One of my favorite players were playing a teifling warlock in the campaign and over several archs was able to find the parts to an important artifact that Mephistophelese (his patron) wanted that would give the nine hells a huge boost in the blood war and perhaps give Mephistophelese enough power to overcome asmodeus. As a reward, the player was killed and resurrected as a cambion and named the "fourth Prince of cania." It did little to his actual power, but led to great bits of roleplay, including an assassination attempt that almost did him in.
The way I always understood it was: Cambion = half-fiend, child of any fiend and any mortal Old Lore Tiefling = quarter-or-less fiend, all descendants of a cambion and member of its mortal parent's race; vary in appearance from "odd hair/eye color" to "looks like a cambion" 4E Playing Havoc With The Lore Tiefling = a human ethnicity defined by a *curse, not fiend hybridization,* from Azmodeus specifically, always looks like a cambion SCAG + MTOF Tiefling = retcon of the former back into existence alongside the latter
In our last campaign, one of my friend's character was a cambion, but was thoroughly fed up with being shunned and mocked for being part demon. And, since everyone in the party was a freak in some way, he felt that he would be somewhat accepted into the group. The only reason the party kept him was because he fed on negative emotion, preventing them from feeling it, which, considering the emotional turmoil the whole party had, was greatly needed for the adventure.
I love the idea of an imp or a quasit being a sort of nanny for a cambion! Maybe one that has a low level in one of the caster classes. An imp that can cast charm, sleep, and suggestion, would be a handy little friend to have for the fledgling cambion. Ensuring that the "child" always has at least a few gold coins, food, a decent and safe place to sleep.. Just a few ideas off the top of my head! :)
I can picture one that looks as beautiful as an Angel, Filii-Lux Adduxistis, sometimes goes by Felix. Anyone seeing him is enthralled & without succeeding on a Will save utterly trusts any word he says. Long flowing blond hair & crystal blue eyes make him look basically like a Regal Prince. His father is a man of wealth & tastes...
I once did a Cambion wizard who refused his heritage, pretending to be a good, moral person, in which he wasn't really good at. He died against his pit-fiend father, paving the way to the party which ultimately managed to melt the beast's head with holy water. He was allowed in Celestia for that and applied to become an Archon.
@Fabius Maximus "question number 4231: which one of these actions allows you to access the silver city in Lunia? 1: resisting temptation 2: feeding the poor 3: making holes in donuts"
In past editions, tieflings are just the result of fiendish blood in their family. So when a cambion breeds with a mortal, it would almost always produce a tiefling. This can also happen with dark gods like sebek breeding with mortals which will also produce tieflings or something else entirely.
Cambions, could just be seen as pure blood teiflings. Cambions are half demon, teiflings are plan touched by fiendish beings, all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares is good way to thinks about it. You could call a Cambion a teifling but not the o th er way around
If I might compare this to a non-D&D character.... Raven from Teen Titans comes to mind. She uses magic, has a back story about being the daughter of a demon guy named Trigon. But i am not sure how well the comparison holds up after that, Raven is with the good guys, but as an antisocial anti-hero (or is that anti-heroine) thoghts anyone.
Just threw a Cambion of Juiblex/Ghaunadaur at my players... It was the first time I've doctored a monster to my needs, and I changed the damage to acid, made them a large creature, more hp, and gave them the Split ability of other slimes, so that slashing damage and lightning damage made them split into 2 as long as the part was medium or larger. Most other things I kept the same because 1) my first time really trying to homebrew a monster on my own 2) the charm abilities fit with Ghaunadaur's desire for willing sacrifices.
I honestly found cambions underwhelming at first, now, oh the possibilities. Especially a cambion of Dispater with rust monster like effects to his/her attacks. I could see them finding some way of mind reading due to Dispater’s obsession with secrets.
Freaking awesome! I was reading about these guys a few nights ago, and naturally, I found myself hoping that you would make a video about them! And here it is! You're the best AJ!!!!!
"my daddy is a bare knuckle boxer! and if you say anything mean to me he'll beat you down!" reply "my daddy is demogorgon, and he says that destruction, of the mortal soul is the fate that your civilization has found, my dady makes my head hurt... And he gives me nightmares while i'm awake. I wish i could swap daddies..." Imagine what a nabassu cambion would be like, half nabassu half black dragonborn, running a gang of drug dealers. Just gorging on the addicted husks of former urbanities. So many demons and devils. Or a half erinye half high elf cambion, and they're your commander in a massive war with orks. All: *whispering in the most charming soft seductive angelic voice * "The alchemical acid mine field will burn through 20 percent of this unit, and thy victory will be brilliant to behold. The alternative is sacrelige and fire within me... however 20 percent will still proceed through, and perish in the alchemical acid mine field." reply "why are you so beautifull?" ans "my mother was too strict, but she taught me that beauty feeds beauty, and that the agony of sacrifice can be adorned." reply "we don't want to do it..." ans "my mother is worse."
I am so happy I found your channel. I bet you love your job. It seems like so much fun. But you have a ton of reading to do and cross checking everything because of all the books and the actual wizard of the coast books from 1-5e books. Quite a task. I am watching and including these in my sessions. Thank you!
The monster manual page for the Cambion didn't give much to work with for combat or roleplay so I am glad you were able to give a better description for me to be creative with.
Another beautiful composition AJ. 4.3k views over 300 likes...no dislikes, you are a RUclips legend mate. Love your work and dedication to your channel and to the dnd community.
Merlin would be considered a Cambion since his father was a powerful fiendish entity. But he was baptized shortly after birth which protected him from the whole being evil thing.
No he wasn't that's the Christian explanation to insult the celts mate. He was the diada all human and a druid, not a wizard. Sorry if I come off rude but I detest people being ignorant of the far better mythology/ poor information. Blessed be mate.
@@redashea3004 Hey I get it. Merlin is an ancient figure who has been around longer than Christianity so the early Christians wanted to try to rework his origins to fit their narrative. Back then any magic not controlled by the church, the person wasn't a priest or saint, was considered Demonic. I was talking about the most common depiction of Merlin who is more of a Wizard rather than a Druid.
@@ChasoGod well depends who you read I assume your talking the cantabury cycle I think it's called. I'm talking more modern a la the mists of avalon and old myths seriously I haven't found a variation aside from the Catholic interpretation that I don't enjoy. If you wanted to take it further taelisin was the son of Cerdiwyn the mother muse and was the inspiration for Merlin he was one of the earlier representations of a demi god, I butchered the spelling probably... But I digress not trying to criticize, just a bard sharing stories.
@@justnoob8141 nah more son of The First Muse, muses were magically inclined humanoid spirits. Think more like Gilgamesh and Tommy Chong had a baby, and taught it how to stir the seasons.
My first pc was the product of a pit fiend serving Bel, and an unwilling elf mom who hid him away and raised him secretly until her nightmares drove her to suicide, and he, having fought back his devil nature his entire life, thought he had killed her. He spent his adventuring life trying to use his gifts to do good, and everything he did always left an unintended negative effect. I think I was trying to hash out a concept at the time. Can something inherently evil use it’s evil strengths to do good? The campaign fell apart around level 14, so I never did finish that one up. Now he’s an occasional NPC who pops into my daughter’s campaign. It’s been fun letting my old characters live again with cameos. Since it was just her and I at first, they were the rest of her party. GLAD I tried out a different class with each character. Lol.
