Unfathomable beings composed of roiling swathes of flesh perpetually torn between eternal decay and the agony of an impossible form. Fan artists: Ok, so like... 75% sexy elf?
I’m impressed by the consistent increase in quality in your videos. The jokes in the intro, the un-interruptive and easy to see credits for the artwork, the addition of pans and fades to the artwork, the increase in audio quality, the quality of the scripts and the improvement of your auditory skills. I’ve been eating your videos since you were sitting in front of your camera talking. If you still did that, I would still watch your videos, but the consistent increase in quality shows me that your channel has a lot of potential for the future. Thanks AJ. 🙂
I, as well as both of the other DMs I know, completely missed seeing this stat block in Mordenkainen's. It's a hidden genius that they neglected to give these guys a picture, because it allowed me to surprise players that I'm rarely able to surprise (as they DM themselves).
Honestly i think on every thematic level the molydeus fits in with demoggorgon the best. Promotion AND punishment at the same time. When it walks in the room of demon generals - nobody knows what's gonna happen??? Only "CHAOS!?!?!?!?" Why aaaarrrrre you complaining? Demon, cultist, derranged mutation of some form of another, when you threw your lot in with demogorgan, you knew it would be like "this".
Stupendous video. I didn't know the snake head was a literal direct connection with the Molydeus' demon lord and they could speak through them. I also was wondering what the relationship between a Molydeus and Klurichir is. I suppose as the literal and figurative mouth of a demon lord even the terrifying Klurichir must obey a Molydeus. XD
All your demon videos have been a great help! I just made my first warlock a few months ago, GOO tomelock who'd tome might actually be his patron! If not it's Pale Night, and he's set on freeing this being "imprisoned" in his book. Seriously, I've such a better understanding of this stuff largely due to your content. Thanks AJ!
I'm just a peasant. Walking through the forest. Whistling a tune. ( sees a Molydeus ) Stops whistling. Turns around. Shits pants Sobs uncontrollably. Thinks about where the nearest powerful faction dragon or kuren might be. Runs frantically in that direction.
Given this is a being who has the concentrated essence of what makes a demon a demon I would say the shitting of the pants will be accompanied by shitting their brain. A peasant meeting something like this should be broken by the mental and spiritual assault they suffer from just seeing it. Their may run away in gibbering terror, but it may be nobody can understand what the peasant is saying in their mad ranting. These are multidimensional beings, not unlike gods, except they care nothing about shielding the pathetic vermin mortals from the glory of their alien evil. Most people should either take a long time recovering from their encounter or never recover at all.
@@Gwyrddu Nah, Juiblex is all about those slimes. I figure if he needed something like that he would just make a slime that can fill the role. The slime lord can literally possess a slime if he needs to. So I suspect Juiblex would do exactly that.
Molideus falls in battle; weapon melts; a horde of the kind of demon that was destroyed to make the weapon start to exit the pool of demonic essence. roll for initiative.
Since it's the abyss and Demon lords can some times come and go.What if a Molydeus's master is slain? Does it die? Does the snake head die and the rest of it go free? Or is a Molydeus a living horcrux?
If Balors are considered the "pit fiends" of the abyss, Molydeus would be the abyss's Solar. They have the same Cr, both have 3 legendary actions, are completely loyal to their deity, and are universally feared and rarely seen outside of their home plane.
Normally I watch and enjoy these videos but don't learn a tremendous amount cause I love the lore and have read a far amount. This video was almost all new information and was awesome.
Like at least one other individual who commented, I am still enthralled by the origins of demons and other abyssal entities. Fun video as always, AJ. On a side note, I am curious who is thumbs-downing these and why.
Hey AJ, not sure if this is a good or realistic question, but the Nameless One from Planescape, is that character in canon and if so could you cover him, pretty pretty please? I guess that was a few questions.. but I'd love to hear your thoughts on him, if it's possible. If you read this, thanks for your time and thanks for what you do.
Don't hold your breath waiting for that video to happen, I am just not that keen on the video game lore, its a rabbit hole that can lead to some real lore conflicts quite often.
I'm trying to imagine a/the Molydeus of Fraz Urb'luu. I don't know why I yhink it would be so special, beyond how each Molydeus is special, but I wonder anyway. I'd almost expect him to have his Moly looking for pieces of his staff, if any were resting in places where they could simply be "found", instead of hidden within the confines of other Artifacts, or the like. Also, because I don't have shame, I almost imagine Graz'zt's Moly to have more feminine features, and a lithe, but muscular build. Chaos is, after all, chaotic, and who's to say one Demon Lord's preferences can't bleed over with their essence, into the being they create to sort of represent them beyond their own sphere.
Might be damn near impossible to control a Molydeus, but it might be a pretty good way to get in contact with the demon lord who commands it. More direct than most methods, but at least marginally less dangerous than being in that lord's actual presence? Sort of like checking in with the demon lord's secretary.
