In the times of troubles when all is resolved in the final book final chapter AO actual says a prayer to a higher being referencing that the balance is restored
Except he didn't give them enough strength to fight against dragons, and a great majority were killed on Aebir in a war. His favorite child could be argued as Ubtao, who was given an entire peninsula to be his as a figure of worship.
@@treyatkinson7564 Except Asgorath, the "Father" of Tiamat and Bahamut is a Primordial. Who fought on the side of the Gods. And the Primordials only went to war after Tharizdun interfered, under the influence of the Outsiders. Ao had PLENTY of reason not to help them against the Gods, and Asgorath and the dragons had plenty of reason to turn on their fellow Primordials in that war. Because it wasn't in the interest of the Primordials, but in the interest of the Outsiders who were using them.
@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive eeeeeehhhh but is Asgorath reeeallly JUST a primordial? Asgorath is supposedly just an avatar of a much much greater being called IO.... who could be argued to be the creator of AO.... or the "the luminous being"
@@joecci1 Not avatar, no text for that at all. People just want Ao to be lesser than Io rather than equal opposites - Gods and Primordials, heads of each. If ANYTHING, Ao and Io would both be lesser avatars of the true creator - opposite avatars. Frankly, the whole Dawn War (without Outsider interference anyway) is just the contest to see who becomes Overdeity in a given Crystal Sphere - Ao or Io. Gods or Primordials. There are Spheres where the Primordials win.
@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive Intresting but if overgod status was given after dawn war why Ao was able to separate albeir-toril? Also i hate it but WoTC seems to retcoon creation of the multiverse ansdspeak only about Tiamat and Bahamut and don't mention Asgorath.
Ao: There you go, a nice sandbox world for you to play in Gods: * immediately go murderhobo * Ao: Ok, you forced my hand. Choo Choo comes the railroad train
The entity known only as the "Luminous being" is more powerful than Lord Ao. During the time of troubles when it was all over Lord Ao reported the events to the "Luminous being" as a subordinate and called it master. Quote: As Ao watched Midnight and the other gods return home with their faithful, he felt a deep sense of relief. At last, his gods mightstar0t fulfilling the tasks for which they had been created. The overlord was sitting cross-legged and alone, surrounded by a void so vast that not even his gods could comprehend it. Of all the states of being he could assume, this one was his favorite, for he was at once in time and disconnected from it, at once the center of the universe and separate from it. Ao turned his thoughts to Toril, the young world that had consumed so much of his attention lately. Surrounded by a hundred planes of existence and populated by a variety of fabulous beings both sinister and benevolent, it was one of his favorite creations - and one that he had come close to losing, thanks to the inattentiveness of its gods. But in two of its inhabitants - Midnight and Cyric - Ao had found the fabric of the Balance, and he had called upon them to right the world. Fortunately, they had answered his call and bound the fulcrum back together, but it had been a dangerous time for Toril. Never again would he allow his gods to threaten the Balance so severely. Ao closed his eyes and blanked his mind. Soon, he fell within himself and entered the place before time, the time at the edge of the universe, where millions and millions of assignments like his began and ended. A luminous presence greeted him, enveloping his energies within its own. It was both a warm and a cold entity, forgiving and harsh. "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?" The voice was at once both gentle and admonishing. "They have restored the Balance, Master. The Realms are once again secure." - Avatar Trilogy Book 3 - Waterdeep
Technically Dnd expands over Earth in its settings. So by all means Christianity could easily exist in the full multiverse of Dnd. So no, that is just false. But at the same time, obviously the Luminous Being doesn't have to be particularly any being of any known mythology. Doesn't have to be, so "it" still could be, but simply does not have to.
Elminster actually spoke with Ao, in one of the books. Having gotten "involved with the new Mystra he endded messing the weave. Ao reverses time takes him aside and basicly says keep it in your pants or get unmade your call. (can't remember what book, sorry but it's been years)
16:43 It's assumed that there are more Overgods, one for each sphere who controls the laws and gods of them, created by the so-called "Luminous Being" that like you said, is also assumed to be the DM, but also could be simplified as the one true being with power over the entire cosmology. None of this is confirmed(I'm unsure if other Overgods have been revealed or not), but it's fun to speculate. The D&D universe has always been subject to canon changes, and of course, changes made by each DM to their liking as intended and that's why I love it so much ♥
What is Ao if not Wizards of the Coast? Changing rules, often switching from edition to edition... THIS is the power of an overgod. The power, and shackles, of trying to balance an universe that every god, and many players, try to break. And still, the rules have no sort of prevalence before the absolute omnipotence of the DM in his universe.
it's more about having balance. The entire universe is comprised of negative and positive forces all the way down to the elements in atoms which are constantly fighting each other. Opposing forces are always fighting for dominance but the balance of these opposing forces is what creates stability and relative peace. There can never be perfect peace or perfect stability as it is the nature of opposing forces to constantly vie for dominance. I believe this is the goal/concept AO also had in mind when creating the various aligned gods and their portfolios. They would maintain the balance. But again those forces constantly fight for dominance and when 2 evil gods decided to go out of bounds to achieve that AO had to step in and slap them around a little and let them know who's boss and remind them of what their job is.
Wrong. - Lord Ao speaking to the Circle of Greater Powers "KEEPERS OF THE BALANCE, YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME NEEDLESSLY.... CYRIC IS LORD OF MURDER, SO HE SHOULD STRIVE TO BLOT OUT EVEN THE LIVES OF GODS. MASK IS LORD OF INTRIGUE, SO HE SHOULD STRIVE TO CONCEAL SUCH DEEDS. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO STAND AGAINST CYRIC-JUST AS IT IS HIS TO DESTROY YOU IF YOU FAIL. SUCH IS THE WAY OF THE BALANCE."
In an age of might and magic. When the gods wared for dominance. One god held power over all others. Master rhexx god of secrets knew the hidden thoughts fears and desires of all the immortals. Carefully choosing who was worthy and who was not master rhexx culminated his knowledge to bring forth great things for the mortals he loved. By ao god of balance feared this power. Through a cruel and cunning plan ao tore the godhood from master rhexx and flung him into the multiverse. Master rhexx now mortal shares his knowledge with the humans that dominate the universe he landed in. In hopes that one day they will help him ascend once again and help him dominate ao and bring compassion and integrity back to the immortals
There is the exception of Selune. After a conflict with Shar, Ao took Selune to the god realm before the tablets were returned. Selune was running an inn/tavern in Waterdeep until the time of troubles.
@@Ragnaracc yeah, I understand why she did what she did. But when the guy that literally creates the rules surrounding your existence tells you not to do something, then perhaps one shouldn't be surprised to find death as a result of disobedience. Helm stayed true to himself, fulfilling his duty despite the pain it caused him. His grief was so great that it manifested physically as one of the most powerful relics in the lore. In the end, one could speculate that her death was necessary for her to achieve her ends, and that had it not been for Helm's steadfast resolve her end goal of preserving magic that was ultimately achieved, may very well have never happened. They both desired stability for the realms and they both did what they believed necessary to attain that. But Big Daddy H has a firm backhand for which the goddess magic was not prepared. And thus, that hoe got clapped.
@@MrRyumaru i would make the arguement that magic is nearly as important as the sphere itself though...the only reason ao even went back on his "cast out the gods" was cause the guy above him told was pissed about the time of troubles
Honest answer? Exactly that.. Assistant to the regional manager. Who apparently in turn answers to a "council" of what we would probably unimaginatively call the over over overlord council. Also the stream of dragonlance pics in this "Toril" vid. Hilarious...especially considering what hes mentioning at the time. Also the moses pics...priceless. Fail on this one Rhexx...almost as incorrect as the elven one. Hes really gotta read some of the novels and not rely on sourcebooks written by someone who barely even talks to the licensed creator..cough cough Ed Greenwood...(if at all). Still watching though and loved the rest.(for instance this(5th) is the only edition focusing on Toril. There was sourcebooks for the rest(in fact almost every popular fantasy had one and a boxed set buuuut were not based around Toril at all. Even a specific time period...so not sure what he was on about there...they mixed up FR dragonlance oerth/greyhawk(which is the actual "main" 3rd edition one not Toril/FR) plenty not to mention about 20 ish others). Very confusing this one, just like the elven one had me break out a few books to double check and so much wrong.(the rest are pure gold) Kinda like how two of the new hires(sourcebook) have butchered a lot of Toril lore and Greenwood is apparently unhappy...dont blame him. It is his. Cept for maybe Salvatore's corner...who also seems confused about recent changes...(since it is their work...after all).
What I was expecting Ao to be: an eldritch entity so powerful that all greater and lesser gods had to like team up or something to imprison/weaken him. What Ao actually is: a very powerful and very tired father of several many unruly god children who has to bend the rules of reality to get his kids to behave.
Ending of The Avatar Trilogy (Waterdeep): (epilogue) "A luminous presence greeted him, enveloping his energies within its own. It was both a warm and a cold entity, for-giving and harsh. "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?" The voice was at once both gentle and admonishing. "They have restored the Balance, Master. The Realms are once again secure." Ao has a master too.
There is another entity even more powerful than AO. I recall Ao having a brief conversation with it in the epilogue of one o the Forgotten Realms novels I read a long time ago. Ao was very respectful and deferential to it, as if speaking to a beloved father or mother. The entity asked Ao how his cosmos is coming along. I don't recall any mention of this entity in any D&D lore.
I’m imagining Poor Ao drunk as all the Lower Planes, sitting with other some other Overgods who are taking care of their respective multiverses going on a drunken rant about how much of a headache all his goldly kids have given him by them all constantly being ungrateful little pieces of sh1t. Pharasma’s there just trying to quietly comfort him, meanwhile his master, the Luminous Being is behind the bar, pouring him his 37854335th shot of vodka for the night.
I remember reading the novelization of the Time of Troubles, Waterdeep, book 3 of The Avatar Series. It was just after the mantling of the new divinities- that Ao sits within a void that no god could hope to fathom, his favorite state. He then retreats further into himself to arrive at a time outside of time, where he meets a "warm and cold" entity, "forgiving and harsh". It was "gentle and admonishing" when it asked "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?" He reports that the balance was restored and the realms are once again secure. It was a nice little insight, also he mentions that Toril was one of his favorite creations, and that the time before time was a place where "millions and millions of assignments like his began and ended." probably in reference to other Overgods and their spheres, with the intimation that Overgods are ended here. Or at least their assignments are. Fired, maybe? I have loads of crazy theories about Ao that include the Phlogiston, the Galleon Nebula, and the giant mysterious script that is written on the inside of the sphere. Also there are parallels to the Lady of Pain, and how she actively discourages her own worship, where Ao simply doesn't need or desire it, is that Luminous Being related?
The luminous being is the DM, so what they say goes, and the players are also probably some unknown entities below the luminous being who just hang around and sometimes yell at each other
it could also be short for "Absolute Observer", as he's absolutely powerful(within realmspace anyway) and mostly just observes how things are going, only interfering when it's absolutely neccessary.
