Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Hell Unleashed (PFRPG)

I definitely see no writers block for Mr. Schneider--keep 'em coming! *grins*

Ruyan.

PS: Sheesh, if I only could tell my boss posting in (on?) a message board is a key part of my job description *smiles*

Generic Villain wrote:

Still liked the book quite a bit.

Cool! Glad you dig it!

And I hope you guys are excited for more planar nuance like this down the road! No one should feel like we don't love the planes. In fact, there's a few of us at Paizo HQ that love it so much, we refuse to let certain parts go. But trust me... we have plans.

Terrible plans.

It's posts like these thing make me wonder if Paizo has a huge planar hardcover in the works.

EDIT: or at least on the drawing board.

Darn having to wait until Wednesday.

Nate Z wrote:

Wait, I'm confused now. How does the Infernal Hierarchy go now? And can & cannot be stated up?

Here's a general list, from lowest to highest:

Stray souls
Petitioners
Mindless devils (like lemures)
Lesser Devils (like imps and barbazu)
Greater Devils (like gelugons, cornugons, pit fiends)
Malebranche (Typically Generals of Material Planar conquest - Demigod)
Infernal Dukes (Typically Rulers of Infernal Demesnes - Demigod)
Archdevil (Ruler of a Layer of Hell; Adviser to Asmodeus - Demigod)
Asmodeus (Ruler of Hell - Deity)

Largely outside of this infernal hierarchy:
Whore Queens (Ancient sages of Hell, Allies of Asmodeus - Demigod)
Asura Ranas
Other divine residents of Hell
Other allies of Hell

Other:
As of yet undefined nuances serving as perfect ground for an entire book on Hell.

What this has precluded, I'm not sure. Nothing I'm currently aware of.

As for statistics for these characters, many will fall into specific level bands (just as demon lords do), but that hasn't been published for devils yet. Until we have a product that requires it, we'll keep things flexible. For your own games though, feel free to work things however makes sense for you.

Further complicating the lower planar hierarchies are the following:

The Dukes of Hell - advanced Pit Fiends with unique powers. Unsure if we have any example ones in print.

The Paragons of Abaddon - advanced olethrodaemons that directly serve the Four Horsemen and have expanded powers based on their patrons.

THe Lords of the Abyss - advanced Balors with unique powers, the most famous of which may be Khorramzadeh, the Storm King.

The Dukes, the Paragons, and the Lords are not demigods, but hold similar positions and power to nascent demon lords, malebranches/nascent infernal duckes, and the Harbingers.

(Khorramzadeh's explicitly killed some nascent demon lords, even.)

I read the section on the Book of the Damned earlier today. I now get why the Heavens were freaked out by what Tabris had created.

A fellow GM and I are both ecstatic about the possibilities this brings to the table. Wonderful stuff.

Ha! Glad you like it.

And I promise:

It gets worse. }:)

It's posts like these thing make me wonder if Paizo has a huge planar hardcover in the works.

EDIT: or at least on the drawing board.

We lease our drawing boards from Boeing.

I definitely see no writers block for Mr. Schneider--keep 'em coming! *grins*

Ruyan.

PS: Sheesh, if I only could tell my boss posting in (on?) a message board is a key part of my job description *smiles*

Pffh, by the time you're done with Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance, you might think otherwise. I've got A LOT on the way. ;)

Further complicating the lower planar hierarchies are the following:

The Dukes of Hell - advanced Pit Fiends with unique powers. Unsure if we have any example ones in print.

The Paragons of Abaddon - advanced olethrodaemons that directly serve the Four Horsemen and have expanded powers based on their patrons.

THe Lords of the Abyss - advanced Balors with unique powers, the most famous of which may be Khorramzadeh, the Storm King.

The Dukes, the Paragons, and the Lords are not demigods, but hold similar positions and power to nascent demon lords, malebranches/nascent infernal duckes, and the Harbingers.

(Khorramzadeh's explicitly killed some nascent demon lords, even.)

If your PCs are still alive YOU ARE JUST NOT TRYING.