In the campaign im in, my aasimar radiant soul sorcerer has become close friends with a molydeus. Because theur demon lord was killed by this radical celestial. So my character has decided to ally with this molydeus to fight against that super powered celestial
What about Graz’zt’s Molydeus? If you go with the rumor that he’s a spy from the Nine Hells, maybe make the snake head give information back to Asmodeus as well? With Graz’zt’s Molydeus stomping around at least 3-4 levels of the Abyss, that’s invaluable recon info for the Lords of Nine. So many things you could here. Zariel’s Molydeus has great potential too. Juiblex’s Molydeus? Maybe it goes straight to Tharizdun? Dang, the wheels are turning....
@@kodiak71gene for Graz'zt molydeus the snake would the same black color has Graz'zt and green eyes to. It would like handsome, perfect ripped body, his fur would like Fabio's hair stylist got to work, and maybe six on the head of the wolf or snake.
@@kodiak71gene I bet Graz'zt's molydeus's snake has a column of abs going all the was from the head to the base. also that it's located on the crotch rater than the back of the wolf head.
heh ; i made one of my PCs, who wanted to be a hexblade, sworn to a Molydeus axe. In essence, the axe is the molydeus itself, and the Hexblade's master is in reality Grazzt. Of course he only gets the axe powers through lvling, but its a pretty great adventuring hook
Fun video, imagine if you set up the Molydeus as a potential outcome of say a cult of demon lord or a power mad spellcaster set against the party. Now its not about fighting something like that but stopping them from being brought into the material plane, you could possibly set up a whole game around this ritual. Imagine something like this showing up in a capital city or in the throne room of the local monarch, that's a nightmare scenario and plenty of incentive for some adventures to put a stop to it. Perhaps they never fight the Molydeus at all and halt the wizards plans or perhaps they fail and now the only chance they have is to implore the Gods or even arch devils for aid before confronting such a being and casting it back into the abbyse.
At the end of unholy by Richard Lee Byers nevron the zulkir of necromancy summoned one to help in the fight against Szass Tam. Szass Tam defeated it by making fire come out of its eyes and had the snake on its shoulder bite itself and controlled its axe to attack the other zulkirs and aoth and bareris. It didn't quite name the demon but from the description I knew it was a molydeus.
I imagine demons are just like people who were chilling minding there own business then suddenly forced to play a video game where the only way to level up is killing others. You have to play till you win but the game might be unwinable.
God this reminds me of an OC creature I came up with as a kid, I use to play with clay a lot and like to make little animals and objects and Power Ranger Zord them together to make a new chimera that looks a lot like these things. My favorite was a big red dude with snake growing out the heels of his feet, lobster claws the shot bullets and a gold mask over his face.
@@AJPickett Goth (formerly "dark punk") is getting a sh^t image here in the USA thanks to the emo and vampire goths... goth divas... ironically the opposite of what "dark punks" (goth) were.
AJ Pickett Understandable, how much more demon material do you have? Pit Fiends and the Nine Hell’s are my personal favorites too. I liked the Graz’zt picture with the flanking Mariliths.
I know I'm late, but looks like your wish was answered! Hmmm, AJ granted your wish, and Pit Fiends have a Grant Wish ability......coincidence? Perhaps.......hopefully you didn't unknowingly bind yourself into a infernal contract lol.
My thoughts as I decided whether to watch this video, or catch up on today's news: "I don't want to watch anything depressing, let's watch a video about demons."
That80sGuy1972 Exactly, the activities of abyssal demons from hells of perpetual torment are my safe space from reality. Honestly if i was playing DnD and i get portaled to this world via some means or another i'd call it quits and go listen to relaxing music with my character sheet or something.
17Scumdog I love the way how it's just obvious now. You are choosing between two bad options. You have no other option. The system is infinitely corrupt. Your soul is being damaged by this. Roll to destract yourself from "the abyss". 🎲
Excellent video. Where do you find the artwork used? I didn’t see a reference on the video description. I will definitely check out your other videos. Look forward to hearing back from you as I’d like to use some the art you displayed as well.
I feel like this creature was originally supposed to have the snake part attach at the small of the back to act as a tail, but someone misinterpreted the way the original sketch was drawn.
Monsters like these make me wish i could just runn high lvl campaigns al the time, but there are so many low lvl qwestlines wich are pure funn aswell wich would go to waste.
One thing that absolutely baffled me was the appearance of some heinously powerful entities in some of the relatively low and mid level adventures published in 5th by WotC.
Some friends and I have conflicting schedules, but we'd like to find a GM on the west coast willing to run games via Discord. We just don't know where to start looking. Any tips?
Note about the molydeus: There’s no reason why he can’t cast the 1 minute casting time spell imprisonment with their cast a spell legendary action. And with no material component the only way to unimprison his victim is to wish and suffer the stress thereof
So, quick question. Where do rituals come from? I'm sure there are many methods of creations, like breaking the laws of physics, truly calling out to and showing reverence for a specific deity, calling forth the essence from multiple primal plains, etc. But from a lore perspective, does Orcus funnel power into a ritual consisting of raping a baby, while licking the tears of a corpse, and being covered in the ichor of a dead Night Hag, just to be able to pay your rent this month? What gives the ritual the power and how is it conceived? Of course the God in question is involved, but what are the origins?