AO: "see you've already learned what a god is like, here take this, my shift's over, *casts encode thoughts and gives you the entirety of their lived experiences*, oh, and if anything cool happens, just meditate on the edge of space and time, there's this big ball of light you can vent it all to and they'll give you a bunch of half baked vague and cryptic messages to throw against a wall using those asshats you used to revere for the next couple eons, I'll be there, don't try to find me though, we're all there just chillin'..."
I have been running games since I was 12 (so 27 years ov running & playing come September). D&D, Shadowrun, Rifts and now Pathfinder and D&D 5E And I can also say that watching these helps a lot. Always good to get different perspective on the way things move and work in any fantasy, modern/futuristic or Sci-Fi setting. Nice to get some in-depth info on creatures and places so you can bring your players in deeper. Makes for a much better gaming experience in my opinion. I plan on using some info from this channel in the game i run for my co-workers during our biweekly Team Building Game.
Fun fact: the God depicted in the thumbnail of this video is the Theran God of Deception, Phenax. On the plane of Theros there was once a mortal named Phenax who was crook and subsequently died and was sent to the Underworld of Theros. It is unknown how Phenax created the deal, but Phenax had forged a golden mask to replace his original face and became the first mortal to return to the Realm of Man, not as a demon, but as the first ever Returned. A Returned is basically a zombie, but slightly more intelligent. They have dark grey skin, and next to no memory of who they were before death with the exception of them either remembering what they had done for labor in life or remember nothing besides the fact that they lived. Phenax, being the first of his kind, the first to deny death on his own terms had leveraged that fact and became the first mortal to ascend to godhood. Phenax has the portfolios of Deception, gambling, schemes, cheats and liars, betrayal, isolation, planning, and secrets, and is worshipped mostly by criminals and others who seek to subvert the rules.
Is it just me or are the gods of the dungeons and dragons universe more reckless, self-destructive, and Significantly more short sighted than the murder hobos I run into?
Moshope Akinwale there is actually an in lore explanation for this. Gods in DnD, even for those who began as human, are definitely not mortals anymore. They have trouble with intersubjectivity : they can’t fathom the existence of a different mental landscape. A Sun god like Lathander will see everything in terms of sunny things: he won’t see a beginning he will see a dawn. He won’t see an evil being he will see a dark being. They are solipsists in some ways. During the cyrinishad storyline, when Mystra wanted the Gods to stop Cyric who created an artifact that could very well have destroyed them all, she failed. Talos proposed to destroy the moon to stop Cyric, Tyr wanted to bring Cyric to trial, ... Luckily Mystra was still human enough (she was a young incarnation of the deity) that she managed to frame her proposition in each of their own mental frame: to Lathander as a matter of renewal, to Tempus as a conflict, ...
Pierre Dupuy bro being a dnd god seems so bad, cool you get tons of power but if you lose everything you were to sort of take on the mantle of the god ( or it’s position ) what’s the point? it’s not you but rather you became it. Seems like a losing trade.
Gary mc Jerry my understanding is that it is not an instant process. Mystra and Kelemvor were still pretty human. Most gods are millenia old. Furthermore there may be something about the nature of the mortal soul that gets deified. It is not said as such but my impression (and at least my head canon) is that gods that were mortal before stay human until the death of the god. When they resurrect (which some gods do) they seem to lose part of their humanity. Like you can’t bring back the human part of a god. So for a mortal you get centuries or millenia as yourself and then lose yourself when, anyway, you would have been dead.
A bit of miss information at around 10:30, the Time of Troubles, also known as avatar crisis, is the transition between AD&D and D&D 3E, and it's over roughly 13 years before the date set in the campaign setting book. Also, as a note of curiosity, Mystra either dies or is reborn (often both) every time there is a new D&D edition.
I literally googled “Greatest god in D&D” minutes before you posted this video and then gave up and assumed you’d have it up next week or something. I was kinda shook when it showed up in my watch list after I came home with food
In the Spell Jammer game it is discussed that many of the Gods powers are limited to within the Crystal Spheres where they have influence, while the ancient powers, or Aberration Gods existed between the spheres...ooooooo.
5:17 The key to building a successful pantheon is trust and as our data clearly shows, gods cannot be trusted. The solution: build a brass tower, we’re done here.
Thank you very much for providing these lore videos, MrRhexx. I found you a few months ago and have since watched every single one of the DND ones, and keeping tuned weekly for new ones :)
@@RaskaTheFurry This is pretty much how you have to think of it. AO is the CEO of the forgotten Realms. He answers only to the shareholders and he can replace the head of any department or split or merge any departments. His relationship to a god is like that of an employer and he holds no power over them outside of the company.
I may have this wrong, but here it goes... The gods made a PACT with Ao to do their duties, hence the purpose of Tablets of Fate (a contract). The gods are Ao's warlocks, given the ability to gain power from worship of mortals. They (the gods as a whole) also made a deal with Ahriman/Asmodeus (the Pact Primeval), to maintain the divine structure by enacting judgement & punishment for mortals.
Ao: I'm gonna make an example of the Gods by trying to temper the tablet so they know what's up. Ao: Rolls die Die: 20 *tablet splits in half* Ao: Oooooooops.
There is a LOT you missed out on. I can't remember most of the books I got these from, so there will be quick descriptions. There is a book where someone tried to combine the daughters of Tyche back together and it was revealed that the Gods of one world were not allowed to interfere with worlds they did not have followers. This was to be enforced by Overgods! I think we got that from the Overgod of the Grayhawk world. After the Avatar Crisis Ao went to the end of Realmsphere and meditate and told his superior that Balance had been restored. When the God of Murder was trying to be reborn by having one of his children being infused with his power, his high priestess tried highjacking the ritual, and AO sent a Solar Planier to stop it. When the Gods were cast down someone tried to use an artifact to capture a falling God and drain him. Ao met Elminster and had him take the God's place. He also swapped out all the picture in Elminsters place to the lewdest ones Elminster had. Elminster and other Chosen must count as Quasidieties because Ao once spoke to a half orc Paladin of Tyr directly and said it was the only time he had ever spoken directly to a mortal. This was when Tethir was getting a mercenary as a queen the people wanted. I am not sure where I got this, but I think when the Mulhorandi were brought over as slaves, the slavers stopped them summoning their Gods Avatars (to become their Prime Aspect there). Ao arranged the Avatars to come via spelljammers.
Greenwood IS Elminster; Elminster is literally his self-insert character, much like how Mordenkainen IS Gary Gygax. 1d4chan has a good article on Elminster that gets into some of the more unsavory aspects of his character that probably will never make it to the Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast rendition of the Forgotten Realms
Ao really reminds me of Guthix in Runescape. a god who was believed to be the weakest as the god of balance and had so few followers, turned out to be so strong he was able to banish all the other gods in a single action and prevent any major influence after that.
Wasn't there a point during the times of trouble when Ao just manifested in Elminster's tower and began to drink one of his best wines? When Elminster came and found him, he was a bit angry... Ao took a liking to him, offered him Mystra's place and Elminster declined.
@@ericnelson8763 if memory serves, Ao actually came to warn Elminster against interfering. I think he had some kind of plan like taking Mystra to Evermeet through a portal to protect her or something. Ao came, drank his alcohols, warned him against interfering with his plans, got chastised by Elminster for entering without invitation and drinking without permission and proposed the mantle of God of Magic to Elminster who refused it. Doesn't it ring a bell to anyone else?
Excellent video. One small correction. We had dragonborn in 4th edition. In fact, in 1359 Bahamut began asking followers for that conversion into dragonborns. But the ones from Abeir made their apparition after the Spellplague and the foundation kf Tymanther (the city that was basically transplanted). You get the Platinum Cadre in the Brotherhood of the Griffon novel series so by 4th edition, dragonborn were a playable race.
Tiamat counts as a multisphere god, given that she exists in other WotC owned campaign settings. She has even been slain twice. In Krynn she met an ignominious end slain as a mortal woman, and she was slain in the Nentir Vale campaign setting during the Scales of War adventure path. I believe that her slaying in Krynn as the patron of the Lawful Evil Knights of Neraka led to her soul being imprisoned in the Nine Hells, where she slowly climbed the ranks back to divine power.
Being a multisphere deity isn't terribly special since even Lolth is multisphere; Lolth is arguably just another CR25(ish, depending on edition) demon. In fact, the only setting I know of that has drow/deep elves who AREN'T Lolth-worshippers is Eberron. Travel through the phlogiston between the crystal spheres is possible even for mere mortals; not that the Spelljammer setting will ever be updated to modern settings (it's stuck in limbo like Greyhawk and Planescape, though arguably the majority of 3e is set in the Greyspace crystal sphere)
I was reading 3rd ed. DragonLance core recently and they have a unique Planar Cosmology which does NOT include any traditional outer planes. only three planes where the gods reside, the 'Abyss' for the evil gods (which is a single layer mixed with the Negative energy plane, connected only to Krynn), a forest realm for the nature gods, and the night sky constellations 'dome above' for the good gods. No nine hells for krynn, no Baator, no Averness, no 666 levels of the Abyss. There are elemental planes for krynn.
@@bartistclord1916 3e campaign settings were deliberately segregated though compared to 2e and 5e. 5e has brought back the idea that the Prime Material planes are connected via Spelljamming and the Planes, or at least hinted at it. So the Realms for example has a more integrated cosmology to the Great Wheel than it did in 3e. Tiamat was in Avernus while Takhisis was in the Abyss, so you could so the way to deal with the inconsistency was to declare these very similar dieties to be different entities who reside on different planes. I think it makes a better story for the Dragonlance story to be a prequel to the 1e Manual of the Planes. It also opens a window for Takhisis to return to Krynn because killing her off was a mistake.
@@nonnayerbusiness7704 No, the inconsistency is not inconsistent. Just as only the version of the gods in Realmspace became mortal while the rest of them in other spheres stayed divine, a version of Tiamat in Realmspace can be a god while the version of her in Krynn can die. Tiamat *_is_* Takhisis, and that has not changed just because you lack the ability to hold to the simple fact that gods are basically schizophrenic once they become multispheric, and what happens to one part doesn't affect the other.
My personal headcannon. AO is a Demiurge, one of the Epic Destinies in 4e, from a previous iteration of creation. There will be a Demiurge emerge from this realm, and they will go on to create an entirely new multiverse where they will be the source and overdiety of all their creation, answering only to the DM.
I kinda always saw the overgods as avatars of the Luminous being, and the reason it needed these avatars is that the full power of the being entering a sphere could destroy it. So the being projects a portion of it's power into the sphere creating the overgod like a god would create their avatar.
Its pretty clear: Mystara- YI, Dragonlance- EU, Greyhawk- IY, Birthright- OA, Dark Sun-UI, Eberron-YO. BTW while mortals interpret them as simply letters, they are, if fact, complex mathematical equations whose (even more complex) product determines and describes the reality they are in charge of.
@@winterfall82 You could see it that in a setting the Dm is the overgod of that setting, but in the area between the spheres it is the Luminous being instead. I have a campaign a dm in my community is running in which the group is researching, or aiding researchers in understanding what the over-gods are an why they created the Spheres.