Ah, do not forget one of the most duplicitous cambion marquise Rule-of-Three, offspring of Graz'zt, who's secret plan is to unite the lower planes against the upper..
Great video as always. I want to put one in any campaign with a tiefling player character, mocking and temping them to yield the powers of the lower plains. Bonus if the cambion is related to the tiefling. “Ah, little half brother, I see you still insist with associating with these pathetic mortals. Tell me do you plan on earning their trust so that it will be easier to slit their throats when sacrifices are needed? If that is the case, perhaps there if hope for you yet” Said in full view of the rest of the party, of corse.
@@joshuamcrae7346 They absolutely do have wings, that do look insectoid. Check out the picture in the monster manual :D The image of the Ice Devil Cambion is at 8:21
Just stumbled into a bit of research on the subject and figured I'd post it here. It's old lore,but most of your videos either refer to or mix old lore versions of things: From Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (3.x); specifically an excerpt WoTC has on their site about Cambions (search "demonweb pits excerpts and you'll probably find it): "*Alignment:* Cambions are usually chaotic evil, but about 1 in 10 is neutral or even good because its tiefling mother was not evil. These wretched creatures are doomed to a miserable existence as loners because good-aligned communities rarely accept them." Even before fiendish Cambions and daimonic Cambions come into play, TAN'ARI descended ones alone had 1/10 neutral or good. Given that there are humanoid races with a 1/100 rate of non-evil members, that is *not* an insignificant number. Certainly not as it tends to be portrayed. EDIT for late memory: Also there is MORE than enough precedent for the sourcebooks providing IC misinformation, as to an extent they're supposed to be almost(tm) in character representations of the lore (at least that's the explanation given as to why for a period of time Eberron orcs were being treated as normal marauding orcs until everyone justifiably reeee'd... That's the Valanar elves, silly writers!).
I get all the frustration people have with changing lore and such but I think it's kinda overblown. There are supposed to be an infinite number of layers to the abyss and therefore an infinite amount of demon princes, you wouldn't get upset if they came out with new ones and said "they were there you just didn't know it". Our real life history changes as we learn more about our past so why get upset if the "historians"and "scholars" in d&d learn new things that change history? Or in volos case just them speaking out of their ass
Watching this video has given me the inspiration to create the most hard hitting character I've ever made, because who says I can't make demons into good people. Trigger warning for abuse and self harm. Basically, instead of him committing violence and terrible actsto grow, his human stepfather did it to him. Because of this, he wouldn't be as strong as he should be, malnourished in a way. Horrible psychological manipulation on the part of his father made him not a killing machine, but a mental wreck. He would mutilate his wings and tail not because he needs to fit in, but because he physically needs the pain. The demon father was not present to intervene, either because he's dead, or this is part of his plan. I haven't played this character yet, but it brings some interesting questions. If not for the abuse, he would have done a lot of harm. So was the abuse necessary? It's a hard question I don't know the answer to. (Edit: more white space, just in case.)
I use Cambions in Loom of Magus (my campaign universe). Humans in Loom have strong blood, so if a human grows to term and gives birth to a demon child in Loom, the child is a Subdiaboli (my "Tiefling", created before Planescape was a thing... yes, I'm that old). If the mother left Loom while pregnant or in labor in any way, they give birth to Cambions. A Cambion/ Alu Fiend coupling with a human (of Loom) always produces a Subdiaboli. Loom of Magus has a lot of Cambions because it is a great place for a hybrid to hide from other aspects of the multiverse. Most Cambions in Loom of Magus are in hiding from a major defeat in another plane or space. There are Subdiaboli on most habitable worlds in Loom, often scorned. Some in the same area are entirely sired by the same Cambion exile, rarely another type of lower planar creature.
@@chaunceyshearinjr5997 The Subdiaboli is a playable race akin to Planescape's Tiefling. They can pick to be a typical brood, simply descended from Subdiabolis. If the player wishes, they can pick a more direct lineage. That's when I sit with my player to discuss the origin based upon available options (local Cambion in exile, demonic visit to Loom, etc). If the Subdiaboli created is difficult to pass as human or another "acceptable" race, we discuss how they survived to adulthood... like being an exile community or clever disguises. Sometimes the Subdiaboli's parentage gives the players insight to the local "fiend touched" nuances to the campaign if the player shares them with the group. Most Subdiaboli are orphaned, raised by evil beings who want to exploit them or compassionate humans who saw no need to kill the child of the fiends they were fighting. Most of my players create theirs to be hard to distinguish from humans but at the cost of weaker or more subtle abilities. Edit: If you are referring to Cambions, they are almost always in hiding from elsewhere. Loom of Magus is a very big hiding spot in the multiverse. I usually place them as puppeteer type bad guys or minions to top-tier villains.
I feel like I'm going insane, I was randomly picking videos the other day to semi-doze and do some brainstorming for the two campaigns in a shared world I'm currently running, and I...I swear I listened to a video (of your wonderful provision) about Dybbuks like a day or two ago but I can't seem to find it. Have the eldritch horrors taken over my mind in the vulnerable space between wakefulness and catnaps or did something happen? I accidentally discovered a bunch of ridiculous "Ghost Hunter'-gotcha type videos trying to find it again. Is it hidden within the confines of another ecology or summary of a plane? I feel like the protagonist of a Lovecraftian horror story trying to work this out. Wasn't sure where to post this inquiry so I chose your most recent video.
AJ Pickett Mechanically, they’re basically just Tieflings, except that one of their parents is some sort of devil. Typically it’s a barren woman who makes a deal with a lesser devil for a child in exchange for agreeing to raise it as a disciple/servant of its father. Like “It’s getting late Timmy. Don’t forget to draw your goat blood sigils and say your infernal incantations before bed.”
Gonna show this to my brother for his out of the abyss campaign he wanted to run seems like a great midboss or even an aid to a final campaign boss. Always great to show the players an orphaned villain sired by evil forces get them to trust them then subvert their expectations. Never hurts to play up the trust most people feel for tieflings. Alternatively set one up in a kingmaker style campaign through the more evil political campaigns and topple a great demon from their throne a hard, stupid, but potentially great boon if the stunt goes well. At least till a fight for power consumes the whole abyss. They also work as general cultist in the mix, and potentially a patron for the party with foul intentions.
I think it's neat that the thumbnail your using is from an art on an mtg card, it's about a guy who transforming into a dragon. But you saw it as a demon.
This was very fascinating, the devils and their totalitarian society/hierarchy have always piqued my interest, especially the effects they have to specific individuals of great influence or adventurers. As a note my friends and I are playing a campaign in the setting of “Baldur’s Gate Descent into Avernus”, where we have the option to play any type of race (within reason) and I asked my DM if I could play as an Infernal Cambion and they agreed. Now this video has me thinking, what class would be appropriate for a Cambion exactly?
to this day im waiting to get into a DIA game ive got a fiend warlock who's dear ol patron dad a pit fiend judge from phlegethos would have vested interest in losing zariel her position and getting her replacement under pact to act as his puppet so he can rule avernus without the huge target on his own back
Honestly I'm just curious if the natural combination of diluted infernal and celestial blood would result in a hybrid newborn, the creation of a new creature or nothing at all. Just food for thought.
AJ Pickett Now that's an idea for demonic corruption on the prime material universe, animated and sexually alluding bricks. Because people have been summoning succubuses, under the illusion that they're harmless.
