Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!

[Gastronomie]

The funny thing is that Goristro and Baphomet are both classified "Huge". Not much different in size, appearently.

[Envyus]

The funny thing is that Goristro and Baphomet are both classified "Huge". Not much different in size, appearently.

Both the Minotaur and Goristro were made in his image. I would say when he made the Goristro he decided to make them closer in size to himself. (Both were around 20 feet tall.)

[Sharur]

Hello, and thank you to everyone for this wonderful thread.

As a new GM (who is also new to this forum) who has taken on the task of running a game for a group of new-commers to D&D, I've found this thread to be a wonderful source of ideas (would it be too much to ask for blanket permission to steal from this thread?)

Also, to add my own 2cp, I'll have to go back aways (is that permissable?):

Concerning the Cyclops:
Someone (I believe it was Flashy) mentioned an annoyance with the Cyclops, namely that their "depth perception" trait is "useless", as their rock has disadvantage outside of 30 feet anyway. However, if we look ahead to the Giant's section, all over the Giants, including the weaker Hill Giants(and as a side note, why do Hill Giants rank higher in the Ordering than the Cyclops? Our one-eyed friends have a better to-hit, more damage, and the resulting higher CR...), have the same maximum distance, but double the non-penalized distance to their thrown rock attack. Meaning that there is a mechanical effect to their "depth perception" or lack thereof, it's just built into their stat block.

As a possible story-hook/inspiration:
Maybe their poor eyesight is the reason for the Cyclopes' low stature among Giant-kind. Since the Giants hate the dragons, who have nasty close quarters aoe breath attacks, perhaps the Giants found that they needed to engage at range (which is why all of them have rock attacks), something the Cyclops sucks at.


As a final note on the Cyclops, I do enjoy the fact that they were given a sub-par passive perception. Maybe my players can do a Ulysses, clinging under the sheep to avoid detection.

Concerning the Cloaker/Darkmantle (and the "overlap" between them)
In real life, there exist overlapping species of sharks and crocodiles (even in the same environment, e.g. salt water crocodiles, and bull sharks in fresh water) that are both "aquatic ambush predators". Crocs and darkmantles stay in one place until it's time to strike, while cloakers seem more like the sharks, which have to keep moving to be able to breathe. There are lots of "overlaps" in nature: a species maintains its niche by being the best in its role, but that doesn't mean those niches cannot be contested or overfilled.

[MrConsideration]

I hope it goes without needing to be said that the express purpose of this thread is to create a resource of ideas for people to steal!

[Envyus]

and as a side note, why do Hill Giants rank higher in the Ordering than the Cyclops? Our one-eyed friends have a better to-hit, more damage, and the resulting higher CR...), hav

Because Cyclops are not true giants, same with Formorians (Who are also quite powerful) they are simply giant kin. Related but not true members of the species. Neither species respects the Ordening anyway.

[MrConsideration]

The Hezrou.

We have come once more to a monster I very strongly dislike. Perceptive readers will remember that the Cloaker pretends to be a cloak so it can eat you and my outrage at such an absurd and idiotic concept still finding room in the precious pages of the Monster Manual. Nothing about the Hezrou outrages me. I feel nothing towards the Hezrou but mild indifference, because it is perhaps the single least interesting creature in the book.

It’s a mid-level demonic mook. It is a game concept you can kill guiltlessly, but otherwise not interact with in any way. It doesn’t fight tactically. It doesn’t plot. It has no egregious abilities or weaknesses. It does not have individual desires or will. It is simple an obstacle you resolve by rolling D20s. It’s a perverse throwback to an older age of Orcs guarding chests in 10” rooms quietly waiting for your PCs to come along and kill them.

Art
Awful. It’s a stocky, spiky frog-shaped mook with some reptilian features. The texture seems utterly two-dimensional, the roar nothing more than a token gesture to inject some menace into something that resembles a eighties children’s toy. About as horrifying and evocative as Ryvita.

