Socothbenoth

Demon Lord of Forbidden Pleasures
Medium Fiend (Demon), Chaotic Evil
Armor Class: 24 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 580 (40d12 + 320)
Speed: 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
Challenge Rating: 28 (120,000 XP)
Proficiency Bonus: +9

Ability Scores

Saving Throws: Dex +13, Con +17, Wis +16, Cha +18
Skills: Deception +21, Insight +16, Persuasion +21, Performance +19, Arcana +15
Damage Resistances: Cold, Fire, Lightning; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Weapons
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 19
Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Telepathy 120 ft.

Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Socothbenoth fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Abyssal Glamour. At the start of a creature’s turn within 60 ft., it must succeed on a DC 26 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the start of its next turn. Charmed targets cannot target Socothbenoth with harmful actions.

Mirror of Self. Once per turn, when targeted by an attack or spell, Socothbenoth projects a reflection of the attacker’s hidden identity. The attacker must succeed on a DC 24 Charisma saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.

Master of Illusion. Socothbenoth can concentrate on two illusion spells simultaneously. His illusions require no components and cannot be detected without truesight or similar means.

Magic Resistance. Advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.

Magic Weapons. His attacks are magical.

Actions

Multiattack. Socothbenoth makes three melee attacks.

Silken Lash (Whip). Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target.
Hit: 22 (4d8 + 6) slashing + 18 (4d8) psychic damage. If the target is charmed or frightened, it must succeed on a DC 21 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of its next turn.

Kiss of the Abyss (Recharge 5–6). Targets up to three creatures within 60 feet. Each must make a DC 26 Charisma saving throw or be incapacitated and blinded for 1 minute. They can repeat the save at the end of each of their turns.

Spellcasting. Socothbenoth is a 20th-level spellcaster (Charisma is his spellcasting ability; spell save DC 26, +18 to hit). He doesn’t require components.

• At will: disguise self, minor illusion, suggestion, mirror image, charm person, thaumaturgy, prestidigitation
• 3/day: major image, dominate person, modify memory, hallucinatory terrain, phantasmal killer, greater invisibility, dimension door
• 2/day: programmed illusion, irresistible dance, dream, mass suggestion, dispel magic, true seeing, geas
• 1/day: weird, symbol (hopelessness or persuasion), feeblemind, true polymorph, dominate monster, gate (summons only succubi/lilim)

Legendary Actions

Socothbenoth can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. He regains all spent actions at the start of his turn.

• Seductive Whisper. One creature within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 26 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the end of its next turn and must move 15 feet closer to Socothbenoth.
• Shifted Reflection (Costs 2). Socothbenoth casts mirror image or teleports 60 ft. to an unoccupied space, leaving behind a 1-round illusory double.
• Unravel Identity (Costs 3). One creature within 60 ft. must make a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or be polymorphed for 1 minute into a shadowy, idealized version of themselves. While in this form, they have disadvantage on all attacks and saves, and their AC is reduced by 3. They repeat the save at the end of each turn.

Lair Actions (Initiative Count 20)

• Hall of Mirrors. Creatures of Socothbenoth’s choice treat others as lightly obscured until next round.
• Sensory Overload. Enemies must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of their next turn.
• Twisting Self. One target must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or suffer disadvantage on all attacks and saves until the end of its next turn.

Regional Effects (within 6 miles of his lair)

• Mirrors whisper secrets and sometimes reflect alternate versions of viewers.
• Dreams become vivid, invasive, and morally subversive.
• Art and music are inspired — often dark, provocative, or taboo.

These effects fade 1d10 days after his death or banishment.

Mirror of Revels

Wondrous Item (artifact), requires attunement by a warlock, bard, or cleric of a chaotic alignment

This tall, ornate mirror is framed in blackened bronze, etched with whispering runes and imagery of veiled faces and twisted pleasure. The surface never reflects the viewer’s true form—it shows a version shaped by their secret desires or fears. Crafted in the depths of the Abyss by Socothbenoth, the Demon Lord of Forbidden Pleasures, the Mirror of Revels is less a tool and more a stage for the erosion of identity.

