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One of my players asked a very solid question while creating his "demon-hunting hero" for "Heroes of Undarin". Basically, "So, what do we actually know about demons"?
Good question.
The module/adventure doesn't say.
So, I created the following hand-out. You may wish to use similar logic in your own runs of the adventure. I'll let you folk know how it goes.
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The median level of demons (as a group) in the Playtest Bestiary appears to be around 10 or 11. Most are "Uncommon" which is a "high" DC for "Recall Knowledge" checks with Lore. Almost all of you would have this sort of experience given your backgrounds. I would adjudicate that knowledge of a group or type of critter (ie: "demons") would come from encountering differing types of them over time. This would increase rarity of knowledge but not level. So, if we shift the average of "high" (for "uncommon" creatures) to the right on the DC chart and use a level of 10 or 11 we would get a DC of 29/30. Since this knowledge would be gained over time (like taking a 20; but I don't see this in the Playtest rules ,,, at least not by that terminology), if we go off of logic, I would say that you would probably have some basic knowledge, having gotten at least a '20' several times in your long careers of fighting demons.
Since you are level 12 characters, I'll limit your information to creatures of up to 1 level higher than you: lvl-13.
So, here's what you know:
Demons are fiendish natives of the Abyss who seek to twist mortals to sin. Demons seek to drag more beings into the pit following their death and final judgment. Many different types of demons exist; they possess weaknesses to cold-iron and good sources of injury and damage.
The Weaknesses of Sin
Demons are creatures of sin, and despite their overt displays of strength and magical might, these sins corrupt them. Each demon has weaknesses tied to the sin or sins most associated with them.
Demons of Envy generally possess a weakness to Fire
Demons of Gluttony generally possess a weakness to Positive Energy
Demons of Greed generally possess a weakness to Acid
Demons of Lust generally possess a weakness to Cold
Demons of Pride generally possess a weakness to Sonic
Demons of Sloth generally possess a weakness to Electricity
Demons of Wrath generally possess a weakness to Cold
Additionally, many demons can cast the Abyssal pact ritual to coax others of their kind into servitude. This is, essentially, the "Summon Demon" ability from 1st edition. The creature can call in a favor from another demon with a level of, at most, twice the spell level of the Abyssal pact, two demons up to 2 levels lower than that, or three demons up to 3 levels lower than that. If the ritual succeeds, the summoner owes the summoned demons a favor, depending on their nature and eagerness to pursue whatever tasks the summoner had in mind.
Demons you have heard of (using the Playtest Bestiary) include the following:
Blood Demon (Babau) ... sin categorization: "Lust"
Lust Demon (Succubus) ... sin categorization: "Lust" (duh)
Quasit ... sin categorization: "Pride"
Slaver Demon (Kalavakus) ... sin categorization: "Greed"
* Slime Demon (Omox) ... sin categorization: "Envy"
Sloth Demon (Dretch) ... sin categorization: "Sloth" (also, duh)
Toad Demon (Hezrou) ... sin categorization: "Sloth"
* Treachery Demon (Glabrezu) ... sin categorization: "Envy"
Wrath Demon (Vrock) ... sin categorization: "Lust"
*Those, above, marked with an asterisk are considered the toughest that you know of: your equal or even tougher.
Beyond these, you've heard rumors of more powerful types going by such names as Marilith, Shemhazian, Balor, Nalfeshnee but have no personal experiences or even much knowledge about them in a general sense. Specific Lore ("Recall Knowledge") checks will be allowed during the game for you to recall more specific information.
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Nice! I like it. This is fairly similar to what I told my players, namely that all demons are weak to cold iron, good, and one element. I didn't give specific element weaknesses though, requiring in-battle checks for that.
This is pretty much what I told my players as well. I did also note that Demons had high HP and Weaknesses rather than the Resistances that were normal in PF1. Seemed a reasonable thing to note.
The other thing I did was to decide that for demon hunters all demon knowledges started at Medium and not hard.
That's an excellent idea!