Bestiary - Fear Demon

This is my take on the Babau Demon for my DCC game.  I like the evocative text of the creature, something that inspires terror, and it helps me flesh out my demonic roster, specifically for a Type II demon serving the Chaos Lord Tarnhem the Feardrinker … these are his foot soldiers, his multitude to go forth and do his bidding.  They aren’t high up on the pecking order of the demonic castes, but are certainly capable of tearing a mortal to shreds, sneaking up on them out of the darkness.

T
he illustrations out there of a slightly oozing creature isn’t thrilling to me, but an tall, thin, flayed creature glistening with blood?  It’s like the big bad guy (played by Richard Moll) from Sword & The Sorcerer when he's first revived in his tomb … that’s creepy and evocative, and kind of what I have in mind in my head.

F
rom the Babau entry in the AD&D Monster Manual II, I took it’s movement rate of 60’, it’s 7 Hit Dice ….  I toned down the original Armor Class of 23 (wow!) to 18, and also reduced the magic resistance (50% is a bit high), as that’s a little much for a Type II Demon.  I changed their polymorph spell-like ability to skin-wearing (because it’s scarier), gave them a fear gaze that works like a curse, applied some Type II demon traits, and while I originally gave them spell casting ability, it seemed overpowered, so I took them out.  Here you go!

F
eel free to share how these demons have horribly tormented the forces of Law in your campaign?  Drop me a note at archadethered@gmail.com.

 

Fear Demon (Type II)

     Impossibly tall for a mortal human, this demon appears as if it were flayed alive, oozing blood and ichor from it’s glistening, raw body.  It’s elongated skull  fanged, and a single curved horn, and clutches in it’s long, extra-jointed fingers a serrated blade or viscous spear.

     Fear demons are sent to mortal realms, to disguise themselves as men, and hunt down and assassinate those that work against the machinations of Tarnhem.  They are powerful and tend to work in solitude, but for a great machination of Chaos, a clutch of 2-3 demons might be dispatched.
 

     Fear Demon (Type II Demon, Tarnhem): Init +3; Atk talons +6 melee (1d6+3) or serrated sword or spear Atk +6 melee (1d8+3); AC 18; HDC 7d12 (48 hp); Move 60’; Act 2d20; SP critical hit range 19-20, darkness (+8 on spell check), fear gaze, immune to non-magical weapon damage, infravision 60’, magic resistance (-3 to spell checks directly targeting the demon), resistance to damage from acid, cold, electricity, fire and gas, wear skin; SV Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +5; AL C.
     As a Type II Demon, they are able to use ESP to read minds, have infravision with 60’ range, are immune to damage from non-magical weapons or from creatures with less than 3 HD, the ability to cast darkness (+8 to caster check), resistant to all damage from acid, cold, electricity, fire and gas, have the ability to teleport back to their native plane of the Lower Hells, and have an increased critical hit range of 19-20.
     The fear demon is able to wear the skin of any freshly slain victim roughly the size and shape of a fully grown man, granting them the same effect as a magical polymorph to that victim’s form that lasts for 2d6 hours, before the skin starts to peel and the disguise fails.  When not wearing a skin, the fear demon’s flayed body is slippery, giving them a +7 to any grapple check which includes their Strength bonus.
     Lastly, the gaze of a fear demon can invoke terror in mortals – a fear demon can use an action to gaze into the eyes of a victim within 30 feet, and they must make a DC 17 Will save or suffer the effects of the Curse of Imminent Demise, which causes irrational terror in the victim, where they suffer a -2 to the Luck score, -2 to all checks from constant nagging fear, and must make a morale check whenever confronted by a fear demon, until the curse is lifted by personally delivering a killing blow to any demon.

 

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