Fluff
It’s fluff exists to give it a singular existence as a mook – it’s strong but weak-willed and thus serves as a mook. No culture, no ecology, not even a sense of how it fights, or an attempt to describe why fighting one would be unsettling.

Purpose
It fights for another, potentially actually interesting, demon. On the Hezrou’s own merits, it will not be an interesting fight.

it has the usual Demonic resistances and magic resistances to stop it from being easily shut-down.
Then, it frog-marches up to the nearest player and multi-attacks, dealing damage. There are no rider-effects or anything to consider, it just repeatedly does this until either it or your Player Character falls over dead, possibly from overexcitement. It has no movement abilities, and its only special ability is Stench, a gimmick shared by about half the monsters in the book.

My advice for using one is not to. If you really must, it makes a very, very simple meatshield to insert into a fight with a more complex monster to minimise book-keeping. If you used it as a CR8 boss-fight, or had your players fight a pack of Hezrou, it will give your players lots of time to check their Facebook or play Candy Crush uninterrupted by anything more challenging than the occasional petulant die roll.

I have literally invented more interesting opponents on the fly whilst running the game.

Hooks

There are no hooks. This monster has no will or existence independent of the more interesting monster it no doubt works for. If I wrote a Hook like “Your players investigate the strange appearance of the villagers of the Turgid Bogs…” I wouldn’t be using anything actually in the text – I’d be making it up as I went along, which is what everyone should do, because anyone could homebrew a better monster than this in about fifteen minutes. In previous editions and in Pathfinder there is material that makes a Hezrou somewhat interesting – but again, I paid money for this book full of monsters and the information to use them as engaging set-pieces in my game. If I wanted to google stuff on the Open Gaming License I wouldn’t have handed over £50.

Verdict: Utterly bereft of anything interesting. Not worth its place in the Monster Manual of ‘the World’s Greatest Role-Playing Game.”

[Regitnui]

*cough* Let's try to redeem this thing. Well, it apparently stinks worse than a troll, which is something. Unfortunately, that just brings to mind a low-level demon cult summoning this thing to sit in the basement of their competition and gradually foul their HQ, which a dretch can do as well.

Hook: A local village calls in adventurers to discover why the pets and children of the town have been disappearing. They come across a Hezrou that was accidentally summoned by an amateur, who was unfortunately the stinking frog-demon's first victim...

Wait, this thing is so legendarily dumb that a barbarian can outwit it. That is actually something. Behold! The social challenge of having to deal with a being who only barely understands language. It can easily be convinced to turn on others, barring magical compulsion. "Wat yu doin ere?" "We're souls that are supposed to go to Demogorgon. Won't he be pleased if you bring us right to him?" "Supose... ... ... Folow me."

Honestly, this is your baseline demon. While not worth your hate, it does require a little creativity to be interesting.

[georgie_leech]

True, but with creativity a DM can make anything interesting. The Hezrou really doesn't give anything to help with that. At least Orcs and Goblins have something resembling a social structure. In most cases.

[ClintACK]

The Hezrou.

Verdict: Utterly bereft of anything interesting. Not worth its place in the Monster Manual of ‘the World’s Greatest Role-Playing Game.”

Holy crap. I thought you were exaggerating. I had to go read the entry.

In general, I think all of the Demons and Devils of 5e are pale echoes of the glorious things they once were in 3.5e. But this one takes the cake.

They took away its spells. They changed its intelligence from 14 to 5. And that's it. If they were going to turn it into big-dumb-stupid-creature, they should have given it an interesting Rage power or a Rend or Grapple effect if both claws hit or *something*. Or go whole hog and fluff it as a creature of mindless violence and rage that will instantly attack anything it senses moving or alive anywhere nearby. (Oh, wait, they took away it's +8 racial bonus to perception checks, too. *facepalm*)


This really is just "large-size CR8 generic Demon chassis" without any aftermarket features.

