Buy me a coffeeDaemon, Venedaemon
Discover the Venedaemon: the soul-harvesting fiend that transforms your darkest nightmares into reality!
Silken, almost ethereal robes drape the venedaemon’s androgynous form, revealing only a vague outline of the creature’s true shape. From the cuffs of these robes, claw-tipped tentacles extend—each one clutching ornate wands and glittering soul gems that hint at its magical proclivities. Below the flowing fabric, its many jointed legs—reminiscent of a reptilian insect’s—end in clawed, three-toed chitinous feet, giving it an otherworldly, skittering gait. Its face is forever obscured by a dark veil, lending an air of mystery, while a trio of long, forked tongues periodically emerges from its rounded mouth to taste the very air, as if sampling the lingering traces of mortal dread.
Behaviour
As the living personification of death by magic, the venedaemon is as insatiable in its thirst for arcane lore as it is for mortal souls. It moves with a silent, balletic grace, its every action measured and deliberate—a hunter who uses beguiling whispers and subtle illusions to confuse and disarm its prey. Ever inquisitive, it scavenges for the secrets hidden within wizards’ tomes and arcane manuscripts, trading bits of forbidden knowledge and rumors—ranging from a rival daemon’s weaknesses to hints of unclaimed souls—with its infernal brethren. Whether working alone or in calculated collaboration with other fiends, its behavior is marked by a predatory mix of academic curiosity and merciless ambition.
Habitat
Venedaemons are native to Abaddon—a realm of eternal decay and shadow—but their reach often extends to the Material Plane. They are drawn to sites steeped in magical history and sorrow, such as abandoned battlefields, crumbling crypts, and ruined temples, where the residual energies of lost souls and arcane disturbances provide both sustenance and secrecy. In these desolate places, the ambient gloom and echoes of past tragedies create the perfect backdrop for their dark rituals and covert exchanges of magical lore.
Modus Operandi
A master of both sorcery and subterfuge, the venedaemon casts spells with the prowess of a seasoned sorcerer, its caster level tied directly to its inherent Hit Dice. It can even augment its magical might by taking additional sorcerer levels, drawing on a bloodline—typically Abyssal or Infernal—to unlock deeper arcane secrets. One of its most fearsome abilities, known as arcane soul-crush, allows it to consume a soul gem as a swift action, thereby casting spells without expending a normal spell slot—a lethal and efficient method to siphon the life force of its victims. Whether through subtle manipulation or outright magical assault, the venedaemon’s attacks are as much about extracting forbidden knowledge as they are about claiming souls.
Motivation
At its core, the venedaemon embodies the concept of death by magic. It is driven by an unquenchable hunger—not only for the souls of mortals but also for the intangible wealth of arcane knowledge. This dual craving compels it to seek out every scrap of magical lore, from meticulously scribed wizard tomes to whispered rumors of hidden daemonic power. In its infernal society, such knowledge is traded like currency, with soul gems exchanged for secrets that can enhance its already potent sorcery. Some venedaemons even serve as apprentices or servitors to more powerful daemonic masters, biding their time and slowly building the power needed to one day overthrow their patrons and ascend in the hierarchy of dark magic. In essence, every act—every soul consumed and every forbidden spell learned—is a step toward cementing its legacy as a fearsome arbiter of death and magic.
Venedaemon 5e
Venedaemon Pathfinder
Venedaemon
Medium fiend (daemon), neutral evil
Armor Class: 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 51 (6d10 + 18)
Speed: 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 (+0) | 15 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 22 (+6) | 16 (+3) | 21 (+5) |
Saving Throws:
• Dex: +5 • Con: +6 • Int: +9 • Wis: +6 • Cha: +8
Skills:
• Arcana: +12 • Perception: +9 • Stealth: +7 • Deception: +8
Damage Resistances:
• Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities:
• Acid, Poison
Condition Immunities:
• Poisoned
Senses:
• Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 19
Languages:
• Abyssal, Infernal, Common; Telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge: 6 (2,300 XP)
Magic Resistance.
The venedaemon has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Spellcasting.
The venedaemon is a 6th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following spells prepared:
- Cantrips (at will):
• Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Acid Splash, Prestidigitation - 1st Level (4 slots):
• Magic Missile, Shield, Mage Armor, Charm Person - 2nd Level (3 slots):
• Hold Person, Invisibility, Scorching Ray - 3rd Level (2 slots):
• Dispel Magic, Slow
Arcane Soul-Crush (Recharge 5–6).
The venedaemon exhales a burst of dark, soul-siphoning energy in a 30‑foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 3d8 necrotic damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. In addition, on a failed save, a creature is stunned until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack.