My buddy Iain and I recorded a conversation today for a podcast that talks about demons in great detail, and it basically answers that question as well.
Hey, It might be a different Keegan Miller, but there is an axe shown in this video with Keegan Miller cited. Just in case you got that from a certain pintrest account of the same name with a profile pic of some well dressed blonde bearded character smokin a pipe, I just wanted to let you know I am not the artist for that picture, I'm not sure who is. It could be funny coincidence, but I wanna make sure I don't accidentally claim someones else's beautiful hard work. Sorry for any inconvenience, AJ. For future reference, nothing on my pintrest would be considered mine (besides maybe a map), but if I have compiled art there that you would like to use, I just want you to know that none of it belongs to me. Great video by the way! Molydeus are metal as heck
@@AJPickett lol oh dear. I am really sorry tho for any inconvenience. It was really funny to see my name pop up (assuming it is not hilarious coincidence), but I just wanted be honest about that just in case.
@@AJPickettThe Solar's standard equipment is pretty OP in and of itself lol. +5 Vorpal Sword of Dancing is no joke, and Quiver of Arrows that produces any Arrow of Slaying it wishes?
@@Zero8880 No, they didn't get an upgrade. 2e Molydei were 90% immune to magic and were immune to all nonmagical and magical weapons. And their weapon was a +5 vorpal dancing axe. Thing is, solars were even more OP back then - 85% magic immunity, immunity to all elemental effects except fire, hp regen, abilities of 15th level cleric, in addition to the vorpal dancing sword and arrows of slaying. I guess technically a molydeus could win against a solar because a solar was vulnerable to +5 magical while molydeus was only vulnerable to cold iron, meaning the solar would have to use crap cold iron weapons that do very little damage while the molydeus could hope to out-damage the solar with his +5 vorpal dancing axe, but this was a scenario that never happened, and if they did, it was just time for GM ass pull, usually with artifacts that enabled them to overcome each other's resistances. These extraplanar creatures with 80%+ magic immunity were just meant to be conventionally unkillable, and killing one required many sessions of preparation and plot explication about how to lower its resistances and make it vulnerable before challenging it to a climactic battle. P.S. On a funny note, because of the flat out immunity to nonmagical damage that most of the devils and demons had, if you read some of the original descriptions of the blood war from 2e planescape, it seems that a lot of it consisted of the dumber baatezu and tanar'ri flailing at each other for eternity with their claws and failing to put a dent into each other.
6:27 I'm curious about all things to do with that demon on the left, i suppose not more than ordinarily curious, as it looks like a khornate bloodletter. I suppose demonlords if they ever found themselves sleeping and dreaming would have nightmares about nabassu and molydei, as consceptually they cut to the core of what they are. And i doubt demons would be too fond of the rarealm either. *pictures a psychick sage hovering their hand over the image on the left, whispering "... khorne... " then over to the right whispering "... tzneentch..." And then is drawn to the middle, visably frightened "She!.. she... Is the most beautiful woman in all worlds... Divine a grace beyond all others!?!?" As the image starts to move*😵🙏😡🤜🔫💥💥💥 man, despite the pandemic there are so many things to look forwards too these days...
the one on the left is definitely a bloodletter, you can see the chaos space marines in the background and the right is a Lord of Change, and assorted horrors of tzeentch (fighting stormcast eternals)
It probably promotes itself to demon lord (promotion in the Abyss is something you do yourself when you think you have what it takes to fulfill the new form's duties) and inherits it's master's layer.
Well...couldn't the demon lord use that connection as a kind get out of jail free card? Instead of an artifact that can't defend itself you got a frothing mouth demon that can defend itself as a fail safe.
"There is only one for each layer of the abyss" How convenient that the abyss has infinite layers. There also seems to be some overlap between this type of demon and the Klurichir, but it is the abyss, that there are overlaps and infinite variety is to be expected.
So, if you were to steal a Molydeus' weapon and then trap the Molydeus in an iron flask or soul gem, would the weapon then be usable by the one who stole it.
@@AJPickett I'm asking how likely it is based on the lore. I had an idea for something, in the same vain as this demon. Based on how likely it is that another evil power could have one of these would effect how big a deal it is
"Demon lord" just means "planar ruler of an abyss layer," ironically a less open-ended term than "Archdevil," so a lot of CE deities who keep their divine throne in the Abyss probably do have molydei because they are technically also DLs. For example, Lolth probably has a molydeus ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶c̶k̶ that dual-wields whips and likes to run across ceilings. On the flip-side, a lot of the most powerful DLs are also demigods or minor deities, for example Demogorgon is confirmed able to grant cleric spells as a god of madness and Yeenoghu as the racial deity of gnolls. *AND THEN THERE'S ORCUS*
My best guess is the spiral spike on top was used as a punching weapon, flanked by both axe blades. Something close range or small would make that grip more helpful. The spiral spike appears to be a different material than the axe head, so maybe it poisons or something.
