Incorporating Balazar's Dominion in your 5e D&D Campaign

In the scorched wastes of Akhaemia, far from the watchful eyes of the Empire, there rises a city of velvet and vice, gold and gore: Ashurr, seat of Balazar, the Demon Prince of Ecstasy. 

For Dungeon Masters seeking to enrich their grimdark 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons (or any other TTRPG for that matter!) campaigns in Doaden or similar settings, Balazar’s Dominion offers a uniquely unsettling flavor: one part decadent pleasure cult, one part infernal military machine, and one part esoteric spiritual order. It is a realm that tempts players as much as it threatens them, a place where surrender is power, and transcendence may cost your soul. 

Our Faction Pack is the first place to look when getting started, providing you with a trove of useful lore and inspiration which helps with anything from worldbuilding to encounter design. 
This article builds upon these foundations with more specific tips for you if you still aren't quite sure how to implement this faction in a way that is impactful and unique.

So - how do we bring this demonic dominion to life?

The Dominion is not your typical demon realm. It doesn’t conquer through brute force or sheer terror, though it has the means. Instead, it invites. Ashurr’s vibrant streets shimmer with ritual incense, its gardens host rites of blood and pleasure, and its courts are lined not with your typical town guards but courtiers who have willingly fused with demons through the Rites of Binding.

That Binding is the key theme to explore: the union of mortal and demon in a fragile, ecstatic equilibrium. Success produces an Eidolon, a being of terrifying grace and power. Failure results in Shattered Vessels or the Flayed: hollow reminders of the cost of reaching too far. When introducing Balazar's Dominion, this metaphysical gamble should loom large in both your narrative and your worldbuilding.

A great way to surface this risk-reward dynamic is first and foremost by using NPCs as living examples to show them the risks of undergoing the Rites. Let your players meet an Eidolon whose strength is awe-inspiring, their presence magnetic. Then contrast it with a scene where Flayed aspirants wander the palace corridors, skinless and hollow-eyed, still whispering demonic hymns. Highlight the contrast between the lives of these two extremes after their transformation.

Consider giving the players an opportunity to undergo a Binding themselves. Perhaps a Cabalist offers it in exchange for information, or a service provided by the party. This opportunity should always be voluntary, a temptation to be placed in front of your group. Use common sense when deciding on the consequences of success or failure so everyone continues to have fun at the table, no matter the outcome. Base the severity of success or failure on whether your players are okay with potentially losing their characters or having them fundamentally altered (before the start of any campaign, always have a discussion with your players about this!).

Whatever the severity, emphasize the choice: this isn't a mechanical upgrade, it's a metaphysical transformation of their entire character and their motivations.

Let the ritual be slow and tactile. Require the player to describe how they prepare, what goes through their character's head before and during the Rites, who they invite into their body. Create narrative tension by describing the build-up, perhaps consider introducing competing demons whispering different promises to them. Reward success with power, but also narrative consequences. How does the character change? And what did they lose in the process? 

This erosion of the self is exactly what Balazar's Dominion stands for.

Balazar's realm is fractious, yet functional. You have:

• The Cabal of Languor, sorcerer-priests who orchestrate the Rites. Their rites are slow, deliberate, and always beautiful. A visit to the Cabal might offer the party forbidden knowledge or a harrowing opportunity to undergo the Rite themselves.
  
  Place them in a temple complex within Balazar's Dominion or inside of a remote shrine in the desert. Their arrival may be heralded by a slow procession of dancers, blood-trails staining the roads behind them. Combat encounters involving this group should lean into performance fighting: one might require surviving a ritual or stopping it instead of your standard head-to-head combat encounter.

• The Exalted Hosts, the Dominion's military arm. These are not simple soldiers. Many are half-bound zealots seeking worth through war. They do not fight to win; they fight to ascend. One general, Atraxes, exemplifies cold elegance and order; her counterpart, Bekhetur, rules through spectacle and violence. Either could serve as a recurring nemesis or uneasy ally.
  
  This group can serve as an excellent first exposure to this faction before your party ever sets foot within Balazar's Dominion. Set an early encounter at the outskirts of a battle site. Have the party arrive after a skirmish with the Penitent Crusade to find grotesquely beautiful warriors posed like statues among the dead. If combat does arise, lean into choreography of these combatants: elegant formations, bladed limbs, and extravagant manoeuvres.

