Is there some sort of Easter egg in this book? I was browsing through it (at least I think it was this book, although I went through Volume 2: Lords of Chaos at about the same time) and there was a passing reference to an otherwise unmarked obelisk with an inscription something like "IHYSSEPW" which I assume expands into a phrase or sentence, along the lines of "IYWIMAITYD."

I would LOVE to do a giant book about devils and demons and all the other fiend races.

I'll second that.

Until then, I'll make do with:

• Mongoose's Expert Player's Guide Volume III: Epic Monsters
  
• Dicefreaks' The Gates of Hell
  
• Dicefreaks' Horrors of the Abyss

And of course the ELH.

I also use Fiendish Codex I (Hordes of the Abyss) and Fiendish Codes II (Tyrants of the Nine Hells), but I just treat those entries as aspects of the actual lords/princes rather than the actual stats.

Not that I really expect my players to take down any but the weakest of the rulers of the Nine Hells. With so many more entities in the Abyss, of course, they're more likely to be fair game. And I love Paizo's interpretation of the Abyss - you can bet that my players will have to deal with some unpleasant abyssal horrors, that's for sure.

If you're looking for really out there challenges, take a look at Craig Cochrane's Immortals Handbook - Epic Bestiary: Volume One (available as a hardcover from Troll & Toad). The CRs of creatures in that book (NOT advanced versions of creatures, just the plain old creatures themselves) run from the CR10 small quintessence elemental (the elder is CR53) to the CR182 seraphim (angel), and adults of the new dragon types range from the CR50 adult timber dragon to CR536 adult nexus dragon. Golems as presented there are similarly crazed, ranging from the CR6 diamond guardian to the CR9721 neutronium golem.

Is there some sort of Easter egg in this book? I was browsing through it (at least I think it was this book, although I went through Volume 2: Lords of Chaos at about the same time) and there was a passing reference to an otherwise unmarked obelisk with an inscription something like "IHYSSEPW" which I assume expands into a phrase or sentence, along the lines of "IYWIMAITYD."

Okay, it was “I-H-Y-S-S-I-G-E.”

I have a question regarding the imp companion. The book states the following:

Class Level: This is the diabolist’s class level plus her highest caster level. This does not stack with class levels that grant an animal companion.

This reads like the class level is actually figured into the level for the companion twice, as it is included in the "highest caster level". For example, say a character is wizard 5/diabolist 5. That means that his caster level for wizard spells is 10 due to the fact that it is increased with each diabolist level. So, taking the book literally would mean, that the imp was calculated as if his class level was 15. This gets problematic once the total passes 20, as the table does not go that high. A wizard 10/diabolist 10 would have an imp at class level 30 in theory.

I am assuming that by "highest caster level" the book actually means "highest caster level in other classes than diabolist". Then it would make sense.

Am I correct or have I overlooked something here?

You are correct, it should just be the diabolist's caster level. I've noted it in my master copy to be fixed if we do a reprint. Thank you!

Damon Griffin wrote:

Is there some sort of Easter egg in this book? I was browsing through it (at least I think it was this book, although I went through Volume 2: Lords of Chaos at about the same time) and there was a passing reference to an otherwise unmarked obelisk with an inscription something like "IHYSSEPW" which I assume expands into a phrase or sentence, along the lines of "IYWIMAITYD."

Okay, it was “I-H-Y-S-S-I-G-E.”

If you read Volume 1 closely you find that Ihys was Asmodeus' brother.

I have a question regarding the imp companion. The book states the following:

Princes of Darkness, p.45 wrote:

Class Level: This is the diabolist’s class level plus her highest caster level. This does not stack with class levels that grant an animal companion.

This reads like the class level is actually figured into the level for the companion twice, as it is included in the "highest caster level". For example, say a character is wizard 5/diabolist 5. That means that his caster level for wizard spells is 10 due to the fact that it is increased with each diabolist level. So, taking the book literally would mean, that the imp was calculated as if his class level was 15. This gets problematic once the total passes 20, as the table does not go that high. A wizard 10/diabolist 10 would have an imp at class level 30 in theory.

I am assuming that by "highest caster level" the book actually means "highest caster level in other classes than diabolist". Then it would make sense.

Am I correct or have I overlooked something here?

My friend and I were discussing this same ability with the same sort of confusion. My friend took a look and noticed a different wording in the "Spells per day" class ability of the Diabolist as opposed to other Prestige Classes. It seems that the ability doesn't mention an increase in caster level along with the spells per day.

This seems to imply that while the Diabolist gets increased spells per day as if they had leveled up, their spells don't benefit from a higher caster level (and thus are less powerful). This would make it so the Imp's "Class Level" being Diabolist + highest caster level would actually be just right...

But that seems like a strange thing to do for an otherwise Caster PrC.

are red and black the heraldic colours of the hell or only the patriotics colours of cheliax?

are red and black the heraldic colours of the hell or only the patriotics colours of cheliax?

That's pretty much a Cheliax thing. Hell doesn't so much care about how mortals dress up their damnation, just so long as the job gets done.

That said, Asmodeus's favorite colors are virgin-despair and self-betrayal.

So, the Diabolist add only spells per day and not spells known at each level. That's no fun for a spontaneous caster.

A strict reading of the imp companion's statistics implies they get 3/4 BAB, but because they are adding outsider hit dice they should be getting full BAB as far as I can see. Is this a deliberate choice or was it intended for the imp to get full BAB?