THE ABYSS (Remastered): A Guide to Surviving the Demonic Hordes

Welcome to the Abyss, the multiverse's least relaxing vacation destination, where every layer is somehow worse than the last, the locals are made of teeth and bad decisions, and the gift shop only sells trauma. This week on the RPGBOT.Podcast, we descend into the infinite chaos of demonic nonsense to ask the important questions: how do you survive a plane that actively hates zoning laws, why are demon lords like this, and at what point does a heroic expedition become an HR violation with initiative rolls?

Show Notes

This week, the RPGBOT.Podcast heads screaming into the Abyss, home of demons, demon lords, infinite layers, and the kind of cosmic chaos that makes ordinary campaign planning look like a polite neighborhood association meeting. The hosts explore what makes the Abyss such a dangerous and compelling place for tabletop adventures, from its shifting geography and endless hordes to the major powers that call it home.

Along the way, we look at how different games and editions have handled demonic lore, including DnD 5e, classic 3.5 material, and Pathfinder's take on demon lords, qlippoth, and the Outer Rifts. It is a tour through madness, violence, temptation, and worldbuilding opportunities, with just enough useful advice to make you think visiting the Abyss might be survivable. It is not. But it might make a fantastic campaign arc.

Whether you need a terrifying destination, a villainous power structure, a planar survival nightmare, or just a place where every bad idea gets promoted to management, the Abyss is ready to ruin your party's day in spectacular fashion.

• DnD 5e

• 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide (affiliate link)

• Monsters of the Multiverse (affiliate link)

• 3.5 Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (affiliate link)

• Pathfinder Wiki

• Demon Lords

• Qlippoth

• Outer Rifts

Key Takeaways

• The Abyss is more than just Hell with worse branding. It is chaos given geography, full of infinite layers, unstable rules, and creatures that treat morality like an optional splatbook.
• Demons work best when they feel unpredictable, destructive, and hungry for escalation. Devils make contracts. Demons kick in the door, eat the contract, and set the room on fire.
• Demon lords are excellent campaign villains because they combine cosmic power, personal obsession, and the emotional stability of a cursed chainsaw.
• The Abyss gives DMs a huge toolbox for adventure design: survival horror, planar exploration, corruption arcs, cult plots, boss fights, doomed expeditions, and the classic question of why did we open that portal?
• Older DnD material and Pathfinder lore both offer rich inspiration, especially if you want the Abyss to feel bigger, stranger, and more awful than just a monster closet with lava.
• Qlippoth and other ancient horrors are useful when you want to remind players that demons are not necessarily the bottom of the cosmic barrel. Sometimes the barrel has teeth underneath it.
• The best Abyss adventures should feel dangerous before initiative is rolled. The plane itself should be part of the threat, not just the room where the demons are standing.

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Meet the Hosts

• Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix.

• Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme.

• Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy.

Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos.

How to Find Us:

In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net

Tyler Kamstra

• BlueSky: @rpgbot.net
• TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET

Ash Ely

• Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games
• BlueSky: @GravenAshes
• YouTube: @ashravenmedia

Randall James

• BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG
• Amateurjack.com
• Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link)

Producer Dan

• @Lzr_illuminati