So, what does everyone think about the non-unique demons in Fiendish Codex I? Any favorites, or ones you thought were awful? Did you find any potential errata?
Overall I found most of them to be satisfying. There are a few that may be over CR'd, but there are no equivalents to Drowned, Immoths, or Storm Elementals in this book.
I'm happy that they kept to some of the Tanar'ri demon traits, but am baffled that they left some off. Almost all the tanar'ri in the MM have a +8 racial bonus to spot and listen checks. In this book, that is totally ignored. DR changes from cold iron to DR/good beginning at the Vrock demon (CR 9) in the MM, but in the Fiendish codex it remains DR/cold iron almost until the mature Nabassu at CR 15. It's not like these are tanar'ri traits but so many of them have it that it feels weird to see them without it. Any thoughts from the designers on this would be appreciated.
A nice change is that most of the demons now have SR that equals their CR+11. I've always thought the SRs of the higher level demons (Glabrezu to Balor) were too low at CR+8. It's good to see that most of the demons can see invisible and the higher CR demons have Use Magic Device. Not that any DMs take advantage of that. C'mon people, give your Nalfeshnee an 11th level wand of Scorching Ray!
Onto the demons:
Armanite: The cavalry demon, I guess this guy is a lot like the arrow demon in that it is created for war and little else. He got a real boost from Manual of the Planes, his hp took a huge leap up. No way to see invisible or teleport, which is just terrible. Cavalry charge helps clear up any problems they had with mounted combat and charging. I think its an okay monster, but the Armanite gets really good with Fighter levels, as it has a straight path to the cheese that is Heedless Charge.
Armanite Fighter 4: Extra feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, and Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior). Str 26, Dex 12, Con 22, Wis 12, Cha 10. Charge, power attack from its AC, and the Armanite gets a +25 to hit with its lance (-1 size +1 masterwork +13 bab +8 str +4 cavalry charge). On a spirited charge it deals 6d6+75 damage (strength bonus two-hand x3 + power attack x3). Of course, its AC will be horrible, but hopefully it did a ride-by attack. Very nice and very painful. They may be the best cavalry in the game since they don't have to worry about their mount getting killed.
The only thing I only thing I found strange was the Tumble skill. Since it wears full plate, this skill doesn't see much use.
Overall I found most of them to be satisfying. There are a few that may be over CR'd, but there are no equivalents to Drowned, Immoths, or Storm Elementals in this book.
I'm happy that they kept to some of the Tanar'ri demon traits, but am baffled that they left some off. Almost all the tanar'ri in the MM have a +8 racial bonus to spot and listen checks. In this book, that is totally ignored. DR changes from cold iron to DR/good beginning at the Vrock demon (CR 9) in the MM, but in the Fiendish codex it remains DR/cold iron almost until the mature Nabassu at CR 15. It's not like these are tanar'ri traits but so many of them have it that it feels weird to see them without it. Any thoughts from the designers on this would be appreciated.
A nice change is that most of the demons now have SR that equals their CR+11. I've always thought the SRs of the higher level demons (Glabrezu to Balor) were too low at CR+8. It's good to see that most of the demons can see invisible and the higher CR demons have Use Magic Device. Not that any DMs take advantage of that. C'mon people, give your Nalfeshnee an 11th level wand of Scorching Ray!
Onto the demons:
Armanite: The cavalry demon, I guess this guy is a lot like the arrow demon in that it is created for war and little else. He got a real boost from Manual of the Planes, his hp took a huge leap up. No way to see invisible or teleport, which is just terrible. Cavalry charge helps clear up any problems they had with mounted combat and charging. I think its an okay monster, but the Armanite gets really good with Fighter levels, as it has a straight path to the cheese that is Heedless Charge.
Armanite Fighter 4: Extra feats: Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, and Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior). Str 26, Dex 12, Con 22, Wis 12, Cha 10. Charge, power attack from its AC, and the Armanite gets a +25 to hit with its lance (-1 size +1 masterwork +13 bab +8 str +4 cavalry charge). On a spirited charge it deals 6d6+75 damage (strength bonus two-hand x3 + power attack x3). Of course, its AC will be horrible, but hopefully it did a ride-by attack. Very nice and very painful. They may be the best cavalry in the game since they don't have to worry about their mount getting killed.
The only thing I only thing I found strange was the Tumble skill. Since it wears full plate, this skill doesn't see much use.
Advanced large Bar-lgura are tough customers and can challenge even high level PCs, having a path to the Elusive Target feat from Complete Warrior and the ability to use two-handed weapons.
