Hexmage-EN
Legend
Concerning Demonic Amulets
Devil talismans are pretty well defined, thanks in part to the Infernal Calling spell. Knowing a devil's true name gives you advantage on Charisma checks to convince the devil to do something, while having a devil's talisman (which has the devil's true name inscribed within it) forces the devil to do whatever you say. While the Summon Greater Demon spell makes mentions of using a demon's true name to cause it to make Charisma saves with disadvantage, I'm not seeing any reference to demonic amulets.
In the Monster Manual it is said that a demonic amulet "allows the fiend to reform at a time and place of its choosing", making it sound like a kind of phylactery. Furthermore, "a creature possessing a demonic amulet can extract favors from the demon whose life essence the amulet holds--or inflict great pain if the fiend resists." Unfortunately I've yet to find any sort of mechanical details to support this.
The easiest thing to say would probably be that having a demonic amulet disallows a Charisma save for the demon called by Summon Greater Demon, similar to how having a devil's talisman makes Charisma checks unnecessary with Infernal Calling.
On a related note, the spell Planar Binding allows the affected creature to make a saving throw. I'm considering house ruling that so knowing the true name of the affected creature gives it disadvantage on the save, and that possessing the devil talisman/demonic amulet causes the creature to automatically fail the save.
Concerning Bound Demons and Demonic Possession
Just got to the part on Bound Demons in the MM and now I'm even more confused. Basically, certain tomes teach you how to place a demon's essence in an object to prevent it's return to the Abyss. In this way they sound like demonic amulets. However, whereas the wording for the demonic amulet made it sound like only part of a demon's essence was ceded and the demon was still free to do whatever, this section on bound demons makes it seem like the demon is imprisoned within the object. "A creature that handles such an object", we are told, "is able to control the demon whose essence is trapped within the object", but it's unclear if that means you could make the demon appear and fight for you or what. Further, "destroying the object frees the demon, which immediately seeks revenge against its binder."
The following section, Demonic Possession, states that powerful demons can emerge from their containers to possess a mortal host. "As long as the demon remains in possession of its host, the soul of that host is in danger of being dragged to the Abyss with the demon if it is exorcised from the flesh, or if the host dies...If a demon possesses a creature and the object binding the demon is destroyed, the possession last until powerful magic is used to drive the demonic spirit out of the host."
Let's take a look at the Dispel Evil and Good Spell:
Break Enchantment: As your action, you touch a creature you can reach that is Charmed, Frightened, or possessed by a Celestial, an elemental, a fey, a fiend, or an Undead. The creature you touch is no longer Charmed, Frightened, or possessed by such creatures.
So, going by the Monster Manual, we know that a demon can (somehow) be bound to an object, and that presumably anyone who handles the binding object has power over the demon (what they can make the demon do, or if it can even manifest physically outside the object, is undefined). If said object is destroyed, the demon "immediately seeks revenge against the binder." We also know a demonic essence can emerge from its container (somehow) to possess a mortal host (whether it can emerge from its container for reasons other than to possess mortals is unclear, nor is it clear why it doesn't just always do that instead of letting people handle its binding object and "control it"). Finally, the Monster Manual insinuates that casting Dispel Evil and Good on a mortal possessed by a bound demon without first destroying the object the demon is bound to will cause the possessed mortal's soul to be dragged to the Abyss with the demon (whoops!).
Let me try to understand all this. Say you've just been paging through the Demonomicon of Iggwilv and want to try binding a demon to an object. You somehow prepare a special idol and figure out the spells needed to put a barlgura inside (maybe Magic Circle + Summon Greater Demon, along with a Planar Binding to tell it to get in the idol). Now what? Are you the only one who can control the barlgura in the idol, or can any creature holding it control the demon? What can the barlgura in the idol even do? Could anyone just grab the idol and summon a barlgura under control more complete than what Summon Greater Demon or Planar Binding is capable of? What's to stop the bound barlgura from trying to possess you or anyone else (other than Protection from Evil and Good)? What's to stop it from using its host to smash its own idol and hunt you down?
