Converting the Dukes of Hell

hi! :)

updating in homebrews! (man, been a long while since i've said that) how close is he to ready?

(Edit: the following rant isn't directed at anyone in particular except WotC, lest you think otherwise. ;) )

Re: epic stuff. my biggest complaint about it is how *badly* the ELH, D&DG, and BoVD fit together, and how 3.5 has dealt with it. seamless, smooth? NOT! if WotC had figured out from the beginning how powerful the higher end powerful beings were "supposed to be" rather than reinventing and reimagining it over and and over, D&D players wouldn't be having the endless debate over how powerful something is supposed to be. of course, i'm sure i'm preaching to the choir here. ;) they didn't leave a whole lot of room between pit fiends and the weakest archfiends - in fact, for some things, i think pit fiends even beat out the archfiend aspects! so i ignore trying to make the dukes 100% tougher than pit fiends and 100% weaker than the nine lords, and just go with whatever my gut tells me is right.

regarding the dukes of hell/rabble of devilkin, we gave quite a bit of thought to them and decided to put their stats somewhere slightly below the FC2 archduke aspects just for the sake of ease on our parts. we came up with a formula for things like AC and HD and all that, so we wouldn't have to try to figure out where they're "supposed to be" for all 60 or so of them each time we move on to a new one. ;) the *intent* of this thread (whether i always follow through with it or not) is only to deal with the differences each duke has from each other - yeah, they're all going to have big numbers of HD and AC and all that so i don't want to spend a lot of time on it, but what makes each one unique from the others - that's what's interesting to me. :) especially since devils have a lot less room for variation than demons...

i think the assumption in the later part of 3.5 (especially if you read the FC's) seems to be that these uber-beings are going to have whatever power level the DM wants to tailor his campaign to - and you know what? that's just fine by me, in fact it makes a ton of sense when you think about it. some DMs might think what we came up with for the dukes' stats is too powerful and make their CRs below 20; some might feel that they belong above 30 or even 40. we can't please 'em all, so we just try to please ourselves. :) oh wait, that didn't come out right...
 
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BOZ said:
we can't please 'em all, so we just try to please ourselves.

Isn't there a Kenny Rogers song about that? ;)

Edit: Sorry, looks like it's Ricky Nelson! :heh: Garden Party, still plays on oldies stations now and then...
 
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Come back, Kenny!

OK, looking over Homebrews...

Organization: Solitary (plus 1d6 of assorted colors)

Solitary or troupe?

Treasure: Triple standard? plus robe (or just double standard plus robe?)

I like double plus cloak...that thing, plus his pick, are worth bundles.

Other than that, he looks good. I'd change "robe of gems" to something more flavorful...but I can't come up with anything at the moment. :heh:
 


Shade said:
I'd change "robe of gems" to something more flavorful...but I can't come up with anything at the moment. :heh:

neither could i. ;)

we can say "troupe" (how is that usually listed for powerful solitary beings with retinues?), though we listed Admuscias the same way.
 

Rainbow robe ain't bad at all. :)

Pit fiend org looks like this:
troupe (1–2 pit fiends, 2–5 horned devils, and 2–5 barbed devils)

So maybe...

troupe (Malphas and 1–6 abishai of various colors)
 

That should do. :) will fix that for Amdu as well.

The main problem with “rainbow robe” is that it conflict with his “I’m all dressed in blaaaaack!” image – plus, it makes me think of freakin’ Rainbow Randolph. ;)
 



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