I was aware of the lore on Ao and I actually incorporated similar Lore for my own Campaign Settings and any I use. I view the Overgods as the overseers and administrators of God's. Like with Ao being the God of all of Faerun, you have Overdeities for pretty much each campaign setting. If I run a Campaign in say, Ravnica, I'll probably have an Overgod for their that'd probably be named Ravnica and probably is the one responsible for the power of the Guildpact, but only known to the Paruns. In my Original Setting, The Overdeity is known as Solunis. They essentially created Kothrin, the Homebrew Setting I made for my own use, They essentially disconnected it from many of the more popular destinations for Planar Travel. They wanted complete sovereignty with no way for other Overdeities to gain influence without them allowing it like with the Greater and Lower Powers. They essentially made their Plane into a remote and isolated place where their power is uncontested as with Ao and the other Overgods of Toril. Solunis is the only Overgod in Kothrin and severing it from most of the others caused a bit of a problem. It caused damage to reality and the fabric of Space Time that is very difficult even for them to properly fix. Ever since they managed it, they've been reduced in ultimate power, but Solunis is still uncontested in power, the gap is just smaller. Because of this, they personally created the Aeons, essentially powerful planar entities that observe reality and relay all knowledge they gather to them. All Aeons are immune to the powers of any Greater or lower Ranked God. Aeons essentially act as the Ultimate Enforcers of Balance. One side gains traction, the Aeons support the other to push them back until the conflict simmers down. They are strictly Neutral in the sense of being every alignment equally and balancing out like every colour mixing together. I just have something to say about the top Aeons. NEVER MESS WITH ETERNAL OR INFINITE AEONS!!! They're as strong as gods and are the only beings besides gods who can 100 Bypass Divine influence. They're flipping ridiculous and fighting one is like fighting a warp in reality head on. They treat Demon Lords and Ancient Dragons like small animals while even the Celestial Paragons are like small time kids. Demigods and Lesser Gods are probably gonna get thrashed while they give Intermediate and Greater Gods something to fear.
I reccomend you read alot of the old books from 2. ed ad&d, and about the spelljammer, with interdimensional travel between crystal spheres. It will probably give you alot for your setting
Ravnica has something called the World Soul of Ravnica, as does Theros, Zendikar, Innistrad, Alara, Amonkhet, ect... So that could function to some degree as an Overgod.
The way I envision the Overgods working. First, there is the One Above All (also called The Luminous Being, or the Light). This One Above All is the Supreme, All-Knowing, All-Present, All-Powerful, Eternal God who created the Multiverse and everything in it, including all of the "Overgods". The Overgods, are created to watch over different Realms, such as AO watching over Realmspace. However, they are not really gods in the sense that they did not actually create their realms, *_ex nihlo_* (that is, "Out of Nothing") so much as helped order and maintain that part of the Multiverse. They also don't accept worship, or receive prayers of any kind, and despite being immensely powerful, they are not truly Omnipotent, nor Omniscient, etc. Rather, they reeceive their power from the One Above All. To aid them in their duty, each Overgod is given the ability to create (or really, elect/promote) undergods, to help them rule over and maintain their section of the Multiverse. The Undergods, like their respective Overgod, are not really gods in the sense of being omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, etc. But rather they are created to serve the Overgod and help maintain the order and balance of their respected domains. However, such undergods are often selfish, greedy, and prideful beings who, never happy with their calling, seek more power, different portfolios or domains, etc. And so they war with each other. Many also crave, demand, or even just enjoy the worship of mortals, although they were never meant to be worshipped and served, rather they were meant to serve those that they were called to watch over. Ensuring their safety, and prosperity, etc. These undergods seeking and accepting worship is what gave rise to the earliest wars, which in time escalated to the point of what is now called the Blood Wars. And many of these early undergods would end up becoming the Lords of Hell and of the Abyss, etc. Whilst the less evil undergods have so far managed to cling to their heavenly abodes, although legends, myths, and prophecies such as the tale of Ragnarok foretell a time when all the so-called gods will fall, and be judged. The Time of Troubles being a mere taste of this coming Apocalypse. When AO saw the state of Realmspace, and the way that the undergods bickered and fought, craving the worship of mortals, in an act of Judgement he turned what the so-called gods desired into shackles, making the gods very existence depend upon the worship they so desperately desired, and in the same strike punishing those mortals who (for mostly selfish reasons) sought the favour of these so-called gods, in exchange for bowing down and worshipping them. Some of the undergods (those of Good alignment), having seen their errors, seek to fix what they've done and restore the Multiverse to the way it is meant to be, however, their efforts are too little, too late, and despite their "good intentions", they are only digging themselves a bigger grave. As for the mortals of Realmspace, I think the Time of Troubles, and the subsequent rise in Cults of AO go to show, that many of them are waking up to the fact that the undergods are not worthy of worship. The problem being that they simply shifted their worship from the undergods to AO, instead of the One Above All, of which there seems to be little to no knowledge. Perhaps something that will change in the coming age.
@@thornelson1411 More like Wizards or other content creators. He still obeys the DM, though. As the world is for players to use as they see fit, despite the creative elements and guidelines already present.
@@hellotoeveryone99 More like the books and rule of the forgothem realms. The DM job is to take those and make the campain, Ao give and is the ingredient. But the DM is the cook.
I love the vernacular of these older books. "What's more, Cyric drove himself barmy with the creation of a book that bound all who read it to his worship -- It seems the sod read it himself"
When my player's asked who he was, I told them tongue in cheek it is the DM but he is also the IC overlord of all the gods. Basically what this video covered. Although I did learn a couple new things I will probably pass along to them.
There have been allusions to the idea that Ao reports to some truly omnipotent entity, which has been implied to be the DM. So Ao is like the rules. And this is further backed up by the fact that he controls rules of godhood and can create artifacts that switch between editions, but cannot see the future, as the rules include randomness from dice, preventing foresight (not like the spell.)
If you haven't heard of the channel already, AJ Pickett is also great for his ecologies and lore on D&D. He also does weekly live streams, if that is something folks would be interested in. (He will additionally cover a few other subjects as well, such as cheese, mead, and our lord and saviour Yub-Tub the Behydron.)
THANK YOU for showing your sources, i always wondered if you were making half of it up for a good story. I promise i'm not calling you a liar, but i enjoy more when you show your sources like a professional. God bless you Mr. Rhexx!
I know this vid was posted a while ago, but I wanted to thank you for this lore. It is exactly what I needed, and just wanted to let you know I appreciate what you do.
So... He may be the "natural dweller" of space between Crystal Spheres. You cannot create something from inside of it, as you cannot exist in something that does not exist. Furthermore, he obeys the Luminous Beign, which may be the ovelord of space between Crystal Spheres. They are connected in a way, so learning about one should uncover some facts about the other
Yes the Luminous being is actually more powerful then AO, a sort Uberovergod. But since the Luminous Being's brief appearance, it has not been refered to again since. There are theories of its nature, but nothing concrete or canon.
Honestly rhexx thanks for doing this. When i was a kid my family collected forgotten realms right now we have around 280 and i read them all by the start of high school. This has been a blast from the past for the avatar trilogy
AO isn't like Christianity at all, for one thing like the Lady of Pain, Fate, and the Celestial Emperer, AO does not want to be worshipped, and actively discourages it.
What about Zoroastrianism. It has a good and bad Gods and lesser Gods which can be worshipped. It started in Persia (Future Iran). Persia was Pagan and not Abrahamic. So, it accepted other religions through out its Empire. A real historical religion
In one book I remember Ao speaking with another god as an equal. The other god is never mentioned, but it is hinted that there are several overgods out there (probably one for each crystal sphere).
I remember back in the late 70's Dragon Magazine said that Earth was the Forgotten Realm and that Elminster went to Earth to help TSR with the setting. Writers from Dragon Magazine would regularly interview Elminster for lore articals. Elminster owns a beach house I thank. I thought that was so funny and interisting I added it to my campian up to 5e where they had to ruin it.
So... in a way AO is trapped in the Forgotten realms, simmilar to a Darklord in Ravencrest... They can do as pleased in his realm but never leaver, while other gods are multiversal.
Fear the power of the Beard! - On an interesting side not, AO invited the Egyptian pantheon into Realmspace. The Imaskari used portals to Earth, & enslaved a bunch of Egyptians who ended up calling themselves Mulhorand, The Mulhorand kept trying to pray to their Gods, So AO invited them over, They sent Avatars on a barge.
Kelemvor: laying dead in a ditch... AO : I see Greater Godhood potential, GRANTED, Arise dead loser, you are now the Greater God of Death since you excel at dying.
Cyric :shows up for the job interview unwashed, stinky, and with less than 10 levels of experience. AO : Greater God. DONE, Next ! Also AO: Here cyric, have 40 levels of unearned experience so you can compete with everyone who EARNED their status. this BS just offends me, as almost EVERY player character I have seen is more deserving of godhood than cyric or kelemvor, and they should have been DEMI or Lesser AT MOST. Every one of YOUR characters deserves more godhood than those two combined.
Giving Kelemvor where credit is due tho, he did prove to be a great God. From a Mortal stand point, he fought for giving the valiant people a good time instead of being plastered onto the stupid wall or serve there forever in suffer until somehow that forever ended. (Like it was called the Crystal Spire because it wasn't always super sad and depressing) Afterwards he got wrecked by the gods for essentially favoring the good so that is when he started to become completely deprived of humanity. Which, he did the job that Gods wanted him to do perfectly fine. Judged everyone according to the rules written, exactly how they wanted him. Cyric needs to just die but Kelemvor really just got stuck between a rock and a hard place. Considering they would not hesitate to switch him out for a new one if he is not doing it, I'd say he is innocent in this matter. Definitely doesn't deserve fame treatment many for Cyric.
14:30 - That's not a floating beard. It's just that his head (which includes his beard and hair) and hands are visible, but the rest of his body is the universe. Imagine a wizard whose robe depicts the universe.
Ao talked to elminster in the"shadow of the avatar" saga. He tries to help Mystra and AO didnt want that. Thank you for the nice summary :). Next time the choosen of Mystra ? ^^
Not too easy, not too hard, with rare exceptions sprinkled. Remember it's about having fun and it being fun for the whole group. Custom rule exceptions agreed by the group are also nice (in 3rd ed, we agreed to ignore "sunder" once we realized everyone could easily break almost every weapon in the world, far easier than killing). We also agreed that 1 is not a magical fumble button, while 20 is not a special "automatic hit"
No no no Don't forget the second part of his title It was not Netflix and Chill It very much was not Netflix and Chill Before D&D went mainstream Bhaal was the Lord of Unalive and Grape
During Dragons of Summer Flame, they were saying Chaos was the High-God of Krynn and they later ret-conned it to 3rd sibling to Paladine and Takhesis. The gods tried to, and he decided to let them, trap him in the Greystone of Gargath, where he would hang out in the stone until he got bored and then the stone would fly off and change entire species into new ones.