I think it would be interesting if you had a cambion that was given to a family high up in a good aligned religious order, then it could essentially act as spy and double agent for the fiendish parent. It could have "tricked" the good deity into going along with this by saying it's a sort of test being given to this cambion while also putting it as a mercy on their behalf. However the good aligned deity is hoping for essentailly the same result in their favour and the fiend knows that making this essentially a tug a war for the poor creatures soul. I am really curious what would happen if a powerful celestial mated with an powerful fiend now. Would such a pairing even be possible under any circumstances? I mean even if you look at the bible god and satan work with each other on occasion even though there in conflict due to their very nature. If chaos wins the universe is destroyed, if law wins the universe essentially becomes static, personally I think Asmodeous was doing something like this when he created Grattz. I mean sure Grattz is still destructive and chaotic in his own way but if anything he is sort of stabilizing influence relatively speaking in the planes he inhabits and won't destroy to much of Asmodeous's beloved order at once. Also as sly as he is I think the gods had some idea what they where doing when they gave Asmodeous dominion over Bator. Point is you don't give your children an apple full of the knowledge of good and evil if don't intend to create a world in which your children can chose to emulate those things as they wish. You may hope they'll choose good but without that freedom of choice good and evil don't mean a damn thing... and any damn mortal can just create an automaton. And if an angel can be corrupted, can a fiend be redeemed? I certainly wouldn't want to be the insane individual trying to pull off such a feat but I think even a god could find the answer to that question interesting. Gods may be dicks from certain mortal and even immortal perspectives but there not stupid and I'd hope our curiosity as mortals doesn't just come from the ones who want to use our souls as playthings and toy soldiers.
What about vampires or vampire hybrids can they have different types of devil arms even glowing ones like the one from dmc4 and dmc5 even devil triggers and glowing red eyes and demonic black eyes with corrupted veins since vampires and vampires hybrids are demons and devils too
Luz may not have been a true cambion as Iggwilv wasn't "plane touched" as it were. Or the fact that she is a massively powerful sorceress may have had something to do with it.
As far as I know, cambions' mortal parents needing to be "planetouched" is 4Fuckery. The way I always understood it, and I've yet to find someone who disagrees with me on this, was that "cambion" meant half-fiend and "tiefling" meant majority-mortal descendants of a cambion. As for Iuz, his demon father was Graz'zt who ironically doesn't have much in the way of head horns, and I don't put it past Iggwilv to perform some kind of magical c-section on herself. Hell, Graz'zt's Darth Mau "crown" is nothing compared to Acererak's horns on the front cover of 5EDMG, and we know he was raised by his mother.
At at 12:12 you mention that n DnD beyound there is a playable Cambion character race listing, i have some questions about this : What is DnD Beyound? is it official? Can we use that character race listing to play as a cambion as a player? If so, where can i find this page? I tried to search but did not find it. Thanks!
@@sin66siq no not one Angel or Baianita here self show up in DMC 1 to 4 and all Angel a revealed to be demons in all 4 game. Link me to something officel to prove other way. I have played ever bmc game no Angles.
Anyone know how long it takes to actually create a cambion? I had a player do it with a succubus and want his child to come find him eventually. I just don't know how long in game time should pass before something like that happens.
Almost correct, historically speaking. I am not up on 5E lore, but back in the day of 2E when they were first introduced they had some very fine lore attached to them. The alu-fiend was specifically the offspring of a male mortal and a succubus, a very uncommon occurrence. They are always female, and the overwhelming majority of them are hateful in attitude, and these hateful ones are Chaotic Evil in alignment. A very small number of alu-fiends are not so evilly disposed and may be of Chaotic Neutral or even True Neutral alignment if the father in question was strongly aligned with the Good (Celestial) planes. The Outer Planes are dimensions of belief, so the inherent mindset/alignment of the father was key, with Lawful Good fathers tending to produce True Neutral alu-fiends and other Good alignments tending to produce Chaotic Neutral alu-fiends in those infrequent instances when the alu-fiend did not share the alignment of its mother. Neutral or Evil, they have a natural talent for arcane magic and those who survive to escape the Abyss and wander the Prime Material plane will probably be wizards of considerable prowess. If you choose to allow your players to play an alu-fiend, you should never let them dodge the societal reaction to their obviously Infernal heritage. Players seeking to indulge in the glamour of Evil will have to deal with the fact that their character has an undeniable Infernal physical appearance and aura/vibe that routinely induces a frisson of fear or dread in others. The subtle horns, small bat wings (yes, they could fly, if only poorly) and inherent magical upgrades need to be paid for via the entirely sensible and predictable antipathy directed towards them by mortals and Celestials alike. Subtle though they are, can you wear a helmet with those horns? What of your tunics, robes, or torso armor? If they are custom made, peachy! If not, then they probably will not fit. If you are running a sensible campaign that keeps players in check, you need to keep these sorts of things in mind. Care to vamp it up with the glamour of Evil? OK, but there is always a price to be paid for such indulgences... Edit: alu-fiends do not necessarily have horns, but they do have small bat-type wings. I wrote my response off the top of my head and looked it up last night. Mea culpa.
I like the idea of a tiefling being offspring or descendant of a cambion mother or father which they are offspring of powerful demons and devils which for me would explain how tieflings inherit their hertiage. But that how i would have them be in my homebrow campagin setting
if im not mistaken most magical races like elves and tieflings gain their languages innately without teaching because they are beings born of creationism granting them otherworldly connections
So are cambions synonymous with half fiends? Also, whats your opinion on playing races like cambions, half-dragons, half-celestial, etc.? Is it lore-breaking to have them in a party, or to balance them for a playable race (I know everything is up to the DM but dose it fit the lore)? Finally, what do you think of the D&D beyond home brew selection, would you use something that looks alright without play-testing it first?
Half dragons are just a templates, you get the normal race and add resistances and fire breath based on the dragon color while also adding the draconic langue and drinking the life span. However You can become a half dragon without having a dragon parent.
@@atomicash2475 I meant more would these things be to powerful for a party without breaking lore (something I prefer not to do if it can be avoided). Also, what do you mean "You can become a half dragon without having a dragon parent"? How dose that work?
@@dragonturtle7645 I mean the half dragon thing is a template that can be applied to anything, hell even a slime. As long as theirs a good reason for it you can have the half d4agon template applied to something, like I bathed in dragon blood, I used a really power ritual, a god made me half dragon, when a dragon died (dragons are magical and spin death their energy is released into the environment, it's why the lair effect don't go instantly away) some of it power rub off on me, or something like an orger ate a dragon. Not just birth makes you a half dragon, but it's probably the simplest
It sounds like tieflings from 2e and 3e have been re-styled as "cambions" in 5th edition, while 5e "tieflings" are a new beast entirely. Have you looked into what cambions from 1st edition were like? Because they were absolutely beastly.
Well, I think it was to make a distinction. There were those who embody a physical corruption and those who embody physical and spiritual corruption. Tieflings are the first, cambions the second. Tieflings may have corruption from fiendish sources but their soul is still mortal. They have a choice. Cambions do not, really. They are essentially fiends born of one mortal parent.
Sometimes, there is an air con outside the room I am recording in, I turn the two fans inside my room off before I record, but the computer is working hard to stay cool in New Zealand summer heat as well. One day I will have a perfect audio recording.. I dream of that day.
