[3.5e] Barbed Devil stats

[Plane Sailing]

From the WotC "in the works"

Barbed Devil (Hamatula)
Medium Outsider (Baatezu, Evil, Extraplanar, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 12d8+72 (126 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 29 (+6 Dex, +13 natural) touch 16, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+22
Attack: Claw +18 melee (2d8+6 plus fear)
Full Attack: 2 claws +18 melee (2d8+6 plus fear)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Fear, improved grab, impale 3d8+9, summon baatezu
Special Qualities: Barbed defense, damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire and poison, resistance to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance 23, spell-like abilities, telepathy 100 ft.
Saves: Fort +14, Ref +14, Will +12
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 23, Con 23, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 18
Skills: Concentration +21, Diplomacy +6, Hide +21, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (any one) +16, Listen +19, Move Silently +21, Search +16, Sense Motive +17, Spot +19, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks)
Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Improved Grapple, Iron Will, Power Attack
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, pair, team (3-5), or squad (6-10)
Challenge Rating: 11
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 13-24 (Medium); 25-36 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: --

This creature looks like a tall humanoid covered with sharp barbs, right down to the tip of its long, meaty tail. Its eyes shift and dart about, making it appear agitated or nervous.

Barbed devils, also called hamatulas, serve as guardians of vaults and bodyguards to the most powerful denizens of the Nine Hells.

A barbed devil is about 7 feet tall and weighs about 300 pounds.

Combat

Barbed devils eagerly fight with their claws, trying to impale their opponents. They use hold person to immobilize those who avoid their hug attacks.

A barbed devil's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, are treated as evil-aligned and lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Fear (Su): A creature hit by a barbed devil must succeed on a DC 20 Will save or be affected as though by fear (caster level 9th). Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected by that same barbed devil's fear ability for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Impale (Ex): A barbed devil deals 3d8+9 points of piercing damage to a grabbed opponent with a successful grapple check.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a barbed devil must hit with a claw attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can impale the opponent on its barbed body.

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day a barbed devil can attempt to summon 1d6 bearded devils or another barbed devil with a 35% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 4th-level spell.

Barbed Defense (Su): Any creature striking a barbed devil with handheld weapons or natural weapons takes 1d8+6 points of piercing and slashing damage from the devil's barbs. Note that weapons with exceptional reach, such as longspears, do not endanger their users in this way.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will -- greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only), hold person (DC 16), major image (DC 17), scorching ray (2 rays only). 1/day -- order's wrath (DC 18), unholy blight (DC 18). Caster level 12th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

 

[Plane Sailing]

also, apparenly every one of the demons and devils has an illustration now. About time too, and jolly good news!

 

[Plane Sailing]

I would just note that this is clearly much, much tougher than the current version (one of which I used a couple of adventures ago and it was an OK foe for a 9th level party, but not one that seriously worried them. This would have caused casualties!

 

[Lord Rasputin]

From the WotC "in the works"

Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+22
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 23, Con 23, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 18

I feel lame, but could someone please tell me how the grapple check bonus became +22? I calculate a medium-sized creature with a BAB of +12 and a 23 Str to have a grapple check bonus of +18.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Maybe it is the "improved grapple" feat listed amongst its feats? That could add +4 to grapple checks, and it would bring the grapple up to +22 as listed.

Cheers

 

[Valiantheart]

Barbed Defense (Su): Any creature striking a barbed devil with handheld weapons or natural weapons takes 1d8+6 points of piercing and slashing damage from the devil's barbs. Note that weapons with exceptional reach, such as longspears, do not endanger their users in this way.

Any handheld weapon? WTH, are its spike 5 feet long? Everything else i like.

 

[Quasqueton]

OK, they have proved to me that what I feared after seeing the pit fiend is going to be true. When the pit fiend's stats were shown last year there was debate over whether it was an example of the extent the revision would change all creatures. Some said the pit fiend was getting special attention and alterations because it was a special creature not living up to its credits (as the biggest badass of Hell).

See this thread on the revised pit fiend:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?threadid=38997

Now I've seen 3 creature listings from the revision -- the pit fiend, mummy, and now barbed devil. All three have had major revisions and power-ups. They were not simply brought into compliance with the rules. They were not simply rewritten to clear up understandability of their stats. They were drastically changed. That is not the right way to do a revision that will be backwards compatible.

So they needed a devil creature for the CR 11 range? How about two barbed devils (EL 10)? How about a cornugon (CR 10)? How about the DM add a few class levels? Changing all the creatures' stats in what is billed as a moderate revision invalidates all previously published material. Suddenly, published adventures with encounters with pit fiends, mummies, and barbed devils (and presumedly with any other creature) have ELs badly out of whack. Now the great "end" battle in Lord of the Iron Fortress is not EL 19, but something like EL 24 (for level 15-16 PCs).

WotC: Stop changing and powering up the fricking monsters! Revise them to match the rules, and to clear up their stats. But don't remake them!

This is wrong, wrong, wrong for a "backwards-compatible" revision.

Quasqueton

 

[drnuncheon]

I'm happy they're going back to the names like 'barbed devil'. I can never remember what the #@!! a 'hamatula' is.

J

 

[hong]

Now I've seen 3 creature listings from the revision -- the pit fiend, mummy, and now barbed devil. All three have had major revisions and power-ups. They were not simply brought into compliance with the rules. They were not simply rewritten to clear up understandability of their stats. They were drastically changed. That is not the right way to do a revision that will be backwards compatible.

Unless you have someone in your group playing a pit fiend, mummy, or barbed devil, who the hell is going to care if Horrendous Fiendish Adversary #52,613 has 9 HD or 12 HD?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Now I've seen 3 creature listings from the revision -- the pit fiend, mummy, and now barbed devil. All three have had major revisions and power-ups. They were not simply brought into compliance with the rules. They were not simply rewritten to clear up understandability of their stats. They were drastically changed. That is not the right way to do a revision that will be backwards compatible.

So they needed a devil creature for the CR 11 range? How about two barbed devils (EL 10)? How about a cornugon (CR 10)? How about the DM add a few class levels? Changing all the creatures' stats in what is billed as a moderate revision invalidates all previously published material.

To be fair to them, I haven't quoted the entire article by a long shot, and they say that they made the decision to spread the fiends out amongst the CR levels somewhat, since they tended to be clustered a bit too much.

Mind you, your point is a very valid one about it invalidating previously published adventures. I'm sorta taking my players through the adventure path modules, but there is no way that I can just plug a (new) pit fiend into "Lord of the Iron Fortress". I'll probably have to replace it with whatever devil is closest in CR to an "old" pit fiend.

Fortunately, I don't have many old adventures to cause me problems, and on balance I prefer them to revise these creatures. The original MM ones might have been appropriate challenges for the default array unoptimised heroes in playtesting, but for "real life" (heh!) some out-of-the-book improvements is very welcome to me.

Cheers