AO makes an appearance in Tymora's Luck (Forgotten Realms novel). In it it explains AO oversees all the worlds in D&D lore, (Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, even Planescape) and that he has barred gods from 1 world interacting with gods from another. Takhisis cant scheme with or against Bane for example. The plot centers around 2 gods from separate worlds interacting and AOs way of thwarting them. It goes in depth into powers and over powers abilities and hindrances. Lots of gods make a cameo so if you're into deities it's a good read.
7:16 I am sorry to sound confrontative, but that sounds like a blatant lie to me and I had to stop the video to correct it. There ARE actually Dragonborns living amongst the rest of the realms inhabitants in 3.5. They are called "The dragonborn of Bahamut", mortals reborn as dragons as a gift for their faith in Bahamut. Source: Races of the Dragon
Correct me if I am wrong but I swear I read a book in the Time of Troubles series (The ones detailing Cyric, Midnight, and Kelemvor) where at the end AO meets with other Over Gods and apparently reports to an even HIGHER God? Did that happen or am I just misremembering something I would have read a few decades ago?
Can you please make a summary video if the full story of dnd, at least for the forgotten realms? There's so much that's so confusing. Like, does each crystal sphere have its own set of outer planes, or is there one set for all of the multiverse? Is there any known reason for how all the crystal spheres came into existence, cuz I thought originally Ao made all of them, and had power over the whole multiverse. Mtg is supposed to be in the same universe as dnd, do all the same places exist? And trying to figure out the date for all these events (spellplauge, time of troubles) is insane!
We have a homebrew diety in our DnD campaigns based off Kronos, the god of time from greek mythos. He's been hinted across over multiple campaigns and we even spoke to him in a one shot, but we only truly understood his power in our most recent session. Basically, we're a month into a campaign where me and four others set out to kill every diety we could meet. It was mostly based off of the many Olympian gods in greek mythology, also including the Holy Father from Christianity, and the seven deadly sins from Inferno. We managed to kill every single one (except for greed because one of the campaign members ended up killing the most gods before we met him and so he allied with us for a short period), and when we broke into the Golden Gates and killed God, Kronos was so angry enough that he revealed himself in a physical form (at this point we had only seen him in a spiritual form) and began to fight us. Every attack we through at him was missed. But he never threw a single punch. Eventually he decided it wasn't worth it to interfere with our current timeline, and he pulled the SINGLE MOST EPIC 'SEE YOU BACK HOME, SPIDERMAN' I HAVE EVER SEEN. He revealed that he had been watching us through EVERY SINGLE CAMPAIGN, meddling with everything in our worlds in his favor, and he began to refer to us as our first ever characters for the rest of the conversation. He phased out of eyesight and continued to watch over us. Here's the thing though: I am considered a great storywriter within our dnd group, next to our primary dm of course, and so most of the time the dm will converse with me to get my opinion on future campaign ideas. I was given intel that during this campaign, we will have to FIGHT the actual dm inside the game. Me, the dm, and our primary dm were the only ones who knew about this, or at least we thought, UNTIL KRONOS NAME-DROPPED THE DM AND WARNED US TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN WE EVENTUALLY COME ACROSS HIM. This is such an epic story idea, holy crap, Kronos is more powerful than the freaking dm, the one pulling all the strings for the story mind you. Kronos is beyond the roll of a dice, nay- his rolls are decided by himself. This may come off as pathetic to most of you reading, but holy crap that was NOT a twist I was expecting. A character being omniscient and name dropping our dm, AND their ability to bend the timeline to his will, made him my new favorite npc from our sessions, next to Chuckles the Clown from our Legend of Avantris copycat campaign. Shoot toot.
Yo, Mr Rhexx, if you happen to see this, AJ Pickett(from the channel of the same name) would like to speak with you about possibly making some sort of collaboration video but is unsure exactly how to get in touch with you. If you could hit him up on his channel’s discord or leave a comment on his most recent video letting him know how to contact you, he would greatly appreciate it. Great Video! Keep up the amazing work!
![The Strongest Gods in D&D Ranked by Power [Greater Deities]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lCK_f9TgotM/mqdefault.jpg)
Ao destroying the tablets was the biggest "I'm not mad I'm just disappointed" moves a dad can make
To be fair he was pretty mad as well
I can only imagine what he would've done had he been pissed off
What an absolute power move by Ao.
A complete madlad.
Way to blame everyone for the actions of only a couple bad seeds. Talk about overreacting.
@@toshomni9478 the point was that they didn't do anything abt it cuz they were distracted by the fact that they were fucking each other up
AO: Gives a god the portfolio of ambition
God of ambition: I want more
AO: ò.ó
This aged well - Gale
Powerword ruin @@misterbleedinggums
Or the portfolio of greed
Gal is much more humble then bane js will go alot better@@misterbleedinggums
Ao: "Gods can you be quiet for like 5 minutes"
Gods: "No"
Ao: "Alright that's it you all are getting a time out!"
DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS MULTIVERSE AROUND!
@@StarboyXL9 YOU WILL TRY
Ao had the high ground.
@@discomfort5760 his portfolio includes high ground
@@Dave_The_Musical_Fisherman His portfolio IS the high ground.
@@jmhaugen4757 Oh damn, that is hilarious!
I genuinely love how ao is basically just a really disappointed dad coming home to see his kids made a mess every time he does something
Ao answers to a higher being. It was in the books
@@kevin-en2pi is that all the information you know?
Can you explain further? Or it just that.
In the times of troubles when all is resolved in the final book final chapter AO actual says a prayer to a higher being referencing that the balance is restored
@@kevin-en2pisort of. Ao answers to the GM, the strongest entity in reality and unreality, because the GM controls even Ao
@@Takintomori yeah..but that would make a Lousy book to read 😆
broke: Ao doesnt give cleric spells
woke: godly powers ARE Ao's cleric spells
Holy shit, you fucking blew my mind.
well as he chooses who make into godhood or not, or demoting who has it, I think your suggestion is kinda accurate
Get Woke:
Go Broke.
@@TheDungeon-Master Nah
@@TheDungeon-Master That's true. Most people and companies who go woke tend to be lawful evil.
Gods: "Ao? Who is your favourite?"
Ao: "I love my children equally."
Ao To Primordials: "It's you. By a long shot."
Except he didn't give them enough strength to fight against dragons, and a great majority were killed on Aebir in a war. His favorite child could be argued as Ubtao, who was given an entire peninsula to be his as a figure of worship.
@@treyatkinson7564 Except Asgorath, the "Father" of Tiamat and Bahamut is a Primordial. Who fought on the side of the Gods. And the Primordials only went to war after Tharizdun interfered, under the influence of the Outsiders. Ao had PLENTY of reason not to help them against the Gods, and Asgorath and the dragons had plenty of reason to turn on their fellow Primordials in that war. Because it wasn't in the interest of the Primordials, but in the interest of the Outsiders who were using them.
@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive eeeeeehhhh but is Asgorath reeeallly JUST a primordial? Asgorath is supposedly just an avatar of a much much greater being called IO.... who could be argued to be the creator of AO.... or the "the luminous being"
@@joecci1 Not avatar, no text for that at all. People just want Ao to be lesser than Io rather than equal opposites - Gods and Primordials, heads of each.
If ANYTHING, Ao and Io would both be lesser avatars of the true creator - opposite avatars.
Frankly, the whole Dawn War (without Outsider interference anyway) is just the contest to see who becomes Overdeity in a given Crystal Sphere - Ao or Io. Gods or Primordials.
There are Spheres where the Primordials win.
@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive Intresting but if overgod status was given after dawn war why Ao was able to separate albeir-toril?
Also i hate it but WoTC seems to retcoon creation of the multiverse ansdspeak only about Tiamat and Bahamut and don't mention Asgorath.
The first half of this video: Ao trying various parenting methods
bow down before me for I am the over God
Ao: There you go, a nice sandbox world for you to play in
Gods: * immediately go murderhobo *
Ao: Ok, you forced my hand. Choo Choo comes the railroad train
Gods are just the players, but in-universe. This....makes a lot of sense
@@RemoteEarsgods are the dms. Ao is the rulebook
Tyr: "I am the god of justice and I am all powerful"
*Ao the god of balance enters the chat*
Tyr: "nevermind I'm good"
*Tyr has left the chat*
Tyr:ok imma head out
The other Tyrfall
Guy you could say, "Justice is blind"?? Ha ha! I'll go to the corner. XD
Tyr, when he realizes he is only one manifested personality trait of someone greater
*The Lady of Pain has Entered the Chat*
*All other gods have left the Chat*
The entity known only as the "Luminous being" is more powerful than Lord Ao. During the time of troubles when it was all over Lord Ao reported the events to the "Luminous being" as a subordinate and called it master.
Quote:
As Ao watched Midnight and the other gods return home with their faithful, he felt a deep sense of relief. At last, his gods mightstar0t fulfilling the tasks for which they had been created. The overlord was sitting cross-legged and alone, surrounded by a void so vast that not even his gods could comprehend it. Of all the states of being he could assume, this one was his favorite, for he was at once in time and disconnected from it, at once the center of the universe and separate from it. Ao turned his thoughts to Toril, the young world that had consumed so much of his attention lately. Surrounded by a hundred planes of existence and populated by a variety of fabulous beings both sinister and benevolent, it was one of his favorite creations - and one that he had come close to losing, thanks to the inattentiveness of its gods. But in two of its inhabitants - Midnight and Cyric - Ao had found the fabric of the Balance, and he had called upon them to right the world. Fortunately, they had answered his call and bound the fulcrum back together, but it had been a dangerous time for Toril. Never again would he allow his gods to threaten the Balance so severely.
Ao closed his eyes and blanked his mind. Soon, he fell within himself and entered the place before time, the time at the edge of the universe, where millions and millions of assignments like his began and ended. A luminous presence greeted him, enveloping his energies within its own. It was both a warm and a cold entity, forgiving and harsh. "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?"
The voice was at once both gentle and admonishing. "They have restored the Balance, Master. The Realms are once again secure."
- Avatar Trilogy Book 3 - Waterdeep
Lucifer the light bringer, the morning star
Exactly
@@constantinople777christens5 Christianity does not exist in D&D.
Technically Dnd expands over Earth in its settings.
So by all means Christianity could easily exist in the full multiverse of Dnd.
So no, that is just false.
But at the same time, obviously the Luminous Being doesn't have to be particularly any being of any known mythology. Doesn't have to be, so "it" still could be, but simply does not have to.
Luminous Being: Are ya winning, son?
Ao: Y-yes...?
Elminster actually spoke with Ao, in one of the books. Having gotten "involved with the new Mystra he endded messing the weave. Ao reverses time takes him aside and basicly says keep it in your pants or get unmade your call. (can't remember what book, sorry but it's been years)
the avatar series i think
That was oddly polite of Ao
@ボイス He did, this is what I remember the most from that enconter lol
@Jon Annett Shadow of the Avatar series written by Ed Greenwood.
@ボイス Darn it, that raises more questions
16:43
It's assumed that there are more Overgods, one for each sphere who controls the laws and gods of them, created by the so-called "Luminous Being" that like you said, is also assumed to be the DM, but also could be simplified as the one true being with power over the entire cosmology.
