That is part of MrRhexx's charm to me. He sounds super excited about it while also sounding sincere. That makes his videos a total joy to watch. I wish he would do a collab with AJ Pickett in a Dungeons and Dragons video. Wouldn't that be epic if they did the video in a format as if they were sages having a conversation, debating, then agreeing? Then, commenting on theories? Commenting on histories? I mean, these two could make a video on Stirges a 3-hour video that they must edit to a very entertaining half-hour video. I would bet a year's pay that they could collab to make even a Stirg that interesting. I wonder, given their huge number of people they know online, if they actually know each other.
@@eitanwacks3635 Those are separate things but both would be cool. Underdark is a giant underground cave system the size of a continent in the Forgotten Realm setting
@@sharlharmakhis280 Now I wanna build a character that's one of those dark selves from the Shadowfell, I have a few ideas for execution, might make two or three
That's the negative energy plane and positive energy plane you're thinking of. The Shadowfell and Feywild were the emo kids and class clowns respectively.
This a thousand times...much like azuth cant be held by asmodeus...mystra just has too much power to die fully(most of the gods do). But she is quite literally tied fundamentally to a force of their worlds "physics". So good luck Shar...well unless Greenwood runs out of ideas that is... Light is blinding...only in darkness can we see clearly -Shar
The shadowfell is most edgy of the planes "Shadow stuff" "Emotions slowly fate away from a person" "Dark powerful corrupting Shadow weave magic" That's more Edgy then demiplane made of razor blades and sad poetry
It probably does have razor blades and sad poetry too. I mean Sorrowsworn are pretty sharp and pointy, you can make a literal Shadow Blade with magic from their, the Shadar Kai do use plenty of blades, and We all know that any poetry made in this place is gonna be sad
@@Master_E444 In 3.5e 3rd party supplementaries they even included a class and whole set of prestige classes for shadow magic, one of these was basically just a soulknife that created weapons out of solid shadow. So you could be the edgiest of edgelords.
Maybe shadow matter matter made of actual Shadow energy from the shadowfell and I guess this place is in total flux essentially phasing in and out of reality but this place kind of reminds me of the soul Cairn a lot darker and more local fauna with actual infrastructure from Skyrim dawnguard
A bard looks at his dark version of themself: I'll write a song about it! A paladin: AAAAARGH! NO! murder hobos: Ew, does that other version of me actually have CHARACTER?
I am curious - You always hear and read about good beings, even angels being able to fall from grace and be corrupted to the point where they become different beings of malevolence. However, I never heard the opposite. I'd really like to know if a demon or a devil for example can change its nature and become a force of good (like the opposite of what happened with the Succubus and Erinyes). It would be a great topic to discuss and uncover.
It certainly happened in 2e days. I remember a Succubus Paladin, a 'loth Cleric of Pelor, a CG marilith who worshipped Kord, and there were certainly others I don't remember.
@@timnewman7591 That sounds really interesting! Question is - Can a demon or a fiend actually transform into a different creature through redemption, the same way as an angel of love turns into a succubus?
There's a Lawful Good Succubus that you can recruit in Planescape Torment so it is not unheard of "in universe". When you DM, anything goes, if you want to have a redemption of an evil creature go ahead. I did it in my game on several occasion, although not all of them were as dramatic as going through the entire alignment chart, but I always thought that as long as the creature has sufficient intelligence and wisdom (and a good reason to change their mind on things and go through the process of shifting the paradigm) they could very well do it. It can give an unexpected twist to a plot, and it can be even better if you manage to have it happen at the table and have the PC be a part of it.
4:31 so a cool campaign idea would be to go up to level 10 with every victory recorded before sending the PCs to the Shadowfell where they have to confront their What If They Lost scenarios? Pretty cool~
"Ah you think the shadows are your ally. You merely adopted the shadowfell, I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the prime material realm till I was already a man and by then it was nothing to me but... *blinding* "
So the Shadar-Kai are basically the Cenobites from Hellraiser, only instead of being unable to distinguish pleasure from pain, they can barely feel anything.
This would be an outstanding way to deal with a premature TPK. They all awaken, remembering being killed. They awaken at full strength to the dread of their foe.... not realizing that their deaths spawned shadow versions of themselves who become antagonists later down the line
@@MonkeyJedi99 it's like the Mortal Realms in Age of Sigmar. Sure, they have and end point, but you're not getting there in your lifetime, even as an Elf
I love the use of Dark Souls imagery for talking about how the Shadowfell's gloom effects affect someone. Much like hollowing, the more gloomy/hollow a person becomes, the harder it is to fix.
Most likely not as the shadowweave died along with the weave when Mystra was killed and the spellplague happened. Shaar created the shadowweave underneath and inbetween the layers of the weave. When she had Cyric kill Mystra, she underestimated the power of the weave itself and her shadowweave died along with the weave Mystra had created. Think of it as a dark reflection of the weave, but if there's nothing *to* reflect, then there is no reflection. Most likely, because the shadow weave is nothing more than a dark reflection of the weave, the shadow weave is limited by Mystra's ban as well.
Also as much as Shar claims the shadow weave is separate it has been explained many times by both mystra and elminster that they are still inextricably linked.
And to add on to Xana and Bayou Billy's comments: There was also Lolth's Demon Weave, but it didn't last long, about 5 years, before it was absorbed into the Weave so Mystra could more readily restore it to Pre-Spellplague status.
I liked the subtle allusions to Dark Souls made with some of the pictures, and I would absolutely love if you made a video detailing how exactly Lordran (and possibly also Drangleic) line up with D&D's understanding of the planes!
