Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast

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I remember seeing these things in 3e, and they probably date from earlier. My memory of them is not very detailed because I had no patience for reading page-long lists of spell-like abilities, which were the style of the time for epic demons.

The Lore

Nafelshnees are something of a rarity in the Abyss: demons with a civilization.

These demons hail from the 400th layer of the Abyss, known as the Woeful Escarand. In the distant past, this layer was ruled by a demon lord named Tantagaras, a corpulent beast who sired many lesser demons made in his image. These were known as his Waddling Legions.

Tantagaras took part in Tharizdun’s uprising against the gods, during which he entered a duel with Kord. Kord killed him, and the Waddling Legions brought his corpse back to the Woeful Escarand. They paid their respects by devouring the corpse, which causes fragments of Tantagaras’ essence to transfer to them and make them a lot smarter and more ambitious.

This of course resulted in a long and bloody demon civil war, which in turn ended when six of the most powerful nafelshnees got together and named themselves the rulers of the 400th layer. Known as the Lords of Woe, they carved the layer into a sprawling feudal realm, each of them sitting at the top of a large hierarchy of vassals that rule their own fiefs as they see fit.

Eventually, these lords and ladies exhausted all the resources of their abyssal layer, because demons might be able to build a society but they can’t make it sustainable. So now they make deals with “foreign” demon lords, offering their services in exchange for slaves, materials, food, and treasure.

Your typical nafelshnee divides people into three groups: “food”, “tools” and “masters”. The first group includes almost everyone weaker than themselves, from animals to humanoids to lesser demons. They never negotiate with food.

The second group includes those who aren’t tasty enough to eat, like insects, spiders, immortals, powerful elementals and, amusingly enough, gnomes. They’ll try to bully the weaker “tools” into servitude, and might try to manipulate the stronger ones, but I guess they might just try to kill them without eating if talks break down.

The last group is very small and consists of the mightiest demons, demon lords, and efreets. With these, their usually arrogant behavior melts into a wheedling servitude worthy of Starscream.

The Monsters

Nafelshnees are Huge Elemental Humanoids with the Demon tag, Darkvision, and a ground speed of 6. They can also fly with a speed of 4 (clumsy). They have very good Variable Resistance (20). We get two stat blocks for them.

Nafelshnee Swine Guard

Most nafelshnees fit this profile, and have a role roughly equivalent to that of a landless knight in their society. They serve more powerful lords and hire themselves out as mercenaries, and have actually managed to get a good reputation for being both resilient and obedient.

Swine Guards are Level 20 Brutes with 237 HP. They wield giant Reach 3 halberds that do solid physical damage and push the target 2 squares on a hit. If someone manages to get closer they can try to take a Noisome Bite out of the enemy, which does slightly less damage but inflicts ongoing 10 poison damage (swine guards never brush their teeth).

Their variable resistance can change twice per encounter, and when they’re first bloodied they immediately use a power called Shattered Minds. This is a Close Burst 3 that targets enemies’ Will. On a hit it does psychic damage and dazes (save ends). If the first save fails, the demon can slide the victim 3 squares, and the daze worsens to a stun!

This makes swine guards the kind of brute who wants the PCs to surround them and beat them up a bit. The halberd’s push rider means they can also herd the PCs towards other monsters as this happens.

Nafelshnee Tyrant

These are the lords and ladies of the Woeful Escarand. They’re powerful magicians with great knowledge of rituals and access to libraries of forbidden lore. They are willing to part with ritual scrolls and bits of relevant information in exchange for suitable tribute, which usually consists of food (the book mentions “a brace of plump halflings” as an example). In a fight, they like to fling destructive magic while sitting on their thrones, though they can move at standard nafelshnee speeds if forced to.

Tyrants are Level 23 Controllers with 215 HP. Their reach 3 claws slide the target 3 squares on a hit, and their basic ranged attack is a Black Lightning spell that does necrotic damage and makes the victim vulnerable 15 to psychic damage for a turn.

Their psychic attack is Unholy Whispers (recharge 5+), a fireball sized area burst that does psychic damage and dazes (save ends). A miss still does half damage.

As a minor action, they can curse enemies with a Vile Glare, a non-damaging attack that targets Will and makes it so the target is only able to use basic attacks (save ends). It recharges every time a target fails a save against the effect.

Final Impressions

I know I say this all the time, but I really love these more focused fiend stat blocks. Earlier editions just had long lists of spell-like abilities and memorized spells for each demon, so I tended to just skip over their descriptions.

Tyrants obviously pair really well with other monsters that can deal psychic damage. A simple but flavorful and effective encounter might be a pair of happily married nafelshnee tyrants and their swine guard retinue. Two tyrants means you can assemble the Black Lightning + Unholy Whispers combo much quicker.