The Gates of Hell is a part of the Dicefreaks' [[FanWorks fan expansion]] for the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. It came out in 2008, therefore following the 3rd edition. Theoretically, it should have been followed by a few more supplements, about the Abyss and Heaven to begin with, but works on these has been extremely slow as of 2013.

The books describe the structure of Hell, the magic, and the abilities of the devils and people serving them. It is quite close to what is canonical -- at least, what was canonical back then. However, there is quite a bit of expansion. For example, there wasn't just one Fall, there were two. The first one was the one which created Hell... and sent a universe-sized serpent into a trillion year long coma. The second... that's your classic "fallen angels" plot.

The books are free, and are available at [[https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/dicefreaks/the-gates-of-hell-t22.html the Dicefreaks forums]]. Technically, this is one book, but it is downloaded in nine parts.
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!!Tropes present in ''The Gates Of Hell'' (note; a lot of them are present in the official sources, but are often expanded upon here):
* AboveTheGods: Asmodeus, despite being a mere avatar of the real Overlord, is already an Overdeity while in Hell.
* AllForNothing: A person wanting an audience with Mammon must sacrifice an object valuable to them, which is taken away regardless of whether it has sufficient value to be worth an audience. If one sacrifices their soul, that's precisely what happens in case of a sub-Epic character.
* AlmightyJanitor: There are a couple of ''very'' arrogant and feared adjutants, bookkeepers and messengers described.
* AndIMustScream: Leviathan. He was frozen inside an iceberg by Asmodeus, and was never released, even upon being given back his realm.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Half the nobility is actively trying to become gods. Some are close to succeeding.
* BackToBackBadasses: Bael and Astarte during ''Dies Irae''.
* BeingEvilSucks: There is a lot of emphasis on the meaninglessness and emptiness of evil.
* BizarreInstrument: Sidiar, who makes music out of the screams of the damned. ''And it sounds beautiful''.
* BloodIron: Sammael carries a rapier made out of iron drawn from the blood of thousands of humanoid creatures. It suppresses the healing of anyone struck by it. Marks of the Dark Ministry are Blood Iron as well.
* BloodyMurder: If Verrier's blood is spilled, lesser devils grow it. Asmodeus' does the same, although on a ''much'' larger scale.
* BoxedCrook: Adrammelek/Adremalech. Everyone believes he was killed, but in reality he was recruited by Asmodeus for a covert job.
* BrainBleach: Invoked by Bensozia, who after going mad from learning Asmodeus' secret went to Leviathan to erase the memory.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Knowledge can be discerned by careful reading, regular observation of cause and effect, constant experimentation, or by drilling a hole into a mortal’s head with an ice-pick.
* CanonFodder: There are supposed to be at least 27 Arch-devils and 81 Duke. Not nearly all are described.
* CarryABigStick: Dispater and Asmodeus.
* CombatSadomasochist: Belial, to the extent that he stabs himself with his trident as often as the enemies.
* CompositeCharacter: Canonically, Moloch replaced Lilith, and later was himself replaced by Malagard, the Hag Countess, an adviser who recommended that he defy Asmodeus to his face. ''The Gates of Hell'' instead have Lilith as [[TheHecateSisters triune]] so that she can serve the role of the Hag Countess.
* TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch: People bargaining with Sammael tend to die from severe allergic reaction.
* CorruptChurch: Mammon's fluff includes one. Also, quite a few devils have established them.
* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: Asmodeus' true form has been crippled after a crash trillions of years ago and is yet to heal.
* DealWithTheDevil: Each member of the nobility has it as part of their description... including how they backfire.
* DecliningPromotion: When Belial was an angel, he has been offered multiple promotions from his position as a healer of mortals and declined them all. It was believed to be due to him loving being around mortals and helping them. In reality, of course, he knew that should he be promoted, he'll have to spend his time around beings too powerful to hide his true nature from.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Three books out of the nine are about these. Plus one is about notable devils who are not officially nobility.
* DevilsPitchfork: Belial carries a fiery trident, and also has one as part of his symbol. Mephistopheles wields an eight-pronged ranseur crackling with all the elements.
* DirtyCoward: Mammon. even against a weak opponent, is very reluctant to fight.
* DreamWeaver: Haagenti's specialization. Made him somewhat of a pariah, since Hell doesn't like imagination.
* DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Some devils (like Beelzebub) genuinely believe they are trying to do good, but most are fully aware of where they are trying to drag reality.