Who Geryon? Lord of the Fifth? Lord of the Filth? The Serpentine Lord? The Deposed Lord? Old Snake Bum? Lowbelly? The Forgotten Lord? The Trifold Duke? King Hissypants? The Broken Beast? The Great Beast? Something something beast something? The Wild Beast? The Dreaded Slinky? I'll see what I can do.
...I just imagined a Molydeus on, IDK, fiendish TikTok snottily saying 'I'm not like *other* Tanar'ri...' 🤣🤣🤣
You mean molydeus are actually teenage girls with an insatiable need for attention on the inside?
Unfathomable beings composed of roiling swathes of flesh perpetually torn between eternal decay and the agony of an impossible form.
Fan artists: Ok, so like... 75% sexy elf?
I’m impressed by the consistent increase in quality in your videos. The jokes in the intro, the un-interruptive and easy to see credits for the artwork, the addition of pans and fades to the artwork, the increase in audio quality, the quality of the scripts and the improvement of your auditory skills. I’ve been eating your videos since you were sitting in front of your camera talking. If you still did that, I would still watch your videos, but the consistent increase in quality shows me that your channel has a lot of potential for the future.
Thanks AJ. 🙂
*huge grin*
Great script writing man. Loved the description of the of the Obyrith's transition to the Far Realm.
Thanks :)
Very insightful!
Two awesome demon lore videos in one week. You spoil us.
Despoilage achieved.
I, as well as both of the other DMs I know, completely missed seeing this stat block in Mordenkainen's. It's a hidden genius that they neglected to give these guys a picture, because it allowed me to surprise players that I'm rarely able to surprise (as they DM themselves).
I have no idea what I'm in for, but this thumbnail has me excited.
Ah AJ, you give me ideas at weird hours and grant my players horrible nightmares twice a week. Thank you for everything.
"As the more powerful will of the demon lord is grafted onto that of the molydeus, the molydeus can't betray his demon lord."
Demogorgon:
Honestly i think on every thematic level the molydeus fits in with demoggorgon the best. Promotion AND punishment at the same time. When it walks in the room of demon generals - nobody knows what's gonna happen??? Only "CHAOS!?!?!?!?" Why aaaarrrrre you complaining? Demon, cultist, derranged mutation of some form of another, when you threw your lot in with demogorgan, you knew it would be like "this".
Might Demogorgon be able to simultaneously control 2 exceptionally insane Molydeus?
Mylrea Gavin Theoretically yes, but it's better if there is one with two snake heads, laying down chaos into the law. 😈
The creations are endless, and we have badass living weapons. Plot armor will not be thick enough for whatever these guys plan. Epic.
Stupendous video. I didn't know the snake head was a literal direct connection with the Molydeus' demon lord and they could speak through them. I also was wondering what the relationship between a Molydeus and Klurichir is. I suppose as the literal and figurative mouth of a demon lord even the terrifying Klurichir must obey a Molydeus. XD
All your demon videos have been a great help! I just made my first warlock a few months ago, GOO tomelock who'd tome might actually be his patron! If not it's Pale Night, and he's set on freeing this being "imprisoned" in his book. Seriously, I've such a better understanding of this stuff largely due to your content. Thanks AJ!
HEY AJ! I started playing D&D online with friends! I'm a paladin. Thanks for all your inspiration! Take care.
Excellent!
So much information. Have to put this one on repeat for awhile. Great vid as always
Intro was sick. Love your channel. Joining the patron. Amazing channel.
Thank you, and welcome to the Glueminati
I'm just a peasant.
Walking through the forest.
Whistling a tune.
( sees a Molydeus )
Stops whistling.
Turns around.
Shits pants
Sobs uncontrollably.
Thinks about where the nearest powerful faction dragon or kuren might be.
Runs frantically in that direction.
Given this is a being who has the concentrated essence of what makes a demon a demon I would say the shitting of the pants will be accompanied by shitting their brain. A peasant meeting something like this should be broken by the mental and spiritual assault they suffer from just seeing it. Their may run away in gibbering terror, but it may be nobody can understand what the peasant is saying in their mad ranting. These are multidimensional beings, not unlike gods, except they care nothing about shielding the pathetic vermin mortals from the glory of their alien evil. Most people should either take a long time recovering from their encounter or never recover at all.
Great video AJ. I never used the Molydeus in my campaigns. My loss. To be fair, I was not aware of them when I was a DM.
I can imagine a mad wizard captured a molydeus to steadying it's weapon, looking how replicate it.
There can be only one! per layer
The 222nd layer of the Abyss probably has two, since both Juiblex and Zuggtmoy call it home.
@@Gwyrddu Nah, Juiblex is all about those slimes. I figure if he needed something like that he would just make a slime that can fill the role. The slime lord can literally possess a slime if he needs to. So I suspect Juiblex would do exactly that.