The venedaemon makes two tentacle attacks.
Tentacle.
Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 8 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on its next saving throw against one of the venedaemon’s spells before the end of its next turn.
Summon Cacodaemon (Recharge 5–6).
The venedaemon conjures a lesser fiend—a cacodaemon—in an unoccupied space within 60 ft. The cacodaemon appears with 25 hit points and acts immediately after the venedaemon on the initiative count. It obeys the venedaemon’s commands and vanishes after 1 minute or when reduced to 0 hit points.
Reactions
Soul Siphon.
When the venedaemon is hit by a spell or magical effect, it can use its reaction to halve the damage from that effect and regain hit points equal to the damage prevented (rounded down). This ability can be used once per round.
Tactical Overview:
- In Combat: The venedaemon uses its Multiattack and tentacle strikes to weaken foes and impose disadvantages on saving throws against its spells. It leverages its spellcasting to control the battlefield—using Hold Person, Invisibility, and Slow to isolate targets, while Scorching Ray and Magic Missile inflict direct damage.
- Unique Abilities:
• Arcane Soul-Crush forces groups to contend with area damage and potential stunning, setting up devastating follow-up spells or attacks.
• Summon Cacodaemon provides additional pressure by bringing in a summoned ally that can harass or flank enemies.
• Soul Siphon makes the venedaemon especially resilient against magical assaults, allowing it to mitigate damage and sustain itself in prolonged encounters.
Silken robes drape this androgynous fiend’s form, providing only an outline of the body beneath. Claw-tipped tentacles emerge from the cuffs, clutching wands and soul gems, while below its robe’s margins, its multiple-jointed legs ‘almost like a reptilian insect’s’ end in clawed, three-toed chitinous feet. Its face remains perpetually covered by a dark veil, and a trio of long, forked tongues periodically emerges from its rounded mouth and tastes the air around its thin lips.
[This content was created by Paizo Publishing LLC for the Pathfinder rules but is not from the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
The venedaemon personifies death by magic, and so possesses an inborn talent for all manner of sorcery. As hungry for souls as any other member of its daemonic brethren, the venedaemon thirsts equally for intangible wealth through the acquisition of knowledge, so that it can best utilize the arcane magic lurking within its blood. In particular, venedaemons yearn for the secrets and magical lore held within the bindings of wizards’ tomes, knowing that these arcane formulae are the key to unlocking their mysterious powers. In the process of acquiring such tomes of knowledge, venedaemons invariably come across other forms of information ‘whether it be info regarding a rival daemon’s weaknesses, lore that hints at a wealth of unclaimed souls hidden in one of Abaddon’s vast caverns, or a rumor of some hidden and terrible source of daemonic power’ that they can make use of in trading with other daemons. These rumors and smatterings of advice can be sold to other daemons for captured souls, and the trade often goes both ways, as venedaemons are also inclined to trade their hard-earned soul gems for tomes of magic other fiends may have chanced upon.
In addition to its myriad magical abilities as a daemon, a venedaemon casts spells like a sorcerer with a caster level equal to its Hit Dice. A venedaemon can gain additional levels as a sorcerer in order to bolster its arcane powers, in which case it gains a bloodline (usually Abyssal or Infernal) as well as a sorcerer’s other class features and special abilities.
Venedaemons are gaunt, and despite standing close to 7 feet tall, they rarely weigh more than 150 pounds.
| Venedaemon CR 5 |
| XP 1,600 NE Medium outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses arcane sight, Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dexterity, +6 natural) hp 51 (6d10+18) Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +8 DR 5/good or silver; Immune acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 16 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 30 ft., Fly 30 ft. (average) Melee 2 tentacles +6 (1d6) Special Attacks arcane soul-crush Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; Concentration +11) Constant – arcane sight 3/day – dimension door, dispel magic, slow 1/day – summon (level 3, 1 cacodaemon, 75%) Spells Known (CL 6th; Concentration +11) 3rd (4/day) – hold person (DC 18) 2nd (6/day) – invisibility, scorching ray (DC 17) 1st (8/day) – charm person (DC 16), mage armor, magic missile, shield 0 (at will) – acid splash, arcane mark, bleed (DC 15), mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost (DC 15), read magic |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 11, Dexterity 15, Constitution 16, Intelligence 22, Wisdom 16, Charisma 21 Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 18 Feats Combat Casting, Eschew MaterialsB, Improved Initiative, Magical Aptitude Skills Bluff +14, Disguise +11, Fly +11, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (planes) +15, Knowledge (religion) +12, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +17, Stealth +11, Use Magic Device +16 Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft. |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Arcane Soul-Crush (Su) A venedaemon may consume a held soul gem as a swift action, allowing it to cast any of its spells known without using a spell slot. For the daemon to use this ability, the consumed gem must contain the soul of a creature with Hit Dice equal to or greater than the spell level of the desired spell. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any (Abaddon) Organization solitary, pair, or cabal (3-6) Treasure standard |
Ecology
Like all mundane daemons, venedaemons most often form from the hunted, specifically from those evil souls who died as a result of the abuse of magic’ whether by their own greedy hands, at the whim of powerful rivals, through the inadvisable pursuit of knowledge too terrible for them to safely handle, or by other spellcasters who slew them for their crimes. While these hunted were often spellcasters themselves, some venedaemons develop from nonmagical souls that were simply casualties to arcane violence. These individuals are often so tainted with the magical disturbances that killed them that they nonetheless develop arcane powers in an ironic twist of daemonic evolution. Other times still, venedaemons formulate from much odder means.
