Fiendish Codex III: Yugoloths poll

[Razz]

It would be like a book devoted to flinds. I can't see anything conceptually interesting about yugoloths that separates them from other fiends. Nycaloths are just another demon. Mezzoloths are another weird fiend, visually similiar to ice devils. And ultroloths are anodyne supervillains, inappropriate in a fantasy game and lacking any kind of interesting schtick. In terms of concept, they're at best rehashes.

Rounding out the alignments was a reasonable idea, but the execution was totally bereft of originality. If you want a neutral evil force of Blood War mercs and power brokers you'd be better off taking some of the interesting demons/devils and making them neutral evil.

Fey, savage humanoids, githyanki, angels, slaad, modrons, elementals, lycanthropes, constructs and oozes should get books before yugoloths do.

How much about yugoloths do you know before saying that, may I ask?

Yugoloths work nicely in the scheme of things D&D-wise. You have to think of yugoloths as "THE Fiends" of the D&D Game when comparing them to Devils and Demons.

 

[Garnfellow]

I guess I'm really a dissenting voice, here: I never really cared much for yugoloths *, even when they were called daemons, except for a minor nostalgic fondness for nycadaemons and mezzodaemons thanks to Vault of the Drow and my 1e Fiend Folio.

I have just never seen the burning need for a third nigh-infinite group of fiends next to the already myriad ranks of demons and devils. Those two categories alone are so expansive that they really don't leave much open ground for development of the neutral evil crowd. I mean, what's the daemoniacal shtick, really? That they're the ultimate mercenaries, schemers, and backstabbers? (As if no demons or devils fit that bill!)

Sure, some admittedly neat stuff has been done with the 'loths, but I have never found it anywhere near as compelling as what has been done with demons and devils. And really, why should the ranks of NE fiends be as numerous, powerful, or varied as that or CE or LE?

I'm all for a third FC, but I'd rather have one that deals with all other evil fiends, including yugoloths, demodands, hags, and maybe even things like grues. I just could care less that whether the 'loths get "equal time," since I just don't see the need or worthiness.

* Now, what Green Ronin did in the Book of Fiends with daemons is a completely different story altogether and I would very like to see more of this work: GR found a nice, unoccupied niche that consequently matched up well with many "real world" beliefs. Their daemons are cast as the grand tempters and manifestations of mortal sin; they also have much more inventively gruesome and alien forms than the other established fiends.