List of monsters confirmed in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

[MonsterEnvy]

Well the one Lord of the Nine they did give us is the leader of the Blood War battlefront for the devils.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Well the one Lord of the Nine they did give us is the leader of the Blood War battlefront for the devils.

Also, and I hate trying to call up Lore that I'm not terribly familiar with, but aren't most versions of the Nine Hells set up so that you must pass through Avernus to reach the Second layer and so on?

If that is the case Zariel would be the only Lord of the Nine to directly interact with the Blood War, while the others are off dealing with other problems and concerns.


Not saying this is a good excuse, I wanted all the Lords of the Nine in this book. The Hells have been playing a big part in my most recent campaigns and I was hoping for some additional inspiration getting handed to me. But, I wouldn't say it doesn't make sense if the lens is the Blood War.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Also, and I hate trying to call up Lore that I'm not terribly familiar with, but aren't most versions of the Nine Hells set up so that you must pass through Avernus to reach the Second layer and so on?

If that is the case Zariel would be the only Lord of the Nine to directly interact with the Blood War, while the others are off dealing with other problems and concerns.


Not saying this is a good excuse, I wanted all the Lords of the Nine in this book. The Hells have been playing a big part in my most recent campaigns and I was hoping for some additional inspiration getting handed to me. But, I wouldn't say it doesn't make sense if the lens is the Blood War.

This is correct. There are no portals to any other layer of Hell other then Avernus as decreed by Asmodeus who destoryed them all. (Except for what is possibly a portal that leads anywhere at the bottom of Nessus.)

 

[Demetrios1453]

Yes, but we've got the top leaders of the demons, and only the second tier leaders of the devils. There is a lack of equivalency.

I'm sure there is a devil themed adventure coming up at some point--they gave them just as much attention in the MM and the DMG as they did the demons. They may have given us lesser archdevils in this book because the Lords of the Nine are slated for the adventure.

I'm beginning to that as well, and maybe not just a generic "planar" book or adventure. An all-out devil-themed adventure that will in some way feature the Nine Hells, and serve both as adventure and setting guide to the Hells like ToA was for Chult. Since they've left out the vast majority of the Lords of the Nine from this book, they must be saving them for something special that features them somehow...

Perhaps they could update and expand "A Paladin in Hell"? Not only was it a module, but a piece of art that appeared (with variations) in 1e, 2e, and 3e! Time for its 5e version?