The best use I can think of is that you could disguise yourself while summoning the demon and warding yourself with Protection from Evil and Good to avoid being immediately possessed by the (preferably very durable) idol you've made. Then leave it where an enemy of yours will be in range of the the bound demon's possession range and get out of dodge. Once your enemy is possessed the demon has no idea who bound it, so it can't come after you without trying to investigate who bound it or just killing anyone it suspects could be its binder (the latter is most likely). After that all you have to do is wait for your demon-possessed enemy to be either slain (damning their soul to the Abyss) or for an ignorant cleric to cast Dispel Evil and Good on your enemy with the idol intact (damning their soul to the Abyss).
Here's my attempt at mechanically expressing this concept by combining aspects of the Ghost's Possession, the Narzugon's Hellfire Lance, and a little bit of the spell Magic Jar.
Trait
Bound. The essence of the bound demon is linked to a particular binding item. While this binding item is intact the bound demon is capable of using Demonic Possession. Should the binding item be destroyed the bound demon loses the Demonic Possession action but may continue a possession already in progress.
Action
Demonic Possession (1/day): One beast or humanoid not warded against possession within 30 ft. of the bound demon's binding item must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the bound demon. The target is Incapacitated and loses control of its body. The bound demon now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The bound demon can't be targeted by any Attack, spell, or other effect. It retains its Alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being Charmed and Frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's Statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, Class Features, or Proficiencies. The possession lasts until the possessed creature is killed, the bound demon ends it as a Bonus Action (if the bound demon's binding item is still intact, this can only be accomplished by returning to it while within 30 ft of its binding item; if the binding item has been destroyed, it can appear in its original form within 60 feet of the formerly possessed creature), or the bound demon is forced out by an effect like the Dispel Evil and Good spell. If the possessed creature is killed or the bound demon is forced out while the bound demon's binding item is still intact, both the possessed creature and the bound demon are slain, the binding item loses its power, and the possessed creature's soul manifests as a mane in a random layer of the Abyss in 1d4 hours. If the creature isn't revived before then, only a wish spell or killing the mane and casting true resurrection on the creature's original body can restore it to life. A target is immune to the bound demon's Demonic Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or after the possession ends.
That's my crack at making sense of these things. Any other takers?
Devil talismans are pretty well defined, thanks in part to the Infernal Calling spell. Knowing a devil's true name gives you advantage on Charisma checks to convince the devil to do something, while having a devil's talisman (which has the devil's true name inscribed within it) forces the devil to do whatever you say. While the Summon Greater Demon spell makes mentions of using a demon's true name to cause it to make Charisma saves with disadvantage, I'm not seeing any reference to demonic amulets.
In the Monster Manual it is said that a demonic amulet "allows the fiend to reform at a time and place of its choosing", making it sound like a kind of phylactery. Furthermore, "a creature possessing a demonic amulet can extract favors from the demon whose life essence the amulet holds--or inflict great pain if the fiend resists." Unfortunately I've yet to find any sort of mechanical details to support this.
The easiest thing to say would probably be that having a demonic amulet disallows a Charisma save for the demon called by Summon Greater Demon, similar to how having a devil's talisman makes Charisma checks unnecessary with Infernal Calling.
On a related note, the spell Planar Binding allows the affected creature to make a saving throw. I'm considering house ruling that so knowing the true name of the affected creature gives it disadvantage on the save, and that possessing the devil talisman/demonic amulet causes the creature to automatically fail the save.
Concerning Bound Demons and Demonic Possession
Just got to the part on Bound Demons in the MM and now I'm even more confused. Basically, certain tomes teach you how to place a demon's essence in an object to prevent it's return to the Abyss. In this way they sound like demonic amulets. However, whereas the wording for the demonic amulet made it sound like only part of a demon's essence was ceded and the demon was still free to do whatever, this section on bound demons makes it seem like the demon is imprisoned within the object. "A creature that handles such an object", we are told, "is able to control the demon whose essence is trapped within the object", but it's unclear if that means you could make the demon appear and fight for you or what. Further, "destroying the object frees the demon, which immediately seeks revenge against its binder."
