Buy me a coffeeDaemon, Temerdaemon
“Meet the Temerdaemon: The Architect of Accidental Demise, Lurking in the Shadows of Chaos!”
[This content was created by Paizo Publishing LLC for the Pathfinder rules but is not from the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
The Temerdaemon is a nightmarish creature, its form contorted with multiple limbs and a twisted spine. Glowing red eyes peer from beneath a veil of white tendrils that cascade over its grotesque features. Strapped to its body are pouches filled with odd objects, while its rear arms wield a blood-coated scythe.
Behavior: Temerdaemons revel in chaos and treachery, delighting in engineering mishaps and disasters that lead to mortal fatalities. They exude an aura of malevolence and feed on the fear and confusion that their actions sow among the living.
Habitat: Temerdaemons wander the multiverse in search of opportunities to cause havoc and wreak havoc. They are often found in areas of great instability and danger, such as war-torn battlefields, crumbling ruins, or disaster-prone regions.
Modus Operandi: The Temerdaemon’s modus operandi involves orchestrating accidents and calamities that result in the deaths of unsuspecting mortals. They employ subtle manipulation and intricate plots to engineer disasters, often targeting those who least expect such misfortune to befall them.
Motivation: The Temerdaemon is driven by a desire to spread chaos and suffering, relishing in the fear and despair of its victims. It takes perverse pleasure in the destruction and devastation wrought by its actions, viewing each death as a testament to its power and influence.
Temerdaemon 5e
Temerdaemon Pathfinder
Temerdaemon
Large Fiend, Neutral Evil
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 195 (17d10 + 102)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 (+6) | 18 (+4) | 23 (+6) | 13 (+1) | 24 (+7) | 20 (+5) |
Saving Throws Str +10, Con +10, Wis +11, Cha +9
Skills Perception +11, Stealth +9
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 21
Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal; telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 14 (11,500 XP)
Confusion. Creatures struck by the Temerdaemon’s attacks must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or be confused for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Reaper’s Curse. Creatures within 30 feet of the Temerdaemon suffer from a profound increase in accidental damage. Arcane spell failure chances for armor are doubled, and attacks have a chance to target allies on a roll of 1-5 on a d20. Additionally, skill checks that have serious consequences if failed by 5 or more (such as Climb, Disable Device, and Swim) have these consequences on all failed checks.
Actions
Multiattack. The Temerdaemon makes three attacks: one with its scythe and two with its claws.
Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 6) slashing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d4 + 6) slashing damage.
Accursed Presence (Recharge 5-6). The Temerdaemon emits a wave of malevolent energy in a 30-foot radius. Each creature in that area must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
The Temerdaemon 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 Temerdaemon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Attack. The Temerdaemon makes one claw attack or uses its Scythe.
Menacing Gaze (Costs 2 Actions). The Temerdaemon targets one creature it can see within 60 feet of it. If the target can see the Temerdaemon, the target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or become frightened until the end of the Temerdaemon’s next turn.
This creature lurches forward on multiple arms and legs, its spine contorted into a painful curve with its hips higher than it head. Seemingly distracted and muttering to itself, the thing rarely looks up with its glowing red eyes, its hair composed of hundreds of thin, white tendrils that hang over its head like a veil. Strapped onto the creature’s body at various points are sacks and belt pouches stuffed with bizarre collections of objects, and its rear arms wield a wide, black bladed Scythe, still coated with the blood of the fiend’s last victim.
Temerdaemons personify the concept of accidental death. A knight falls upon her sword, a peasant trips and breaks his neck, a structure fails in ways its builders never foresaw and buries dozens of innocents, and meanwhile, a distant temerdaemon cackles knowingly. While true accidents please the fiend, it also delights in engineering the mishaps itself, crafting incomprehensibly complex plots that lead to the slaughter of as many mortals as possible. A temerdaemon often wades into the aftermath of such engineered catastrophes, carving apart the crippled survivors and sowing mass confusion and hysteria by its very proximity. A gangly mass consisting of a rotund torso, four arms, and four legs, the average temerdaemon is 10 feet long and weighs 1,200 pounds, not counting its bizarre collection of mechanical fetishes and tinkering equipment.
| Temerdaemon CR 14 |
| XP 38,400 NE Large outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) Init +8; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +27 Aura reaper’s curse (30 ft.) |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 27, touch 13, flat-footed 23 (+4 Dexterity, +14 natural, -1 size) hp 195 (17d10+102) Fort +16, Ref +11, Will +17 DR 10/good and silver; Immune acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 25 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 30 ft. Melee +1 Scythe +24/+19/+14/+9 (2d4+10/×4 plus confusion), 2 claws +22 (1d4+6 plus confusion) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks confusion Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th; Concentration +22) At willbestow curse (DC 19), death knell (DC 17), gaseous form, passwall, stone shape, telekinesis3/daydisintegrate (DC 21), greater dispel magic, illusory wall, suggestion (DC 18)1/daysummon (level 6, 1 hydrodaemon 50%) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 23, Dexterity 18, Constitution 23, Intelligence 13, Wisdom 24, Charisma 20 Base Atk +17; CMB +24; CMD 38 (42 vs. trip) Feats Blinding Critical, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Critical Focus, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Scythe) Skills Bluff +25, Climb +26, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +12, Perception +27, Sense Motive +27, Stealth +20 Languages Abyssal, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft. SQ undersized weapons |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| confusion (Su) Creatures struck in combat by a temerdaemons claws or Scythe must succeed at a DC 25 Will save or be confused for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.Reaper’s Curse (Su)Those in proximity to a temerdaemon are afflicted by a profound increase in self-inflicted and ally-inflicted wounds, failures in magic, and similar accidental damage. Arcane spell failure chances for armor are doubled. A creature that rolls a natural 1 on its attack roll automatically rerolls the attack against itself (0150%) or an ally (51100%). If there is no ally in range, the attack always targets the creature. A creature that rolls a natural 1 on its roll to cast defensively suffers a scroll mishap. Skill checks that have serious consequences if failed by 5 or more (such as Climb, Disable Device, and Swim) have these consequences on all failed checks. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any (Abaddon) Organization solitary, pair, or trapper gang (3 temerdaemons and 15-30 cacodaemons) Treasure standard (+1 Scythe, other treasure) |
Ecology
Lesser fiends who follow in an existing temerdaemons wake and learn from the daemon’s actions are those most typically chosen by one of the Four Horsemen or a member of the daemonic elite for elevation into this terrible caste of crippled giants. Occasionally, however, an evil mortal soul proves worthy of such a station, having died in a singularly horrific accident, especially one engineered by its own hands. In such cases, transition from soul to temerdaemon is swift on a cosmic scale and made even swifter by a proclivity to prey upon other mortals.
