More Abishai

[Shade]

I remember reading in one of the sourcebooks from 2E (the Draconomicon, perhaps) that Tiamat can sometimes swap out one or more of her chromatic heads with that of some Faerunian evil dragons. Along those same lines, I don't see why she wouldn't create additional abishai similar to evil dragons of non-chromatic stock.

I used the abishai in Monsters of Faerun as a baseline, but had to convert them to 3.5. I also made the following changes:

• I gave them spell resistance equal to CR + 12 like other devils, which is higher than those in Monsters of Faerun. I'm hoping that when the 3.5 conversion notes come out, the others will be corrected as well.
  
• I eliminated the vulnerability to holy water entry, since all evil outsiders are now vulnerable to holy water in the same way.
  
• I gave them DR 5/good, instead of 5/magic, to make them more on par with other devils in their CR range.

[Shade]

Devil, Brown Abishai
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 7d8+21 (52 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (poor)
AC: 20 (+3 Dex, +7 natural) touch 13, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+10
Attack: Tail sting +11 melee (1d6+3 and 2d6 acid)
Full Attack: Tail sting +11 melee (1d6+3 and 2d6 acid) and 2 claws +8 melee (claw 1d4+1) and bite +8 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, sting, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 7, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 19, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +6
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 14
Skills: Bluff +12, Concentration +14, Disguise +12, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +12, Listen +11, Search +10, Spot +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Weapon Focus (tail sting)
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, flight (2), or wail (3-12)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 8-9 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6

The creature resembles a seven foot tall gargoyle, with batlike wings, vicious claws, and snapping jaws. A prehensile tail whips about its body constantly. Its scales are dull brown and leathery.

Brown abishai are among the most ferocious of the abishai.

A brown abishai stands 7 feet tall and weighs around 500 pounds.

Brown abishai speak Infernal and Common.

Combat

Brown abishai fight ferociously, sometimes lying in ambush beneath desert sands.

An abishai's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Sting (Ex): Any hit from a brown abishai's tail inflicts an additional 2d6 points of acid damage.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-animate dead, change self, charm person (DC 13), command (DC 13), desecrate, detect chaos/evil/good/law, major image (DC 15), suggestion (DC 15), and scare (DC 14). Caster level 7th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day an abishai can attempt to summon 2d6 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or another abishai of a random color with a 20% chance of success.

Regeneration (Ex): A brown abishai takes normal damage from good-aligned weapons, and from spells or effects with the good descriptor.

In The Realms

Tiamat created the brown abishai to harry the followers of the god-king Gilgeam in Unther. She sometimes grants them to her most loyal brown dragon followers in the Raurin Desert.

[Shade]

Devil, Deep Abishai
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 7d8+21 (52 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (poor)
AC: 20 (+3 Dex, +7 natural) touch 13, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+10
Attack: Tail sting +11 melee (1d6+3 plus poison)
Full Attack: Tail sting +11 melee (1d6+3 plus poison) and 2 claws +8 melee (claw 1d4+1) and bite +8 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison, spell-like abilities, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 7, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 19, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +6
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 14
Skills: Bluff +12, Concentration +12, Disguise +12, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +11, Listen +11, Search +11, Spot +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Weapon Focus (tail sting)
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, flight (2), or wail (3-12)
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 8-9 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6

The creature resembles a man-sized gargoyle, with narrow, batlike wings, vicious claws, and snapping jaws. A prehensile tail whips about its body constantly. Its scales are a dark dull purple, and its features are slightly serpentine.

Tiamat created the deep abishai for missions in the Underdark and similar regions on other planes.

A deep abishai stands 5 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 250 pounds.

Deep abishai speak Infernal and Undercommon.

Combat

Deep abishai are great hunters, preferring to ambush opponents at just the right moment.

An abishai's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Poison (Ex): Sting, Fortitude DC 15, initial damage 1d6 Str, secondary damage 1d3 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-animate dead, change self, charm person (DC 13), command (DC 13), desecrate, detect chaos/evil/good/law, major image (DC 15), suggestion (DC 15), and scare (DC 14). Caster level 7th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day an abishai can attempt to summon 2d6 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or another abishai of a random color with a 20% chance of success.

Regeneration (Ex): A deep abishai takes normal damage from good-aligned weapons, and from spells or effects with the good descriptor.

