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Baron Corm
2007-06-03, 09:31 PM
Executioner devils serve directly under Asmodeus. They are his latest and perhaps greatest creation; fast, cunning, powerful, resilient, and adept at securing souls for Baator. The other lords of hell would likely promote any devil who obtained the secret of creating executioner devils to a much higher station, but fear of Asmodeus has prevented that from happening so far.

Executioner devils in their natural form appear similar to imps, but larger. They have needle-sharp teeth, three-inch long claws, and leathery wings. Their skin is a bright red color. They move with a confident air about them, knowing that they are the favored of Asmodeus and even other devils fear their powers, due to the fact that little is known about them even in Baator.

Executioner devils move so fast that they seem to be just a blur. Though their claws are not overly long or sharp, they supernaturally cause gaping wounds to open up whenever they touch flesh. The number of attacks an executioner devil can pull off in a short period of time causes these wounds to add up quickly.

The ability for which executioner devils get their name is an attack whereby the executioner devil swiftly and forcefully extends his claws to penetrate straight through a creature, causing massive damage. The executioner devil can only do this when his enemy is low on vitality, but they can naturally sense when a creature is weak.

Due to the fact that Asmodeus does not fight in the Blood Wars, executioner devils have not seen much fighting action yet. The few Asmodeus has sent to Avernus as test subjects have torn apart hordes of demons as if they were made of paper. However, most executioner devils are currently being used to procure souls; something else which they are built well for. Executioner devils can use hold monster at will to bind a victim, and then assume a form which the victim loves and desires, be it a perfectly attractive woman or the creature's dead brother. Instead of pretending that they are actually that form like a succubus might, an executioner devil does it simply to mess with the mind of its victim while it uses a combination of lies and humiliation to force the victim to sign a document which forfeits the victim's soul. It then executes the victim to ensure that it goes straight to Baator.

Unlike most devils, as a heydyon procures more souls for Asmodeus, it does not advance to more powerful forms. Instead, loyal heydyon advance hit dice until they have achieved 18 hit dice, after which point they can advance no furthur unless Asmodeus grants them a unique form. For each hit dice gained, an executioner devil also improves its various abilities by variable amounts, depending on how much Asmodeus favors it. An average 18 HD executioner devil is listed after the normal one.



Executioner Devil (Heydyon)
Small Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 9d8+18 (58 hp)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 100 ft. (perfect)
Initiative: +15
Armor Class: 24 (+1 size, +7 Dex, +6 natural); touch 18; flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+4
Attack: Claw +17 melee (1d6-1) plus gash
Full-Attack: 2 claws +17 melee (1d6-1) plus gash; see text
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Execute, summon devil, change shape, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good and silver, immunity to fire and poison, acid resistance 10, cold resistance 10, see in darkness, telepathy 100 ft., regeneration 5, hide in plain sight, improved evasion, speedy
Saves: Fort +8 Ref +13 Will +6
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 25, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 14
Skills: Bluff +14*, Hide +23, Move Silently +19, Intimidate +14*, Knowledge (the planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +13, Search +13, Spot +12, Tumble +19
Feats: Weapon Finesse (bonus), Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Dodge (bonus), Mobility (bonus), Spell Penetration
Environment: The Nine Hells
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 10-18 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: -


Executioner devils speak Infernal, Celestial, Common, and Draconic.


Combat

Executioner devils use their speed and initiative to their advantage. They tear up as much as they can as soon as they can, and execute all dying victims as soon as they are able. If a particular creature is giving the executioner devil a hard time, it will use hold monster, but this causes it to forfeit all of its considerable number of attacks, so it mostly does this out of fear or a desire to torture. Mass hold monster will be used if the executioner devil finds himself ambushed by a large number of enemies which he cannot instantly dispatch.

When torturing creatures, the executioner devil will change shape to further confuse and disorient the creature, and make it more willing to give up its soul. It varies using lies and humiliation to get the results it desires, rarely resorting to actual pain until it is time for the creature to die, as that might violate the Pact Primeval.

An executioner devil delights in using its execute ability while in other forms whenever possible, though in the thick of battle it tends to remain in his natural form.

An executioner devil's claw attacks are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.


