Demons, Devils, or Other?

[Ares]

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Kewl.

I voted that I liked polls because I'm both equally fond and disappointed in D&D fiends. With the exception of the 'loths, most are cribbed from myth. I do like the Mazoku from Slayers.

 

[Aeolius]

Other... night hags (duh! ) Though to be fair, I tend to tread them as they were in 1e... neutral (evil) instead of neutral evil as they are in 3e.

Granted, in my games the epic midnight hags also breed with other outsiders; demons (producing succubi), devils (erinyes), daemons (naelle), and demodands (phlenar). So I'll need them around as well.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Granted, in my games the epic midnight hags also breed with other outsiders.

ICK!

 

[lutecius]

Back when I was trying to "buy into" the d&d alignment system I had a preference for chaos and therefore demons.

After I stopped trying (and as a dm, started using homebrew cosmologies) the distinction became pretty much irrelevant but I think I prefer devils overall, both thematically and visually (well, I still like the succubus...)
devils better fit the fiend archetype imo, but I generally call them demons ("devils", plural sounds a bit awkward and i hate the 2e made up names)

and i've never cared for the yugoloths. they're neither classic (except for the charonadaemon) nor particularly original. to me they were just... there, a filler race because they needed one for the plane of pure evil (which never really worked for me either. the gray waste being home to Nergal, Hel and Hades, I've always pictured it as a quiet land of the dead, not the main battlefield of the blood war or the evilest place in the multiverse.)

so, .

 

[Aeolius]

ICK!

my work here is done

 

[Desdichado]

Since they were created as something largely unique to D&D, they never had to crib off of the flavor of any real world demons or devils (for whom the distinction by alignment and nature in D&D was entirely moot).

Exactly why I like them the least.

That said, I don't really make much of a distinction between devils, demons, oni, daemons, or for that matter, even slaadi or efreet. They're all nasty, hostile outsiders, so from a certain point of view (Ben Kenobi) they're all the same.

Some of the demon-lords are the most iconic critters in the entire D&D zeitgeist, though, so I give 'em the most credit.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Demons have more variety, and I've had better experiences with individual demons. I like having unpredictable foes, both because it makes the DM's job easier and it makes the plot more interesting.

That said all evil outsiders are great monsters. Diabolical plots are great drama and have a strong basis in mythology, and the other all fill interesting niches. In a game where we so often ignore the implications of violence because honoring them would make it difficult to tell stories, having enemies that are clearly evil helps make the game epic, dramatic, and honest at the same time.

 

[Orius]

What???

Not surprising that someone using an arcanaloth as a web handle would pick the loths, I would think.

I have to go with devils. Demons have their uses, but the long-term plotting and manipulations of the devils make them better as Big Bads in a campaign. Demons are better for one-shots.

Yugoloths have their appeal, and they really shone in Planescape. It's probably harder to use them more generically, since while they were all about manipulating the demons and devils in Planescape, they were more concentrated on planar affairs than the material plane. This is probably because they aren't formed from the souls of the wicked like demons and devils, and probably thus take less interest in subverting mortals.

Demodands/gehreleths? I think they're ridiculous. Goo fiends that can be bottled and form a very minor fiendish race compared to devils, demons and loths? Only cool when the players think it's a potion and test it. Yeah, I can cut them from my campaign cosmology without much trouble. Heck, I'm thinking of just folding the really cool bits of Carceri into the Abyss anyway.

 

[Jhaelen]

My favorite evil outsiders come from the Far Realm, i.e. they're more often aberrations than actual outsiders.

Instead of voting other, I might have also voted for demons, since I rather like the Obyrith.

 

[avin]

Yugoloths ftw.