@@Not_Ciel I'm pretty sure you're the exception. A lot of D&D players are just really into edgy and horror :P That's not necessarily a bad thing just... you know; an observation. I personnaly really like the mind-fuckery of the feywilds but this is really cool too. I guess Shadowfell vs. Feywilds is like trolls vs. edgelords. It might also be that, since a lot of these lore youtubers are dms and most dms are trolls there are (as far as I can tell) more videos on the feywilds out there. Who knows? Does it even matter? I think Erutan was just making a joke :D
@@Sir_Bucket Personally, I already know a lot about the feywild (Dresden Files, or even Alice and Wonderland, there are plenty of other sources of fiction that describe such a realm.) Meanwhile, I know literally nothing about the Shadowfell other than "dark and spooky".
Currently playing an illusion wizard with the fey teleportation feat, and this video is fascinating to me and will definitely change the way I play them!
I love to impose the idea that the shadow fell is shaped by the dream of the dead as this soul travel threw the fell to reach their proper afterlife. The dreams of evil beings picturing their goals being fulfilled, and the fears of the good of what will happen now that they failed
watching this video gave me inspiration for a Silent Hill-inspired campaign, where the party finds a creepy mist-filled village where the material plane and the shadowfell heavily overlap, and you can accidently go back and forth between the two planes and see the different versions of the same places.
This plane contains unlimited potential. Imagine a group of adventurers entering the shadowfell and finding their dark reflections and the dark reflections of their fallen comrades and loved ones, and seeing the alternate places where the evil guys won the fight against them and conqurered the cities. Or imagine playing as a group of people from the shadowfell who somehow got to the material plane. This is great campaign material. Edit: You can also use the nature of the shadowfell as a weapon against your party. For example a shadow mage who uses the shadow illusion to create peoples the party killed to help him fight, like the barbarian facing a shadow illusion bandit telling him that since he killed him his daughter didn't get the expensive medicine she needed, or when the paladin summon a Pegasus he turns into a nightmare, who torments him about how he ruined a servenet of his god by summoning him to the shadowfell.
@@maorivirs8752 I have about half a dozen characters just lying around and have never gotten to play once, I tried to start one time, but I was the only one that lasted through character creation (I have since lost that character sheet and don't even remember what I was going for, I think it was an Elf Cleric or something)
In my lore for my realm, the energy planes were used as threads to 'sew' together the prime material plane. The negative energy plane being the scissors. But having the positive energy and negative energy planes connecting directly to the prime caused too much havoc so the fey wild and shadowfell were made to take the brunt of the damage. They filter the energies to balance the prime.
I would love a video on the Demogorgon. He seems like one of those characters with a lot of lore but he seems to not be talked about as much as people like Asmodeus.
Also the Dungeoncast did a pretty good read over on him, his lore, and his past. they're great for surface lore, and then moving the Rhexx & AJ pickett for the deeper stuff
Its mostly cuz he's more of a powerhouse. Grazzt hates him sooo much heh. So jelly. Demogorgon is probably one of the oldest creations but seems to have the least actual lore of the big names. He's the "tank" very little subtlety outside the one head which always fights with the other except in combat. It's his nature...his poor wife(but she is hawwwt)
Hey man, I just wanna say that it’s really cool that you make these videos for us. They’re so entertaining and inspirational. I appreciate you and if you ever feel burned out or need a break then don’t feel bad about taking some time off. Keep being you
Awesome video! Honestly, you're amongst the very few DnD lore channels that I actually enjoy listening to, your content is both very informative and wonderfully narrated! It would be awesome if you ever decided to do a video on the medusas, there's just so little about them that I found online
Shadowstuff, Shadow Illusions, The Shadow Weave, and Shar are quite easily one of my favorite parts of D&D Lore. The idea of illusions becoming real, even partially, with bits of Shadowstuff, is amazing and terrifying. The Shadow Weave is really cool. There are additional feats in 3rd edition that make your shadow magic more powerful. One makes it harder to detect; Invisible Shadow Weave users would have a fair chance not to be found by a See Invisibility spell. Another feat makes your magic better at overcoming spell resistance. Another makes them much harder to Dispel. Combine that with Shadowstuff, which is already something of a reality of its own, and realizing that Shar is in complete command of both of those things, and just imagine how powerful such a being would be within her own realm.
Oh, perfect. I either can't see anything or my eyes aren't being blinded by the sun. Now all I need is to cast a latern-like spell over my head, then I can move in there and be good. Never be blinded, hopefully, again.
31:51 "Killing and absording Null, the draconic god of death" Do you mean Nerull, the (non-draconic) god of death, the dead, and murder? It was my understanding that was who she killed and usurped the death portfolio from. Full disclosure, I don't own most of the books. I've had to fact check via multiple online sources instead. From what I found, Null is still alive and Nerull was killed. Not saying there isn't a source out there to prove me wrong, but I couldn't find it. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all just a case of lore changing edition to edition (especially since I believe Nerull's death was 4e, which 5e has the habit of sweeping under the rug).
Yup, same, Null is still out there and kicking (after all in FR he is a greater god and his mere avatars in GH are lesser deities on their own right) and it was Nerull who got yoinked in 4e.
I love how you completely avoid the Dark Powers. The uh... basically the dark side of the force that is rumored by those few that have even heard of the dark powers to be the literal essence of all pure evil. And that so long as there is a dark power, there will never be a multiverse free of evil. I first heard rumors of these elusive and mysterious powers when I discovered they had a hand, in turning Strahd into a vampire, and also, that they fuel those pocket dimensions people like Strahd reside in and they supposedly, are the ones that control the Mists.
