As I was examining the 2025 Monster Manual (in alphabetical order), I came across the entry for the Mezzoloth.
"Mezzoloths are insectile yugoloths that seek power and souls in the service of fiendish lords. These greedy, violent yugoloths are more direct than most of their scheming brethren, but what they lack in guile they make up for in persistence and numbers.
"Mezzoloths typically form mercenary bands with others of their kind. These forces serve more powerful yugoloths, other fiends, sinister mages, or anyone who provides them with tempting rewards. Mezzoloths obediently adhere to the bargains they strike, potentially serving their patrons for centuries, but once those terms expire, yesterday’s client could become today’s target. Roll on or choose a result from the Mezzoloth Payments table to inspire a mezzoloth’s price for its services."
Do you notice something odd about that entry? Yeah, you probably guessed based on the thread title, but it really doesn't do that much explaining about what a yugoloth is.
Because these particular monsters are listed alphabetically, the yugoloths are not grouped together (and if you're not an existing player, you probably don't know they all end in "-loth").
The DMG mentions yugoloths, but not really defining them.
The lore in the MM has been reduced massively, but this one feels a lot more weird to me.
At least the Arcanaloth starts with this line:
"While all yugoloths are fiendish manifestations of wickedness and greed, arcanaloths bend their considerable intellects toward hoarding and exploiting secrets."
It doesn't read that well, since it sort of presumes you know what yugoloths are already, at least it provides more of a description of yugoloths as a whole!
"Mezzoloths are insectile yugoloths that seek power and souls in the service of fiendish lords. These greedy, violent yugoloths are more direct than most of their scheming brethren, but what they lack in guile they make up for in persistence and numbers.
"Mezzoloths typically form mercenary bands with others of their kind. These forces serve more powerful yugoloths, other fiends, sinister mages, or anyone who provides them with tempting rewards. Mezzoloths obediently adhere to the bargains they strike, potentially serving their patrons for centuries, but once those terms expire, yesterday’s client could become today’s target. Roll on or choose a result from the Mezzoloth Payments table to inspire a mezzoloth’s price for its services."
Do you notice something odd about that entry? Yeah, you probably guessed based on the thread title, but it really doesn't do that much explaining about what a yugoloth is.
Because these particular monsters are listed alphabetically, the yugoloths are not grouped together (and if you're not an existing player, you probably don't know they all end in "-loth").
The DMG mentions yugoloths, but not really defining them.
The lore in the MM has been reduced massively, but this one feels a lot more weird to me.
At least the Arcanaloth starts with this line:
"While all yugoloths are fiendish manifestations of wickedness and greed, arcanaloths bend their considerable intellects toward hoarding and exploiting secrets."
It doesn't read that well, since it sort of presumes you know what yugoloths are already, at least it provides more of a description of yugoloths as a whole!
