Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast

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This creature first appeared as an “Ultrodaemon” in AD&D, as part of the effort to give every alignment its own brand of outsider. In 4e, daemons lost an “a” and became demons. We already saw some of them in the readings of earlier books.

The Lore

Ultrodemons are somewhat atypical among demons because they’re more about greed than about cruelty for cruelty’s sake. They enjoy carnage and torture as much as the next demon, but their real passion is material wealth. They command armies of mezzodemons and nycademons, sell their mercenary services for ruinous prices, and loot as much as they can during these operations.

Ultrodemons and their underlings can be found in a wide variety of places, either under contract to some other villain, or working independently. They’re very rarely loyal to their employers, though, and will turn on them as soon it looks more profitable than fulfilling the contract.

The Numbers

This entry only has a single stat block, for an Ultrodemon Schemer. This is a manipulative villain who will likely only fight the PCs in a battlefield of its own choosing and backed up by a large number of demon allies.

It’s a Medium Elemental Humanoid with the Demon tag, and a Level 22 Controller (Leader) with 205 HP. It has a ground speed of 7 with Phasing, which allows it to walk through walls. It also has Blindsight with range 5.

The schemer wields a longsword whose attacks deal physical damage and daze for a turn on a hit. It can also use magic to shoot Fiery Rays that deal fire damage. Its command ability is represented by the Demonic Authority power, which allows each ally adjacent to the schemer to make a melee basic attack with combat advantage as a free action. This recharges when the demon is first bloodied.

To complement its sword, combat magic, and command ability, the schemer also has a few nasty mind tricks it can use as minor actions. The first is Hypnotic Gaze (recharge 4+) immobilizes on a hit, and has an effect that prohibits the target from attacking the schemer for a turn. “Effects” in 4e parlance are things that happen even on a miss.

The other trick is Treacherous Gaze (recharge 6+), which dominates for a turn.

As its triggered actions, the schemer has a middling version of Variable Resistance, which gives Resistance 20 but only works once per encounter. It also has Self-Preservation, which triggers when an enemy bloodies it. It causes the schemer to teleport and swap places with an ally within 10 squares, and gives the ally a chance to make a free basic attack against the triggering enemy.

All of this points to a demon who wants to be close to Team Monster’s skirmishers and assassins, and who will accompany them to try to get around the party’s front line. It things become too hot, it will bring in a soldier or brute from its own front line to spice things up while it flees to safety.

Final Impressions

I remain a big fan of folding daemons into demons! Mechanically, ultros work well as “sneaky leaders”, which isn’t a combination you see very often.