A devil to replace a demon [Archive] - Wizards Community

A devil to replace a demon [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
erasmus1634
02-02-06, 05:52 PM ***Possible Spoilers***

Presently I am running my players through the Shackled City path and they are about to begin their search for the lost paladin.

At the end of that adventure they are supposed to face a glabrezu. In my game, most of the opponents that they have faced so far have been devils and I and I want to continue that trend.

I have all of the "official" monster tomes, plus several others to draw ideas from but I am really drawing a blank.

What kind of devil would be a good substitute?

Thanks!
Athanatos
02-02-06, 06:30 PM Ach, I don't know why the Glabrezu is a demon in the first place. The whole idea of selling your soul on the dotted line in return for power and wealth is so LE to me. If you're playing in a custom campaign world, do what I do: simply switch the Glabrezu from demon to devil. Alternatively, you could create a new sort of devil that maintains the theme and combat abilites of the glabrezu. Leave the stats mostly intact, but maybe tweak them a bit in order to make the encounter more balanced/fun for the party.
ubernex
02-02-06, 06:47 PM The Gelugon(Ice Devil) is a decent choice, it even starts with the same letter! A bit less effective in melle, a few less hit points (easy to fix), but a higher AC and some nice spell-like abilities. If you want to keep the "multi-arm + grab" horror that is the glabrezu either add some class levels / template / advancement to a Nycaloth (CR10 Yugoloth).

Or just keep the Glabrezu. the meta-gamers in your group will wrack their noggins trying to fit it into their own world-view. And then you can laugh at them. :D
mvincent
02-02-06, 08:10 PM I agree that a Gelugon is the simplest, however, if need something different (and/or Huge sized) you could always apply the fiendish template to a different monster (like a cloud giant).

Or you could advance a different devil. A 20 HD hellcat is huge and CR 13. A 18 HD Bone Devil becomes CR13 (and a 20 HD Bone Devil becomes huge and CR14)
Shemeska the Marauder
02-03-06, 12:27 AM Swap it out with a cornugon if you wanted to stay with a creature that's thematically similar, and about the same in terms of power (at least the 3e one, not sure about the 3.5 version). The Glabrezu tempts with raw power and the destructive abuse of that power, and a cornugon can fill a similar role (though an advanced erinyes would work better if you're looking for a baatezu in the same theme, if not power, as they go out of their way to corrupt mortals with power and the abuse of power to control others, essentially a lawful verson of the succubus, though 3.5 did its best to dumb them down).

A nycaloth is VERY different from a glabrezu in terms of how they act and what they do, numbers and CR aside, and you'd be rewriting them if you plugged them into the same niche as a glabrezu.
ubernex
02-03-06, 02:33 AM The 3.5 Cornugon has got some serious enhancements to itself from the 3.0 version. I've had to rewrite a couple of adventures since the change to account for it. They weigh in at CR16 now, and they are some serious butt-whoopers. Even if you can get past the chain they are really a blender at close range. Want to avoid melle and blast them with spells? They have a fairly nasty SR as well.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
erasmus1634 02-02-06, 05:52 PM	*Possible Spoilers* Presently I am running my players through the Shackled City path and they are about to begin their search for the lost paladin. At the end of that adventure they are supposed to face a glabrezu. In my game, most of the opponents that they have faced so far have been devils and I and I want to continue that trend. I have all of the "official" monster tomes, plus several others to draw ideas from but I am really drawing a blank. What kind of devil would be a good substitute? Thanks!
Athanatos 02-02-06, 06:30 PM	Ach, I don't know why the Glabrezu is a demon in the first place. The whole idea of selling your soul on the dotted line in return for power and wealth is so LE to me. If you're playing in a custom campaign world, do what I do: simply switch the Glabrezu from demon to devil. Alternatively, you could create a new sort of devil that maintains the theme and combat abilites of the glabrezu. Leave the stats mostly intact, but maybe tweak them a bit in order to make the encounter more balanced/fun for the party.
ubernex 02-02-06, 06:47 PM	The Gelugon(Ice Devil) is a decent choice, it even starts with the same letter! A bit less effective in melle, a few less hit points (easy to fix), but a higher AC and some nice spell-like abilities. If you want to keep the "multi-arm + grab" horror that is the glabrezu either add some class levels / template / advancement to a Nycaloth (CR10 Yugoloth). Or just keep the Glabrezu. the meta-gamers in your group will wrack their noggins trying to fit it into their own world-view. And then you can laugh at them. :D
mvincent 02-02-06, 08:10 PM	I agree that a Gelugon is the simplest, however, if need something different (and/or Huge sized) you could always apply the fiendish template to a different monster (like a cloud giant). Or you could advance a different devil. A 20 HD hellcat is huge and CR 13. A 18 HD Bone Devil becomes CR13 (and a 20 HD Bone Devil becomes huge and CR14)
Shemeska the Marauder 02-03-06, 12:27 AM	Swap it out with a cornugon if you wanted to stay with a creature that's thematically similar, and about the same in terms of power (at least the 3e one, not sure about the 3.5 version). The Glabrezu tempts with raw power and the destructive abuse of that power, and a cornugon can fill a similar role (though an advanced erinyes would work better if you're looking for a baatezu in the same theme, if not power, as they go out of their way to corrupt mortals with power and the abuse of power to control others, essentially a lawful verson of the succubus, though 3.5 did its best to dumb them down). A nycaloth is VERY different from a glabrezu in terms of how they act and what they do, numbers and CR aside, and you'd be rewriting them if you plugged them into the same niche as a glabrezu.
ubernex 02-03-06, 02:33 AM	The 3.5 Cornugon has got some serious enhancements to itself from the 3.0 version. I've had to rewrite a couple of adventures since the change to account for it. They weigh in at CR16 now, and they are some serious butt-whoopers. Even if you can get past the chain they are really a blender at close range. Want to avoid melle and blast them with spells? They have a fairly nasty SR as well.