Demon

Arrow demons were created to serve in massive battalions on the endless abyssal battlefields. Although they still play a devastating role in such battles, arrow demons have now begun to appear elsewhere. Powerful demons and mortal summoners alike have learned that even one arrow demon is capable of dominating a battlefield.

Although arrow demons are dangerous by themselves, they are at their most deadly when they can stand still and shoot every round. On battlefields, this means that companies of arrow demons are shielded by ranks of lesser troops⁠—​pitiful, abyssal creatures too weak to stop a serious assault yet numerous enough to slow an onrushing enemy long enough for the ranks of arrow demons to deliver massive arrow fire on the enemy. In the skirmishes and battles of mortal summoners, this means that the arrow demon is most effective when acting in concert with other summoned creatures or perhaps the mortal’s lesser minions.

The very effectiveness of these obvious tactics have given arrow demons an importance in the ranks of the demons higher than their sheer physical power would otherwise earn them. Although an arrow demon must still give way to any greater demon, large groups of the abyssal archers know they are too valuable to their demonic lord’s battle plans to be gainsaid by any but the most powerful individual demons.

Like other demons, arrow demons are cruel beyond mortal measure, knowing nothing of compassion or altruism. They scorn virtue and despise hope, yet they understand more clearly than perhaps any other demon that their continued existence depends on their value to their masters.

An arrow demon is an emaciated, four-limbed demon, standing some 6 feet 6 inches in height. It is completely hairless, and its moist, gray skin is sickening and leathery to the touch. The creature’s limbs conceal a wiry strength, but it weighs only 150 pounds.

Arrow demons speak Abyssal, Celestial, and Draconic.

The arrow demon’s statistics assume that the creature uses nonmagical arrows only. You can add other types of arrows to the demon’s quiver, or you can roll on the following table to randomly determine what type(s) of special ammunition the demon carries (if any). Any ammunition the demon carries should be treated as part of its treasure.

Arrow demons prefer to fight in ordered ranks surrounded by hundreds of their kind. Grouped into massive battalions, arrow demons are capable of destroying entire armies of foes. Now that these demons are being sent to other planes and given missions other than outright warfare, most who encounter them do so outside of the abyssal battlefields of the Nine Hells or the infinite layers of the Abyss. As archers first and foremost, arrow demons prefer to have allied creatures between them and an enemy, allowing them to reliably fire a steady stream of arrows from their twin bows.

Small groups of arrow demons have perfected an unorthodox method of holding a running battle. When pressed and working as a group, the arrow demon with the most hit points makes a full attack while all of his allies use dimension door to go as far away as they can and maintain line of sight to their foes. Once the lead demon is wounded, it uses dimension door to relocate behind the group and all but one member of the group use dimension door to appear next to him, beginning the process once again. Using this tactic, the demons get to make the maximum number of full-attack actions possible in the terrain and their foes’ attacks are always directed against the demon most able to withstand them.

An arrow demon’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as chaotic-aligned and evil-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Close Combat Shot (Ex): An arrow demon does not incur attacks of opportunity for firing a bow while threatened. In addition, the arrow demon can shoot its bows to make attacks of opportunity as if it threatened the squares adjacent to it with its bows.

Oversized Weapons (Ex): Arrow demons can use bows of any kind that are up to one size larger than their size would allow without penalty.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​dimension door (self plus 50 pounds of objects only). Caster level 10th.

Summon Tanar’ri (Sp): Once per day, an arrow demon can either automatically summon 1d6 dretches or attempt to summon another arrow demon with a 35% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.

Symmetrical Archery (Ex): The arrow demon has an amazing ability to wield two bows at once in unison. Any time the arrow demon could make a single attack with a bow, it can attack with both of its bows, at −2 to all its attack rolls that round. For example, when making an attack action, an arrow demon can fire one arrow from each bow at its normal attack bonus minus 2, and when making a full-attack action, it can fire one arrow from each bow for each of its normal iterative attacks (two arrows from each bow, each shaft at a −2 penalty). The statistics block above already includes these bonuses. The arrow demon takes no additional penalties for using multiple weapons as long as it is using only bows.

An evil spellcaster who knows the summon monster VII spell can choose to permanently remove the babau from the list of creatures that he can summon (either with summon monster VII or with higher level summoning spells). If he does so, he can replace the babau with the arrow demon, adding it to the list of creatures that he can summon with the spell. Once the spellcaster learns higher-level summoning spells, he can use them to summon multiple arrow demons if he has chosen this option.

Arrow demons are native to the plane of Shavarath, where they wage war against the devils indigenous to that plane. Desperate Cyran and Karnnathi commanders used summoned arrow demons to bolster their armies in the dying days of the Last War.

In the Forgotten Realms setting, arrow demons are native to the Infinite Layers of the Abyss. However, they also populate the Blood Rift, a plane where demons and devil wage the eternal Blood War. In addition, the Blood Rift floats among the Lower Planes, becoming coterminous at different times to many of them. Consequently, arrow demons may also be encountered in the Barrens of Doom and Despair, Deep Caverns, the Demonweb Pits, Fury’s Heart, Hammergrim, Nishrek, and the Supreme Throne.

Creatures of loss, sorrowsworn demons appear only after a war or battle has finished. They prey on the feelings of great sorrow that permeate a region after the loss of its youth and promise.

Favored haunts of sorrowsworn demons include mass graves, orphanages, hospitals, and the homes of those who have lost loved ones to battle. Wherever one can find the greatest concentration of souls suffering from loss, one can also often find a lurking sorrowsworn demon, encouraging those feelings and sating itself on them.

