Tanar'ri
| Balor
| Marilith
|
Climate/Terrain:
| The Abyss
| The Abyss
|
Frequency:
| Very rare
| Very rare
|
Organization:
| Solitary
| Solitary
|
Activity Cycle:
| Any
| Any
|
Diet:
| Carnivore
| Carnivore
|
Intelligence:
| Supra-genius(19-20)
| Genius (17-18)
|
Treasure:
| Hx3
| C, F
|
Alignment:
| Chaotic evil
| Chaotic evil
|
No. Appearing:
| 1
| 1-2
|
Armor Class:
| -8
| -9
|
Movement:
| 15, Fl 36 (B)
| 15
|
Hit Dice:
| 13
| 12
|
THAC0:
| 7
| 9
|
No. of Attacks:
| 1 or 2
| 7
|
Damage/Attack:
| by weapon or 2-12
| 4-24 and 6 by weapon
|
Special Attacks:
| Terror, body flames,
| Magical weapons,
|
| death throes, explosion
| constriction
|
Special Defenses:
| +3 or better weapons
| +2 or better weapon to hit,
|
| to hit
| never surprised, spell immunity
|
Magic Resistance:
| 70%
| 70%
|
Size:
| L (12' tall)
| L (7' tall)
|
Morale:
| Fanatic (17-18)
| Fanatic (17-18)
|
XP Value:
| 46,000
| 45,000
|
Tanar'ri are, in the broadest terms, chaos and evil defined. The less
intelligent often attack without question and fight until slain. True and greater
tanar'ri often roam the Astral and Ethereal Planes -- their attention is attracted
by those in an ethereal state.
Combat: In addition to the separate abilities of each sort of tanar'ri, they all share
the following magical powers:
Attack
| Damage
| Attack
| Damage
|
acid
| full
| gas (poisonous, etc.)
| half
|
cold
| half
| iron weapon
| full
|
electricity (lightning)
| none
| magic missile
| full
|
fire (magical)
| half
| poison
| none
|
fire (nonmagical)
| none
| silver weapon
| full*
|
* greater tanar'ri suffer half damage from silver weapons.
All tanar'ri with average or above average intelligence have a form of
telepathy that enables them to communicate with any intelligent life form, regardless
of any language barriers.
Frequently, the Abyss-forged, magical weapons of the tanar'ri dissolve upon
the death of the creature. When one doesn't, it is likely that the weapon in
question originated somewhere else.
Habitat/Society: There are five classifications of tanar'ri, listed in ascending order of
power, and with species, below:
Least: dretch, manes, rutterkin
Lesser: alu-fiend, bar-lgura, cambion, succubus
Greater: babau, chasme, nabassu
True: balor, glabrezu, hezrou, marilith, nalfeshnee, vrock
Guardian: molydeus
Balor (True Tanar'ri): The greatest and most terrible of the true tanar'ri, the balors are the
undisputed terrors of the Abyss. They are the very motivation behind the tanar'ri
involvement in the
Blood War. In every sense of the word, balors are the quintessential tanar'ri. They
derive great pleasure from the suffering of others and go out of their way to
torment lesser beings and cause them pain.
Balors are repulsive and loathsome to behold. They are towering humanoids with
deep, dark red skin. They have huge wings that propel them with unnatural
speed and agility. They have long, wicked claws and grotesque fangs that drip with
venom. Balors are commonly surrounded by searing flames.
Combat: Balors attack with their great fists for 2-12 points of damage. Anyone struck
by a balor's fists must roll a saving throw vs. spells with a -6 penalty or
flee in terror for 1-6 turns.
Balors much prefer weapons to fists in combat. Each carries a great sword that
looks like a bolt of lightning. In the hands of a balor, these swords are
vorpal and can
detect evil/good in a 30 foot radius. Any creature that picks up a balor's sword, regardless
of whether its skin actually touches it, immediately suffers 10-60 points of
damage and must roll a saving throw vs. spells, or die immediately.
Balors also use a great whip with many tails. These whips will inflict but 1-4
points of damage per hit. However, they magically wrap the victim, allowing
the balor to draw the victim into his ever-present bodily flames. Once dragged
into the flames, the victim suffers 4-24 points of damage per round. Escaping the
whip requires a successful one-half strength check. When the whip holds a
victim, it cannot be used in other attacks.