None of this is confirmed(I'm unsure if other Overgods have been revealed or not), but it's fun to speculate. The D&D universe has always been subject to canon changes, and of course, changes made by each DM to their liking as intended and that's why I love it so much ♥
What is Ao if not Wizards of the Coast? Changing rules, often switching from edition to edition... THIS is the power of an overgod. The power, and shackles, of trying to balance an universe that every god, and many players, try to break. And still, the rules have no sort of prevalence before the absolute omnipotence of the DM in his universe.
Guess that makes the Luminous being TSR - or a representation of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, may they rest in peace.
Christopher Brown a simultaneous representation of Hasbro/TSR/the DM.
@@dragonnasxavier3473 I was thinking more of the DM for the Luminous Being, but yeah, why not
Forgotten Realms were created by Ed Greenwood. If anyone is Ao, it'd be him.
@@benikujaku4567 100% CORRECT
*Ao:* _allows objectively evil and neutral gods to exist_
*Evil and neutral gods:* _do evil and neutral things_
*Ao:* _surprised pikachu face_
it's more about having balance. The entire universe is comprised of negative and positive forces all the way down to the elements in atoms which are constantly fighting each other. Opposing forces are always fighting for dominance but the balance of these opposing forces is what creates stability and relative peace. There can never be perfect peace or perfect stability as it is the nature of opposing forces to constantly vie for dominance. I believe this is the goal/concept AO also had in mind when creating the various aligned gods and their portfolios. They would maintain the balance. But again those forces constantly fight for dominance and when 2 evil gods decided to go out of bounds to achieve that AO had to step in and slap them around a little and let them know who's boss and remind them of what their job is.
@@joecci1 Makes you wonder that a world devoid of gods whether it be evil nor good, is a world full of peace.
@@神林しマイケルThat's the punchline... until you realize DnD God's (and God's in other mythos) are an analogy for humans. No humans = peace?
Oops
@@神林しマイケル An empty world with nothing in it would truly be peaceful
Wrong.
- Lord Ao speaking to the Circle of Greater Powers
"KEEPERS OF THE BALANCE, YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME NEEDLESSLY.... CYRIC IS LORD OF MURDER, SO HE SHOULD STRIVE TO BLOT OUT EVEN THE LIVES OF GODS. MASK IS LORD OF INTRIGUE, SO HE SHOULD STRIVE TO CONCEAL SUCH DEEDS. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO STAND AGAINST CYRIC-JUST AS IT IS HIS TO DESTROY YOU IF YOU FAIL. SUCH IS THE WAY OF THE BALANCE."
The way you talk about how gods feared Ao's decisions and its impact on the Forgotten Realms makes me think you are an ancient god demoted by Ao.
God of secrets perhaps? An earlier God of knowledge maybe
@@roguepsykerhaaker4813 long ago Vecna beat up MrRhyxx and took secrets from his portfolio and Ao never helped him out
“Few know the tragic story of Master Rhexx, God of Secrets, Knowledge, and calling out Ao for being a dick.”
In an age of might and magic. When the gods wared for dominance. One god held power over all others. Master rhexx god of secrets knew the hidden thoughts fears and desires of all the immortals. Carefully choosing who was worthy and who was not master rhexx culminated his knowledge to bring forth great things for the mortals he loved. By ao god of balance feared this power. Through a cruel and cunning plan ao tore the godhood from master rhexx and flung him into the multiverse. Master rhexx now mortal shares his knowledge with the humans that dominate the universe he landed in. In hopes that one day they will help him ascend once again and help him dominate ao and bring compassion and integrity back to the immortals
Technically Earth is cannon within the D&D multiverse so it's possible a demoted god could have gone to Earth and started making UA-cam videos.
Ao is actually a halfling divination wizard with the lucky feat.
Three halfling wizards in a robe
Ao: All of you are grounded! All of you!!
Gods: :0
There is the exception of Selune. After a conflict with Shar, Ao took Selune to the god realm before the tablets were returned. Selune was running an inn/tavern in Waterdeep until the time of troubles.
That's because Helm is a fucking G. If she would've listened to ethereal sky daddy, she wouldn't be dead.
@@MrRyumaru she only tried to get back because magic was important and the weave was being ripped to shreds
@@Ragnaracc yeah, I understand why she did what she did. But when the guy that literally creates the rules surrounding your existence tells you not to do something, then perhaps one shouldn't be surprised to find death as a result of disobedience.
Helm stayed true to himself, fulfilling his duty despite the pain it caused him. His grief was so great that it manifested physically as one of the most powerful relics in the lore.
In the end, one could speculate that her death was necessary for her to achieve her ends, and that had it not been for Helm's steadfast resolve her end goal of preserving magic that was ultimately achieved, may very well have never happened.
They both desired stability for the realms and they both did what they believed necessary to attain that. But Big Daddy H has a firm backhand for which the goddess magic was not prepared. And thus, that hoe got clapped.
@@MrRyumaru i would make the arguement that magic is nearly as important as the sphere itself though...the only reason ao even went back on his "cast out the gods" was cause the guy above him told was pissed about the time of troubles
Tyr: I'm all-poweful!
Ao: Casually smites and... sheds a Tyr.
Bah dun dun TAH!
"He does have a superior." So is Ao assistant regional manager, or assistant *to the* regional manager?
Assistant to regional DM.
He's is sandbox platform..
Ao is the Toril regional manager.
DM is manager of all/any settings.
Dice is the true regional manager
Honest answer? Exactly that.. Assistant to the regional manager. Who apparently in turn answers to a "council" of what we would probably unimaginatively call the over over overlord council. Also the stream of dragonlance pics in this "Toril" vid. Hilarious...especially considering what hes mentioning at the time. Also the moses pics...priceless. Fail on this one Rhexx...almost as incorrect as the elven one. Hes really gotta read some of the novels and not rely on sourcebooks written by someone who barely even talks to the licensed creator..cough cough Ed Greenwood...(if at all). Still watching though and loved the rest.(for instance this(5th) is the only edition focusing on Toril. There was sourcebooks for the rest(in fact almost every popular fantasy had one and a boxed set buuuut were not based around Toril at all. Even a specific time period...so not sure what he was on about there...they mixed up FR dragonlance oerth/greyhawk(which is the actual "main" 3rd edition one not Toril/FR) plenty not to mention about 20 ish others). Very confusing this one, just like the elven one had me break out a few books to double check and so much wrong.(the rest are pure gold)
Kinda like how two of the new hires(sourcebook) have butchered a lot of Toril lore and Greenwood is apparently unhappy...dont blame him. It is his. Cept for maybe Salvatore's corner...who also seems confused about recent changes...(since it is their work...after all).
What I was expecting Ao to be: an eldritch entity so powerful that all greater and lesser gods had to like team up or something to imprison/weaken him.
What Ao actually is: a very powerful and very tired father of several many unruly god children who has to bend the rules of reality to get his kids to behave.
God of Karens: I'd like to speak to the manager-
Ao: I am the MANAGER
Karen is the being that Ao answers to. Not because she is more powerful, but because she demands it.
Not. Yet.
@@khai96x it's treason then
i meaaannnnn ao is one of the fuw managers the god of karens wuld not talk to i mean
he is also *THARE MANAGER*
The Luminous Being is the manager
Ending of The Avatar Trilogy (Waterdeep): (epilogue)
"A luminous presence greeted him, enveloping his energies within its own. It was both a warm and a cold entity, for-giving and harsh. "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?" The voice was at once both gentle and admonishing.
"They have restored the Balance, Master. The Realms are once again secure."
Ao has a master too.
I feel like it they wanted to get Meta that could be the canonical version of a GM
AO: and this is what happens when a god goes EVEN FURTHER BEYOOOOOOND
Plus ultra?
@@chaosrainX nope ssj 3
God act IV requiem over heaven
@@oqo3310 AO sees God's messing around and causing havoc for mortals so he calms them down.
Mortals: AO you truly are a reliable guy.
@@oqo3310 wait I got a better one.
Joseph Joestar is the strongest God because he can't be killed even on his plane.
There is another entity even more powerful than AO. I recall Ao having a brief conversation with it in the epilogue of one o the Forgotten Realms novels I read a long time ago. Ao was very respectful and deferential to it, as if speaking to a beloved father or mother. The entity asked Ao how his cosmos is coming along. I don't recall any mention of this entity in any D&D lore.
The Dungeon Master.
The dungeon master
I remember listening to “The Dungeoncast” Podcast (Mystra episode?) and how they joked Ao was “Everything Dad” and honestly that seems pretty accurate
Those guys are great!!
Portfolio now includes Dadjokes further cementing his complete supremacy
@@morgothable right
I’m imagining Poor Ao drunk as all the Lower Planes, sitting with other some other Overgods who are taking care of their respective multiverses going on a drunken rant about how much of a headache all his goldly kids have given him by them all constantly being ungrateful little pieces of sh1t.
Pharasma’s there just trying to quietly comfort him, meanwhile his master, the Luminous Being is behind the bar, pouring him his 37854335th shot of vodka for the night.
Ao: I'm not happy with what you've been doing, gods.
Gods: are...are you mad?
Ao: No...just disappointed
I remember reading the novelization of the Time of Troubles, Waterdeep, book 3 of The Avatar Series. It was just after the mantling of the new divinities- that Ao sits within a void that no god could hope to fathom, his favorite state. He then retreats further into himself to arrive at a time outside of time, where he meets a "warm and cold" entity, "forgiving and harsh". It was "gentle and admonishing" when it asked "And how does your cosmos fare, Ao?" He reports that the balance was restored and the realms are once again secure. It was a nice little insight, also he mentions that Toril was one of his favorite creations, and that the time before time was a place where "millions and millions of assignments like his began and ended." probably in reference to other Overgods and their spheres, with the intimation that Overgods are ended here. Or at least their assignments are. Fired, maybe?
I have loads of crazy theories about Ao that include the Phlogiston, the Galleon Nebula, and the giant mysterious script that is written on the inside of the sphere. Also there are parallels to the Lady of Pain, and how she actively discourages her own worship, where Ao simply doesn't need or desire it, is that Luminous Being related?
The luminous being is the DM, so what they say goes, and the players are also probably some unknown entities below the luminous being who just hang around and sometimes yell at each other
Probably Ed Greenwood, then. ;-)
A little question: is AO named after "Alpha and Omega", which is often used as a metaphor for "Beginning and End"?
I am Alpharius
Thats a really good observation. I dont know if its true but it would make alot of sense.
That's an eminently reasonable conclusion. Good thinking!
An astute observation good sir
it could also be short for "Absolute Observer", as he's absolutely powerful(within realmspace anyway) and mostly just observes how things are going, only interfering when it's absolutely neccessary.
Me: "Can I become a god?"
Ao: "No."
Me: "But why!?"
Ao: "You didn't say 'please'. You lost your chance."
Me: "You are so fucking petty..."
AO: "see you've already learned what a god is like, here take this, my shift's over, *casts encode thoughts and gives you the entirety of their lived experiences*, oh, and if anything cool happens, just meditate on the edge of space and time, there's this big ball of light you can vent it all to and they'll give you a bunch of half baked vague and cryptic messages to throw against a wall using those asshats you used to revere for the next couple eons, I'll be there, don't try to find me though, we're all there just chillin'..."
