Converting the Dukes of Hell

[BOZ]

cool, i'll add that stuff in.

time to move on! this guy should take a lot less time to finish, since he doesn't have so many abilities going on.


MALPHAS (Duke of Hell)

FREQUENCY: Unique (very rare)
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -3
MOVE: 12”/30” (in crow form)
HIT DICE: 90 hit points
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type +5
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 70%
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
SIZE: See below
PSIONIC ABILITY: 220
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all

Malphas is a duke in the service of Tiamat, ruler of Avernus. He leads 40 companies of abishai, and, like his fellow duke Amduscias and the pit fiend Goap, is likely to be found traveling about Avernus enforcing Tiamat’s will. None of Tiamat’s dukes have permanent encampments or fortresses, but instead they maintain a commonly held system of guarded, “safe” caves where their forces can rest or gather.

Malphas appears as a powerful, dark-complexioned man dressed in black velvet studded with gems (of considerable value; his robes have 333 gems of all sorts, 100 g.p. base value each, if recovered complete), or as a large, black, crow-like bird.

Malphas shuns armor, and fights with all weapons (and his spell-like powers) when in human form. His voice is deep and compelling, and with his powers of tongues and ESP (usable at will), he is adept at deceiving others, particularly non-devils. He may carry treasure of any type if encountered in human form.

Once per round, at will, Malphas can use one of his spell-like powers: tongues or ESP (as noted above), pyrotechnics, produce flame, fortress (this creates a structure similar to Daern’s Instant Fortress - see the DMG - in all respects, save that its door will open and close for anyone, and it will disappear in 16 turns or when Malphas wills), detect invisibility, read magic, dispel magic, flame arrow (Malphas can also apply this to blades wielded by himself or others; these become flame tongue swords - fiery damage, but no “to hit” bonuses - for 3 rounds), and remove (or bestow) curse. Once per day Malphas can use a symbol of pain, and he can cause fear (save vs. spell at -2 to avoid) by touch (one target per round). He can summon 1-2 abishai, with a 55% chance of success, at will. Malphas regenerates 2 hit points per round.

 

[Shade]

Following the formula for a Duke of Hell:

Hit Dice: Chart will determine how the HD converts, characters with * have a chance to “move up” one. Malphas is listed as 25*.

Armor Class: Total AC will be equal to CR +18 – 1E AC (which, of course, are all negative numbers). AC minus Dex mod, bonus from items, and misc bonuses = Natural AC bonus. Malphas is listed as -3.

Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, summon devils
Special Qualities: DR 20/good and silver, regeneration (5-8?), immunity to fire and poison, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, SR 13+CR, telepathy 100 ft.
Abilities: We will use the divine array of 35, 28, 25, 24, 24, 24, plus adding one ability point per four Hit Dice, and borrowing liberally as we see fit. Many lords will end up with one score under 20. I'd arrange them in this order: Cha, Dex, Str, Wis, Con, Int.

Challenge Rating: Will be determined on an individual basis once completed. Most will be between 21-25.
Treasure: Double or triple standard as appropriate He looks like a triple standard.

Languages: Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, plus more as appropriate. Tongues takes care of the need

Regeneration (Ex): Good weapons, and spells and effects with the good descriptor, deal normal damage to ARCH. If ARCH loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 minutes. ARCH can reaattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.

See in Darkness (Su): All baatezu can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even that created by a deeper darkness spell.


Common Feats Assuming 25 HD, Mal gets 9, 2 of which can be epic.

Common: Combat Expertise, Dark Speech, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Weapon Focus

Less Common: Combat Reflexes, Dilate Aura, Negotiator, Spring Attack, Violate Spell-Like Ability

Uncommon: Ability Focus, Improved Critical, Improved Disarm, Vile Natural Attack

I bolded the common skills I think he'd most use:

Appraise = mid to high ranks
Balance = low to mid ranks when used
Bluff = usually max ranks
Climb = high to max ranks when used
Concentration = mid to high ranks
Diplomacy = usually max ranks
Disguise = high ranks or synergy only
Escape Artist = few ranks
Gather Information = mid to high ranks when used
Hide = mid to high ranks
Intimidate = high to max ranks
Jump = mid to high ranks
Knowledge (arcana) = high to max ranks
Knowledge (history) = high to max ranks
Knowledge (nobility and royalty) = high to max ranks
Knowledge (religion) = high to max ranks
Knowledge (the planes) = high to max ranks
Listen = high to max ranks
Move Silently = mid to high ranks
Search = mid to high ranks
Sense Motive = high to max ranks
Spellcraft = high to max ranks
Spot = high to max ranks
Survival = synergy only
Tumble = high to max ranks
Use Rope = synergy only

Malphas shuns armor, and fights with all weapons (and his spell-like powers) when in human form. His voice is deep and compelling, and with his powers of tongues and ESP (usable at will), he is adept at deceiving others, particularly non-devils. He may carry treasure of any type if encountered in human form.

