As part of DMDM's Guide to Planar Binding, I want to include an appendix on creatures that you can call and bind. Since there are a lot of outsiders, it's a big chunk of work. So I'm looking to crowdsource it.
We already did Lesser Planar Binding, which lets you summon and control outsiders of 6 HD or less. You can find that post and thread right here. Now let's do Planar Binding, which gives you access to more powerful creatures of up to 12 HD.
Here follows a partial list of targets. It's heavily weighted towards evil outsiders, because it grew out of my Guide to the Diabolist. You'll notice it's in order from lowest CR to highest; within a CR, it's alphabetical. Please feel free to either amend or expand existing entries, or create new entries (but in the same format, please, for consistency).
Many thanks in advance,
Doug M.
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So, you have your circle drawn, your sacrifice ready, your nervous apprentice close at hand... it's time to start conjuring and binding! Here I list some of the outsiders you're most likely to conjure up. This is by no means a complete list; consult the pfsrd for more. An asterisk (*) means a creature that's a devil – a Diabolist can use Infernal Charisma against it.
There are three statistics you have to think about here: Spell Resistance, the creature's Charisma, and it's Will save. Its Will save is what it uses to resist being called in the first place, its SR will resist your spells, and its Cha can both get it out of the circle and be used to defy you. Remember, the more times it can defy you, the more rolls it gets to escape! So you want to win those Cha checks.
Planar Binding: Who You Gonna Call?
Bralani Azata [CR 6, SR 17, Will +6, Cha 15] – If for some reason you want a chaotic good outsider that’s respectable in ranged and melee combat, the bralani is your lad. It doesn’t do a lot of damage, but DR 10/cold iron or evil and at-will Blur and Mirror Image make it annoyingly hard to hit.
Ceustodaemon [CR 6, SR 0, Will +8, Cha 15] -- Go and look at the ceustodaemon's monster description. What, too busy? Okay, here's the good bit: "When brought to another plane with a [planar binding spell], ceustodaemons take a –5 penalty on the initial Will save and on their Charisma check to refuse service. Ceustodaemons also take a –5 penalty on saves against binding, planar binding, and other spells designed to bind a creature to a particular plane as long as the daemon is commanded to serve as a guardian for a single area or small complex." So there you go... for your purposes, the ceustodaemon has Will +3 and a Cha around 4 or so. And, oh yes, no SR. It's a CR 6 creature that's easier to summon and bind than an imp! These guys are going to be your melee shock troops for a level or two, and even at higher levels you'll occasionally be calling one up to mind the store while you're out of town. Don't forget to read the full flavor text, though: "Ceustodaemons find themselves on the Material Plane more often than any other daemon, as they are easily pressured into service—many call these creatures “guardian daemons” as a result. Yet in the back of their wicked minds, ceustodaemons always think about escaping their bonds and ripping to shreds the ones who summoned them."
Choral Angel [CR 6, Will +9, Cha 17, SR 17] – These small angels are useless in melee, but have a number of excellent SLAs: they can go invisible, Dispel Magic at will, or Plane Shift you and your friends somewhere. (And then back again, because they can Plane Shift at will.) And groups of them get enhanced abilities; call two and you get Heroism twice/day, call six and you get Greater Heroism or Holy Word 6x/day.
Erinyes* [CR 6, SR 19, Will +7, Cha 21] -- With flight and her +1 flaming long bow and feats, the erinyes is one of the few devils built for dishing out long-range hurt. Call up a couple of these angry ladies to provide air cover on an overland trek or other outdoors adventure. True Seeing + high Perception makes them good searchers, spotters and bodyguards, too. Note that you can get a +2 on your charisma check relatively cheaply (200 gp a pop) by giving them a holy symbol or some nice religious art to destroy.
