On killing fiends

[Kennethray]

Can someone point me in the direction on the lore on fiends. Specifically, how killing them happens and what happens when the are defeated in combat on the mortal plane? Also, did any of this change from 1e to 2e?

Thanks

[NECR0G1ANT]

Kennethray wrote:

Can someone point me in the direction on the lore on fiends. Specifically, how killing them happens and what happens when the are defeated in combat on the mortal plane? Also, did any of this change from 1e to 2e?

Thanks

I think extraplanar being are truly dead if slain, like anything else, although summoned creatures are simply banished back to their own plane. But extraplanar beings "away from home" on a permanent basis can be killed outright. I think that is the case for both editions, but I don't have sources.

All creatures can be brought back from death with the appropriate spell. That's new to 2E.

[Elfteiroh]

That was a change made between D&D and PF1, but was missed by a lot of people, so it stayed a common misconception for a while, that demons were reapearing on their plane when killed.
This rpg.stackexchange question answer this very well.
How can an evil outsider be permanently destroyed?

[Temperans]

Demons only reappear when summoned going by PF1 rules.

Summoning (Ex: Summon Monster) == create a copy.
Calling (Ex: Call Outsider) == get the actual creature.

I am not sure how PF2 has changed that ruling given how things are no longer "outsiders" and summoning spells work differently.

[James Jacobs]

Fiends (demons included) work the same way in 2nd edition. Anything that's summoned exists only as long as the summoning effect lasts—they don't exist before or after the summon effect happens. We don't have specific tags for the difference between "summoned" and "called" in 2nd edition, so you pretty much just need to go by the "Is the word 'summon' used in the effect?" If so then it's summoned. If not, then it's not.

That's my take as creative director, at least. (And it's a topic I'm gonna push for us to explain more in print some day... just not sure when...)

[NECR0G1ANT]

James Jacobs wrote:

Fiends (demons included) work the same way in 2nd edition. Anything that's summoned exists only as long as the summoning effect lasts—they don't exist before or after the summon effect happens. We don't have specific tags for the difference between "summoned" and "called" in 2nd edition, so you pretty much just need to go by the "Is the word 'summon' used in the effect?" If so then it's summoned. If not, then it's not.

That's my take as creative director, at least. (And it's a topic I'm gonna push for us to explain more in print some day... just not sure when...)

Ooh, that'd be very interesting.

[Temperans]

Thanks for letting us know. Its good that part is clear.