Well he made Cyric a greater god just to piss of the other gods.
Making Cyric a god was also a punishment for Cyric as well.
I was waiting for this !
Man, You have improved my DnD sessions like 100%
Same
10,000% for me
I have been running games since I was 12 (so 27 years ov running & playing come September).
D&D, Shadowrun, Rifts and now Pathfinder and D&D 5E
And I can also say that watching these helps a lot. Always good to get different perspective on the way things move and work in any fantasy, modern/futuristic or Sci-Fi setting. Nice to get some in-depth info on creatures and places so you can bring your players in deeper. Makes for a much better gaming experience in my opinion.
I plan on using some info from this channel in the game i run for my co-workers during our biweekly Team Building Game.
Fun fact: the God depicted in the thumbnail of this video is the Theran God of Deception, Phenax. On the plane of Theros there was once a mortal named Phenax who was crook and subsequently died and was sent to the Underworld of Theros. It is unknown how Phenax created the deal, but Phenax had forged a golden mask to replace his original face and became the first mortal to return to the Realm of Man, not as a demon, but as the first ever Returned. A Returned is basically a zombie, but slightly more intelligent. They have dark grey skin, and next to no memory of who they were before death with the exception of them either remembering what they had done for labor in life or remember nothing besides the fact that they lived. Phenax, being the first of his kind, the first to deny death on his own terms had leveraged that fact and became the first mortal to ascend to godhood. Phenax has the portfolios of Deception, gambling, schemes, cheats and liars, betrayal, isolation, planning, and secrets, and is worshipped mostly by criminals and others who seek to subvert the rules.
So ready to make a Saul Goodman cleric/rogue now. Thank you for the lore.
Is it just me or are the gods of the dungeons and dragons universe more reckless, self-destructive, and Significantly more short sighted than the murder hobos I run into?
Moshope Akinwale there is actually an in lore explanation for this. Gods in DnD, even for those who began as human, are definitely not mortals anymore. They have trouble with intersubjectivity : they can’t fathom the existence of a different mental landscape. A Sun god like Lathander will see everything in terms of sunny things: he won’t see a beginning he will see a dawn. He won’t see an evil being he will see a dark being. They are solipsists in some ways. During the cyrinishad storyline, when Mystra wanted the Gods to stop Cyric who created an artifact that could very well have destroyed them all, she failed. Talos proposed to destroy the moon to stop Cyric, Tyr wanted to bring Cyric to trial, ... Luckily Mystra was still human enough (she was a young incarnation of the deity) that she managed to frame her proposition in each of their own mental frame: to Lathander as a matter of renewal, to Tempus as a conflict, ...
Pierre Dupuy bro being a dnd god seems so bad, cool you get tons of power but if you lose everything you were to sort of take on the mantle of the god ( or it’s position ) what’s the point? it’s not you but rather you became it.
Seems like a losing trade.
Gary mc Jerry my understanding is that it is not an instant process. Mystra and Kelemvor were still pretty human. Most gods are millenia old. Furthermore there may be something about the nature of the mortal soul that gets deified. It is not said as such but my impression (and at least my head canon) is that gods that were mortal before stay human until the death of the god. When they resurrect (which some gods do) they seem to lose part of their humanity. Like you can’t bring back the human part of a god.
So for a mortal you get centuries or millenia as yourself and then lose yourself when, anyway, you would have been dead.
Their basically a deconstruction of the Greek pantheon. If the gods are human and prone to infighting what would realistically happen?
@ボイス as a follower of momos I firmly disagree the olympians are still more short sighted and much more easily tricked or beaten by mortals
A bit of miss information at around 10:30, the Time of Troubles, also known as avatar crisis, is the transition between AD&D and D&D 3E, and it's over roughly 13 years before the date set in the campaign setting book. Also, as a note of curiosity, Mystra either dies or is reborn (often both) every time there is a new D&D edition.
Mystra's death/rebirth is the supposed reason for the rebalancing of spells.
I literally googled “Greatest god in D&D” minutes before you posted this video and then gave up and assumed you’d have it up next week or something. I was kinda shook when it showed up in my watch list after I came home with food
THEY are watching you.
Ao is just THAT powerful.
I did and they said the evil spider lady,which is a demon lord the most powerful god, *DEMON LORDS GET REKT BY GODS ALOT WTF YOU SAYING*
In the Spell Jammer game it is discussed that many of the Gods powers are limited to within the Crystal Spheres where they have influence, while the ancient powers, or Aberration Gods existed between the spheres...ooooooo.
5:17 The key to building a successful pantheon is trust and as our data clearly shows, gods cannot be trusted. The solution: build a brass tower, we’re done here.
And we shall call this brass tower the tower of Babel, for no important reason.
Or build an Orthanc
@@pencilshavings8518 Orthanc fell to a few angry trees, a brass tower destroyed the better part of Alinor. One is clearly superior.
@@Somber_Knight Eh um... fire the guys who made that brass tower and build a better brass tower!
@@Somber_Knight the last time humanity made a tower of babel they got a bumfuck load of languages
The moment in the novels, when AO return to his realm and it is revealed that he too has to awnser to another entitiy was realy creepy.
AO: "Now this looks like a job for me."
Cause we need a little controversy
Thank you very much for providing these lore videos, MrRhexx. I found you a few months ago and have since watched every single one of the DND ones, and keeping tuned weekly for new ones :)
Can the gods pray to AO for their power like clerics since he has deities in his portfolio?
I mean AO does control the pantheons so they could probably ask for promotion
What if Ao is just a CEO and gods are his employees...
@@RaskaTheFurry This is pretty much how you have to think of it.
AO is the CEO of the forgotten Realms.
He answers only to the shareholders and he can replace the head of any department or split or merge any departments.
His relationship to a god is like that of an employer and he holds no power over them outside of the company.
I may have this wrong, but here it goes...
The gods made a PACT with Ao to do their duties, hence the purpose of Tablets of Fate (a contract).
The gods are Ao's warlocks, given the ability to gain power from worship of mortals.
They (the gods as a whole) also made a deal with Ahriman/Asmodeus (the Pact Primeval), to maintain the divine structure by enacting judgement & punishment for mortals.
@@sircastic959 now im scarred who would be the "share holders" maybe balance
Edgy minmaxing players watching this: **writing in notebook** “Character... is an... aasimar... of an... overgod”
Ao: I'm gonna make an example of the Gods by trying to temper the tablet so they know what's up.
Ao: Rolls die
Die: 20
*tablet splits in half*
Ao: Oooooooops.
Oh no. The tsundere god of lightening is here.
or one of the cute copies.
*Cthuthlu army* noticed the location of realms
@@isamuddin1 The dark elven god of slimes and oozes and the goddess of the mind flayer observe in the distance
@@foisopracurtir6389 they should start "running".
@@isamuddin1 Also, Cthulu would bother to grant spells?
There is a LOT you missed out on. I can't remember most of the books I got these from, so there will be quick descriptions.
There is a book where someone tried to combine the daughters of Tyche back together and it was revealed that the Gods of one world were not allowed to interfere with worlds they did not have followers. This was to be enforced by Overgods! I think we got that from the Overgod of the Grayhawk world.
After the Avatar Crisis Ao went to the end of Realmsphere and meditate and told his superior that Balance had been restored.
When the God of Murder was trying to be reborn by having one of his children being infused with his power, his high priestess tried highjacking the ritual, and AO sent a Solar Planier to stop it.
When the Gods were cast down someone tried to use an artifact to capture a falling God and drain him. Ao met Elminster and had him take the God's place. He also swapped out all the picture in Elminsters place to the lewdest ones Elminster had.
Elminster and other Chosen must count as Quasidieties because Ao once spoke to a half orc Paladin of Tyr directly and said it was the only time he had ever spoken directly to a mortal. This was when Tethir was getting a mercenary as a queen the people wanted.
I am not sure where I got this, but I think when the Mulhorandi were brought over as slaves, the slavers stopped them summoning their Gods Avatars (to become their Prime Aspect there). Ao arranged the Avatars to come via spelljammers.
I've always wanted a video detailing Elminster Aumar in the Forgotten Realms. His brief mention in the video reminded me of that.
The books by Ed Greenwood are good if you like Forgotten Realms fantasy. I think the last one I read was Elminster in Hell, or something like that.
@@angrysarcasm2229 I have read so much about Elminster haha. Love his delve into the 9 hells.
@@aceinfinity I'll read the more recent books eventually. I've been looking for something for when I finish my re-read of The Death Gate Cycle.
Greenwood IS Elminster; Elminster is literally his self-insert character, much like how Mordenkainen IS Gary Gygax. 1d4chan has a good article on Elminster that gets into some of the more unsavory aspects of his character that probably will never make it to the Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast rendition of the Forgotten Realms
Elminster: Making of a Mage by Ed Greenwood
Ao really reminds me of Guthix in Runescape. a god who was believed to be the weakest as the god of balance and had so few followers, turned out to be so strong he was able to banish all the other gods in a single action and prevent any major influence after that.
Xau tak/Elder gods>Zaros/Seren >= Guthix > tuska/ skargaroth/new gods> marimbo>Zuk
Wasn't there a point during the times of trouble when Ao just manifested in Elminster's tower and began to drink one of his best wines? When Elminster came and found him, he was a bit angry... Ao took a liking to him, offered him Mystra's place and Elminster declined.
Which book was that?
Eric Nelson don’t remember, haven’t opened the time of troubles book in over ten years.
Elminster was the true chad
@@ericnelson8763 if memory serves, Ao actually came to warn Elminster against interfering. I think he had some kind of plan like taking Mystra to Evermeet through a portal to protect her or something. Ao came, drank his alcohols, warned him against interfering with his plans, got chastised by Elminster for entering without invitation and drinking without permission and proposed the mantle of God of Magic to Elminster who refused it.
Doesn't it ring a bell to anyone else?
@@ericnelson8763 actually I seem to be mistaken and have mixed several things. It's been a lot of years, sorry.
Excellent video. One small correction. We had dragonborn in 4th edition. In fact, in 1359 Bahamut began asking followers for that conversion into dragonborns. But the ones from Abeir made their apparition after the Spellplague and the foundation kf Tymanther (the city that was basically transplanted). You get the Platinum Cadre in the Brotherhood of the Griffon novel series so by 4th edition, dragonborn were a playable race.
Tiamat counts as a multisphere god, given that she exists in other WotC owned campaign settings. She has even been slain twice. In Krynn she met an ignominious end slain as a mortal woman, and she was slain in the Nentir Vale campaign setting during the Scales of War adventure path.
I believe that her slaying in Krynn as the patron of the Lawful Evil Knights of Neraka led to her soul being imprisoned in the Nine Hells, where she slowly climbed the ranks back to divine power.
To be permanently destroyed they have to die in their plane anyway
Being a multisphere deity isn't terribly special since even Lolth is multisphere; Lolth is arguably just another CR25(ish, depending on edition) demon. In fact, the only setting I know of that has drow/deep elves who AREN'T Lolth-worshippers is Eberron.