Would Wilbur Whateley from the Dunwich Horror count as an old one Cambion? Would his twin brother? I would say yes though instead of being powered by fiendish energy, they were powered by the possibly even more dangerous energy of the far realms. I could also see spell weavers and aboleths creating their own cambions using polymorph.
@@jacobfreeman5444 Using the standards of DnD, the Far Realm equivalent of a Demon Lord would be my assertion. The gods of Lovecraft simply wouldn't have as many followers as would be needed for the pyramid scheme that is DnD Divinity.
I normally don't have this problem with your videos but the audio on this has a lot of peaking s's. Had to listen to it on speakers cuz it was painful on headphones. Just a heads up and keep up the good work
Exactly how you play anything else. A +2 and a +1 in 5e or simply refluffing a winged tiefling, Using the official statblock in 3.x, Forgetting the spells the NPC stat block has, And just doing it. Hell, warforged juggernauts can get identical stats at 4th level (barring spells) to a helmed horror.
I asked you this before you gave me kind of a lame answer. a very goodly answer but still kind of lame, so im going to ask it in a different way. AJ if you had a ring of three selfish wishes completely selfish what would your wishes be? they can benefit NOONE but yourself???
So if 5e says cambions are half demon, and tieflings are half devil.... What happens if a tiefling and a cambion make a child? XD (Lemme guess, tiefling because ooh curse)
@@AJPickett or maybe a regular human man comes out? Except they're strong and incredibly evil - towards other evils. Could be the hidden backstory of the 'hero' from the Dungeon Soup cartoons!
@@Tiniuc Heres the thing, the body of a demon or devil contains zero DNA, in the case of the named demon types, they look that way because they were made to look that way, so, when it comes to matters of reproduction? Meh, do whatever is cool.
Just an FYI, "daemon" is pronounced "DEE-mon" (just like "demon"). You could also pronounce it "DYE-mon" (as in "Daimon" - to differentiate these beings from tanar'ri), It isn't pronounced "DAY-mon" (the "ae" or "ash" doesn't make that sound).
Considering I sometimes need to talk about all the different types in the same conversation, I have a legit reason for pronouncing them differently. A Bear drinks beer while bare. With my accent, all three words sound exactly the same in that sentence.
@@AJPickett Understood! I'm a champion of "reclaiming the Ash" so forgive my zeal - great video btw - have been researching Cambions and this put so much useful info in one place!
Really tried to slow down and work on speaking clearly for this video, thanks to good feedback from viewers.
I grew up in Blenheim....sounded fine to me already!
@@01MrCapricorn Chur!
One of my favorite players were playing a teifling warlock in the campaign and over several archs was able to find the parts to an important artifact that Mephistophelese (his patron) wanted that would give the nine hells a huge boost in the blood war and perhaps give Mephistophelese enough power to overcome asmodeus. As a reward, the player was killed and resurrected as a cambion and named the "fourth Prince of cania." It did little to his actual power, but led to great bits of roleplay, including an assassination attempt that almost did him in.
That sounds like an awesome campaign
The way I always understood it was:
Cambion = half-fiend, child of any fiend and any mortal
Old Lore Tiefling = quarter-or-less fiend, all descendants of a cambion and member of its mortal parent's race; vary in appearance from "odd hair/eye color" to "looks like a cambion"
4E Playing Havoc With The Lore Tiefling = a human ethnicity defined by a *curse, not fiend hybridization,* from Azmodeus specifically, always looks like a cambion
SCAG + MTOF Tiefling = retcon of the former back into existence alongside the latter
In our last campaign, one of my friend's character was a cambion, but was thoroughly fed up with being shunned and mocked for being part demon. And, since everyone in the party was a freak in some way, he felt that he would be somewhat accepted into the group. The only reason the party kept him was because he fed on negative emotion, preventing them from feeling it, which, considering the emotional turmoil the whole party had, was greatly needed for the adventure.
I love the idea of an imp or a quasit being a sort of nanny for a cambion! Maybe one that has a low level in one of the caster classes. An imp that can cast charm, sleep, and suggestion, would be a handy little friend to have for the fledgling cambion. Ensuring that the "child" always has at least a few gold coins, food, a decent and safe place to sleep.. Just a few ideas off the top of my head! :)
The creature could disguise itself as a rat or a stuffed toy.
I can picture one that looks as beautiful as an Angel, Filii-Lux Adduxistis, sometimes goes by Felix. Anyone seeing him is enthralled & without succeeding on a Will save utterly trusts any word he says. Long flowing blond hair & crystal blue eyes make him look basically like a Regal Prince.
His father is a man of wealth & tastes...
I once did a Cambion wizard who refused his heritage, pretending to be a good, moral person, in which he wasn't really good at. He died against his pit-fiend father, paving the way to the party which ultimately managed to melt the beast's head with holy water. He was allowed in Celestia for that and applied to become an Archon.
Good old lantern archon.. because who doesn't want to be a lamp?
@Fabius Maximus
no joke, he even had to undertake a lenghty written exam.
@@AJPickett
he became a hound archon, actually, but I can see him doing his apprenticeship as a lantern.
@Fabius Maximus
"question number 4231:
which one of these actions allows you to access the silver city in Lunia?
1: resisting temptation
2: feeding the poor
3: making holes in donuts"
@Fabius Maximus
that was... Unexpectedly correct
In past editions, tieflings are just the result of fiendish blood in their family. So when a cambion breeds with a mortal, it would almost always produce a tiefling. This can also happen with dark gods like sebek breeding with mortals which will also produce tieflings or something else entirely.
Cambions, could just be seen as pure blood teiflings. Cambions are half demon, teiflings are plan touched by fiendish beings, all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares is good way to thinks about it. You could call a Cambion a teifling but not the o th er way around
Cambions are tieflings but edgier.
but also there granddad
Don't tell the rogues about an even edgier one
*with wings
If I might compare this to a non-D&D character.... Raven from Teen Titans comes to mind. She uses magic, has a back story about being the daughter of a demon guy named Trigon.
But i am not sure how well the comparison holds up after that, Raven is with the good guys, but as an antisocial anti-hero (or is that anti-heroine) thoghts anyone.
Just threw a Cambion of Juiblex/Ghaunadaur at my players... It was the first time I've doctored a monster to my needs, and I changed the damage to acid, made them a large creature, more hp, and gave them the Split ability of other slimes, so that slashing damage and lightning damage made them split into 2 as long as the part was medium or larger. Most other things I kept the same because 1) my first time really trying to homebrew a monster on my own 2) the charm abilities fit with Ghaunadaur's desire for willing sacrifices.
BTW the players hated (loved) when they split when they used shocking grasp on them. :3c
You nailed that one, well done! Exactly the sort of thing I think Cambions are made for.
You do the best analogies. Your lego analogy is the best I've heard of demonic corruption lol
I honestly found cambions underwhelming at first, now, oh the possibilities. Especially a cambion of Dispater with rust monster like effects to his/her attacks. I could see them finding some way of mind reading due to Dispater’s obsession with secrets.
"Cambions; Demonic Corruption, Legoland, and You! by A.J. Pickett"
You will never look at lego the same way again.
Freaking awesome! I was reading about these guys a few nights ago, and naturally, I found myself hoping that you would make a video about them! And here it is! You're the best AJ!!!!!
