Moloch (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
In many campaign setting
s for the Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game
, Moloch is an arch-devil of Hell (Baator
in later editions of the game), and once served as the viceroy of Baalzebul
.
of traditional demonology.
's article "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: New Denizens of Devildom," in Dragon #75, as part of a preview for the Monster Manual II. He appeared in the Monster Manual II later that same year in 1983. Moloch's realm was further detailed in Ed Greenwood
's article "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon
#76 (1983).
Moloch did not initially appear in 2nd edition, and in the Planescape
line the lord of Malbolge was instead the Hag Countess
. Eventually, it was revealed that Moloch had been betrayed by the Hag Countess, who deposed him as the lord of his layer, in Guide to Hell (1999). He was a major villain of the 2000 adventure The Apocalypse Stone, in which he inadvertently became stranded on a dying world as part of his bid to retake his layer of Hell.
Moloch was described briefly in the Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
(2006). The most detail on Moloch can be found in issue #360 of the internet-only version of Dragon magazine.
of the Abyss
in the Age Before Ages, before the Battle of Pesh and the subsequent realignment of the planes. Of all the warriors in the legions serving Asmodeus
, it is said that Moloch was the greatest. He was rewarded for his prowess and loyalty with rulership of the sixth plane of Hell, Malbolge. In order to check his power, however, Asmodeus made him the vassal of Baalzebul
, serving as the Lord of the Flies' viceroy on the layer he controlled. Asmodeus hoped Moloch and Baalzebul would spend their time watching one another for signs of betrayal rather than trying to storm Nessus.
This worked for a time, but Moloch and Baalzebul allied with Zariel
and Belial
in the Reckoning of Hell
some millennia back in order to do just as Asmodeus had feared. The Lord of the Ninth was prepared, of course, and defeated the rebels handily when their pit fiend generals betrayed them.
Moloch was replaced by his mistress, the Hag Countess
, who had set him up to fall. For centuries, Moloch had been recruiting allies and gathering new minions in preparation for seizing back his old domain through military force. Three days before his intended invasion, he hid in a backwater world on the Prime Material Plane
to wait for the appropriate moment to plane shift to the Hells in a surprise attack. By an unfortunate coincidence, the world (obviously not Oerth
) was severed from contact with other planes due to an unforeseen cataclysm involving the theft of the stone around which the world had been created. As Moloch was unable to leave his erstwhile hiding place, his army was slaughtered by minions of the Hag Countess.
Though the Hag Countess has since been replaced by Asmodeus's daughter Glasya, Moloch now dwells among the other outcast devils
of Avernus, Hell's first layer. He works with other exiles to rebuild his army and return to power, overthrowing Glasya and, he hopes, one day Asmodeus too.
In The Apocalypse Stone, Moloch is served by several fiends, including:
Moloch also creates a squad of flesh golems
created from the stitched-together body parts of the player characters' friends and family.
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
s for the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, Moloch is an arch-devil of Hell (Baator
Baator
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Baator, also known as the Nine Hells of Baator or the Nine Hells, is a lawful evil-aligned plane of existence...
in later editions of the game), and once served as the viceroy of Baalzebul
Baalzebul (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Baalzebul is a fictional character, described as an Arch-Devil of Hell , also called the "Lord of the Flies."Baalzebul is lord of Maladomini, the Seventh Plane of Hell...
.
Creative origins
Moloch is based on the MolochMoloch
Moloch — also rendered as Molech, Molekh, Molok, Molek, Molock, or Moloc — is the name of an ancient Semitic god...
of traditional demonology.
Publishing history
Moloch first appeared in Gary GygaxGary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games....
's article "From the Sorcerer's Scroll: New Denizens of Devildom," in Dragon #75, as part of a preview for the Monster Manual II. He appeared in the Monster Manual II later that same year in 1983. Moloch's realm was further detailed in Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian writer and editor who created the Forgotten Realms. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons playing group...
's article "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#76 (1983).
Moloch did not initially appear in 2nd edition, and in the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
line the lord of Malbolge was instead the Hag Countess
Hag Countess
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Hag Countess, also known as Malagard, is the former ruler of Malbolge, the Sixth Layer of the Nine Hells of Baator...
. Eventually, it was revealed that Moloch had been betrayed by the Hag Countess, who deposed him as the lord of his layer, in Guide to Hell (1999). He was a major villain of the 2000 adventure The Apocalypse Stone, in which he inadvertently became stranded on a dying world as part of his bid to retake his layer of Hell.
Moloch was described briefly in the Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Contents:...
(2006). The most detail on Moloch can be found in issue #360 of the internet-only version of Dragon magazine.
Description
Moloch is a great, square-bodied creature with red-orange skin. His limbs are short and thick, and his hands and feet are huge and square, with horns on his feet. His head is also horned, and huge with slanting fiery eyes and a gaping mouth. His monstrous body conceals a genius-level intellect.History
Like many of the oldest lords of Hell, Moloch was once an angel created by the powers of Law to battle the demonsDemon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, demons are the most widespread race of fiends. The demons are chaotic evil by nature, and are native to the Abyss...
of the Abyss
Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Abyss or more fully, the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a chaotic evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons cosmology, used in the Planescape...
in the Age Before Ages, before the Battle of Pesh and the subsequent realignment of the planes. Of all the warriors in the legions serving Asmodeus
Asmodeus (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Asmodeus is an Arch-Devil: a lord of the game's version of Hell . There he is the Overlord of the Dukes of Hell...