Kyton (Chain Devil) [CR 6, SR 17, Will +3, Cha 12] -- Despite the name, kytons are not true devils; mechanically, they don't have the "devil" subtype. So a Diabolist’s Infernal Charisma won't work on them. Slightly more powerful in melee than the magaav or ceustodaemon, but still probably not worth the trouble unless you happen to have some very specific task involving sadism and lots and lots of chains.
Magaav* (Greater Host Devil) [CR 6, SR 17, Will +3, Cha 11] -- The Magaav is only just a bit more powerful than the Barbazu. (They do about the same amount of damage, but the Magaav can fly and has a better AC.) Probably not worth burning the higher level spell, especially since the ceustodaemon is about as powerful and much easier to call and bind.
Hellcat [CR 7, Will +5, SR 18, Cha 10] -- Sky-high Perception and Stealth + near-invisibility in light + pounce/rake make this cat your assassin in broad daylight. It's a very good melee combatant that's even better when the lights are on. The RAW makes a big deal about how this creature will plot revenge on you if slighted. This is a rare case where I think you can ignore the RAW if you want to, because the Hellcat is an Int 10 creature that can neither fly nor teleport nor plane shift and has no mind control powers or other alarming SLAs. I mean, you don't /want/ an invisible pouncing hell-feline running around with a grudge against you. But compared to some of the other creatures on this list -- at the same CR, consider the Shadow Demon or the Succubus -- the Hellcat's ability to deliver horrible surprises is pretty limited. This is one of the rare called outsiders you can hold off with a sturdy locked door while you fire up a Scry and then contact the local paladins.
Huge Fire Elemental [CR 7, SR 0, Will +5, Cha 11] -- "Burn everything. Leave no witnesses." Foul-tempered and not too bright, call this guy up when you just want to burn it all down. Like all elementals, it’s kinda dumb and has no Sense Motive, so it should be pretty easy to fool if you want to go that route.
Huge Water Elemental [CR 7, SR 0, Will +3, Cha 11] “When summoning a water elemental, remove sources of water from the room and prepare a bonfire. A ring of fire around the magic circle exposes the elemental to its hated enemy the instant it appears on the Material Plane, distracting it long enough for the binder to seize control. This is an opposed Will check, granting a +1 bonus to the caster for each large fire in the room; success grants a +4 bonus on the Charisma check.”
Levaloch* (Warmonger Devil) [CR 7, SR 12, Will +5, Cha 15] -- The Levaloch is a strange construct-devil hybrid. It's a pure combat brute with no SLAs at all, and its presence gives +1 on attacks and AC to adjacent devils. When you're tired of pushing ceustodaemons around, this guy is probably your next step up.
Shadow Demon [CR 7, SR 17, Will +7, Cha 19] -- You call up a shadow demon when you want to have something possessed by a demon. It's a challenging summons for a creature of its CR, but you can get +2 by offering it "the shell of a beautiful person to wear". Demons are chaotic and shadow demons are pretty much creatures of pure jealous malice, so don't count on exercising fine-tuned or lasting control. However, if your instruction is something like “kill the Duke, collateral damage not an issue”, the Shadow Demon’s possession ability makes it one of the best creatures you can call with this spell.
Shaitan [CR 7, SR 0, Will +8, Cha 15] – The Shaitan is a fine combat brute with a number of solid SLAs, including Stone Glide, which makes it an excellent scout and flanker. “Should the caster offer services in exchange for a throw of the dice or a wrestling match—and go through with the offer—he’ll receive a +2 bonus on his Charisma check.” Don’t do this unless the services you’re betting are trivial to you, or you’re quite sure of winning the contest. If you’re thinking of having your rogue buddy shave the dice or stack the deck, note that shaitans have +14 Perception and a 14 Int.