"my daddy is a bare knuckle boxer! and if you say anything mean to me he'll beat you down!" reply "my daddy is demogorgon, and he says that destruction, of the mortal soul is the fate that your civilization has found, my dady makes my head hurt... And he gives me nightmares while i'm awake. I wish i could swap daddies..." Imagine what a nabassu cambion would be like, half nabassu half black dragonborn, running a gang of drug dealers. Just gorging on the addicted husks of former urbanities. So many demons and devils. Or a half erinye half high elf cambion, and they're your commander in a massive war with orks. All: *whispering in the most charming soft seductive angelic voice * "The alchemical acid mine field will burn through 20 percent of this unit, and thy victory will be brilliant to behold. The alternative is sacrelige and fire within me... however 20 percent will still proceed through, and perish in the alchemical acid mine field." reply "why are you so beautifull?" ans "my mother was too strict, but she taught me that beauty feeds beauty, and that the agony of sacrifice can be adorned." reply "we don't want to do it..." ans "my mother is worse."
Kinda wish cambion would be fleshed out as a playable race, a far more chaotic, almost mutated cousin to the beautiful and horned Tieflings
I am so happy I found your channel. I bet you love your job. It seems like so much fun. But you have a ton of reading to do and cross checking everything because of all the books and the actual wizard of the coast books from 1-5e books. Quite a task. I am watching and including these in my sessions. Thank you!
Certainly not something you would want to do unless you have a passion for it. I love making vids and doing research :)
The monster manual page for the Cambion didn't give much to work with for combat or roleplay so I am glad you were able to give a better description for me to be creative with.
In 5e, basically 1/2 fiends( used to be 1/2 devil/ demons) are now cambion where previously there was more differences between the two
Good job once again AJ, been waiting to see Cambion!
Another beautiful composition AJ. 4.3k views over 300 likes...no dislikes, you are a RUclips legend mate.
Love your work and dedication to your channel and to the dnd community.
I am humbled sir.
I firmly believe Tommy Wiseau is a Cambion.
Vultiidsah The Memelord I did not hit her, I did not. Oh hi Mark.
Don't tell Pewdiepie.
Do u mean demonlord
I'll ask him when I see him next month.
@@AJPickett DEMON *clap* REVIEW *clap*
Merlin would be considered a Cambion since his father was a powerful fiendish entity. But he was baptized shortly after birth which protected him from the whole being evil thing.
No he wasn't that's the Christian explanation to insult the celts mate. He was the diada all human and a druid, not a wizard. Sorry if I come off rude but I detest people being ignorant of the far better mythology/ poor information. Blessed be mate.
@@redashea3004 Hey I get it. Merlin is an ancient figure who has been around longer than Christianity so the early Christians wanted to try to rework his origins to fit their narrative. Back then any magic not controlled by the church, the person wasn't a priest or saint, was considered Demonic.
I was talking about the most common depiction of Merlin who is more of a Wizard rather than a Druid.
@@ChasoGod well depends who you read I assume your talking the cantabury cycle I think it's called. I'm talking more modern a la the mists of avalon and old myths seriously I haven't found a variation aside from the Catholic interpretation that I don't enjoy. If you wanted to take it further taelisin was the son of Cerdiwyn the mother muse and was the inspiration for Merlin he was one of the earlier representations of a demi god, I butchered the spelling probably... But I digress not trying to criticize, just a bard sharing stories.
@@redashea3004 so, he’s a god then
@@justnoob8141 nah more son of The First Muse, muses were magically inclined humanoid spirits. Think more like Gilgamesh and Tommy Chong had a baby, and taught it how to stir the seasons.
My first pc was the product of a pit fiend serving Bel, and an unwilling elf mom who hid him away and raised him secretly until her nightmares drove her to suicide, and he, having fought back his devil nature his entire life, thought he had killed her. He spent his adventuring life trying to use his gifts to do good, and everything he did always left an unintended negative effect. I think I was trying to hash out a concept at the time. Can something inherently evil use it’s evil strengths to do good? The campaign fell apart around level 14, so I never did finish that one up. Now he’s an occasional NPC who pops into my daughter’s campaign. It’s been fun letting my old characters live again with cameos. Since it was just her and I at first, they were the rest of her party. GLAD I tried out a different class with each character. Lol.
Ah, do not forget one of the most duplicitous cambion marquise Rule-of-Three, offspring of Graz'zt, who's secret plan is to unite the lower planes against the upper..
and would have done it, were it not for those pesky kids! *takes off mask*
@@AJPickett Oh, gee! It was the old githzerai all along!
Thanks A.J. still waiting on Obox Ob!
This is one of the best you’ve ever done you should do the Thirtling Orc next please
The what now?
Orc Tiefling. There naturally chaotic and mainly beastly.
Great video as always. I want to put one in any campaign with a tiefling player character, mocking and temping them to yield the powers of the lower plains. Bonus if the cambion is related to the tiefling.
“Ah, little half brother, I see you still insist with associating with these pathetic mortals. Tell me do you plan on earning their trust so that it will be easier to slit their throats when sacrifices are needed? If that is the case, perhaps there if hope for you yet”
Said in full view of the rest of the party, of corse.
I want an image what an ice devil cambion would look like. Can't seem to find one.
You must have missed the image, but there is one in the video.
1:53 seems like a good picture
Also 8:58
I didn't think they where seeing as ice devils dont have wings in a pic ive seen. If they are they are both pretty sick
Oops yeah the second has the start of what looks like wings. Sorry about that
@@joshuamcrae7346 They absolutely do have wings, that do look insectoid. Check out the picture in the monster manual :D The image of the Ice Devil Cambion is at 8:21
Just stumbled into a bit of research on the subject and figured I'd post it here. It's old lore,but most of your videos either refer to or mix old lore versions of things:
From Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (3.x); specifically an excerpt WoTC has on their site about Cambions (search "demonweb pits excerpts and you'll probably find it):
"*Alignment:* Cambions are usually chaotic evil, but about 1 in 10 is neutral or even good because its tiefling mother was not evil. These wretched creatures are doomed to a miserable existence as loners because good-aligned communities rarely accept them." Even before fiendish Cambions and daimonic Cambions come into play, TAN'ARI descended ones alone had 1/10 neutral or good.
Given that there are humanoid races with a 1/100 rate of non-evil members, that is *not* an insignificant number. Certainly not as it tends to be portrayed.
EDIT for late memory: Also there is MORE than enough precedent for the sourcebooks providing IC misinformation, as to an extent they're supposed to be almost(tm) in character representations of the lore (at least that's the explanation given as to why for a period of time Eberron orcs were being treated as normal marauding orcs until everyone justifiably reeee'd... That's the Valanar elves, silly writers!).
I get all the frustration people have with changing lore and such but I think it's kinda overblown. There are supposed to be an infinite number of layers to the abyss and therefore an infinite amount of demon princes, you wouldn't get upset if they came out with new ones and said "they were there you just didn't know it". Our real life history changes as we learn more about our past so why get upset if the "historians"and "scholars" in d&d learn new things that change history? Or in volos case just them speaking out of their ass
A rather interesting twist is to make the cambion nonevil and have their assimar love be lawful evil.
Watching this video has given me the inspiration to create the most hard hitting character I've ever made, because who says I can't make demons into good people. Trigger warning for abuse and self harm.
Basically, instead of him committing violence and terrible actsto grow, his human stepfather did it to him. Because of this, he wouldn't be as strong as he should be, malnourished in a way. Horrible psychological manipulation on the part of his father made him not a killing machine, but a mental wreck. He would mutilate his wings and tail not because he needs to fit in, but because he physically needs the pain. The demon father was not present to intervene, either because he's dead, or this is part of his plan.
