We Built... We built Dis city... Anyways back to Time Stamps 0:19 Intro, Become a Member! 0:34 Inspiration for Dispater in Mythology 1:17 Arms Dealer, Spy Master, Secrets Dealer. 3:17 Audience and Deal Making 4:46 Description 5:38 The City of Dis and The Prison of Mentiri 8:48 Mephistopheles and Planar agents in Dis 9:44 Titivilus, Nuncio of Dispater 12:03 Lilis, Consort of Dispater 13:45 Other Servants and King Midas but with Iron. 14:27 Cult of Dispater 16:09 History of Dispater in D&D Like, Share, Comment, Subscribe The Devils are probably some of the best bad guys in the d&d multiverse in my opinion. You never know where their influence will show up, and their lawful evil nature makes them so much fun to have the party be forced to deal with them, instead of just killing a mindless beast. Anyone have a fun story about Dispater or devils in general in d&d? leave them in the comments below and see you next time.
In 3.5 you can achieve a critical threat range of 3-20 by utilising the Disciple Of Dispater class, which can be found in The Book Of Vile Darkness and a weapon with a base threat range of 18-20, such as the scimitar, rapier, kukri, and falchion.
@@justinbaskall8291 in 3.5 you have to confirm crit, & assuming you have no modifier to your attack and the opponents ac is 10, you have a 50% hit chance (with meet or beat, as RAW) statistically you would successfully confirm 5 crits out of 20 attacks, your other 5 successful hits dealing standard damage, for an average of 75 damage with the falchion, assuming you have no modifier to the damage.
@@justinbaskall8291 works well paired with two weapon fighting & the vorpal enchantment. You would have to be at least level 14 to achieve that threat range, however. 8-20 at 10 level, & 15-20 as soon as you have the improved critical feat with selected weapon.
@@devinm.6149 Alright that makes it bit more workable, but still, properly built and with the right magic weapons like the vorpal enchantment that you mentions, you could just cleave through small armies. Thats 3.5 for your though. I wonder if anyone has made a viable conversion for the class yet
So, Dispatar hates surprises he must really hate his birthdays. There's no way Asmodeus would NOT throw a surprise party just to annoy/otherwise fuck with him. For all eternity. Every year. But at different times to keep him on his toes.... I put too much thought into this.
Dispater, the iron duke One of my favorite characters Hes cultivating this image of a devil in retreat, unsure. Dare we say, afraid? Distancing himself from mephistopheles, making overtures to baaelzebub. Titilivus growing stronger as he openly betrays him All hog wash Lest we forget dispater was one of asmodeus originsl champions, lest we forget he has THE best spy network in baator thanks to his consort. No, dispater is perhaps the most DANGEROUS of the lords. Asmodeus knows to pit the lord of the seventh and eigth against each other. While his true adversary waits
Great video as usual AJ. I've actually had the PC party meet a disguised aspect of Dispater when they were looking for a very powerful weapon to buy. Their enemies were an abyssal favored necromancer and a patriarchy (good-aligned Cleric ruler) that they became fugitives of because they broke certain laws far too often. When they finally met the super-secret arms dealer he had only one weapon for sale. He let the player character looking for it inspect it closely and test it in the test area he had set up. The player character was phenomenally impressed. He asked (disguised) Dispater "How much?" Dispater said "The weapon is a steal. You are helping me because I am no warrior and it has demands, it hungers for battle. The price is this. Take it and *use* it." It was obviously one of my "deal with the Devil" traps. They still fell for it. They did not see that they didn't stop the bad guys. They replaced them... and it was not an evil party. All from one carefully placed Dispater created weapon. At that point in the campaign, the players spoke to each other about the events that the weapon really helped and other things. They then laughed and groaned. The one who "purchased" the unGodly awesome weapon said "Damn. You sure went a long way to set a trap. It was one of your 'Deal with the Devil' things, wasn't it?" I nodded and burst into laughter. My campaign was derailed to having diabolical forces having the upper-hand but that made it ripe with even more potential adventures. Dispater can be a really fun meddler if you put your mind to it. And yes, the party was high enough in level for a disguised Dispater to make an appearance. He wanted his cruel hand to be directly involved in handing the fighter (fallen ranger) a super-weapon of faux hope. The fighter's hallucinations and weapon's powers tricked him into believing he was a ranger again on top of its other bad^ss capabilities.
14:55 "As Dispater deals in secrets, offering them in trade for a creature's soul..." *AD PLAYS* Me: "What? What?! I must know!" _Ned Flanders poofs in_ Ned: "Well, THAT can be arranged..."
I wonder, with all these outsiders messing with the Prime Material Realm, between angels, devils, gods and tentacled stuff, is there anyone that isn’t somehow connected with a higher power?
Dispater is my favorite Lord Of The Nine Hells, partly because in 3.5 you can achieve a critical threat range of 3-20 by utilising the Disciple Of Dispater class, which can be found in The Book Of Vile Darkness, a weapon with a base threat range of 18-20, such as the scimitar, rapier, kukri, and falchion, and the improved critical feat with selected weapon (works well with two-weapon fighting & the vorpal enchantment).
This is perfect! I am creating a heavy homebrew and wanted to make the Roman god Dis Pater into the BBEG. I had no idea he was actually part of the lore so this gives me something to work with rather than build from scratch entirely.
find it odd that as far as i know. we dont have archdevils named after the malebranche group. Alichino , Barbariccia, Cagnazzo, Calcabrina, Ciriatto, Draghignazzo, Graffiacane, Libicocco, Malacoda, Rubicante, Scarmiglione Find this odd since Baator/hell is basically dantes Inferno down to the last detail.
Ah Dis, the infernal City of Iron that answers the elemental City of Brass. I have to think this layer has some secret and incredibly well-defended exits to the first level of Hell, within reach of exits to Sigil, Gehenna, Archeron, and the Elemental Plane of Fire. I would also think, going along with the illusionary “pleasures” that can be bartered for, that chain devils aka Cenobytes would have some business on the Second Level of Hell!