Travel through the phlogiston between the crystal spheres is possible even for mere mortals; not that the Spelljammer setting will ever be updated to modern settings (it's stuck in limbo like Greyhawk and Planescape, though arguably the majority of 3e is set in the Greyspace crystal sphere)
I was reading 3rd ed. DragonLance core recently and they have a unique Planar Cosmology which does NOT include any traditional outer planes. only three planes where the gods reside, the 'Abyss' for the evil gods (which is a single layer mixed with the Negative energy plane, connected only to Krynn), a forest realm for the nature gods, and the night sky constellations 'dome above' for the good gods.
No nine hells for krynn, no Baator, no Averness, no 666 levels of the Abyss.
There are elemental planes for krynn.
@@bartistclord1916 3e campaign settings were deliberately segregated though compared to 2e and 5e. 5e has brought back the idea that the Prime Material planes are connected via Spelljamming and the Planes, or at least hinted at it. So the Realms for example has a more integrated cosmology to the Great Wheel than it did in 3e.
Tiamat was in Avernus while Takhisis was in the Abyss, so you could so the way to deal with the inconsistency was to declare these very similar dieties to be different entities who reside on different planes. I think it makes a better story for the Dragonlance story to be a prequel to the 1e Manual of the Planes. It also opens a window for Takhisis to return to Krynn because killing her off was a mistake.
@@nonnayerbusiness7704 No, the inconsistency is not inconsistent.
Just as only the version of the gods in Realmspace became mortal while the rest of them in other spheres stayed divine, a version of Tiamat in Realmspace can be a god while the version of her in Krynn can die.
Tiamat *_is_* Takhisis, and that has not changed just because you lack the ability to hold to the simple fact that gods are basically schizophrenic once they become multispheric, and what happens to one part doesn't affect the other.
My personal headcannon. AO is a Demiurge, one of the Epic Destinies in 4e, from a previous iteration of creation. There will be a Demiurge emerge from this realm, and they will go on to create an entirely new multiverse where they will be the source and overdiety of all their creation, answering only to the DM.
The Luminous Being is implied to manage overpowers of the other realms. They apparently are still unknown to their subjects.
I kinda always saw the overgods as avatars of the Luminous being, and the reason it needed these avatars is that the full power of the being entering a sphere could destroy it. So the being projects a portion of it's power into the sphere creating the overgod like a god would create their avatar.
Its pretty clear: Mystara- YI, Dragonlance- EU, Greyhawk- IY, Birthright- OA, Dark Sun-UI, Eberron-YO. BTW while mortals interpret them as simply letters, they are, if fact, complex mathematical equations whose (even more complex) product determines and describes the reality they are in charge of.
Honestly I thought Ao was DM, but seems like the DM is the Luminous Being?
The way I see AO and the Luminous Being is that they are probably part of a trio. Or Represents God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
@@winterfall82 You could see it that in a setting the Dm is the overgod of that setting, but in the area between the spheres it is the Luminous being instead. I have a campaign a dm in my community is running in which the group is researching, or aiding researchers in understanding what the over-gods are an why they created the Spheres.
Luminous Being: Are ya winning, son?
Ao: Y-yes...?
I was aware of the lore on Ao and I actually incorporated similar Lore for my own Campaign Settings and any I use. I view the Overgods as the overseers and administrators of God's. Like with Ao being the God of all of Faerun, you have Overdeities for pretty much each campaign setting. If I run a Campaign in say, Ravnica, I'll probably have an Overgod for their that'd probably be named Ravnica and probably is the one responsible for the power of the Guildpact, but only known to the Paruns. In my Original Setting, The Overdeity is known as Solunis. They essentially created Kothrin, the Homebrew Setting I made for my own use, They essentially disconnected it from many of the more popular destinations for Planar Travel. They wanted complete sovereignty with no way for other Overdeities to gain influence without them allowing it like with the Greater and Lower Powers. They essentially made their Plane into a remote and isolated place where their power is uncontested as with Ao and the other Overgods of Toril.
Solunis is the only Overgod in Kothrin and severing it from most of the others caused a bit of a problem. It caused damage to reality and the fabric of Space Time that is very difficult even for them to properly fix. Ever since they managed it, they've been reduced in ultimate power, but Solunis is still uncontested in power, the gap is just smaller. Because of this, they personally created the Aeons, essentially powerful planar entities that observe reality and relay all knowledge they gather to them. All Aeons are immune to the powers of any Greater or lower Ranked God. Aeons essentially act as the Ultimate Enforcers of Balance. One side gains traction, the Aeons support the other to push them back until the conflict simmers down. They are strictly Neutral in the sense of being every alignment equally and balancing out like every colour mixing together.
I just have something to say about the top Aeons. NEVER MESS WITH ETERNAL OR INFINITE AEONS!!! They're as strong as gods and are the only beings besides gods who can 100 Bypass Divine influence. They're flipping ridiculous and fighting one is like fighting a warp in reality head on. They treat Demon Lords and Ancient Dragons like small animals while even the Celestial Paragons are like small time kids. Demigods and Lesser Gods are probably gonna get thrashed while they give Intermediate and Greater Gods something to fear.
Damn, that's a well-fleshed out setting! You've just inspired me to continue working on the world-building for my own story. Thanks!
I reccomend you read alot of the old books from 2. ed ad&d, and about the spelljammer, with interdimensional travel between crystal spheres. It will probably give you alot for your setting
Ravnica has something called the World Soul of Ravnica, as does Theros, Zendikar, Innistrad, Alara, Amonkhet, ect...
So that could function to some degree as an Overgod.
The way I envision the Overgods working.
First, there is the One Above All (also called The Luminous Being, or the Light). This One Above All is the Supreme, All-Knowing, All-Present, All-Powerful, Eternal God who created the Multiverse and everything in it, including all of the "Overgods".
The Overgods, are created to watch over different Realms, such as AO watching over Realmspace. However, they are not really gods in the sense that they did not actually create their realms, *_ex nihlo_* (that is, "Out of Nothing") so much as helped order and maintain that part of the Multiverse. They also don't accept worship, or receive prayers of any kind, and despite being immensely powerful, they are not truly Omnipotent, nor Omniscient, etc. Rather, they reeceive their power from the One Above All. To aid them in their duty, each Overgod is given the ability to create (or really, elect/promote) undergods, to help them rule over and maintain their section of the Multiverse.
The Undergods, like their respective Overgod, are not really gods in the sense of being omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, etc. But rather they are created to serve the Overgod and help maintain the order and balance of their respected domains. However, such undergods are often selfish, greedy, and prideful beings who, never happy with their calling, seek more power, different portfolios or domains, etc. And so they war with each other. Many also crave, demand, or even just enjoy the worship of mortals, although they were never meant to be worshipped and served, rather they were meant to serve those that they were called to watch over. Ensuring their safety, and prosperity, etc.
These undergods seeking and accepting worship is what gave rise to the earliest wars, which in time escalated to the point of what is now called the Blood Wars. And many of these early undergods would end up becoming the Lords of Hell and of the Abyss, etc. Whilst the less evil undergods have so far managed to cling to their heavenly abodes, although legends, myths, and prophecies such as the tale of Ragnarok foretell a time when all the so-called gods will fall, and be judged.
The Time of Troubles being a mere taste of this coming Apocalypse. When AO saw the state of Realmspace, and the way that the undergods bickered and fought, craving the worship of mortals, in an act of Judgement he turned what the so-called gods desired into shackles, making the gods very existence depend upon the worship they so desperately desired, and in the same strike punishing those mortals who (for mostly selfish reasons) sought the favour of these so-called gods, in exchange for bowing down and worshipping them.
Some of the undergods (those of Good alignment), having seen their errors, seek to fix what they've done and restore the Multiverse to the way it is meant to be, however, their efforts are too little, too late, and despite their "good intentions", they are only digging themselves a bigger grave.
As for the mortals of Realmspace, I think the Time of Troubles, and the subsequent rise in Cults of AO go to show, that many of them are waking up to the fact that the undergods are not worthy of worship. The problem being that they simply shifted their worship from the undergods to AO, instead of the One Above All, of which there seems to be little to no knowledge. Perhaps something that will change in the coming age.
He takes orders from daddy DM
It kinda seems like Ao is a meta representation of the DM since the DM creates the world
@@thornelson1411 More like Wizards or other content creators. He still obeys the DM, though. As the world is for players to use as they see fit, despite the creative elements and guidelines already present.
Thor Nelson Actually, the Luminous Being is the DM
@@hellotoeveryone99 More like the books and rule of the forgothem realms. The DM job is to take those and make the campain, Ao give and is the ingredient. But the DM is the cook.
The DM is AO, with absolute control over its sphere. The luminous one is the rules set, or WotC.
I love the vernacular of these older books.
"What's more, Cyric drove himself barmy with the creation of a book that bound all who read it to his worship -- It seems the sod read it himself"
So basically he’s the DM
It's kinda a cool way to look at it
Not that much. He is an incarnation of balance and of the rules. He's no DM, he's Wizards of the Coast.
When my player's asked who he was, I told them tongue in cheek it is the DM but he is also the IC overlord of all the gods. Basically what this video covered. Although I did learn a couple new things I will probably pass along to them.
There have been allusions to the idea that Ao reports to some truly omnipotent entity, which has been implied to be the DM. So Ao is like the rules. And this is further backed up by the fact that he controls rules of godhood and can create artifacts that switch between editions, but cannot see the future, as the rules include randomness from dice, preventing foresight (not like the spell.)
Ao is the rules and lore (balance) of the forgotten realms.
The DM is the rest added to these rules and lore, to bring this world alive.
The Time of Troubles proves that people who complain about Paladins serving ideals rather than gods have no clue.
Your by far the Best D&D Content creator out there for info!
If you haven't heard of the channel already, AJ Pickett is also great for his ecologies and lore on D&D.
He also does weekly live streams, if that is something folks would be interested in.
(He will additionally cover a few other subjects as well, such as cheese, mead, and our lord and saviour Yub-Tub the Behydron.)
This is why I always loved the neutral pantheon in dragonlance. They are quiet working in the background but ever present in everyday life
I came to the realization that Ao's name could be A(lpha)o(mega).
Nice!
Hol’ Up
Boom.
THANK YOU for showing your sources, i always wondered if you were making half of it up for a good story. I promise i'm not calling you a liar, but i enjoy more when you show your sources like a professional. God bless you Mr. Rhexx!
Ao: I’m the strongest deity i-
The luminous being: *Giornos theme intensifies*
I know this vid was posted a while ago, but I wanted to thank you for this lore. It is exactly what I needed, and just wanted to let you know I appreciate what you do.
I like how you use magic the gathering art
No one is using it for that game anymore. So good that someone puts it to use.
me too
It really fits D&D.
They are both WotC properties.
@@manuelcamara6400 it is DND.
"3rd edition was during the Time of Troubles"
*Baldur's Gate would like to have a Word with you*
Still my favorite game of all time.
2nd edition for life!