I haven't played this character yet, but it brings some interesting questions. If not for the abuse, he would have done a lot of harm. So was the abuse necessary? It's a hard question I don't know the answer to.
(Edit: more white space, just in case.)
I use Cambions in Loom of Magus (my campaign universe). Humans in Loom have strong blood, so if a human grows to term and gives birth to a demon child in Loom, the child is a Subdiaboli (my "Tiefling", created before Planescape was a thing... yes, I'm that old). If the mother left Loom while pregnant or in labor in any way, they give birth to Cambions. A Cambion/ Alu Fiend coupling with a human (of Loom) always produces a Subdiaboli. Loom of Magus has a lot of Cambions because it is a great place for a hybrid to hide from other aspects of the multiverse. Most Cambions in Loom of Magus are in hiding from a major defeat in another plane or space. There are Subdiaboli on most habitable worlds in Loom, often scorned. Some in the same area are entirely sired by the same Cambion exile, rarely another type of lower planar creature.
That80sGuy1972 how do you introduce them in your campaigns
@@chaunceyshearinjr5997 The Subdiaboli is a playable race akin to Planescape's Tiefling. They can pick to be a typical brood, simply descended from Subdiabolis. If the player wishes, they can pick a more direct lineage. That's when I sit with my player to discuss the origin based upon available options (local Cambion in exile, demonic visit to Loom, etc). If the Subdiaboli created is difficult to pass as human or another "acceptable" race, we discuss how they survived to adulthood... like being an exile community or clever disguises. Sometimes the Subdiaboli's parentage gives the players insight to the local "fiend touched" nuances to the campaign if the player shares them with the group. Most Subdiaboli are orphaned, raised by evil beings who want to exploit them or compassionate humans who saw no need to kill the child of the fiends they were fighting. Most of my players create theirs to be hard to distinguish from humans but at the cost of weaker or more subtle abilities.
Edit: If you are referring to Cambions, they are almost always in hiding from elsewhere. Loom of Magus is a very big hiding spot in the multiverse. I usually place them as puppeteer type bad guys or minions to top-tier villains.
Theoretically could cambions be created with cretures that arnt humanoid or that arnt from the prime material plane ?
Never say never.
So in a sense Cambions are kind of like half dragons.
@@docbaker3333 half fiend half planer dragon
Magic is magic. Dragons are like planar entities, except they naturalize to whatever plane they call home.
I feel like I'm going insane, I was randomly picking videos the other day to semi-doze and do some brainstorming for the two campaigns in a shared world I'm currently running, and I...I swear I listened to a video (of your wonderful provision) about Dybbuks like a day or two ago but I can't seem to find it. Have the eldritch horrors taken over my mind in the vulnerable space between wakefulness and catnaps or did something happen? I accidentally discovered a bunch of ridiculous "Ghost Hunter'-gotcha type videos trying to find it again. Is it hidden within the confines of another ecology or summary of a plane? I feel like the protagonist of a Lovecraftian horror story trying to work this out. Wasn't sure where to post this inquiry so I chose your most recent video.
Introduction to demons, first video in the demons playlist
do they gain a subtype when are distinguish between infernal and Abyssal types
example medium fiend (demon) for abyssal cambions
Cambion Draconian? When they are creating the Draconian a mage sneezes and the wrong demonic entity enters.
Turns out that a few of my Tiefling characters were actually cambions....whoops...
Potatoes and tomatoes, sound similar, but not really.
AJ Pickett Mechanically, they’re basically just Tieflings, except that one of their parents is some sort of devil. Typically it’s a barren woman who makes a deal with a lesser devil for a child in exchange for agreeing to raise it as a disciple/servant of its father. Like “It’s getting late Timmy. Don’t forget to draw your goat blood sigils and say your infernal incantations before bed.”
Evil corruption.... it will ruin your legos
So, they're pretty much the opposite of Aasimar, or rather the demonic version
Gonna show this to my brother for his out of the abyss campaign he wanted to run seems like a great midboss or even an aid to a final campaign boss. Always great to show the players an orphaned villain sired by evil forces get them to trust them then subvert their expectations. Never hurts to play up the trust most people feel for tieflings.
Alternatively set one up in a kingmaker style campaign through the more evil political campaigns and topple a great demon from their throne a hard, stupid, but potentially great boon if the stunt goes well. At least till a fight for power consumes the whole abyss.
They also work as general cultist in the mix, and potentially a patron for the party with foul intentions.
I think it's neat that the thumbnail your using is from an art on an mtg card, it's about a guy who transforming into a dragon. But you saw it as a demon.
What would happen if they unseat their infernal parent could they gain power over that parents domain?
And would the balspawn be considered a cambion?
Absolutely.
This was very fascinating, the devils and their totalitarian society/hierarchy have always piqued my interest, especially the effects they have to specific individuals of great influence or adventurers.
As a note my friends and I are playing a campaign in the setting of “Baldur’s Gate Descent into Avernus”, where we have the option to play any type of race (within reason) and I asked my DM if I could play as an Infernal Cambion and they agreed.
Now this video has me thinking, what class would be appropriate for a Cambion exactly?
to this day im waiting to get into a DIA game ive got a fiend warlock who's dear ol patron dad a pit fiend judge from phlegethos would have vested interest in losing zariel her position and getting her replacement under pact to act as his puppet so he can rule avernus without the huge target on his own back
What would be the outcome of a union between a Cambion and Aasimar?
A Genasi (Hey why not?), really, think it is a case by case basis sort of thing.
Kaj Jak A blob of screaming meat.
Honestly I'm just curious if the natural combination of diluted infernal and celestial blood would result in a hybrid newborn, the creation of a new creature or nothing at all. Just food for thought.
Adam Sandler
Not to be confused with Ambien...but that will mess you up too.
So I hear
is there a Celestial counterpart to Cambions or the child of a Celestial is directly an Aasimar?
Deva. (you could also call them Nephilim)
@@AJPickett do you mean the 5e MM angel?
@@jgr7487 No, the deva of the ancient Mulan freedom campaign in the empire of Imaska, and the Deva of 4th edition.
In earlier editions they where just called Half-celestials but as AJ said, Nephilim works too. They're pretty awesome actually.
I had a player that wrote a backstory writing themselves as a cambion not knowing the difference between a cambion and tiefling.
Some of the art included in this video is.. so cute..
Cambion should a template with add-ons for a particular fiend to be stacked on the mortal parent species.
Very rarely an outsider and a mortal can produce a Tiefling
Thanks again. Made my night.
Is there a fey version of this?
Feyri
*Alex Jones*Breathing heavily*
Cambions turned the lego gay?
AJ Pickett) Absolutely ,Cambions love satin and like to eat babies! 😃
AJ Pickett Now that's an idea for demonic corruption on the prime material universe, animated and sexually alluding bricks. Because people have been summoning succubuses, under the illusion that they're harmless.
Ill make a note of potential allies here then. now how to bribe them into my service?
I think it would be interesting if you had a cambion that was given to a family high up in a good aligned religious order, then it could essentially act as spy and double agent for the fiendish parent. It could have "tricked" the good deity into going along with this by saying it's a sort of test being given to this cambion while also putting it as a mercy on their behalf. However the good aligned deity is hoping for essentailly the same result in their favour and the fiend knows that making this essentially a tug a war for the poor creatures soul.