* EnemyMine: Apparently, when Beelzebub is around, ''elves and drow'' work together.
* EunuchsAreEvil: Lilith's mortal servants are nearly all female, but sometimes castrated men are accepted.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Several devils have been described to be in a relationship which can be considered love... an extremely twisted and evil love, and with most of them not recognizing it as such, but still.
* EvilDetectingDog: For fiends of the Conversion Branch (the one in charge of manipulating mortal societies into serving hell), Handle Animal is a very common skill precisely because of this trope.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Mephistopheles doesn't use his soul trapping power easily because of something he claims to be "honor".
* EvilTaintedThePlace: The books have the rules describing the taint for a location where a devil entered the Material Plane.
* EvilVersusEvil: Devil against devil, Malefircareim against pit fiends, Fallen Ones against True Devils, Devils vs Demons, well, everything in canon and a bit more.
* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Beelzebub wants perfection, and believes it can only be achieved with constant guidance.
* ExactWords: One of the conditions in Caarcrinolaas' treaties is that the client cannot be killed in cold blood. Devil blood tends to be quite warm.
* ExtremeOmnisexual: Belial has seduced millions of both men and women over the years.. except for this one Arch-devil who wisely keeps away.
* FakeWizardry: Book 5 describes a devil named Byzine, who has several undercover identities, including a necromancer serving Orcus. Since he doesn't have a lot of necromantic magic at his disposal, he mostly relies on scrolls and such to create the impression.
* FightingAShadow: Higher ranking devils cannot be killed outside their realm. And then you have Asmodeus, who is actually an avatar of something unimaginable.
%%* FireAndBrimstoneHell: Phlegethon, the center of the newcomer souls' reforging. Other layers tend to vary in their environments.%%How is this an example?
* FlayingAlive: The kocrachon abilities include removing the skin off an immobilized target.
* FrontlineGeneral: Bael is a frontline ''Lord'', though less so with time. Abigor fits as well.
* FromACertainPointOfView: Belial has promised rewards and pleasure to the devils who would support him in his coup against Adrammelek. He even opened his mind before them in order to convince them. In the end, he delivered as promised after the successful coup. However, perhaps the devils should have been a tiny bit more cautious about promises of rewards and pleasure from the greatest sadomasochist in Hell...
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Knowledge of the Asmodeus' true nature did that to the Arch-Devil who was his ''wife''.
* {{Greed}}: Mammon's methods are centered around that. He tries to hide behind noble words proclaiming that he alone knows how to distribute he wealth of the Cosmos properly, but in reality, he merely believes possessing all the wealth is the path to ruling it.
* TheHecateSisters: Lilith's three main forms are the Hag (and old crone with rotting flesh), the Waif (a child with serpentine eyes), the the Harlot (a beautiful woman with GodivaHair).
* HellHasNewManagement: Subverted. Asmodeus did take over Hell after deposing Lucifer... but with them being avatars [[RunningBothSides of the same being]], this is merely a gamble to make people underestimate Hell. There was also an earlier example, when Lucifer took over upon awakening, but there was no single leader to Hell back then, only millions of warring demigodlike Hellspawn.
* HomeFieldAdvantage: Every Lord gains a +3 bonus to Divine Rank while in their layer (for Asmodeus, anywhere in Hell). Dispater takes it further, with his Iron Tower being an artifact location full of spells like one constantly wrenching enemy weapons out of their hands.
* HoneyTrap: Jezebel, Glasya's Elite, and all the other erinyes. The stronger ones have brought down entire kingdoms with carefully applied allure.
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: Amdusius is half unicorn, Geryon is half dragon.
* HumanDemonHybrid: in addition to the canon D&D examples, the books feature Lixer, the son of Asmodeus from a mortal queen, a necromancer who was purged of his mortal part by his father (not that it stops FantasticRacism from "real" devils). There are also templates for half-mortal children born to fiend and FallenAngel nobility.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: According to one legend, two of the devils who supported Asmodeus when he revolted against Lucifer did it because they ''wanted'' to lose. When they won, Asmodeus gave them both precisely what they wanted; one was exiled to [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Toril]]... the other destroyed.
* ImmortalProcreationClause: It is commonly believed devils cannot procreate among themselves. In reality, the high ranking ones are fully capable of that... should they choose to. Very few do, because they need no heirs and ''certainly'' no competitors.