The following section, Demonic Possession, states that powerful demons can emerge from their containers to possess a mortal host. "As long as the demon remains in possession of its host, the soul of that host is in danger of being dragged to the Abyss with the demon if it is exorcised from the flesh, or if the host dies...If a demon possesses a creature and the object binding the demon is destroyed, the possession last until powerful magic is used to drive the demonic spirit out of the host."
Let's take a look at the Dispel Evil and Good Spell:
Break Enchantment: As your action, you touch a creature you can reach that is Charmed, Frightened, or possessed by a Celestial, an elemental, a fey, a fiend, or an Undead. The creature you touch is no longer Charmed, Frightened, or possessed by such creatures.
So, going by the Monster Manual, we know that a demon can (somehow) be bound to an object, and that presumably anyone who handles the binding object has power over the demon (what they can make the demon do, or if it can even manifest physically outside the object, is undefined). If said object is destroyed, the demon "immediately seeks revenge against the binder." We also know a demonic essence can emerge from its container (somehow) to possess a mortal host (whether it can emerge from its container for reasons other than to possess mortals is unclear, nor is it clear why it doesn't just always do that instead of letting people handle its binding object and "control it"). Finally, the Monster Manual insinuates that casting Dispel Evil and Good on a mortal possessed by a bound demon without first destroying the object the demon is bound to will cause the possessed mortal's soul to be dragged to the Abyss with the demon (whoops!).
Let me try to understand all this. Say you've just been paging through the Demonomicon of Iggwilv and want to try binding a demon to an object. You somehow prepare a special idol and figure out the spells needed to put a barlgura inside (maybe Magic Circle + Summon Greater Demon, along with a Planar Binding to tell it to get in the idol). Now what? Are you the only one who can control the barlgura in the idol, or can any creature holding it control the demon? What can the barlgura in the idol even do? Could anyone just grab the idol and summon a barlgura under control more complete than what Summon Greater Demon or Planar Binding is capable of? What's to stop the bound barlgura from trying to possess you or anyone else (other than Protection from Evil and Good)? What's to stop it from using its host to smash its own idol and hunt you down?
The best use I can think of is that you could disguise yourself while summoning the demon and warding yourself with Protection from Evil and Good to avoid being immediately possessed by the (preferably very durable) idol you've made. Then leave it where an enemy of yours will be in range of the the bound demon's possession range and get out of dodge. Once your enemy is possessed the demon has no idea who bound it, so it can't come after you without trying to investigate who bound it or just killing anyone it suspects could be its binder (the latter is most likely). After that all you have to do is wait for your demon-possessed enemy to be either slain (damning their soul to the Abyss) or for an ignorant cleric to cast Dispel Evil and Good on your enemy with the idol intact (damning their soul to the Abyss).
Here's my attempt at mechanically expressing this concept by combining aspects of the Ghost's Possession, the Narzugon's Hellfire Lance, and a little bit of the spell Magic Jar.
Trait
Bound. The essence of the bound demon is linked to a particular binding item. While this binding item is intact the bound demon is capable of using Demonic Possession. Should the binding item be destroyed the bound demon loses the Demonic Possession action but may continue a possession already in progress.
Action
Demonic Possession (1/day): One beast or humanoid not warded against possession within 30 ft. of the bound demon's binding item must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the bound demon. The target is Incapacitated and loses control of its body. The bound demon now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The bound demon can't be targeted by any Attack, spell, or other effect. It retains its Alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being Charmed and Frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's Statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, Class Features, or Proficiencies. The possession lasts until the possessed creature is killed, the bound demon ends it as a Bonus Action (if the bound demon's binding item is still intact, this can only be accomplished by returning to it while within 30 ft of its binding item; if the binding item has been destroyed, it can appear in its original form within 60 feet of the formerly possessed creature), or the bound demon is forced out by an effect like the Dispel Evil and Good spell. If the possessed creature is killed or the bound demon is forced out while the bound demon's binding item is still intact, both the possessed creature and the bound demon are slain, the binding item loses its power, and the possessed creature's soul manifests as a mane in a random layer of the Abyss in 1d4 hours. If the creature isn't revived before then, only a wish spell or killing the mane and casting true resurrection on the creature's original body can restore it to life. A target is immune to the bound demon's Demonic Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or after the possession ends.
That's my crack at making sense of these things. Any other takers?
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