Zargon: The Unkillable Elder Evil - D&D Lore

[@DIEGhostfish]

"Canonically" and originally he was on Mystara, which was a smart move by Asmodeus because it meant other outsiders couldn't retrieve him and forge an alliance.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

I am convinced Zargon is an original evil. A thing that represented evil in the original iteration of the cosmos. But has since been left behind as reality gets continually remade. This is why he seems impossible to destroy but also have no place in the cosmology. He is an original spirit from a time and place that no longer exists. Too essential to the bones of reality for it to ever be destroyed but no longer really has a place of power for itself. All that can be done is to lock it away for awhile. Also this might explain his unique power to nullify divinity. The current gods are too petty to dispute his authority even though he lacks a sufficient place in reality to draw any more power from.

[@The_NaturalOnes]

Yup, I think this is a cool theory. I think a lot of these “Elder Evils” are like this

[@edgarboggs4706]

Dungeon Module B4, The Lost City touches on Zargon. The party doesn't fight him, thankfully since they are low level, but it is an interesting adventure. They get to meet the Cynidiceans and the Madarua, etc.

[@DIEGhostfish]

He's only about a challenge for level 12 but that's still far higher than the rest of the area.

[@leonardhollsten8145]

He got added to the new Quests from the Infinite Staircase book as well. He is pretty strong, even for this cr.

[@Avigorus]

Sounds like someone needs to toss Zargon into a Sphere of Annihilation if they want to even pretend to successfully permanently destroy him lol

[@The_NaturalOnes]

There are some things in his official stat block about destroying his horn by tossing it lava, but it really seems more like a mechanic used so players can defeat and outside canon. This could be a potential

[@ttt5020]

​@@The_NaturalOnes by leaving the horn in celestial waters for a while

[@cernunnos_lives]

Awesome thank you for this. Some of the stranger parts of the D&D Lore is always welcomed. I make beings like him even harder to destroy though. The way i look at it: these are beings that have seen every trick in the book. And will know what the players are going to do before they do. These are beings that have gone up against the worst and survived. DMs need to treat them that way. I make it possible to beat these beings but not destroying them. Your world is better off with enemies floating around out there.

[@KS-PNW]

This was a great look at a one of my favorite topics (elder evils). You managed to cover a lot of content, especially for the length of the video. Well done sir, 👍👍

[@The_NaturalOnes]

Thank you!

[@absolutfx]

I always remember Zargon from HeroQuest.

[@alexjimenez5066]

Running an Elder Evil themed adventure seems really fun but really daunting 😅 How can a small band of heroes have any hope? Time to get brainstorming 🤔

[@bpopson1]

In the book it states they are END GAME type deals. Even IF (and that is a big IF) the party MANAGES to "win", most of the Elder Evils simple EFFECTS would have worldwide (or larger) implications for hundreds of years to come. Basically this is what you do at the very, very end of a LOT of campaigns when the party is just too strong.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Yeah, an elder evil is something you work the party towards for the length of the campaign. They may not even be the mastermind. Just a consequence of the one pulling the strings doing his thing. You thought it was just normal evil, but it was me! Elder evil! Perhaps even the bbeg has to help out less whatever goal he is working towards be destroyed by this mind melting embodiment of wickedness.

[@allenhouseman4341]

You can “beat” Zargon but eventually he will rise again. So your party can “win”. But will return even if it’s 20000 years. Think jeepers creepers. No matter the victory it’s only temporary

[@DIEGhostfish]

I mean the OG Zargon was only like CR12

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@allenhouseman4341 Only temporary, much like the overly short sentence given the the creator of the Jeepers Creepers series for what he did to that 12 year old boy.

[@SnugSnowSnail9977]

I only just heard about Zargon for the first time within the last few months and no im really excited to play The Lost City when this new book comes out

[@benthomason3307]

I read that in theory the horn could be destroyed if you tossed it in lava, but wouldn't that just mkae zargon reform on baator?

[@andreasmuller4172]

I've been meaning to run the lost city for a long time now, this is definitely a good motivator to finally do so.

[@xaxzander4633]

0:07 : Yup its called DM Fiat. 0:45 Zargon was like HD 12 in the original module.

[@matthewbennett1972]

I have a question. What happens if Ragnora crashes into Atropus ?

[@jacksondouglas2110]

Atropus will get a body

[@galdalversgravekeeper5158]

This is cool, but you didn't mention how he actually shuts down divine power around himself.

[@The_NaturalOnes]

I did not see this anywhere, do you know if the books mention this?

[@galdalversgravekeeper5158]

@@The_NaturalOnes They do, it's literally why Asmodeus was able to fight him, he hadn't become a god so Zargon couldn't disable his power.

[@temmy9]

​@The_NaturalOnes it's an ability of elder evils

[@galdalversgravekeeper5158]

@@temmy9 no, just Zargon

[@supercompooper]

I just realized I have been renting my spare room to Zargon for the last 96,000 years 😮😮😮

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

How do you plan on collecting the back rent?

[@genghiskhan6809]

Anybody know where I can get a statblock for him? I wanna run a campaign centered around him.

[@The_NaturalOnes]

He is started out in 3.5e Elder Evils, page 147

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@The_NaturalOnes And has OG BECMI stats too way back in the day.

[@genghiskhan6809]

@@The_NaturalOnes thx

[@dallaspark9100]

He should also be getting 5E stats in the new quests from the infinite staircase book.

[@Spoopball]

I remember this argument, when my gaming group tried 1e. One of the methods is just roll up (stats as rolled, in order) as many lvl 1 characters as you want. Statistically speaking at some point you would generate all 18's. Especially if you just had a script or website/app (Obviously those didn't exist back in the day). But I believe this method was to reward players that would make multiple character sheets, helping the DM make npcs

[@thedragondaddydm6182]

All descriptions of Zargon I’ve read make him seem not very powerful as far as such beings typically are the only things he has going for him are his insane healing and ability to nullify the powers of the gods before Asmodeus became the ruler of the nine hells before he not only had countless pit fiends under his command and even more in his blood stream when if his fallen snake origin is to be believed he was at his most wounded he defeated Zargon on his home plane then a mere human fought Zargon for several days before losing from exhaustion alone I love elder evils and made some of my own lore to use when the very little we are given isn’t enough but the lore given on Zargon makes him best used as only a background being not worth the effort to bring in as a main focus

[@The_NaturalOnes]

He’s interesting, I personally like that not every Elder Evil is an invincible, unknowable entity that also has the power to destroy the cosmos. Zargon is just really tough, can’t really be defeated, always a thorn

[@cthulhluftagn3812]

Hmm, you could actually biuld on that, like hes as strong as what ever fights him. If a kid fights him hes as strong as that kid, if every god, deamon and eldritch being joined forces and attacked him he would be thier equal alone. As the original evil he is meant to be a struggle you can overcome with effort, but never truely defeat.. Thats a quick idea off the top of my head anyway

[@ScrybeQuill]

Hey guys do you have a way for me to msg you privately? I'd like to potentially sponsor one of your videos 🧙‍♂

[@The_NaturalOnes]

I do have my email in my description page

[@camojoe83]

Really? Because at my table, Zargon is an amputee kobold warlord that has to be fed whatever he's able to beg for. D&D lore... Lol.... What the hell even is that?