Succubus [CR 7, SR 18, Will +10, Cha 27] – Think hard about this one. Look at that Will save. Now look at that Charisma... the number, look at the number. Succubi are quite difficult to call and bind for a creature of their CR. They're also very smart and very chaotic. Yes, if you can bind her she has all sorts of excellent SLAs, and you can use her to wreak havoc in various interesting ways. Unfortunately, her SLAs and skills can also be used by a clever DM to mess with you all too easily. It's probably not worth the risk. Go find yourself a girlfriend and then conjure something that won't end up laughing its way back to the Abyss. But if you absolutely need to have a mind-controlling infilitrator, then give very clear and detailed instructions, and always have Protection from Evil ready to go. And don’t take that Profane Gift unless you have a dispel evil or dispel chaos spell handy.
Axiomite [CR 8, SR 19, Will +14, Cha 20] – The Axiomite has high Will for a creature of its CR, making it hard to catch. If you do get one, it’s not a combat monster but it is a fine backup caster, especially if you know you’ll be fighting large numbers of chaotic creatures – it has Telekinesis, Dispel Chaos and Empowered Order’s Wrath as 3x/day SLAs.
Nessian Hell Hound [CR 9, SR 0, Will +5, Cha 6] -- There's nothing complicated about the Nessian Hell Hound. It's a fire-breathing wolf the size of a horse. No SLAs, no teleportation -- this is a totally straightforward combat monster. And for a creature of its CR, it's ridiculously easy to call and bind. The only drawback is that they have Int 4, meaning you can only give them simple and clear commands. If you think tactical complexity is going to be needed, look somewhere else. But if all you need is a pack of brutes you can unleash to breath fire and rip stuff up, these guys are solid.
Night Hag [CR 9, SR 24, Will +11, Cha 17] -- There are only three reasons to call up a night hag. One is to discuss trading in soul gems -- say, if you've just successfully ambushed a Souldrinker and are trying to fence his hoard. The second would be sic her on someone to Dream Haunt them to death. And the third is because you're planning to murder someone and want to cast Soul Bind -- normally a 9th level spell. It won't be easy: the hag's high intelligence, solid Charisma, and crazy high SR make her tough to deal with. Also, a night hag is exactly the sort of creature that will carry a grudge forever and look to get revenge. Not that many of these other creatures are full of sweet forgiveness, but the night hag is a creepy, malevolent loner who's optimized for sneaking and murder. So, don't mess with the night hag unless you have some really compelling reason, or are confident you can kill the hag fast before she can go ethereal and escape.
Osyluth* (Bone Devil) [CR 9, SR 20, Will +7, Cha 18] -- The osyluth is a strange duck. It's slightly underpowered in melee for its CR. Its mix of SLAs goes back to first edition, which means, they don't make a lot of sense. It probably works best as an ambush specialist, using invisibility and major image to line up on its victim. It does have Dimensional Anchor as a SLA, which means it's useful to have around if you're fighting things that like to teleport (like, say, other outsiders).
Vrock [CR 9, SR 20, Will +6, Cha 16] -- The vrock is an odd choice, but it has its points. It's a combat brute, noticeably more powerful in melee than the osyluth. If you summon more than one, you can get some serious Dance of Ruin action going. And it's relatively easy to get that +2 Cha bonus against it -- "The vrock loves to despoil and befoul things of great beauty. Artwork worth at least 250 gp or a living, intelligent creature to destroy are equally desirable sacrifices." Call up a vrock when you want to inflict swift destruction on masses of low or middle-level enemies.
Zelekhut Inevitable [CR 9, SR 20, Will +10, Cha 17] -- The zelekhut is another good choice for melee; it does less raw damage than the vrock, but has more useful SLAs. Unfortunately, it's RAW that inevitables can simply refuse to serve if ordered to do things against their nature. (They're the only outsiders with this option, thank goodness.) So you only want to call up a zelekhut if you're doing something that serves the cause of Law -- and if your party goes off message and starts acting chaotically, be prepared for the creature to simply shut down. Ideally, you'd want to summon one or more of these guys for going after someone who is trying to escape punishment, since that's their particular area of expertise. This could be a perfect fit for some particular adventures -- "The Whispering Tyrant was justly imprisoned. Now his minions seek to end his punishment by freeing him. We work to stop them, so that his lawful punishment may continue forever." -- but probably not for most "kill the monsters and take their stuff" type dungeons.
