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First some background:

I and four friends started playing D&D 5e. None of us has ever played D&D, including myself, but since the idea to give it a shot was mine, I volunteered to read the rules, listen to some podcast and be the DM.

As I'm new to this, I'll be running the Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign. First I did a session zero to create the characters and to define their backgrounds.

One of my players said he was going to be a Warlock Dark Elf. I asked him with whom he made a pact with. We went to the PHB to read the possibilities, ending to choose "Fiend". Inquiring him about the story of his character he said he was an high elf and as children he was playing with his 2 brothers when suddenly he blacked out and when he regained his senses he had his hands around his brother's neck. Scared, he ran away and later was contacted/touched by a mysterious entity (supposedly the Fiend) causing him to become a Dark Elf. Having episodes of berserking/rage/dark thoughts, he lived the rest of his childhood in the streets stealing and running from his brothers because he thinks they want revenge for what he did.

Not sure if subrace change is against the rules or the fact that he really didn't make the pact but I was so captivated by the story that I didn't contest anything.

Yet I want to explore more about his past and do some homebrew arc where some fiend princes or lords are trying to conquer the mortal plane through this character but I'm having difficulties finding lore or stories about Fiends.

So where can I find fiend lore on 5e or some campaign focused on fiends?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Hi, I can see that this has drawn a close vote as a "shopping question"; however, this might be due to the wording of the question's title, whereas the last thing you say at the end of your post leads me to believe that you're not necessarily "shopping for stories", but looking for 5e material where fiend lore might be found, which I believe would still be on topic. Can you confirm this (and ideally update the title to reflect that)? This might help stay the close votes... \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Sep 12, 2019 at 13:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NathanS my main focus is lore once I would like to develop the story myself but I only find descriptions of general demons and devils. In the case there is already a story about fiend trying to conquer the mortal plain I wouldn't mind to adapt that story! \$\endgroup\$
    – user106923
    Sep 12, 2019 at 13:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also, it would be good to know what D&D books you already have. Do you have the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, maybe Volo's Guide to Monsters or even Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes? Or are you using the online basic rules? \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Sep 12, 2019 at 13:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NathanS so far I'm only using what I find online but I'm thinking about buying the players hand book \$\endgroup\$
    – user106923
    Sep 12, 2019 at 13:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'd definitely encourage getting at least one copy of the PHB; in the meantime, the basic rules are free online. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Sep 13, 2019 at 10:44

2 Answers 2

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Try chapter 1 of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

The first chapter of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes for 5e is all about the Blood War, which is an eternal war between devils and demons. The chapter includes a lot of lore about that conflict, which is the major role that fiends serve in the Forgotten Realms lore.

However, since you haven't yet even got the Player's Handbook (which I would definitely recommend getting), unless you can afford to buy several rulebooks, then I wouldn't necessarily prioritise Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes over the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual, so it might be better to look for some information about the Blood War online, such as on Forgotten Realms wiki (just bear in mind that the lore is compiled from all editions of D&D, and the lore isn't always consistent across editions, whereas the information presented in any of the 5e books will be specifically for 5e).

Besides that, the Monster Manual has a bit of information on devils, demons, and yugaloths (the main three kinds of fiends), although there's definitely less here than in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes about the Blood War.

For this backstory in particular

Since you're new to D&D, I'd suggest not worrying too much about finding out all the lore for fiends (unless you strictly want to play in the Forgotten Realms as-is). It sounds like your player has come up with an interesting backstory, and you seem to like this backstory, so as the DM, I'd suggest just coming up with something yourself to make it work and not worry too much about whether this is 100% consistent with the Forgotten Realms lore.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks a lot! Looking at the index I think this has exactly what I am looking for: some pre-made characters for my story! And as a bonus it talks about drows on chapter 2, I'll probably use that as well. \$\endgroup\$
    – user106923
    Sep 12, 2019 at 14:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @uset106923 Just to make sure I haven't misled you, what do you mean by "pre-made characters"? Can you name one or more just so I know? \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Sep 12, 2019 at 16:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NathanS "pre-made character" was a poor choice of words, I was thinking about the Lords of the abyss. I liked Graz'zt and Orcus and was thinking about epic battles but then I notice their challenging rating... So I really need to think this through \$\endgroup\$
    – user106923
    Sep 12, 2019 at 16:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ @user106923 Ah, the Demon Lords and Archdevils. That's alright then. \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Sep 12, 2019 at 18:31
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Out of the Abyss

Is an adventure module specifically about demon lords (fiends) invading the material plane.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Given that I ran this last year, and plan on running it again very soon, AND that the statblocks for Demon Lords in Mordenkainen's were originally from OotA, I'm very disappointed in myself for forgetting this one! +1 \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Sep 13, 2019 at 10:56

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