Sentience

The Mirror of Revels is a sentient chaotic evil artifact with Intelligence 18, Wisdom 20, and Charisma 26. It can communicate telepathically with its attuned user and knows Abyssal, Common, and any language the user knows. It exerts subtle influence, encouraging its bearer to seek influence over others through manipulation, seduction, or taboo.

Random Properties

When attuned, the Mirror of Revels gains the following properties:

• 2 minor beneficial properties
• 1 major beneficial property
• 2 minor detrimental properties
• 1 major detrimental property

Major Features

• Gaze of Temptation (3/Day).
  As a bonus action, you may target a creature within 60 feet that can see its reflection in the mirror (or one you show the mirror to). The target must succeed on a DC 20 Charisma saving throw or be charmed by you for 1 minute. While charmed, the creature is also under the effect of the suggestion spell (no concentration required).
• Unmasking Reflections (1/Day).
  The mirror can be used to cast modify memory on a creature who sees itself reflected. The save DC is 20. If the creature fails, you may rewrite up to 10 minutes of its memory within the past 24 hours. This effect bypasses immunity to charm or memory effects if the target fails its save by 5 or more.
• Reflection of Desire.
  While attuned, you gain advantage on Deception and Performance checks. In dim light or darkness, you can cast disguise self at will, and creatures have disadvantage on Insight checks to see through the illusion.
• Watcher in the Glass.
  Once per long rest, you may ask the mirror a question as if casting legend lore or scrying on a creature whose name you know and who has willingly shared intimacy, a secret, or pain with you. No material components are needed.

Curse – Erosion of Self.

Each time you use the mirror’s major powers, make a DC 20 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, your alignment shifts one step toward chaotic evil (if not already), and you lose 1d4 from your current Wisdom score (restored after a long rest). If you reach 0 Wisdom in this way, you fall under the mirror’s permanent domination (no save), believing you are the figure shown in the mirror.

Destroying the Mirror

The Mirror of Revels can only be destroyed by:

• Having it reflect the face of a being who is truly without desire or regret.
• Then shattering it with a blade blessed by a god of self-denial, identity, or asceticism.
• If destroyed improperly, the mirror reforms in the Abyss after 9 days.

Socothbenoth

The Book of Fiends

Designed  By Aaron Loeb, Erik Mona, Chris Pramas, and Robert J. Schwalb

Patron of the Tents and Tabernacles of the Daughters

Layer: The Cathedral Thelemic
Areas of Concern: Sexual perversion, prostitutes, taboos, exploration
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Pleasure, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Whip

Devotees of the demon prince Socothbenoth follow a philosophy that urges exploration and exploitation of sexual taboos as the truest manifestation of natural law. According to their increasingly popular views, that which feels good is good, simply because nature wills it so – no sexual fetish can be wrong if it brings pleasure to the person indulging in it.

Taboos, as strictly mortal inventions, are to be cast away as blights on the face of nature, an almighty force that governs even the gods themselves. “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law,”  according to Socothbenoth’s lurid litany. While his followers generally value the consent of their partners (perhaps  to make their beliefs more attractive to would-be fellows), Socothbenoth himself has no such pretensions. As patron of prostitutes and perversion, the demon prince occasionally gives his followers a push in the direction of sublime pleasures that involve crimes such as murder and molestation. Boiled to its core, Socothbenoth’s teachings praise the ecstasy of his followers. Everyone else is just so much flesh.

Socothbenoth appears as a handsome, rakish human man with long brown hair and pure white skin. A pair of donkey ears (replete with piercings) jut straight up from the sides of his head, and his face seems perpetually marked by a knowing, seductive smirk. The demon prince prefers to dress lightly in riding boots and leather pants, eschewing shirts to show off the six immense barbells piercing his chest horizontally in a single vertical row.

