Part of the Bestiary for my solo Hell’s Rebels game.

In Scene 02 of the adventure, I decided to introduce a few new monsters. The party split up, and the encounter tables dictated one of the sub-groups was going to have to face “Asmodeans”. Instead of looking towards the Pathfinder stats the adventure gave this, I decided to be a little weirder and import a couple of interesting opponents from Threats to the Nentir Vale. More specifically, those from the Iron Circle entry.

It makes sense: the Iron Circle are a bunch of fascist mercenaries, and Iron Circle Guards would look nearly identical to dottari when converted to GURPS, so why not use the other stat blocks there as inspiration?

The first of the entries I swiped is the Iron Circle Dark Adept, which appears below. The other one is the Tar Devil Guard, which will appear in the next post.

Asmodean Dark Adept

A cultist of Asmodeus specializing in magic that restrains and burns. Some are attached to the Church of Asmodeus itself, while others might be employed by the dottari as magical support or even be independents out to do some evil on their own, like the guy from Scene 02.

Adepts are usually Worthies.

The Numbers

ST 11; DX 12; IQ 13; HT 12;

Dodge 9; Parry 10 (shortsword);

DR 1 (body);

HP 11; Will 13; Per 13; FP 12+5;

Speed 6.00; Move 6; SM 0.

  • Shortsword (14): 1d+1 cut or 1d imp; Reach 1.
  • Dark Tendrils (15): Regular vs. ST; Concentration; Cost 5; 1d+4 control; See Fantastic Dungeon Grappling p. 6.
  • Flaming Weapon (15): Regular; 1 minute; Cost 3/1; +2 burning follow-up to target melee weapon. DF: Spells p. 31.

Class: Mundane.

Relevant Traits: Weapon Channeling.

Equipment: Padded vest (light cloth, DR 1, covers torso); Short sword (works as a wand, 5 FP power item); unholy symbol.

Encounters and Tactics

Dark Adepts are support casters found alongside whoever it is that hired them, and/or whatever demons they managed to call up. They’ll buff their allied muscle with Flaming Weapon, and then cast Dark Tentrils to hold a PC down for a beating. When forced to fight, they’ll try to cast Flaming Weapon on their own sword before engaging.

Notes and Impressions

Instead of using the full Dungeon Fantasy magic system here, I wrote down the adept’s magical abilities in the same format as its attacks, and only added stuff that would be immediately relevant to the fight.

The adept’s magical “power trait” is left unspecified. It could be either Magery or Power Investiture (Unholy). Both types of adept exist and are out there.

Weapon Channeling is a perk I detailed waaaay back when in my post about the Dragon’s Dogma Mystic Knight.

To make them stronger, aside from the obvious “make number bigger” measures, you can give them additional spells or custom magical attacks that follow the same themes: a) fire, b) causing pain or c) depriving others of freedom. More lavish power items also let them keep casting for longer, and double as extra loot for the PCs.