Demons for D&D BECMI

"Demon of the Night," © 2015-2020 DusanMarkovic

A good amount of work has already gone into developing demons for the World of Calidar. Here's a redux converted for D&D BECMI game mechanics.

Demons of Calidar (CC1, pg. 216)
Abilities		Wretches			Rascals			Archfiends
		Cur*	Hellion*		Frack*	Fiend*		Lord*		Prince*
Hit Dice		2+4	6+8		10+12	16+16		32+20		64+24
Size (feet)		5’	6’		8’	9’		15’		21’
Movement:            walking swimming flying		90’ (30’) 120’(40’) 150’ (50’)			120’ (40’) 150’ (50’) 180’ (60’)			180’ (60’) 210’ (70’) 240’ (80’)
Teleport		(only if called)						at will
Armor Class (AC)		7	4		1	–2		–4		–6
# of Physical Attacks		1 bite + 2 claws			1 bite + 3 others or 1 weapon			1 bite + 4 others or 2 weapons
Physical Damage	Bite	2d8	2d10		3d8+4	3d10+4		4d8+6		6d6+8
	Claws	1d4 each	1d4+1 ea.		1d8+2 ea.	2d6+2 ea.		1d10+3 ea.		4d4+1 ea.
	Weapon	n/a			By weapon +6			By weapon +12
Special Abilities		Spells and abilities of past mortal forms (see next row). They can enslave, corrupt, and devour Life Force. Demons possess empathic abilities and can commune at will with their masters (if any). They require neither air, nor food, nor water, nor sleep to survive.
Spells (if any)		20% (mu2)		40% (mu4)	60% (mu6)		70% (mu10)		80% (mu17)	90% (mu22)
Possession		n/a			1 individual at any single time
Shape Change		n/a						twice/day
Regeneration		+1 hp per spirit devoured worth at least 1 HD
Advancement		10	100		250	500		1,000		n/a
Call Other (%)		n/a	10		20	30		40		50
Saving Throws		as monsters with the same Hit Dice up to F36
Basic Immunities		All mind-affecting attacks (such as magical fear, sleep, charms, and possessions), non-magical weapons, diseases, poison (unless of divine nature), paralysis (and all similar powers), energy drain (and most magic of necromantic nature), and all effects of the netherworld on the living.
Magic Immunity (%) Non-Divine Magic Divine Magic		n/a n/a	5 n/a		20 n/a	35 5		50 20		65 35
Minimum Int.		6+	8+		10+	12+		14+		16+
Alignment (AL)		Predominantly Chaotic
Morale (ML)		6	7		8			9 (or 12)

Demons of Calidar were first described in CC1 "Beyond the Skies," where the original chart came from. Extensive work followed in CAL2 "On Wings of Darkness," especially as regards the manner in which demons interact with mortals.

The place demons occupy in Calidar departs from most other game worlds. Generally seen as fearsome and evil, the idea that not all of them are in fact malevolent prevails. This concept harks back to the way demons were thought of in the real world, among Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, that so-called demons are primarily servants of deities (click here for more details). Following this thought, there are two sorts of "demons:" the ones who serve the gods as guardians and messengers, and the ones who were cast out of the divine realms, known as the wanderers. 

By mortal standards, most demons are seen as malevolent and chaotic, but in fact some aren't. The worst are the wanderers who had betrayed their masters and became corrupt. One idea, however, emerges especially in the magiocracy of Caldwen that even the worst of evils can be redeemed... by powerful wizards who concluded that demons are meant to be controlled and bound into the service of mages. This being said, the Ellyrian Empire, and especially its theocracy (picture something like the Byzantine Empire), teaches exactly the opposite, to spice up things just a bit. 

In Calidar's universe, it is also believed that demons weren't born as such. Although deities can certainly construct demons, many are creatures that turned into demons during their earlier lives. This connects with Calidar's "Epic Glory" feature that leads adventurers to become epic heroes... or epic villains. Because of the way the World Soul's magic works, epic heroes can become demigods (with the sponsorship of an established deity), while some epic villains may turn into demons. On the other hand, very few demons can reproduce and it is normally a feat that only demon princes can achieve. I should perhaps note here that Calidar does not have "devils," but only a general class of demons covering that entire spectrum. 

Most of the information in the chart is self-explanatory. I added a line about spellcasting for the sake of expediency. In CC1, I had only written that demons have spells if their pre-demonic forms had access to magic. The new spellcasting entry gives a percent chance for demons to be spellcasters, and indicates the approximate magic-user level appropriate for each type of demon.

Hope you enjoyed the quick overview. Detailed info on the stats in the chart is clarified in CC1, while game world usage (licensing, repossession, binding, conditions of service, a list of major demons, etc.) lies in CAL2.

Next Article: Epic Heroes for D&D BECMI.