Yamael's page

Have you heard anything else? I just got the notification that it was included in the next subscription package which was a surprise and now I'm wondering if I should remove it and if I do if I'll get the remaster PDF...

I was thinking of allowing these spells to kill the target but not instantly, something like this:

5th level death effects/spells deal max HP/5 over 5 rounds.
6th level death effects/spells deal max HP/4 over 4 rounds.
7th level death effects/spells deal max HP/3 over 3 rounds.
8th level death effects/spells deal max HP/2 over 2 rounds.
9th level death effects/spells deal max HP/2 over 2 rounds to multiple targets.

If the targets fails it's save, he is going to die unless he is healed quickly enough, a successful save could deal half the damage each round, taking away in total half the max HP of the character.

I'm really loving this idea, and with the right requisites you can make it as flavorful as you want:

Create Undead Feat:
Requires the ability to channel negative energy or Spell Focus [Necromancy]
Allows the creation of undead creatures. See each creature entry for details on its creation.

Skeleton / Zombie:
Requires grave dirt, an onyx gem, and a body with/without flesh. (+ appropriate spells)

Incorporeal Undead:
Requires unholy water, a black gem worth X gold/HD, and a victim to be sacrificed during the creation of the undead creature. (+ appropriate spells)

Morgh:
Requires the body of a mass murderer (must have killed 10+ defenseless intelligent creatures for pleasure or selfish goals), ashes from one of his victims, and an obsidian shard. (+ appropriate spells)

You know, what I'm seeing here about this pit fiend is that people are thinking into making him a boss encounter against a party of level 26 characters, which is actually powerful enough to deal with pit fiends as random encounters. To make this creature a satisfying final encounter to a campaign, you need to use it when it outlevels the PCs. If a party of level 21-22 PCs isn't freaked out when they face this beast and his summoned devils which are by themselves a challenge to the group, then something is plain wrong here.

I don't mind the "dumbing down" of the rules if it makes the game faster to play in combat, and using miniatures or a basic grid with tokens to keep track of combat helps determining who gets hit by aoe attacks, who is in front or behind a foe, and all things regarding to placement.

Without knowing more of 4th edition, we can't judge how effective is the damage from an exploding demon against a party. Maybe it's just a small dent in their HP, but maybe it's something to be careful about for the physically weaker classes at least. And using one in the first round when the party is probably still grouped together after coming into the pit fiend chamber may be the best way to maximize it's effects.