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I would love to know the perspective of other DMs who have worked with the Nine Hells as the source of menace in their campaigns. I am having a hard time settling on a roster of arch-devils to set up, because I don't like all the shifts made in the Top Nine as the game has progressed.
Here's the roster:
1st--Bel (was Triel, was Tiamat)
2nd--Dispater
3rd--Fierna (was Belial and Fierna, was Belial)
4th--Mammon
5th--Levistus or Leviathan (was Geryon was Levistus)
6th--Glasya (was Hag Countess was Moloch)
7th--Baalzebul
8th--Mephistopheles
9th--Asmodeus (was Lucifer was Ahriman)
Kobold Quarterly put out Jezebel in their latest issue and I find her a pretty compelling devil (as a Prime Material centered villain as opposed to Glasya who seems to be totally focused on the Nine Hells themselves).
I love the idea of Ahriman the fallen partner of Jazirian, the serpents of law, and that Asmodeus is an expression of Ahriman who is still healing in the pit.
I have the hardest time getting at all involved in Levistus and Fierna and Mammon, and I just don't like turning Baalzebul into a slug when he was already punished pretty well with the bug eyes and all.
So, what do you do with your Nine Hells?
Here is what I am doing with mine:
Agents of Asmodeus: 1st under Bel, who as a Pit Fiend is organizing the armies of Hell at his master's direction; 5th under Jezebel, daughter of Bel (after my PCs finish their 3.5 romp through A Paladin in Hell) who is seeking to become the consort of Asmodeus himself; and 6th under Glasya who has taken Geryon into her court as her Enforcer, using him to annihilate her enemies on the Hells. Asmodeus leads this group more directly than he did his Arch-Fiends prior to the Reckoning because he disliked the waste that the warfare of the Reckoning involved. He has also taken on the guise of Bane in the Forgotten Realms by having Iyachtu Xvim killed during the Time of Troubles and masterminding the whole Baneswar to make his assumption of the godhead easier.
Lords of Lies: Fierna (Belial), Mammon, and Baalzebul. Baalzebul leads this group with constant deception and has put Moloch into a position as a roving Inquisitor because he realized that he never knew the truth of his allies. Moloch's paranoia makes him into a pawn of Asmodeus because it erupts constantly into crusades against the lies that are woven by Belial, Fierna and Mammon constantly. Baalzebul would have fallen out of power entirely were it not for the fact that he and his allies have the most popular cults on the Prime Material plane. Their decadence and deception appeals powerfully to mortals and their soul harvests are rich indeed.
Hellfire and Damnation: Mephistopheles, Dispater, and Tiamat (away from Bel's legions) constantly acquire more raw power, believing that through this means they will overcome the systemic strength of Asmodeus and the deceit of Baalzebul. With his hellfire, Dispater's endless fortress, and Tiamat's rising divine standing, Mephistopheles has promised a New Order in the Hells, one based around the Trinity of Fire, Iron, and Blood. The pursuit of limitless power animates this group and by including Tiamat in the hierarchy, I think it makes my Nine Hells a much more diverse place. Not just fallen angels and devils but evil that contends for power in an organized way.
I exiled Set and the other LE gods to the adjacent plane, believing that the Nine Hells should be more like Nazi Germany where no one escapes the central storyline. I shunt them off to a neighboring plane so they can enjoy their own Fascist Italy without having the worry of arch devils interfering. This also allows me to make the arch-devils divine powers free of worshippers. They can seek them out (as the Lords of Lies do) but that is only one component of their power.
I would love your thoughts and tales of how you handled this, IMO, the most entertaining of the planes.
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So glad I get to be the first reply on this topic.
In my homebrew the Arch-Devils all live in the same city, just inside the Wall of Dis between the 5th and 6th Circle of Hell (see Dante). And the bottom Circle, Cocytus the Wall of Ice (again, see Dante), is the barrier between The Nine Hells and The Abyss.
Putting all the Arch Devils in the same city makes for a spectacular gaming experience. In the same way powerful kings of yore held Court with all their vassals, Asmodeus holds court in Hell.
There are three activities that drive everything in Hell.
1} The extraction of Energy from mortal Souls (Punishment) and the use of that energy for Divine Power. (See FCII). (Also see The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.)
2} The business of tempting mortals on the Prime Material. (see any one of 13 million sources).
3} The business of the Blood War in The Abyss, that is, if you want to rule a Layer in the Abyss -- and consolidate your power -- you'll have to get "the Green Light" from the Court of Hell.
-W. E. Ray