Gash (Su)

The executioner devil causes any creature struck by its claw attack to bleed profusely from large gashes. Such a creature takes 1 point of Constitution damage each time it is struck and takes 1 point of damage every round until it is the recipient of a cure spell or its equivalent. Multiple hits cause the damage taken per round to increase.

Speedy (Ex)

An executioner devil may make a single attack each round against any creature he can reach with his move speed. When facing a single creature, an executioner devil can attack once for each 20 feet it has not used in its move action. For example, if a creature was 30 feet away from the executioner devil, it would be able to move 30 feet to get to the creature, attack three times, and then move ten feet in another direction.

For every 10 feet that an executioner devil moves in a round, it receives a cumulative +1 dodge bonus to AC against all attacks made against it in that round.

Executioner devils receive a +4 racial bonus on initiative checks.

Execute (Ex)

An executioner devil intuitively knows when his opponent is weakened (or weak to begin with). When a creature has 30 hit points or less or is helpless, the executioner devil can, as a swift action, deal 2d6+20 damage to it as a ranged attack (30 ft. range, no increment) by forcefully extending its claws. The executioner devil can deal this damage twice (each requiring a separate ranged attack roll) by taking a swift action and a standard or move action. It can deal this damage thrice by taking a full-round action.

Unless the creature is immune to pain, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die instantly each time it is struck. Execute does not activate Gash.

Regeneration (Ex)

Good-aligned, silvered weapons and spells or effects with the [good] descriptor deal normal damage to an executioner devil.

Change Shape (Su)

Executioner devils can assume the form of any intelligent (torturable) race, either small or medium size. The executioner devil has no real control over this ability; it simply causes it to appear as the loved one of a present torturee. The executioner devil retain all abilities, except it loses its flight. However, its base land speed increases to 100 feet. The executioner devil retains subtle devilish features as well as more obvious ones such as its claws and teeth (it retains its natural attacks, but does not receive a bonus on Disguise checks).

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex)

An executioner devil can use the Hide skill even while being observed any round in which it moves at least 50 feet. It commonly uses its speed to catch its prey flat-footed.

Improved Evasion (Ex)

An executioner devil has Improved Evasion, as the rogue ability of the same name.

Summon Devil (Sp)

Once per day an executioner devil can attempt to summon 2d10 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or 1d2 pain devils with a 20% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.

Spell-Like Abilities

At will: hold monster (DC 19); 3/day: plane shift; 1/day: mass hold monster (DC 23). Caster level 9th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Skills

Executioner devils receive a +8 bonus on Bluff and Intimidate checks made while torturing creatures in its humanoid form.






Average fully advanced executioner devil (may vary):

Executioner Devil (Heydyon)
Small Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 18d8+54 (135 hp)
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), fly 150 ft. (perfect)
Initiative: +20
Armor Class: 32 (+1 size, +12 Dex, +9 natural); touch 23; flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+13
Attack: Claw +30 melee (1d6-1) plus gash
Full-Attack: 2 claws +30 melee (1d6-1) plus gash; see above text
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Execute, summon devil, change shape, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/good and silver, immunity to fire and poison, acid resistance 10, cold resistance 10, see in darkness, telepathy 100 ft., regeneration 5, hide in plain sight, improved evasion, speedy
Saves: Fort +14 Ref +23 Will +12
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 34, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 23
Skills: Bluff +27*, Hide +37, Move Silently +33, Intimidate +27*, Knowledge (the planes) +23, Knowledge (religion) +23, Search +23, Spot +22, Tumble +33, Listen +22
Feats: Weapon Finesse (bonus), Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (enchantment), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Dodge (bonus), Mobility (bonus), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (hold monster), Quicken Spell-Like Ability (plane shift)
Environment: The Nine Hells
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 15
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -


The elite executioner devils are even more effective at finding and binding souls. At around 12 HD, they gain the ability to cast prying eyes. By the time they reach full advancement, they all have the ability to cast greater prying eyes. This lets them gain information about a subject's personal life before ever confronting them about their soul. An elite executioner devil retains all the abilities of its former self, except as noted here.


Combat

Spell-Like Abilities

At will: hold monster (DC 23), greater prying eyes; 3/day: plane shift; 2/day: mass hold monster (DC 27). Caster level 18th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Devil (Sp)

Once per day an executioner devil can attempt to summon 4d10 lemures with an 80% chance of success, or 2d4 pain devils with a 50% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 6th-level spell.

