D&D General How do devils actually get to the world from hell?

[Maxperson]

One thing thats notable in Baldur's Gate 3. Devils can pop in and out of the world, seemingly going back to hell and then returning to the mortal world as they need to to conduct their business.

But in 5e the vast majority of devils have no such capabilities. No teleport and no plane shift. So is the assumption there is some infernal portal in the world, and the devils are hoofing it to get to where they want to go?

The one in Baldur's Gate might have required a mortal to use a wish to allow him to come and go like that. For the most part I think they need to be summoned by a higher powered devil, and then they go back. Or else they are summoned by mortals. Sometimes a gate is opened and left that way, causing huge damage.

 

[Algorithmancer]

Mostly, devils get to the world because some idiot wizard summoned them, or they slip through a rare, already open portal; normally they can't just pop over when they feel like it

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Stuff might be easier to move across planes than creatures, so if fiendish essences are being infused into some items, they might get shipped over and some cultists could perform a ritual, and viola, your fiend is loose in the world. If you use a teleporting spell that lets you take one willing creature with you, and you have a sentient weapon, the weapon usually doesn't count as your +1.

The downside is that the item might get lost or some caster with planar binding might get it instead of your cultists, so I can't see mid to high level fiends doing this themselves; this is the kind of thing you inflict on imps, quasits, maw demons, spined devils, and maybe the odd bearded devil, hell hound, or nightmare. It might be an award to some noncasting cultist to get their own "servant."

 

[Seramus]

I don't remember teleport without error crossing planes of existence.

Teleport Without Error used to come with two modes. You could teleport to any known location on your home plane without error, or you could teleport to another plane with the normal chance of error (with a maximum of Studied Carefully). It does conjure funny images of fiends appearing at unexpectedly random places when they cross over, or popping into objects!

Pardon the poor resolution.

 

[Storyteller Hero]

Cultists summon devils and demons. Sometimes the ritual involves possession, enabling a devil or demon to inhabit a person or object.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Raphael will no doubt have done some kind of deal that enables him to travel between the Hells and Toril at will.

It's not explained how Mizora managed to be around to contact Wyll, but it's possible she was summoned by The Cult of the Dragon, but was able to escape whatever bonds they tried to put on her, so she used Wyll to destroy them.

 

[Zardnaar]

Raphael will no doubt have done some kind of deal that enables him to travel between the Hells and Toril at will.

It's not explained how Mizora managed to be around to contact Wyll, but it's possible she was summoned by The Cult of the Dragon, but was able to escape whatever bonds they tried to put on her, so she used Wyll to destroy them.

Raphael has a portal network in his house.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I imagine the main thing stopping devils traveling to the material plane is the number of forms they have to fill in first.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The legacy of 3.x still haunts us, why restrict ones world building to the statblock. Just because they cannot portal back and forth in combat, is no reason to believe that they cannot do it by other means.
It might take an elaborate ritual.
They have to apply to the Bureau of InterPlanar Transport for a ticket. They need to supply a valid reason why it will benefit to the Hells, or an authorisation from a recognised agent along with an expenses voucher or reference to a valid account. Everything properly notarised and in triplicate.
The prime would be completely overrun with devils but due to budget cuts there are very few currently allowed.
That Baldurs Gate thing blew out the whole years travel budget for Avernus. As for that devil Raphael, well if he was not reduced to a lemure by Tav, he would have been reduced to one for that scam he was running in black market transport chits.

This why I preferred TSR's monster entries, particularly 2e's work. They didn't assume the only thing that mattered was combat.

 

[cbwjm]

I like to think they use public transport, but like, think of the city with the worst public transport you know, it's worse in hell. Devils trying to get to the prime plane to start possessing people but the train out of hell has broken down... again.