Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast.

This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.

Bone devils, so called because they’re all thin and spiky, occupy an intermediate rank in Hell’s hierarchy. They are fanatically loyal to their superiors, and their main function is to keep a watchful eye on lesser devils to make sure they’re not slacking off and are displaying the proper amount of zeal. Their approach to dealing with slackers or cowards is notoriously violent.

In other words, they’re both Hell’s commissars and its middle management. I imagine that mortal villains would summon bone devils to fulfill the same function for their own organizations, or to help wrangle a cadre of lesser devils. They’re also known as Osyluths, and are only present in the Monster Manual.

The Numbers

Bone Devils are Large Immortal Humanoids (devils), and Level 17 Controllers (leaders). They’re trained in Perception, have darkvision and Resist Fire 20. They move at speed 8, and also have a teleport speed of 8, which makes them very mobile.

I’m not sure I’ve covered the Leader keyword yet. It means that this particular monster has abilities that help its buddies in the same way a PC leader would help other PCs. This rarely includes healing, being weighted towards granting bonuses or extra actions. Leader monsters are most often controllers, but other roles can be leaders too.

Osyluths have two auras, both with a radius of 5 squares: the Aura of Fear gives enemies in it a -2 to attacks, and the Aura of Obedience is basically the Commissar Signature Move. Any bloodied ally who is not also a bone devil and who starts their turn in this aura takes 10 damage, and gains a +4 bonus to attack and a +5 to all damage for a turn. If the damage is enough to kill the ally, then the bone devil regains 10 HP instead.

Their basic attack is a Reach 2 claw, and they also have a Reach 2 poison stinger. This does the same damage as a claw attack, but also injects a poison that does 10 ongoing damage and inflicts a -4 penalty to the target’s Will (save ends both).

Osyluths can make a Double Attack with the claw at will, and if both claws hit the same target it can attack them with the stinger without spending an action.

As a minor action the osyluth can direct its Fiendish Focus towards a target. This has Range 5, targets Will, and gives the target a -5 penalty to all defenses for a turn.

An enemy force including an osyluth is probably a bit frightening to fight. If the bone devil really focuses on a target, the victim could be looking at a constant -5 penalty to all defenses and a -9 to will. They pair really well with lurkers or artillery, but are kind of a double-edged sword when paired with melee fighters. Becoming bloodied in the vincinity of an “allied” osyluth is not conductive to long-term survival.

The sample encounter is level 16: 1 bone devil, 5 barbazus, and 1 cambion hellfire magus who is likely the leader of the band.