Edit-to-add: You really could rescue the Hezrou with just a single line of "fluff" -- make them insane. In combat, they'll pick one target at random and recklessly attack that one target to the exclusion of all else (giving advantage on attacks to everyone else) until that target is a torn-apart corpse. Just the knowledge that this demon will *not* stop hitting you when you go down could make the combats more exciting.

[Millstone85]

And this thread had been doing such a good job at making me like the chapter on demons.

Say, that hezrou looks a lot like a slaad. Has there ever been a connection between the two creatures?

[Gastronomie]

I apologize for bringing up matters of something that is yet to be "reviewed", but looking through the Demons entry (interested by how "boring" Hezrou was), I found the Nalfeshnee entry's fluff to be really interesting.

They keep their larders filled with humanoids abducted from the Material Plane, then eat those creatures alive during elaborate feasts. Thinking of themselves as refined and cultured, nalfeshnees employ stained and rusted cutlery when they dine.

The idea of a banquet that turns out to be held by a Nalfeshnee seems like a really grotesque but interesting plot hook.

If anyone knows the Tokyo Ghoul manga, imagine something like the Ghoul Restaurant. Basically, commoners are invited to an aristocratic restaurant, only to realize that they're the feast. The Ghouls put on a sadistic show, having the humans run away for their lives from a hidous, menacing "executioner", and after the humans are caught and killed, they are served as a full-course dinner.

Imagine a Nalfeshnee who made it to the material plane, threatened/possessed a noble to take over his seat of power, and started gathering the people of his land, killing them (sorta like Gilles de Rais or Elizabeth Báthory) for fun and to satisfy his gourmet stomach. Perhaps he's interested in a certain type of humans, like "underage half-elves, especially tender". You could even have it that he breeds them like livestock, if he's been plaguing his land for decades.

Since I'm running OotA, I think I might introduce the Nalfeshnee banquet in a different form, but either way, this piece of fluff is something that I have to use somewhere.

[Envyus]

I do actually like the art myself. It does not have too much going for it true. But it can be useful in it's brutish nature. I used one as more or less the end boss of Lost Mines of Phandelver, The Black Spider owning an Iron Flash containing one. He could unleash it in case he felt he was being back into a corner.

While the Hezrou is a foot soldier, it is still CR 8 and pretty hard for 5th level party to take on after having had a bunch of other battles.

[Shining Wrath]

The Sword Coast Legends PC game is full of Hezrou, and they are as unmemorable as described. Just whack them somewhere along the line of whacking everything in the room.

Like the dretch, the best DM purpose I can think of for these guys is to add them to achieve desired encounter CR alongside an actually interesting monster.

Sometimes, you do need mooks. These are mooks. Depending on the setting of an encounter, they might fit.

[Professor Gnoll]

Since Hezrous are apparently considered universally bland, I suppose we may as well be moving right along. I've had a look at the Mane.

Manes.
Alas, the pitiful mane. Little, weak, mildly repugnant, and devoid of any sort of cool factor, it's the ultimate punishment for the unrepentantly chaotic and evil- to be turned into the most pathetic of minions. And though 'Emirikol the Chaotic' would warn us not to pity the little wretches, I think it's hard not to feel a little bit sorry for the Mane. It's a pure expression of patheticness, and a reminder of what truly lies at the centre of every demon- a sad, lost little thing.

Art
I don't like the Mane art much, mostly because it makes the creature appear far more muscular and threatening than it really should. Had I seen this art without context, I would have assumed it was a hulking, seven foot monstrosity rather than the puny minion it is. Older art of the creature gets across the feel of the thing much more aptly; note the spindly, weak arms and legs, bulging pot belly, folds of fat dripping with a foul grease reminiscent of sweat… elements which combine to make a creature that's both pathetic and oddly menacing. The 5e effort gets the 'menace' aspect (sort of), but its thick legs and pointy claws grant the creature far too much power.

