Nascent Demon Lord Punchinello

This little man appears to be a caricature of a human, with arched back and swollen belly, bulging eyes and a nose and chin that curve and nearly meet. He wears a jolly jester’s motley and floppy cap, but carries an enormous, bloody club.

Taken from the Creature Codex

Punchinello
King of Puppets, Master Punch, Punch
Concerns: over-reaction, slapstick comedy, violence

Domains Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Strength
Subdomains Demon, Ferocity, Rage, Whimsy
Worshipers evil clowns and comedians, murderers, urban barbarians
Minions bogeymen, fiendish dire crocodiles, vrocks
Unholy Symbol a leering jester’s face
Favored Weapon greatclub

Obedience beat a tiny or larger creature to unconsciousness or death. Another creature must witness the act, and you must make a joke about the victim to the witness. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saves against effects that cause fatigue or exhaustion
Boons 1: hideous laughter 2/day; 2: divine power 2/day; 3: harm 2/day

Master Punchinello, King of Puppets, is a violent maniac who is nevertheless loved by many for his wit and humor. This is despite his teaching that all problems are best solved with a savage beating, and that family and community members should fall under your blows if they stand in your way or merely irritate you.

Punch’s cruelty is often laughed off under the guise of comedy, but real abuse and violence is normalized and spread by his gospel.

Punchinello’s origins are unclear. It is possible that he was formed from the soul of an evil clown, jester or comedian, but it seems just as likely that he spawned from the Abyss as a physical manifestation of violence as humor. Master Punch does not have a realm of his own, but wanders from layer to layer of the Abyss. Punch frequently visits the courts of true demon lords and acts as jester, advisor and assassin for them. He may also pop into the Material Plane for a bit of good fun—although his definition of “fun” typically involves possessing a mortal and using their bodies to engage in gruesome acts of brutality.

Combat is Punch’s bread and butter (he does also enjoy actual bread and butter). He is rarely found without Scaramouche, his signature greatclub, but can lay out punishing blows with his bare hands as well. He considers the use of damaging magic to be cheating—but only if he is at the receiving end and not the deliverer. Those that try to attack him can be overcome with laughter, standing helplessly as he savagely crushes their allies. As is fitting for a consummate performer, Punchinello is healed immediately for an encore if he is knocked unconscious; he typically has the good sense to retreat to fight another day shortly after using this ability.

Of concern to scholars is the identity of “Judy”, the most frequent target of Punch’s abuse. Some believe that “Judy” is what Punchinello calls any woman he feels the need to berate and beat, and that Punchinello should therefore be considered a patron of domestic violence specifically as well as all violence in general. Others argue that Judy can give as good as she gets, and that there is a unique Judy, perhaps a fellow nascent demon lord of similar abilities and power level.

If this is the case, Punch and Judy together would be the patrons of meaningless, eternal conflict. Both may be true from a certain point of view, with Punch lashing out at miscellaneous women when the real Judy is unavailable or victorious in their quarrels.

Punch is both short and fat, standing about five feet tall and weighing just over two hundred pounds. Despite this and his other physical abnormalities, he is remarkably quick and strong.

Punchinello        CR 22
XP 615,000
CE Medium outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +32, true seeing
Aura cloak of chaos (DC 26), whimsy (60 ft., DC 31)

Defense
AC 40, touch 27, flat-footed 26 (+12 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +12 natural)
hp 418 (27d10+270); encore
Fort +23, Ref +31, Will +23; improved evasion
DR 20/ cold iron and good; Immune charm and compulsion effects, death effects,electricity, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 33

Offense
Speed 40 ft., air walk
Melee Scaramouche +41/+41/+36/+31/+26 (2d8+20/19-20 plus 1d6 sonic and trip) or 2 slams +39 (2d10+12 plus trip)
Special Attacks slapstick
Spell-like Abilities CL 22^nd, concentration +30

• Constant—air walk, cloak of chaos (self only, DC 26), true seeing
• At will— chaos hammer (DC 22), confusion (DC 22), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), hideous laughter (DC 20), mirage arcana (DC 23)
• 3/day—quickened dimension door, greater dispel magic, quickened harm (DC 24), mislead (DC 24), power word stun, word of chaos (DC 24)
• 1/day—crushing hand, divine power, greater possession (DC 26), plane shift (DC 25), summon (9^th level, 1 demon of CR 20 or lower, 100%)

Statistics
Str 35, Dex 35, Con 31, Int 20, Wis14, Cha 26
Base Atk +27; CMB +39 (+43 overrun); CMD 66 (67 vs overrun)
Feats Acrobatic Steps,Dimensional Agility (B),Dodge, Greater Overrun, Improved Critical (greatclub), Improved Overrun, Iron Will, Lunge, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (dimension door, harm), Spring Attack, Step Up
Skills Acrobatics +42, Bluff +38, Intimidate +38, Knowledge (local) +32, Knowledge (planes) +35,Perform (comedy, dance) +38, Perception +32, Sense Motive +32, Sleight of Hand +42, Stealth +42
Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 300 ft.
SQ nascent demon lord traits

Environment any land and underground (Abyss)
Organization unique
Treasure double standard (Scaramouche [+2 impact speed greatclub], other treasure)

Special Abilities
Aura of Mirth (Su) Any creature within 60 feet of Punchinello that attempts to take hostile action against him must succeed a DC 31 Will save or be dazed with laughter for one round. Creatures that succeed this save, or that have taken damage from Punchinello’s attacks, are immune to Punchinello’s aura of mirth for the next 24 hours. This is an emotion, mind-influencing effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

Encore (Su) The first time Punchinello is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points each day, he benefits from a breath of life spell at CL 22^nd as a free action, gaining 5d8+22 hit points.
Nascent Demon Lord Traits (Ex/Su) Punchinello is a powerful unique fiend with the following traits:

• Immune to charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, poison
• Resist acid, cold and fire 30
• Telepathy 300 ft.
• Punch’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as chaotic, epic and evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Slapstick (Su) Any manufactured weapon wielded by Punchis exceptionally noisy, dealing 1d6 points of sonic damage per hit.
Trip (Ex) Any weapon attacks made by Punchinello, as well as his slam attacks, gain the trip special attack.