Execute (Ex)

An executioner devil intuitively knows when his opponent is weakened (or weak to begin with). When a creature has 30 hit points or less or is helpless, the executioner devil can, as a swift action, deal 3d6+30 damage to it as a ranged attack (30 ft. range, no increment) by forcefully extending its claws.

Poppatomus
2007-06-03, 09:57 PM
Interesting idea. You've clearly put a lot of thought into the backstory. I wonder if the CR might be a bit low though. Hold monster at will from a creature with perfect flight at a DC of 19 is fairly tough, I think. at level 9 the save itself is only at +6 for the best and +3 for the worst. (A ninth level fighter with no WIS bonus is looking to fail 75% of the time) Anyone without the ability to fly is basically just a sitting duck, waiting to fail that save. Then, boom execute.

additionally the execute ability, while cool, basically means instant death. A wizard, rolling D4 hit die and usually absent a decent con score, has a maximum of 36 hp at level 9, likely less then 30 to start. and of course, the execute allows the demon to sense if the character has less. That means, round one, from the air, mass hold person (DC 23, meaning a good save needs a 17 before wisdom), then swift action executes wizard. hell, if the party isn't already flying, it doesn't even need to open with mass hold person. It will do an average of 27 damage, or 54, or 81, requiring the level 9 wizard to make three DC 37 FORT saves or die. If it does decide to use hold person, or mass hold person, the next round, any target effected by the ability gets the same treatment. (hold person does leave you helpless right?)

Not saying any of this is bad. Its a mighty monster you've created here, and that was your goal. It just seems something this deadly needs a higher CR than 9. (Not that I'm an expert or anything just something to consider.)

Baron Corm
2007-06-03, 10:08 PM
heh i didn't even consider the fact that he would go UPWARDS. i was picturing more this dude flying from creature to creature on the ground, able to take on large groups by himself. the abuse of unlimited hold person while flying is now apparant...

although a red dragon wyrmling with 7 HD who has 150 ft. flying speed and a CR of 4 can fire off a 15 ft. breath weapon. blue dragon wyrmlings have a CR of 3 with a 100 ft. flying speed. melee guys are simply toast in this game unless they have some way of dealing with flying creatures i guess. my main worry when making the CR was that his hit points would be too low for his CR. i'm not good at setting these things either... probably should bump it up to at least 11.

Haruspex
2007-06-05, 05:58 AM
Can't comment on CR, but I like the concept. Do you mean an executor as in a person who does stuff for you or an executioner who executes people.

ZeroNumerous
2007-06-05, 06:14 AM
although a red dragon wyrmling with 7 HD who has 150 ft. flying speed and a CR of 4 can fire off a 15 ft. breath weapon.

Yes, but thats raw damage. 2d10 isn't alot to 4 ECL 4 characters. Compare that to being paralyzed, and thus capable of being hit with a coup de grace, at will. And if the creature was using the tactics it's Intelligence score suggests, it'd be hovering at 30 feet, hitting the enemy casters with mass hold person, then taking a full round to kill the Cleric/healer with 6d6+60. Definitely way way too much for a CR 9.

From there, he'd just move on to the other casters, killing them with 6d6+60 every round while the fighters can't do anything. Remember, anyone who fails their will save, which is very likely, is immobile and has an AC of 10+armor. So at most, an arcane caster would have AC 12 from Bracers of Armor. A divine caster would have 18, which the devil still hits on a natural 1. This creature would tear up a non-optimized party, and an optimized party would still have some trouble.

That said, you could do one of two things. One: Lower the innate damage/attack bonuses. Two: Raise the CR. I suggest a CR of around 12 or 13 with a two hit-die bump to bring it up to 11d8.

EvilElitest
2007-06-05, 06:16 AM
I really quite like the fluff. You might want to include some adventure hooks, but hte fluff is great
from,
EE

Baron Corm
2007-06-05, 11:00 AM
Can't comment on CR, but I like the concept. Do you mean an executor as in a person who does stuff for you or an executioner who executes people.

my major bad. ah well, it's good to be humbled every once in a while


I really quite like the fluff. You might want to include some adventure hooks, but hte fluff is great
from,
EE

thanks EE :smallredface: