Atropus a PLANET Sized Elder Evil | D&D Lore

[@elbruces]

"Have to find the MacGuffins to complete the ritual that blocks Atropus from reaching your planet" would basically be playing out the Fifth Element.

[@pancakes8670]

Not the worst idea. Pretty good movie.

[@ericlondon2663]

@@pancakes8670 Agree. Underrated film.

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

It’s also the standard plot of a Call of Cthulhu game

[@Samael6685]

​@@pancakes8670can't wait to put my players face to face with Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg.

[@Real_Iron_Smith]

...I never thought about that, but Mr. Shadow basically is Atropus, huh.

[@BrycePerry]

Atropals: he's his own best friend!

[@Jorphdan]

🤣

[@bloopsagain]

I’ve got a friend in me🎶

[@misomiso8228]

Atropus was one of my favourite elder evils - it's just so weird.

[@brightglory5734]

Ego the Unliving.

[@ninjacookbilly3474]

I am doing a Spelljammer Homebrew and your videos have really helped, just threw in a chance for Atropus and you made a video! Super thanks!

[@Jorphdan]

Glad I could help!

[@citycrusher9308]

@@Jorphdan Is it ''At-ropus'' - or - ''A-tropus''?(like atrophy). I always pronounced it as the second

[@CheeseTriangles]

How do you take on an entire planet? *smiles in magical ICBMs*

[@javierpatag3609]

"An omen in the sky coming to destroy the planet..." Jumping from one franchise and genre to another, makes me think of Unicron from the 1986 animated Transformers: the Movie.

[@Jorphdan]

You got the Touch! i.imgur.com/2Q1W5ej.jpg YOU GOT THE POWER! Yeah!

[@Xeranad]

My first thought was the Day Star/The Dark Maker ship from Jak 3, really my first experience with this kind of scenario... I ended up watching the Transformers movie years after...

[@erikbjelke4411]

I was just going to say, "clearly, we need a Warforged worthy to wield the Matrix of Leadership."

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

Jorphdan: "Oh god this is so awful why would anyone use this?!" Me, 1 edgy boi: "So I came up with my new campaign idea..."

[@Jorphdan]

Hahaha 😂 Have fun 🙂👋

[@jacobwiren8142]

@@Jorphdan I would like to point out that you can fight Atropus in 3.5. He has a CR 23 avatar that wanders his surface and if killed, it hurts him enough that he will leave. Furthermore, if you use the 3.5 book stats for the Avatar of Atropus, he is a cakewalk for high-level parties. Yes, a CAKEWALK. Death Ward blocks almost all of his abilities and he can't Dispel Magic. Without any of his negative energy attacks he resorts to summoning flaming rocks from outer space, and if you add fire immunity to your party, this is halved to just rocks. After that, it is just a slow grind pummeling through 858hp, fast healing 20, and DR 15/epic and good while your tank absorbs blows. It is an impressive block of stats, but if your party is fully equipped with the best gear for epic level it is super easy. If your party is NOT equipped with the best gear the battle quickly becomes impossible to complete, since Atropus has the epic feat Devastating Critical (which instantly kills you on a crit) and the previously mentioned insane amounts of health.

[@lucase.crusader1196]

I actually wanted a planet that drives people crazy when it gets close to "earth". So this will work as a base.

[@turtleinvader2982]

​@@jacobwiren8142yeah that's my biggest problem with him, the final boss fight is against angels of decay, up to this point we've fought a boneyard, a few skeleton dragons and a few famine spirits, while nothing to snuff at, they are nowhere near the most powerful or even interesting undead and his avatar should be a challenge for mid-high epic level for how strong he's supposed to be. After I finished his chapter I actually went back to see if I missed anything because I was so sure something was wrong. It even brings up how Orcus overthrew the Demogorgon only to do nothing with him. It goes over how the abyss is thrown into even greater chaos and hell rejoices at the new ground they take in the acts l abyss, but then nothing happens with it. The Demon Lord (now king) of undeath should at least make an appearance, not some random minion of his were told is very strong. Also the final siege has more or less the same outcome, if you kill the cultist the army kills the city, if you kill the army the cultist has her spell and blows up the city, this is an important piece since it's what draws Atrophus to the world of the setting, but knowing that it's going to fail in either situation kinda makes me feel like there isn't point to trying to stop them. Sure if you're roleplaying then the PC's didn't know that and maybe not even the players, but it still can make the upcoming fight slightly underwhelming. Aside from the Bodak, not a single undead is that smart. I can't think of any of them having any interesting thoughts of a world going undead and their opinions on it. The Bodak just likes watching things burn but perhaps a group of vampires begin to open their castle doors to mortals for protection cause if all the people are dead who are they to feed off of? And for a being called Atrophus not a single atropal shows up, they're even stronger than his avatar. Astral scions (weaker atropals) don't even get a mention.

