Ecology of the Dorreq, Dungeons and Dragons Lore

[@madmalone6616]

9:31 To play Asmodious' advocate 😅, maybe this represents thier higher dimensional nature? The "frequency" of stone is like water to them or even air.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

“We stand in awe before powers we were not meant to comprehend”

[@AJPickett]

*_Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn_*

[@Jeremycook_]

@@AJPickett I was about to say the same thing lol

[@joshuazane3210]

This is cosmic horror at its best. Entities that make the mad god Tharizdun (who all the gods combined had to improson) look like a petulant child for even paying attention to this multiverse.

[@tonyoliver4920]

The vortex is the door to our prison. To open the door we just need the keys. Plot hook: find the 333 purple prison keys and free us to access the other plane’s. The are all little purple gems

[@MoonGoblin]

Is the vortex what Tharizdun got his symbol from? Also it's interesting how there's this idea of the great old ones being trapped by the gods in a dream when that's what the gods did to Tharizdun. Maybe a misinterpretation of what happened there?

[@AJPickett]

The symbol is probably the vortex, yes.

[@bookwyrmbaneoftheplothole8500]

I really enjoy when you cover the various Kobold Press monsters, there’s nobody else really doing ecology breakdowns on non-official monsters, I would love to hear you cover the Akaasit constructs, or the Blestsessebe and the Cyonaxin celestials

[@AJPickett]

Remember, I'm not going into lore about Golarion or Midgard very much in my vids, mainly because I don't game in those settings personally so, its not big on my motivation list to learn about them (though I have plenty of books I can check for folks who ask me questions about them), but if my vids get more interest by suggesting ways the creatures can be used more universally (multiversally?) that is good for other brands flagship settings as well as a secondary benefit... at least, I hope and intend so.

[@bookwyrmbaneoftheplothole8500]

@@AJPickett Absolutely, and to be honest I don’t use or care about most of the setting specific lore for any creature like what gods were involved with their creation or what region of the planet they’re commonly found in, don’t get me wrong Forgotten Realms and any other setting’s lore is great for background as far as context goes for how the creature was initially intended to be used, but since I just don’t play games set in official settings for the most part and create my own homebrew worlds, I’m far more interested in the general ideas of the ecology and mythology of the monster itself as it could be used in any TTRPG setting, ie they were created by a god of nature and they live in forested regions; but that being said I think that most monsters can work in a Realms-type world and so I’m always cribbing stuff from different worlds to use that to fit alongside D&D as a basis, Pathfinder especially has all sorts of fantastic outsider subtypes that can be easily converted to work within the modded 5e system I use and are great to fill areas that D&D hasn’t touched; their daemons and qlippoth are great extensions of the sparse yugoloth and Obyrith presence in modern D&D, and they also expand on the rakshasas in a great way as well as all the other unique types of fiends with the Divs, Asuras, Sakhils, and Oni, and that’s just the Lower Planes, the more neutrally aligned Monitor type pretty much doesn’t exist in D&D with the Modrons, Rilmani, and Slaadi being the closest to it in D&D, but the Aeons, Proteans, Psychopomps, Kami, Xiomorns, etc all would absolutely work generally within the Forgotten Realms or any similar broad-reaching fantasy setting and work better than some existing monsters for more niche styles of world. Ultimately I just enjoy this format so getting monster lore to inspire plot hooks and story beats for whatever beasties make me happy, but I’m especially happy to see you covering Kobold Press and Pathfinder creatures since those two are where I’m primarily looking for new monsters these days. Roll for Combat’s Battlezoo also has two great monster manuals with fantastic setting-independent monsters and monster families, they’ve got some especially good Fey monsters.

[@joshuahansen5486]

The inherent Cosmic horror of being an NPC and somebody else's story

[@Comicnut64]

Perfect I’m stuck in the car and AJ hits it out of the park with a cosmic horror vid

[@tonyoliver4920]

🌀🌀 Hail Tharizdun 🌀🌀

[@AJPickett]

*_Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn_*

[@tonyoliver4920]

@@AJPickett one day I’m going to run a call of Cthulhu game. All my players will be cultists! You get first seat! If you give me a good char back story! Why are we waking an old one? What have you been promised? Who have you lost? Why should we trust, what you believe? Who is Sarah? Is this dream a torture? Do you need to awaken from your constant PAIN!!!!! Tell me about your horror

[@danielleglorie8164]

dorks fighting dorreqs

[@kell9743]

Roll out of bed at 4 AM see my main sage has a new video, so I clicks. Proceed to descent into madness for 5 minutes before getting slapped with gangrene lips on a human squid beak. Gonna be in the shower thinking about reality popping like a bubble and swarms of nightmare blow flies. Not gonna be my favorite shower. We who are about to die inside! Salute you!

[@johngleeman8347]

Perhaps you could have a draeden send a few dozen dorreqs as disposable minions to help cultists do its bidding. Or do they not count as great old ones? XD

[@AJPickett]

Hmmmm, lesser Old Ones maybe, kind of like the Lamprey's that clung to them, feeding on scraps of reality.

[@sw33n3yto00]

Thank you. Was looking for a player hook to use for my players to go after a mutations necromancer, and Dorreq flesh might do the trick.

[@cernunnos_lives]

You put out some impressive scripts. I love it when you put lore together like this.

[@AJPickett]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@monkeySkulls]

octopus car wash! a couple months ago I saw a car wash called octopus car Wash, and on top of the sign pole they had an octopus. not a sign with an octopus on it, it was a 3d Statue of an octopus. I remember when I drove around the bend and saw it up there, I immediately thought that a flying octopus would be an awesome d&d encounter.

[@DEMONOFLOVEANDDEATH]

Bless the Mighty GlueStick

[@ernestcline2868]

I suppose that as written, they're useful if you want Cthulhu-esque elements in your D&D. I don't, but I could see adapting them into non-bipedal demons even if one ignores the concept of the Void.

[@StyleshStorm]

I'm new to all things D&D thanks to BG3 introducing me. Imagine someone so fresh get's this dropped on them just trying to understand all the story elements on bg3 itself. Although I'm familiar with Lovecraft unknown able horror and Cthulhu as the flagship so I'm not too far lost but it's interesting to see D&D Multiverse has it's own version of it.

[@skrotosd]

welcome to the tabletop world, we have snacks! With my 22years of dungeon mastering i hope you have all the fun in this fantastic world

[@AJPickett]

Welcome to the deep lore 🙂

[@MaxGideonActor]

I like your drawing of the Dorreq!

[@Wastelandman7000]

The portrait at the end was pretty danged awesome too.

[@Jeremycook_]

Christ, that thumbnail is something else. Nitemare activated. Thanks AJ lol

[@AJPickett]

I call it "ick bait"

[@Jeremycook_]

@@AJPickett nailed it

[@garvinanders2355]

This was interesting as always, although I admit I use a bit of a different cosmology so it would take some hammering to fit it in. Not impossible though. Howler Wasp sound super interesting, look forward to the day you cover them.

[@guuspot923]

Weirdly I seem to have missed your videos for a bit. I'll be sure to binge and upvote for a bit :) Also, as always, my compliments for the chef. :)

[@AJPickett]

Welcome back Guuspot923!

[@guuspot923]

@@AJPickett Thanks! It's the darndest thing, your videos just stopped showing up in my feed for a bit. Guess I pushed the algorithm too far elsewhere.

[@chadlynch1551]

:Party comes across another cult trying to contact the Great Old Ones: "There's always some 'em 'effers trying to ice skate up hill!" Just what I always wanted, a Lovecraftian version of a flying decapus.

[@AJPickett]

The Decapus eh? This may end up being "That ain't Calamari!" month.

[@krispalermo8133]

@@AJPickett " It's A Trap .. ! " Sorry, I show myself Endor.

[@fabriciocaxias9572]

Our favorite neozelander, back to it

[@codychavez9839]

I know WotC is absolute dog sh*t but I want to say that I appreciate you continuing to cover the rich and expansive lore of Dungeons & Dragons. I understand that it is in the worst state that it’s ever been currently but across three solid editions (first through third) The Lore and the writers that wrote the Lore is still quite amazing.