In The Realms

Like the deep dragons, deep abishai are found most often in the upper to middle Underdark. Tiamat uses them to spy on the activities of the demon-worshipping drow.

[Shade]

Devil, Shadow Abishai
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 5d8+10 (32 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor)
AC: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+6
Attack: Tail sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus energy drain)
Full Attack: Tail sting +6 melee (1d6+1 plus energy drain) and 2 claws +4 melee (claw 1d4) and bite +4 melee (1d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, sting, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 5, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 18, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +6
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18
Skills: Bluff +12, Concentration +10, Disguise +12, Escape Artist +10, Hide +10, Intimidate +12, Listen +11, Move Silently +10, Search +11, Spot +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multiattack
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, flight (2), or wail (3-12)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 6-7 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6

The creature resembles a man-sized gargoyle, with batlike wings, vicious claws, and snapping jaws. A prehensile tail whips about its body constantly. Its dark scales are dull and translucent, giving it a shadowy appearance.

Shadow abishai are the smartest of the abishai, but are also the physically weakest. Tiamat uses them for missions to the Plane of Shadow, as well as for stealth missions on other planes.

A shadow abishai stands 5 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 275 pounds.

Shadow abishai speak Common, Infernal and Undercommon.

Combat

Shadow abishai use their spell-like abilities to misdirect their foes, then attack them from the shadows.

An abishai's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Sting (Su): Living creatures hit by a shadow abishai's tail sting attack gain one negative level. The DC is 14 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Constitution-based. For each such negative level bestowed, the shadow abishai gains 5 temporary hit points.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-animate dead, change self, charm person (DC 15), command (DC 15), desecrate, detect chaos/evil/good/law, major image (DC 17), suggestion (DC 17), and scare (DC 16). Caster level 5th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day an abishai can attempt to summon 2d6 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or another abishai of a random color with a 20% chance of success.

Regeneration (Ex): A chromatic abishai takes normal damage from good-aligned weapons, and from spells or effects with the good descriptor.

In The Realms

Shadow abishai are present in the deep Underdark, where they carry out missions in the interests of draconic creatures loyal to Tiamat.

[Krishnath]

Interresting...

[Shade]

This one is my personal favorite.

Devil, Chromatic Abishai
Large Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 14d8+70 (133 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (poor)
AC: 26 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +15 natural) touch 11, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +14/+25
Attack: Tail sting +21 melee (1d8+7/19-20 and see text)
Full Attack: 5 tail stings +21 melee (1d8+7/19-20 and see text) and 2 claws +18 melee (claw 1d6+3) and bite +18 melee (1d8+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison, spell-like abilities, sting, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 14, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 27, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +11
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 15, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills: Bluff +19, Concentration +22, Disguise +20, Escape Artist +19, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (the planes) +19, Listen +19, Search +19, Sense Motive +20, Spot +19
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (tail sting), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Weapon Focus (tail sting)
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, flight (2), or wail (1-3 plus 3-12 abishai of random colors)
Challenge Rating: 15
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 15-28 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -

The creature resembles a gothic gargoyle, standing over 9 feet tall, with batlike wings, vicious claws, and snapping jaws. Its most striking feature, however, is a cluster of five prehensile tails that whip about it's body, each a different color and each ending in a wicked stinger. Its scales are a mosaic of colors, encompassing black, blue, green, red, and white.

Tiamat created the chromatic abishai to be her elite baatezu servants, able to tread in areas where her mightiest dragons simply cannot due to their massive size. Chromatic abishai often lead battalions of "lesser" abishai in the Blood War.

A chromatic abishai stands 9 feet tall and weighs around 550 pounds.

Chromatic abishai speak Infernal, Celestial, and Common.

Combat

A chromatic abishai makes the most of its versatility, noting which creatures seem to resist particular energy types, and uses each of its tails against the target that seems most vulnerable to the additional damage.

A chromatic abishai's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Sting (Ex): Any hit from a chromatic abishai's tail inflicts additional damage as follows, depending on its color: black - 2d4 points of acid damage followed by an additional 1d4 points of damage the subsequent round; blue - 2d6 points of electricity damage; green - poison (see below); red - 2d6 points of fire damage; white - 2d6 points of cold damage.

