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Yugoloths: Do They Have an Identity Beyond the Blood War?

In Pathfinder, devils are related to the hierarchy of the Hells and are all positions in the bureaucracy, as the soul works its way up the ranks. Meanwhile demons are all associated with sins committed by the soul in life. Daemons are all created by people who died in horrible ways.
Which adds another layer of differentiation to the evil outsiders.
(But it only works so-so, given the sheer number of fiends in Pathfinder, and the fact it just slaps these ideas atop existing demons and devils. It's a huge lore retcon.)

As mentioned, Pathfinder daemons are also defined for their nihilism. They don't just want to mindlessly destroy like demons, they specifically want to annihilate living things in particularly violent ways. So it's more their sadistic methods. They're fiends with the intelligence and tendency to scheme of devils with the murderous impulses of demons.
Which is fine and all... but doesn't map nicely to Yugoloths.


Looking through the MM, Yugoloths do nicely fit the tropes of Neutral Evil. They're mercenaries who are entirely self serving and have no loyalties to anyone or any cause. They are the embodiment of selfishness. They're avarice opposed to devil's tyranny and demon's anarchy.
The problem is... they're completely and totally motivated by self interests, but we have no idea what those interests are. The Monster Manual and Tome of Foes both mention they work for hire but neglects to mention what they're paid with. Just gold? Diamonds? Magic?
Is it souls? And if so, why? Because it doesn't sound like Yugoloths are interested in making more of themselves (or are even able to do so).

Yeah, what are the Yugoloths actually doing with whatever currency it is they are paid with?

The Gentleman Bastards Sequence fantasy novels feature an order of mages for hire called the Bondsmagi. Despite their awesome power, the most they usually do with their magic is use it to fulfill contracts they accept from employers. Though they take in a lot of money this way they also don't really spend much of it, though the book Republic of Thieves reveals they have been collectively stockpiling wealth for centuries for a particular purpose.

Maybe if you said the Yugoloths are stockpiling whatever currencies they accept for a particular long-term goal I'd be more interested. Maybe they're saving up to buy the City of Brass or something?
 

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gyor

Legend
Thank you for the link!

Unfortunately, it was, for me, a bit of disappointing read. They basically read like demons to me (or how I treat demons). Maybe if a review their PF stat blocks it will clue me in more to their differences. Maybe 4e had it right and we should just combine demons and daemons in more than just pronunciation.

.

I had the same thought, PF Daemons are like less Chaotic, more clever D&D demons, but for some reason I find them more interesting the most 5e demons, Tantari Demons anyways, the other races of demon are neat.
 



That was Pathfinder Daemons not Yugoloths, who are extremely different from each other, PF Daemons aren't mercanies and in some cases Demons and Devils will even team up to stop Daemons from destroying the universe. Despite being NE Yugoloths and PF Daemons would NOT get along, their forms of evil are incompatable.
Right, so if PF daemons want to do that, what do PF demons want to do?
 

The idea that there are three distinct sets of fiends (including one set that specifically includes Demogorgon and Orcus that live in the primordial chaos) came from Paradise Lost. Admittedly, yugoloths don't much resemble the offspring of Satan and Sin (the third group of fiends), who are often described as monstrous hounds (although I guess arcanaloths might fit that bill, and I have a vague memory of nyconaloths being described as "bulldog-headed").
Despite everything, I don't get a very tanar'ri-y vibe from Milton's Demogorgon and Orcus. They're more like yugoloths, or even Lovecraftian horrors: mysterious entities characterized by cruel apathy, rather than savage sadists.
 


To spread chaos, but not obvilion to everything. There is no chaos in nothingness.

I was under the impression that they needed sin to occur to create new demons, and if everyone was dead, there would be no sin....six of one, half dozen of another.

I find it interesting that nihilistic evil was a such a big thing around the time that 4e and PF came about, with 4e making that the default for CE, and PF for NE (although to be fair, they did eventually make asuras be LE nihilists). I think that nihilism was associated with Tartarus/Carcini in earlier editions, which wasn't the first among Lower Planes....
 



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