Occasionally, mortal wizards seek to control the awe-inspiring forces of Abaddon and its daemons by using cacodaemon as familiars. The cacodaemon, for its part, is usually willing to serve a mortal master for a time in this regard, though it usually has ulterior motives for its servitude. When a cacodaemon familiar’s master dies, the daemon is often prompt in devouring the mage’s soul and turning the soul into a soul gem. Instead of the soul gem returning to Abaddon and being consumed by a more powerful daemon, sometimes the deceased mage’s power triggers a reaction within the cacodaemon, fusing with it and transforming the familiar over several weeks or months into a new creature, typically a venedaemon with no memories of its mortal or previous daemonic existence. Far from being a hazard, this possibility of transformation is in fact one of the primary reasons why cacodaemons are sometimes eager to serve as familiars, as it represents one of the only ways for a cacodaemon to advance its station.
Habitat & Society
Most venedaemons are relatively weak compared to the towering daemonic brethren that inhabit Abaddon, and knowing this, they often work together as best they can, collaborating in groups with other venedaemons, or in conjunction with other fiends willing to accept their services. Hurled into Abaddon with an innate talent for magic but only scraps of its mortal knowledge remaining, the average venedaemon ultimately flocks to the service of a more powerful daemon willing to act as a patron that lets the venedaemon pursue its studies. In such arrangements, the venedaemon slowly gains power and influence within the confines of its daemonic partnership, which often consists of itself, its daemonic master, and many other daemons acting as a team built on the shared goal of total mortal annihilation. This daemonic horde traverses planes searching for opportunities to create mass destruction, the master simply using the venedaemon for its magical qualities to slaughter mortal souls. As the venedaemon gleans what it can from the charred remains of dead mortal spellcasters’ volumes of scribbled formulae, it gradually strengthens its unspeakable powers, and in time, the tables are turned, and when the venedaemon slays its patron, it gains dominion over dark magic as well as its brethren. Those venedaemons who do not wish to submit to the will of a more powerful daemon in order to pursue knowledge often simply prefer to be left alone to their research, experimenting on mortals with their dark arts and occasionally selling their findings to other daemons for souls and magical artifacts.
Venedaemons find themselves aligned with the lesser fiends of Abaddon, particularly the equally lowly ceustodaemons, whose deathly association with the energies and particularly subservient standing among daemons makes the two obvious allies. Cacodaemons also make for suitable alliances, as a venedaemon may help guide its smaller brethren to capture the soul of an opposing spellcaster, allowing the cacodaemon to mature with the soul and in time develop into a fellow venedaemon. Within the realm of Abaddon, venedaemons gravitate toward the River Styx for its mysterious, memory-wiping properties, for many venedaemons themselves find a peculiar yearning for their memories, if only to regain even more of the power they once possessed, somewhere in the dark recesses of their mind.
About this Daemon Type
Venedaemons represent the concept of death by magic. While among the weakest of daemons, they possess a frightening aptitude for Spellcraft, and given enough time, luck, or sponsorship by more powerful fiends, may rise to much higher levels of arcane mastery and personal power. As such, many influential daemons employ venedaemons as servitors and scholars. Ever eager to expand their knowledge of magic, venedaemons also enter into pacts with mortal spellcasters, offering knowledge in exchange for knowledge. Other times they mask their nature and explore the arcane secrets of worlds upon the Material Plane, infiltrating academies or exploring magical ruins, always in search of greater spells and power.
Personification of Death: Magic.
Preferred Sacrifice: A magic-user’s familiar, or some manner of arcane knowledge unknown to the daemon.
Source Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned, Vol. 3 © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Todd Stewart.
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.