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 22, initial damage 1d4 Str, secondary damage 1 Str. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-animate dead, charm person (DC 14), command (DC 14), desecrate, detect chaos/evil/good/law, disguise self, major image (DC 16), suggestion (DC 16), and scare (DC 15). Caster level 14th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day an abishai can attempt to summon 1d6 abishai of a random color (black, blue, green, red, or white) with a 50% chance of success, or another chromatic abishai with a 20% chance of success.

Regeneration (Ex): A chromatic abishai takes normal damage from good-aligned weapons, and from spells or effects with the good descriptor.

[demiurge1138]

Ooh... I like them. A lot. Any more in the works? (Perhaps a rust or pyroclastic abashi ala Draconomicon's planar dragons?)

Demiurge out.

[demiurge1138]

Bah! Infernal doublepost!

[Shade]

That's all I've got so far, but I may give the rust and pyroclastic a try.

[Allanon]

Originally Posted by Shade

Devil, Chromatic Abishai
{SNIP!}
Sting (Ex): Any hit from a chromatic abishai's tail inflicts additional damage as follows, depending on its color: black - 2d4 points of acid damage followed by an additional 1d4 points of damage the subsequent round; blue - 2d6 points of electricity damage; green - poison (see below); red - 2d6 points of acid damage; white - 2d6 points of cold damage.
{SNIP!}

Shouldn't the red version do fire damage instead of acid? For the rest keep up the good work .

[Shade]

Oops! The hazards of cut n' paste. I have corrected the error. Thanks for catching it.

[CNichols]

In theory, shouldn't there be a fang abishai as well?

[demiurge1138]

Well, fang dragons are CN, and I'm assuming that Shade's doing evil dragons only, as per the precedent.

Demiurge out.

[CNichols]

Ah, OK. For some reason I thought fang dragons were CE, but picking up my Monsters of Faerun, I see that I'm wrong. Rats.

In any event, these abishai are excellent.

[Shade]

Thanks guys! Demiurge is right...I skipped it because it wasn't an evil dragon. If you wanted to make one, I'd use a white abishai as the base, and raise its sting attack damage as if it were one size category larger, and have the sting deal 1 point of Con drain on a failed save.

[Shade]

In honor of Krishnath's recent posting of the Orange Dragon (Converted Dragons for the CC 3.5)...

Devil, Orange Abishai
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 5d8+10 (32 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor)
AC: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural) touch 12, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+8
Attack: Tail sting +9 melee (1d6+3 plus 2d6 fire)
Full Attack: Tail sting +9 melee (1d6+3 plus 2d6 fire) and 2 claws +7 melee (claw 1d4+1) and bite +7 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, sting, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 5, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 18, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +4
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 14
Skills: Bluff +8, Concentration +8, Disguise +9, Escape Artist +8, Hide +8, Intimidate +10, Listen +7, Move Silently +8, Search +6, Spot +7, Swim +8
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multiattack
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, flight (2), or wail (3-12)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 6-7 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: +6

The creature resembles a man-sized gargoyle, with batlike wings, vicious claws, and snapping jaws. A prehensile tail whips about its body constantly. Its orange scales are dull and mottled.

Orange abishai are vicious melee combatants. Tiamat uses them for missions in jungle and forest regions of various planes.

An orange abishai stands 5 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 275 pounds.

Orange abishai speak Infernal and Common.

Combat

Orange abishai relish melee combat, preferring to focus its attacks on whatever enemy it perceives to be the greatest threat.

An abishai's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Sting (Ex): Any hit from an orange abishai's tail inflicts an additional 2d6 points of fire damage, followed by an additional 1d6 points of fire damage the next round, and 1d3 points of fire damage on the third round.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): At will-animate dead, change self, charm person (DC 13), command (DC 13), desecrate, detect chaos/evil/good/law, major image (DC 15), suggestion (DC 15), and scare (DC 14). Caster level 5th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day an abishai can attempt to summon 2d6 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or another abishai of a random color with a 20% chance of success.

Regeneration (Ex): An orange abishai takes normal damage from good-aligned weapons, and from spells or effects with the good descriptor.

[Krishnath]

Orange Abishai, very cool.

[Shade]

I updated many of the abishai, as the Player's Guide to Faerun web enhancement indicates that abishai with 6 or more HD should have damage reduction 10/good.