Demon Lord, BaphometFire burns on the central horn and in the rheumy eyes of this bestial winged demon, who stands more than twice a human’s height.Baphomet CR 27Source Pathfinder #77: Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth pg. 88
XP 3,276,800
CE Large outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +23; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect good, detect law, see in darkness, true seeing; Perception +53
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 38), unholy aura (DC 30)DefenseAC 45, touch 34, flat-footed 45 (+4 deflection, +11 Dex, +11 natural, +10 profane, –1 size)
hp 643 (33d10+462)
Fort +36, Ref +26, Will +31
Defensive Abilities Abyssal resurrection, freedom of movement, supernatural cunning; DR 20/cold iron, epic, and good; Immune ability damage, ability drain, charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, energy drain, fire, maze, petrification, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30; SR 38OffenseSpeed 50 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee Aizerghaul +52/+47/+42/+37 (2d8+28/19–20/×3), gore +40 (2d8+6 plus 2d6 fire plus burn), bite +40 (1d8+6)
Space 10 ft., Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with glaive)
Special Attacks burn (4d6 fire, DC 40), glaive mastery, powerful charge (gore, 4d8+19 plus 2d6 fire and burn), scroll use
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 27th)
Constant—detect good, detect law, freedom of movement, speak with animals, true seeing, unholy aura (DC 30)
At will—astral projection, baleful polymorph (DC 27), blasphemy (DC 29), desecrate, dominate person (DC 27), greater dispel magic, greater teleport, telekinesis (DC 27), shapechange, unhallow, unholy blight (DC 26)
3/day—quickened greater dispel magic, maze, summon demons, summon minotaurs, symbol of persuasion (DC 28)
1/day—imprisonment (DC 31), mass charm monster (DC 30), time stopStatisticsStr 36, Dex 32, Con 38, Int 37, Wis 29, Cha 35
Base Atk +33; CMB +47 (+51 bull rush); CMD 82 (84 vs. bull rush)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Critical Focus, Greater Bull Rush, Greater Weapon Focus (glaive), Greater Weapon Specialization (glaive), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (glaive), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (greater dispel magic), Scribe Scroll, Staggering Critical, Weapon Focus (glaive), Weapon Specialization (glaive)
Skills Acrobatics +44, Bluff +48, Diplomacy +48, Fly +49, Handle Animal +45, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana) +49, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +46, Knowledge (geography) +46, Knowledge (history) +46, Knowledge (nobility) +46, Knowledge (planes) +49, Knowledge (religion) +49, Linguistics +46, Perception +53, Sense Motive +45, Spellcraft +49, Stealth +43, Use Magic Device +45; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages all languages; speak with animals; telepathy 300 ft.
SQ change shape (any animal, magical beast, or minotaur; greater polymorph), infernal brand, language masteryEcologyEnvironment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary (unique)
Treasure triple (Aizerghaul, 2d6 scrolls, other treasure)Special AbilitiesAizerghaul Aizerghaul (Abyssal for ”Labyrinth’s Final Edge”) is a uniquely shaped glaive, the head of which consists of a double blade akin to a crescent moon. This blade is made of ivory, but is razor sharp and as hard as adamantine (and possesses all the qualities of that material). It is a +5 lawful-outsider- bane unholy wounding glaive capable of inflicting particularly horrible and painful wounds on good-aligned targets and devils alike. Such a creature must succeed at a DC 38 Fortitude save each time it’s wounded by Aizerghaul or be sickened with pain for as long as the damage caused by the wound persists. Whether the save succeeds or fails, these wounds don’t heal naturally and resist magical healing. A character attempting to heal these wounds must succeed at a DC 32 caster level check or the healing has no effect on the injured creature.
Glaive Mastery (Ex) Baphomet is exceptionally skilled at fighting with a glaive. He is treated as a 20th-level fighter for the purposes of fulfilling any feat prerequisites, such as that for Weapon Specialization.
