If you’ve been a fan of watching a buncha kids from Indiana run around fighting monster and the US government (AKA Stranger Things), you have maybe been curious what, exactly, the hell all that DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) stuff they’ve been referencing is all about.
Why do they keep calling that weird, flower-face thing a Demogorgon? Who is Vecna? Is the Upside Down a realm in DnD??? (no. it’s not.)
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Well, you came to the right place. We’ve putting together a quick rundown of all the DnD references from the show and an explanation of where they come from.
Starting with:
The Demogorgon
The Demogorgon is an 18-foot-tall ape-like, two-headed demon from the Abyss (not Hell, in fact. The Abyss is different, actually). Unlike in Stranger Things, where “Demogorgon” is used to describe a type of monster, the Demogorgon of DnD lore is actually just one beast. He’s a demon lord and a lesser deity of domination and wants nothing more than to drag you down to the Abyss. He’s also known as Siosivash, Leemooggoogoon (say that one five times fast!), and Ahmon-Ibor the Sibilant Beast.
There’s a whole lotta history about the guy when it comes to in-game lore, but as far as our particular reality is concerned, the Demogorgon has been around since the very first edition of the game! First appearing in Eldritch Wizardry from 1976, he has been included in every edition since, usually as one of the toughest monsters in the game. His biggest claim to fame (before Stranger Things, of course), was in 3rd Edition, when he was the main antagonist in the Bastion of Broken Souls module, as well as a potential final boss in the Savage Tide Adventure Path.
His stat block is, understandable, terrifying. Yes, that is a main attack that has a +17 to hit. Yes, it does reduce your hit point max. Yes, you should have packed an extra pair of underwear for this one.
So how does he stack up to his Stranger Things counterpart?
Let’s just say that if there were a number of actual Demogorgons running around Hawkins, Indiana, (or even just one, really), no amount of psychedelic-induced telekinesis would help save those kids’ sorry souls.
Though we don’t necessarily blame them for thinking the Demogorgon of season 1 was the Big Bad, and naming him as such. How were they to know that by season 5 they’d be tearing apart, electrifying, trapping, and shotgun blasting their way through nearly a dozen of these things? Talk about powercreep, hey?
All that to say, if you’re thinking about including a true Demogorgon to your DnD campaign, make sure those PCs are at least level 16.
…Or just give them an unholy amount of plot armour. That tends to work too!
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