That's a very practical explanation, but what's wild is that Brennan took this little unexplained tidbit in the lore and completely ran with it, his Asmodeus has so much nuance and relevance to the broader themes of ExU: Calamity -- the vanity of humans of the age thinking they could rival gods, the smoldering resentment his Asmodeus has for those he considers "beneath" him, etc. He folded Asmodeus' themes so well into this broader narrative that you would've sworn he picked the character for thematic reasons, but it seems it was the other way around.
This is why Asmodeus was the only already-existing deity who could accomplish this feat. Granted, this is Forgotten Realms lore, but Matt's pantheon is heavily influenced by both FR and Paizo's Golarion, after all. The Trial of Asmodeus, from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes: Asmodeus is an unmatched strategist and orator. The most epic of all his achievements is chronicled in The Trial of Asmodeus, a play based on purportedly true events as researched by the aasimar bard Anodius. In ancient times, as the Blood War raged, the angels of law and good that dwell on Mount Celestia issued a decree accusing Asmodeus of terrible crimes. Outraged by such claims, the Lord of the Nine Hells petitioned for the right to answer the charges before his accusers. The angels, although shocked at his impudence, accepted his petition and agreed to hear the bargain he proposed. Both sides, he suggested, would present their case to Primus, leader of the modrons. As a creature of absolute law, Primus could be trusted to issue a fair and impartial verdict. Asmodeus drafted a contract to seal the deal, and the angels- after carefully scrutinizing the terms-agreed to the trial. When he testified before Primus, Asmodeus attributed his actions to the dictates of law and the survival of the cosmos. He admitted that he swayed mortals to evil, but he and his minions never breached a contract and explained the terms clearly. Had they not obeyed the rule of law in doing so? Was it not mortal ambition, rather than infernal deception, that led so many souls astray? Asmodeus also pointed out that the souls harvested from the Material Plane went on to serve in the infernal legions that repel the endless tide of the Abyss. Were not such souls put to good use against the demonic hordes, a power that if unchecked would scour the universe of all lawfulness and goodness? He further asserted that he was bound to the rules and traditions of the Nine Hells, compelled to adhere to law and to maintain the devils' trafficking in souls. If he violated those laws, he would be no better than the demons he fought. Mortals who refused a devil's offer were left alone, in accordance with the law. Those who struck deals with his followers and then somehow turned the contracts against the devils were freed from their debts. A contract is the law, and the law is a contract. Primus weighed Asmodeus's words and listened patiently as angel after angel testified to his crimes. Hours turned to days and days into weeks as more and more of his sins entered the court record. Even Primus's patience has its limits, and in time, the remaining angels who were eager to testify were told that only a few more would be allowed to speak. A brawl broke out when one angel, Zariel, pushed her way to the front and demanded to be heard. As the scuffle turned into a battle, Asmodeus looked on with a smirk. In the end, Primus declined to issue a definitive judgment. He rebuked the angels for their descent into infighting, but didn't punish Asmodeus for his evil ways. He did, however, order Asmodeus to forever carry a mighty artifact, the Ruby Rod, that would guarantee his adherence to law. The artifact, which has remained at Asmodeus's side ever since, grants him and his underlings the right to enter into contracts with mortals for their souls but unleashes an inescapable punishment upon any devil that breaches such a contract.
I'm so glad Brennan decided to go this route, at first I thought he was going to jump on the 'Morally Grey' train and make Asmodeus a relatable bad guy, I was very wary and lightly disappointed. Glad he was an evil bamboozler instead.
I'm glad you prefer one dimensional villains that cackle evilly when the one dimensional hero says something mind numbingly boring and good, but people are real humans with multiple facets and being "morally grey" essentially reflects that. Just because you like badly written villains doesn't mean they're good writing. And that goes to everyone who upvoted your comment
@@hipoopgsy everything being grey gets boring. It’s nice to take a break from the constant post-modernist philosophy that has taken over every part of western culture. It’s nice to have alien creatures who have completely different views and outlooks on what good and evil would be, instead of everything being humans with superpowers.
@@TrueLimeyhoney I think you're just talking about boring shows, seeing them fail at writing, and attributing the morally grey thing to them. The first writing technique you learn is to put yourself in the villains shoes and give them understandable reasons why they do bad things. Being bad for no reason is cringe. It means you as a writer have very little imagination and experience.
@@hipoopgsy Bro, simmer down, not every villain needs to be a relatable guy, Asmodeus wasn't morally grey, was he written badly? No, Brennan did great.at writing a non grey villain, so i don't know wtf you're on about.