Dispater sounds like he would be one of Vecna's rivals. Just imagine a battle between the two that causes various secrets to pour into the prime material plane.
The impossible ideal of a campaign based on the idea of retrieving Gith's soul for true resurrection simply to witness the calamity of the reaction to the civil war... Yeah...Makes me wish I had more engaged players :)
I'm writing a campaign now where I have the players on a "divinely inspired crusade" through the ruined kingdoms trying to find items to help them over come the God of the nation of Zakhara. A monotheistic religion that conquers all others and subjugates them. (it's based on a RL religion). The players are areally being used as pawns by the entities that run that Religion.
I know it breaks the +1 rule but I love my dispater tiefling bard. Hes in the college of whispers and carries a little book with him that he writes down any secret or hidden knowledge he can find
*sigh* is that four so far? "he looks so happy to see us", "It takes a real Archdevil to strut around with a loaded weapon like that."... oh, nope, just the third comment, ok, we're good.
Currently running a game of all newly promoted imp players. I accidentally had Titovilus work for another arch devil just above Dis, but thankfully my players didn’t read the lore yet ... or watch your great videos!
I wonder how good his relationship with Vecna is? Dispater's obsession with secret knowledge might make him vulnerable to manipulation by the god of secrets & knowledge.
May be one of the few beings Vecna has an understanding with. For it seems a bad idea to strike down one of the supernatural lords safe guarding your rule.
Pater is “father” in Latin. Dispater is not the true name or even the common name of the Father of Dis. It is a description of his station, much like Pluton, who is often called Hades. It is possible that one of Dispater’s greatest secrets is that he is not the same Dispater as the one that ruled last week or the one who will rule next week. Only those who know his true name would know if he has been the same Devil over the thousands of years he has been alive. He may well be a number of pit fiends who have adopted the same mantle over hundreds of millennia. Only Asmodeus would know the truth of it.
I ran a 3.5e game of evil characters who were tricked into service to Dispater after foolishly selling their souls to him for magical goodies and favors. It was quite the task to breathe life into Dispater himself once they became high level... and this video was truly great, as are they all. Well done!
If you need some lesser entities to fill out a campaign in Dis, look up demonology under the headings "tempters&ensnarers" and "vessels of iniquity ". Most appropriate given the nature of Dispater.
I find this amazing. While listening to the section of Titivillus with the CC on, the translation has nothing to do with the content of your video. It's as if the Titivillus demon is indeed influencing the spoken words and creating confusion.
I once had an idea for Dispater or a Dispater equivalent cutting a lot of deals for security with powerful vampire nobles, connecting their absurd Vampire-Hunder-D inspired castles to his realm, but then Netflix Castlevania gave Drac a subterranean interconnected megacastle and now it'd come off as derivative of that.
That sounds like a great idea, so honestly I’d go for it regardless! Everything is derivative of something at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of execution.
Hey AJ, just wanted to comment to say i love your content. As an aspiring writer myself I really love learning more of other fantasy creatures and lore.
Dragons are fearsome and powerful. Demonic bloodlust is terrifying. Infernal intelligence and machinations however are the most sinister of any evil creatures in the multiverse. Love lore on the nine hells!
Yay! I'm so glad to have found this! Thank you for covering the "Iron Archduke", as I like to call him. Thank you for including the various archdukes' consorts in their lore as well. It's very helpful when designing tiefling PCs descended from this one or that. I'd love to see a video about Mammon someday, if you haven't already covered him.
I came to learn about the city and plane of Dis. I left learning about An Arch Devil, his underling who is also him, his consort who runs the spy network and is more then likely the real arch devil. One of Tiamat’s consorts, and where the soul of the leader of the Githyanki is. How did you do this video in under 20 mins? Also so many of these names start to sound the same. Have you done a video on the “slug lord” you mentioned when talking about the she-devil’s spy network?
This is so good! Can you please do one for the archdevil of each layer of hell? The campaign I am running is heading to hell and knowing about all the rulers of each layer will be really helpful and cool, thanks!
@@linguisticallyoversight8685 *looks at official release forms and waivers, NDAs and disclosures in a stack that reaches the ceiling* you may have to...
Sibilance is an issue in the audio here. A trick to get rid of it is to speak at an angle away from mic. You're the best loremaster out there. Thanks for doing what you do.
That is exactly what I am doing, I am looking at the pages of the script, the mic is beside me and about 15-20 cm from my head. Maybe its just me and my hissy voice? :) Glad to see a comment from you, seems like forever since I last heard from you!
@@AJPickett Ah, that makes sense as that mic has a boosted high end which certainly isn't helping. I would try aiming the mic to the side away from your mouth by 20 degrees or so. Are you compressing your audio? Walk me through how you record, if you don't mind.
@@22thevoice22 I actually enjoy it. Alot of videos are arguably too crisp and this makes me feel more intimate with the content like I'm just listening to AJ riff in person.
I sort of wonder at any possible relationship between Dispater, any of his other espionage-oriented servants, and the lich God Vecna? To some people in the secrets trade, it can be almost as valuable to be able to maintain, or keep hiding, secrets, as ferret them out, and while I'd hate to downplay the skill of the Archdevil, or his toadies, I almost imagine them amusing the God of Secrets, when not hounding after knowledge he instead very much wants to keep hidden. I can imagine the displeasure of Dispater as yet another of hus lore hounds gets turned into a nothing, by a deity whi can prove very difficult to launch a concerted response against.
Ahhhh. The Iron Duke. Brings back memories. Me and my buddies tried an 8 man high lvl crawl through the Hells. Heads up, we broke like pansies in the 4th. Dispader was a fun..... if grueling fight though.
Another epic vid - is it possible for a mortal to escape the city by running for long enough in one direction, or is it a case that once they enter, without plane shifting they're stuck there. Like that hotel... But you can see the exit - but it is always "far away".