So... He may be the "natural dweller" of space between Crystal Spheres. You cannot create something from inside of it, as you cannot exist in something that does not exist. Furthermore, he obeys the Luminous Beign, which may be the ovelord of space between Crystal Spheres. They are connected in a way, so learning about one should uncover some facts about the other
Plenty of stuff lives in the phlogiston
Yes the Luminous being is actually more powerful then AO, a sort Uberovergod. But since the Luminous Being's brief appearance, it has not been refered to again since. There are theories of its nature, but nothing concrete or canon.
The God of Wild Space is Ptah for some reason in D&D.
Honestly rhexx thanks for doing this. When i was a kid my family collected forgotten realms right now we have around 280 and i read them all by the start of high school. This has been a blast from the past for the avatar trilogy
Logic: A polytheistic version of stereotypical medieval Christianity make no sense.
Ao: Who decided that?
Eru Ilúvatar: ... ... ...
AO isn't like Christianity at all, for one thing like the Lady of Pain, Fate, and the Celestial Emperer, AO does not want to be worshipped, and actively discourages it.
What about Zoroastrianism. It has a good and bad Gods and lesser Gods which can be worshipped. It started in Persia (Future Iran). Persia was Pagan and not Abrahamic. So, it accepted other religions through out its Empire. A real historical religion
Ao is VERY deistic
@@maxxor-overworldhero6730 Came to say this, saw it was already said.
In one book I remember Ao speaking with another god as an equal. The other god is never mentioned, but it is hinted that there are several overgods out there (probably one for each crystal sphere).
I thought it was hinted the deity he was talking to was a metaphor for the DM
Ao during the times of trouble: Naughty gods have to be mortals till they can learn to behave
@person person i mean ya, more or less
God: *process to stabbing each other like no tomorrow with heart content*
I remember back in the late 70's Dragon Magazine said that Earth was the Forgotten Realm and that Elminster went to Earth to help TSR with the setting. Writers from Dragon Magazine would regularly interview Elminster for lore articals. Elminster owns a beach house I thank. I thought that was so funny and interisting I added it to my campian up to 5e where they had to ruin it.
I thought there was more material on Ao than on Moander. I stand corrected. That said, Moander could be an interesting topic for a future video.
Moander, like Finder, is really underappreciated.
So... in a way AO is trapped in the Forgotten realms, simmilar to a Darklord in Ravencrest...
They can do as pleased in his realm but never leaver, while other gods are multiversal.
Fear the power of the Beard!
- On an interesting side not, AO invited the Egyptian pantheon into Realmspace. The Imaskari used portals to Earth, & enslaved a bunch of Egyptians who ended up calling themselves Mulhorand, The Mulhorand kept trying to pray to their Gods, So AO invited them over, They sent Avatars on a barge.
So basically speaking, Ao is one of many administrators assigned by the Luminous Being to each of their own crystal spheres.
*Ao* = overgod of gods
*Io* = overlord of primordials
*'The luminous being'* = the true creator, aka the DM
Super powerful person: "can I become god?"
Ao : *bunny meme saying no*
Enjoy lichdom tho
Do you not know bugs bunny?
Kelemvor: laying dead in a ditch...
AO : I see Greater Godhood potential, GRANTED, Arise dead loser, you are now the Greater God of Death since you excel at dying.
Cyric :shows up for the job interview unwashed, stinky, and with less than 10 levels of experience.
AO : Greater God. DONE, Next !
Also AO: Here cyric, have 40 levels of unearned experience so you can compete with everyone who EARNED their status.
this BS just offends me, as almost EVERY player character I have seen is more deserving of godhood than cyric or kelemvor, and they should have been DEMI or Lesser AT MOST.
Every one of YOUR characters deserves more godhood than those two combined.
Giving Kelemvor where credit is due tho, he did prove to be a great God.
From a Mortal stand point, he fought for giving the valiant people a good time instead of being plastered onto the stupid wall or serve there forever in suffer until somehow that forever ended. (Like it was called the Crystal Spire because it wasn't always super sad and depressing)
Afterwards he got wrecked by the gods for essentially favoring the good so that is when he started to become completely deprived of humanity.
Which, he did the job that Gods wanted him to do perfectly fine. Judged everyone according to the rules written, exactly how they wanted him.
Cyric needs to just die but Kelemvor really just got stuck between a rock and a hard place. Considering they would not hesitate to switch him out for a new one if he is not doing it, I'd say he is innocent in this matter. Definitely doesn't deserve fame treatment many for Cyric.
Gods: *misbehaves and won't stop*
Ao: You dare challenge me?
Ao: "Fine! I'll do it myself."
Long time watcher, first time writer. Really like your video in general. Love that you showed which sources you used.
Ao is just the dnd version of the living tribunal
or Eru iluvatar
14:30 - That's not a floating beard. It's just that his head (which includes his beard and hair) and hands are visible, but the rest of his body is the universe. Imagine a wizard whose robe depicts the universe.
@@jessh4016 Maybe he was just joking, who knows.
Ao talked to elminster in the"shadow of the avatar" saga. He tries to help Mystra and AO didnt want that.
Thank you for the nice summary :). Next time the choosen of Mystra ? ^^
Well that made absolutely no sense to me and I’m far more confused than I was before.
Knowing we are essentially gods as dms even in game lore since I’m a first time dm weeeelll hope ao helps me not let the power go to my head
think of your players as 5yo's when it comes to power balance and how you wield that power, and treat them as adults :)
Not too easy, not too hard, with rare exceptions sprinkled. Remember it's about having fun and it being fun for the whole group. Custom rule exceptions agreed by the group are also nice (in 3rd ed, we agreed to ignore "sunder" once we realized everyone could easily break almost every weapon in the world, far easier than killing). We also agreed that 1 is not a magical fumble button, while 20 is not a special "automatic hit"
"I'm gonna KO Ao"
- Jay Arpy Gee, lvl 20 Fighter Bard Cleric
7:52 -- All the other gods were fighting, and Bhaal was like... "I'm gonna' Netflix and chill with every woman in sight. Peace out!"
Really him an Elminster would get along great
No no no
Don't forget the second part of his title
It was not Netflix and Chill
It very much was not Netflix and Chill
Before D&D went mainstream Bhaal was the Lord of Unalive and Grape
I can't remember where I read it but I think AO called an entity "Master".
Something tells me I heard of other overgods in other crystal spheres, especially in kyrnn but info escapes me
During Dragons of Summer Flame, they were saying Chaos was the High-God of Krynn and they later ret-conned it to 3rd sibling to Paladine and Takhesis.
The gods tried to, and he decided to let them, trap him in the Greystone of Gargath, where he would hang out in the stone until he got bored and then the stone would fly off and change entire species into new ones.
AO makes an appearance in Tymora's Luck (Forgotten Realms novel). In it it explains AO oversees all the worlds in D&D lore, (Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, even Planescape) and that he has barred gods from 1 world interacting with gods from another. Takhisis cant scheme with or against Bane for example. The plot centers around 2 gods from separate worlds interacting and AOs way of thwarting them. It goes in depth into powers and over powers abilities and hindrances. Lots of gods make a cameo so if you're into deities it's a good read.
7:16
I am sorry to sound confrontative, but that sounds like a blatant lie to me and I had to stop the video to correct it.
There ARE actually Dragonborns living amongst the rest of the realms inhabitants in 3.5. They are called "The dragonborn of Bahamut", mortals reborn as dragons as a gift for their faith in Bahamut.
Source: Races of the Dragon
@@Crazy-ll2rf No
No one can be right all the time
@@Crazy-ll2rf it's just a correction, don't get so butt hurt that someone you watch was wrong about something.
Yeah good find
@Just no just no no
Ao seems similar to Marvel’s Living Tribunal. His ruling is absolute, but he answers to an even higher being.
Just in time!
watching this while eating lunch
Correct me if I am wrong but I swear I read a book in the Time of Troubles series (The ones detailing Cyric, Midnight, and Kelemvor) where at the end AO meets with other Over Gods and apparently reports to an even HIGHER God? Did that happen or am I just misremembering something I would have read a few decades ago?
Ao is like the fed up parent of a bunch of screaming children.
AO - Alpha/Omega. Tablets of Fate, make me think of Anu's Tablets of Destiny, in Mesopotamian mythology.
Can you please make a summary video if the full story of dnd, at least for the forgotten realms? There's so much that's so confusing. Like, does each crystal sphere have its own set of outer planes, or is there one set for all of the multiverse? Is there any known reason for how all the crystal spheres came into existence, cuz I thought originally Ao made all of them, and had power over the whole multiverse. Mtg is supposed to be in the same universe as dnd, do all the same places exist? And trying to figure out the date for all these events (spellplauge, time of troubles) is insane!
We have a homebrew diety in our DnD campaigns based off Kronos, the god of time from greek mythos. He's been hinted across over multiple campaigns and we even spoke to him in a one shot, but we only truly understood his power in our most recent session. Basically, we're a month into a campaign where me and four others set out to kill every diety we could meet. It was mostly based off of the many Olympian gods in greek mythology, also including the Holy Father from Christianity, and the seven deadly sins from Inferno. We managed to kill every single one (except for greed because one of the campaign members ended up killing the most gods before we met him and so he allied with us for a short period), and when we broke into the Golden Gates and killed God, Kronos was so angry enough that he revealed himself in a physical form (at this point we had only seen him in a spiritual form) and began to fight us. Every attack we through at him was missed. But he never threw a single punch. Eventually he decided it wasn't worth it to interfere with our current timeline, and he pulled the SINGLE MOST EPIC 'SEE YOU BACK HOME, SPIDERMAN' I HAVE EVER SEEN. He revealed that he had been watching us through EVERY SINGLE CAMPAIGN, meddling with everything in our worlds in his favor, and he began to refer to us as our first ever characters for the rest of the conversation. He phased out of eyesight and continued to watch over us. Here's the thing though: I am considered a great storywriter within our dnd group, next to our primary dm of course, and so most of the time the dm will converse with me to get my opinion on future campaign ideas. I was given intel that during this campaign, we will have to FIGHT the actual dm inside the game. Me, the dm, and our primary dm were the only ones who knew about this, or at least we thought, UNTIL KRONOS NAME-DROPPED THE DM AND WARNED US TO WATCH OUT FOR WHEN WE EVENTUALLY COME ACROSS HIM. This is such an epic story idea, holy crap, Kronos is more powerful than the freaking dm, the one pulling all the strings for the story mind you. Kronos is beyond the roll of a dice, nay- his rolls are decided by himself. This may come off as pathetic to most of you reading, but holy crap that was NOT a twist I was expecting. A character being omniscient and name dropping our dm, AND their ability to bend the timeline to his will, made him my new favorite npc from our sessions, next to Chuckles the Clown from our Legend of Avantris copycat campaign. Shoot toot.
Yo, Mr Rhexx, if you happen to see this, AJ Pickett(from the channel of the same name) would like to speak with you about possibly making some sort of collaboration video but is unsure exactly how to get in touch with you.
If you could hit him up on his channel’s discord or leave a comment on his most recent video letting him know how to contact you, he would greatly appreciate it.
Great Video! Keep up the amazing work!