I am really curious what would happen if a powerful celestial mated with an powerful fiend now. Would such a pairing even be possible under any circumstances? I mean even if you look at the bible god and satan work with each other on occasion even though there in conflict due to their very nature. If chaos wins the universe is destroyed, if law wins the universe essentially becomes static, personally I think Asmodeous was doing something like this when he created Grattz. I mean sure Grattz is still destructive and chaotic in his own way but if anything he is sort of stabilizing influence relatively speaking in the planes he inhabits and won't destroy to much of Asmodeous's beloved order at once. Also as sly as he is I think the gods had some idea what they where doing when they gave Asmodeous dominion over Bator.
Point is you don't give your children an apple full of the knowledge of good and evil if don't intend to create a world in which your children can chose to emulate those things as they wish. You may hope they'll choose good but without that freedom of choice good and evil don't mean a damn thing... and any damn mortal can just create an automaton. And if an angel can be corrupted, can a fiend be redeemed? I certainly wouldn't want to be the insane individual trying to pull off such a feat but I think even a god could find the answer to that question interesting. Gods may be dicks from certain mortal and even immortal perspectives but there not stupid and I'd hope our curiosity as mortals doesn't just come from the ones who want to use our souls as playthings and toy soldiers.
Lame. Childish and lame.
So basically Sabrina Morningstar is a Cambion....
So if I converted my teifling npc from pathfinder to d&d he would actually be a cambion? Interesting.
Currently on DND beyond looking for the race did they remove it or do I need to buy a specific source book
Page 36 of the core monster manual for 5th edition
Save Legoland!!!! Weres Emit when you need him 😃
Who is Aseraraks demonic parent?, is it ever mentioned?
Not specifically, it may be an elder being, a primordial serpent of magic.
I read it somewhere that his father is Balor
Are Draegloths technically Cambions
yeah, technically I think they are.
Yes, they are a direct crossbreed
good video AJ
I’m going to have the warlock in the party I DM for tasked with protecting a Cambion
Faust!
Nice.
Do some cambion have their own devil arm or devil trigger
It's possible
What about vampires or vampire hybrids can they have different types of devil arms even glowing ones like the one from dmc4 and dmc5 even devil triggers and glowing red eyes and demonic black eyes with corrupted veins since vampires and vampires hybrids are demons and devils too
@@lion4611 The possibilities of homebrew builds are infinite, outside of lore questions my only advice is remember to include the players in your fun.
Ik I was talking about the lore like your video
Only if they bury the light first
Hmmm can there be good Cambions? Or cambions raised by loving fiends?
Not in my house.
@@AJPickett could be evil careing fiends.
Sure, anything is possible.
(I just don't personally play them that way)
@@AJPickett for sure. I just dont like the idea of " inheirently evil" just as i dont trust the " good" gods of DnD, or any of those types of beings
@@markusnavergard2387 It's hard to find where to shove your sword in a world where everything is shades of grey.
Iuz is a Cambion, yet Iggwilv did not die during his birth
Luz may not have been a true cambion as Iggwilv wasn't "plane touched" as it were. Or the fact that she is a massively powerful sorceress may have had something to do with it.
As far as I know, cambions' mortal parents needing to be "planetouched" is 4Fuckery. The way I always understood it, and I've yet to find someone who disagrees with me on this, was that "cambion" meant half-fiend and "tiefling" meant majority-mortal descendants of a cambion.
As for Iuz, his demon father was Graz'zt who ironically doesn't have much in the way of head horns, and I don't put it past Iggwilv to perform some kind of magical c-section on herself. Hell, Graz'zt's Darth Mau "crown" is nothing compared to Acererak's horns on the front cover of 5EDMG, and we know he was raised by his mother.
Tieflings and aasimars are closer to playable races.
They are playable races
At at 12:12 you mention that n DnD beyound there is a playable Cambion character race listing, i have some questions about this :
What is DnD Beyound? is it official?
Can we use that character race listing to play as a cambion as a player?
If so, where can i find this page? I tried to search but did not find it.
Thanks!
As of now? It’s an official site but Cambion is still not an official playable race
this might sound stupid...but what would happen if a cambion and a fey(of any kind)would bump uglies?.....
They would be arrested.
The offspring of such a union are known as Fey'ri
AJ Pickett thank you now im gonna go look up what that is
An orc/barlgura cambion would be interesting...
Strolling through an idelic flower garden with fountains and singing birds.
Merlin form Arthurian legends was a Kambion. I like these type of creatures hybrids are awesome, the best form the both worlds(Mother & Father)
Yeah his mom had him dunk in holy water and baptised so wouldn't be evil
11:52 that looks like an ogre from Guild Wars 2
Reminds me of a tanarukk.
I had a hot sauce once that made me pretty close to your thumbnail...
So is there an opposite, A celestial mating with a mortal?
Yes, or where do you think little asimars come from? ;-)
And of course there are also half-celestials (like Kaelyn the Dove).
@@AGS363 I thought asimars were different. Like Cambions and tieflings look similar but not the same. Apples and Oranges.
Not like apples and oranges. Think about it in this way:
Cambions- Tieflings- planetouched
Apples- Fruit- groceries
@@AGS363 Ooooooooooh.😲🙃
Yet another reason to hate DmC referring to Dante as a nephilim which us the opposite of a Cambion, which Dante is suppose to be.
Me i hate DmC becouse the point of the older games was there are no Angels
@@madmachanicest9955 yes there are bayonetta is set in the same universe Dante just doesn't deal with that
@@sin66siq no not one Angel or Baianita here self show up in DMC 1 to 4 and all Angel a revealed to be demons in all 4 game. Link me to something officel to prove other way. I have played ever bmc game no Angles.
@@madmachanicest9955 Lucia in dmc2 literally has an angel trigger
Also bayonetta and dmc are made by the same capcom team and they have confirmed this multiple times
Is nightcrawler X-Men a cambian?? His father was Azazel from a dark plane of existence.
maybe
No, Azazel isn't actually a demon. He is a demon looking mutant
Anyone know how long it takes to actually create a cambion?
I had a player do it with a succubus and want his child to come find him eventually. I just don't know how long in game time should pass before something like that happens.
It's entirely up to you.
Are Alu-Fiends still a thing? It used to be that a male offspring of a fiend and a Prime would be a Cambion, while a female would be an Alu-Fiend.
yep
Almost correct, historically speaking. I am not up on 5E lore, but back in the day of 2E when they were first introduced they had some very fine lore attached to them.
The alu-fiend was specifically the offspring of a male mortal and a succubus, a very uncommon occurrence. They are always female, and the overwhelming majority of them are hateful in attitude, and these hateful ones are Chaotic Evil in alignment. A very small number of alu-fiends are not so evilly disposed and may be of Chaotic Neutral or even True Neutral alignment if the father in question was strongly aligned with the Good (Celestial) planes. The Outer Planes are dimensions of belief, so the inherent mindset/alignment of the father was key, with Lawful Good fathers tending to produce True Neutral alu-fiends and other Good alignments tending to produce Chaotic Neutral alu-fiends in those infrequent instances when the alu-fiend did not share the alignment of its mother.