AJ Pickett *pictures a party runing away from the changing dimensions of diss's outer boundary - only hoping to escape via the access to the geographical areas that it doesn't pre descriptively occupy* I'm kinda liking the idea of an infinite demi animate lawfull evil city as a concept. That is where it is said to be, but also where it best suits itself to be. I mean if some... Unwilling tourists happened to get press ganged and "bootcamped" into becoming it's town guards - then with those extra "anti - bodies" it's immunity to demonic attack has only gotten stronger? 🤠📯😈 = 🏰🔥🌆🤤👻⛓🛡💂♀️💂 After all, diss wouldn't want to get all feverish with a demonic infection now would it? 😷🧫🌡 Whether or not dis itself wants "MoreSouls..." Thanks anyways, your vids are a total creative inspiration. ❤📺👍
Funny thing is that in another RPG, In Nomine, the infernal being in charge of information also has his name taken from a Pagan God. In that setting Kronos The Demon Prince of Fate manages a vast archive where damned librarians are tasked with single handedly organizing all records within, leaving them all to redo & undo each other's work thus making Kronos & it's assumed Lucifer the only ones who can reliably find the information they are working for. In that setting one's Fate is defined as the worst possible thing you could do with your life, it's the life that damns you to Hell, be it killing your wife after she finds out about your affair then following up with the mistress who never knew you were married and is leaving you too and your kids to not leave them orphans before committing suicide, or simply cutting the corners that eventually result in a few thousand people end up getting poisoned in order to keep your job. In that setting the master deal maker of Hell is also a female who's name stats with an "L," but in keeping with the Abrahamic nature of the setting it's technically not a Demon, but she is counted as a Demon Princess. It's the Demon Princess of Freedom Lilith who created the first gateway from Hell to Earth. Her ability & that of her daughters the Lilim is to sense Needs & fulfill them in order to get a Geasa for a future deed of equal effort in the future. I'm sure you can imagine how dangerous a character with a web of supernaturally enforceable favors owed to them could be & how well informed they could be as well if by just looking at someone they can learn what the subject of their gaze NEEDS the most.
@@llewelynshingler2173 I read in one "splat" book that the only female devils who could bear children are the erinyes, the brachinas, and unique female devils, the same source noting that with the first two, this may be related to the fact that they are descended from the original hosts of traitorous angels who fell with Asmodeus. The same source also says, oddly enough, that these devils are fiercely protective of their offspring, raising them in secret enclaves in areas of Hell that even other devils are afraid to go. Whatever the case, Asmodeus' relationship with his daughter can best be described as.... unique.
wow, i get it, Gith sacrificed herself for her people. A pure soul that could become a God instead made a deal with a primordial chaos entity so that it could secure it's red dragons throughout time as weapons of war against an eternal foe the Mindflayer.
Awesome as always AJ. How do you suppose Devils feel about the 'outer evils' of The Far Realm or indeed Mind Flayers? Is there not potentially a conflict of interest with entities who would reshape reality or definitely interfere with the time-line.... Or is the very nature of Devils to seek opportunity with even these chaotic entities, even when that may be a flawed decision?
@@AJPickett Are there any apocalyptic scenarios where the Devils have sided with the forces of good to see off a real big bad then? I could definitely envisage some convoluted scheme where an arch-devil seeks sends an underling to seek out an artifact of power that must not fall into his hands...lo and behold, some bold adventurers stop him juuuust as he gets his felpaws on the object, and infuses it with some of his fel essensce... conveniently nullifying the wards on this ancient device that's allows the adventurers to use the key to seal a stirring elder evil back into the void. While naturally forfeiting their very souls with this noble act.
@@bailz8674 25 years ago a DM ran Rod Of Seven Parts for our group was breaking up. Life stuff happens. We had to deal with Dispater to get a piece of gear as a distraction to EARN the rod part he had. Anything to harm The Queen Of Choas & to find a way to kill Miska The Wolf Spider...
Most devils these days started out as mortals who died and became lemures, the exception is the Erinyes who are all fallen angels. I'm not sure, offhand, if there are instances in published lore of one becoming a celestial petitioner.
Officially, I do not know. Would it be possible? Perhaps. Unlikely to be sure, but the possibility is always there. The key is to recognizing that many devils do not see an alternative. They see their actions as necessary and are reluctant to give up a winning strategy. Those who are honest and forth coming are often abused because they lack the capacity for darker deeds that give other devils an advantage. However, I do believe that if a devil was to recognize that the nature of Bator was actually a chaos all on its own, that by living in a way where all devils are constantly trying to undermine one another you only create uncertainty in who you can trust, that the only logical way to maintain order is to be fair and just in all things. That would cause a reaction that would possibly change the devil into a new form of life that resembles something in between an angel and its devilish nature, but it would be the first step to seeing a good devil. This is all speculation though and I often speak with an authoritative tone so I do apologize.
@@AJPickett I see. It would be interesting to see what will become of the devil if they left the old ways and depart into something good/neutral. Thanks AJ! You are becoming more awesome by the video !
@@josephsarrouh5371 it's all good my friend. You did give me some inspiration for a campaign I am currently DMing. This'll make a very interesting quest.
Does the pact primevil protect devils from the wrath of all gods? For instance shouldn't Dispaters hoarding of secrets draw the Ire of a God like Vecna who guards them and punishes those who discover them or are Arch Devils completely beyond the reach of any non-overgod except Asmodeus?
The novel Elminster in Hell claims that the Pact even prevents Mystara (who is far more powerful than Vecna) from interfering with the workings of Hell, so I'd say, yes. Although, I'd assume there are many clauses in the Pact that the Arch Devils have to abide by in order to keep that protection. Although, Vecna is a tough call; he's the God of Secrets, after all, so it's likely not possible for anyone to hide a secret from him, and the more you try to KEEP it a secret, the easier it is for him to learn it.
Maybe. I was more under the impression he meant that one would need to be immortal to have the time (and perhaps supernatural intellect) to make learning every secret of the cosmos an even remote possibility.
His consort's name is Lilis? Or Lilith? I couldn't quite make it out. I don't know if you've ever seen Wayne Barlowe's paintings of hell but some of the pics ou used reminded me of them. He wrote 2 novels so far in his world, the 1st is called God's Demon & is really good.