An aspect of the art that I do like, however, are the bouts of necrosis that appear to have erupted over the Mane's body, eating away its skin. Again, good because you feel a little sorry for the monster, but are also repulsed. All in all though, far too powerful for the weakest of demons.

Fluff
When an evil soul dies an descends to the lower planes, it becomes one of these little blighters. They're little more than demonic foot soldiers, summoned to 'sow death and destruction' and lacking any real personality of their own. It seems odd to me that the demon closest to humanity is the one most devoid of personality and free will; surely you'd expect it to retain at least a few aspects of what it was not so long ago? But alas, the Mane a simply an aggressive little blighter that attacks any non-demon it sees.

Also of note is that if you kill a Mane, it turns into mist and comes back a day later. This means that the things can just keep popping back up to annoy you. They also serve as food for demon lords/raw material for creating better demons, which is truly emblematic of their utterly wretched existence at the lowest rung on the infernal ladder. Generally uninteresting fluff, though I don't know what I expected from the minionest of minions.

Purpose and Tactics
It's cannon fodder, plain and simple. Manes will never be the focus of an encounter. They are a demonic stocking-stuffer, padding out the ranks of more interesting creatures. They're the little guys you step on to get to the bigger guys. Throw in a dozen and watch them run around and get killed. Instead of having your players roll dice for damage, you could have them roll dice for how many they kill with their attack. "Ooh! I cleaved through twelve Manes!" Unlike, say, Kobolds, Manes lack any real intelligence or self direction. This means they can't make traps, outflank, ambush, or formulate any tactic beyond 'run up and hit you'. Not the stuff of thrilling encounters. These little gribblies just swarm around the feet of other demons, and try to distract you from the important things.

That said, there's a few aspects of their fluff which could be used for an interesting encounter. The first is their 'reform after a day' power- unless you get rid of that mist, the horde will just keep following you. Better hope you have a sacred vacuum on hand. Another interesting point is that Orcus (and potentially other demon lords) can instantly turn them into more powerful creatures, ghouls and shadows being the named examples. This could add a little spice to a showdown with a demon lord, in which the fiend continuously transforms the swarming manes into more threatening foes, requiring the removal of the horde before taking on the boss.

Or perhaps you could work with the 'eaten to restore power' idea, and have your demon lord snatching them up to restore their HP/spell slots, again necessitating a way to deal with the horde first.

Buuuuuut, eh. They’re a minion monster. They have no personality, no independent though, and no power. They're slow, weak, and easy to kill. Chuck a hundred of them at your players.

Hooks
Unfortunately for any 'Help a Mane!' plots, the Mane cannot speak or even really think with its INT of 3. But I suppose you could just change that.

The Dread Slaughterer Azgertra was finally slain, after terrorising the land for decades. Her soul flew to the Abyss, where it was transformed into a Mane. However, the Sacred Order of the Argent Owl has deemed that this punishment is not enough- she must be found and put on trial by the Order. Can you find the one Mane in a million that contains her soul and bring it to the Order?

As of late, Mane-slaying has become something of a fad. People compete to see how many they can kill, and great hordes of Manes are summoned into the Material Plane and promptly slain. However, they have dissolved into a great cloud of Mane Essence, which threatens to coalesce into hundreds of thousands of Manes at once, overwhelming the kingdom, or perhaps turn into something far greater and darker. Can you find a way to get rid of the cloud before the land is overwhelmed?

A sad, lost little Mane has somehow won the favour of the terribly rich Archwizard Esmerelda. She has decided that her pet Mane is going to be the ruler of its very own layer of the Abyss, and offers a rich reward- along with a great deal of magical power- to anyone who can get it there. Can you help the little scrapper reach the top of the pile?

Verdict: A pathetic, weak, minion monster, just as it should be.

[Envyus]

I would say the Dretch is actually a bit more pathetic then the Manes. Because they are actually intelligent enough to realize their patheticness and fear all the things stronger then them. (Which in the Abyss is a lot of things.

