Devil
Devils are malicious, sadistic supernatural beings who dwell largely within the Nine Hells, one of the Lower Planes of Existence. They are unlike demons in that they aren't the twisted souls of the damned, but rather creatures who turned against Yahweh and were thence cast out from Heaven. The greatest of their number is named Satan, though he is variously known by other names, such as simply "the Devil," Ahriman, Dispater or Lucifer, though these are but a few.
In this context, the term "devil" predominantly refers to the infernal cohorts of Satan, who were consigned to the depths of hell following their defeat during the War in Heaven. This was a significant event in various religious and mythological narratives, including Christian literature. Satan's minions, often referred to as demons or fallen angels, are condemned to supervise the damned in Hell until the end of time.
Behaviour
While their designated role in the universe is to inflict suffering and deceive the hapless souls in their care, these genuinely malevolent beings possess a disturbing appetite for their malefic tasks. Still, beyond the confines of Hell, they are perceived as instruments of retribution and divine justice, as those condemned souls who find themselves in the abyss are seen as rightfully placed there.
However, most devils harbour an attitude that the souls they're granted to torment are far from sufficient in number to satiate their desires. From their perspective, the only conceivable means to rectify this perceived imbalance would be to subject the soul of every being, whether righteous or wicked, living or deceased, to their twisted whims and cruel devices. This perspective sheds light on just how eager devils would be to sow discord if they were liberated to roam the realms of the Earth — a grim possibility that, unfortunately, they occasionally obtain.
Advantages
All devils, regardless of their type, are able to perform the following natural abilities at will — meaning that each require no more than 1 action point (AP) to perform — and as often as they like. However, they're can perform only one such ability per round, so they'rre careful to select the one that's most useful.
Darkness. Devils are able to produce darkness in a 15 ft. radius, as the spell of the same name. As they are also gifted with the ability to see perfectly well in darkness, they also possess a continuous form of ultravision, also like the spell.
Magic. In addition to the above, devils may all impose a number of effects that are also like the spells of the same name — though for a devil, casting is unnecessary. These effects include suggestion, know intent, cause fear, animate dead and these two below.
- Teleport. They like to make rich and continuous use of their teleport ability, moving from place to place in a combat more easily than moving even a single hex. A favourite tactic is to attack a nearby enemy, teleport, then attack another enemy across the field with the remainder of their movement.
- Gate. Devils are able to summon others of their own kind, and resort to this ability when pressed in combat. Still, they don't like to share victims with others, so that they'd rather give ground and return to hell (simply teleporting again) rather than bring other devils forth to fight.
Natural Abilities
Number
All devils are immune to normal weapons. To cause damage to a devil, the weapon must be made of magic. Devils also have immunity to many elemental attacks, such as those that employ cold, fire or gas of any type. Devils cannot be charmed, made to sleep or mentally affected in any way. They do not have minds that can be read with ESP and their intentions cannot be known. Even augury and divination can provide no information on their movements or designs.
The distinction is made by describing the former as "greater devils," or devils who existed at the time of the War, or "lesser devils," those devils spawned since that time. See Devilish Culture.
There are comparatively few types of devil. Those that are best known include the following, found on their own pages:
The 72 arch-devils that exist are of such power and unique characteristic that they are not included in the list above, though characteristics that apply to all devils also apply to them. Devils act almost entirely without supervision, being placed in specific roles within Hell or Hades and having particular tasks that they exist to perform. They are, most of them, quite malevolent; but this also includes a considerable amount of indifference, as they have casually watched over the systematic torture of the dead for millennia.== Misconceptions ==
Misconceptions
Through the millennia, a great number of folk tales have arisen that suggest that devils can be controlled by various means that do not exist as limits on other monsters. These fabrications are designed to undermine very powerful monsters with tricks and shortcuts — and, in fact, are all completely false with regards to the actual nature of devils.
Devils have names, but having knowledge of these names grants no power over a devil. Devils are not repelled by the presence of holy symbols, relics or artifacts (given that they act in the service of many gods that also employ these symbols).
There is no such thing as a "devil's talisman" that can protect a person from a given devil or enable them to be commanded.
