D&D 5E My Review of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is Live will also answer any questions

[Demetrios1453]

Thank you.

OK, it's available from D&D Beyond now. And, as I suspected, it's nowhere bad as it has been made out. Elves who have pleased the Seldarine upon death experience Transcendence - their souls go to Arvandor for an indeterminate time, and then are eventually reincarnated. Conversely, to directly quote from the book:

"Elves who die of old age without experiencing Transcendence are believed to have been denied admission to Arvandor, and thus their souls pass on to other planes and are never reincarnated. The living are left to guess why this might be true, but an elf’s conduct during life often offers a clue. Drow never experience Transcendence, for example, and the same is true for elves who turn to the worship of gods other than the Seldarine."

So elves and drow who do not experience Transcendence have their souls go to other planes, permanently as they are not reincarnated, BUT the souls are not extinguished entirely.

 

[kbrakke]

After a more through reading not much changes for old elf lore lovers, I assume.

Instead, when an elven soul returns to Arvandor, it is adopted by the other gods of the Seldarine and given respite from the world for a time, during which it is left alone to contemplate its creator’s disappointment. Then the soul emerges from Arvandor, to be reborn into a lissome, graceful body that lives for an incredibly long time — evidence that their creator holds a love for them that, deep down, is boundless.

Yet there is one sure sign that an elf is nearing the end of life: cataracts in the shape of crescents, points down, that appear over the pupils of both eyes when the elf is in trance. This change, commonly known as Transcendence, is evidence that Sehanine Moonbow has opened the door to enable the elf’s soul to return to Arvandor — a direct sign from the gods that it’s time to get one’s affairs in order.

Elves who die of old age without experiencing Transcendence are believed to have been denied admission to Arvandor, and thus their souls pass on to other planes and are never reincarnated. The living are left to guess why this might be true, but an elf’s conduct during life often offers a clue. Drow never experience Transcendence, for example, and the same is true for elves who turn to the worship of gods other than the Seldarine.

Unless I am grossly misreading it, all good elves go to heaven for some time, then get reborn. Drow and heathen elves never get to go to elf heaven, and their souls just go where souls go. You can resurrect everyone just fine, people can go to elf heaven, but then get pulled out.

 

[Kendra Lawrence]

That sounds a little better, at least in some aspects. I honestly was upset that elves were automatically reincarnated, but now, it seems like most of them still go to Arvandor, at least for a time (which fits better with all the other elven lore). So I take it this Transcendence is for those elves who follow the Seldarine and live a certain "elf lifestyle"? This in itself would probably vary greatly, as an elf who follows Hanali and one who follows, say, Shevarash, are going to live different lifestyles, with different ideologies (though still "elven" at their core). I'm glad most of them seem to still go to Arvandor, but I don't know why it is now limited to those who experience "Transcendence". I presume this would be a thing most elves experience, unless they seriously mess up?

The "other planes" is pretty vague. I mean, for the drow, why not say they go to Lolth, or Eilistraee and Vharaun? Did it say anything about Eilistraeen or Vhaeraunites souls? Other planes could mean anything from another god's realm, to drifting aimlessly in the astral plane. Why not just have the drow souls go to their god, like every other soul?

I'm still unhappy about it. Yeah, they're keeping some things, but these new "conditions" for the elves is weird, and the drow...that is still a wtf.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The "other planes" is pretty vague. I mean, for the drow, why not say they go to Lolth, or Eilistraee and Vharaun? Did it say anything about Eilistraeen or Vhaeraunites souls? Other planes could mean anything from another god's realm, to drifting aimlessly in the astral plane. Why not just have the drow souls go to their god, like every other soul?

Given that the default is for a soul to go to its god's realm after death, the default would be what happens unless specifically stated to be otherwise (as with Transcendence). Since it's not specifically stated otherwise, then one must assume that elven souls that do not undergo Transcedence follow the default process - they go to the realms of their gods. To "pass on to other planes" is just another way of stating this, albeit in slightly more poetic terms. I guess you could parse the wording otherwise, but it does seem to be rather pedantic...

 

[Demetrios1453]

And in other interesting news, Baalzebul is now out of slug form again. Apparently he was punished in that form by Asmodeus for one year for every lie he had told a devil, and just worked off the punishment. And, if he lies to a devil again, he gets punished with that form for a year, so he's basically being forced into telling the truth (except to mortals; he can lie all he wants to them).

 

[MonsterEnvy]

And in other interesting news, Baalzebul is now out of slug form again. Apparently he was punished in that form by Asmodeus for one year for every lie he had told a devil, and just worked off the punishment. And, if he lies to a devil again, he gets punished with that form for a year, so he's basically being forced into telling the truth (except to mortals; he can lie all he wants to them).

I just decided to make a thread about that and other new cool lore bits. Kind of wish I saw your comment first.

But yeah I like this.

Also I like that Elf Lore and yeah it was blown way out of proportion.

 

[Mirtek]

What are the CR of the archfiends?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

What are the CR of the archfiends?

It heavily varries.

All the Demon Lords kept their CR's from Out of the Abyss but somthing strange happened to them all. They have all been nerfed. Their damage and health have all been lowered. Take a look at Out of the Abyss Yeenoghu vs Tome of Foes Yeenoghu.

Out of the Abyss


Tome of Foes

 

[Leatherhead]

Looks like they shaved a d12 off of everything.

 

[Mirtek]

I did not know they would reprint the demonlords, was only expecting the archdevils. What's their CRs?