@@hipoopgsy Do you think Morgoth and Sauron are bad characters too? Asmodeus isn't bad "for no reason". These aren't mustache twirling villains. He has his reasons, those being his own personal ego, pride, and hubris. These with the addition of being a narcissist who is unable to get what he wants gives him an unquenchable hatred towards humanity and the prime deities who he sees as betraying him. There are plenty of example of people similar to him in real life albeit not taken to this extreme.
@@daniellins4114 Well...... I'm not sure THIS version of Asmodeous would count compared to his Prime counterpart and I don't know my lore, so I'm gonna go look at the Effort Post on TV Tropes that got the Prime version the MB Award.
Asmodeus didn't become a god in 5e. Depending on the source book, he may have already been some form of a god back in 3e, and became a definitive god when he consumed Azuth. He was widely regarded as a god by the time 3.5 waned and Pathfinder 1e was coming out, as he's one of Golarion's core deities.
Hey, Sorry about it! You can feel confident than anything discussed in this video is not a Major spoiler to Calamity. The story revolves around the players at the table :)
To be fair, the show opened on a scene between a betrayer god and a player, it's really obvious from the get to that Asmodeus was a betrayer that would be involved. And we know the betrayers were accused collectively, otherwise it wouldn't be the Calamity, it would just be Asmodeus kinda mad event
What other betrayer gods would you have wanted to see?
Lolth!
Tharizdun
i would have liked to see the chained oblivion but he wouldn't have worked as the main villain
Tharizdun and Torog for sure especially after campaign 2
I would've loved to see Gruumsh!
The twist of Vespin not even wanting to be the right hand of Asmodeus, with his original intentions being to usurp his godhood is genius.
That's a very practical explanation, but what's wild is that Brennan took this little unexplained tidbit in the lore and completely ran with it, his Asmodeus has so much nuance and relevance to the broader themes of ExU: Calamity -- the vanity of humans of the age thinking they could rival gods, the smoldering resentment his Asmodeus has for those he considers "beneath" him, etc. He folded Asmodeus' themes so well into this broader narrative that you would've sworn he picked the character for thematic reasons, but it seems it was the other way around.
His Asmodeus voice is just so legendary. I get chills every time. I’m not scared easily but Brennan could easily trigger my flight or fight reflex
Well, now I want a story of the betrayer gods being an adventuring group
Went and checked the guide..
Yep, Brennan made THE choice
So Vespin became Hell Jesus, that's metal.
This is why Asmodeus was the only already-existing deity who could accomplish this feat. Granted, this is Forgotten Realms lore, but Matt's pantheon is heavily influenced by both FR and Paizo's Golarion, after all.
The Trial of Asmodeus, from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes:
Asmodeus is an unmatched strategist and orator. The most epic of all his achievements is chronicled in The Trial of Asmodeus, a play based on purportedly true events as researched by the aasimar bard Anodius.
In ancient times, as the Blood War raged, the angels of law and good that dwell on Mount Celestia issued a decree accusing Asmodeus of terrible crimes. Outraged by such claims, the Lord of the Nine Hells petitioned for the right to answer the charges before his accusers. The angels, although shocked at his impudence, accepted his petition and agreed to hear the bargain he proposed. Both sides, he suggested, would present their case to Primus, leader of the modrons. As a creature of absolute law, Primus could be trusted to issue a fair and impartial verdict. Asmodeus drafted a contract to seal the deal, and the angels- after carefully scrutinizing the terms-agreed to the trial.
When he testified before Primus, Asmodeus attributed his actions to the dictates of law and the survival of the cosmos. He admitted that he swayed mortals to evil, but he and his minions never breached a contract and explained the terms clearly. Had they not obeyed the rule of law in doing so? Was it not mortal ambition, rather than infernal deception, that led so many souls astray?
Asmodeus also pointed out that the souls harvested from the Material Plane went on to serve in the infernal legions that repel the endless tide of the Abyss. Were not such souls put to good use against the demonic hordes, a power that if unchecked would scour the universe of all lawfulness and goodness?
He further asserted that he was bound to the rules and traditions of the Nine Hells, compelled to adhere to law and to maintain the devils' trafficking in souls. If he violated those laws, he would be no better than the demons he fought. Mortals who refused a devil's offer were left alone, in accordance with the law. Those who struck deals with his followers and then somehow turned the contracts against the devils were freed from their debts. A contract is the law, and the law is a contract.
Primus weighed Asmodeus's words and listened patiently as angel after angel testified to his crimes. Hours turned to days and days into weeks as more and more of his sins entered the court record.