[ClintACK]

I kind-of like the new Manes picture -- those legs *look* stumpy and slow. And the necrotic tissue makes it look a bit zombie-ish -- which is really what these things are.

Manes are the Walking Dead of the Abyss. They come in large hordes, easily killable but to no possible profit. Most who encounter them will simply outrun them (or fly over) rather than waste effort and resources cutting them down by the hundreds.

They're more of an environmental effect than an actual monster encounter -- unless the Party is careless or gets cornered. Then 5e's bounded accuracy can come into play.

[TripleD]

Something about the Hezrou being the blandest, most boring monster in the book makes them oddly endearing to me and want to think up a plot hook.

All along the Emerald Coast the ship of the dread demon pirate Xotacl has been ranging with impunity. His crew boasts the vilest representatives of the evil races of this plane and beyond. Their landings are erratic and unpredictable. One town is burned to the ground. Another is flooded with wine, food, and gold for a wedding of legendary proportions.

Whispered stories speak of a war between a Demon Warlord and Ithilids. Xotactl, a mindless soldier, was struck by the tentacle of the Great Old One. His mind shattered, he saw for the first time exactly who and what he was. He was left with a single burning desire: to cast off his shackles of his definition and become the most interesting monster in the world!

[GorinichSerpant]

I'm imagining a Nalfeshnee or Balor holding a bag of manes and eating them like chips, squishy and repulsive chips. Or having demons throwing manes to feed the flames of an infernal forge. In generally having the vile engine that is the Abyss be oiled by manes, fueled by manes and taped together with manes. Manes also used as standard cannon ammunition, trap finding devices and furniture. Maybe even have the ground of the Abyss be composed of manes that have been stomped into the ground so higher forms of demons have somewhere to stand.

On a similar note, I am now imagining a villain who uses manes the way some people use duct tape or gunpowder.

[Regitnui]

I'm imagining a Nalfeshnee or Balor holding a bag of manes and eating them like chips, squishy and repulsive chips. Or having demons throwing manes to feed the flames of an infernal forge. In generally having the vile engine that is the Abyss be oiled by manes, fueled by manes and taped together with manes. Manes also used as standard cannon ammunition, trap finding devices and furniture. Maybe even have the ground of the Abyss be composed of manes that have been stomped into the ground so higher forms of demons have somewhere to stand.

On a similar note, I am now imagining a villain who uses manes the way some people use duct tape or gunpowder.

M:tG's goblins are probably the best target for this sort of thing. They're just smart enough to build devices that inevitably fail explosively, and they hang out in gangs and tribes. However, gods and celestials help you if someone gets the little things organized. Then you're going down.

[Shining Wrath]

The ultimate chaotic good Paladin, winner of all Paladin-offs in CG Paladin heaven for all eternity, would be the guy who went to the abyss and successfully led the Manes in rebellion, overthowing their despotic demonic overlords and gaining their freedom and self-respect.

Someone write this novel.

[Gastronomie]

The ultimate chaotic good Paladin, winner of all Paladin-offs in CG Paladin heaven for all eternity, would be the guy who went to the abyss and successfully led the Manes in rebellion, overthowing their despotic demonic overlords and gaining their freedom and self-respect.

Someone write this novel.

It'll be a series.
The first book will be about teaching the Manes how to not instinctively attack everything they see.
The second book will be about teaching the Manes how to think logically.
The third book will be about teaching the Manes the idea of rebellion.
The fourth book will be about teaching the Manes how to move as ordered by the Paladin.
And the fifth book will be about attempting the rebellion.

The sixth book will be about re-teaching the Manes how to not instinctively attack everything they see, upon failure of the first rebellion.

There's also a sequel which is about teaching the Manes the ideas of "freedom" and "self-respect".

[Regitnui]

The ultimate chaotic good Paladin, winner of all Paladin-offs in CG Paladin heaven for all eternity, would be the guy who went to the abyss and successfully led the Manes in rebellion, overthowing their despotic demonic overlords and gaining their freedom and self-respect.

