Demon, Shadow DemonOnly this shadowy bat-winged demon’s teeth and claws have any sense of physicality to them—the rest is lost in darkness.Shadow Demon CR 7Source Pathfinder RPG Bestiary pg. 67
XP 3,200
CE Medium outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar, incorporeal)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20DefenseAC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 14 (+4 deflection, +4 Dex)
hp 59 (7d10+21)
Fort +5, Ref +11, Will +7
Defensive Abilities incorporeal; DR 10/cold iron or good; Immune cold, electricity, poison; Resist acid 10, fire 10; SR 17
Weaknesses sunlight powerlessnessOffenseSpeed fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee 2 claws +11 touch (1d6 plus 1d6 cold), bite +11 touch (1d8 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks pounce, sprint, shadow blend
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
At will—deeper darkness, fear (DC 18), greater teleport (self only), telekinesis (DC 19)
3/day—shadow conjuration (DC 18), shadow evocation (DC 19)
1/day—magic jar (DC 19), summon (level 3, 1 shadow demon 50%)StatisticsStr —, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 19
Base Atk +7; CMB +11; CMD 25
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes,
Skills Acrobatics +14, Bluff +14, Fly +22, Knowledge (local) +12, Knowledge (planes) +12, Perception +20, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Common; telepathy 100 ft.EcologyEnvironment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary, pair, or haunt (3–8)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesSprint (Ex) Once per minute, a shadow demon increase its fly speed to 240 feet for 1 round.
Shadow Blend (Su) During any conditions other than bright light, a shadow demon can disappear into the shadows as a move-equivalent action, effectively becoming invisible. Artificial illumination or light spells of 2nd level or lower do not negate this ability.
Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex) A shadow demon is utterly powerless in bright light or natural sunlight and flees from it. A shadow demon caught in such light cannot attack and can take only a single move or standard action. A shadow demon that is possessing a creature using magic jar is not harmed by sunlight, but if it is struck by a sunbeam or sunburst spell while possessing a creature, the shadow demon is driven out of its host automatically.DescriptionTales of demonic possession are common, used often by the ignorant to explain strange or violent behavior. While the majority of such cases are merely manifestations of madness or derangement, those that are legitimate possessions are often the work of shadow demons.
Unlike many demons, shadow demons are incorporeal. When a particularly envious and evil mortal soul is pulled into the Abyss, it is transformed, split apart, and combined with other souls until what emerges is little more than jealous malevolence without the impediment of a physical body.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
|