[@jacobwiren8142]

@turtleinvader2982 seeing the giant list of abilities and realizing that death ward blocks all of them made me die inside as a GM

[@Whichendup]

Jorphdan: "Oh god this is so awful why would anyone use this?!" Did you know Robert Schwalb (check the cover of Elder Evils) wrote an entire roleplaying game inspired by this concept called Shadow of the Demon Lord? Which is an amazing game with a lot of content.

[@TechnoCheezit]

Did newer lore make Atropals related to Atropus? I thought, whilst having similar names, Atropals were more related to the idea of stillborn gods that feed off of the negative energy plane, and Atropus is an elder evil which is entirely different from divine offspring. Some good examples of Atropals are in AJ Pickett's video on atropals, but he does tend to combine lore throughout editions so maybe I'm misinformed here? EDIT: Older Editions and such. In FR they're supposed to be detritus of Atropus.

[@Aelfwine78]

I was thinking the same thing. The 3rd edition epic level handbook was pretty specific that they were stillborn offspring of gods.

[@papanurgle8393]

Both can work simulatenously; Some Atropals are directly born from Atropus, the cast-off detritus of creation (which birthed the gods themselves), and take shape from the necromantic flesh that periodically casts off it. Other Atropals are stillborn Gods, which are born from the necrotized divine flesh/essence, likely made up of the same stuff as Atropus itself (decaying godly afterbirth).

[@NoFunAllowed]

Love Tomb of Annihilation and this is a great reminder of the grand finale!

[@homespunheroes]

Oh wow, I actually just finished a campaign with Atropus as the final villian! Really cool to see Atropus getting the attention it deserves

[@MillerTheDragon1995]

Atropus: you can kill the prophet but you cant kill the god WE ARE HUNGRY MAKE US WHOLE AGAIN

[@dylanshanley9724]

Atropus is the current BBEG of a Ghostwalk campaign I’m running. It’s been a blast.

[@Insane-Howl-Cowl]

This is a video I've been wanting to see for a long time. The battle on Atropus always seemed nigh impossible as you take so much necrotic damage each round.

[@UnableToFindName]

As someone who's running a game currently with Atropus as the main source of conflict, this video was nice to see. I messed up by giving the players TOO MUCH information once the ball started rolling. If anyone is going to use an Elder Evil in their campaign, remember: Be subtle, be patient, be mysterious and unclear. These entities should be unknowable without great effort, and maddening when they are known. Do not tell the players the threat is an Elder Evil, or at least, which one it is.

[@ivanoppermann3997]

oh man, big fan of this video. My party just hit 18th level, and they are soon to travel to Atropus' surface for a final confrontation. I guess its good news that I didn't miss any lore about my BBEG, if this video is fully comprehensive.

[@epiccthulu]

Elder evils are just one of the many reasons mortals need the gods. They are points of spears, focusing and weaponizing our unified desire of not wanting to be eaten by horrific things. “Atropus no eating, Atropus no eating, Atropus no eating!”

[@zacharyhawley1693]

One of the last epic campaign I had the honor to play with. We had atropus descending and then the DM hit us with the fact Ragnorra was coming towards the opposite side of the planet. It took all our demigod power to alter her trajectory but we smashed her straight into the moon of death. One side of the world is now home to twisted life and the other is completely barren and dead. Now only life that everyone knew is only possible in a vertical strip, this new equator. We left it on a highish note. Building great walls to keep the horrors out as the first duties of the new gods of this strip and the survivors of the apocalypse.

[@O4C209]

Well, might have to use this when my group "finishes" Rime of the Frost Maiden.

[@firetarrasque4667]

Right, right, but hear me out: Father Lymic.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

Time to create my Arcane Cleric to take on Atropus and make a bargain for eternity... this is on the cutting edge for something on the horizon of DnD. You're onto something here, Jorphdan. And the art selection is on point! I feel like I'm in midst of a new adventure intro season but the vanguard of it! Good video, Jorphdan!

[@sykune]

I am getting dr strange vibes here.

[@ArcRevenant]

My players had a vision of Atropus after they slew a Starspawn Seer a few months ago. I was planning on finishing the campaign with his arrival. So, this video is helpful. It's more than I could find on him.