These are fantastic as always Rhexx! Please consider doing one on the Feywild next! There are lots of lore videos out there but you’re the one I love listening to the most, with your enthusiasm and having the best compiled info!
Absolutely stellar video, ive already watched it 3 times in the last day. Super fascinating the way you explain everything! I dont even play d&d I'm just here for your deep dive lore videos hahah
There's no banlist here, kid. I'd say draw your last card, but I've got 3 pots, 3 gracefuls, and a whole lot of uneratta'd card text. We're going to be here a while
the being reborn as your shadow clone seems like a nice way around a tpk. escape the shadowfell only to find an evil clone took your place seems like a good quest to earn your life back. seems like something to pocket DMs just in-case.
I always liked to watch your "what they dont tell you about ..." series. And me being a sucker for planes and stuff I loved this video about shadowfell. it would be cool if you did a series of videos about the planes
So... I am just going to throw my unasked for based on nothing opinion out there. In my mind, the shadowfell has never really been a plain of evil or pure darkness per se, but a plane of forgotten memories and abandoned dreams. If something gets forgotten by time, it eventually ends up in the shadowfell. This idea is of course reinforced and quite possibly inspired by the palace of the raven queen. However, I really have no evidence backing up anything I say, and it is just something I always like to think. Let me hear your idea, if you have one. Edit: also, I just realized that dark mirror. I am very sorry to anyone who knows what I am saying and must be dying in agony by now because of my absolutely abysmal reference, and I am very sorry for anyone who doesn’t know what I am saying because you will be left in the dark.
I like to think of it more like an anti feywild. I’m the feywild, everything in reality is turned to 11. Forests become vast planes of immense vegetation, a puddle may become a Great Lake or ocean, beasts become immense in size, almost all native creatures are very emotionally driven and quick to act. I like to think the Shadowfell is the opposite, so everything is heavily toned down. A forest may become a single wilting shrub, or all of the trees are simply much smaller. Lakes and oceans become small creeks or ponds. Beasts become small critters vying for survival in any capacity. Native creatures aren’t driven by anything, and aren’t quick to act in any capacity. It makes it more of a toned down mirror of the Material Plane more than an evil material plane reflection
You sir are a gem among piles of dirt here on youtube, keep up the fantastic work, I honestly can't wait to watch each and every video you bring out as they help me to further adapt from second and third edition D&D to the modern age and tie everything together in a coherent way.
I’m going to ad the Fey Wilds and the Shadowfell into my campaign called the Iron Keep. My campaign will have an entire crafting system too. For example you could make a dagger, mace, arrows, or a spear from manticore’s wings and tail spikes, the spike also has a 1 use venom too. The crafting system will give experience points as well.
31:54 - Wait what? When or how the fuck did RQ even interact or god forbid actually kill one of the big 3 of the Dragon Pantheon? I think you mean Nerull, the Greyhawk Death Deity (where Null appears in the forms of Falazure and Chronepsis to cut down the count of grim reaper gods).
I have a character who is a Shadow Sorcerer with PTSD and huge holes in her memory from the time she got sucked into a portal to the Shadowfell as a little girl while exploring lava tubes near Neverwinter. Most of the reason for that memory loss is because there's so little 5e lore about the Shadowfell, even with Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. This is definitely going to help fill in some of that backstory.
@@ОлегСуременко yeah that is indeed true, so it would be difficult, but the causes and side effects of the mourning are up to the dm, so a character might end up outside of eberron that way. Besides we have seen that gnomish fellow vi in sigil so it aint impossible by any means to leave
Man... Man. Your videos are always a mine, but this was particularly juicy. I really want to finally thank you for the hard and good work that you put in these videos, to me as a DM they are a *huge* help to update myself on the canon and to discover stuff from previous editions or obscure sources that I would never be able to get to myself; your works are so complete and detailed, and also engaging to listen too. Thank you again, and keep it up! \m/
@ender eaper and his wand, you know, one of the most powerful weapon’s in the game, the weapon that can kill you INSTANTLY! I bet you never heard of it.
Yeah, apparently Ravenloft was dumped into the Shadowfell in the planar rework in 4e, and they held it over into 5e. Makes sense, it's always been a weird place far from the Prime, but reflective of it. It also supports the Islands of Terror that were established in the official campaign material years ago, places that were difficult or impossible to travel to from Ravenloft proper (like Kas and Vecna's island). This gives them a place to exist in proximity to the main realm, while also being separated from it by "distance".
In the game I DM the party is in the Shadowfell, more specifically in the village of broken dreams, close to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories since I'm running "Riddle of the Raven Queen" and got two Shadar-Kai in the group. This is pretty neat since I didn't want Shadowfell to be just a small part of the game and be able to expand on it later. God damn these videos are either very timely or give me awesome inspirations. Thanks!
I'm also going to play that adventure... I plan to expand the travel to the final boss's keep with some encounters, including a swamp with hags, a battlefield with a vampire spawn and the appearance of the House of black lanterns in case my players really need a safe place to rest
@@israelhusky There are some interesting monstrosities that live there too, The Angry, Hungry, Lonely, Lost and Wretched also known as The Sorrowsworn. Could be a nice encounter or something,
I'd like to see a half-drow (SCAG variant probably, maybe with dancing lights replaced with some other cantrip) reflavored as a shadar-kai half-elf (one half human of the shadowfell, one half shadow fey shadar-kai.