Seriously! 8:25 then 8:07 what's that like then? Pick a poket for a single gold coin in a tavern, then "everyone instantaneously knows". Devils run away screaming, or break down and start freaking out - because they know the dark & terrible secret of what happens next. Beverages are instantly vomited up, the smoke clouds part - chain devils levetate down amidst the panick and horror, and one of them says in a mechanical voice: "Crime: Petty theft. Punishment: relocation to sublevel 4." And the tavern floor itself partitions around them, and decends as a litteral elevator into hells hell like inevitable clockwork. #MaybeItReallyWasn'tWorthItThatTime. 😈⛓⚙😵⬇🔥⌛♻⏳♻⌛💰😱 *pictures the smoke cloud being just slightly noticably more thick*
I also wondered this, as well as how the Raven Queen interacts with them. Maybe there's a massive cold war of espionage and betrayal between the three - much like the world from the 1960's to the 1990's
www.dmsguild.com/product/288447/DDAL0011-Pipyaps-Guide-to-All-of-the-Nine-Hells?affiliate_id=925821&site=#_=_ This is 5E Adventure League legal Nine Hells content, hot off the press. I can point you to some old modules for earlier editions, Dungeon magazine has a pretty good one. Also, 'Fires of Dis" the fourth published adventure for Planescape www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17273/Fires-of-Dis-2e
That would be a fun campaign. In their war on the mindflayers one lets out that their Lord dispater has the soul of gith, and the gith turn to fight the devils, inadvertently aiding the demons in the blood war.
I used Google translate to find out what Dispater means in Latin. "Dis" means push, and "pater" means father, but interestingly Dispater means "disparate", which means "essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison." Dispater was the first Archdevil I learned about from the MM. Interestingly, WikiPedia translates Dis Pater as "rich father", so I think Google Translate may be in error here. The mines part makes sense as "the Father of riches" as he was also associated with mineral wealth, which is how he also became associated as an Underworld god...
@@AJPickett wow. What a terrifying relationship they must have. Levistus gives no council to Asmodeus but the person he overthrew who wants him dead gives council instead. Terrifying
I read in a 3.5 book that Asmodeus frees Levistus just long enough to attend the council, and as soon as it's over Levistus is immediately sent back to being frozen in his iceberg. Maybe they changed it since?
We Built... We built Dis city... Anyways back to Time Stamps
0:19 Intro, Become a Member!
0:34 Inspiration for Dispater in Mythology
1:17 Arms Dealer, Spy Master, Secrets Dealer.
3:17 Audience and Deal Making
4:46 Description
5:38 The City of Dis and The Prison of Mentiri
8:48 Mephistopheles and Planar agents in Dis
9:44 Titivilus, Nuncio of Dispater
12:03 Lilis, Consort of Dispater
13:45 Other Servants and King Midas but with Iron.
14:27 Cult of Dispater
16:09 History of Dispater in D&D
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The Devils are probably some of the best bad guys in the d&d multiverse in my opinion. You never know where their influence will show up, and their lawful evil nature makes them so much fun to have the party be forced to deal with them, instead of just killing a mindless beast. Anyone have a fun story about Dispater or devils in general in d&d? leave them in the comments below and see you next time.
In 3.5 you can achieve a critical threat range of 3-20 by utilising the Disciple Of Dispater class, which can be found in The Book Of Vile Darkness and a weapon with a base threat range of 18-20, such as the scimitar, rapier, kukri, and falchion.
@@devinm.6149 holy moly, 3-20! I can't even imagine how broken that would be in 5e, like legit God of War level damage if built right
@@justinbaskall8291 in 3.5 you have to confirm crit, & assuming you have no modifier to your attack and the opponents ac is 10, you have a 50% hit chance (with meet or beat, as RAW) statistically you would successfully confirm 5 crits out of 20 attacks, your other 5 successful hits dealing standard damage, for an average of 75 damage with the falchion, assuming you have no modifier to the damage.
@@justinbaskall8291 works well paired with two weapon fighting & the vorpal enchantment. You would have to be at least level 14 to achieve that threat range, however. 8-20 at 10 level, & 15-20 as soon as you have the improved critical feat with selected weapon.
@@devinm.6149 Alright that makes it bit more workable, but still, properly built and with the right magic weapons like the vorpal enchantment that you mentions, you could just cleave through small armies. Thats 3.5 for your though. I wonder if anyone has made a viable conversion for the class yet
So, Dispatar hates surprises he must really hate his birthdays. There's no way Asmodeus would NOT throw a surprise party just to annoy/otherwise fuck with him. For all eternity. Every year. But at different times to keep him on his toes.... I put too much thought into this.
And occasionally he does it multiple times in a year
Dispater, the iron duke
One of my favorite characters
Hes cultivating this image of a devil in retreat, unsure. Dare we say, afraid? Distancing himself from mephistopheles, making overtures to baaelzebub. Titilivus growing stronger as he openly betrays him
All hog wash
Lest we forget dispater was one of asmodeus originsl champions, lest we forget he has THE best spy network in baator thanks to his consort.
No, dispater is perhaps the most DANGEROUS of the lords. Asmodeus knows to pit the lord of the seventh and eigth against each other.
