Building a Better Fiend... the Formula?

[Brace Cormaeril]

Hello, I would like to build a big Devil, whose CR is 18. Advancing an Erinyes seemed like a starting point, but I was hoping for something more like a Devil whose power is less than a Pit Fiend.
How do I start? What is the process for assigning Special Qualities, Spell like abilities, etc?

Thanks, my players will hate you for it.

 

[shilsen]

What kind of role do you expect this devil to play? Will it be purely for combat purposes? Does it need to be a mastermind? Would a focus on melee combat be better for you or do you want a lot of Sp and Su abilities to come into play? If it's going to fight the PCs, will it do so alone or with allies, and what level/number of PCs are there?

Providing some of that info will make it a lot easier to suggest something that'll be really handy for you.

 

[Brace Cormaeril]

2700 years ago, in my homebrew, the Prime was held in tyrannical thrall to the Archfiends. A man, called the Breaker in long forgotten, now reclaimed, legend, rose forth with an army of dragons and "broke" the magic of this prime. The elves of this world rejected Corellon Larethian and the rest of the elvish pantheon, and were themselves great Thralls of the Archfiends.

The Wand of Orcus, many years later, (after "Dead Gods") was entombed here, as it was the last place the denizens of the lower planes would look. (This world is very low magic, till now. The Dragons have awakened, and it's 3 days until the end of the world.) It's whereabouts were kept secret, knowledge of it was granted to the Queen of the Elves, and was passed down the Matriarchial Regal line.
The Elves of this prime have tried to reestablish their link to the Seldarin pantheon ever since the time of the Breaker, to no avail.


5 days ago, a Thrall of Graz'zt seduced it's whereabouts out of the current Queen.

The Queen of the Elves, after her bitter failure, has journeyed to Forlorn, Palace of the Bitter Winds, a place of seclusion for a Queen in mourning. Here, bitter and in an act of self-destruction, she summons this CR18 devil.

He should be a melee combat guy, with an Axe...

 

[Darklone]

I'd build a customtailored fiend called "The Executioner" or "The Butcher". Give him extraordinary SR (+3 more than usual for his HD), good regeneration, DR and a real special axe called the CLEAVER.

For this axe: check out the bearded devils and the bigger dudes. Their special weapon abilities don't belong to the weapon... just work out something that fits to your imagination of a real bad axe.

And he should be able to fly. Give him some ice devils as cohorts, ice walls are great for ground control and splitting PC groups.

 

[shilsen]

My suggestion:

1) Take a cornugon and advance it to 17 HD, making it CR 17

2) Slap a barbarian or fighter level on it, which raises the CR to 18. Barbarian is better for a fight, but fighter means it can still use Sp abilities while raging and can fight a lot smarter. Don't forget to use the elite stats for it due to the class level.

3) Change the chain to an axe while using the chain's stats and abilities (Stun, for example). Maybe give him a special magical axe with a couple of interesting abilities.

4) Change the feats to match. I recommend Combat Reflexes, Large and In Charge, Ability Focus (Stun), Improved Critical and Improved Flight.

5) Change the description to fit whatever visual you want.

6) Enjoy!

 

[Thurbane]

How about throwing in a real curveball they won't expect: a bearded devil fighter 13. Pump his feats into making him a real killing machine with his glaive...

 

[Thurbane]

Another option is a Paeliryon - originally CR22 in the FF, it got downgraded to CR18 in FCII.

Barbarian is better for a fight, but fighter means it can still use Sp abilities while raging and can fight a lot smarter.

Don't forget though, we're talking about a devil, and barbarians cannot be lawful.