Axial wrote:

It's posts like these thing make me wonder if Paizo has a huge planar hardcover (...) on the drawing board.

We lease our drawing boards from Boeing.

So your drawing boards are full of...planes? I see what you did there.

Darn having to wait until Wednesday.

Consider it a convenience period for buying indulgences. :)

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:

Axial wrote:

It's posts like these thing make me wonder if Paizo has a huge planar hardcover (...) on the drawing board.

We lease our drawing boards from Boeing.

So your drawing boards are full of...planes? I see what you did there.

O_O

Okay, you've finally convinced me that Tabris deserved a fair piece of what happened to him. :)

(text search for Alichino) Hmm... not all that much on the Jester Prince himself, but plenty on his servants. Tease.

...The thing I'd really like to know about malebranche is whether or not they're normally physically present on their assigned world, or monitoring it from Hell, or what.

Read thru this yesterday really liked it.

Still hoping one day for a Devils Revisited...

Okay, you've finally convinced me that Tabris deserved a fair piece of what happened to him. :)

I don't know. I'm kind of on the line. I think dude got a raw deal. I think he did what he had to do in exceptional circumstances. I also think he sure did get the job done. But I know his story isn't over yet. ;)

(text search for Alichino) Hmm... not all that much on the Jester Prince himself, but plenty on his servants. Tease.

:D

...The thing I'd really like to know about malebranche is whether or not they're normally physically present on their assigned world, or monitoring it from Hell, or what.

Usually physically present. That's the case for the majority in Golarion's solar system, at least.

Read thru this yesterday really liked it.

Niiiice, that's great! Thanks for taking a look!

Still hoping one day for a Devils Revisited...

OOOH! How about Demons Unleashed?!

John Kretzer wrote:

Read thru this yesterday really liked it.

Niiiice, that's great! Thanks for taking a look!

John Kretzer wrote:

Still hoping one day for a Devils Revisited...

OOOH! How about Demons Unleashed?!

I don't dislike the Unleashed line...I just also like the Revisited line also.

Also Demon Unleashed would be great. :)

Let me throw in a wish about a low CR focused Unleashed book in general (not the demons one, of course, since they're so high CR).

Barbatos is... something else.

That's why I'm most interested in him. Appearance-wise he is sort of Lovecraftian, and his mysteriousness backs that up. His lawful nature and some of his interests... not so much. Definitely the most interesting of the bunch, if only because it's so obvious he doesn't belong. Oh, and his apparent humility is an awesome touch. No grand palace and robes of dripping gold and gems for this guy.

In fact, I just convinced myself to get the volume of Kobold Quarterly (#22) where Wes did a Barbatos writeup.

OOOH! How about Demons Unleashed?!

Eh...don't get me wrong, demons are great and all, but they've gotten so much spotlight already. I have a pretty firm grasp of what their deal is at this point ("some people just want to watch the world burn").

Meanwhile, with devils....I'm still trying to "figure them out," as it were. I'm curious about their goals and how they plan to achieve them. I guess I just find them more interesting.

And daemons....they scare the $h!t out of me, yet I cannot stop reading about them.

That's my two cp anyway. I will totally be getting this book eventually, but unfortunately other expenses mean that the Campaign Setting line has to take the back seat sometimes. I really want to see what horrible awesomeness Wes has in store for us this time. :(

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:

OOOH! How about Demons Unleashed?!

Eh...don't get me wrong, demons are great and all, but they've gotten so much spotlight already. I have a pretty firm grasp of what their deal is at this point ("some people just want to watch the world burn").

Meanwhile, with devils....I'm still trying to "figure them out," as it were. I'm curious about their goals and how they plan to achieve them. I guess I just find them more interesting.

And daemons....they scare the $h!t out of me, yet I cannot stop reading about them.

They all want to watch the world burn but where as Demons want to set thing on fire at random devils have a precise schedule on what, where, when, how much needs to burn in.

Daemons don't care as long as it burns...

I would prefer an Abyss Unleashed over Demons. Demons already have a lot of love, and I honestly would like a book that could give more love to Demodands/Thanotic Titans/Qlippoth, rather than just more demons.