Once per round, at will, Malphas can use one of his spell-like powers: tongues or ESP (as noted above), pyrotechnics, produce flame, fortress (this creates a structure similar to Daern’s Instant Fortress - see the DMG - in all respects, save that its door will open and close for anyone, and it will disappear in 16 turns or when Malphas wills), detect invisibility, read magic, dispel magic, flame arrow (Malphas can also apply this to blades wielded by himself or others; these become flame tongue swords - fiery damage, but no “to hit” bonuses - for 3 rounds), and remove (or bestow) curse. Once per day Malphas can use a symbol of pain,

I think tongues (and possibly detect thoughts) should be always active as a Su ability.

I think Fortress and flaming blade should be separate Su abilities.

At will—bestow curse, detect thoughts (if not always active), dispel magic, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, remove curse, see invisibility;
1/day—symbol of pain.

All have archdevils have...
At will—dispel magic/greater dispel magic, greater teleport;

He's got dispel magic covered, needs greater teleport.

Most have:
At will—charm monster, major image, see invisibility/true seeing, suggestion, wall of fire;

He's definitiely a charmer, has see invisibility, and should have suggestion.

Many have:
At will—fireball, wall of fire;
Unholy aura (3/day or 1/day)

I could see any of these, but wall of fire seems least likely.

Others used more than once: dominate person, dominate monster, fire storm, geas/quest, hellfire storm, hold monster, locate creature, locate object, meteor swarm, polymorph, scrying/greater scrying, unholy blight

Dominates and geas/quest seem highly appropriate for him.

and he can cause fear (save vs. spell at -2 to avoid) by touch (one target per round). He can summon 1-2 abishai, with a 55% chance of success, at will. Malphas regenerates 2 hit points per round.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day, Malphas can attempt to summon 1d2 abishai (of any color) with a 55% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a Xth-level spell (CL Xth).

 

[Gothenem]

i would increase the percentage chance for him to summon Abishai. Its only 1-2 and he can only do it 1/day now, not at will.

tongues or ESP (as noted above), pyrotechnics, produce flame, fortress (this creates a structure similar to Daern’s Instant Fortress - see the DMG - in all respects, save that its door will open and close for anyone, and it will disappear in 16 turns or when Malphas wills), detect invisibility, read magic, dispel magic, flame arrow (Malphas can also apply this to blades wielded by himself or others; these become flame tongue swords - fiery damage, but no “to hit” bonuses - for 3 rounds), and remove (or bestow) curse. Once per day Malphas can use a symbol of pain

With all o' this, I would suggest the following SLA's:

At will - bestow curse, charm monster, detect thoughts (if not always active), dispel magic, fireball, greater teleport, produce flame, pyrotechnics, read magic, remove curse, see invisibility, suggestion, weapon of energy (fire only)
1/day - symbol of pain, unholy aura

Note that Weapon of Energy appears in the Spell Compendium

 

[Shade]

BOZ Almighty

Don't encourage him!

 

[Gothenem]

Don't encourage him!

I'll try not to

 

[Shroomy]

I was just wondering something after reading dear ol' Malphas statistics. He has quite a bit of psionic potential. I'm no longer familiar with the 1e psionic system, but is there anything to mine there?

 

[Gothenem]

Good Catch. I missed that. That could be the edge that he needs to actually be more than just a few SLA's in as humanoid devil.

 

[Shade]

Actually, nearly all the archfiends had psionics in 1E. They dropped psionics from them universally in 3E, so we should probably maintain that course unless a being is clearly intended to be a psionic creature.

If there's a Duke named Urigellerus who can bend spoons with his mind, I'd say he'd qualify.

 

[Gothenem]

Naahhhh, that would just qualify him for ...

Spoon Bendage (Su): This creature can bend spoons with nothing more than a thought. A spoon is allowed a Fortitude save (DC 10+½ creature's HD+Cha Mod) to resist being bent.


, Amud didn't have any psionics listed. But you are correct that most fiends did have it.

 

[Shade]

Remember, there is no spoon.