Man I started watching you like four years ago in college with your skyrim videos! I'm so pumped that your covering DnD lore! Keep up the amazing work bud! #roadto1million
Dude you have helped me learn so much! Thank you for producing all of this amazing content! You are my favorite person to listen to while prepping or writing. Every time I think hm I need to figure out how to better work something in your my go to
i love this video! ive been wanting to take my party through the shadowfell at some point so being able to truly flesh out this world to get them immersed in it will be awesome! thank you so much
I love listening to these lore videos in the morning getting ready for work, a good wake up and some things to think about for future game ideas while there
I love a huge variety of what I watch online. But one crests above all others. Listening to how much MrRhexx seems to love narrating about this. I barely get to play DND, but this is like an endless mine of lore and I find something new every time I listen. Sometimes on the second listen. Did not know of the Vistani till this. SERIOUSLY want to hear about the VISTANI... THAT would be great.
I love the fact that you sound like you're having the time of your life narrating these!
"When you do what you love for a living", am I right?
Reminds me of a Euphoric Dracula! These videos are the greatest. I love the lore.
Maybe cover the lords of the shadowfell
That is part of MrRhexx's charm to me. He sounds super excited about it while also sounding sincere. That makes his videos a total joy to watch. I wish he would do a collab with AJ Pickett in a Dungeons and Dragons video. Wouldn't that be epic if they did the video in a format as if they were sages having a conversation, debating, then agreeing? Then, commenting on theories? Commenting on histories? I mean, these two could make a video on Stirges a 3-hour video that they must edit to a very entertaining half-hour video. I would bet a year's pay that they could collab to make even a Stirg that interesting. I wonder, given their huge number of people they know online, if they actually know each other.
I think he does
"What They Don't Tell You About The Underdark" would be cool next.
Fey Dark maybe?
I love drows
Penny Arcade did a comic about all of them that always cracks me up. www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/03/20/in-search-of-a-robust-cosmology
@@eitanwacks3635 Those are separate things but both would be cool. Underdark is a giant underground cave system the size of a continent in the Forgotten Realm setting
@@placeholdername3818 The Fey dark is the Feywields underdark
The shadowfell? Well help it get up!
R/DMdadjokes
Dad joke alert
Godammit
Thanks I hate it
Me: (very loudly) Boooooh!
Also me: Here have a like :P
What is it about dad jokes and me laughing despite myself? Yeeesh.
the shadowfell is where goth kids were spawned from at the beginning of time opposed to the feywild from which the sean kids crawled out of
I can see scene kids as lost fae 🤣 and yeah, seriously tempted to roll up a 'perky goth' shadar-kai (embrace your cliches until they squeak! 🦇 )
@@sharlharmakhis280 Now I wanna build a character that's one of those dark selves from the Shadowfell, I have a few ideas for execution, might make two or three
That's the negative energy plane and positive energy plane you're thinking of. The Shadowfell and Feywild were the emo kids and class clowns respectively.
Fey Wild is where the theater kids came from.
@@christophergonzalez3973 so what's their Shadowfell counterpart?
20:54 Eventually killing Mistra? Yeah, maybe itll work the 4th time
ha.
You never know. The possibilities are endless.
She is actually the reasom the Spellplague happened because she did kill Mystra. But when that happened, the shadow weave was destroyed
This a thousand times...much like azuth cant be held by asmodeus...mystra just has too much power to die fully(most of the gods do). But she is quite literally tied fundamentally to a force of their worlds "physics". So good luck Shar...well unless Greenwood runs out of ideas that is...
Light is blinding...only in darkness can we see clearly -Shar
You'd think she had Lathandar's domain of renewal and rebirth for how many times she comes back.
The shadowfell is most edgy of the planes
"Shadow stuff"
"Emotions slowly fate away from a person"
"Dark powerful corrupting Shadow weave magic"
That's more Edgy then demiplane made of razor blades and sad poetry
It probably does have razor blades and sad poetry too. I mean Sorrowsworn are pretty sharp and pointy, you can make a literal Shadow Blade with magic from their, the Shadar Kai do use plenty of blades, and We all know that any poetry made in this place is gonna be sad
now all it needs is the band HIM on an endless playlist
@@Master_E444 In 3.5e 3rd party supplementaries they even included a class and whole set of prestige classes for shadow magic, one of these was basically just a soulknife that created weapons out of solid shadow. So you could be the edgiest of edgelords.
@@Reddotzebra it was called the Duskblade right? Yep definitely drips with edge
Maybe shadow matter matter made of actual Shadow energy from the shadowfell and I guess this place is in total flux essentially phasing in and out of reality but this place kind of reminds me of the soul Cairn a lot darker and more local fauna with actual infrastructure from Skyrim dawnguard
A bard looks at his dark version of themself: I'll write a song about it!
A paladin: AAAAARGH! NO!
murder hobos: Ew, does that other version of me actually have CHARACTER?
Theory: murderhobos ARE the Shadowfell versions, and any images of themselves that they meet in the Shadowfell are the long-displaced Prime versions.
@@pentiumdeusex-machina4645 That is humorous but extremely unlikely.
Rogue: Tries to mug the evil version of himself.
I am curious - You always hear and read about good beings, even angels being able to fall from grace and be corrupted to the point where they become different beings of malevolence.
However, I never heard the opposite. I'd really like to know if a demon or a devil for example can change its nature and become a force of good (like the opposite of what happened with the Succubus and Erinyes). It would be a great topic to discuss and uncover.
I second this
It certainly happened in 2e days. I remember a Succubus Paladin, a 'loth Cleric of Pelor, a CG marilith who worshipped Kord, and there were certainly others I don't remember.