Infernal Brand (Su) The mark of Asmodeus is branded on Baphomet’s brow, yet this is no mark of fealty or servitude. Rather, Baphomet has claimed the pentagram—a remnant of the time he spend as the archdevil’s prisoner—and now draws power from it. The brand grants him his devil-like abilities of fire immunity and see in darkness. In addition, all devils and worshipers of devils take a –2 penalty on saving throws against Baphomet’s special attacks and spell-like abilities. He gains a +4 bonus on caster level checks to penetrate a devil’s spell resistance, and automatically penetrates a devil’s damage reduction with his glaive and natural attacks.
Language Mastery (Ex) Baphomet can speak, read, and understand all languages.
Scroll Use (Ex) Baphomet can cast spells from any scroll as if he possessed the spell on a spell list. Spells he casts from scrolls always resolve at caster level 27th.
Summon Minotaurs (Sp) Baphomet can summon half-fiend minotaurs, labyrinth minotaurs (see page 90), and mythic minotaurs as if casting a summon monster spell. He can summon eight half-fiend minotaurs three times per day, and four mythic minotaurs or one labyrinth minotaur once per day. This ability functions as a swift action, but otherwise works like the summon universal monster rule with 100% chance of success and counts as a 9th-level spell effect.
Supernatural Cunning (Su) Baphomet is never caught flat-footed and gains a +8 bonus on initiative checks. In addition, he’s immune to maze spells and can never become lost. He always knows the shortest, most direct route through any maze. After spending 1 minute in any maze, he understands its entire layout implicitly and can teleport to any location using his greater teleport spell-like ability.DescriptionBaphomet—Lord of the Minotaurs—was created by Lamashtu from the soul of the first minotaur. In those days, he was a powerfully muscled specimen, and the Queen of Demons kept him as a consort until the day Baphomet stole away from her palace in Yanaron, seeking to gain even greater favor by claiming a legendary trophy. Baphomet’s ambition was as great as his folly, and he invaded the deepest layer of Hell, intent on stealing Asmodeus’s ruby rod for his mistress. Needless to say, he was swiftly caught. Lamashtu claimed no allegiance to him, and Asmodeus imprisoned Baphomet in a devious maze the archdevil proclaimed to be unsolvable, even by the first minotaur. The archdevil also carved his own symbol into Baphomet’s brow with the nail of his index finger in an attempt to fully subjugate the minotaur.
But in this attempt, it was Asmodeus who overstepped his bounds. Not only did Baphomet solve the seemingly unsolvable maze after a mere decade, but as he escaped, he also took the world-sized labyrinth with him. Baphomet had changed over that time, becoming almost emaciated in his build, yet growing much wiser. He did not return to Lamashtu’s side, but instead took the archdevil’s infernal maze and made it his own as he claimed a portion of the Abyss as his realm.
This was eons ago, and now Baphomet is a powerful demon lord in his own right. He has forgiven Lamashtu, and serves as her lover now and then, yet he’s no longer her direct subservient minion. He works to increase the influence of his cult on countless worlds, building his forces so that one day he might again invade Hell. But this time, Baphomet plans on taking much more than Asmodeus’s weapon—he intends to take Asmodeus’s life!Baphomet’s CultBaphomet is worshiped by conspirators, secret societies, corrupted crusaders, and above all else, minotaurs. His minotaur worshipers venerate him openly; in their art, Baphomet is typically depicted as a more classical bullheaded, minotaur-like creature, and when he deigns to appear before these worshipers he often assumes this form. His humanoid worshipers venerate him in secret, offering prayers and sacrifices in hidden shrines and dark temples beyond the sight of society and communicating in a complex series of hand gestures when in mixed company.
Baphomet has two symbols. To most, including his minotaurs, his symbol is a brass minotaur’s head with ruby eyes. His secret societies use this symbol as well, but also mark his works with the inverted pentagram, sometimes decorating the star shape with an image of his face. Baphomet’s favored weapon is the glaive, although he does not abide any of his followers wielding a weapon that looks like Aizerghaul. He grants access to the domains of Animal, Chaos, Evil, and Strength, and to the subdomains of Demon, Ferocity, Fur, and Resolve.Creatures in "Demon Lord" CategorySource Bestiary 4 pg. 45
The mightiest of all demons are the demon lords of the Abyss, influential entities of chaos and evil and powerful demigods who each rule vast realms of horror and vice. Each demon lord is a unique creature, a paragon of sin that exists only to further its own desires. The genesis of demon lords varies. The majority of them rise from lesser demons who have transformed into powerful entities (this was how Pazuzu became a demon lord). In rare cases, a demon lord transitions directly from being a powerful, sinful mortal into the role of demon lord (as is the case with Kostchtchie), or from a qlippoth into a demon lord as a result of unknowable influences in the Abyss (as is the case with Dagon).
