Hordes of the Abyss: Q&A

[Shade]

Will be interesting to see, as tempted as I am to refer to it as sushi for Marraenoloths

It looks like it would be an interesting battle, seeing as the laghathti and marraenoloths are the same CR.

 

[Shade]

James,

The yochlol's spell-like abilities list dominate person (DC 16) at will. Should this be charm person, or is the save DC misconfigured for dominate person? I'm assuming charm since that is what it had in the Monsters of Faerun version.

 

[James Jacobs]

James,

The yochlol's spell-like abilities list dominate person (DC 16) at will. Should this be charm person, or is the save DC misconfigured for dominate person? I'm assuming charm since that is what it had in the Monsters of Faerun version.

Yes; that should be charm person instead of dominate person.

 

[James Jacobs]

Although not a big issue but one that could help people who are advancing Demon Lords, should spell resistance be increased an equal amount as HD, rather than have a flat CR +13?

For example all of the demon lords have a SR=CR+11 except Orcus and Pazuzu, who are SR=CR+13. Unless this is a misprint should they not retain their slightly better resistance to magic?

Great job James and Erik. I was looking forward to this book all year and I was not disappointed.

Could someone point out the Dungeon and Dragon magazine issues where the demon lords have been given stat blocks. Thanks in advance.

Actually, since demon lords advance by +1 CR for every Hit Die you add, their spell resistance does actually increase by 1 for every HD gained. In my turnover, all the demon lords had a base SR of CR +13; I really don't know why this was changed during the book's editing/development cycle. Anyway, as a result, when you advance several demon lords, they'll get a 2 point boost in their SR. <shrug>

As for the Dragon issues:

Dragon 329: Pazuzu (plus anzu demon)
Dragon 333: Fraz-Urb'luu (plus skurchur demon)
Dragon 337: Zuggtmoy (plus basidirond, phycomid, and vathugu demon)
Dragon 341: Baphoment (plus ankishar demon)
Dragon 345: Kostchtchie (plus mavawhan demon)

 

[James Jacobs]

I know from reading the intro text to the demon lord chapter, (finally got around to that part today), that in Hordes of the Abyss you've ignored the difference between a demon lord and demon prince, but I'm curious if at anytime you considered determining the difference between a lord and prince. In 1E, one was supposed to be more powerful, and if I recall they flipped that in Planescape.

Before I read the introduction I had been trying to determine if you considered that based on which lords had "prince of deception/wrath/etc" titles.

The classic difference between a demon lord and a demon prince was that demon lords didn't control a layer of the Abyss, while demon princes did. Unfortunately, as the game went through editions, this distinction became blurred in several cases when they flipped meanings (sometimes randomly). Further complicating things, female arch-demons were generally called "queens" rather than "ladies or princesses." We decided to call them all demon lords; their appelations (Prince of Demons, Queen of the Succubi, Mother of Demons, Lady of Fungi, etc.) being self-appointed. There's no real hierarchy on the Abyss like there is in Hell, so these titles really don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. They're mostly just cool titles to refer to the demon lords as in cases where you don't want to use their actual names.

 

[JustaPlayer]

Actually, since demon lords advance by +1 CR for every Hit Die you add, their spell resistance does actually increase by 1 for every HD gained. In my turnover, all the demon lords had a base SR of CR +13; I really don't know why this was changed during the book's editing/development cycle. Anyway, as a result, when you advance several demon lords, they'll get a 2 point boost in their SR. <shrug>

As for the Dragon issues:

Dragon 329: Pazuzu (plus anzu demon)
Dragon 333: Fraz-Urb'luu (plus skurchur demon)
Dragon 337: Zuggtmoy (plus basidirond, phycomid, and vathugu demon)
Dragon 341: Baphoment (plus ankishar demon)
Dragon 345: Kostchtchie (plus mavawhan demon)

There was also one mentioned in the appendix of Hordes which was printed in Dungeon but I'm not sure which mag number. It was Kezzit or Kerzit or some such. Lord of the Tome was his title I think. Anyway, I'll get the number when I get home.

 

[James Jacobs]

There was also one mentioned in the appendix of Hordes which was printed in Dungeon but I'm not sure which mag number. It was Kezzit or Kerzit or some such. Lord of the Tome was his title I think. Anyway, I'll get the number when I get home.

Kerzit was detailed in issue #112 of Dungeon, along with the nabassu and the colchiln demon and the undead shoosuva (minions of Yeenoghu). The nabassu, of course, made it into the Fiendish Codex. Those seeking stats for the other monsters'll need to track down a copy of this issue, alas.

 

[Ripzerai]

I would humbly suggest a new name for arrow demons: sagittezu.

So does the book offer any hint at to what degree demon lords can control their realms? I notice the web enhancement says Kanchelsis can manipulate the shape of his palace at will, despite being only a demigod (that would ordinarily be a DvR 11 effect). Can Graz'zt and other demons explicitly do the same? It looks promising.

 

[JustaPlayer]

Fiendish Codex I: The Lost Annals is up, including laghathti obyriths, Woeful Escarand, and other planar layers!

This is the web enhancement I've been waiting for, and it delivers.

This seems to be no longer working. Were you able to download stuff?

 

[Shade]

This seems to be no longer working. Were you able to download stuff?

Odd...it's working fine for me. It isn't a pdf download this time...just a series of web pages similar to the monthly previews.