Though Zyphusthe god of accidental deaths and tragediesis thought by some to be the conceptual father of temerdaemons, the Grim Harvestman has never outright claimed responsibility for them. Nonetheless, he frequently delights in temerdaemons and the infrequent unconsumed souls they send his way. Neither Zyphus nor the temerdaemons seek to disrupt the other’s claim over particular souls; they find the destinations of such tragically doomed mortals frequently cross paths, and are as likely to end up in the hands of daemons as the gods’ minions.
Cultists of Zyphus often revel in the doings of temerdaemons, though the daemons themselves despise such worship by the very mortals they seek to destroy. Even slaying these foolish accident-worshipers is hardly enough for the angry temerdaemons, as the daemons masterfully constructed accidents are wasted on those who actually hope for the horrid events. According to temerdaemons, freak accidents are best engineered for those who go about life with little concern for danger, especially those who least expect such misfortune to befall them. People who watch their backs including paranoids and “betrayer’s don’t” satisfy the morbid desires of temerdaemons as much as the daydreaming child or absent-minded village idiot.
No two temerdaemons look exactly the same, as these treacherous beings take on as many forms as there are ways to freakishly die. Particularly powerful individuals may rise to enormous sizes, possessing dozens of legs and arms, as well as multiple heads, all of which strive to wreak as much disaster as possible upon the souls around them.
Habitat & Society
Temerdaemons wander the multiverse in search of opportunities for sabotage and treachery. Those cultists of Zyphus foolish enough to summon the daemons in hopes of bargaining with them for their services often find themselves victims of their own elaborate rituals. In their most fortunate cases, a temerdaemon arises on the Material Plane only to greet its summoners with its wicked smile and deadly aura, causing chandeliers to fall upon unwary victims heads, robed priests to trip onto sharp candelabras, and sconces to break off of walls and ignite dusty curtains to set an entire building on fire. Now on the Material Plane, its summoners dead, a temerdaemon strives to create as much havoc and mischief as possible before being banished to its home in Abaddon. If it werent for the extravagant and terrifically tragic manner of his worshipers deaths, Zyphus might be rather displeased with the actions of these cunning daemons, but as it stands, there is rarely conflict between the two forces, which inadvertently share similar goals.
Temerdaemons rarely cooperate among themselves when crafting masterful hazards, preferring to enact their deadly accidents on their own and later boast to their kindred of their massacres. No two accidents are alike, and though temerdaemons sometimes gather in groups of two or three for particularly elaborate schemes, they have no reason to share their techniques or formulate plans for long, as premeditating a particular slaughter is entirely counterproductive in the eyes of a temerdaemon. To these improvisational fiends, an accidental murder is even more satisfying than a mere accidental death.
Despite their preference to act alone, temerdaemons at times happily utilize some of their lesser kindred as unwitting cogs in their disastrous plans. Particular among these pawns are the miniscule cacodaemons, which frequently cluster in numbers of up to a dozen around a given temerdaemon, ready to absorb and regurgitate the souls of their greater kindreds kills. When a temerdaemon cannot attract cacodaemon followers, it simply captures them, and any given temerdaemon of considerable power can often be found with dozens of these least daemons impaled on barbed hooks, stuffed into tightly drawn satchels, or crammed into small cages, each container dangling from its myriad straps, belts, and holsters.
About this Daemon Type
Temerdaemons arise from souls felled by accidental dooms, and as daemons they seek to engineer such calamities. Each individual temerdaemon has its own preferred variety of accident, often a subtle echo of its own mortal death. Yet few go out of their way to set traps, as their crucidaemon kin prefer. Rather, temerdaemons delight in weakening the supports of bridges, battering fragile dams, spilling oil near street lamps, and generally doing all they can to make everyday objects time bombs of destruction.
They take especial delight in not just the death caused by such vicious acts of god,but also the insecurity, paranoia, and mental distress such disasters spread among survivors. Conjurers find temerdaemons possess incredible utility as assassins, since investigators often dismiss deaths caused by these daemons as nothing more than unfortunate accidents.
Personification of Death: Accidents.
Preferred Sacrifice: A pound of dust, shavings, or fragments taken from a support beam, linchpin, keystone, or other object integral to a large structure’s safe use.
Section 15: Copyright Notice – Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned, Vol. 3
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned, Vol. 3 © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Todd Stewart.