That and grazz't owns two layers
Molideus falls in battle; weapon melts; a horde of the kind of demon that was destroyed to make the weapon start to exit the pool of demonic essence.
roll for initiative.
This is fantastic
And thus... now you know the WAY.
Oh no...
Since it's the abyss and Demon lords can some times come and go.What if a Molydeus's master is slain? Does it die? Does the snake head die and the rest of it go free? Or is a Molydeus a living horcrux?
Very good question. I don't know.
If Balors are considered the "pit fiends" of the abyss, Molydeus would be the abyss's Solar. They have the same Cr, both have 3 legendary actions, are completely loyal to their deity, and are universally feared and rarely seen outside of their home plane.
there must be somewhere in the abyss wandering molydei after there demon lord dies trying to figure how to become demon lords themselves
7:02 we love Baphomet and his very small son
Always great to watch 👍 your videos while in quarantine
Normally I watch and enjoy these videos but don't learn a tremendous amount cause I love the lore and have read a far amount. This video was almost all new information and was awesome.
awesome :D
Like at least one other individual who commented, I am still enthralled by the origins of demons and other abyssal entities. Fun video as always, AJ.
On a side note, I am curious who is thumbs-downing these and why.
Having that portal to the Abyss thinkin I wouldn't notice.
Only 1 for each layer of the INFINITE Abyss. K.
Yeah, lol
Hey AJ, not sure if this is a good or realistic question, but the Nameless One from Planescape, is that character in canon and if so could you cover him, pretty pretty please? I guess that was a few questions.. but I'd love to hear your thoughts on him, if it's possible.
If you read this, thanks for your time and thanks for what you do.
Don't hold your breath waiting for that video to happen, I am just not that keen on the video game lore, its a rabbit hole that can lead to some real lore conflicts quite often.
Excellent video as always AJ
I have ALWAYS loved this demon and am super glad you decided to cover them!
I'm trying to imagine a/the Molydeus of Fraz Urb'luu. I don't know why I yhink it would be so special, beyond how each Molydeus is special, but I wonder anyway. I'd almost expect him to have his Moly looking for pieces of his staff, if any were resting in places where they could simply be "found", instead of hidden within the confines of other Artifacts, or the like. Also, because I don't have shame, I almost imagine Graz'zt's Moly to have more feminine features, and a lithe, but muscular build. Chaos is, after all, chaotic, and who's to say one Demon Lord's preferences can't bleed over with their essence, into the being they create to sort of represent them beyond their own sphere.
Demon lords are some of the coolest characters. I've always preferred Juiblex
Might be damn near impossible to control a Molydeus, but it might be a pretty good way to get in contact with the demon lord who commands it. More direct than most methods, but at least marginally less dangerous than being in that lord's actual presence?
Sort of like checking in with the demon lord's secretary.
In the campaign im in, my aasimar radiant soul sorcerer has become close friends with a molydeus. Because theur demon lord was killed by this radical celestial. So my character has decided to ally with this molydeus to fight against that super powered celestial
Reason why my character is fighting them is because my character’s grandmother an angel has been factory resetted by this bastard celestial
@@zepaduse97 A just reason. No one messes with Grandma.
First off, love the lore. Really takes me back to the old days of AD&D.
Second... The random 40k/AoS pics crack me up 🤣
Always a delight to see a new video thanks for feeding the obsession.
If there is a Molydeus with two snakeheads, one on each shoulder. Does it belong to Demogorgon?
It could, things like that are up to DM/your interpretation of what one would look like.
I like that idea.
What about Graz’zt’s Molydeus? If you go with the rumor that he’s a spy from the Nine Hells, maybe make the snake head give information back to Asmodeus as well? With Graz’zt’s Molydeus stomping around at least 3-4 levels of the Abyss, that’s invaluable recon info for the Lords of Nine. So many things you could here. Zariel’s Molydeus has great potential too. Juiblex’s Molydeus? Maybe it goes straight to Tharizdun? Dang, the wheels are turning....
@@kodiak71gene for Graz'zt molydeus the snake would the same black color has Graz'zt and green eyes to.
It would like handsome, perfect ripped body, his fur would like Fabio's hair stylist got to work, and maybe six on the head of the wolf or snake.
@@kodiak71gene I bet Graz'zt's molydeus's snake has a column of abs going all the was from the head to the base. also that it's located on the crotch rater than the back of the wolf head.
The Doom Slayer found more things to kill now
Followed by his new best friend Isabelle.
I had an unruly Player in 1989. So I decided to run Q-1 and I add the Molydeus to the module. They actually loved that I put this in Q-1.
heh ; i made one of my PCs, who wanted to be a hexblade, sworn to a Molydeus axe. In essence, the axe is the molydeus itself, and the Hexblade's master is in reality Grazzt. Of course he only gets the axe powers through lvling, but its a pretty great adventuring hook
Love your work Big Guy!!!!!!