@@timnewman7591 That sounds really interesting! Question is - Can a demon or a fiend actually transform into a different creature through redemption, the same way as an angel of love turns into a succubus?
@@orandor6249 most probably!
There's a Lawful Good Succubus that you can recruit in Planescape Torment so it is not unheard of "in universe". When you DM, anything goes, if you want to have a redemption of an evil creature go ahead. I did it in my game on several occasion, although not all of them were as dramatic as going through the entire alignment chart, but I always thought that as long as the creature has sufficient intelligence and wisdom (and a good reason to change their mind on things and go through the process of shifting the paradigm) they could very well do it. It can give an unexpected twist to a plot, and it can be even better if you manage to have it happen at the table and have the PC be a part of it.
4:31 so a cool campaign idea would be to go up to level 10 with every victory recorded before sending the PCs to the Shadowfell where they have to confront their What If They Lost scenarios? Pretty cool~
Saving this idea
"Ah you think the shadows are your ally. You merely adopted the shadowfell, I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the prime material realm till I was already a man and by then it was nothing to me but... *blinding* "
“I am your Shadow. I am your *Bane* .”
@@UGNAvalon "I am a shadow, the true self."
Where is this from?
@@yellow_triad he’s quoting bane from Batman. Instead of shadow bane says darkness tho
So the Shadar-Kai are basically the Cenobites from Hellraiser, only instead of being unable to distinguish pleasure from pain, they can barely feel anything.
This would be an outstanding way to deal with a premature TPK. They all awaken, remembering being killed. They awaken at full strength to the dread of their foe.... not realizing that their deaths spawned shadow versions of themselves who become antagonists later down the line
17:20 *"ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD..."*
The show really went downhill after season three.
The Shadowfell: What happened when Peter Pan's shadow tripped.
When your character had a brief stint through the shadowfell and you know your DM watches this channel.
*chuckles* I'M IN DANGER!
"It is believed to be NEARLY infinite in size"
Me: *Visible confusion*
Wicked pissah big. Bigger than you can imagine, but like your mother's patience with you when you were child, it has limits.
@@MonkeyJedi99 it's like the Mortal Realms in Age of Sigmar. Sure, they have and end point, but you're not getting there in your lifetime, even as an Elf
It approaches infinity
i love how you say "SEVEN MILES IN TEN MINUTES!" like 42Mph is just blisteringly fast.
In terms of a person moving without the aid of a vehicle, it is blisteringly fast.
"What They Don't Tell You About Aebir (Toril's Counterpart)" - That's what I need.
I've been trying to write a D&D campaign based in the Shadowfell for the world I created and this gave me sooo many great ideas! Thank you so much!!
"What they don't tell you about paying taxes" would be good too.
Might as well be a fantasy mystery for most people
@Jimmy Jim should have payed your taxes.
I love the use of Dark Souls imagery for talking about how the Shadowfell's gloom effects affect someone. Much like hollowing, the more gloomy/hollow a person becomes, the harder it is to fix.
"I know it's not a great name but it's in the lore" had me cracking up!
I'm curious if since Mystra doesn't have control over the shadow weave, can mages who use shadow magic cast spells higher that 9th level?
I love you. Thanks
Most likely not as the shadowweave died along with the weave when Mystra was killed and the spellplague happened. Shaar created the shadowweave underneath and inbetween the layers of the weave. When she had Cyric kill Mystra, she underestimated the power of the weave itself and her shadowweave died along with the weave Mystra had created.
Think of it as a dark reflection of the weave, but if there's nothing *to* reflect, then there is no reflection. Most likely, because the shadow weave is nothing more than a dark reflection of the weave, the shadow weave is limited by Mystra's ban as well.
Also as much as Shar claims the shadow weave is separate it has been explained many times by both mystra and elminster that they are still inextricably linked.
And to add on to Xana and Bayou Billy's comments: There was also Lolth's Demon Weave, but it didn't last long, about 5 years, before it was absorbed into the Weave so Mystra could more readily restore it to Pre-Spellplague status.
Oh yeah!
I've been there. Not one Waffle House. Needless to say, I won't be going back.
you wasnt looking at it correctly, the shadowell is the reverse. souldnt have been looking for a Waffle House. but a Huddle House. lol or a iHop
@@DracosDiabolis Doh! You are right! lol
Did they have pizza though?
I understood that reference
Opening Soon! Shadow Waffle House, home of your most incomplete and depressing breakfast.
I liked the subtle allusions to Dark Souls made with some of the pictures, and I would absolutely love if you made a video detailing how exactly Lordran (and possibly also Drangleic) line up with D&D's understanding of the planes!
sad that feywild didn't win :c Are you planning to do one for them since it was so close?
This tells a lot about the edginess of this community lol
@@Sir_Bucket Okay, but I'm currently running a campaign where the party have to visit the Shadowfell so that's why I voted for it.
@@Not_Ciel I'm pretty sure you're the exception. A lot of D&D players are just really into edgy and horror :P That's not necessarily a bad thing just... you know; an observation. I personnaly really like the mind-fuckery of the feywilds but this is really cool too. I guess Shadowfell vs. Feywilds is like trolls vs. edgelords. It might also be that, since a lot of these lore youtubers are dms and most dms are trolls there are (as far as I can tell) more videos on the feywilds out there. Who knows? Does it even matter? I think Erutan was just making a joke :D
Here, here!
I too desire a Feywild video.