* AnIcePerson: Mephistopheles is the ruler of an ice-filled layer, and projects an aura of frost (as do members of his PrestigeClass). He also gets a bonus to his spellcasting in cold areas. Raithetarkon was transferred over to Mephistopheles' forces, and underwent a procedure replacing many of a devil's fire-related abilities with cold-related ones.
* InsultBackfire: ''Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies'' used to be an insult.
* InternalRetcon: The idea of the Dark Ministers never being replaced is ingrained so deeply in their underlings' minds, that whenever one ''is'' replaced, everyone "remembers" said minister has always looked like that - even if we are talking about a clawed male pit fiend being replaced with a beautiful winged FallenAngel lady.
* KickedUpstairs: When a Duke of Hell is promoted to Arch-devil, chances are he is banished from Hell at the same time.
* KillAllHumans: Eblis is determined to destroy all mortals as much as he is determined to destroy the Heavens.
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: The devils of the Denomination of Research are despised for their ability to think outside the frame, although it does seem to be changing as they prove their usefulness.
* KnightTemplar: Many of the Fallen were banished for being that. They still are.
* LaResistance: Verrier, the strongest surviving Hellspawn, is running a rebellion against Asmodeus... at least, he believes so.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Leviathan is all about that.
* LegacyImmortality: The Dark Ministers may be be replaced sometimes, but hardly anyone is aware of that.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: Lilith's ''Icequake'', Mephistopheles' summoning ritual, and the ''Cone of Frost'' power of Asmodeus' scepter are all capable of freezing a person solid, with the trope following if they are unlucky.
* LongestPregnancyEver: Bensozia's took nine years.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Belial behind Fierana, The Overlord behind Asmodeus. Bensozia tried to do the same to Asmodeus... she didn't know what she was dealing with.
* MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight: Merorem's specialization.
-->His powers over time and history allow him to correct the mistakes of the past, to alter the present, and to ensure the future always holds a place for him. Heroes never born of a murdered mother, prophecies of hope left unspoken by their authors, this is the work of Merorem.
* MillionMookMarch: The armies of Hell are far greater than any mortal hosts. Given figures number in the trillions, and that's not counting the lemures (they are ammo, not troops).
* NeverMyFault: Beelzebub is incapable of seeing his own flaws.
* NeverTheSelvesShallMeet: Merorem is pushed back and stunned if he comes out too close to his past or future self.
* NoSexAllowed: Carniveau, Duke of Purity, is a KnightTemplar whose methods are centered around the tempering of human sexuality. Ironically, he himself [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny has trouble holding to the same standards]].
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Dispater's entire policy is this and meaningless work, because he believes that the best way to keep his underlings from rebelling is to ''always'' keep them busy. Works perfectly; he's the one Lord who had no threats to his position from an underling (Asmodeus is a different matter, that's part of the job).
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Despite their SiblingRivalry, Lixer and Glasya have foiled plots by others against each other.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Bael is the only Lord of Nine not fitting this trope, and even he moves closer the more he deals with governmental matters.
* ThePeepingTom: Semyaza can see from nine remote points at the same time. He mostly uses it to look at Fierana’s bed from every possible angle (along with Glasya, though that [[TechnicalVirgin only provides softcore content]]).
* ThePerfectionist: Beelzebub, who once was believed to be the most perfect angel, and now attempts to bring the Creation up to the same standard.
* PiecesOfGod: When the Overlord fell, his blood gave birth to malefircareim, mighty beings who proceeded to wage war upon each other. Once the Overlord awoke, he destroyed them (except for a few he set as nobility or intended to use for his own obscure schemes). However, since the malefircareim are still demigods in their own right, they are constantly being reborn in the form of yet lesser beings called nupperibos, who, if allowed (which is rare), evolve back into Malefircareim, with an intermediate stage called a barregon.
* PokeInTheThirdEye: The background to the books is a wizard looking at Hell through a mirror. When at the end he tries to spy on Asmodeus, the Overlord ''reaches through''.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Rhalik, The Bigot, Duke of Intolerance, hates everyone who is not a true devil, including half breeds and Fallen (mind you, he serves one). He also views devils below pit fiend rank with contempt. His main interaction with mortals is promoting intolerance toward each other.
* PowerTattoo: Verrier carries he items, but is covered in powerful sigils on his skin
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Weapons forged out of souls are the least creepy example.
