Daemon, SangudaemonThis human-sized, serpent-headed spider seems to be made of
clotted blood, its dragonfly-like wings dripping crimson streamers.Sangudaemon CR 9Source Bestiary 6 pg. 75, Book of the Damned - Volume 3: Horsemen of the Apocalypse pg. 54
XP 6,400
NE Medium outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +18
Aura bleeding aura (30 ft.)DefenseAC 23, touch 16, flat-footed 17 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural)
hp 114 (12d10+48)
Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +7
DR 10/good or silver; Immune acid, bleed, death effects,
disease, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 20OffenseSpeed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee bite +19 (1d8+7/18–20/×3 plus bleed), 2 claws +19
(1d6+7/19–20)
Special Attacks bleed (2d4+2), blood drain (1d2 Con), drain soul
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +14)
At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only)
3/day—quickened death knell (DC 14), invisibility, summon swarm
1/day—hold monster (DC 17), summon (level 6, 1 sangudaemon 40%)StatisticsStr 24, Dex 21, Con 19, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 15
Base Atk +12; CMB +19; CMD 35 (47 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved
Initiative, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability
(death knell)
Skills Fly +24, Intimidate +17, Knowledge
(arcana) +15, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18,
Spellcraft +15
Languages Abyssal, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ augmented critical, contagious goreEcologyEnvironment any (Abaddon)
Organization solitary, cluster (2–5), or hunt (6–10)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesAugmented Critical (Ex) A sangudaemon’s bite threatens a critical hit on a roll of 18–20 and deals ×3 damage on a confirmed critical hit.
Bleeding Aura (Su) Blood gushes from wounds at an increased rate when within 30 feet of a sangudaemon. All bleed effects deal 2 additional points of damage (this bonus is included in the daemon’s bleed damage). Heal checks to stop bleeding or stabilize a dying creature, Constitution checks to become stable, and saving throws against effects that deal bleed damage take a –4 penalty.
Contagious Gore (Su) Any creature that stops a bleed effect created by a sangudaemon must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or gain a bleed effect identical to what the creature just stopped (this has no effect if the creature was stopping a bleed effect on itself). A creature that succeeds at this save is immune to this ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Drain Soul (Su) A sangudaemon can revitalize itself by draining souls. The target must be a dead creature the daemon dealt bleed damage to or used its blood drain ability on within the last hour, and can have been dead for no longer than 1 minute. As a full-round action, the daemon can drink the creature’s soul dry, condemning it to Abaddon as one of the hunted (though the dead creature can be returned to life as normal). The daemon gains fast healing 2 for a number of rounds equal to the Hit Dice of the creature whose soul was drained.DescriptionSangudaemons personify death by blood loss. Perhaps more so than any other caste of daemon, the sangudaemon enjoys the hunt for prey, whether that prey is petitioner, mortal, or anything else that bleeds. That the souls of those who perish to a sangudaemon’s wrath are consigned to Abaddon makes these daemons particularly hated by those who hold the supernatural cycle of the soul’s journey sacred. A sangudaemon is about 5 feet long and weighs 200 pounds.Creatures in "Daemon" CategorySource Bestiary 2 pg. 62
Harbingers of ruin and embodiments of the worst ways to die, daemons epitomize painful death, the all-consuming hunger of evil, and the utter annihilation of life. While demons seek to pervert and destroy in endless unholy rampages, and devils vex and enslave in hopes of corrupting mortals, daemons seek only to consume mortal life itself. While some use brute force to despoil life or prey upon vulnerable souls, others wage campaigns of deceit to draw whole realms into ruin. With each life claimed and each atrocity meted out, daemons spread fear, mistrust, and despair, tarnishing the luster of existence and drawing the planes ever closer to their final, ultimate ruin.
Notorious for their hatred of the living, daemons are the things of dark dreams and fearful tales, as their ultimate ambitions include extinguishing every individual mortal life—and the more violent or terrible the end, the better. Their methods vary wildly, typically differentiated by daemonic breed. Many seek to infiltrate the mortal plane and sow death by their own taloned hands, while others manipulate agents (both mortal and immortal) as malevolent puppet masters, instigating calamities on massive scales from their grim realms. Such diversity of methods causes many planar scholars to misattribute the machinations of daemons to other types of fiends. These often deadly mistakes are further propagated by daemons' frequent dealings with and manipulation of other outsiders. Yet in all cases, despair, ruin, and death, spreading like contagion, typify the touch of daemonkind, though such symptoms often prove recognizable only after the hour is far too late.
Daemons flourish upon the plane of Abaddon, a bleak expanse of cold mists, fearful shapes, and hunted souls. Upon these wastes, the souls of evil mortals flee predation by the native fiends, and terror and the powers of the evil plane eventually transform the most ruthless into daemons themselves. Amid these scarred wastelands, poison swamps, and realms of endless night rise the foul domains of the tyrants of daemonkind, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Lords of devastation, these powerful and unique daemons desire slaughter, ruin, and death on a cosmic scale, and drive hordes of their lesser kin to spread terror and sorrow across the planes. Although the Horsemen share a singular goal, their tactics and ambitions vary widely.
Along with mastery over vast realms, the Horsemen are served by unimaginably enormous armies of their lesser brethren, but are obeyed most closely by retinues of daemons enslaved to their titles. These specific strains of daemonic servitors, known among daemonkind as deacons, serve whoever holds the title of Horseman. Although these instruments of the archdaemons differ in strength and ability, their numbers provide their lords with legions capable of near-equal terrorization.
More so than among any other fiendish race, several breeds of daemons lust after souls. While other foul inhabitants of the planes seek the corruption and destruction of living essences, many daemons value possession and control over mortal animas, entrapping and hoarding souls—and in so doing disrupting the natural progression of life and perverting the quintessence of creation to serve their own terrible whims. While not all daemons possess the ability to steal a mortal being's soul and turn it to their use, the lowliest of daemonkind, the maniacal cacodaemons, endlessly seek life essences to consume and imprison. These base daemons enthusiastically serve their more powerful kin, eager for increased opportunities to doom mortal spirits. While cacodaemons place little value upon the souls they imprison, greater daemons eagerly gather them as trophies, fuel for terrible rites, or offerings to curry the favor of their lords. Several breeds of daemons also posses their own notorious abilities to capture mortal spirits or draw upon the power of souls, turning the forces of utter annihilation to their own sinister ends.
The Four Horsemen
Four dread lords, infamous across all the planes, rule the disparate hordes of daemonkind. Risen from among the ranks of their terrible brethren to displace those fiendish tyrants before them, they are the archdaemons, the End Bringers, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In the blasphemous annals of fiendish lore, they are the prophesied architects of multiversal ruin, destined to stand triumphant over cadaverous cosmoses and infinities of silence before also giving way to absolute oblivion. Undisputed in his power among their kind, each Horseman rules a vast realm upon the bleak plains of Abaddon and a distinctive method of mortal ruin: pestilence, famine, war, or death from old age. Yet while each archdaemon commands measureless influence, daemons know nothing of loyalty and serve only those they cannot overcome. Thus, though the Horsemen stand peerless in their power and manipulations among daemonkind, they must ever defend their thrones from the machinations of ambitious underlings and the plots of other archdaemons.
Upon the poisonous expanses of Abaddon, lesser daemonic peers carve petty fiefdoms and posture as lords, but despite their world-spanning intrigues, all bow before the Horsemen—though most do so only grudgingly. Ancient myths also tell of a mysterious fifth Horseman, the Oinodaemon, though nearly all mention of such a creature has been scoured from the multiverse.
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