Bebelith Demon [CR 10, SR 0, Will +7, Cha 13] – The bebelith is actually pretty easy to summon and bind for a creature of its CR -- mediocre Will save, low Cha, and no (!) SR. It’s an excellent melee brute that also loves killing demons. Oddly, it can’t fly or teleport, nor does it have a dimension lock or any other way of dealing with teleporting outsiders… but it’s still a pretty good bargain. Huge sized, so make sure you have room.
Phistophilus* (Contract Devil) [CR 10, SR 21, Will +16, Cha 22] -- Mechanically, the phistophilus' high Will save makes it hard to call up. However, once you get it, you have a potentially very interesting encounter. The phistophilus is a surprisingly competent melee fighter, but that's probably not what you want it for. No, you call up a phistophilus to talk about making deals. You may want to sign one yourself, of course – three wishes in return for your soul, and all that. But also, there's no reason you can't act as a go-between or broker, connecting the contract devil to mortals who are greedy or foolish enough to accept a deal. Obviously, if this works out, you'd be within your rights to negotiate a reasonable commission... The phistophilus also gives you a rare opportunity to deal with a devil who is intelligent, well connected, and at least potentially friendly. If you want to work out some sort of special deal with Hell, summoning one of these guys is a good starting point.
Cauchemar (Nightmare) [CR 11, SR 0, Will +7, Cha 12] -- See the entry on the nightmare, because this is just a bigger, meaner nightmare. (In fact, it's a Huge size creature. Make sure your circle is big enough.) Very easy to summon and bind for a creature of its CR.
Hamatula* (Barbed Devil) [CR 11, SR 22, Will +8, Cha 18] -- At first glance the hamatula looks like the high-level version of the bearded devil: a tough combat fighter, and with a bunch of useful (if somewhat random) SLAs. Unfortunately, we're getting up to the levels where devils have distinct personalities and agendas, and the hamatula is kind of a jerk even by the standards of Hell. "Hamatulas despise being summoned away from their duties in Hell for any reason. A devil summoner who offers a hamatula rare treasures and exotic gems valued at more than 2,000 gp gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma checks made to compel the devil to service, but only if the task takes less than 24 hours to complete. Those who try to compel hamatulas to longer terms of service, whatever the service might be, take a -2 penalty on their charisma checks." Well la dee dah. The hamatula is a special snowflake. If you have the firepower to enforce your will upon it, it makes a fine bodyguard, but given the flavor text your DM would be justified in making it a grudge-holding long-term enemy if you keep it away from Hell for more than a day.
Akhana Aeon [CR 12, SR 23, Will +14, Cha 18] -- It's RAW that the neutral Aeons are difficult to understand or control (though the flavor text doesn't explain how that works mechanically). Still, the Akhana makes this list for one reason: it can cast Raise Dead and Restoration. So if you have a dead PC and no 9th+ level cleric on hand, you conjure up one of these guys. NOTE: it’s RAW that what one Aeon knows, every Aeon knows. So think twice before you bully, abuse or kill a conjured Aeon. It's not clear that the guardians of neutrality would hold grudges, but on the other hand it's not clear that they wouldn't.
Kolyarut Inevitable [CR 12, SR 23, Will +11, Cha 16] -- High SR and Will make this a tough summons, and the kolyarut, like the zelekhut, can shut itself down if ordered to act against its nature. But if you have an adventure goal that fits with the particular obsessions of the kolyarut -- punishing oath-breakers and seeing that contracts are kept -- then this becomes a very attractive option. "The Queen swore before the gods to protect and serve the city, but instead she has unleashed pestilence and monsters upon her blameless people!" If you can make the rolls to call and bind it, you might gain a CR 12 ally who not only is a very powerful melee combatant but can throw enervation at will.
