Devils... kinda lacking in the tempter department?

Unfortunately, this is but one example of fiends not being designed according to an overriding sense of purpose, whether tanar'ri and baatezu.

Their abilities do not necessarily reflect their roles and their qualities do not necessarily reflect their habitats (eg, balors finally were made immune to fire in 3.5E but ice devils are still only resistant to cold, why are tanar'ri immune to electricity?).

I would really love to see a Fiendomonicon (or similar) that actually went into why the fiends are as they are (amongst other things as the Draconomicon did for dragons).

In the meantime, I keep producing variant fiends for my own campaigns.
 

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Heck, I produce variant half-fiends... why should an imp/human pairing and a balor/human paring create the same type of offspring? Dragons get different ones, fiends and celestials should, too.
 

Calico_Jack73 said:
If a devil is trying to get the PCs to commit an evil act so as to damn them then Charm won't work. An evil act carried out against your will isn't an evil act. It would be the same as stripping paladinhood from a paladin who killed someone while possessed. He didn't kill anyone, it was the possessing entity. Any truth revealing spell would prove that he didn't do it.

You may or may not be interested in reading through this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74252

It regards an encounter between the characters in my campaign and an Erinyes. Specifically, the Erinyes winds up getting a hold on the soul of the party Rogue and then giving him a means to get it back that will require him to commit evil acts. You may disagree (as did many folks who posted in the thread) that the signing away of his soul is a binding contract given that he did it under the compulsion of her Charm ability. But I didn't turn him evil for this either.

Anyway, you might find some interesting stuff about the nature of temptation and whether giving into it is evil or not depending on the cirucumstances.
 

Rel said:
You may or may not be interested in reading through this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74252

It regards an encounter between the characters in my campaign and an Erinyes. Specifically, the Erinyes winds up getting a hold on the soul of the party Rogue and then giving him a means to get it back that will require him to commit evil acts. You may disagree (as did many folks who posted in the thread) that the signing away of his soul is a binding contract given that he did it under the compulsion of her Charm ability. But I didn't turn him evil for this either.

Anyway, you might find some interesting stuff about the nature of temptation and whether giving into it is evil or not depending on the cirucumstances.

Yep... I read and responded to it quite some time ago.
 

Eriynes

Erinyes used to be able to polymorph in 3.0 but lost that spell-like ability in 3.5 (many fiends lost a lot of spell-like abilities). Their charm was also much stronger in 3.0.

They are able to fly in both 3.0 and 3.5 and they use the same winged picture in both.

Originally, I believe, the Erinyes were the three greek furies who punished mortals. They were not originally based on seducer concepts although they have morphed into the devil counterpart of the succubi for D&D cosmology purposes.



from the 3.0 srd:
Speed: 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (average)
Spell-Like Abilities: At will: animate dead, charm monster, desecrate, invisibility (self only), magic circle against good (self only), major image, polymorph self, produce flame, see invisibility, suggestion, and unholy blight. These abilities are as the spells cast by an 8th-level sorcerer (save DC 15 + spell level).
An erinyes also can teleport without error (self plus 50 pounds of objects only) at will as the spell cast by a 12th-level sorcerer.
Charm Person (Su): An erinyes can charm a humanoid creature with a look. This is not a gaze attack, and the target need not meet the erinyes’s eye. The ability has a range of 60 feet; an affected opponent must succeed at a Will save (DC 18) or become utterly loyal to the erinyes. The victim will do anything to protect the erinyes, even if that means slaying his or her companions or facing certain death. The ability is otherwise similar to charm person cast by an 8th-level sorcerer.
Entangle (Ex): Each erinyes carries a stout rope some 50 feet long that entangles opponents of any size as an animate rope spell cast by a 16th-level sorcerer. The erinyes can hurl the rope 30 feet with no range penalty.
Summon Devil (Sp): Once per day an erinyes can attempt to summon 2d10 lemures with a 50% chance of success, or 1d4 barbazu with a 35% chance of success.
See in Darkness (Su): Erinyes can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even that created by deeper darkness spells.
Telepathy (Su): Erinyes can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language.
Tongues (Su): An erinyes has a permanent tongues ability as the spell cast by a 12th-level sorcerer.



from the 3.5 srd:
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 50 ft. (good)
Unlike other devils, erinyes appear attractive to humans, resembling very comely women or men. An erinyes stands about 6 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
Erinyes speak Infernal, Celestial, and Draconic.
Combat
Erinyes prefer to engage in combat from a distance. They use charm monster to distract or disorganize their opponents, then rain down fiery arrows from above.
An erinyes’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Entangle (Ex): Each erinyes carries a stout rope some 50 feet long that entangles opponents of any size as an animate rope spell (caster level 16th). An erinyes can hurl its rope 30 feet with no range penalty. Typically, an erinyes entangles a foe, lifts it into the air, and drops it from a great height.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only), charm monster (DC 19), minor image (DC 17), unholy blight (DC 19). Caster level 12th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Summon Devil (Sp): Once per day an erinyes can attempt to summon 2d10 lemures or 1d4 bearded devils with a 50% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.
True Seeing (Su): Erinyes continuously use true seeing, as the spell (caster level 14th).
 
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Tewligan said:
If I were you, I would just houserule the erinyes to have the polymorph ability. Easy!

I've been leaning that way but didn't want to jack with the CR for the Eryines when they finally face off with her. Ring of Polymorph Self or Hat of Disguise will work fine and give the party some loot at the same time.
 

Calico_Jack73 said:
I've been leaning that way but didn't want to jack with the CR for the Eryines when they finally face off with her. Ring of Polymorph Self or Hat of Disguise will work fine and give the party some loot at the same time.

A simpler solution is to replace the Erinyes' "Minor Image" spell-like ability with either Alter Self or Disguise Self, both minor appearance-altering spells which really only alter cosmetic features, without altering a character's abilities.

After all, you're really only aiming at giving the Erinyes the ability to disguise it's true nature, right?
 

I've only briefly skimmed much of this thread, but it might be worth looking at some of the fiendish prestige classes in the Fiend Folio. They're pretty good, and I believe that one is a tempter.

On a semi-related note, in my campaign, a succubi's kiss drains Wisdom rather than levels. In my opinion, a loss in levels is often too hard to justify being not noticed. More importantly, wisdom damage makes the character more susceptible to being duped into acting in the succubi's interests, and if that happens, the victim is a much more capable accomplice with all of his/hers levels intact.
 
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Besides, according to Monster Manual 3.5, Erinyes now serve as Scouts, Servants and Concubines for powerful Devils, rather then as temptresses. So they're no longer supposed to be Lawful counterparts to the Succubi anymore.

Although if this were my campaign, I'd probably make Succubi rogue, Neutral Evil Fiends, not permanently associated with either the Tanar'ri or the Baaztezu, but rather acting as free agents for either side..
 

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