When a demon gathers enough power, whether by gaining class levels, advancing in Hit Dice, gaining many mythic tiers or ranks, undertaking a vile ritual, or simply amassing a sufficiently large and devoted following, it becomes what is known as a nascent demon lord. It may remain a nascent lord indefinitely, but usually seeks to complete its transformation into a full-fledged demon lord. In order to do so, the nascent lord must build a cult among mortals, but more importantly it must claim and control a large enough Abyssal realm that the plane itself takes notice and elevates the nascent lord to the power level of a demon lord. In a few cases, demon lords have been known to ascend to the status of full deities. While there are likely thousands of nascent demon lords in existence at any one time in the Abyss, the number of full-fledged demon lords is more limited—known examples of demon lords number in the dozens.
The phrase “demon lord” is gender neutral—there are male, female, and genderless demon lords, as well as demon lords with multiple genders.
A demon lord may be contacted via commune, and can be conjured via a gate spell, but when so called, a demon lord is under no compulsion to come through the gate. Typically, a demon lord requires an enormous and significant offering or sacrifice before it deigns to answer a gate spell. Abyssal Realms Demon lords' realms range in size, but even the smallest are as large as a continent, and the greatest are larger than some planets. The realms' environments, themes, and traits are as unique as the demon lords themselves, presenting unusual challenges and dangers to creatures trying to explore them. Yet despite the close connection a demon lord has to its realm, it does not exert total control over the realm, and powerful adventurers can infiltrate such realms and accomplish goals without arousing the lord's anger—if they're careful.
A demon lord gains the following additional powers while in its realm (the statistics presented on the following pages do not include these abilities): - Mythic: A demon lord functions as a 10th mythic rank creature, including the mythic power ability (10/day, surge +1d12). It may expend uses of mythic power to use the mythic versions of any spell-like ability denoted with an asterisk (*) just as if the ability were a mythic spell.
- Use of the following spell-like abilities at will—demand, discern location, fabricate, major creation, and polymorph any object (when used on objects or creatures that are native to the realm, the polymorph duration factor increases by 6).
- Use of the following spell-like abilities once per day—binding, miracle (limited to physical effects that manipulate the realm or to effects that are relevant to the demon lord's areas of concern)
- Heightened Awareness (Ex): A demon lord gains a +10 insight bonus on Perception checks and Initiative checks.
Demon Lords in a Campaign Each demon lord is a unique creature ranging in power from CR 26 to CR 30. Demon lords are generally beyond the reach of most mortal heroes, and should not be placed in an adventure without careful consideration. In most cases, they are best used as the final enemies of long campaigns—especially campaigns in which the PCs themselves are mythic characters—and even getting an audience with one should be a memorable event.
Yet even if demon lords are far outside the abilities of most heroes to combat directly, they can still be used as foes in campaigns of all levels, inspiring or directing monsters, mortals, and entire cults. Opposing and defeating a cult is a time-honored plotline for a campaign, and a climactic encounter where the PCs must close a portal before the cult's demon lord manifests in the flesh can make an exciting capstone to a longrunning campaign, especially if the demon lord in question appears for a round or 2 to fight the PCs before the closing of the portal forces it back to the Abyss. Alternatively, rather than having the PCs face the demon lord at full power, you can build a campaign where the PCs systematically undermine and destroy a demon lord's resources, imposing increasing penalties on it and gathering potent weapons so that when the time comes for the final confrontation, the PCs are powerful and the demon lord is weakened to a state below its normal CR. An easy way to model weakening a demon in this manner is to assign negative levels to the demon—normally, a demon lord is immune to level drain, but in this case, the reduction of its resources and sources of power can bypass that immunity for a time... at least, until the demon lord can rebuild and recover.
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