, it is said that Moloch was the greatest. He was rewarded for his prowess and loyalty with rulership of the sixth plane of Hell, Malbolge. In order to check his power, however, Asmodeus made him the vassal of Baalzebul
Baalzebul (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Baalzebul is a fictional character, described as an Arch-Devil of Hell , also called the "Lord of the Flies."Baalzebul is lord of Maladomini, the Seventh Plane of Hell...
, serving as the Lord of the Flies' viceroy on the layer he controlled. Asmodeus hoped Moloch and Baalzebul would spend their time watching one another for signs of betrayal rather than trying to storm Nessus.
This worked for a time, but Moloch and Baalzebul allied with Zariel
Zariel
Zariel is an archdevil who once ruled Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator, in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:Zariel was first mentioned in the second edition book Guide to Hell ....
and Belial
Belial (Dungeons & Dragons)
In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Belial is an Arch-Devil of Hell , lord of the Fourth Hell, Phlegethos. He retained his rule after the Reckoning of Hell, though he now shares this responsibility with his daughter Fierna who serves as his mouthpiece...
in the Reckoning of Hell
Reckoning of Hell
In the cosmology of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the Reckoning of Hell was a civil war that shaped the political landscape of the Nine Hells into its current form...
some millennia back in order to do just as Asmodeus had feared. The Lord of the Ninth was prepared, of course, and defeated the rebels handily when their pit fiend generals betrayed them.
Moloch was replaced by his mistress, the Hag Countess
Hag Countess
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Hag Countess, also known as Malagard, is the former ruler of Malbolge, the Sixth Layer of the Nine Hells of Baator...
, who had set him up to fall. For centuries, Moloch had been recruiting allies and gathering new minions in preparation for seizing back his old domain through military force. Three days before his intended invasion, he hid in a backwater world on the Prime Material Plane
Prime Material Plane
The Prime Material Plane is the central plane of existence in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game...
to wait for the appropriate moment to plane shift to the Hells in a surprise attack. By an unfortunate coincidence, the world (obviously not Oerth
Oerth
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Oerth, pronounced as "Orth" or "oyth", is the name of the fictional planet on which one of the earliest campaign settings, the World of Greyhawk, is located...
) was severed from contact with other planes due to an unforeseen cataclysm involving the theft of the stone around which the world had been created. As Moloch was unable to leave his erstwhile hiding place, his army was slaughtered by minions of the Hag Countess.
Though the Hag Countess has since been replaced by Asmodeus's daughter Glasya, Moloch now dwells among the other outcast devils
Rabble of Devilkin
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, "rabble of devilkin" is a term applied to the lesser unique outcast devils dwelling on Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells...
of Avernus, Hell's first layer. He works with other exiles to rebuild his army and return to power, overthrowing Glasya and, he hopes, one day Asmodeus too.
Vassals
Before his overthrow, the following beings were among the most notable subjects of Moloch. The forces formerly at their disposal are listed, where appropriate:- Bethage, pit fiend - 9 companies of cornugons
- BilethBileth (Dungeons & Dragons)Bileth is a Duke of Hell, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.-Publication history:Bileth first appears in Ed Greenwood's article "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon #76 ....
- Baalzebul's Tribune (DR76) - Herobaal, pit fiend - 16 companies of osyluths
- LilithLilith (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Lilith is the current consort of Baalzebul, the arch-lord currently ruling the Seventh Layer of the Nine Hells of Baator, Maladomini. She shares the title with the subservient and rather spineless Baftis, another she-devil who wields little...
- Consort to Moloch (DR76) - TartachTartachTartach is a Duke of Hell in the service of Glasya.-Publication history:Tartach first appears in Ed Greenwood's article "The Nine Hells Part II" in Dragon #76 ....
- Baalzebul's Legate (DR76)
In The Apocalypse Stone, Moloch is served by several fiends, including:
- Skallathrax - An arcanalothYugolothIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, yugoloths are neutral evil natives of the lower planes of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the Gray Waste of Hades...
mercenary. - Grellnor - Skallathrax's nycalothYugolothIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, yugoloths are neutral evil natives of the lower planes of the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna and the Gray Waste of Hades...
bodyguard. - Three unnamed pit fiends.
Moloch also creates a squad of flesh golems
Golem (Dungeons & Dragons)
A golem is a type of construct, a magically created monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.- Publication history :The Dungeons & Dragons golems are based upon the Golems of Jewish mythology.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
created from the stitched-together body parts of the player characters' friends and family.
Worshippers
Moloch's cults are small and fractious, disturbed by their masters' long absence. They cannot cast spells higher than 3rd level.Additional reading
- Marmell, Ari. "Codex of Betrayal: Beleth, the Witch's Viscount." DragonDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#365. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008. Available online: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drcodex/20080714