A sorrowsworn demon stands between 12 and 15 feet high and weighs about 500 pounds. Its skin is always a dusky black, and its face always appears as a mocking visage of great sadness.

Sorrowsworn demons speak Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Infernal.

A sorrowsworn demon preys on the weakness of others, and its tactics reflect this preference. It nearly always strikes from hiding, attempting to bring its aura of loss to bear on as many foes as possible. It then uses its mind reading abilities to determine what its foes most fear losing, then uses its whispers of loss to further weaken its opponents before ripping into them.

A sorrowsworn demon’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as chaotic-aligned and evil-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

A sorrowsworn normally attacks using its Power Attack feat, taking a –5 penalty on its attack rolls and gaining a +5 bonus on damage rolls (+10 damage if using a glaive).

Aura of Loss (Su): A sorrowsworn demon radiates feelings of intense personal loss. Any creature within 30 feet of a sorrowsworn demon must make a DC 26 Will save or be overwhelmed with feelings of despair as they continually visualize the most terrible losses they’ve ever endured or can imagine happening. These feelings manifest as a −2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and skill checks. An opponent that fails this save and has also had its mind read by the sorrowsworn demon is more likely to fall victim to its whispers of loss (see below).

In addition, due to the distracting nature of the aura, any affected creatures that attempt to cast spells must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 20 + spell level) to avoid losing the spell.

This ability lasts for as long as affected creatures remain within the area of the aura and for 2d6 rounds after they leave. Creatures that leave the aura and reenter must make another save upon reentry or be affected once more, regardless of whether they made their initial saving throw.

The sorrowsworn demon can suppress or activate this ability at will as a free action. This is a mind-affecting ability. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​detect magic, invisibility, nondetection, greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only); 3/day⁠—​greater dispel magic, touch of idiocy (+26 melee touch), unholy blight (DC 19); 1/day⁠—​feeblemind (DC 20), mind fog (DC 20), plane shift, weird (DC 24). Caster level 20th.

Whispers of Loss (Su): A sorrowsworn demon preys on an enemy’s feelings of loss, both real and projected. While engaged in combat, it whispers and hisses constantly, both aloud and in the minds of those creatures that can understand it.

A sorrowsworn demon can intensify these whispers, focusing them as a free action each round on one target within 60 feet that can understand it. Each round, it can change targets at will (this is also a free action, although the previous victim might suffer lasting effects from the whispers of loss, as described below). These intensified whispers of loss have different effects, depending on the sorrowsworn demon’s whims and tactics.

Any creature that has succumbed to both a sorrowsworn demon’s aura of loss and mind reading abilities takes an additional −2 penalty on any saves to resist the sorrowsworn demon’s whispers.

Future Sorrow: A sorrowsworn demon whispers of the losses to come, and the futility of struggling against the inevitability of loss. The target creature is stunned for 2 rounds (Will DC 24 negates). This is a fear effect.

Great Emptiness: A sorrowsworn demon whispers of the great losses of history: genocides and other mass murders, great tragedies, and sacrifices that resulted in no greater good. The target creature becomes confused for 5 rounds (Will DC 24 negates).

Past Losses: A sorrowsworn demon describes the target creature’s past losses, both real and imagined. The creature is dazed for 3 rounds as it contemplates all the losses of its life (Will DC 24 negates).

Whispers of loss is a mind-affecting ability and only functions against creatures with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher. A creature that succeeds on the saving throw against a whispers of loss effect is immune to that effect (but not the other effects) for 24 hours. Caster level 20th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Mind Reading (Sp): Once per round as a free action, a sorrowsworn demon can read the mind of one opponent (Will DC 24 negates). This ability functions exactly as the detect thoughts spell (caster level 20th), except that the effect is immediate. An opponent that fails this save and has also succumbed to the sorrowsworn demon’s aura of loss is more likely to fall victim to its whispers of loss (see above).

A creature that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to that sorrowsworn demon’s mind reading ability for the next 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Strong Willed (Ex): Masters of manipulating minds, sorrow sworn demons are in turn especially resistant to similar abilities. They have a +4 racial bonus on saves against mind-affecting spells and abilities.

Skills: A sorrowsworn demon has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Move Silently, and Survival checks.

A sorrowsworn demon begins an encounter hidden (using invisibility and nondetection), spying out its would-be opponents and using its mind reading and detect magic abilities to gauge their intentions and powers. Once it believes its aura of loss and other mind-affecting abilities can take a toll, it teleports into the midst of its enemies.

Round 1: Greater dispel magic on target with most magical auras (detected with its detect magic spell-like ability).

Round 2: Mind fog against foes to weaken Will saves.

Round 3: Feeblemind on spellcaster.

Round 4: Greater teleport to immediate vicinity of enemies, exposing them to aura of loss. Use whispers of loss against foe most likely to threaten it.

Round 5: Unleash unholy blight or make full attack. Continue with whispers of loss.

Sorrowsworn demons feed on the despair that permeates lands torn asunder by the Last War. Nations that have suffered the greatest losses⁠—​Aundair, Thrane, Karrnath, Breland, and the Mournland (formerly Cyre)⁠—​make good homes for these demons. They are also drawn to cities such as Sharn, where large numbers of post-war refugees have gathered.

Faerûn has seen its share of wars, and sorrowsworn demons are drawn to places where the lingering pain of war is felt most strongly. They often lurk in shattered temples dedicated to dead gods such as Myrkul and Bhaal, feeding on the despair of forsaken clerics. They also hide among the masses, feeding on the anguish of Thayans, Rashemaar, Cormyrians, Sembians, and other people who lost loved ones to the Tuigan Horde and similar invaders.