Marquis Half-Fiend

Medium fiend (half-fiend), lawful evil
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 242 (21d10 + 126)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	18 (+4)	24 (+7)	18 (+4)	16 (+3)	22 (+6)

Saving Throws Dex +10, Con +13, Wis +9, Cha +12
Skills Deception +12, Insight +9, Intimidation +12, Perception +9, Stealth +10
Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses truesight 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages Abyssal, Infernal, Common; telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 20 (25,000 XP)

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Innate Spellcasting.

The marquis half-fiend’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 20, +12 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following, requiring no components:
• At will: detect thoughts, darkness
• 3/day each: fireball, hold monster, fear
• 1/day each: plane shift (self only), dominate person, wall of fire

Fiendish Presence.

At the start of each creature’s turn that is within 30 ft. and can see the marquis half-fiend, that creature must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Magic Resistance.

The marquis half-fiend has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day).

If the marquis half-fiend fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

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Actions

Multiattack. The marquis half-fiend makes three attacks: two with its claws and one with its infernal blade.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.

Infernal Blade. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10 + 5) slashing damage plus 14 (4d6) fire damage. The blade is magical.

Tail Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 16 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage. The target must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

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Reactions

Hellish Rebuke (3/day). In response to being damaged by a creature within 60 ft., the marquis half-fiend casts hellish rebuke at 5th level (save DC 20).

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Legendary Actions

The marquis half-fiend can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The marquis half-fiend regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

• Move. The marquis half-fiend moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
• Infernal Strike. One claw or tail attack.
• Fiendish Command (costs 2 actions). One creature of the marquis half-fiend’s choice within 60 ft. must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.

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Lair Actions

When fighting in its lair (a corrupted demonic court, ritual site, or infernal nexus), on initiative count 20 (losing ties) the marquis half-fiend can use one lair action:
• Infernal Heat. A 30-ft radius roils with heat; creatures of the marquis’s choice in that area must make a DC 20 Con save or take 14 (4d6) fire damage and be blinded until the start of their next turn.
• Shadow Tendrils. Shadowy tendrils lash out from the ground; one creature of the marquis’s choice within 60 ft. must succeed on a DC 20 Strength save or be restrained until the end of its next turn.

Marquis Half‑Fiend

CE Large Outsider (Fiend, Evil, Extraplanar)

Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +27

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DEFENSE

AC 31, touch 18, flat‑footed 27 (+4 Dex, +13 natural, −1 size, +2 deflection)
HP 299 (26d10+156)
Fort +22, Ref +17, Will +22
Defensive Abilities DR 15/evil; resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; Immune poison
Weaknesses none

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OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)

Melee +1 Abyssal Blade +32/+27/+22 (2d8+12/19–20) and 2 claws +27 (2d6+8), tail slap +27 (2d8+8)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with Abyssal Blade)

Special Attacks

• Fiendish Presence (Su, 60 ft., DC 24) — Creatures beginning their turn within 60 ft. must succeed on a Will save or be shaken for 1d4 rounds.
• Infernal Command (Su, 3/day, DC 24) — As control undead, except affects all living creatures of a chosen type within 60 ft.
• Abyssal Blade Curse (Su) — Critical hits deal +2d6 evil damage.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th; concentration +22)

• At will — detect thoughts, darkness
• 3/day — fear (DC 24), hold monster (DC 24), infernal healing
• 1/day — dominate person (DC 26), infernal form

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TACTICS

Before Combat: Opens with fear or darkness to scatter foes.
During Combat: Uses Fiendish Presence to weaken groups, Infernal Command to disrupt spellcasters, attacks with Abyssal Blade and claws.
Morale: Fights to the death unless heavily outnumbered.

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STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 18, Con 22, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 24
Base Atk +26; CMB +38; CMD 52 (56 vs. trip)
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Greater Weapon Focus (Abyssal Blade), Improved Critical (Abyssal Blade), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Staggering Critical, Weapon Focus (Abyssal Blade)
Skills Bluff +35, Diplomacy +32, Fly +23, Intimidate +35, Knowledge (planes) +29, Perception +27, Sense Motive +27, Stealth +24
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

Fiendish Bloodline (Ex): Adds Charisma bonus to natural armor and gains +4 profane bonus on all saving throws and checks to overcome SR.

Infernal Command (Su): As above; affects living creatures, Will save DC 24.

Infernal Healing (Su): 1/day, heals 4d8+10 HP as a swift action.

Abyssal Blade (Su): Magical weapon; critical hits deal +2d6 evil damage.

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ECOLOGY

Environment: Lower Planes, corrupted citadels, desolate battlefields
Organization: Solitary, or with 1–3 fiendish lieutenants (CR 18–20)
Treasure: Standard, including Abyssal Blade and infernal regalia

Description:
A Marquis Half‑Fiend is the pinnacle of infernal legacy — horned, armored, and commanding the battlefield with cruel grace. Its eyes burn like molten brimstone, its Abyssal Blade thirsts for mortal blood, and its presence inspires terror even among lesser fiends. Born of fiendish bloodlines and mortal ambition, it wields both magic and martial prowess to dominate the battlefield and corrupt all who oppose it.

The Gates of Hell (Dice Freaks)

Grimoire of Cosmic Entities Volume One By Eli Atkinson, William Church and Serge W. Desir, Jr.

Original Concept by Serge W. Desir, Jr.

Full netbook can be found on the following website

Dicefreaks d20 Community 

Creating A Marquis Half-Fiend

Although rarely seen, it has always been speculated that unique fiends produce greater spawn. Rumors of this kind have recently been proven accurate with the appearance of so-called marquis half-fiends. Infused with greater power than their lesser siblings, the vile marquis half-fiend is a virtual paragon of evil.