While his true adversary waits
Great video as usual AJ. I've actually had the PC party meet a disguised aspect of Dispater when they were looking for a very powerful weapon to buy. Their enemies were an abyssal favored necromancer and a patriarchy (good-aligned Cleric ruler) that they became fugitives of because they broke certain laws far too often. When they finally met the super-secret arms dealer he had only one weapon for sale. He let the player character looking for it inspect it closely and test it in the test area he had set up. The player character was phenomenally impressed. He asked (disguised) Dispater "How much?" Dispater said "The weapon is a steal. You are helping me because I am no warrior and it has demands, it hungers for battle. The price is this. Take it and *use* it." It was obviously one of my "deal with the Devil" traps. They still fell for it. They did not see that they didn't stop the bad guys. They replaced them... and it was not an evil party. All from one carefully placed Dispater created weapon. At that point in the campaign, the players spoke to each other about the events that the weapon really helped and other things. They then laughed and groaned. The one who "purchased" the unGodly awesome weapon said "Damn. You sure went a long way to set a trap. It was one of your 'Deal with the Devil' things, wasn't it?" I nodded and burst into laughter. My campaign was derailed to having diabolical forces having the upper-hand but that made it ripe with even more potential adventures. Dispater can be a really fun meddler if you put your mind to it. And yes, the party was high enough in level for a disguised Dispater to make an appearance. He wanted his cruel hand to be directly involved in handing the fighter (fallen ranger) a super-weapon of faux hope. The fighter's hallucinations and weapon's powers tricked him into believing he was a ranger again on top of its other bad^ss capabilities.
14:55
"As Dispater deals in secrets, offering them in trade for a creature's soul..."
*AD PLAYS*
Me: "What? What?! I must know!"
_Ned Flanders poofs in_
Ned: "Well, THAT can be arranged..."
I wonder, with all these outsiders messing with the Prime Material Realm, between angels, devils, gods and tentacled stuff, is there anyone that isn’t somehow connected with a higher power?
Everything is Ao. Ao is all.
Dispater is my favorite Lord Of The Nine Hells, partly because in 3.5 you can achieve a critical threat range of 3-20 by utilising the Disciple Of Dispater class, which can be found in The Book Of Vile Darkness, a weapon with a base threat range of 18-20, such as the scimitar, rapier, kukri, and falchion, and the improved critical feat with selected weapon (works well with two-weapon fighting & the vorpal enchantment).
This is perfect! I am creating a heavy homebrew and wanted to make the Roman god Dis Pater into the BBEG. I had no idea he was actually part of the lore so this gives me something to work with rather than build from scratch entirely.
Despite his schemes Dispater always seems to be foiled by Flash Gordon....
EXCELLENT!! Good one.
😆
He saved every one of us
find it odd that as far as i know. we dont have archdevils named after the malebranche group. Alichino , Barbariccia, Cagnazzo, Calcabrina, Ciriatto, Draghignazzo, Graffiacane, Libicocco, Malacoda, Rubicante, Scarmiglione Find this odd since Baator/hell is basically dantes Inferno down to the last detail.
Particularly Dis.. it's taken directly from the book.
@@AJPickett yup. there it has horrible burning stone coffins where the sinners are trapped
Ah Dis, the infernal City of Iron that answers the elemental City of Brass. I have to think this layer has some secret and incredibly well-defended exits to the first level of Hell, within reach of exits to Sigil, Gehenna, Archeron, and the Elemental Plane of Fire.
I would also think, going along with the illusionary “pleasures” that can be bartered for, that chain devils aka Cenobytes would have some business on the Second Level of Hell!
They sure do.
I would recommend the Planescape adventure "FIres of Dis". Dispater plays a prominent role in that one.
Indeed.
He really does look like Ming doesn't he.
Ever see Ming and DIspater both in the same room at the same time? Hmm...
Amazing amount of lore presented but how clever of you to save the best for last: Gith's soul 😨
I know right? Shocking reveal.
Wow, he's going to win. Intelligence is always for the win.
15:25 is my favorite fricken Illithid art
Illithid player character picture of choice.
I learned I grew I will put this empowerment to better my games thank you good sir
Dispater sounds like he would be one of Vecna's rivals. Just imagine a battle between the two that causes various secrets to pour into the prime material plane.
Great video as always! You are my favorite content creator by a large margin! Appreciate all you do for the community
Thanks!
This makes me wanna play a dwarf pact blade warlock of dispater obsessed with being the ultimate Smith
The impossible ideal of a campaign based on the idea of retrieving Gith's soul for true resurrection simply to witness the calamity of the reaction to the civil war... Yeah...Makes me wish I had more engaged players :)
I'd play that campaign, that sounds rad af
I'm writing a campaign now where I have the players on a "divinely inspired crusade" through the ruined kingdoms trying to find items to help them over come the God of the nation of Zakhara. A monotheistic religion that conquers all others and subjugates them. (it's based on a RL religion). The players are areally being used as pawns by the entities that run that Religion.
I know it breaks the +1 rule but I love my dispater tiefling bard. Hes in the college of whispers and carries a little book with him that he writes down any secret or hidden knowledge he can find
"Kings favorite color.... Green"
3:02 wardrobe malfunction there buddy, or are you just happy to see me?
*sigh* is that four so far? "he looks so happy to see us", "It takes a real Archdevil to strut around with a loaded weapon like that."... oh, nope, just the third comment, ok, we're good.
Nice to know at least a few more people noticed he... seems to be keeping his rod of rulership within reach.
@@probablythedm1669 Legends say it points to a great treasure...
I wish I wasn't nearly homeless. I'd be happy to back ye on patreon. Fing Glorious job
Thanks JG, I hope things get better for you.
Same bro.
Currently running a game of all newly promoted imp players. I accidentally had Titovilus work for another arch devil just above Dis, but thankfully my players didn’t read the lore yet ... or watch your great videos!
2:55 It takes a real Archdevil to strut around with a loaded weapon like that.
Dispater, pimp status confirmed.
I wonder how good his relationship with Vecna is? Dispater's obsession with secret knowledge might make him vulnerable to manipulation by the god of secrets & knowledge.
Seems likely. But Dispater is extraordinarily intelligent.
May be one of the few beings Vecna has an understanding with. For it seems a bad idea to strike down one of the supernatural lords safe guarding your rule.
Pater is “father” in Latin. Dispater is not the true name or even the common name of the Father of Dis. It is a description of his station, much like Pluton, who is often called Hades.
It is possible that one of Dispater’s greatest secrets is that he is not the same Dispater as the one that ruled last week or the one who will rule next week. Only those who know his true name would know if he has been the same Devil over the thousands of years he has been alive. He may well be a number of pit fiends who have adopted the same mantle over hundreds of millennia. Only Asmodeus would know the truth of it.