Neutral or Evil, they have a natural talent for arcane magic and those who survive to escape the Abyss and wander the Prime Material plane will probably be wizards of considerable prowess. If you choose to allow your players to play an alu-fiend, you should never let them dodge the societal reaction to their obviously Infernal heritage. Players seeking to indulge in the glamour of Evil will have to deal with the fact that their character has an undeniable Infernal physical appearance and aura/vibe that routinely induces a frisson of fear or dread in others. The subtle horns, small bat wings (yes, they could fly, if only poorly) and inherent magical upgrades need to be paid for via the entirely sensible and predictable antipathy directed towards them by mortals and Celestials alike.
Subtle though they are, can you wear a helmet with those horns? What of your tunics, robes, or torso armor? If they are custom made, peachy! If not, then they probably will not fit. If you are running a sensible campaign that keeps players in check, you need to keep these sorts of things in mind. Care to vamp it up with the glamour of Evil? OK, but there is always a price to be paid for such indulgences...
Edit: alu-fiends do not necessarily have horns, but they do have small bat-type wings. I wrote my response off the top of my head and looked it up last night. Mea culpa.
I like the idea of a tiefling being offspring or descendant of a cambion mother or father which they are offspring of powerful demons and devils which for me would explain how tieflings inherit their hertiage.
But that how i would have them be in my homebrow campagin setting
if im not mistaken most magical races like elves and tieflings gain their languages innately without teaching because they are beings born of creationism granting them otherworldly connections
Huh. first time ivheard about difference between half fiend and thiefling
Originally back in 2nd ed Planescape tieflings were more diluted fiendish blood.
So are cambions synonymous with half fiends? Also, whats your opinion on playing races like cambions, half-dragons, half-celestial, etc.? Is it lore-breaking to have them in a party, or to balance them for a playable race (I know everything is up to the DM but dose it fit the lore)? Finally, what do you think of the D&D beyond home brew selection, would you use something that looks alright without play-testing it first?
Cambians are what 5e is calling Half-fiends yeah.
Half dragons are just a templates, you get the normal race and add resistances and fire breath based on the dragon color while also adding the draconic langue and drinking the life span. However You can become a half dragon without having a dragon parent.
@@atomicash2475 I meant more would these things be to powerful for a party without breaking lore (something I prefer not to do if it can be avoided). Also, what do you mean "You can become a half dragon without having a dragon parent"? How dose that work?
@@dragonturtle7645 I mean the half dragon thing is a template that can be applied to anything, hell even a slime. As long as theirs a good reason for it you can have the half d4agon template applied to something, like I bathed in dragon blood, I used a really power ritual, a god made me half dragon, when a dragon died (dragons are magical and spin death their energy is released into the environment, it's why the lair effect don't go instantly away) some of it power rub off on me, or something like an orger ate a dragon. Not just birth makes you a half dragon, but it's probably the simplest
@@atomicash2475 Thanks. In hindsight, I should have thought about that.
I would have expected this soober like a companion to the succubus still better late then ever
Are planning on doing more videos on Demon Lords and Archdevils?
Yay
Question: Aj would you ever allow a Cambion PC from D&D Beyond in your game?
Hey I have a question do you or anyone know relatively good aligned gods of trickery or thievery
Derek Dumas Yondalla, the chief deity in the halfling pantheon, has the trickery domain
Anazi, the spider that came from some African stories is know as a trickster
It sounds like tieflings from 2e and 3e have been re-styled as "cambions" in 5th edition, while 5e "tieflings" are a new beast entirely. Have you looked into what cambions from 1st edition were like? Because they were absolutely beastly.
That actually happened in 4e. I kinda like the new tiefling, personally
Well, I think it was to make a distinction. There were those who embody a physical corruption and those who embody physical and spiritual corruption. Tieflings are the first, cambions the second. Tieflings may have corruption from fiendish sources but their soul is still mortal. They have a choice. Cambions do not, really. They are essentially fiends born of one mortal parent.
One is related to demons, the other is related to devils
Is there a fan going on in your background?
Sometimes, there is an air con outside the room I am recording in, I turn the two fans inside my room off before I record, but the computer is working hard to stay cool in New Zealand summer heat as well. One day I will have a perfect audio recording.. I dream of that day.
Would Wilbur Whateley from the Dunwich Horror count as an old one Cambion? Would his twin brother? I would say yes though instead of being powered by fiendish energy, they were powered by the possibly even more dangerous energy of the far realms. I could also see spell weavers and aboleths creating their own cambions using polymorph.
Demi-gods. Their father was a god, even if he was an eldritch horror.
@@jacobfreeman5444 good point.
@@jacobfreeman5444 Using the standards of DnD, the Far Realm equivalent of a Demon Lord would be my assertion. The gods of Lovecraft simply wouldn't have as many followers as would be needed for the pyramid scheme that is DnD Divinity.
@@AngelusAnsell Followers help, but it just reinforces what they already have. A god can have great power but not many, if any, followers.
Balor gods I suppose, especially the horror itself.
I normally don't have this problem with your videos but the audio on this has a lot of peaking s's. Had to listen to it on speakers cuz it was painful on headphones. Just a heads up and keep up the good work
ok, I need to dial back my crisp pronunciation a little, maybe put a sock on the microphone.
@@AJPickett I can't hear it on speakers, but it's there with both my cheap and my good headphones. Don't change just for me!
Seriously, how do you play a cambion?? They are overpowering af, it is like playing an empyrean. There is a reason why these 2 races are NPCs.
Or half dragon...
If you had a party with that line up you could play a demigod campaign. Your lvl 1 would be like most parties at lvl 10.
To be honest I don't think a cambion does much that any multiclassed warlock doesn't. Nothing compared to an empyrean.
Exactly how you play anything else.
A +2 and a +1 in 5e or simply refluffing a winged tiefling,
Using the official statblock in 3.x,
Forgetting the spells the NPC stat block has,
And just doing it.
Hell, warforged juggernauts can get identical stats at 4th level (barring spells) to a helmed horror.
Iuz! :)
Funny.
Huh..
I guess it makes sense YOUD have a youtube channel.
I asked you this before you gave me kind of a lame answer. a very goodly answer but still kind of lame, so im going to ask it in a different way. AJ if you had a ring of three selfish wishes completely selfish what would your wishes be? they can benefit NOONE but yourself???
So if 5e says cambions are half demon, and tieflings are half devil.... What happens if a tiefling and a cambion make a child? XD
(Lemme guess, tiefling because ooh curse)
Actually I don't know, just generally fiendish like Grazzt
@@AJPickett or maybe a regular human man comes out? Except they're strong and incredibly evil - towards other evils. Could be the hidden backstory of the 'hero' from the Dungeon Soup cartoons!
@@Tiniuc Heres the thing, the body of a demon or devil contains zero DNA, in the case of the named demon types, they look that way because they were made to look that way, so, when it comes to matters of reproduction? Meh, do whatever is cool.
@@AJPickett oh, I'm just bein' silly. Love your content, man.
@@Tiniuc I appreciate you. :)
Just an FYI, "daemon" is pronounced "DEE-mon" (just like "demon").
You could also pronounce it "DYE-mon" (as in "Daimon" - to differentiate these beings from tanar'ri),
It isn't pronounced "DAY-mon" (the "ae" or "ash" doesn't make that sound).
Considering I sometimes need to talk about all the different types in the same conversation, I have a legit reason for pronouncing them differently.
A Bear drinks beer while bare. With my accent, all three words sound exactly the same in that sentence.
@@AJPickett Understood! I'm a champion of "reclaiming the Ash" so forgive my zeal - great video btw - have been researching Cambions and this put so much useful info in one place!
campion cool half breed!