Slayer's Guide to Demons, The

Long thought the ultimate enemies, demons are so varied that even a party of inexperienced adventurers could face one of the minor fiends and come out triumphant, except that where there is one demon, there is bound to be more. From the lowest dretch and damned soul to the mighty balors, the hordes of the Abyss are like a boiling mass of putrescent bile ready to spill over into the lands of mortals.

Demons do not possess a strict hierarchy to organize them, relying on fear and treachery to govern over themselves. They are an embodiment of destructive madness whatever form they take. The chaos they embrace gives birth to demons of every shape and purpose; some are simply brutes that relish in crushing everything that they come across, while others are subtle manipulators that take delight in driving a soul to their depth of depravity. Of all demons, the mightiest are the Brood of Tanar, so varied in form and power that they effectively wiped out the rest of the demon families and subjugated the remnants, driving them into obscurity. The archdemons rule their own hordes and are always warring against each other when they are not overrunning the neighboring Planes or extending their influence amongst mortals by promoting evil cults or investing part of their power on a worthy servant.

Above the eternal strife that marks what passes for life in the Abyss, the Demon Lords rule the infinite layers that make up the lowest of Planes. Standing on the fine line that divides a wicked spirit from a dark god, Demon Lords are immensely powerful creatures that no mortal hero can ever hope to face. The Dark Lords of the Abyss stake their claim to godhood in ways that even gods of evil find threatening to their position, even when they coexist in the evil plane’s layers.

Demons wage an eternal war to impose chaos and darkness upon everyone, and they only have an eternity to try.

Within these pages you will find a colossal amount of information on demonic essence, the Abyss and other places where they hid and thrive and the brutal society they exist in, giving you an additional level of understanding on how these outsiders exist and interact with the rest of the world. Players will learn how to detect and eradicate demonic influence on the Material Plane and take the fight to the demon’s home. Games Masters are presented with guidelines on how to introduce this race into their existing campaigns. They will also benefit from material demonstrating how to actually portray demons to their players, thus giving their campaigns and scenarios much greater depth than before.

Finally, a complete evil temple and the Abyssal layer it connects to is featured, to be used as an extended encounter, the basis for a complete set of scenarios or even just as an example of how these essentially evil creatures exist.