D&Deviants

The Balance is a philosophy of the D&D multiverse which purportedly is a system of checks and balances between the forces of Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos.

The truth is, that it is much more complicated than that.

The Balance is a system that has one end goal- to stop threats to the Prime Material Plane that would disrupt the orbit of the planes and throw the cosmos into disarray. Whether that be devils, demons, modrons, celestials, or any kind of planar force that would sway the Material planes to any kind of absolutism.

But why?

In the deepest layer of the Abyss, there is a powerful entity imprisoned- the God of Entropy, Tharizdun. Sages say that this creature had consumed entire universes, leaving no being in its wake and snuffing out existence wherever it went. It took the will of every living thing in the remaining multiverse to imprison it in the corpse of a dead universe, the energies of the different planes acting as chains to keep Tharizdun imprisoned.

The Prime Material also acts as a central anchor and counter balance, keeping all of these “chains“ both linked and in place. It is believed that if any one of these planes exerts enough influence to subsume the Prime Material, that will weaken all of the other chains keeping Tharizdun imprisoned.

Followers of the Balance may seem untrustworthy or capricious to those who ascribe to ideas of strict morality or moral absolutism, or follow along with ideas of Good or Evil. Such concerns with common people and adventurers alike is that most people don’t even know that Tharizdun exists, and many sages prefer to keep it that way.

Many common people would scoff at the idea that there can be “too much Goodness“- but followers of the Balance realize that “good“ and “evil“ are arbitrary labels at best and promote a very simplified view of the multiverse that doesn’t allow for nuance or freedom of choice. So forces that  many refer to as “Good“ are just simply Celestial in nature, and many forces that are considered “Evil“ are Diabolic or Demonic- which does little in the grand scheme of things, when acting to preserve the multiverse’s very existence.

The Blood War.

In the Dungeons and Dragons universe, there is an eternal war between Demons and Devils on the lower planes which will continue ad infinitum... and to keepers of Balance must continue ad infinitum.

The Blood War exists to keep those forces busy, so that again, none of those lower planes can usurp the other and keep Tharizdun imprisoned. Despite being a war between Demons and Devils, it isn’t actually uncommon to see Celestials siding with either one in the battlefield of Avernus, or other planar creatures either.

It becomes less a battle of Evil versus Evil, but one of Order versus Chaos that just happens to take place in the first layer of Baator.

Keepers of the Balance will do actions to keep either side from gaining the upper hand, perhaps favoring lawful victories one day, or chaotic ones the other. The Blood War is a big focus in the Dungeons and Dragons universe, simply because it is the most visible conflict that clearly involves the Balance.

Tenets of the Balance.

Followers of the Balance tend to follow a set of guidelines for understanding the multiverse, and the appropriate extent of their meddling.

Labeling things and creatures as inherently“Good“ and “Evil“ is a worthless endeavor, and limiting.

Every creature has a purpose, role, and place in the Multiverse. A demon has as much right to exist as a celestial, a goblin as much as a human, and so on and so forth.

Be aware of your biases. Everyone is going to have cultural backgrounds that influence their tendencies and decision-making, so be aware of them and take them into consideration before you make decisions that effect others.

Keep direct interference to a minimum. Most followers of the Balance take on observational roles and sage roles in order to guide those who have power to benefit the continued existence of the multiverse. Which can be achieved with a clue, a gift of a magic item, etc.

Be aware of the effect your actions will have.

There’s the idea that the keepers of Balance do nothing to improve the world, and in some instances, the belief that keepers of Balance actually actively keep the world from improving- and that isn’t the case. 

There’s nothing to threaten all of existence in people making inventions to improve the quality of life, and the affairs of kingdoms and civilizations are best left to the people living in them, though it also wouldn’t be unusual for keepers of Balance to try to influence affairs where they live- such as foiling religious inquisitions, stopping demonic cults, preventing factions from usurping one another, or defending the settlements from other invasions.

Final Thoughts.

"I have heard tales of drow who have forsaken the evil ways of their kind. I give these stories no credit, though Elminster himself swears they have validity. Never trust a drow, or the word of an archmage."