Someone write this novel.

Try it with the hezrou, and it might work.

[VoxRationis]

Are archons not in the Monster Manual for this edition? I didn't see them in the thread so far and I can't find them in the SRD. In 3.5, I loved comparing the "unit rosters" for the celestial and fiendish armies. I noted with amusement that the lowest-level celestials always won versus their fiendish counterparts, owing to flight and ranged attacks.

[Regitnui]

There's an archon monster in Plane Shift: Zendikar, that I like to think of as angelic cavalry. It's nothing akin to trumpet or lantern archons of 3.5. Perhaps the will-o'-the-wisp can suffice as a lantern archon, with a few refluffings.

[Iguanodon]

Art
I don't like the Mane art much, mostly because it makes the creature appear far more muscular and threatening than it really should. Had I seen this art without context, I would have assumed it was a hulking, seven foot monstrosity rather than the puny minion it is.

I don't have any problem with the picture myself, but it really takes up too much space on the page. It's supposed to be small, so why is it bigger than the large hezrou?

The manes looks kinda like a demonic bean; I can imagine a reclining demon lord eating them by the handful.

[MrConsideration]

Marilith



The Marilith is one of a few Monster Manual favourites inspired by the rich mythology of the Indian sub-continent alongside the Rakshasa and Naga. All of these are among my favourites. It has got a long pedigree that dates to the very beginning as an enigmatic ‘Type V’ Demon and has changed little through the ages. Why break a winning-formula?

Art
I find this depiction a little staid in comparison to the earlier depictions of the Marilith, which had a more witch-like countenance and more chaotic appearance. Here the Marilith reflects the calm, cool strategist the fluff describes. I like the expression of icy contempt on her face (perhaps I recognise it from dalliances with less serpentine femme fatales) and the sense of effortless poise. It communicates a powerful sense of self-control. I also like that they’ve desexualised it in comparison to earlier depictions: I imagine one struggles to be a badass Amazon of the Abyss with one’s boobs flopping about all over the place.

Fluff
They are generals of the Abyss: I think more could be made about the difficulties of their role and their distinction from most demon’s mindless destruction but it at least situates them in a place in the hierarchy and gives your players an opportunity to meet them. I love the idea of them ‘leading and uniting’ Demonic Hordes like a sort of Mongol Genghis Khan. They’re obviously the elite doers, if not rulers, of the Abyss, and must have plenty for PCs to do…

Purpose and Tactics
They’re fairly nasty. Their main ability is twofold: they attack seven times (2d8 +4 longsword is pretty meagre, but 6 strikes makes it pretty hefty) and a mighty tail grapple. The Marilith can react every single turn, giving it an effective 23 AC against melees attack using its Parry ability, making melee combat a fairly poor way of fighting the beast and risky at that. If you escape, then Tail can reach out and pull you back into cutting-range. Should you make a complete escape, the Marilith teleports into a midst of the party and puts a longsword through your back. Any combat you run, presumably with some demon minions as cannon fodder, should start with Madam Marilith teleporting straight into the midst of characters and unleashing hell – or unleashing the Abyss at least.

The other abilities - Truesight, Magic Resistance, Immunities, Saving Throws as big as a First Edition monster’s cup size - make this slithering duellist extra-ordinarily difficult to shut down with magic.

In terms of its place in your campaign, the Marilith can easily function as a quest-giver in the Abyss, or BBEG on a campaign on any other plane.

Hooks
Among the Kuzvukdun Steppes of the Abyss the demonic warbands had fought endlessly. Recently, however, a single Demon has begun to unite one warband after another under her rulership. End the Marilith, and the demons will return to their intercine warfare. That state of affairs would suit Archdevil Casalvaxis nicely.