[@lancearmada]

I had considered having a metro exodus esque campaign in post apocalyptic forgotten realms after an elder evil like Atropus killed off all life on the surface, though Idk if Atropus would be what I use in the end.

[@itzybitzyspyder]

5th Element if they didn't get the match lit.

[@nvfury13]

Fallout: Waterdeep...sounds interesting.

[@nvfury13]

Some kind of Far Realm entity would be better, get you your bizarre “mutant” creatures and even some Stalker style anomalies.

[@green_daddy6074]

You gotta do Father Llymic next bro

[@floopthevolcano2330]

That Armegeddon strategy could work. Just make a "Nuke" with several hundred portable holes and several hundred bags of holding. I think you see where this is going.

[@blackhillsbirder881]

Wow, this is very similar to the bbeg I had planned - the first deity, Mother Prime. Like Atropus, she seeks to unmake her creation. She even uses a Nightwalker, which in my world is her failed first attempt at life.

[@Necrodancer1312]

I did a modified version of the Atropus story from the Elder Evils book set in Eberron and it was a lot of fun. It's been one of my favorite big bads in the D&D multiverse ever since.

[@MaestroOblidemon]

Elder Evils from 3.5 is totally a must read for DMs that like creepy stuff. Awesome Video! There's also the Aspect of Atropus whis is pretty creepy and reminds me of some of Half Life's aliens.

[@MysterygamerX1234]

Basically a Brethren Moon

[@keelsron634]

I'm running T.O.A and enjoy hearing the lore about it, I hope they one day make a High level adventure fighting Atropus because it'll feel like wrapping up a lose end.

[@maxxor-overworldhero6730]

Quite frankly, I'm still surprised that no one has ever tried to banish Atropus by getting a literal crap-ton of Flumphs.

[@garrettgilcrease]

Love the video keep the elder evils coming!

[@hermeticbear]

I had never heard of this one, but I remember in 3.5 Epic handbook they introduced the atropals, which was fascinating.

[@emoharalampiev1590]

Me: "Oh it's just an 8 minute video, I'll watch it and go to bed" Me 30 minutes later, has paused the video 8 times to think about ideas that I could add to the campaign I'm planning, 2 out of which I went to actually write down stuff and spent 5-10 minutes every time writing, just to come back resume the video and realize that the last minute of video time I was thinknig about my campaign so much that I legit didn't register ANYTHING you said. So then go a minute back and resume. Oh yeah and I'm still 2 and a half minutes in the video. Haha but love watching it though.

[@Jason-ue7gi]

I've been wanting to run a game centered around Atropus for YEARS- ever since I got a copy of Elder Evils secondhand

[@Coto516]

This just made my campaign ideas way cooler

[@BaloosSketchbook]

I need more LOOORE!! this is great! tank you!

[@gamrr_NERD]

This has a lot of Dead Space vibes even though it was made way before Dead Space. A moon or planet sized object generating undead creatures.

[@lancearmada]

Just had an idea for an Atropus origin: the gods used it to create life in the plane and it is seeking to reclaim that life that was stolen from it.

[@sykune]

Why does that sound familar

[@vigilantgamesllc]

Thank you so much for an awesome campaign idea!

[@Jorphdan]

Any time!

[@Tsugama]

Space jammer BBEG baby!! Using this in my next space opera 5e campaign. Thanks man

[@rapsterzeber7747]

When a video starts with a content warning you know it has to be good.

[@jrvaters915]

And there’s even a miniature coming out of a Atropal in the next D&D set, Boneyard!

[@jacobwiren8142]

I would like to point out that you can fight Atropus in 3.5. He has a CR 23 avatar that wanders his surface and if killed, it hurts him enough that he will leave. Furthermore, if you use the 3.5 book stats for the Avatar of Atropus, he is a cakewalk for high-level parties. Yes, a CAKEWALK. Death Ward blocks almost all of his abilities and he can't Dispel Magic. Without any of his negative energy attacks he resorts to summoning flaming rocks from outer space, and if you add fire immunity to your party, this is halved to just rocks. After that, it is just a slow grind pummeling through 858hp, fast healing 20, and DR 15/epic and good while your tank absorbs blows. It is an impressive block of stats, but if your party is fully equipped with the best gear for epic level it is super easy. If your party is NOT equipped with the best gear the battle quickly becomes impossible to complete, since Atropus has the epic feat Devastating Critical (which instantly kills you on a crit) and the previously mentioned insane amounts of health.

[@JoeySoul]

In my homebrew world Atropus is one of the possible final encounters. In the lore I made the elemental planes existed before the gods and were controlled by their primordial. In addition to the four base elemental planes there was a plane for life and plane for death. During the war between the planes the primordials of both life and death were killed. Somehow they merged to form Atropus who has since been wondering space.

[@grantake]

Highly recommend the 5e Adventure, The Call of Atropus, by Christopher Walz. It has a delightfully Lovecraftian take on Atropus. I have run it twice. It works best if you don’t tell your players anything about Atropus’s backstory though.

[@TheBayzent]

I've used him as an unseen big bad on an adventure that dealt with his cult from levels 1-35, he is a constant shadow looming in my World since every single undead creature is compelled to try attract it, my world is based on Ravenloft, Castlevania, Innistrad, and lately for 5e I'm adding Grim Hollow stuff on it so...yeah...

[@TheCrimsonElite666]

The way you described the Atropal makes me want to picture it as some kind of B.T. from Death Stranding, except the Atropal pre-dates the B.T.s by a long time. In fact, I like the idea of beings native to the negative-energy plane, like the Atropal and Nightwalker, resembling something like a mix between B.T.s, and the Typhon from Prey 2017.

[@idigamstudios7463]

Atropus was the main bad in one of my longest running games. If summoned it would just end the campaign setting for where it went the negative plane followed. It was the death of realities and a cosmic nihilist was trying to summon it. Basically the way I run Atropus is if it shows up fully game end.

[@Insertfunnycomment]

Seeing you covering this makes me super sad because I have some players who watch your videos and now I can't use this beautiful, BEAUTIFUL creatures. RIP.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Why can't you?

[@Insertfunnycomment]

@@youcantbeatk7006 Because a being like Atropus is worthy of an "Oh shit" moment where you find out that that dot you've been seeing in the sky, growing slowly larger, is the BBEG of the campaign. With them knowing about his existence, the players will know what the BBEG is immediately, sort of ruining the surprise.

[@scottwerner279]

Jorphdan and MrRhexx dueling with the lore uploads

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Jorphdan has always been topdog in that department.

[@Deefry]

Thank you for this! I'm writing an adventure centred around Hadar at the moment, so I hope he will be featured as well!

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

It makes me think of that : band “origin” album “omnipresence” a giant nest looking thing eats everything, also like the war machine in star-trek TOS .

[@prathia8699]

I know too little about DnD and Magic lore but now I have a new head cannon about the prime mover and the U Dragon, now that Magic is in someway DnD Cannon. The Ur Dragon created the planes of MTG and began to die as it reached the crystal spheres that form the DnD settings. The reason we are getting MTG sourcebooks is because spelljammers have only just started reaching the more stable, earlier creations of The Prime Mover, The Ur Dragon. the last remaining child of the Ur Dragon, Io attempted to continue the Ur Dragon's work and would later meet his end somehow.

[@oTMMo]

Nice, loved the video. I'm running a Atropos themed campaign at the moment where the PC's will have to freeze Atropos with an enhanced version of the frigid woe for explorers guid to Wildemount. Anyway I totally forgot about the atropals.. so thank you for reminding me of that terrible foe my players will have to face in ne not so distant future.

[@Jorphdan]

Awesome 😎

[@300SmithsInARoom]

Love this! More please 😁

[@matthewdunham1689]

Groot knows what to do.

[@temmy9]

Basically the evil being from fifth element.

[@florenmage]

Ah what a wonderful d... looks up in the sky and sees Atropus. "HONEY WE ARE PLANESHIFTING NOW GET THE KIDS!!!..."

[@Jorphdan]

LOL

[@atomicash2475]

0:01 ah yes the good cosmic evil stuff

[@foleylione]

So two separate origins. One seems to imply the corpse of god after the “gods” had taken his perfection and divinity. The second was the vampire runt of the gods that existed in the middle of no where. One of those is so much darker and more interesting than the other.

[@LordChaosHavik]

"How do you take on a whole planet?" **Laughs in DBZ** Also: "You Can't Just Blow A Hole Into The Surface Of Atropus!"

[@Michael-Drizzt]

Luring it out of the crystal sphere of Realmspace seems the better option.

[@lordshell]

I just remember the Atropals from the Epic Level Handbook.

[@namelessentity1167]

Perhaps even get the aid of the mind flares to take care of this primordial evil once and for all

[@alexanderhayes7255]

Yo! I would use this as an endgame BBEG for sure. You can spend multiple campaigns to gather your version of the Infinity stones and have a secondary bad guy try and destroy this beast.

[@wellwhatever2787]

Ah, the Vorpal Blade from Alice: Madness Returns. The nostalgia...

