Planes of Chaos (1994) described the Plains of Gallenshu, an independent abyssal layer that sheltered many armanite demon followers of Baphomet. The Horned King also received attention in the Planescape setting. First featured in Monster Mythology (1992), Baphomet later made inroads into the Forgotten Realms in Giantcraft (1995), where he picked up a new set of worshippers-the Ice Spire Ogres. In the adventure, Baphomet is captured by Orcus, allowing the players to free him after negotiating with minotaurs (in a maze, of course).īaphomet’s role as an interloping demonic deity was often highlighted during the second edition AD&D era of 1989 to 2000. He then made his first major appearance in the 1988 adventure The Throne of Bloodstone, though he played second fiddle to Orcus, the star of that piece.
Dragon magazine 341 manual#
The Horned King got a bit more detail in Manual of the Planes (1987), which described his home as an “infinite maze” that spans his abyssal plane and others. Through the same period, Baphomet gave minotaurs another entry point into the D&D ecosystem. Dragonlance minotaurs continued to evolve in later years, particularly when Romanesque minotaurs appeared in the Time of the Dragon supplement in 1989. Those adventures introduced minotaurs as a major race-and even supported them for player character use in the Dragonlance Adventures supplement.
Dragon magazine 341 series#
Minotaurs took an unexpected route to the forefront of D&D play with the advent of the original Dragonlance series of adventures from 1984 to 1986. However, they never filled a clear niche in the game as goblins, orcs, and ogres did. They first appeared in the original D&D box set in 1974, then reappeared in the Monster Manual three years later. That first appearance also revealed Baphomet as the enemy of the Gnoll Lord Yeenoghu (previously seen in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual). He is described in that adventure as a minotaur (with “an ogre’s body” and “a bull’s head”) worshiped by other minotaurs-a fact that allowed him to rise up to the rank of “lesser power” in the Great Wheel cosmology.
ORIGIN STORIESīaphomet was one of the four demon lords who made their debut in the “Monsters and Magical Items” appendix in The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth in 1982. The Prince of Beasts-also known as the Horned King-epitomizes that evil in its most primal form.
Out of the Abyss and the Rage of Demons storyline have opened the floodgates for a torrent of evil to descend on fifth edition D&D. Baphomet is one of the later additions to the demonic pantheon, but he can hold his own against any of the other demon lords-especially his hated foe, Yeenoghu.