), not just another demon.

[@Eisenwulf666]

Wow senpai noticed me !

[@theredneckunicorn9752]

Balors are my favorite villians.

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

So if you gave them spell casting harrier the feet from 3rd and 3.5 which allows them to force any spellcaster that they are facing in melee combat to roll a concentration check before it can cast a spell even if the spell is instant cast would that break the game I would think so

[@marvalice3455]

balors are one of my favorites :D

[@tatsusama3192]

9:06 Demon: Hahaha, stop that

[@OgreBattleIsForeverMore]

How about Tarnhem, the father of Acererak, found in the Return of the Tomb of Horrors by Monty Cook.

[@AJPickett]

Hmmmm, that is some deep lore.

[@OgreBattleIsForeverMore]

@@AJPickett My Bad, it was written by Bruce Cordell. Mea Culpa.

[@OgreBattleIsForeverMore]

@@AJPickett Tarnhem's 5e stat block: 5e.tools/bestiary/tarnhem-imr.html

[@markusnavergard2387]

wonder why there not a dark and ice counterpart to balors? we could call them Chernabogs

[@pariswashington5543]

Are you going to do pit fiend

[@AJPickett]

For sure!

[@pitviper6652]

Hey AJ, did you ever do a video on anti-dragon spells like you mentioned in the “Drake” video, or did I miss it?

[@AJPickett]

It's on my To-Do list

[@pitviper6652]

Okay, thank you. I just got really curious cause I’ve been reviewing all of your dragon vids, since I’m world building right now.

[@nomadjensen8276]

I always imagined that its pronounced Dur ruh gar. I felt that since many of the audio books said it the same way that i was on the right track. and I also think its funny that you mention the balor that lolth brings into her service on a couple occasions. I started the beginning of that book but realized that I had skipped ahead. Stuck around till lolth and him were fighting. then went back to the appropriate book in the chronological order.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Is it a demotion though? Those that rank over balors are special cases. One is a thing that acts as a commander in the united abyssal armies and the other is literally grafted to the demonlord they serve in a process that is anything but pleasant. Balors are pretty much the step one arrives at when they are ready to be a lieutenant to a demonlord or a lesser demonlord themselves. They really are just as high ranked and imposing as that implies. One wouldn't consider Goristro to be high up the chain of command despite them being absolutely massive and strong enough to give giants a run for their money. Balors truly are abyssal royalty.

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

Balor is the name of a demon king from Celtic myth whose main feature was that it had an eye whose gaze was incendiary. Maybe Balors are named after that. Maybe a constant cone of fire eyes would be cool as shit

[@morganmcconal4785]

Balor vs Angron?

[@jackreacher4297]

“You fools! Run..” “You Shall not Pass!” “go”

[@kangax]

Complete history on the Twisted Rune!!

[@jackreacher4297]

Favorite Balors through out material... Balor LoTR’s, Diablo from the Diablo video games. Baal from Diablo 2. ... Thamuz in MLBB

[@gabrielshervo678]

Or washing dishes before my lady gets home to play. Thanks again!

[@pbr-streetgang]

Thanks for the vid sir.

[@Pantjay]

Sweet always love me some demons! Where my spikey boyz at?

[@venkelos6996]

I have a weird compulsion to want to see Malkizid and Wendonai do battle...or maybe even team up, in an effort to cause Lolth some issue.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

I like this creature, but hate that they gave them the name Balor. In Irish mythology, Balor was the biggest and baddest of the Formorians, essentially a giant cyclops(Giant Cyclops seems like a redundancy, but this thing dwarfed the other giants in Irish mythology) that can shoot lasers from its eye. Also, it enslaved the entire Fir Bolg race(also from Irish mythology). Seems like they missed a perfect chance to give the D&D Formorians a decent King/God figure to worship and the Fir Bolg an evil deity to fear.

[@markusnavergard2387]

Agree with you

[@AJPickett]

Balor, and the Fomorians were the pantheon and religion of the original Mediterranean descended peoples who inhabited the islands of Britain and Ireland before the invading celts arrived from the mainland. As it the norm in the ancient world, the conquered people's gods were incorporated into the mythology as the forefathers of the current gods (same happened with the Titans of Greek mythology).

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

AJ Pickett That actually makes sense historically within Irish mythology, as the Fir Bolg supposedly were a group of early inhabitants of Ireland that were split into four groups and driven off the island by the Formorians, fleeing to the south east only to be enslaved by the Greek before returning to Ireland to be enslaved by the Formorians and used as soldiers against the Tuatha de Dannan(descendants of the group that fled to the north). If you can’t tell, I’m Irish and obsessed with mythology in general.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

AJ Pickett the name Fir Bolg actually means “Fur Bag” in Irish Gaelic. A name given to them when they returned to Ireland after their Grecian enslavement due to the bags they stored their all possessions in. Think the typical hobo’s “bag on a stick” thingy(I used to know the name for that, but have since forgotten it), but with fur instead of cloth.

[@JamiesonHorton]

I watched this video with the specific intent to learn the correct way to pronounce the creature's name, lol

[@MadAtreides1]

The balor pic I can understand but why the pit fiend?

[@AJPickett]

Hmmm?

[@MarcosLugao]

One question, each time a player hit the balor he'll get fire damage? Ex: Fighter have 3 attacks on his turn, he'll get fire damage on every hit landed or just the first? Second question - where u get these images? XD

[@AJPickett]

He gets one dose of fire damage per round from the proximity. Mostly Google image search and Pinterest.

[@MarcosLugao]

@@AJPickett i'll search for balor now, ty. About the aura, have a little description saying "when a melee hit the balor", that is my doubt.

[@AJPickett]

@@MarcosLugao I can only answer how I play it, I would not tell a DM how to run their game. 😊

[@axepoison255]

Poison that can poison those that are immune to poison... (ponders for a moment) Oysters?

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Axe Poison Yes, but only if eaten during months ending in “R”.

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

Laxitive. Nobody is safe from it, even satan.

[@pariswashington5543]

@@Im-Not-a-Dog what is axe poison

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Paris Washington It’s the name of the guy who made the original comment. It’s also a poison in D&D that works on creatures immune to poison. Don’t know where the name came from originally.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Paris Washington I assume it’s nanoscopic living vorpal axes in a colloidal solution that literally cuts things apart from the inside. If I had to guess, I’d say the Gnomes or Mind Flayers made it, because whenever theres an item who’s description starts with “I have no idea how this works, but...” it always seems to be either Gnomes or Mind Flayers that made it. But then again, the definition of Axe Poison is purposefully ambiguous, so this is all just a guess.

[@AvromCrovax]

Sounds like a greater poison. Kinda like the curse of strahd can't be cured with remove curse.

[@johanelmqvist3741]

Will you do Cambion devils?

[@crazyfishkicker]

please do a Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Strix

[@AJPickett]

Holly Conrad's Trash Witch player character Strix Beestinger? Well, clearly I would do a video on Jim Darkmagic or the Newhampshire Darkmagics, as he is far more famous.

[@joewhite6844]

When I think of balor I think of a bloodthirster from 40k.

[@Taylor1989s]

Hell yes

[@generaljackson5741]

If you really want to confuse your players like no tomorrow, have a Balor NPC living on the surface that is a lawful good traveling minstrel as a joke character.

[@johnnyscifi]

General Jackson Ned Flanders

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

“Hey Snoop Dog! Who’s your favorite demon?” “It’s Badrizzle, my nizzle. Fo shizzle.”

[@draxthemsklonst]

Badrizzle. Nice.