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Demon, Balor Lord, Astaroth

Image © ArtStation user OTL Miu, accessed at their gallery here

[This is going to be the last of the Goetic fiends for a while; the stat blocks are complicated and the lore often heavy, so I'm going to take a break. As such, I wanted this one to be a heavy hitter, both in terms of CR and in terms of concept. Although I flirted with it with the amnosahura, this is the first explicitly Christian monster in the Codex. And not in a flattering light. Astaroth is assembled from the wickedest popes, priests and church fathers, anyone who used Christianity as a weapon to hurt others, and his doctrine is pretty much just modern Evangelism. Pathfinder's timeline is set so that it's currently the 1930s on Earth; unless your PCs stop him, I suspect that Astaroth's ascension to full demon lord will occur around 1947, when Oral Roberts starts spreading the prosperity gospel.

As befitting a demon that a lot of folks know by name, plenty of references and research went into this. The name Astaroth is a corruption of the Caananite Astarte, so I gave his snake and dragon confederates Caananite names as well. Astaroth's focus on healing is drawn from the legend of St. Bartholomew, as is his favored punishment. And I couldn't help but build in a reference to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, a Disney musical about a British witch who fights the Nazis with an incantation learned from the Star of Astaroth. Thanks to @monstersdownthepath for the phrasing of the Animate Army ability.

If you'd like to support what I do, please consider joining the Creature Codex Patreon here]

Demon, Balor Lord, Astaroth CR 23 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This creature is the epitome of a demon, with a horned head, hooved feet and great wings seemingly made out of smoke. A green serpent coils around his left arm and hand.

On a faraway planet called Earth, a messianic cult arose during a time of political turmoil. Although its founder was a follower of a monotheistic religion, his own followers declared him to be part of that same god, and turned on their parent religion with violent fervor. Within a few centuries, this faith grew from a small persecuted sect to the dominant faith of one of the planet’s greatest empires, and immediately began to persecute other religions with the violence they had once been subject to. The souls of that faith’s chaotic evil leaders, for despite their claims of goodness all manner of actual morals and ethics could be found within, accumulated in the Abyss like sand in an oyster. And the pearl of Christianity’s corruption was Astaroth, a balor who claimed his name from one of the many pagan gods demonized by that religion.

Astaroth rarely appears in his true demonic form when dealing with outsiders. He uses a veil spell to take on the aspect of an angel, and often claims to be such. Astaroth offers to heal the wounded and sick in exchange for veneration, a common deal for religious figures, and his teachings are those of solipsism and spiritual sloth. Why care for other people when you are saved by your beliefs? Better to focus on ritual, prayer and penance than anything so gauche as actually helping people or making the world a better place. And if you can demonstrate your worthiness through wealth, all the better! You deserve the finest things because you are Chosen, says Astaroth, and his sinister whispers find many ears willing to hear them. The finest things Astaroth owns are often animated by his magic in order to show them off, and his household staff includes dozens of suits of magnificent armor and clothing made mobile. Those who resist Astaroth’s cajoling are subject to brutal tortures, his favorite of which is flaying alive.

Astaroth may soon join the ranks of the demon lords if the cult he stokes comes to actually venerate him, but for the time being, he misdirects the worship of the hopeful to the service of evil and chaos rather than focus it on himself. He is currently apprenticing under Abraxas, helping to maintain the illusions of Pleroma and acting as representative when the Master of the Final Incantation is busy elsewhere in exchange for lessons on magic and deception. This is how Astaroth ended up on the Pandaemonic Parliament,, both for his ties to Abraxas and his devotion to evil for evil’s sake. One of his major tasks for the Parliament is to tempt more mortals with the powers of binding and to find ways around the rituals and rites that keep some binders able to engage with fiends while still maintaining non-evil alignments.

Unlike most balors, Astaroth fights with whip or sword, not whip and sword. He prefers to keep one hand free for spellcasting, and mixes melee with spells freely. Astaroth never fights alone, as his familiar Nehushtan is always close by—if not in his grasp, then spying for him or transformed into an emperor cobra with polymorph familiar. He often fights from the back of Lotan, an ancient havoc dragon who fell to evil after being seduced by Astaroth’s promises and lies, and who helps him sell the illusion that he is truly angelic. If Astaroth and Lotan are encountered together, this is a CR 24 encounter.