Balors may use one of the following additional magical powers at the 20th
level of spell use per round at will:
detect invisibility (always active),
detect magic (always active),
dispel magic, fear, pyrotechnics, read magic, suggestion, symbol (any type),
telekinesis, and
tongues.
They may also gate 1-8 least, 1-6 lesser, 1-4 greater, or 1 true tanar'ri to
their location. The gate is always successful but may only be used once per hour.
Balors are completely immune to gas. If a balor is slain in the Abyss, it
explodes in a blinding flash of light, inflicting 50 points of damage to everything
in a 100-foot radius around the creature (saving throw vs. spell for half
damage).
Habitat/Society: Balors exist for one purpose only: to wage the
Blood War. They are driven by the strongest primal desire to fight and will command
whole legions of beings into battle.
Balors also recognize a subtle but important aspect of the War: the prime
material plane. They will often make pacts with mortals to perform services for the
purpose of gaining power in the prime material plane. Balors know that the
more followers or allies they can gain in the prime material, the more power they
will have there.
There are at least 24 balors known to exist. The creatures do not inhabit any
particular area of the Abyss, but wander about forming armies for battle with
the baatezu (q.v.).
Ecology: There is nothing more important in the Abyss than the
Blood War. The balor, in a sense,
are the Blood War from a tanar'ri perspective, the ecology of the Abyss, driving
the creation of new beings and mandating their survival.
Marilith (True Tanar'ri): Bold and cunning, marilith are the generals and tacticians for the
Blood War. Where the balors are the influence and energy behind the war effort, the
marilith are the brains and tactics.
Terrible to behold, these creatures have the bodies of giant snakes, with
huge, green, scaly coils. From the waist up, they are beautiful, comely females.
Besides her obvious snake body, the feature that reveals the true nature of this
tanar'ri is her six arms. They are commonly adorned with precious jewelry and
highly decorated weapons -- marilith most often carry a different weapon in each
of their six hands.
Combat: Although marilith are strategists and tacticians, they love to join combat and
do so whenever the opportunity presents itself. They can attack with each of
their six arms and constrict a victim with their snaky tails as well.
Marilith always carry a different weapon in each hand, favoring exotic swords
and axes. The DM should assign specific weapons; 90% of them should be
enchanted versions of the common variety, and 15% of those should be a special weapon.
Marilith favor their weapons highly. If one should ever be lost or stolen,
marilith go to great lengths to see that the weapon is recovered.
A marilith can also constrict with her deadly tail. If the tail hits in
combat, it wraps around a victim, automatically inflicting 4-24 points of crushing
damage each round. Additionally, due to the constriction of air, the victim must
roll a successful Constitution check every round or fall unconscious. No
opponent with less than a 15 Strength score can even hope to break free of the
marilith's coils. There is a 10% chance per round, per point of Strength over 14,
that the victim can escape. Marilith have the following additional magical powers
that they can use once per round, one at a time, at will:
animate dead, cause serious wounds, cloudkill, comprehend languages, curse,
detect evil, detect magic, detect invisibility, polymorph self (7 times per day),
project image, pyrotechnics, and
telekinesis.
They may also attempt to gate in 2-20 least tanar'ri, 1-6 lesser tanar'ri, 1-4
greater tanar'ri, or 1 true tanar'ri once per hour with a 35% chance of
success.
Weapons of +1 or less magical enchantment cannot harm a marilith. These
creatures are never surprised. They cannot be fooled by illusions and are immune to
mind-affecting spells.
Habitat/Society: As noted, marilith are the strategists of the
Blood War. They are in charge of devising all tactics to be used during the battles and
coordinate the activities of all true tanar'ri (save the mighty balors, of
course). Due to the chaotic nature of the tanar'ri, it is not really possible to
coordinate their activities, but the marilith are charged with it, nonetheless.
These stunningly powerful creatures have a hatred for the glabrezu. They feel
that the subtle warfare of the glabrezu is a children's game and inferior to
proper warfare. A marilith will attempt to discredit the workings of the glabrezu
any chance it gets. They would completely destroy the subtle beasts, but the
all powerful balors favor the glabrezus' tactics and would have them continue
their ways.
Ecology: Marilith are true tanar'ri, which makes them a part of the driving force
behind the
Blood War. Moreover, they are the coordinators and generals of the war effort. Marilith
feel that they are the true force behind the war. Secretly, they feel that the
balors have their place only because of their great power, but are not
absolutely necessary. They may be right in their belief, but the power of the balors
remains unchallenged.