• The Demons of Ecstasy, not a unified force but a presence, drawn to Ashurr's rituals. From succubine whisperers to silent horrors, they are the unpredictable spice in the Dominion's recipe, ideal for encounters that defy logic or morality.
  
  These demons can be seeded through sensory hallucinations, moments of madness, or cursed artifacts. Their influence should be felt before they are seen, present in places of depravity and pain throughout the world of Doaden. Use them to spice up an unassuming environment with some unexpected demonic activity.

Each of these groups offers rich material for different types of stories. Need a boss encounter? Introduce a Weaver of Binding performing a Rite mid-battle. Want intrigue? Let a party member catch the eye of the First Concubine, Shaezarin, whose favor might bless or doom them. Planning a social arc? Navigate the court's rituals, where to offend is to bleed.

You don’t need to bring your party to Akhaemia for Balazar’s presence to seep into your world. Each of the Dominion’s subfactions can be introduced as distant echoes of Ashurr’s influence, perfect for campaigns set elsewhere in Doaden.

• The Cabal of Languor might be operating out of a forgotten subterranean chamber or secluded estate, perhaps invited in by a curious noble family. Outside their native dominion, their ceremonies might lose some of their refinement, resulting in unstable rituals and unintended side effects, perfect catalysts for player interaction.

• The Exalted Hosts might arrive into your settings through a violent raid led by Bekhetur: less a military strike, more a theatrical devastation. Survivors speak of cruel warriors who fought like beasts and vanished before dawn. The party might track their passage through scorched villages or encounter a small warband staging their own cruel performance.

• The Demons of Ecstasy may not appear directly, but be summoned, intentionally or not, by the indulgences of the elite. A secretive upper-class cult might perform rituals they barely understand, drawn in by exotic promises and forbidden pleasure. The players could stumble into one of these gatherings as guests, spies, or investigators, only to realize something from Ashurr has accepted the invitation.

Use these threads to gradually reveal the Dominion’s reach. By the time players set foot in Akhaemia (if they ever do) they’ll already be well-acquainted with its themes and customs.

For those using Bestiarum’s Path of Penitence ruleset, the Dominion offers a foil to the Empire of Azerai. The Penitent Crusade burns with moral certainty, but what happens when the players are sent to destroy something... beautiful? Something that works, even if it offends every imperial doctrine?

Maybe the party is ordered to raze a ritual sanctuary (akin to the infamous story of the Pulpit of Screams), only to discover its residents already dead, slain in some internal purging. Maybe one of the Penitents is offered a Binding. Or perhaps the Dominion, seeing a rare potential in the players, grants them sanctuary when the Empire abandons them. Let them choose between oppressive salvation and ecstatic damnation.

DMs can use these moments to let players question the binary morality of Doaden. Give them evidence that the Dominion's cruelty is chosen rather than enforced, that some people want to be here. Let a former Crusader defect. Let a party member be tempted.

The visual storytelling of Balazar’s Dominion is one of its greatest strengths. Whether it’s the taloned grace of Atraxes’ soldiers, the grotesque beauty of the Cabal’s rites, or the eerie serenity of the Shattered Vessels lining the palace halls, your table comes alive with the right terrain and miniatures. Even if you use just a handful of terrain pieces, ornate thrones, decorative statues, or just a few themed columns, you anchor your players in a place unlike any other.

But this terrain isn’t just for flavor: it drives encounter design. Elevated tiles can give spellcasters high ground as they try to protect or interrupt a ritual in the palace halls. Pools of sacrificial blood might count as difficult terrain or have additional magical effects when entered. Statues and columns give opportunities for stealth or for hiding from the projectiles of your enemies. Terrain should reinforce both the sensory decadence and the tactical nuance of your Dominion encounters. 

Encourage your players to get creative with these environments and remind them that in Ashurr, combat without spectacle may have worse consequences than losing the battle itself.

Balazar’s Dominion is not merely an enemy to be fought. It is a temptation to be resisted, or to be embraced. In a world like Doaden, where pain is currency and survival is a question of sacrifice, the Dominion poses the most dangerous question of all:

What are you willing to surrender to achieve greatness?

Use it to challenge your players, morally and mechanically. Use it to unsettle them, inspire them, lure them. And if they falter, remember: the gates of Ashurr are always open.