@@Sir_Bucket Personally, I already know a lot about the feywild (Dresden Files, or even Alice and Wonderland, there are plenty of other sources of fiction that describe such a realm.) Meanwhile, I know literally nothing about the Shadowfell other than "dark and spooky".
Currently playing an illusion wizard with the fey teleportation feat, and this video is fascinating to me and will definitely change the way I play them!
I love to impose the idea that the shadow fell is shaped by the dream of the dead as this soul travel threw the fell to reach their proper afterlife. The dreams of evil beings picturing their goals being fulfilled, and the fears of the good of what will happen now that they failed
watching this video gave me inspiration for a Silent Hill-inspired campaign, where the party finds a creepy mist-filled village where the material plane and the shadowfell heavily overlap, and you can accidently go back and forth between the two planes and see the different versions of the same places.
Dont forget the siren!
*I love how with Every Single Video you make it gives me so many Campaign Ideas. It's awe inspiring to stay the least*
"A dark reflection of material world", ah it's the Mirror Universe.
You meet the evil version of your character and they have a goatee.
This plane contains unlimited potential. Imagine a group of adventurers entering the shadowfell and finding their dark reflections and the dark reflections of their fallen comrades and loved ones, and seeing the alternate places where the evil guys won the fight against them and conqurered the cities. Or imagine playing as a group of people from the shadowfell who somehow got to the material plane. This is great campaign material.
Edit: You can also use the nature of the shadowfell as a weapon against your party. For example a shadow mage who uses the shadow illusion to create peoples the party killed to help him fight, like the barbarian facing a shadow illusion bandit telling him that since he killed him his daughter didn't get the expensive medicine she needed, or when the paladin summon a Pegasus he turns into a nightmare, who torments him about how he ruined a servenet of his god by summoning him to the shadowfell.
*taking notes*
*Taking more notes after edit*
@@baxterbruce9827 thank you. Its nice to know that people gets inspiration from my ideas.
@@maorivirs8752 I wish I actually had a chance to play and use some of this...
@@baxterbruce9827 i wish the same. I don't get a chance to play a lot, and I never got to dm.
@@maorivirs8752 I have about half a dozen characters just lying around and have never gotten to play once, I tried to start one time, but I was the only one that lasted through character creation (I have since lost that character sheet and don't even remember what I was going for, I think it was an Elf Cleric or something)
This video has perfect timing, because I've been planning to bring my players into the shadowfell for months now
Is that you Maru?
In my lore for my realm, the energy planes were used as threads to 'sew' together the prime material plane. The negative energy plane being the scissors. But having the positive energy and negative energy planes connecting directly to the prime caused too much havoc so the fey wild and shadowfell were made to take the brunt of the damage. They filter the energies to balance the prime.
Yes!!! Just in time for an adventure I'm gonna start with my players this weekend
Same, the next session my players might end up in the Shadowfell, hopefully they dont get stuck there
Saw that “private video” in the playlist and I’ve been hype since then. Never a letdown with your vids
What playlist?
Yndys Gourdet on Mrrhex’s home page, under playlists, you’ll find the DnD lore playlist
I would love a video on the Demogorgon. He seems like one of those characters with a lot of lore but he seems to not be talked about as much as people like Asmodeus.
AJ Pickett got a video about him. It's pretty good. Long intro though, but got some nice lore in it.
Also the Dungeoncast did a pretty good read over on him, his lore, and his past. they're great for surface lore, and then moving the Rhexx & AJ pickett for the deeper stuff
Its mostly cuz he's more of a powerhouse. Grazzt hates him sooo much heh. So jelly. Demogorgon is probably one of the oldest creations but seems to have the least actual lore of the big names. He's the "tank" very little subtlety outside the one head which always fights with the other except in combat. It's his nature...his poor wife(but she is hawwwt)
@@bayoubilly5176 AJ's video had a ton of lore about him.
The Horned King it is an HOUR LONG!
Hey man, I just wanna say that it’s really cool that you make these videos for us. They’re so entertaining and inspirational. I appreciate you and if you ever feel burned out or need a break then don’t feel bad about taking some time off. Keep being you
Awesome video! Honestly, you're amongst the very few DnD lore channels that I actually enjoy listening to, your content is both very informative and wonderfully narrated! It would be awesome if you ever decided to do a video on the medusas, there's just so little about them that I found online
I've been waiting for this one
Same, and now that I've watch the video, I want to create Silent Hill in the Shadowfell. It's sound like the perfect combo.
Shadowstuff, Shadow Illusions, The Shadow Weave, and Shar are quite easily one of my favorite parts of D&D Lore. The idea of illusions becoming real, even partially, with bits of Shadowstuff, is amazing and terrifying. The Shadow Weave is really cool. There are additional feats in 3rd edition that make your shadow magic more powerful. One makes it harder to detect; Invisible Shadow Weave users would have a fair chance not to be found by a See Invisibility spell. Another feat makes your magic better at overcoming spell resistance. Another makes them much harder to Dispel. Combine that with Shadowstuff, which is already something of a reality of its own, and realizing that Shar is in complete command of both of those things, and just imagine how powerful such a being would be within her own realm.
Me when I see a mr rhexx video: time to write a campaign about that!
Oh, perfect. I either can't see anything or my eyes aren't being blinded by the sun.
Now all I need is to cast a latern-like spell over my head, then I can move in there and be good. Never be blinded, hopefully, again.
31:51
"Killing and absording Null, the draconic god of death"
Do you mean Nerull, the (non-draconic) god of death, the dead, and murder? It was my understanding that was who she killed and usurped the death portfolio from.