His long, rounded fingernails seem manicured specifically to tease, and an abnormally long tongue occasionally slips out from between his lips, giving him the appearance of a salacious snake. Socothbenoth is known by many names, including Succor-Beloth and Succorbenoth. Nocticula, the sultry Princess of Moonlight, spends a great deal of time at Socothbenoth’s side. The demon prince knows her both as a sister and as a lover’ together the two push the limits of depravity in private while presenting a unified, powerful alliance to their numerous enemies.

A peaceful idyll of sparse forest makes up the bulk of Socothbenoth’s private Abyssal demesne. Mockingbirds trill innocuous songs as they flutter from tree to tree, stretching their colorful wings in the welcoming light of a warm sun. Small clearings mark the woodland here and there, their soft beds of flowers giving comfort to young lovers fumbling at each other’s clothes.

No demons inhabit this outer landscape, and souls and the living alike dwell together in a handful of towns scattered throughout the layer. A towering edifice dominates the center of the forest, giving a name to the whole domain “the Cathedral Thelemic. Decked out with the iconography of dozens of good-aligned religions, the so-called “Church of Free Will” is home to thousands of entrapped souls whose attempts to slake their sexual thirst in life consigned them to an eternity in the Abyss.

Under the tutelage of a ‘priesthood’ made up of succubi and incubi, and under the gaze of impassive stone angels, the souls spend every minute of every day indulging in the most prurient proclivities imaginable. No distinction is made between dominant and submissive, violator and violated. The souls have until multiversal oblivion to work out their kinks, and in the eternity of the Cathedral Thelemic, everyone assumes every role eventually.

Socothbenoth’s followers are difficult to classify. Most view their faith as an intensely personal matter, often because they first discovered hints of the demon prince’s agenda scribbled in the margins of surreptitiously purchased books of erotic poetry or collections of pornographic woodcuts. Streetwalkers turn to Socothbenoth as a compassionate and approving father figure who views them not just as children, but as prophets of a new age of unbridled expressionism and limitless pleasures.

Prostitutes frequently turn to allied thaumaturges, whose curative spells ease their sacred mission. Enlightened followers spread the word of the Patron of the Tents and Tabernacles of the Daughters, enticing new members to the movement with fetching pouts and nimble tongues. Nature, they claim, honours their indulgences, giving pleasure in return. Socothbenothans (sometimes for fear of reprisal after death) honour the infallibility of natural law above the decrees of the gods, disdaining any who would place morality in the way of sexual fulfilment.

Obedience

To regain his spells, a thaumaturge in service to Socothbenoth must achieve sexual release, either alone or with a partner. Thereafter, he must defile a page torn from the religious canon of a lawful good deity, fold it into an occult symbol, and thrust it into a hermetically prepared fire. At the end of the hour-long ritual, the thaumaturge’s complement of spells is replenished.

Socothbenoth

CR 27 / Mythic Rank 10 XP 2,048,000

Race: Demon Lord (Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)
Gender: Male-presenting
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Size: Medium
Type: Outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar, mythic)
Init: +14; Senses: darkvision 60 ft., true seeing; Perception +38
Aura: corrupting glamour (30 ft., DC 33 Will)

DEFENSE

AC 46, touch 24, flat-footed 42 (+4 Dex, +22 natural, +8 deflection, +2 insight)
hp 650 (30d10+420); regeneration 15 (good weapons and mythic spells)
Fort +31, Ref +24, Will +33
Defensive Abilities: freedom of movement, mind blank, SR 35
DR 15/good and cold iron; Immune disease, electricity, poison
Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30
Weaknesses: sunlight vulnerability (dazzled in natural sunlight, -4 on Will saves, -2 on attack rolls)