[@MisterSquid1]

Ooh sounds like a great idea for my future aberrant mind sorcerer

[@squirrellordsgaming2772]

Makes me think of the "Brother Moons" from the Deadspace series.

[@MassiveKreutz]

Can someone tell me where the handdrawn illustration of the planes from 1:48 is from? I'm reworking the larger multiverse lore for my homebrew campaign, and schematic overviews like this can be very usefull.

[@lornbaker1083]

I'm getting the feeling like after the failure at the tomb of the 9 gods . mister acererak Decided To go right to the source. This place

[@digunder14]

adventure idea, mission to drill into the core of atropus and plant a timed magical positive energy bomb

[@Jorphdan]

Adventurers don't know anything about drilling! You'll need to take a rag tag team of dwarf miners to get the job done.

[@mattosev]

I would love a video about Westgate, Ravens Bluff and other Sea of Fallen Stars cities.

[@atomicash2475]

Azerack, like Vecna, wasn't this failed God's father, but he tried to be his daddy. I like to think Vecna requested baby pictures of his grandbaby

[@flibbernodgets7018]

This reminds me of that Junji Ito story, hellplanet Remina? Something like that.

[@brittanislarp3850]

Yaaaassss!! MOAR ELDER EVILS!!

[@Kooster69]

I wouldn't be surprised if Atropus and Unicron are related.

[@pogeman2345]

So this is where Paizo got the idea for Groetus.

[@simonmorley4816]

I think that the warning at the start was a bit overblown, its not that gross. A bit for sure, but only a bit. Totally like the idea of role-playing Armageddon the movie in Torril

[@ryanulrich2147]

Yay, the more Elder Evils, the better.

[@frostdragonking5336]

oh nice, a flying head with hordes of undead chilling on it and is the creator of the big undead god babies. Dnd never fail to amaze me with their villains and cosmic world ending threats. If you want more things to research look for the 9 (?) sentient stars and their messenger. One of them has a spell named after it, Hadar.

[@Gillemear]

So, an evil undead version of Knowhere

[@andreguia1731]

Atropus and his atro-pals

[@cyntogia]

Maybe the best you can hope for is to distract it so it doesn't come to your world.

[@spaceninja7687]

I think I killed one of those Atropul in a DDAL module. Thankfully it was vulnerable to daylight and my Sunbeam attack.

[@dibaterman]

Kind of glossed over Atropus - there's a lot more to it than just it gets closer. It is drawn by death which is what pulled it to the Mindflayers. Is there a cult of Atropus? I don't think so - it's more like Orcust would use Atropus to create worlds of the undead through his cult.

[@Spacemongerr]

Heey Jorphdan, you're the first channel I've ever supported on Patreon! Have any plans to run more games? Really enjoyed Rod of Seven Parts :)

[@Jorphdan]

Thanks for being a patron :D Yes I want to run the Great Modron March! I'm juggling a busy muggle day job workload. This spring I think we'll get the Rod of Seven Parts crew back together. They all want to keep playing!

[@Spacemongerr]

@@Jorphdan Great, I'm looking forward to it! Great Modron March sounds fun, but I'm sure whatever you end up with will be enjoyable to watch :)

[@vividlyobscure6179]

Evil content and evil campaigns separate the strong from the weak.

[@Ekair42]

Wait wait wait,, you mean that majoras mask is a dnd campaign where link must avoid the arrival of atropus?

[@forfaerghus8092]

I could have sworn Atropus was retconned to be one of the primordials?

[@benjoe1993]

This is pretty fucking cool!

[@MillerTheDragon1995]

so Atropus is the brethren moon from dead space but its dead and make the dead come to life creepy

[@AAron-gr3jk]

Acererak wanted to create a god, and defeat it moments after attaining godhood, thus becoming ascending to godhood. he could then fashion a soul for himself. (since he is a simulacrum of the original acererak)

[@ShadowoftheMask]

3.5 Elder Evil book is the best thing in 3.5 if you ask me :3

[@Ravenwind555]

Wonder what would happen if you could break Atropus out of the loop, undo and restore the selfless positive entity that started it all?

[@motherlandbot6837]

Probably should be "Atropos", who was one of the Three Fates in Greek mythology, and who among the three sisters, actually cut each person's thread of life. "Atropus" roughly translates as "black foot"; atra=black, pus=foot.

[@ThreeLeafedClover]

Will you be making a video on Caiphon?

[@ivoryinkwell7864]

Does anyone know what material the information on The Prime Mover comes from? It sounds fascinating and I would love to read it

[@youtubecensorship842]

The non AO origin story is so superior to the alternative it's wild

[@Grayald]

Awesome in dark.