GEHENNA: When the Shadowfell Feels too Cheerful

Welcome to Gehenna: It's Like Hell, but With Worse Real Estate and More Bureaucracy"

Announcement:
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Show Notes – Episode Title: "Gehenna: Evil Slopes and Infernal Bureaucracy"

Summary:
In this infernal episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts return from Gen Con only to plummet straight into the burning basalt slopes of Gehenna—a plane so depressing it makes the Shadowfell look like Disneyland. They dive into the lore of the plane's inhospitable geography, wildly impractical city design, and the kinds of inhabitants that only a sadistic game designer could love. Along the way, we meet Nymicry (a city that wants to eat you), the Tower of Arcana (where bureaucracy is tattooed into your skin), and the city of Portent (built on a corpse, because why not).

The hosts explore the goddess of torture, debate whether the Rogue class needs therapy or just a rebrand, and try to answer the ultimate question: "Why would anyone go to Gehenna… on purpose?"

• 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide (affiliate link)
• 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide (affiliate link)
• Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (affiliate link)
• Forgotten Realms Wiki - Gehenna
• Ghengis Sean

RPGBOT.Podcast Episodes

• The Abyss
• Archeron
• Arcadia
• The Beastlands
• Bytopia
• Carceri
• Celestia
• The Ethereal Plane
• The Feywild
• Hell Part 1
• Hell Part 2
• Limbo
• Mechanus
• Pandemonium
• The Shadowfell

Key Takeaways:

• Gehenna is the DMV of the multiverse—agonizingly slow, unbearably hostile, and absolutely full of paperwork.
• Gen Con was great! Unlike Gehenna, which is a hostile volcanic rockslide with a bad attitude.
• Every layer of Gehenna slopes downward, because gravity hates you too.
• Nymicry is a mimic the size of a city, proving once again that your GM can be too creative.
• The Tower of Arcana is where contracts are etched into skin, because parchment is for cowards.
• Portent is a yugoloth-shaped city with a throne that whispers spoilers into your ear.
• The only native species are bar guests, who seem suspiciously like people who got stuck at Gen Con after dark.
• Leviatar, the goddess of torture, rules with cruelty and creativity—think "Hellraiser meets HR onboarding."
• Torch is a city where crime is a feature, not a bug. Bonus: there's a blood swamp.
• Rogues are cool, but maybe need a PR team—they're mechanically solid but struggle to stand out.
• Gehenna is full of flavor, if your flavor is emotional suffering and lava.

At RPGBOT.net and The RPGBOT.Podcast, our brains are made of real meat. We are not the fever dream of a rogue algorithm trying to understand humor. We are, tragically, real people—with dice in one hand and sarcasm in the other.
RPGBOT: It's Soylent Green for the RPG crowd—made from actual humans, not generative AI.

Want more planar deep-dives, class analysis, and volcanic despair? Visit RPGBOT.net for guides, breakdowns, and the kind of nerdy brilliance that even Gehenna can't melt.

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Meet the Hosts:

• Tyler Kamstra – The tactical mind behind RPGBOT.net, Tyler sees the Pathfinder action economy like Neo sees the Matrix.
• Randall James – Technologist, lore enthusiast, and fully prepared to duel Peter Jackson over which LotR edition reigns supreme.
• Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare. Fueled by sarcasm and sweet, sweet table-flipping energy.

How to Find Us:

In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net

Tyler Kamstra

• BlueSky: @rpgbot.net
• TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET

Ash Ely

• Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games
• BlueSky: @GravenAshes
• YouTube: @ashravenmedia

Randall James

• BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG
• Amateurjack.com
• Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link)

Producer Dan

• @Lzr_illuminati