Full disclosure, I don't own most of the books. I've had to fact check via multiple online sources instead. From what I found, Null is still alive and Nerull was killed. Not saying there isn't a source out there to prove me wrong, but I couldn't find it.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all just a case of lore changing edition to edition (especially since I believe Nerull's death was 4e, which 5e has the habit of sweeping under the rug).
Michael Dollar I would like some clarification as well. 👍
Yup, same, Null is still out there and kicking (after all in FR he is a greater god and his mere avatars in GH are lesser deities on their own right) and it was Nerull who got yoinked in 4e.
I love how you completely avoid the Dark Powers. The uh... basically the dark side of the force that is rumored by those few that have even heard of the dark powers to be the literal essence of all pure evil. And that so long as there is a dark power, there will never be a multiverse free of evil. I first heard rumors of these elusive and mysterious powers when I discovered they had a hand, in turning Strahd into a vampire, and also, that they fuel those pocket dimensions people like Strahd reside in and they supposedly, are the ones that control the Mists.
These are fantastic as always Rhexx! Please consider doing one on the Feywild next! There are lots of lore videos out there but you’re the one I love listening to the most, with your enthusiasm and having the best compiled info!
Absolutely stellar video, ive already watched it 3 times in the last day. Super fascinating the way you explain everything! I dont even play d&d I'm just here for your deep dive lore videos hahah
As a DM I love the Shadowfell it has so many things to bolster your theme. I ran CoS and had several players creeped out. It's very fun.
This was dope AF! I love these detailed long winded planar dissects of yours!
So this is whare you go when you loose a children's card game....
There's no banlist here, kid. I'd say draw your last card, but I've got 3 pots, 3 gracefuls, and a whole lot of uneratta'd card text. We're going to be here a while
Next on my to do list is to shout: "Did I mention it's a shadow game?!" on session the players travel the shadowfell
the being reborn as your shadow clone seems like a nice way around a tpk. escape the shadowfell only to find an evil clone took your place seems like a good quest to earn your life back. seems like something to pocket DMs just in-case.
I always liked to watch your "what they dont tell you about ..." series. And me being a sucker for planes and stuff I loved this video about shadowfell. it would be cool if you did a series of videos about the planes
I would love to see you go into detail on the Demiplane of Dread/Domains of Dread, seeing the various Darklords and Other spooky things in each one.
So... I am just going to throw my unasked for based on nothing opinion out there.
In my mind, the shadowfell has never really been a plain of evil or pure darkness per se, but a plane of forgotten memories and abandoned dreams. If something gets forgotten by time, it eventually ends up in the shadowfell. This idea is of course reinforced and quite possibly inspired by the palace of the raven queen. However, I really have no evidence backing up anything I say, and it is just something I always like to think. Let me hear your idea, if you have one.
Edit: also, I just realized that dark mirror.
I am very sorry to anyone who knows what I am saying and must be dying in agony by now because of my absolutely abysmal reference, and I am very sorry for anyone who doesn’t know what I am saying because you will be left in the dark.
Gumball?
I like to think of it more like an anti feywild. I’m the feywild, everything in reality is turned to 11. Forests become vast planes of immense vegetation, a puddle may become a Great Lake or ocean, beasts become immense in size, almost all native creatures are very emotionally driven and quick to act. I like to think the Shadowfell is the opposite, so everything is heavily toned down. A forest may become a single wilting shrub, or all of the trees are simply much smaller. Lakes and oceans become small creeks or ponds. Beasts become small critters vying for survival in any capacity. Native creatures aren’t driven by anything, and aren’t quick to act in any capacity. It makes it more of a toned down mirror of the Material Plane more than an evil material plane reflection
yess!! finally!! i've been waiting so long for this! thank you so much and good work MrRhexx :D
32:27 I am getting mad Drukhari vibes from thoses elves...
You sir are a gem among piles of dirt here on youtube, keep up the fantastic work, I honestly can't wait to watch each and every video you bring out as they help me to further adapt from second and third edition D&D to the modern age and tie everything together in a coherent way.
Really... 13:37 "The Mist itself is a very MISTerious phenomenon...". Really Rhex?
Good one.
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to call the darklords, dreadlords. Naming them after the name of the Demi-realm they are imprisoned in.
Blizzard would probably sue.
Can I just say your channel is my favorite that has to so with dnd, like watching people play is cool but learning the lore is so cool
I’m going to ad the Fey Wilds and the Shadowfell into my campaign called the Iron Keep. My campaign will have an entire crafting system too. For example you could make a dagger, mace, arrows, or a spear from manticore’s wings and tail spikes, the spike also has a 1 use venom too. The crafting system will give experience points as well.
31:54 - Wait what? When or how the fuck did RQ even interact or god forbid actually kill one of the big 3 of the Dragon Pantheon?
I think you mean Nerull, the Greyhawk Death Deity (where Null appears in the forms of Falazure and Chronepsis to cut down the count of grim reaper gods).
I wonder if Matt Mercer watches and loves his videos as much as we do.
I have a character who is a Shadow Sorcerer with PTSD and huge holes in her memory from the time she got sucked into a portal to the Shadowfell as a little girl while exploring lava tubes near Neverwinter. Most of the reason for that memory loss is because there's so little 5e lore about the Shadowfell, even with Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. This is definitely going to help fill in some of that backstory.