‘Marquis Half-Fiend’ is a template that can be added to any living corporeal humanoid, giant, or monstrous humanoid with an Intelligence score of 8 or more (hereafter referred to as the base creature). The parent fiend must be a unique demon, Duke of Hell, or greater arch-fiend in status.

A marquis half-fiend uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to outsider. Do not recalculate Hit Dice, base attack bonus, or saves. Size is unchanged. Marquis half-fiends are usually, but not always, native outsiders.

Hit Dice: Increase racial HD to d8 unless the base creature possessed higher racial HD. Marquis half fiends gain an additional racial HD equal to one quarter of the parent fiend’s to a maximum of ten.

Speed: A marquis half-fiend has bat wings. Unless the base creature has a better Fly speed, the creature can Fly at double base creature’s land speed (good maneuverability).

Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +4.

Attacks: A marquis half-fiend has two claw attacks and a bite attack, and the claws are the primary natural weapon. If the base creature can use weapons, the marquis half-fiend retains this ability. A marquis half-fiend fighting without weapons uses a claw when making an attack action. When it has a weapon, it usually uses the weapon instead.

Full Attack: A marquis half-fiend fighting without weapons uses both claws and its bite when making a full attack. If armed with a weapon, it usually uses the weapon as its primary attack and its bite as a natural secondary attack. If it has a hand free, it uses a claw as an additional natural secondary attack.

Damage: A marquis half-fiend has claw and bite attacks. If the base creature does not have these attack forms, use the damage values on the table below. Otherwise, use the values found below, or the base creature’s damage values increased by one die, whichever is higher.

Marquis Half-Fiend Damage by Size
Size	Claw	Bite
Fine	1	1d2
Diminutive	1d2	1d3
Tiny	1d3	1d4
Small	1d4	1d6
Medium	1d6	1d8
Large	1d8	2d6
Huge	2d6	2d8
Gargantuan	2d8	4d6
Colossal	4d6	4d8

Special Attacks: A marquis half-fiend retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains the following special attacks.

Acidic Blood (Ex): When wounded by a piercing or slashing attack, the marquis half-fiend’s blood sprays outward in a 5 foot cone, dealing 1d6 points of acid damage per every 5 racial HD possessed by the marquis half fiend; there is no saving throw to avoid the effect. Creatures that do not spend a move equivalent action to get the blood off them suffer the same damage on the following round.

Frightful Presence (Ex): When the marquis half fiend attacks, it inspires terror in those who oppose it. All within 20 feet of an attacking marquis half-fiend must make a Will save DC equal to 10+ ½ the marquis half fiend’s HD + the marquis half fiend’s Charisma modifier or suffer the effects of a fear spell. Those that save against the marquis half-fiend’s frightful presence are immune to it for the next 24 hours.

Poison (Ex): Any creature bitten by the marquis half fiend is infected with a vile paralyzing poison. It deals 1d6 Strength and Dexterity initial damage, and 2d6 Strength and Dexterity secondary damage. Save DC is equal to 10 + ½ of the marquis half fiend’s combined HD and class levels + the marquis half fiend’s Constitution modifier.

Smite Good (Su): Once per day a marquis half-fiend may make a normal melee attack that deals additional damage equal to its HD to a good creature.

Spell-like Abilities: A marquis half-fiend may use change self and deeper darkness at will, and unholy blight 3/day. A more powerful marquis half-fiend possesses additional abilities as noted on the table below. Unless otherwise indicated, the ability is usable 3/day, using the fiend’s combined character level and HD as the caster level. Saves DCs are equal to 10 + spell level + Charisma modifier. The following list is typical for a marquis half-fiend of diabolical parentage. Those marquis halffiends with a demonic or nether background commonly have access to different spell-like abilities.

Special Qualities: A marquis half-fiend has all the special qualities of the base creature plus the following:

• Darkvision out to 120 ft.
• Immune to poison.
• Resistance to acid, cold, fire, and electricity 10.
• Damage Reduction 15/good. This replaces any existing DR, but if a special material was needed to penetrate the DR before, that becomes an additional requirement.
• A marquis half-fiend’s natural weapons are treated as evil and magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
• Spell Resistance equal to the creature’s HD + 10.
• Fast Healing equal to the marquis half-fiend’s constitution modifier.

Corruption Affinity (Su): A marquis half-fiend pays half the corruption costs when using corrupt spells. If this benefit reduces the damage to less than 1, the marquis half-fiend suffers no damage.

Level/Hit Dice	Spell-like Abilities
7-8	devil’s eye
9-10	blasphemy
11-12	liquid Pain
13-14	hellfire storm
15-16	soul shackles
17-18	evil weather 1/day
19-20	bestow greater curse 1/day
21+	eternity of torture* 1/month

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Strength +6, Dexterity +6, Constitution +4, Intelligence +6, Charisma +6

Skills: A marquis half-fiend gains skill points as an outsider and has skill points equal to 8 + Intelligence modifier x (HD + 3). Do not include Hit Dice from class levels in this calculation – the marquis half-fiend gains outsider skill points only for its racial Hit Dice, and gains the normal amount of skill points for its class levels. Treat skills from the base creature’s list as class skills, and all other skills as cross skills. Marquis Half Fiends have a +4 racial bonus on Bluff, Intimidate and Move Silently checks; these are considered class skills for a marquis half-fiend.

Challenge Rating: As base creature +6.

Alignment: Usually Evil (any)

Level Adjustment: +6