Seems like demons do quite a bit if striking fear into eachother. Lol
You reign supreme, AJ! 👍🏻
Better then dungeon cast
Fun video, imagine if you set up the Molydeus as a potential outcome of say a cult of demon lord or a power mad spellcaster set against the party. Now its not about fighting something like that but stopping them from being brought into the material plane, you could possibly set up a whole game around this ritual. Imagine something like this showing up in a capital city or in the throne room of the local monarch, that's a nightmare scenario and plenty of incentive for some adventures to put a stop to it. Perhaps they never fight the Molydeus at all and halt the wizards plans or perhaps they fail and now the only chance they have is to implore the Gods or even arch devils for aid before confronting such a being and casting it back into the abbyse.
At the end of unholy by Richard Lee Byers nevron the zulkir of necromancy summoned one to help in the fight against Szass Tam. Szass Tam defeated it by making fire come out of its eyes and had the snake on its shoulder bite itself and controlled its axe to attack the other zulkirs and aoth and bareris. It didn't quite name the demon but from the description I knew it was a molydeus.
Another great video. Appreciate all your work.
I imagine demons are just like people who were chilling minding there own business then suddenly forced to play a video game where the only way to level up is killing others. You have to play till you win but the game might be unwinable.
I mean anyone who has ever played rust probably knows what I’m talking about 😂
God this reminds me of an OC creature I came up with as a kid, I use to play with clay a lot and like to make little animals and objects and Power Ranger Zord them together to make a new chimera that looks a lot like these things. My favorite was a big red dude with snake growing out the heels of his feet, lobster claws the shot bullets and a gold mask over his face.
That sounds awesome !!
They are a very impressive demon...thanks for some awesome D&D ideas👍🏼👍🏼💯
Molydeus is a good name for a band.
Michael Kelligan a death metal band
Goth Rock
@@AJPickett Goth (formerly "dark punk") is getting a sh^t image here in the USA thanks to the emo and vampire goths... goth divas... ironically the opposite of what "dark punks" (goth) were.
@@That80sGuy1972 I am a nightwish fan (all the singers), so that is what I mean by it.
@@AJPickett Ah. ;)
Well these monstrosities are a Demon Lord’s “left” hand? Great...
Good video AJ
I knew next to nothing about these lads, so I found it particularly interesting. Good work!
Once again AJ you made a great video. I love this demon. Thx
Have you made a video about pit fiends yet?
I have not, I have been woefully slack in making videos about all the devils, and those videos I have made are all now quite dated.
@@AJPickett love your videos on the demons and devils series though very handy. :)
AJ Pickett Understandable, how much more demon material do you have? Pit Fiends and the Nine Hell’s are my personal favorites too. I liked the Graz’zt picture with the flanking Mariliths.
I know I'm late, but looks like your wish was answered! Hmmm, AJ granted your wish, and Pit Fiends have a Grant Wish ability......coincidence? Perhaps.......hopefully you didn't unknowingly bind yourself into a infernal contract lol.
@@Zero8880 Yeah, I have seen it.
Hey AJ I wanted to say thank you. Have a great day man :)
Dam that was a great one i love the abyss
I had an idea for a living weapon that was actually a demon. Pretty cool
Aj you are awesome all hail the glueminati
0:33
Yes well I must be
*Looks behind AJ*
GOOD LORD WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THERE!?
I have a question oh Sage of D&D?....does the Queen of Chaos still exists in the Abyss as a Demon Lord and might we see a video on her?👍🏼👍🏼💯
I think that AJ uploaded a video that mentioned her. It would be interesting to learn more about her.
Yes and Yes
AJ Pickett awesome a video on her and Obox-ob will be very interesting for early history on the Abyss👍🏼👍🏼💯
My thoughts as I decided whether to watch this video, or catch up on today's news: "I don't want to watch anything depressing, let's watch a video about demons."
Word.
Holy crap! Reality is more depressing than a fantasy about demons! Forgive me for having my dark humor self laugh a LOT on this.
Yep, it's an election year in the u.s. and the maelstrom of chaotic evil grows each day, the abyss is certainly the lesser of two evils
That80sGuy1972 Exactly, the activities of abyssal demons from hells of perpetual torment are my safe space from reality. Honestly if i was playing DnD and i get portaled to this world via some means or another i'd call it quits and go listen to relaxing music with my character sheet or something.
17Scumdog I love the way how it's just obvious now. You are choosing between two bad options. You have no other option. The system is infinitely corrupt. Your soul is being damaged by this. Roll to destract yourself from "the abyss". 🎲
Excellent video. Where do you find the artwork used? I didn’t see a reference on the video description. I will definitely check out your other videos. Look forward to hearing back from you as I’d like to use some the art you displayed as well.
I feel like this creature was originally supposed to have the snake part attach at the small of the back to act as a tail, but someone misinterpreted the way the original sketch was drawn.
I made a Molydeus that served the Sibriexes and uses chains as weapons
Chain devils are sending franchise lawyers as we speak :D
Monsters like these make me wish i could just runn high lvl campaigns al the time, but there are so many low lvl qwestlines wich are pure funn aswell wich would go to waste.
