What Happens When Demons Die?

[Kyrail]

Forgotten Realms campaign here.

So, when a demon is on the Prime Material plane, and it is killed, what happens? I understand that if it's a summoned creature it returns to its home plane and is restored. Is there anything keeping demons from just plane shifting to the prime material plane and causing havoc, or is there something that impedes them? You'd think if they were able a lot more demons would pour through the planes and cause a lot of havoc.

I've always tought of it like this... and maybe just run it this way. Demons have to granted enterance to the Prime Material, and are not able to travel there on their own power. For that they desperately want to get to the Prime and cause as much havoc as possible. Portals, being summoned by mortals, pacts with higher powers are ways they could do this.

When a demon is killed in the Prime Material, he is not destroyed, but instead banished back to it's home plane, and banished from the planes for 100 years, unless they can find a way to circumvent it.

Is there any canon rules for demon death, or do they normally just die and that's that?

 

[TheEvil]

His subordinants hide the body, then tell everyone he's napping.

Seriously though, if I recall correctly, they are indeed simply banished from the prime plane for some period of time. However, I may well be channeling earlier editions.

 

[fredramsey]

Just my 2 coppers...

I'm not sure if there is any current "official" rules, but I remember in the old days, demons (and devils), could only be truly destroyed on their home plane. If slain on the Prime Material, they could not come back for a year and a day. If killed on their home plane, they are forever destroyed.

 

[Mercule]

Under those same guidelines, I believe fiends doubled their HD/HP on their home plane, too.

 

[Kyrail]

So what do ya'll think. Demons restricted to their home planes unless summoned or some other loop hole?

Otherwise I would think that the demon princes would just over run the prime in about a fort night. Fits the encredibly powerful, but needs mortals to acomplish their plans shtick you normally associate with demons.

 

[Rackhir]

Sepulchrave II's Story Hour(s) actually deal with this sort of topic quite a lot (Lady Despina's Virtue, The Heritic of Wyre, The Messialiance). They are compiled in this thread here Tales of Wyre: The Compiled Sepulchrave Story Hour (updated 7/11)

 

[Sammael]

My stance is that outsiders can only be permanently killed on their native planes. However, if they are destroyed on the Prime Material, it takes them quite a while to reform in full strength back on their home plane, which is why they are loath to visit the Prime in person (any encounters with an archfiend on the Prime are usually a result of him utilizing astral projection).

Outsiders killed on the outer planes other than their home plane reform quicker than if killed on the Prime.

 

[shilsen]

Is there any canon rules for demon death, or do they normally just die and that's that?

In 3e/3.5e, a demon slain on the Prime Material Plane is dead, unless it was summoned (not called) there. And if it is summoned, then it is usually under the control of its summoner. So demons overrunning the Prime Material is not a problem any more. The whole bit with them only really being slayable on their home plane(s) is from former editions.

 

[Shemeska]

If a fiend is permenantly killed its essence returns to and merges with the essence of its home plane.

As far as I know DnD has never actually stated the banished from the prime for a period of time thing, though I can think of a few novels that have used that convention. Most of the planar material pre-3e I can think of simply had the fiend killed on the prime material return to its home plane and slowly reform. Planescape had a wealth of material on the specifics of which fiends could be permenantly killed on which lower plane.

 

[Kyrail]

Well, I'm pretty much gonna go with what I had written earlier. It fits well into my planed story line, and its not going directly against any rules so I feel pretty comfortable about it.

100 years seems pretty good for a demon, and gives good plot hooks. Great-Grandfather killed a demon... and now it's back for revenge, dun dun dun.