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:

Barbatos is... something else.

That's why I'm most interested in him. Appearance-wise he is sort of Lovecraftian, and his mysteriousness backs that up. His lawful nature and some of his interests... not so much. Definitely the most interesting of the bunch, if only because it's so obvious he doesn't belong. Oh, and his apparent humility is an awesome touch. No grand palace and robes of dripping gold and gems for this guy.

In fact, I just convinced myself to get the volume of Kobold Quarterly (#22) where Wes did a Barbatos writeup.

Excellent! I really enjoyed doing those articles for KQ and am enjoying the chance to do a few more for the APs coming down the road.

Despite appearance, I don't think of Barbatos as being Lovecraftian. He's ancient and mysterious, sure, but the roll and place of the Great Old Ones is distinctly different in the campaign. Also, I think it'd be a little obvious. (Here's a bad guy with a veiled past: SURPRISE! IT'S A CTHULHU.)

No. I've got other schemes for him. Something more... fecund. ;)

I would prefer an Abyss Unleashed over Demons. Demons already have a lot of love, and I honestly would like a book that could give more love to Demodands/Thanotic Titans/Qlippoth, rather than just more demons.

Well, there you go. Be sure to register your request with your favorite developer.

MMCJawa wrote:

I would prefer an Abyss Unleashed over Demons. Demons already have a lot of love, and I honestly would like a book that could give more love to Demodands/Thanotic Titans/Qlippoth, rather than just more demons.

Well, there you go. Be sure to register your request with your favorite developer.

I believe we just did. ^_^

(I'm assuming you're not technically a developer...)

Ok, I just finished this book, and it's crap.

..that I am going to have to wait, probably forever, for a sequel. This book really packed a ton into its page count, and leaves you wanting more. Like a ton more.

I really would like to see the heresy devils, and pretty much any devil floating around without official inclusion in a Bestiary to get such treatment fairly soon. I would have liked to see a malebranche. Or a whore queen. I liked the murky nature that placing Furcas at CR 27 casts over things. Honestly though, even if you squeezed the Lords of Nine into higher CRs than him, you could still have two or three Lords at CR 28 (Geryon, Mammon?), 29 (Barbatos, Belial, Moloch?) and 30 (Dispater, Baalzebul, Mephistopheles?).

I'm also super bummed that Kobold Quarterly ended, because I'll bet you would have been a sucker and done tons of infernal personalities for that mag. Dispater the First King is the coolest he's been since 1e.

And...asuras? Oh man. More. More more more. What does a CR 24 Hellmouth look like if it doesn't normally fight? Holy crap, the Book of the Damned! A fat female devil with art! A black erinyes!

This whole thing was just absolutely fantastic, except for the bit where it was way way too short.

Ok, I just finished this book, and it's crap.

My jaw almost dropped to the floor, me thinking "what is this dude smoking?" :D

..that I am going to have to wait, probably forever, for a sequel. This book really packed a ton into its page count, and leaves you wanting more. Like a ton more.

Agreed. This book, along with books like Demons Revisited and The Worldwound, has shown that there's a LOT more potential in the fiends than what we've seen so far.

Every page left me asking a LOT of questions, but in that sweet "how can I expand on this in my games?" kind of way that Paizo does so well.

Despite appearance, I don't think of Barbatos as being Lovecraftian. He's ancient and mysterious, sure, but the roll and place of the Great Old Ones is distinctly different in the campaign.

Oh I didn't think he was a Great Old One. Just Lovecraftian in the "ancient eldritch abomination" sense. Plus he's got the squid face.

After reading the KQ article, I have a much better handle on him. He's sort of like Hell's druid - which is awesome. Devils rarely interest me compared to most other evil outsiders, but Barbatos has got it going on.

After reading the KQ article, I have a much better handle on him. He's sort of like Hell's druid - which is awesome. Devils rarely interest me compared to most other evil outsiders, but Barbatos has got it going on.

