Agradaemon
The agradaemon was my first paid commission from Paizo Publishing for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game’s 2nd Edition. I’ll present the creature’s block of statistics–or stat block–and then explain the themes and in-game purpose of the creature.
If you don’t want to read the stat block, that’s fine! Just go ahead and skip to the explanation in the box below.
Equal parts lion, spider, and demagogue, agradaemons are born from the forge-flames of Szuriel, Horseman of War. Although they're unwilling to work alongside each other for long, agradaemons frequently establish themselves as leaders of cults whose goal is to burn civilization to the ground. To these scheming monsters of flame and fear, torching a city is a mere diversion; incinerating a nation's entire agricultural system to turn its citizens into starving marauders before setting their forests and plains ablaze is truly satisfying.
Rare Gargantuan Daemon Fiend Fire Unholy
Perception +31; darkvision, smoke vision
Languages Common, Daemonic, Pyric; telepathy 100 feet
Skills Acrobatics +37, Deception +37, Diplomacy +37, Intimidation +39
Str +6, Dex +10, Con +5, Int +6, Wis +5, Cha +10
Smoke Vision Smoke doesn't impair an agradaemon's vision; it ignores the concealed condition from smoke.
AC 45; Fort +31, Ref +36, Will +31; +1 status to all saves vs. magic
HP 400; Immunities death effects, fire; Weaknesses cold 20, good* 20
Choking Smog (air, aura, fire) 100 feet. The agradaemon is surrounded by ashy smoke. Creatures within the aura are concealed, and creatures outside of it are concealed to creatures within it. Non-daemon creatures can't breathe in the aura and must hold their breath or suffocate.
Speed 40 feet, climb 40 feet
Melee - One Action claw +35 [+31/+27] (agile, evil, finesse, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 2d12+14 slashing plus 2d6 fire and 2d6 unholy
Ranged - One Action lava bomb +35 [+30/+25] (range increment 100 feet, splash), Damage 4d8 fire plus 2d6 persistent fire plus 8 fire splash
Divine Innate Spells DC 41; 10th massacre; 8th volcanic eruption (×3); 5th dimension door; 4th dimension door (at will); 1st detect alignment (at will; good only)**
Daemonic Pledge - Three Actions (divine, healing, necromancy) Frequency once per day; Effect The agradaemon designates a single willing mortal as a pledged fanatic. That creature gains resistance to fire equal to its level, immunity to the agradaemon's choking smog aura, and smoke vision. The agradaemon can have up to 10 pledged fanatics at one time and can remove the status from any number of pledged fanatics as a free action with the concentrate trait. The status can also be removed with an atone ritual.
Proven Devotion - One Action (concentrate, evil, fire) The agradaemon regains 15 Hit Points, and a pledged fanatic of the agradaemon's choice that it can see loses 15 Hit Points (no effects apply that would decrease this Hit Point loss). A pledged creature that dies in this way explodes and deals 9d10 fire damage in a 20-foot emanation (DC 41 basic Reflex save).
Rend claw
We’ll start at the big and obvious: This creature is the size of a warehouse on long legs, emits suffocating smoke over a city block, and gets its kicks by destabilizing nations and causing untold suffering.
It’s… not a nice creature.
This creature is a good balance of narrative influence and mechanical power. Its CHA–Charisma–is high, even for its level, and its Daemonic Pledge and Proven Devotion abilities show that it is not above manipulating mortals into doing its bidding. My concept for the creature was that it could instigate the player character’s interest with a concerted attack by its cultist followers. From there, the players would eventually smite their way up the cult hierarchy to the agradaemon itself, resulting in an epic fire-filled final battle for a community they’ve grown to care for.
The agradaemon, powerful enough to match some demigods, does not need to hide behind its cultists when the time comes. They are powerful spellcasters with suitably ominous sounding spells like massacre and three–three!–castings of conjure volcano.
A single volcano is bad. Three? Surging from the earth in under 20 seconds? That town the players are forced to defend had better have some good insurance. Conjure volcano is great not only because of the sheer madcap ridiculous levels of awe it inspires, but it also creates terrain the players will have to negotiate during the fight and makes protecting the town all that much more relevant. Making terrain difficult to navigate on the ground is easy, but this spell creates it in the air, and even a high-level party won’t be able to completely ignore that like they could ignore effects on the ground.
As for the agradaemon’s non-magical attacks, it only has a few, and their ability to hit a prepared player character is below average. Still, if they do hit, that character will not survive for long. That little bit right at the bottom where it says Rend means free damage if it manages to hit with its claws twice. That would take all of its actions in any given round, giving the players something to play around… if the initial victim survives.
If the agradaemon hasn’t already been deprived of its cult, the Proven Devotion ability makes for an unpredictable battle. Each cultist represents additional Hit Points for the agradaemon to rely on if the players attack it without finishing off the cult first. If the agradaemon needs to retreat or distract the players, it could drain cultists enough to cause explosions over a large area, forcing the party to split their resources or reprioritize on-the-fly.
All of this makes for a fight that should take multiple stages, finishing the cult, defending the town from the volcanos and massacre, and then the actual fight with the agradaemon. Provided its ability to teleport away is thwarted, the fight the players have against this creature will be epic, engaging, and memorable.
How, though, do the players beat it? The agradaemon is smart and cunning enough to be ready for the players when the fight is nigh. Its got magic, lackeys, and physical might, so how are players supposed to beat this thing?
The secret lies in its weaknesses. Its weaknesses are severe for its level, meaning it would take a lot of extra damage from a party that has done their research.
Specifically, it takes a bunch of extra damage from sources of elemental cold, and holy energy. Its thematic opposites cause physical harm to it, and acquiring weapons or abilities to take advantage of that is worth a preparatory quest for the players.
Remaster Update: Paizo has issued Remastered rules for Pathfinder Second Edition which modify the agradaemon somewhat.
* Changed to holy damage
** Removed, as the alignment system was also removed.