LOVE all the infernal and abyssal videos, they're always so interesting to me. And you do a great job setting the tone on each video
Didnt know anything about him before this. Is it wrong that I admire him?
I'm not judging.
I just got this miniature in the mail! Now Dispater will fill my campaign with despair.
I ran a 3.5e game of evil characters who were tricked into service to Dispater after foolishly selling their souls to him for magical goodies and favors. It was quite the task to breathe life into Dispater himself once they became high level... and this video was truly great, as are they all. Well done!
If you need some lesser entities to fill out a campaign in Dis, look up demonology under the headings "tempters&ensnarers" and "vessels of iniquity ".
Most appropriate given the nature of Dispater.
I've been waiting for this one! Great job AJ! Please do the other arch devils ! Please!
I find this amazing. While listening to the section of Titivillus with the CC on, the translation has nothing to do with the content of your video. It's as if the Titivillus demon is indeed influencing the spoken words and creating confusion.
I once had an idea for Dispater or a Dispater equivalent cutting a lot of deals for security with powerful vampire nobles, connecting their absurd Vampire-Hunder-D inspired castles to his realm, but then Netflix Castlevania gave Drac a subterranean interconnected megacastle and now it'd come off as derivative of that.
That sounds like a great idea, so honestly I’d go for it regardless! Everything is derivative of something at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of execution.
Everything is derivative of everything that's come before. The trick is not in the novelness, but in the interpretation and delivery.
Hey AJ, just wanted to comment to say i love your content. As an aspiring writer myself I really love learning more of other fantasy creatures and lore.
Dispater needs the anti-life equation lol
Super interesting subject, how evil functions, communicates etc. appreciate your work
Dragons are fearsome and powerful.
Demonic bloodlust is terrifying.
Infernal intelligence and machinations however are the most sinister of any evil creatures in the multiverse. Love lore on the nine hells!
Yay! I'm so glad to have found this! Thank you for covering the "Iron Archduke", as I like to call him. Thank you for including the various archdukes' consorts in their lore as well. It's very helpful when designing tiefling PCs descended from this one or that.
I'd love to see a video about Mammon someday, if you haven't already covered him.
Shout out to the recognition of the difficulties of farming and the loss of souls traded for knowledge of crop futures
I came to learn about the city and plane of Dis. I left learning about An Arch Devil, his underling who is also him, his consort who runs the spy network and is more then likely the real arch devil. One of Tiamat’s consorts, and where the soul of the leader of the Githyanki is.
How did you do this video in under 20 mins? Also so many of these names start to sound the same. Have you done a video on the “slug lord” you mentioned when talking about the she-devil’s spy network?
Baalzebul, slug lord of the 7th? No not yet.
AJ - Buddy, you must KNOW when I'm having a shitty day.
Thanks for another awesome video.
Well done AJ! More Archdevils please!
This is so good! Can you please do one for the archdevil of each layer of hell? The campaign I am running is heading to hell and knowing about all the rulers of each layer will be really helpful and cool, thanks!
So when are we going to get that in depth tell-all expose on Asmodeus
I'm expecting that video to at least be the length of the one on Demogorgon
I'm still processing the paperwork.
@@AJPickett can't wait
@@linguisticallyoversight8685 *looks at official release forms and waivers, NDAs and disclosures in a stack that reaches the ceiling* you may have to...
@@AJPickett pretty please?
Sibilance is an issue in the audio here. A trick to get rid of it is to speak at an angle away from mic. You're the best loremaster out there. Thanks for doing what you do.
That is exactly what I am doing, I am looking at the pages of the script, the mic is beside me and about 15-20 cm from my head. Maybe its just me and my hissy voice? :) Glad to see a comment from you, seems like forever since I last heard from you!
@@AJPickett What mic are you using? We can get to the bottom of it, I'm positive. There's a lot that can be done to lessen or eliminate it entirely.
@@22thevoice22 Blue Raspberry, with a foam doofah over it, on a shock mount arm
@@AJPickett Ah, that makes sense as that mic has a boosted high end which certainly isn't helping. I would try aiming the mic to the side away from your mouth by 20 degrees or so. Are you compressing your audio? Walk me through how you record, if you don't mind.
@@22thevoice22 I actually enjoy it. Alot of videos are arguably too crisp and this makes me feel more intimate with the content like I'm just listening to AJ riff in person.
I sort of wonder at any possible relationship between Dispater, any of his other espionage-oriented servants, and the lich God Vecna? To some people in the secrets trade, it can be almost as valuable to be able to maintain, or keep hiding, secrets, as ferret them out, and while I'd hate to downplay the skill of the Archdevil, or his toadies, I almost imagine them amusing the God of Secrets, when not hounding after knowledge he instead very much wants to keep hidden. I can imagine the displeasure of Dispater as yet another of hus lore hounds gets turned into a nothing, by a deity whi can prove very difficult to launch a concerted response against.
It's ironic as hell for the for most arms dealer in all the planes to be so peranoid he hides in his library lol
DIS IS A COOL VIDEO
Ahhhh. The Iron Duke. Brings back memories. Me and my buddies tried an 8 man high lvl crawl through the Hells. Heads up, we broke like pansies in the 4th.
Dispader was a fun..... if grueling fight though.
Another epic vid - is it possible for a mortal to escape the city by running for long enough in one direction, or is it a case that once they enter, without plane shifting they're stuck there. Like that hotel... But you can see the exit - but it is always "far away".
I think it is, it might be tied into the intention of leaving the city, I'm not entirely sure how it works.
AJ Pickett *pictures a party runing away from the changing dimensions of diss's outer boundary - only hoping to escape via the access to the geographical areas that it doesn't pre descriptively occupy* I'm kinda liking the idea of an infinite demi animate lawfull evil city as a concept. That is where it is said to be, but also where it best suits itself to be. I mean if some... Unwilling tourists happened to get press ganged and "bootcamped" into becoming it's town guards - then with those extra "anti - bodies" it's immunity to demonic attack has only gotten stronger? 🤠📯😈 = 🏰🔥🌆🤤👻⛓🛡💂♀️💂 After all, diss wouldn't want to get all feverish with a demonic infection now would it? 😷🧫🌡 Whether or not dis itself wants "MoreSouls..." Thanks anyways, your vids are a total creative inspiration. ❤📺👍
I love the short style of the information dump and the performance readingwise.
