Take a Look, It's in a Book—Of The Damned!

Friday, September 22, 2017

Many subscribers already have Pathfinder RPG Book of the Damned in their hands, but I'm not going to let them have all the fun talking about what's in this book. Last week I talked a bit about some of the rules in Book of the Damned, and today I'm here to talk about some of the lore and flavor.

While there is some information about your rank and file fiends, including handy tables for each type that lists the fiends by challenge rating and includes their role, what they like for offerings, and what book they can be found in, a big part of this book talks about the movers and shakers among the ranks of fiends.

Each of the fiendish demigods of the demons, devils, and daemons (demon lords, archdevils, Queens of Night, Horsemen, and even Ahriman, the Lord of All Divs) gets a spread to themselves, complete with full Fiendish Obedience boon information. These despicable beings all have an illustration too. Some illustrations are brand new, others already existed, but they're all wicked.

While the majority of the book deals with the "big three" families of fiends—daemons, demons, and devils—the remainder sheds some light on the lesser known fiends and their small realms scattered throughout the Outer Planes.

This includes the demigods of other fiends (asura ranas, kyton demagogues, oni daimo, qlippoth lords, rakshasa immortals, and sahkil tormentors), who all get some more description and flavor, along with the daemon harbingers, infernal dukes, malebranche, and nascent demon lords. Each of these gets information about their areas of concern, domains, subdomains, and favored weapon. With that you can build out enemy cultists and priests, or if you're playing in an evil campaign clerics and warpriests for player characters.

However, as is always the case, it leaves you wanting more. Sadly, not all of these fiendish demigods get the full Fiendish Obedience boons treatment, but they do get the basics. There is information about the obedience that a worshiper must complete each day and the spell-like abilities granted at different levels.

In addition to all the relevant information important to worshipers of these fiendish demigods, Book of the Damned also gives readers an entire chapter of information about the fiendish realms over which these fiends rule. In addition to information on Abaddon, the Abyss, Hell, and the River Styx that runs through them all, you get a look at places like kyton sanctuaries on the Plane of Shadow, rakshasa holdings and oni strongholds on the Material Plane, and desolate Xibalba, home of the sahkils, on the Ethereal Plane.

Xibalba, the Land of Dread, is formed from the focused fears of billions of mortals, and is like a solid island in the hazy and indistinct Ethereal Plane. Different types of terrain radiate out from a seemingly abandoned city atop a high hill, all of which are studies in fright and terror. At the center of this desolate city is a massive black stepped pyramid, home to many of the sahkil tormentors.

Speaking of the bosses of my little fear babies, here's a look at the table of sahkil tormentors found in Book of the Damned. (Surprise! They all have the Fear subdomain, which is also found in this book.)

Sahkil Tormentors

Sahkil Tormentor	Areas of Concern	Domains	Subdomains	Favored Weapon
Ananshea	Brutality, torture, wild animals	Animal, Destruction, Evil, Strength	Fear, Ferocity, Rage, Torture	Kukri
Chamiaholom	Domination, hopelessness, mortality	Death, Evil, Magic, Repose	Fear, Murder, Souls, Undead	Quarterstaff
Charg	Catastrophic decline, detrimental complacency, monsters	Destruction, Evil, Madness, Strength	Catastrophe, Fear, Ferocity, Nightmare	Falchion
Dachzerul	Deadly pranks, stalkers, sudden death	Charm, Evil, Luck, Trickery	Curse, Deception, Fear, Thievery	Rapier
Hataam	Drought, drowning, stagnation	Evil, Travel, Water, Weather	Fear, Rivers, Seasons, Storms	Net
Iggeret	Darkness, empty places, pits	Darkness, Evil, Protection, Void	Fear, Isolation, Loss, Night	Shortbow
Nameless	Delusions of authority, doubt, torment	Artifice, Evil, Nobility, Strength	Fear, Judgment, Resolve, Toil	Longsword
Ozranvial	Despair, restless spirits, sadism	Destruction, Evil, Madness, Repose	Fear, Nightmare, Souls, Torture	Scorpion whipUE
Shawnari	Isolation, loneliness, lost time	Darkness, Evil, Knowledge, Void	Fear, Isolation, Loss, Memory	Sap
Velgaas	Emotional manipulation, emptiness, ignorance	Charm, Evil, Knowledge, Void	Corruption, Fear, Memory, Thought	Spiked chain
Vermilion Mother	Fecundity, overgrown places, psychoactive plants	Charm, Evil, Plant, Weather	Decay, Fear, Growth, Lust	Scythe
Xiquiripat	Evisceration, fatal falls, genocide	Air, Destruction, Evil, War	Blood, Fear, Rage, Wind	TerbutjeUE
Zipacna	Avoiding responsibility, shifting earth, violence	Earth, Evil, Fire, Strength	Ash, Corruption, Fear, Ferocity	TepoztopilliUE

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into the Book of the Damned, which is available now for all your fiendish needs!

Adam Daigle
Managing Developer