D&D 3E/3.5 Incubus in 3.5e?

[Shin Okada]

IIRC, 3.0e MM was mentioning about Incubus, or male version of Succubus. I can't find such mention in 3.5e MM. Did WotC simply eliminated Incubus from 3.5e D&D? Or did they just forget to mention? Or did they separate Incubus from Succubus and made it into a different monster (in other supplements?).

 

[Ahnehnois]

The 3.0 MM says the Incubus uses the same statistics as the Succubus; I don't see this mentioned in the 3.5 version or the SRD. I'm not aware of any other version or of why this reference was cut.

 

[Alzrius]

The incubus demon, as its own monster, was given stats in Dragon #353, in the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Malcanthet" article.

 

[Dandu]

The incubus demon, as its own monster, was given stats in Dragon #353, in the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Malcanthet" article.

I had always assumed that an Incubus was a Succubus shapeshifted into a male form.

 

[frankthedm]

IIRC, 3.0e MM was mentioning about Incubus, or male version of Succubus. I can't find such mention in 3.5e MM. Did WotC simply eliminated Incubus from 3.5e D&D? Or did they just forget to mention? Or did they separate Incubus from Succubus and made it into a different monster (in other supplements?).

Considering that a D&D succubus's method of operation usually only gets vaguely described, I don't think wotc would have been very keen on describing just how an Incubus would be different from a succubus.

"A succubus drains energy from a mortal it lures into some act of passion, or by simply planting a kiss on the victim."

is actually more descriptive than the 1E D&D description, which only mentions kissing IIRC.

To stat an Incubus, you first have to decide what its shtick is going to be.

The incubus demon, as its own monster, was given stats in Dragon #353, in the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Malcanthet" article.

I'm away from my archives ATM, what was the Paizo Incubus's method of operation?

 

[Alzrius]

I had always assumed that an Incubus was a Succubus shapeshifted into a male form.

That was held to be true prior to that issue giving the incubus stats as its own monster, insofar as I know.

I'm away from my archives ATM, what was the Paizo Incubus's method of operation?

In all honesty, the monster as they wrote it was rather contradictory. The opening paragraph described:

The male counterpart to the far more common succubus, the incubus is a physical manifestation of male sexuality given humanoid form (and the intelligence to act upon its destructive urges). Whereas succubi seduce their victims, drawing them into their embrace with lies and honeyed whispers, incubi see what they want and take it by force. They have no innate ability to mask their demonic forms, nor do they care to.

However, despite what's written, the incubus has disguise self as a spell-like ability. Moreover, despite their rapine tendencies, they have a wisdom damage power that works exactly like the succubus's energy drain power, including conveying a suggestion to accept another kiss from them.

So yeah, there seems to have been some differing ideas at Paizo about exactly how the incubus should operate.

 

[Shin Okada]

Thanks. Hmm. Maybe I should stick to "Incubus is simply male version of Succubus" idea. That is Paizo article indeed, not exactly of WotC. And seems not so well-thought one.

 

[Alzrius]

For what it's worth, I like the idea of the incubus being its own monster. That the Paizo incubus deals 1d4 Wisdom damage from sexual contact also makes sense, since it's implied they sexually assault their victims, and that seems like it'd inflict Wisdom damage. But beyond that, they missed the mark.

The wording of the whole "kiss or act of passion" schtick, and even folding in the built-in suggestion for more - along with conflicting statements about them being able to change their shape or not - really make it seem like they weren't sure how to present the monster.

The fact that it's also a pretty weak encounter (CR 3) whose only other powers are a handful of utility spell-like abilities (charm person, detect good, detect thoughts, disguise self, and modify memory) and powers (tongues and a 60% chance to summon 1d4 dretches 1/day), really made it an underwhelming entry.

 

[frankthedm]

Thanks. Hmm. Maybe I should stick to "Incubus is simply male version of Succubus" idea. That is Paizo article indeed, not exactly of WotC. And seems not so well-thought one.

Conflicting editing I suspect was the culprit. Wotc, having oversight over the magazines to my understanding, mangled some Paizo published Dragon Magazine articles before, notably the Dark Sun Article.

Now, what did you want said Incubus to accomplish?

Drain Life?
Make half fiends?
Tanuki-like control over its anatomy?

 

[pawsplay]

In medieval lore, the succubus would seduce a man, take his seed, then transform into an incubus and impregnate a female. I like the idea, although you would have to decide in D&D terms what the resulting creature would be. It would be a good excuse to make the cambion a specific monster rather than a variety of half-fiend.