Looking to use some Shadow Demons in an upcoming adventure, and I'm a mite confused. Most incorporeal creatures (all of them that I can think of) have an incorporeal touch attack as their primary method of melee. The Shadow Demon, in contrast, lists its attacks as simply Touch Attacks. I'm wondering if there's a word missing here, or if they (somehow) have much more dangerous attacks than their fellow incorporeal brethren in the undead/spirit world.
After all, incorporeal touch attacks are much easier to protect against, utilizing Force effects like Mage Armor, Shield, or even Bracers of Armor, whereas touch attacks are much more likely to hit anyone who isn't a high-dex character.
It doesn't look like there's been any errata on this, but I'd love some input from other folks out there if at all possible. Thanks.
Shadow Demons have regular touch attacks, their attacks are not incorporeal. (They do physical damage.) It's a feature of the creature. In their 3.X monster listing (in Book of Vile Darkness) it was made more obvious by being called out as a special attack while in Pathfinder it's not called out explicitly, just included in their statistics.
The basic benefit of them being corporeal attacks is that the shadow demon can grapple (but can't be grappled itself).
They're touch attacks because the shadow demon is incorporeal, so it reaches through the armor (ignoring it), but the attacks are actually physical on the flesh.
I'm not sure it's spelled out anywhere in Pathfinder whether they're blocked by force effects. In 3.X they were.
Does that make sense?
Here's the flavor text from the Shadow Demon in the PRD/Bestiary. It's the only thing (besides the touch attack itself) in Pathfinder that suggests solidity of the natural attacks.
Only this shadowy bat-winged demon's teeth and claws have any sense of physicality to them—the rest is lost in darkness.
Sidenote: I never noticed shadow demons have Pounce before.
Force effects can block incorporeal creatures. Those statements are included in the spell description. For example: Mage Armor states that incorporeal creatures cannot bypass it like they do normal armor. The spell Shield has a similar statement.
- Gauss
Hmm... It just seems wrong to me that their claws are somehow solid, yet they only need to touch you to hurt you (like a magical electric current) rather than actually cut through your physical body to do damage (like actual claws). It'd make sense if they were incorporeal touch attacks, or if their attacks were energy damage or something. There's a real weird level of inconsistency with regards to how they interact with the world.
I guess I'll leave it as-is, though, and see if it really matters.
I'd flavor it as the claws incorporeally passing through armor before solidifying and piercing flesh.
There is a magic weapon enhancement that does something similar: brilliant energy. It bypasses nonliving matter. Not quite the same as the incorporeal touch attack but similar. - Gauss
I'd flavor it as the claws incorporeally passing through armor before solidifying and piercing flesh.
This is how I'd run it too.