[@AJPickett]

4th edition was the worst state it has been in, by all metrics (not hating on 4th, I played that edition all the way through as well, just stating the facts)

[@codychavez9839]

@@AJPickett I used to think that to but after the OGL catastrophe and the continuing perversion of the property with modern politics and absolute corporate greed, I’m lead to believe this edition is certainly becoming the worst.

[@unholyghost-n2w]

​@@AJPickettWhat metrics? Genuinely curious.

[@AJPickett]

@@unholyghost-n2w Pathfinder overtook WotC sales for one, it was basically shunned by over half the existing player base and failed to garner the influx of new players that 5th ed has. 5th has sold A LOT of books and established a new generation of gamers to the hobby.

[@AJPickett]

@@codychavez9839 We are at the tail end of 5E though, going into 5R or, as I predicted the "Rules Compendium" version of the edition. So, if I am comparing it to BECMI, its got to be up there with the most successful editions ever printed. BECMI ran longer than any other edition of the game after all.

[@boogeiyman]

Interesting and obscure stuff, very nice!

[@anathema1828]

Excellent content- the portrait artwork at the end is epic!

[@AJPickett]

Thanks to *Esper's Emporium of Esoterica* , the only source of official stats for the Sage of Candlekeep.

[@anathema1828]

@@AJPickett DANK. I’ll have to check it out thanks for the plug!

[@lelduck6388]

How does Ao’s creation of the world fit into the Great old ones? Is he perhaps one of them, (a low to mid level one) which is why the world can even exist?

[@AJPickett]

Ao is a relatively low rank Immortal maybe? He's pretty vague to be honest and certainly not as in charge of the world as he claims... everyone seems to forget about the Celestial Court of Kara-Tur for instance - Thats on the SAME supercontinent!

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Ao seems to operate as the final judge on matters. His purpose being to ensure some power doesn't destabilize existence. Not as a king of gods. Pretty powerful but otherwise kinda hands off. I mean...would YOU want overgod level magics spinning around?

[@darkranger116]

It seems like its still up in the air, but from my point of view, Ao could be as old as the Old Ones, could be another being from the ancient dimension as the Old Ones, could be one of the first creations of the Old Ones as a justicar-mediator of all the realms and gods that live in their shadow.. i feel like those 3 might be the highest possibilities

[@trajanfidelis]

Thanks for another great video AJ! Beware the Great Old Ones!

[@omega1735]

Ahh yes the eldrich abomination my players are going to hate it. Bought all the tomb of beast volumes recently haven’t fully looked threw them yet but oh boy I have ideas.

[@Morberis]

I wonder what what would happen if a mindflayer managed to implant a tadpole in 1

[@AJPickett]

The tadpole will die.

[@skrotosd]

11:00 love the drawing

[@AJPickett]

Thanks

[@NanoMayTry]

Starsquids if you may. They scuttle around and that's nice. Awesome stuff AJ

[@destonlee2838]

This is the decapus I wanted in palace of the silver princess.

[@nikkiorr7088]

This lore was awe inspiring

[@lifesupport2112]

Makes you think.

[@nathankiefer9323]

I'm a lore nerd and I've never heard of great old ones or this vortex in dnd. I'm very intrigued.

[@AJPickett]

You've never read BECMI?! GET TO THE BOOKS ACOLYTE!!

[@aaroncunningham8307]

Do you have videos on golems? There are a lot of old golem variants that aren’t used in 5e, could make for a good video.

[@AJPickett]

I really should have more, I do really love the whole concept and history of Golems... I will bump that up to top priority this month, thanks for asking!

[@chadstinson9886]

I sure did like the stories from Dragon magazine. Still plan on doing anymore?

[@AJPickett]

Yep

[@chriscalvin5083]

good Video Aj

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Chris

[@aaronnoisey3754]

Creative lore!

[@JS-zd4yp]

Love the far realm stuff

[@DeanNatheos-eq3hl]

Thank you.

[@AlucardNoir]

Will they also attack aberrations?

[@AJPickett]

Yes

[@AlucardNoir]

@@AJPickett poor Ilithids. First they get put in prison, then their food turns bad and now they have to take a beating from the guards every time the rats dig a whole in the wall.

[@zmishiymishi5349]

i wonder if Karsus can cross the Great Vortex.