Even Primus's patience has its limits, and in time, the remaining angels who were eager to testify were told that only a few more would be allowed to speak. A brawl broke out when one angel, Zariel, pushed her way to the front and demanded to be heard. As the scuffle turned into a battle, Asmodeus looked on with a smirk.
In the end, Primus declined to issue a definitive judgment. He rebuked the angels for their descent into infighting, but didn't punish Asmodeus for his evil ways. He did, however, order Asmodeus to forever carry a mighty artifact, the Ruby Rod, that would guarantee his adherence to law. The artifact, which has remained at Asmodeus's side ever since, grants him and his underlings the right to enter into contracts with mortals for their souls but unleashes an inescapable punishment upon any devil that breaches such a contract.
I'm so glad Brennan decided to go this route, at first I thought he was going to jump on the 'Morally Grey' train and make Asmodeus a relatable bad guy, I was very wary and lightly disappointed. Glad he was an evil bamboozler instead.
I'm glad you prefer one dimensional villains that cackle evilly when the one dimensional hero says something mind numbingly boring and good, but people are real humans with multiple facets and being "morally grey" essentially reflects that. Just because you like badly written villains doesn't mean they're good writing. And that goes to everyone who upvoted your comment
@@hipoopgsy everything being grey gets boring. It’s nice to take a break from the constant post-modernist philosophy that has taken over every part of western culture.
It’s nice to have alien creatures who have completely different views and outlooks on what good and evil would be, instead of everything being humans with superpowers.
@@TrueLimeyhoney I think you're just talking about boring shows, seeing them fail at writing, and attributing the morally grey thing to them. The first writing technique you learn is to put yourself in the villains shoes and give them understandable reasons why they do bad things. Being bad for no reason is cringe. It means you as a writer have very little imagination and experience.
@@hipoopgsy Bro, simmer down, not every villain needs to be a relatable guy, Asmodeus wasn't morally grey, was he written badly? No, Brennan did great.at writing a non grey villain, so i don't know wtf you're on about.
@@hipoopgsy Do you think Morgoth and Sauron are bad characters too? Asmodeus isn't bad "for no reason". These aren't mustache twirling villains. He has his reasons, those being his own personal ego, pride, and hubris. These with the addition of being a narcissist who is unable to get what he wants gives him an unquenchable hatred towards humanity and the prime deities who he sees as betraying him. There are plenty of example of people similar to him in real life albeit not taken to this extreme.
Love the answer to this!! It gives so much lore without spoilers to the world :) Great question
Both pronunciations of Asmodeus are correct
I’ve always preferred the pronunciation “Asmodeus” to “Asmodeus”, much the same as some people prefer the way “gif” is said instead of “gif”.
classic god of lies, not even a true way to say his name...
Glad he leaned into the lore instead of doing some wacky modern subversion. Calamity was a blast.
once Brennan comes in with the pronunciation, all I heard was "Amadeus Amadeus!"
I want to see betrayer gods adventuring party
I don't know. I'm heading to TV Tropes on their discussion that led to Asmodeus getting the Magnificent Bastard award.
What does that mean?
@@daniellins4114 Well...... I'm not sure THIS version of Asmodeous would count compared to his Prime counterpart and I don't know my lore, so I'm gonna go look at the Effort Post on TV Tropes that got the Prime version the MB Award.
Engagement for the engagement god! Subs for the sub throne!
Left hand I think actually. Oddly enough
Left-handedness was associated with the Devil for many centuries.
I always forget that Asmodeus was made into a god in 5e. I still just see him as an impossibly powerful Devil that rivals the gods power.
Asmodeus didn't become a god in 5e. Depending on the source book, he may have already been some form of a god back in 3e, and became a definitive god when he consumed Azuth.
He was widely regarded as a god by the time 3.5 waned and Pathfinder 1e was coming out, as he's one of Golarion's core deities.
Clearly the correct pronunciation of asmodeus is 'as-moose' :p
now i want to see a one shot where the party plays as the betrayer gods...
quite interesting
Na it lord of the hells is better do say it another way
what?
Welp, now that plot point has been spoiled before I started watching. Nice.
Hey, Sorry about it! You can feel confident than anything discussed in this video is not a Major spoiler to Calamity. The story revolves around the players at the table :)
To be fair, the show opened on a scene between a betrayer god and a player, it's really obvious from the get to that Asmodeus was a betrayer that would be involved.
And we know the betrayers were accused collectively, otherwise it wouldn't be the Calamity, it would just be Asmodeus kinda mad event