Faster-Than-Heartbeats has won her overlord’s battles in the Blood War, and against rival demons, and he now grows fat and soul-full on her victories. Storm the palace, kill the Balor, and Faster-Than-Heartbeats will hold back her troops and give you dominion over her overlord’s treasure.

They says she’s faster than any man. She slithers on any surface. No magic can trick or deceive her. No man can strike her. She is Zamira, and she has been champion of this arena since the sun as young. Can you best her?

Verdict: My anaconda don’t want none unless you get 7 attacks a turn, hon.

[Regitnui]

I think it's worth mentioning the little piece of flavour text next to the art;

The temple was strewn with body parts. We concluded that the cultists had summoned a powerful demon and not lived to regret it. Not wanting to get hacked to pieces ourselves, we cut short our expedition and headed back to the village of Hommlet with our tails between our legs. Rufus and Burne had a good laugh at our expense, let me tell you. - Nelumé, a young half-elf wizard, chronicling her one and only visit to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

If your players don't feel the same fear encountering a marilith as that NPC did seeing the results, then you're playing them wrong.

[Shining Wrath]

My little girl was flipping through the Monster Manual, found the Marilith, and immediately wanted to play one as a PC. It was a little hard to find level-equivalent foes....

They are a little difficult to DM precisely because they are lethal, smart, and mobile. I don't like the idea of killing a PC during surprise round, but a Marilith played true to fluff is going to teleport next to the party wizard (sorcerer, warlock) and kill them as their first action. When you are mainly vulnerable to ranged and magical attacks, and you are also a strategic genius, you're taking out the glass cannon as your first order of business. With an average of 93 points of damage if every attack hits plus a nearly-automatic grapple of the squishy person ... not good.

[Gastronomie]

They are a little difficult to DM precisely because they are lethal, smart, and mobile. I don't like the idea of killing a PC during surprise round, but a Marilith played true to fluff is going to teleport next to the party wizard (sorcerer, warlock) and kill them as their first action. When you are mainly vulnerable to ranged and magical attacks, and you are also a strategic genius, you're taking out the glass cannon as your first order of business. With an average of 93 points of damage if every attack hits plus a nearly-automatic grapple of the squishy person ... not good.

Now, this is how I'd do it, but I'd ignore normal "surprise round" or even "action round" rules and act it out as a scene (of course, asking the players "what they wanna do" - but without rolling initiative, ignoring most action rules).

Like, when the party is walking through the relics of a lost temple, the hiding Marilith suddenly appears next to the glass cannon and proceeds to immediately deliver two or three strikes. But if someone is close to the Wizard, perhaps the rogue with decent DEX, he might get a chance at that timing to duck through, grab the Wizard, and use his Cunning Action (disengage) to just twist out of reach. Then, as the Marilith tries to follow, the party Fighter dashes in line, and confronts the Marilith head-on.

...Something like that. Then, from there, let them roll initiative and proceed to go on with the fight normally.

I love the Marilith's design, the only problem being that its high CR makes it unsuitable for most campaigns. Such a shame in that sense, but then again, but if its CR was low, it probably isn't really a Marilith anymore.

[MrConsideration]

I wasn't being facetious when I called it the Amazon of the Abyss - I can really imagine a young girl emphasising or admiring the capability and beauty of the Marilith. It's a great role model despite being Chaotic Evil.

That's a big problem I have with a lot of demons. Anything that's CR 15+ is probably going to never see play because most campaigns start low and never get there - but I'm dead against the whole "fight a baby Dragon at level 4" conceit in newer editions because I feel its detrimental to the concept of dragons in the world.

My players are level 6, but I'm evil, so they've faced Behir and Revenants and things that I like. But a Marilith would dice them.

Or they could see a Marilith in action before-hand, against a foe or other demon, or be told about how deadly it is, so they approach explicitly prepared to nix that strategy - precasting buffs on the Wizard, or disguising the Wizard or such-like. It's not a random encounter sort of enemy: the Marilith should be a unique opponent they can research first.