Astaroth CR 23 XP 820,000 Male balor lord CE Large outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +13; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +40, true seeing Aura flaming body, unholy aura (DC 28)

Defense AC 44, touch 22, flat-footed 35 (–1 size, +9 Dex, +4 deflection, +18 natural, +4 armor) hp 471 (23d10+345) Fort +32, Ref +20, Will +28 DR 15/cold iron and good; Immune divinations, electricity, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 34 Defensive Abilities mind blank

Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (good) Melee +1 vorpal flaming whip +38/+33/+28/+23 (1d4+15 plus 1d6 fire and entangle), slam +32 (1d10+7) or +1 vorpal unholy longsword +38/+33/+28/+23 (2d6+15/19-20), slam +32 (1d10+7) or 2 slams +37 (1d10+14) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with whip) Special Attacks animate army Spells CL 20th, concentration +29 (+33 casting defensively) 9th—astral projection, quickened cleanse, communal mind blank, true resurrection, quickened waves of fatigue 8th—quickened death ward, horrid wilting (DC 27), mass cure critical wounds (DC 27), maze, stormbolts (DC 27) 7th—quickened arcane sight, greater scrying (DC 26), harm (DC 26), heal (DC 26), quickened heroism 6th—balance of suffering (DC 25), quickened false life, pillar of life, plague storm (DC 25), wither limb(DC 25) 5th—apathy (DC 24), cure critical wounds (DC 24), quickened cure light wounds (DC 20), feeblemind (DC 24), greater contagion (DC 24), mind fog (DC 24) 4th—bereave (DC 23), debilitating portent (DC 29), inflict serious wounds (DC 23), restoration, ride the waves, spite 3rd—aura sight, inflict pain (DC 22), polymorph familiar, remove disease, suggestion (DC 22), vampiric touch 2nd—cure moderate wounds (DC 21), lesser restoration, paranoia (DC 21), qualm (DC 21), spectral hand, touch of idiocy 1st—comprehend languages, identify, mage armor (x2, one already cast), ray of enfeeblement (DC 20), vocal alteration, unseen servant 0th—detect magic, message, read magic, stabilize Patron—healing Spell-Like Abilities CL 20th, concentration +30 (34 casting defensively) Constant—mind blank, true seeing, unholy aura (self only, DC 28) At will—dominate monster (DC 29), greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), power word stun, telekinesis (DC 25), veil (DC 26) 3/day—animate objects, quickened telekinesis (DC 25), subjective reality (DC 27) 1/day—blasphemy (DC 27), fire storm (DC 28), implosion (DC 29), mage’s magnificent mansion, miracle (DC 29), summon (level 9, any 1 CR 19 or lower demon 100%)

Statistics Str 39, Dex 29, Con 40, Int 28, Wis 28, Cha 31 Base Atk +23; CMB +38 (+40 disarm or trip); CMD 61 (63 vs. disarm or trip) Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Share Spells, Improved Trip, Insidious Healing, Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Quicken Spell, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (telekinesis) Skills Acrobatics +29, Bluff +33, Diplomacy +33, Disguise +30, Fly +34, Heal +29, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (arcana, history, religion) +29, Knowledge (planes) +32, Linguistics +14, Perception +40, Ride +29, Sense Motive +32, Spellcraft +29, Stealth +28, Use Magic Device +33; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Daemonic, Draconic, French, Infernal, Latin; telepathy 100 ft. SQ death throes, familiar, vorpal strike, whip mastery

Ecology Environment any (Abyss) Organization unique Treasure standard (+1 unholy longsword, +1 flaming whip, other treasure)

Special Abilities Animate Army (Sp) When Astaroth uses his animate objects spell-like ability, he may target a number of objects equal to three times his caster level (dividing the spell's effects across targets by size as normal). Death Throes (Su) When killed, Astaroth explodes in a blinding flash of fire that deals 100 points of damage (half fire, half unholy damage) to anything within 100 feet (Reflex DC 36 halves). The save DC is Constitution-based. Entangle (Ex) If a balor strikes a Medium or smaller foe with its whip, the balor can immediately attempt a grapple check without provoking an attack of opportunity. If Astaroth wins the check, he draws the foe into an adjacent square. The foe gains the grappled condition, but the balor does not. Familiar Astaroth’s familiar is a viper named Nehushtan. Astaroth stores spells in his familiar as a witch does, and can teach him new spells in the usual fashon. Nehushtan knows all of the witch spells in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and Advanced Player’s Guide in addition to the spells listed here. Flaming Body (Su) A balor's body is covered in dancing flames. Anyone striking a balor with a natural weapon or unarmed strike takes 1d6 points of fire damage. A creature that grapples a balor or is grappled by one takes 6d6 points of fire damage each round the grapple persists. Spellcasting Astaroth casts spells as a 20th level witch. He does not gain other witch class abilities, such as hexes. Vorpal Strike (Su) Any slashing weapon a balor wields (including its standard longsword and whip) gains the vorpal weapon quality. Weapons retain this quality for one hour after the balor releases the weapon, but after this the weapon reverts to its standard magical qualities, if any. Whip Mastery (Ex) Astaroth treats a whip as a light weapon for the purposes of two-weapon fighting, and can inflict lethal damage on a foe regardless of the foe's armor.

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