[@AJPickett]

Not a chance

[@krispalermo8133]

DC else worlds, or Marvel What, If ? Wayne manor is built over a sea cave system that is a magical energy nexus. Bruce never really had a choice not to become Batman, .. even If his parents lived and he had siblings. Well, you have Doctor Strange Mansion along with Castle Greyskull. Why not the Wayne estate ? Flash, " Sorry wrong dimensional shift house. " Batman's dad being a real doctor, background with Adam West Batman style of humor of the tv series " Mash." Thomas Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth were in the same field unit. Both men grew up with some type encounter with Lovecraft monsters. Batman's home becomes whatever you need in a ghost story house tale.

[@ReadyMack-g]

Nice sound scape

[@zacharyweaver276]

12:33 well you can't post a picture of a monster and make me not want a video on it now

[@richardgilson4704]

AJ is your copy the 2023 edition of Tome of Beasts 1 I bet it was changed in there as well. I know there were "updates" between the 2016 edition and the current which I believe the DDB digital edition is based on.

[@AJPickett]

Indeed it is

[@richardgilson4704]

@@AJPickett Yeah bonus action doesn't make sense for what is obviously a movement could be formatting or the coder didn't read the stat block I'd change in back in my game as well.

[@CharlesNauck]

AJ, Have you thought about doing a list of small places? Descriptions of specific cities or countrysides. There are tons of videos on large or/and very important locations but few dedicated videos on smaller less important places such as Sschindylryn.

[@AJPickett]

I have dreamed about making a series of videos that systematically tour the entire realms, I even have a list printed out, ready to go.

[@dominictaylor6759]

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME​@@AJPickett

[@CharlesNauck]

@@AJPickett That would be awesome. So many small locations get skipped by others and they have unique aspects which is why I mentioned Sschindylryn where the male drow took over. Especially, how you've done the explanation from a Hafling on a journey. Having an evil wizard wandering through the Underdark altering his appearance/polymorph and describing what he sees would be epic (add some filler). Also having the pr I think you've hit most of the beasts/races so it would be a great way to have more content, that you find particularly interesting/revisit old races.

[@AJPickett]

@@CharlesNauck I have zero shortage of content yet to cover Charles :)

[@HenriFaust]

@@AJPickett DO IT!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

🔥🔥🔥

[@blackgriffinxx]

This was made just to give DM a in game reason for Some of the weird monsters they make. I love it. Just make a guy that buy dead Dorreq and makes "monster" They are true neutral and in it for wonder of what can be. They sell what they can to fund it and let them loose when they can't feed them. They move around offend. So they all ways leave a "mess" behind. No one really like them and fear what they may make one day on all sides. None will stop them as they reap from their great madness. Monsters that should not be. mantis shrimp and a crow. Black iridescent bird clad lightly in a carapace. A flying can of whoop ass that never forgets. It not a murder of crows but a beat down you won't forget jelly fish and honey bees. A glass bee with a soft feel to it and thin threads trailing behind them in flight. The honey with taste so good it will stop your heart dead. If you eat to much. clam and a hog. A walking clam that eat every thing . shell hard as steel. poop out pearls every few years but can spit it lacquer out in a stream. That harden quick. Pretty way to die.

[@AJPickett]

That was difficult to understand, but I follow, weird combinations of creatures using far realm mutagenics, yep

[@KrusherMike]

Smash

[@TheHornedKing]

That is one nasty creature.

[@ThengelB]

hi

[@docop8926]

these vids have been gettin to short

[@AJPickett]

Efficiency inevitably improves with time and repetition.

[@RickRando001]

Unfortunately spelling apparently does not.

[@AJPickett]

@@RickRando001 I cared once, but the youngsters have cured me of giving a damn, if you can read it, job done, if it was good enough for the bard, its good enough for me.

[@docop8926]

@@AJPickett I still love your vids I've been watchin since u where under 20k, I just figure is let u kno my thoughts....u always had the best long version vids

[@docop8926]

@@RickRando001 look another tough guy that wouldn't talk tough if we was face to face, but hey, I guess u gotta compensate for real life somehow, right?

[@mbdzel]

First

[@AJPickett]

close only counts for horseshoes and hand grenades.