10:18 nobody told me i might be able to play an character from ebberon in curse of straad
I’m not sure you could do that, Eberron itself is separated from the rest of the multiverse by the Ring of Siberys AFAIK
@@ОлегСуременко yeah that is indeed true, so it would be difficult, but the causes and side effects of the mourning are up to the dm, so a character might end up outside of eberron that way. Besides we have seen that gnomish fellow vi in sigil so it aint impossible by any means to leave
defenseive kobra That’s a fair point
Man... Man. Your videos are always a mine, but this was particularly juicy.
I really want to finally thank you for the hard and good work that you put in these videos, to me as a DM they are a *huge* help to update myself on the canon and to discover stuff from previous editions or obscure sources that I would never be able to get to myself; your works are so complete and detailed, and also engaging to listen too.
Thank you again, and keep it up! \m/
I was reading up on this earlier, perfect timing!
Thank you for doing the shadowfell, I’ve never been able to wrap my head around it before
This Orcus guy seems to get his hands into everything, anything on him?
what they don't tell you about orcus the demon prince of undead sounds dope
Aj pickett made a good orcus video
No, just a few gold pieces
@ender eaper and his wand, you know, one of the most powerful weapon’s in the game, the weapon that can kill you INSTANTLY! I bet you never heard of it.
@@commanderblackheart5856 nah dude, that's just bone chime, worth only 4 silver
I haven’t played D&D on paper for 20 years but I have been having a blast from the past with your series. You are a great story teller.
Probably moved about chaotically by a bunch of wizards, wizards of the coast
Before I even get a minute into this vid I just wanna say that your content makes my week so much better any time you post
8:00 : So, this is how 5th Edition incorporates the realm of Ravenloft into their overall cosmology? ^_^
Yeah, apparently Ravenloft was dumped into the Shadowfell in the planar rework in 4e, and they held it over into 5e. Makes sense, it's always been a weird place far from the Prime, but reflective of it.
It also supports the Islands of Terror that were established in the official campaign material years ago, places that were difficult or impossible to travel to from Ravenloft proper (like Kas and Vecna's island). This gives them a place to exist in proximity to the main realm, while also being separated from it by "distance".
In the game I DM the party is in the Shadowfell, more specifically in the village of broken dreams, close to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories since I'm running "Riddle of the Raven Queen" and got two Shadar-Kai in the group. This is pretty neat since I didn't want Shadowfell to be just a small part of the game and be able to expand on it later. God damn these videos are either very timely or give me awesome inspirations. Thanks!
I'm also going to play that adventure... I plan to expand the travel to the final boss's keep with some encounters, including a swamp with hags, a battlefield with a vampire spawn and the appearance of the House of black lanterns in case my players really need a safe place to rest
@@israelhusky There are some interesting monstrosities that live there too, The Angry, Hungry, Lonely, Lost and Wretched also known as The Sorrowsworn. Could be a nice encounter or something,
Really wanna try write a homebrew campaign called "Quest for the Shining Citadel" now because dAmn that sounds cool & I have never heard of it before
DM: ''There is an evil mist on the horizon...''
Me: ''I hug the mist.''
When your friend sends you to the shadow realm instead of shadowfell after playing a card game
Love the way you are informative without being boring. Bet you are an awesome DM. You sir are a Masterlevel Bard.
Do you think you’ll do a “What they don’t tell you about Orcus”? He’s been through a lot.
I’ve been waiting for this one for SOOOO long! I’m glad it’s one of the 40 minute ones too!!!
I'd like to see a half-drow (SCAG variant probably, maybe with dancing lights replaced with some other cantrip) reflavored as a shadar-kai half-elf (one half human of the shadowfell, one half shadow fey shadar-kai.
Your videos have helped me more than I can express while writing my campaign! Keep doing what you do! Thank you MrRhexx!
so if a evil-aligned character looked into one of the dark pools mentioned, what would they see, a good version of themselves or a more evil version?
Probably just a subjectively worse. If the evil creature was smart this was is a dunce, if they were powerful this one is cowardly and weak,
Man I started watching you like four years ago in college with your skyrim videos! I'm so pumped that your covering DnD lore! Keep up the amazing work bud! #roadto1million
Gurl if my shadow dupe is paler and more sunken I genuinely feel sorry for them
I've been building whole campaigns around your videos. I LOVE THEM. When I have some extra money, I'll be donating to you.
Omg! Jaime Lannister brought back the Others by stabbing his king in the back!
Dude you have helped me learn so much! Thank you for producing all of this amazing content! You are my favorite person to listen to while prepping or writing. Every time I think hm I need to figure out how to better work something in your my go to
"Did somebody say the Door to Darkness?"
DTD
i love this video! ive been wanting to take my party through the shadowfell at some point so being able to truly flesh out this world to get them immersed in it will be awesome! thank you so much
31:55 I think you mistook Nerull for Null, and she didn't fully killed Him
Andy Falavinha I was wondering just this.
I love listening to these lore videos in the morning getting ready for work, a good wake up and some things to think about for future game ideas while there
So... this is where Yugi sends you? XD
8:05 YO THEY ACTUALLY GAVE CONTEXT TO “DARK LORDS”
I would like to hear about other things from series like DarkSun/Dragonlance/Ravenloft
I love a huge variety of what I watch online. But one crests above all others. Listening to how much MrRhexx seems to love narrating about this. I barely get to play DND, but this is like an endless mine of lore and I find something new every time I listen. Sometimes on the second listen. Did not know of the Vistani till this. SERIOUSLY want to hear about the VISTANI... THAT would be great.
Learning more about the Shadowfell makes me love it even more
Take a shot every time Rhexx says Shadowfell lol.
Damnit I can't get the idea of a weird sex shadow illusion out of my head now...oof