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Melee +5 silken whip of psychic lashing +44/+39/+34/+29 (2d4+15 plus 2d6 psychic damage and trip) and +3 obsidian dagger +41 (1d4+10/19-20)
Ranged shadow bolt +40 touch (2d8+8 plus mind-burn, range 100 ft.)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (15 ft. with whip)
Special Attacks corrupting touch (4d6 psychic damage, Will DC 33 or frightened), seductive domination (1/day, dominate monster, DC 35), veil of illusion (50% concealment aura)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 27th; concentration +38; save DCs are Charisma-based)

• Constant—mind blank, true seeing, freedom of movement
• At will—charm monster (DC 30), mirror image, major image (DC 31), suggestion (DC 30)
• 3/day—dominate person (DC 32), shadow conjuration (DC 31), modify memory (DC 31), mass suggestion (DC 33)
• 1/day—feeblemind (DC 32), true polymorph (self only), symbol of hopelessness (DC 34)

Mythic Spell-Like Abilities

• Can cast any illusion or enchantment spell of 7th level or lower as mythic once/day
• Mythic Powers (MR 10): surge (1d12), amazing initiative, recuperation, mythic spell penetration, mythic spell focus (enchantment, illusion)

STATISTICS

Str 30, Dex 28, Con 26, Int 30, Wis 28, Cha 36
Base Atk +30; CMB +42 (+46 trip with whip); CMD 64 (vs. trip 66)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, Greater Spell Penetration, Spell Focus (Enchantment), Spell Focus (Illusion), Empower Spell, Persuasive, Iron Will, Improved Initiative
Skills Bluff +50, Diplomacy +48, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion) +40, Perception +38, Perform (oratory, dance) +42, Sense Motive +40, Stealth +35, Use Magic Device +45
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aura of Corrupting Glamour (Su) Creatures within 30 ft. must succeed at a DC 33 Will save or be fascinated. While fascinated, they are more vulnerable to enchantment spells and take a -2 penalty to Will saves against charm and compulsion.

Corrupting Touch (Su) As a standard action, Socothbenoth may touch a target to deal 4d6 psychic damage. A DC 33 Will save halves the damage and prevents the frightened condition for 1 round.

Veil of Illusion (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds as a free action, Socothbenoth can create a 30-ft. aura of 50% concealment through illusion. True seeing reveals the veil’s falsehood.

Seductive Domination (Su) Once per day as a standard action, Socothbenoth may attempt to dominate a creature within 60 ft. as if using dominate monster (DC 35 Will). This is a mind-affecting charm effect.

TACTICS

Before Combat Socothbenoth uses true seeing and mind blank, and activates his Veil of Illusion immediately.

During Combat He opens with mass suggestion or mirror image, targeting the weakest-willed first. He uses the whip to trip or disarm opponents while spreading fear through his corrupting touch. If threatened, he polymorphs or uses illusions to reposition.

Morale If reduced below 150 hp, Socothbenoth attempts to negotiate, tempt, or deceive opponents to escape. He avoids direct confrontation if his veil is pierced.

ECOLOGY

Environment: The Endless Gallery (Abyssal layer of warped desire and mirrored pleasure)
Organization: Solitary, or with 2–6 succubi/lilim, 1–2 mythic erinyes artists, and dozens of cultists
Treasure: Triple standard (includes +5 psychic whip, +3 illusion-bound dagger, Mirror of Revels [artifact])

ARTIFACT: Mirror of Revels

This artifact allows the user (once per week) to alter memories (modify memory) of any creature seen in its reflection, as well as view any being they’ve previously seduced or charmed. Grants +4 profane bonus to Bluff and Perform while worn by Socothbenoth.

DESCRIPTION

Socothbenoth is the Demon Lord of Taboo, Temptation, and Forbidden Pleasures. Though rarely seen on the battlefield, his manipulative influence stretches across mortal and outsider cultures alike. He is androgynous, beautiful, and utterly amoral, obsessed with power through the surrender of identity and inhibition.

His cultists are artists, philosophers, and decadent nobles. His true domain is not flesh, but control—of desire, loyalty, and perception. Socothbenoth rarely kills unless bored, preferring to break wills and leave his victims willingly chained to their own desires.