Demon, NalfeshneeA towering, corpulent beast, this fiend has the hideous head of a boar and arms ending in fatty, four-fingered hands.Nalfeshnee CR 14Source Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 65 XP 38,400 CE Huge outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., true seeing; Perception +31 Aura unholy aura (DC 23)DefenseAC 29, touch 13, flat-footed 28 (+4 deflection, +1 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size) hp 203 (14d10+126) Fort +22, Ref +9, Will +21 DR 10/good; Immune electricity, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 25OffenseSpeed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor) Melee bite +23 (3d8+11/19–20), 2 claws +23 (2d6+11) Space 15 ft., Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks unholy nimbus Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th) Constant—true seeing, unholy aura (DC 23) At will—call lightning (DC 18), feeblemind (DC 20), greater dispel magic, slow (DC 18), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only) 1/day—summon (level 5, 1 nalfeshnee 20%, 1d4 hezrous 40%, or 1d4 vrocks 50%)StatisticsStr 32, Dex 13, Con 29, Int 23, Wis 22, Cha 20 Base Atk +14; CMB +27; CMD 42 Feats Awesome Blow, Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack Skills Bluff +22, Diplomacy +22, Fly +10, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcana) +23, Knowledge (planes) +23, Knowledge (any one other) +20, Perception +31, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +23, Stealth +10, Use Magic Device +22; Racial Modifier +8 on Perception Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft.EcologyEnvironment any (Abyss) Organization solitary or warband (1 nalfeshnee, 1 hezrou, and 2–5 vrocks) Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesUnholy Nimbus (Su) Three times per day as a free action a nalfeshnee can create a nimbus of unholy light, causing nauseating beams of writhing color to play around its body. One round later, the light bursts in a 60-foot radius. Any non-demon creature caught within this area must succeed on a DC 22 Will save or be dazed for 1d10 rounds as visions of madness hound it. The save DC is Charisma-based.DescriptionFew demons understand the inner workings of the Abyss like the nalfeshnee, and it is not unusual to see a nalfeshnee seeming to serve the Abyss itself rather than a demon lord. Some claim stewardship over the fleshy realms that birth new demons, while others guard sites of particular significance deep in the plane’s secret reaches. Often, a nalfeshnee’s realm in the Abyss surpasses the strength and size of the largest of mortal kingdoms, for nalfeshnees display a singular gift for managing and ordering the chaos of the Abyss. Mortal summoners often seek them out for their unparalleled yet mad intellects, ever taking care to comb through bargains with such demons for hidden and unwanted consequences, for there is little a nalfeshnee will agree to do that does not, in some sinister way, advance the needs and desires of the Abyss.
Nalfeshnees stand 20 feet tall and weigh 8,000 pounds. They form from the souls of greedy or avaricious evil mortals, particularly those who ruled over empires of slavery, theft, banditry, and more violent vices.Creatures in "Demon" CategorySource Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 57 Demons exist for one reason—to destroy. Where their more lawful counterparts, the devils of Hell, seek to twist mortal minds and values to remake and reshape them into reflections of their own evil, demons seek only to maim, ruin, and feed. They recruit mortal life only if such cohorts speed along the eventual destruction of hope and goodness. Death is, in some ways, their enemy—for a mortal who dies can often escape a demon's depredations and flee to his just reward in the afterlife. It is the prolonging of mortal pain and suffering that fuels a demon's lusts and desires, for it is partially from mortal sin and cruelty that these monstrous fiends were born.
Demons are the most prolific and among the most destructive of the fiendish races, yet despite what some lore might preach, they were not the first forms of life to rise in the stinking pits of ruin and cruelty known across the multiverse as the Abyss. Before the first fledgling deity gazed upon reality, before mortal life drew its breath, before even the Material Plane itself had fully formed, the Abyss was infested with life.
Known to many scholars as “proto-demons,” these wretched and deadly beings were the qlippoth. Today, because of the influence of sinful mortal souls upon the Abyss, mixed with unholy tamperings at the hands of the daemonic keepers of Abaddon and the cruel whims of fate and evolution, the rule of the qlippoth has receded. The proto-demons dwell now in the noxious and forgotten corners of the Abyss, and the far more fecund and prolific demons rule now in their stead. With each evil mortal soul that finds its way into the Abyss, the ranks of the demonic hordes grows—a single soul can fuel the manifestation of dozens or even hundreds of demons, with the exact nature of the sins carried by the soul guiding the shapes and roles of the newly formed fiends.
The Abyss is a vast (some say infinite) realm, far larger than any other plane save possibly the primal chaos of the Maelstrom itself. As befits such a vast and varied realm, the demonic host is likewise diverse. Some carry in their frames humanoid shapes, while others are twisted beasts. Some flop on land while others flap in air or sea. Some are schemers and manipulators of emotion and politics, others are destructive engines of ruin. Yet all demons work to the same goal—pain and suffering for mortal life in all its forms.
Yet despite this, mortals have sought demonic aid since the start. Be it an instinctual draw to self-destruction or a misguided lust for power, conjurers to this day continue to draw forth demons with forbidden magic. Some conjure demons for lore, while others call upon them to serve as assassins or guards. Demons view such summoners with a mix of hatred and thanks, for most demons lack the ability to come to the Material Plane to wreak havoc on their own. They depend on the mad to call them up from the Abyss, and while they gnash their fangs and rail against the commands and strictures enforced, most demons find ways to twist their summoners' demands so that even the most tightly controlled demonic slave leaves a trace of ruin and despair in its wake. More often than not, a foolish spellcaster makes a fatal mistake in the conjuring and pays for it with blood, unwittingly releasing a terrible blight upon the world as his conjuration breaks free of his control.
The truly mad call upon demons to offer themselves, both body and soul, in the misguided belief that alliance with the demonic can buy salvation and protection when the demonic apocalypse finally comes to call. Tales of desperate kings who sought to engage demons to serve as generals for their armies or of lunatics who seek demonic sires to gift them with horrific children are common enough, yet worst are those mortals who worship the most powerful demons as gods, and who pledge their lives in support of that which would bring destruction to all. Demon SubtypeDemons are chaotic evil outsiders that call the Abyss their home. Demons possess a particular suite of traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry) as summarized here.- Immunity to electricity and poison.
- Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10.
- Summon (Sp) Demons share the ability to summon others of their kind, typically another of their type or a small number of less powerful demons.
- Telepathy.
- Except where otherwise noted, demons speak Abyssal, Celestial, and Draconic.
- A demon's natural weapons, as well as any weapon it wields, is treated as chaotic and evil for the purpose of resolving damage reduction
|