Super useful, I'm running a session which could well take a turn into Dis this Tuesday. Thanks for posting :)
Ah, Dispater. My second favorite of the Dukes of Hell.
3:09 Diss...he looks happy to see us
love these and he sounds like such a good antagonist for a game, not sure I could pull off someone this cleaver though for a whole campaign.
Funny thing is that in another RPG, In Nomine, the infernal being in charge of information also has his name taken from a Pagan God. In that setting Kronos The Demon Prince of Fate manages a vast archive where damned librarians are tasked with single handedly organizing all records within, leaving them all to redo & undo each other's work thus making Kronos & it's assumed Lucifer the only ones who can reliably find the information they are working for. In that setting one's Fate is defined as the worst possible thing you could do with your life, it's the life that damns you to Hell, be it killing your wife after she finds out about your affair then following up with the mistress who never knew you were married and is leaving you too and your kids to not leave them orphans before committing suicide, or simply cutting the corners that eventually result in a few thousand people end up getting poisoned in order to keep your job. In that setting the master deal maker of Hell is also a female who's name stats with an "L," but in keeping with the Abrahamic nature of the setting it's technically not a Demon, but she is counted as a Demon Princess. It's the Demon Princess of Freedom Lilith who created the first gateway from Hell to Earth. Her ability & that of her daughters the Lilim is to sense Needs & fulfill them in order to get a Geasa for a future deed of equal effort in the future. I'm sure you can imagine how dangerous a character with a web of supernaturally enforceable favors owed to them could be & how well informed they could be as well if by just looking at someone they can learn what the subject of their gaze NEEDS the most.
Excellent take on a D&D icon. Have you done Glasya yet? If not, please do.
Not yet :)
I second a vid on Asmo’s daughter too
I also suggest a video on the matter. How does Fatherhood work for Archdevils?
@@llewelynshingler2173 I read in one "splat" book that the only female devils who could bear children are the erinyes, the brachinas, and unique female devils, the same source noting that with the first two, this may be related to the fact that they are descended from the original hosts of traitorous angels who fell with Asmodeus. The same source also says, oddly enough, that these devils are fiercely protective of their offspring, raising them in secret enclaves in areas of Hell that even other devils are afraid to go. Whatever the case, Asmodeus' relationship with his daughter can best be described as.... unique.
wow, i get it, Gith sacrificed herself for her people. A pure soul that could become a God instead made a deal with a primordial chaos entity so that it could secure it's red dragons throughout time as weapons of war against an eternal foe the Mindflayer.
Before embarking on a journey of vengeance, dig two graves.
@@D--FENS oh, just leave my body whereever it falls. As for my enemies, the earth itself will swallow them up up and leave them in deepest Sheol.
That last tidbit was juiiicccyyyyy
OMG! A VIDEO ABOUT DISPATER! THANK YOU AJ! Yes, I'm happy! And now excuse me, I need to I watch this!
Just listening to what I see a great campaign style out of it
Great vid AJ Dispaters cool as hell! Pun intended! 👹
🎶We built Dis city on Rock and Law🎶
😉
Awesome as always AJ.
How do you suppose Devils feel about the 'outer evils' of The Far Realm or indeed Mind Flayers?
Is there not potentially a conflict of interest with entities who would reshape reality or definitely interfere with the time-line....
Or is the very nature of Devils to seek opportunity with even these chaotic entities, even when that may be a flawed decision?
@@AJPickett Are there any apocalyptic scenarios where the Devils have sided with the forces of good to see off a real big bad then?
I could definitely envisage some convoluted scheme where an arch-devil seeks sends an underling to seek out an artifact of power that must not fall into his hands...lo and behold, some bold adventurers stop him juuuust as he gets his felpaws on the object, and infuses it with some of his fel essensce... conveniently nullifying the wards on this ancient device that's allows the adventurers to use the key to seal a stirring elder evil back into the void.
While naturally forfeiting their very souls with this noble act.
@@bailz8674 25 years ago a DM ran Rod Of Seven Parts for our group was breaking up. Life stuff happens. We had to deal with Dispater to get a piece of gear as a distraction to EARN the rod part he had. Anything to harm The Queen Of Choas & to find a way to kill Miska The Wolf Spider...
Yes, but what about *Otherpater*?
and his brother, Datpater.
I’ll do you one better Whypater
I wonder what Dispater thinks of gods of secrets like Vecna
Somewhat off topic. Was there any instance in the lore where a devil/demon became good? WE know of an angel falling but what about a devil... rising?
Most devils these days started out as mortals who died and became lemures, the exception is the Erinyes who are all fallen angels. I'm not sure, offhand, if there are instances in published lore of one becoming a celestial petitioner.
Officially, I do not know. Would it be possible? Perhaps. Unlikely to be sure, but the possibility is always there. The key is to recognizing that many devils do not see an alternative. They see their actions as necessary and are reluctant to give up a winning strategy. Those who are honest and forth coming are often abused because they lack the capacity for darker deeds that give other devils an advantage. However, I do believe that if a devil was to recognize that the nature of Bator was actually a chaos all on its own, that by living in a way where all devils are constantly trying to undermine one another you only create uncertainty in who you can trust, that the only logical way to maintain order is to be fair and just in all things. That would cause a reaction that would possibly change the devil into a new form of life that resembles something in between an angel and its devilish nature, but it would be the first step to seeing a good devil.
This is all speculation though and I often speak with an authoritative tone so I do apologize.
@@AJPickett I see. It would be interesting to see what will become of the devil if they left the old ways and depart into something good/neutral. Thanks AJ! You are becoming more awesome by the video !