One thing that absolutely baffled me was the appearance of some heinously powerful entities in some of the relatively low and mid level adventures published in 5th by WotC.
This thing is in mordenkainen tome of foes and guess what, there is no illustration, I know wotc can be lazy but that was a new low for me.
They fix it in Monster of Multiverse :|
Dude I love your lore videos, mad respect!! But I have a question I'm dying to ask, who would win in a fight? A Molydeus or a Klurichir?
All by their Lonesome (without the Molydeus's hit squad), the Klurichir would kick its ass.
@@AJPickett HELL YEAH, can't wait wait to see if we get a 5e stat block for Klurichir!!
Again I'm a big fan of your hard work!!
But after the ass kicking, there would be "torture time".
Some friends and I have conflicting schedules, but we'd like to find a GM on the west coast willing to run games via Discord. We just don't know where to start looking. Any tips?
Head on over to my Discord (link in the description under the video), the more that do, the more games will hook up and happen.
Note about the molydeus:
There’s no reason why he can’t cast the 1 minute casting time spell imprisonment with their cast a spell legendary action. And with no material component the only way to unimprison his victim is to wish and suffer the stress thereof
So, quick question. Where do rituals come from? I'm sure there are many methods of creations, like breaking the laws of physics, truly calling out to and showing reverence for a specific deity, calling forth the essence from multiple primal plains, etc.
But from a lore perspective, does Orcus funnel power into a ritual consisting of raping a baby, while licking the tears of a corpse, and being covered in the ichor of a dead Night Hag, just to be able to pay your rent this month?
What gives the ritual the power and how is it conceived? Of course the God in question is involved, but what are the origins?
So what I'm hearing is that when my player character gets the artifact that makes him a demon lord he also gets one of these bad boys? 🤔
He will have to make one himself out of another demon that's loyal to him
My buddy Iain and I recorded a conversation today for a podcast that talks about demons in great detail, and it basically answers that question as well.
@@AJPickett posted yet?
@@adrenalineunlimited Sadly, there was a fatal software error and the recording was garble... I will have to make more videos about it later.
@@AJPickett whaaaaack
Would you do one on Eltab? No one has do a video on him
Bring back that pizza illuminati symbol ya we spooky demon thingie!
I think Grazz't stole it.
Hey, It might be a different Keegan Miller, but there is an axe shown in this video with Keegan Miller cited. Just in case you got that from a certain pintrest account of the same name with a profile pic of some well dressed blonde bearded character smokin a pipe, I just wanted to let you know I am not the artist for that picture, I'm not sure who is. It could be funny coincidence, but I wanna make sure I don't accidentally claim someones else's beautiful hard work. Sorry for any inconvenience, AJ. For future reference, nothing on my pintrest would be considered mine (besides maybe a map), but if I have compiled art there that you would like to use, I just want you to know that none of it belongs to me. Great video by the way! Molydeus are metal as heck
I shall have words with my editor about Pinterest citations... *picks up brass knuckles*
@@AJPickett lol oh dear. I am really sorry tho for any inconvenience. It was really funny to see my name pop up (assuming it is not hilarious coincidence), but I just wanted be honest about that just in case.
@@flameofazure thank you, really, we are still new to this team effort and this is absolutely perfect feedback.
Awesome dude
Thanks Eric 😊
I think i know this guy! He told me he'd make an oak tree for me.
So the Molydeus will probably be the next Demon that gets defeated by Drizzt lol. Damn they got a huge upgrade in 5e! They're on par with Solars now?
Pretty much, though Solars always have artifact level equipment in my games.
@@AJPickettThe Solar's standard equipment is pretty OP in and of itself lol. +5 Vorpal Sword of Dancing is no joke, and Quiver of Arrows that produces any Arrow of Slaying it wishes?
@@Zero8880 No, they didn't get an upgrade. 2e Molydei were 90% immune to magic and were immune to all nonmagical and magical weapons. And their weapon was a +5 vorpal dancing axe.
Thing is, solars were even more OP back then - 85% magic immunity, immunity to all elemental effects except fire, hp regen, abilities of 15th level cleric, in addition to the vorpal dancing sword and arrows of slaying.
I guess technically a molydeus could win against a solar because a solar was vulnerable to +5 magical while molydeus was only vulnerable to cold iron, meaning the solar would have to use crap cold iron weapons that do very little damage while the molydeus could hope to out-damage the solar with his +5 vorpal dancing axe, but this was a scenario that never happened, and if they did, it was just time for GM ass pull, usually with artifacts that enabled them to overcome each other's resistances. These extraplanar creatures with 80%+ magic immunity were just meant to be conventionally unkillable, and killing one required many sessions of preparation and plot explication about how to lower its resistances and make it vulnerable before challenging it to a climactic battle.
P.S. On a funny note, because of the flat out immunity to nonmagical damage that most of the devils and demons had, if you read some of the original descriptions of the blood war from 2e planescape, it seems that a lot of it consisted of the dumber baatezu and tanar'ri flailing at each other for eternity with their claws and failing to put a dent into each other.
