So, they're evil flying dogs. With a baying, "bell-like" howl, which inspires fear. Admittedly, the fiction describes the fear as sufficient to rob a man of all courage, and haunting the nightmares of those who hear it for the rest of their lives, but mechanically, it's just a save versus spells or flee in a panic for as long as you can hear their ( Read more... )

A classic monster. The sort you would find in a dungeon. They look like a human head, with bat-wings instead of ears, tentacles instead of hair, a paralyzing-fear-inspiring shriek, a poisonous bite (wounds caused will never heal barring powerful magic, at least a heal or up) and the ability to afflict paralyzed victims with the "Kiss" which ( Read more... )

Out of the Tanar'ri at last! Let us move past the cambions and alu-fiends, and onward to a bit of varie... oh.

TieflingSo you all know what a Tiefling is, right? I mean, anyone who paid attention to the 4th Edition previews knows what a Tiefling is. Oh, the outroar when their inclusion got announced! "I hate tieflings! Why did they take away ( Read more... )

Rutter-kinI will admit that I went into the Rutter-kin with low expectations, thinking them just another a mook race of the Abyss, alongside Dretches and Manes. But there's a few things to work with. They've got a small armory of unique weapon types, from the double-crescent-headed polearms to the 3-armed blade "thrown from a sling-like device", ( Read more... )

MolydeusYet another demon type whose job it is to keep other demons in line and interested in the Blood War. Molydei are the ones who do that to the True Tanar'ri, though, which gives them some cred. But still, how many times are we going to do Demonic Internal Affairs dudes? I mean, yes, I recognize that Tanar'ri, by nature, are going to have ( Read more... )

HezrouSo, yeah. Whenever there's a long break in posts, it's a good bet that the next entry isn't very inspiring. Hezrou are frog-demons. The least powerful of the most powerful rank of Tanar'ri. They enforce the will of the rest of the True Tanar'ri on the Least, Lesser, and Greater ranks ( Read more... )

ChasmeChasme are weird ugly-ass man-fly-demon things that hunt down deserters in the Blood War. There's a brief note in Ecology about how they reproduce by laying eggs ( Read more... )

BalorThe big guys! Type VI. Don't call them Balrogs. Because they are totally unique and distinct entities with giant fiery whips and wreath of flames surrounding their bodies ( Read more... )

Okay, the Abyss is vast and endless, full of what we can only hope is an infinite diversity of horror, so let's jump right into it, shall we?

Alu-FiendThe offspring of a succubus and a human, they look like attractive woman... "Only their sharp, unsloping eyebrows and wings indicate the truth." Because, you know, if the bat-wings didn't give it ( Read more... )

Green SlaadGreen Slaad are what you get when a Red or Blue Slaad infects a "powerful" host, such as a high-level adventurer. It's a bit sad for Reds and Blues, because if you're born a Red or Blue, you never have any hopes of "advancing", or even growing or changing as an individual. The lowliest imp might aspire, unrealistically but not impossibly ( Read more... )