* PragmaticVillainy: A lot of people have been cheated by devils in their contracts, sued them in Hellish courts... and won, with the devils in question being severely punished. After all, Hell doesn't want to have bad reputation in that regard - it will prevent more people from signing such contracts.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Carreau was displeased at the Heavens after they refused to help a mortal woman he loved. Eblis is determined to destroy the Heavens ever since the cast him out in theGreatFall.
* RedRightHand: Fallen Angels tend to suffer significant changes to their appearance. They often remain beautiful, but seldom quite the same.
* ReligionOfEvil: Asmodeus' mortal followers are a prominent example, plus there are all the nobles attempting Divine Ascension.
* ResistanceAsPlanned: Verrier's first attempt to bring the Overlord down was assembling an army of nine million Hellspawn... meaning Lucifer didn't need to hunt them down all over Hell. These days, Verrier is running another resistance, while being hidden by a powerful anti-scrying spell... since Asmodeus is stated to be its source, it can be safely assumed the trope is at work once again.
* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Inverted. Geryon, the one Lord to remain loyal to Asmodeus throughout a rebellion, was exiled because Hell has no place for loyalty. More specifically, loyalty that supersedes ambition. Geryon was cast out of his position for being too staid and content in his position for Asmodeus' taste. His successor, Leviathan, was not released from his icy prison upon assuming the role, and Geryon is mobile in his plotting against him, making it likely that he can regain his Lordship at some point once his shows energy and ambition enough for Asmodeus' satisfaction.
* RunningBothSides: Asmodeus' rebellion against Lucifer, that with the two being avatars of the same being. Mephistopheles later did the same on a smaller scale.
* SanityMeter: An optional mechanic.
* SecretSecretKeeper: Lilith suspects the truth about Asmodeus, but never shared it with anyone - there is no point in doing so.
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Carniveau is a firm promoter of a NoSexAllowed policy. It is not recommended to summon him into the presence of any attractive female.
* ShoutOut: Book Six describes the Dark Ministry and the Blood War as seen by the rank and file devils. There are strong ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' vibes.
* SiblingRivalry: Glasya and Lixer, two children of Asmodeus, are in constant rivalry. Daddy believes it is for the best in terms of efficiency.
* SummonBiggerFish: Glasya, Lixer and Fierana are rumored to be capable of summoning their fathers in combat.
* TechnicalVirgin: Glasya is a virgin, and might be a virgin in all the other senses as well... but who would dare call the Overlord's daughter ''innocent''?
* ThatsNoMoon: In the canon, Asmodeus' true body is hundreds of miles long. In this book, his scales are planet sized.
* TheShadowKnows: Leviathan, when summoned, appears in his smaller shape, but his shadow is much bigger.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Beelzebub tends to speak that way.
* ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts: There are dim rumors of a hellish army much larger than anything ever seen. Led by a creature to match...
* TimeAbyss: Trillions of years is not an uncommon figure in the book.
* TookALevelInBadass: Hell's nobility compared to the first-party sources. The average Duke is stronger than the Lords of the Nine used to be, while the Lords of the Nine are on par with Greater gods.
* UglyAllAlong: Semyaza is a FallenAngel appearing so beautiful that people will do anything for him merely due to his looks. One way to overcome it is using magic powerful enough to see his true appearance... but then the opponent must succeed on a Will check to avoid {{Brain Bleach}}ing the memory away.
* UltimateBlacksmith: Malphas and Hepharion are both specializing in forging weapons for the armies and nobility of Hell.
* {{Unperson}}: A couple of deposed former lords, and Leviathan's ultimate goal for all the others.
* VillainousIncest: Fierana and Belial had dozens of children together.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Even the best of Hell's mortal servants only have a limited chance (varying from master to master) of being rewarded for their service after death. As for ones who attempt to make a DealWithTheDevil, their chances of coming out on top are effectively nil, especially if the deal was with one of the nobles.
* YourMindMakesItReal: Haagenti's ''Live the Nightmare'' power. A person can die from a failed saving throw... despite it actually succeeding.
* WeHaveReserves: The armies of Hell are not as bad in that regard as the demons, and normally try to keep the casualties reasonable among troops. There is just one minor detail; lemures aren't regarded as troops by the rest. They are ''ammunition''.
* WouldHurtAChild: Moloch and Lilith. One can guess this creates a lot of tension between them and the next guy.
* WouldntHurtAChild: Amdusius. Which creates quite a bit of tension between him and Lilith (his ''mother'').
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