Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Devils, Part 01
This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
This book includes a whole bunch of demons, and it was inevitable that it was also going to include a whole bunch of devils. Their base lore remains unchanged from what it was in my original introduction in the Monster Manual Let’s Read, so I recommend re-reading that article.
This entry includes a whole bunch of devils that are new to 4th edition, though some of them also appeared in earlier editions. As I mention in the original intro, devils tend to be more “humanoid” in appearance and use weapons to fight. I’m also really fond of making jokes about devils being corporate employees and/or fascists, so get ready for those.
Mechanically, all devils have the Immortal origin, and the Devil keyword. Nearly all of the ones we’ll look at in this book are Humanoids, with one exception who is an Animate. All of the devils in the first MM had really high fire resistance, and some of the ones here do as well, but a surprising number of them lacks resistances entirely. They all still have darkvision, but their remaining traits vary a lot per stat block.
As usual, I’ll cover enough individual monsters to hit the size limit I’ve set on each post, and will have as many parts as it takes to cover the entire “Devil” entry.
Assassin Devil
As every servant of Asmodeus knows, you can’t make it in this economy without a little murder. Assassin devils are specialized service providers that cater to that particular need of successful businessmen everywhere. Their magic allows them to manipulate shadows to hide themselves and to kill.
That “service provider” crack isn’t just a joke: assassin devils are always found assisting the plots of some other infernal muckety-muck, never masterminding their own. The hidden truth is that many of them report directly to Asmodeus, snitching on those same plots to keep the CEO abreast of what his scheming underlings are up to. If the underlings in question discover this, they rarely make public accusations or reprisals, and instead try to feed the assassin misinformation to make themselves look good in the eyes of the boss.
The Numbers
Assassin Devils are Medium Level 24 Lurkers with 167 HP. They have darkvision and Resist 25 Fire, as well as an amazing ground speed of 12. They wear light armor and fight with shadows.
They can use magic to form a Shadow Sword which does necrotic damage and ongoing 5 physical damage (save ends). It also deals a lot of extra necrotic damage against targets granting combat advantage to the assassin.
Assassin devils can wrap themselves in a Shadow Cloak that makes them invisible until they make an attack, or they can cast those same shadows as a Shadow Net (Area Burst 2 Within 10 vs. Reflex) that restrains all it hits and inflicts 10 ongoing necrotic damage. These abilities can’t be used at the same time. The Cloak recharges when the devil uses the Net, and vice-versa.
Sample Encounter and Impressions
This seems like the type of devil PCs from the world would rarely see because they’re almost always employed in the internecine struggles of Hell itself. The book notes they like to work alone, but if circumstances mandate a team they prefer to partner up with strong soldier-types like war devils who are good at keeping the enemy distracted and setting up flanks.
The sample encounter is level 22 and has 2 assassins, a high-level human diabolist, and 2 war devils.
Erinyes
Erinyes are inspired by the Furies of Greek myth, and have been in the game since at least 1st Edition. I think it was 3.x that tried to present them as devilish counterparts to succubi (who were demons in that edition), but 4e leans more into the “Fury” aspect.
In Fourth Edition, Erinyes act as arbiters and enforcers of infernal law, which of course also implies they’re pretty good in a fight because this is Hell we’re talking about. Their skills with sword and shield are so renowned that certain mortal warriors have been known to sell their souls in order to train under them. This implies there’s an official erinyes school of arms with their own signature style, and maybe its own trademark enforcement arm.
In battle, Erinyes are elite infantry of the sort that gets deployed to untangle tricky situations and inspire the rank and file around them to fight harder. They’re more or less equivalent to fighty warlords. They can also be found leading hunting parties whose purpose is to find those who skipped out on infernal contracts and drag them to Hell.
The Numbers
Erinyes are Medium Level 13 Soldiers with the Leader keyword and 131 HP. They’re clad in high-quality infernal plate (which is a lot more than they wore in other editions), and wield a shield and a bastard sword. Their speed is 5, and they mostly fight using showy but lethal martial techniques.
They’re very good at holding the line due to the Devastating Opportunist trait, which gives them a +3 bonus to opportunity attacks and allows them to shift 1 square if they hit with such an attack.
Their basic attack is a Compelling Strike that does standard physical damage and allows one ally within 5 squares to gain 8 temporary HP. They can also use the Flitting Blade technique to make attacks dealing light physical damage against up to three different targets, at-will.
When first bloodied, they can use Bloody Spiral (close burst 1 vs. Reflex) as a reaction. This does a tiny bit of physical damage and knocks prone on a hit, and if two or more enemies are knocked down it bestows 10 temporary HP to every ally within 5 squares.
Sample Encounter and Impressions
The sample encounter is level 12 and has 3 erinyes, 2 chain devils and 5 legion devil hellguards. It’s likely one of those hunting parties.
I think I like these new erinyes a lot more than I did the “naked winged woman, but a devil” that I remember them being in 3e.
Gorechain Devil
Like a chain devil, but bigger. Where standard chain devils are jailers, gorechain devils are more like bounty hunters. They’re named like this because their chains are often encrusted in gore.
Their fighting style is a lot less acrobatic than that of their smaller counterparts, but they turn out to have a lot more mental control over their chains. So much, in fact, that they can use those chains to manipulate ensnared victims and make them into puppets. They’re also a lot smarter than they look.
The Numbers
These Large devils are Level 12 Elite Brutes with 298 HP. They have resist 10 fire but seem to lack darkvision. Their speed is 5.
The Grasping Chains of a gorechain devil act as an aura (3) that forces enemies to make a DC 21 Athletics or Acrobatics check if they attempt to leave its bounds. Their basic Gorechain Strike is reach 3, and the Gorechain Flail ability (recharge 6) allows them to make one of these attacks against every target in range with a single action.
Gorechain Takeover (reach 3 vs. Fortitude; recharge 5-6) does about the same damage as the basic strike, and also dominates (save ends). The domination also ends if the target is more than 3 squares away from the devil when the target’s turn starts. A lucky enough series of recharge rolls could see multiple PCs dominated in this way.
The tactics here are clear: bring all the PCs in for a group hug, and never let them get away.
Sample Encounter and Impressions
The sample encounter is Level 12 and has two of these, a skeletal tomb guardian, and a skull lord. I imagine they might also take part in those erinyes-led debtor-hunting parties.
I like that the look of gorechain devils is a bit deceptive at first. A PC who sees one of these things might expect a big dumb brute, but they can fight smart and the Takeover power will come as a surprise.
It’s not quite enough to make me like them as enemies, since I’m not really that fond of kytons either, but that’s on me and not on this stat block.