
Baron Ulfhamr |
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Through painstaking comparisons of the molydei across various editions of [That Other Game] as well as balors and mariliths that persist into Golarion I have been able to conjure this faithful representation of the Molydeus (once called a "guardian tanar'ri") to keep the denizens of the Abyss under the sway of the demonlords:
CREATURE 19
CE HUGE DEMON FIEND
Source ... Recall Knowledge - Fiend (Religion): DC44
Perception +34; darkvision, true seeing
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic; telepathy 100 feet
Skills Acrobatics +33, Athletics +36, Deception +34, Diplomacy +33, Intimidation +36, Religion +30, Society +30, Stealth +31
Str +9, Dex +6, Con +11, Int +6, Wis +6, Cha +8
Items +3 greater striking dancing vorpal cold iron greataxe `
Attack of Opportunity
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Speed 40 feet
Melee +3 greater striking dancing vorpal cold iron greataxe +38 [+33/+28] (evil, magical, reach 15 feet, sweep), Damage 4d12+17 slashing plus 1d6 evil + decapitation Activate envision (death, incapacitation); Frequency You roll a natural 20 on a Strike with the weapon, critically succeed, and deal slashing damage. The target must have a head; Effect The target must succeed at a DC 37 Fortitude save or be decapitated. This kills any creature except ones that don’t require a head to live. For creatures with multiple heads, this usually kills the creature only if you sever its last head.
Melee bite (canine head) +36 [+31/+26] (disarm, evil, fire, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d8+17 piercing plus 1d6 evil
Melee bite (snake head)+36 [+31/+26] (evil, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d6+17 piercing plus 1d6 evil plus transformation.
Melee tentacle +34 [+31/+28] (agile, grapple, evil, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 4d6+17 bludgeoning plus grab
Transformation (poison, polymorph, transmutation) Trigger The molydeus bites a living creature with its snake head. Effect The victim of the molydeus’ snake head bite must succeed on a DC 38 Fortitude save or transform into a dretch in 1d6 rounds. A neutralize poison, remove curse, or remove disease spell stops the transformation. Once transformed, the victim is beyond restoration, short of divine intervention or a very carefully worded wish.
Divine Innate Spells DC 38; 10th 9th lightning bolt (x3); 8th lightning bolt (x3) 7th vampiric touch (x3) 6th baleful polymorph, dominate (at will); 5th black tentacles, command, dimension door (at will), suggestion; 4th darkness (at will), invisibility, sleep; 3rd blindness, fear ; 2nd detect alignment (at will) Cantrips (10th) telekinetic projectile, produce flame; Constant (6th) true seeing
Divine Rituals DC 38; 1st abyssal pact, imprisonment
Dimensional Dervish A molydeus can cast their 5th-level innate dimension door with only a single action.
Infuse Weapons (divine, evocation) Any weapon becomes a +2 greater striking weapon made of cold iron and silver while a molydeus wields it. The molydeus can change its evil damage to chaotic whenever it attacks.

Castilliano |
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Personal take:
-I'd likely, since it fights/corrals demons, have its natural attacks count as cold iron.
-I'd scale back the weapon drop, giving more (if not all) of the abilities via Infuse Weapons.
-I'd definitely add some sort of ability that lets it attack w/ all those beautiful attacks it has. With so many, I'd lean toward a 3-action activity that allows one Strike per type vs. adjacent foes. Lots of combos possible though, including w/ & after a Dimension Door, maybe only 1 or 2 attacks per specific enemy, maybe a bonus AoO for the snake head, and so forth. Whatever it takes so those attacks don't remain idle. It may even be at a level where it could be a 2-action burst (though one would need to calculate damage to compare to the charts).
-At that level, Improved Grab, since that 1-action is worth so much more given its abilities.
And yeah, those were some nasty brutes, often w/ excellent artwork.

Baron Ulfhamr |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Personal take:
-I'd likely, since it fights/corrals demons, have its natural attacks count as cold iron.
It has that per the Infuse Weapon ability, but I believe older editions granted damage resistance bypass to creatures of high hit dice, so good call there.
I'd scale back the weapon drop, giving more (if not all) of the abilities via Infuse Weapons.
Here's the real sticker: in [That Other Game] 2nd edition abyssal weapons were keyed to their wielders- soul-bound if you will- and dissolved once tha fiend was slain. If not, they were likely forged elsewhere... or so the text I'm paraphrasing read. In order to wield that axe, you have to steal it and keep the molydeus alive, who naturally would hunt you day and night without ceasing to bring the thief to torturous ruin. Imprisonment comes to mind, and I've since seen versions of this fiend that give it this ritual with the focus being a grand gem set in the pommel of this very axe...