So they're like "The Highlander". "There can only be one."
That's a pretty cool intro
Indeed!
Here wuz Seamus!
5th time watching. The weapon has really peaked my interest 😈😈
6:27 I'm curious about all things to do with that demon on the left, i suppose not more than ordinarily curious, as it looks like a khornate bloodletter. I suppose demonlords if they ever found themselves sleeping and dreaming would have nightmares about nabassu and molydei, as consceptually they cut to the core of what they are. And i doubt demons would be too fond of the rarealm either. *pictures a psychick sage hovering their hand over the image on the left, whispering "... khorne... " then over to the right whispering "... tzneentch..." And then is drawn to the middle, visably frightened "She!.. she... Is the most beautiful woman in all worlds... Divine a grace beyond all others!?!?" As the image starts to move*😵🙏😡🤜🔫💥💥💥 man, despite the pandemic there are so many things to look forwards too these days...
the one on the left is definitely a bloodletter, you can see the chaos space marines in the background
and the right is a Lord of Change, and assorted horrors of tzeentch (fighting stormcast eternals)
Aww... And here I was expecting another "no furs allowed" pic like last time...
Mildly dissapointed, but awesome work nontheless.
What about exploring the mad mage in the lore or a dnd biggest dungeon mad mage video
The thought had crossed my mind, I did get really good indicators that such content would be popular on my channel.
What happens to a molydeus if its demon lord truly dies? (No amulets or anything)
It probably survives, after all, they aren't completely bound to demon lords, they can still exist without them.
It probably promotes itself to demon lord (promotion in the Abyss is something you do yourself when you think you have what it takes to fulfill the new form's duties) and inherits it's master's layer.
Well...couldn't the demon lord use that connection as a kind get out of jail free card? Instead of an artifact that can't defend itself you got a frothing mouth demon that can defend itself as a fail safe.
"There is only one for each layer of the abyss" How convenient that the abyss has infinite layers.
There also seems to be some overlap between this type of demon and the Klurichir, but it is the abyss, that there are overlaps and infinite variety is to be expected.
A klurichir is something like an unemployed one freelancing in terms of power and thinking of going corporate for itself.
Wonder what edition added that rule. Wasn't there in 3.0/3.5.
Spawn?
Close!
Where might I find more information on the Abyss' Spawning Pits?
Check out my video on the Sibriex
So, if you were to steal a Molydeus' weapon and then trap the Molydeus in an iron flask or soul gem, would the weapon then be usable by the one who stole it.
Only if you become a hex blade
it's CR21 with a direct connection to a demon lord, i find the idea very very very very very unlikely unless you're something like a Solar.
isn't the molydeus bigger than large? I would not let the players use a weapon that big tbh, but thats me.
@@elmeromogollon magical weapon.
@@Gabronthe that makes sense I guess xD.
I love this series and the Devil one even More so 😈😈
Fing Glorious
Could one of these boys be subjugated or created by a primordial or god ? (Obviously one that's vary evil or chaotic )
Your table, your rules, I'm just here to relate the lore, not tell people how to play :)
@@AJPickett I'm asking how likely it is based on the lore. I had an idea for something, in the same vain as this demon.
Based on how likely it is that another evil power could have one of these would effect how big a deal it is
"Demon lord" just means "planar ruler of an abyss layer," ironically a less open-ended term than "Archdevil," so a lot of CE deities who keep their divine throne in the Abyss probably do have molydei because they are technically also DLs. For example, Lolth probably has a molydeus ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶c̶k̶ that dual-wields whips and likes to run across ceilings.
On the flip-side, a lot of the most powerful DLs are also demigods or minor deities, for example Demogorgon is confirmed able to grant cleric spells as a god of madness and Yeenoghu as the racial deity of gnolls.
*AND THEN THERE'S ORCUS*
Wait so orcus and the other major lords still are not possessing one soul each
Nope.
Yay!
Unexpected!
2:14 Who the hades holds an axe like that?
My best guess is the spiral spike on top was used as a punching weapon, flanked by both axe blades. Something close range or small would make that grip more helpful. The spiral spike appears to be a different material than the axe head, so maybe it poisons or something.
Not for combat but it’s a comfortable way to carry it
awww yeah!
Did we ever get a geryon video
Who Geryon?
Lord of the Fifth? Lord of the Filth? The Serpentine Lord? The Deposed Lord? Old Snake Bum? Lowbelly? The Forgotten Lord? The Trifold Duke? King Hissypants? The Broken Beast? The Great Beast? Something something beast something? The Wild Beast? The Dreaded Slinky? I'll see what I can do.
Never heard him called old snake bum ha ha so is there leaders for the other side and how about the forces of neutrality
@@mikemccoy5092 I clearly need to remind everyone of the Rilmani
Everyone ignores the Rilmani.
@@AJPickett All hail the deaded slinky!
The reason I ask about leaders for the other alignments is u cover a lot on demons and devils awesomely but the way but not much on the other sides