@@josephsarrouh5371 it's all good my friend. You did give me some inspiration for a campaign I am currently DMing. This'll make a very interesting quest.
Does a succubus becoming a holy Paladin count? Sure, they're a different species of fiend, but I think it still applies. That's happened before.
03:02 He... seems to be keeping his rod of rulership within reach...
Ooh, this one I knew nothing about. Thanks and Cheers
The illithids 'love' this guy. (sarcasm)
Huh. Seems Dispater like 'em thicc and short.
He probably loves dwarves then.
True.
@@bonefetcherbrimley7740 !😂!
Does the pact primevil protect devils from the wrath of all gods? For instance shouldn't Dispaters hoarding of secrets draw the Ire of a God like Vecna who guards them and punishes those who discover them or are Arch Devils completely beyond the reach of any non-overgod except Asmodeus?
i think thats what he meant when he said gathering the secrets of the cosmos was a fools errand for any one but a immortal being
The novel Elminster in Hell claims that the Pact even prevents Mystara (who is far more powerful than Vecna) from interfering with the workings of Hell, so I'd say, yes. Although, I'd assume there are many clauses in the Pact that the Arch Devils have to abide by in order to keep that protection. Although, Vecna is a tough call; he's the God of Secrets, after all, so it's likely not possible for anyone to hide a secret from him, and the more you try to KEEP it a secret, the easier it is for him to learn it.
Maybe. I was more under the impression he meant that one would need to be immortal to have the time (and perhaps supernatural intellect) to make learning every secret of the cosmos an even remote possibility.
Ah! That makes sense. Figured it had to work like that. Thanks.
Yep, it absolutely does protect them.
His consort's name is Lilis? Or Lilith? I couldn't quite make it out. I don't know if you've ever seen Wayne Barlowe's paintings of hell but some of the pics ou used reminded me of them. He wrote 2 novels so far in his world, the 1st is called God's Demon & is really good.
Its lilis
Only consorts hes ever had.
Runs the best spy network in hell, even asmodeus gets the chant after dispater
@@tonyh1718 thank you! I should have just googled. lol
Sounds like a well run Hive City to me
Pretty much
I was thinking Forge World, but hey- details.
Is he and Vecna best friends, mortal enemies or both?
Dispater is smart enough to avoid Vecna.
Very well done.
Seriously! 8:25 then 8:07 what's that like then? Pick a poket for a single gold coin in a tavern, then "everyone instantaneously knows". Devils run away screaming, or break down and start freaking out - because they know the dark & terrible secret of what happens next. Beverages are instantly vomited up, the smoke clouds part - chain devils levetate down amidst the panick and horror, and one of them says in a mechanical voice: "Crime: Petty theft. Punishment: relocation to sublevel 4." And the tavern floor itself partitions around them, and decends as a litteral elevator into hells hell like inevitable clockwork. #MaybeItReallyWasn'tWorthItThatTime. 😈⛓⚙😵⬇🔥⌛♻⏳♻⌛💰😱 *pictures the smoke cloud being just slightly noticably more thick*
Perfect. I was just about to sleep. Love your content as always.
Dat Ming reference. XD
At 9:03 in the video what's the blue bug thing? A thri-kreen or
That is a Gelugon, an Ice Devil, the Generals of the Devil forces and very nasty hunters on the bitter ice of the lower hells.
i wonder how he and vecna act towards each other given both deal in secrets
I also wondered this, as well as how the Raven Queen interacts with them. Maybe there's a massive cold war of espionage and betrayal between the three - much like the world from the 1960's to the 1990's
I don't think they would deal with each other at all.
AJ, are you aware of any adventure modules using Dispater ?
www.dmsguild.com/product/288447/DDAL0011-Pipyaps-Guide-to-All-of-the-Nine-Hells?affiliate_id=925821&site=#_=_ This is 5E Adventure League legal Nine Hells content, hot off the press. I can point you to some old modules for earlier editions, Dungeon magazine has a pretty good one. Also, 'Fires of Dis" the fourth published adventure for Planescape www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17273/Fires-of-Dis-2e
AJ Pickett awesome! I’ll take a look at them. Thanks
2:00 ..so he's the Destro of the Nine Planes? :-)
good video AJ
The City of Dis doesn't seem all that scary since I used to work in New York :)
Just remembered that Devil's Advocate movie Keanu was in.
Hail Dispater, Patron of Crit Fishers everywhere! XD
do the gith know that gith is in dispater's dungeon?
no
Most definitely not.
That would be a fun campaign. In their war on the mindflayers one lets out that their Lord dispater has the soul of gith, and the gith turn to fight the devils, inadvertently aiding the demons in the blood war.
I love these videos.....thnx for another great one!
I used Google translate to find out what Dispater means in Latin.
"Dis" means push, and "pater" means father, but interestingly Dispater means "disparate", which means "essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison."
Dispater was the first Archdevil I learned about from the MM.
Interestingly, WikiPedia translates Dis Pater as "rich father", so I think Google Translate may be in error here. The mines part makes sense as "the Father of riches" as he was also associated with mineral wealth, which is how he also became associated as an Underworld god...
Fires of Dis, great adventure!
Excellent.
At the council of Asmodeus, does Levistus attend or does Geryon?
Geryon.
“Lex Luthor in Hell”
12:05 looks like a Ghost concert in the background
Question. How does Livistus attend the council of Asmodeus?
He doesn't, Geryon does.
@@AJPickett wow. What a terrifying relationship they must have. Levistus gives no council to Asmodeus but the person he overthrew who wants him dead gives council instead. Terrifying
I read in a 3.5 book that Asmodeus frees Levistus just long enough to attend the council, and as soon as it's over Levistus is immediately sent back to being frozen in his iceberg. Maybe they changed it since?
In the old books, Asmo literally frees him only for that event, as soon as it’s over he’s sent back into the tomb. Tyrants of the Nine Hells 3.5.
Disappointed talos doesn't have more history always wondered if there was a triple stone and clay golems also
Thunderbirds please