Aye, me too. I actually had a Barbatos storyline going in my Way of the Wicked campaign that I sadly didn't get to complete, and that storyline was all due to the wealth of information found in that article.

Although I've only skimmed it so far, I'm prepared to go out on a limb and declare that this book is awesome. I loved the fact it was a little looser in structure - not six factions or six Devils or six cults or whatever but rather a whole bunch of devil-related stuff. Can't wait to give it a proper read.

I've really loved what Paizo have done with the evil outsiders. This is yet another stellar contribution to that body of work. Nice one Wes, Jerome and everyone else involved. :)

Ok, I just finished this book, and it's crap.

*Unsheathing noise*

..that I am going to have to wait, probably forever, for a sequel.

Well played. For a moment there...

But glad folks are digging it over all! I was really pleased with how it turned out and there's a TON for future schemes seeded in here.

If you like what you're seeing, by all means, please register your thoughts in the product reviews section here. That goes a long way in deciding what we do next!

Thanks so much for reading!

Although I've only skimmed it so far, I'm prepared to go out on a limb and declare that this book is awesome. I loved the fact it was a little looser in structure - not six factions or six Devils or six cults or whatever but rather a whole bunch of devil-related stuff. Can't wait to give it a proper read.

I've really loved what Paizo have done with the evil outsiders. This is yet another stellar contribution to that body of work. Nice one Wes, Jerome and everyone else involved. :)

Yay, glad you like it!

I think the flexibility really helped and we'll definitely keep this in mind for similar products in the future!

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:

Well, there you go. Be sure to register your request with your favorite developer.

I believe we just did. ^_^

(I'm assuming you're not technically a developer...)

Dawww.

I'll try to keep it in mind, but I have quite a few irons in the fire.

Mark Moreland is the developer that currently helms exclusively this line. If there's more of a thing you want to see in this line, he's the one to bribe.

Comics, movies, and piles of colorful things that can be deliberately arranged tend to be preferred.

Dangit.

I based a one-shot session around a volcano being a portal to Hell. Then I open this PDF and there are several references to Hell-canos.

Well, I thought I was being original.

Still going through it, but I really love the idea of infernal dukes having their own little corner of Hell (among other things).

The Possession is rather flavorful and had some fun mechanics to them.

So, couple of questions:

Are there any new types of stated lesser or greater devils in this book?

Has the Infernal Hierarchy been given a revised update?

Are there any half-devil specific half-fiend templates or are we going to have to wait until a Devils Revisited book is set loose?

Do we get any info / artwork for Ardad Lili or Zaebos?

Will any of the unleashed devils have a blue dress on?

Sadly, none!

No new types of lesser or greater devils statted up here. There are two new unique beings, Furcas (an Infernal Duke) and the Voice of the Damned (a unique NE Outsider connected to the Book of the Damned).

No big updates of the Infernal Hierarchy. We do get a section on the Infernal Demesnes of Infernal Dukes and the bonuses they get therein.

No specific half-fiend templates. It would be nice to see those for Devils to match the Demon one, and Devils Revisited seems like a good place for 'em.

Ardad Lili gets a one-sentence name-drop in a single-paragraph writeup of an Erinyes who serves her in the intro. No Zaebos.

I think Isitalba, the Handmaiden Devil, has an outfit that looks like a blue dress. It is also kinda purplish, but I can see blue there too.

===================

On the 'things I like in this book' list, I'll add that I like that manifestations have interesting, flavorful construction methods that are clearly spelled out. It gives reasons for NPC cults to be performing specific activities and also opens bringing in manifestations for PCs serving one of the Archdevils/Infernal Dukes/Asmodeus/Vritra.

I remember The Blue Dress. It was most definitely bright blue, not purplish.

Late to the party, I know, but just been dipping through Paizo's backlog and saw this.

This book is really solid and probably deserves more attention than it got. I really really liked reading through it and am probably going to use... everything in my next campaign.

And that's from someone who kind of hates devils (mostly because they seem really bad at being lawful and why even have LE exemplars if they mostly act like they're NE). So kudos.