Asmodeus (EvilHack)
& Asmodeus 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 53 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d6 physical, Claw 3d6 slowing, Spell-casting 6d6 cone of cold, Spell-casting 6d6 clerical |
| Base level | 49 |
| Base experience | 3191 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -7 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | 20 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1500 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | fire, cold, poison, level drain |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
Asmodeus:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack 0.8.4 - monst.c, line 3642 |
In EvilHack, Asmodeus, &, is made fairly tougher compared to his appearance in NetHack, and has more of an affinity to cold.
Asmodeus is a lawful demon prince that possesses infravision, can see invisible, is strong, is capable of flight, and can be seen via infravision - like all demon lords and princes, he can follow the hero to other levels if he is adjacent, is covetous and capable of warping, and desires the Amulet of Yendor. As a lawful demon prince, he will attempt to bribe a lawful hero unless they are wielding Excalibur or Demonbane when he is generated, or else is wielding either weapon when he warps to meet them—if they are wielding either weapon or have displacement that fools him into talking to an image, he will become hostile.
Asmodeus has a strong weapon attack, a slowing claw attack, and will cast the cone of cold and a clerical monster spell during each of his turns, with a bias towards or against the following spells:
- When casting vulnerability, Asmodeus will favor a vulnerability to cold damage and will not inflict vulnerability to fire at all.
- When casting the geyser spell, Asmodeus will use an "avalanche" variation that deals 8d8 cold damage (subject to half physical damage) and can destroy potions in the target's open inventory.
- He will never use the fire pillar spell, casting lightning instead.
Asmodeus possesses cold resistance along with fire resistance, poison resistance, drain resistance, and death resistance like all major demons.
Asmodeus is poisonous to consume, though he leaves no corpse and there is no monster that can digest him normally.
Generation
Asmodeus is peaceful when first generated so that he can attempt to bribe the hero if they are lawful and not wielding Excalibur at the time, and will otherwise become hostile. He is not a valid form for polymorph.
Asmodeus is one of the four demon princes who can occupy the third-tier demon lair in Gehennom, with his position depending on the map chosen, and can also be summoned by demon gating from other major demons.
Asmodeus is always generated with a cursed rod that has the frost object property and an enchantment ranging from +5 to +7, as well as a wand of cold and a wand of fire.
Asmodeus does not leave a corpse upon death.
Origin
Asmodeus, or Ashmedai, is a very powerful demon that is described in various Abrahamic religions—Asmodeus's name has also been spelled as Asmoday, Asmodai, Asmodee (also Asmodée), Osmodeus, and Osmodai. Asmodeus is a major figure in the legends of Solomon and the constructing of Solomon's Temple: his story features variously in Talmudic stories, where he is the king of the shedim, and the Quran refers to a "puppet" in the Story of Solomon in Surah Ṣād verses 30-40, which the mufassirūn (authorized exegetes of the Quran) asserts as referring to the demon-king Asmodeus (Sakhr). In Christianity, Asmodeus is mostly known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, where he is the primary antagonist and disrupts the marriages of Sarah. German theologian Peter Binsfeld classifies Asmodeus as the "demon of lust".
The name Asmodai is believed to derive from the Avestan *aēšma-daēva, the Zoroastrian demon of wrath; while the daēva Aēšma is well-attested as such, the compound aēšma-daēva is not attested in scripture. The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 rejects the otherwise-accepted etymological relation between the Persian "Æshma-dæva" and Judaism's "Ashmodai", but proposes that the "Asmodeus" from the Apocrypha and the Testament of Solomon are not only related somewhat to Aeshma but have similar behaviour, appearance and roles; as concluded in another article under the entry "Aeshma", Persian Zoroastrian beliefs could have heavily influenced Judaism's theology in the long term. A fallen angel by the name of Asmodeus also appears in Paradise Lost by John Milton.
Asmodeus appears in Dungeons & Dragons, with his traits derived from some of his descriptions in demonology and folklore like the information presented above. His exact nature varies from publication to publication, though he is generally presented as either an evil god or a powerful devil; he is the Lord of Hell (Baator) and the Overlord of the lesser Dukes of Hell, and from his position he oversees the Blood War against the chaotic demons and their demon prince leaders. Befitting the nature of the embodiment of lawful evil, Asmodeus constantly schemes against all the arch-devils, though he has a special hatred for Levistus.
More often than not, the avatar of Asmodeus appears as a slim, red-skinned humanoid over 13 feet (4 meters) tall with a horned head, glowing red eyes and a perfectly trimmed beard: he typically dons red-and-black clothing valuable enough to cover the annual spending of any nation, and carries around a lesser variant of his trademark Ruby Rod, the original of which was purported to have been created by Asmodeus from the shard of evil broken off from the bottom of the Abyss; the Ruby Rods owned by his aspects ranged in worth from more than 50,000 gp to over a million in material value alone. Asmodeus himself is handsome, charismatic and captivating on the surface, but despite his manners, intellectual capabilities and competence befitting of the Lord of Hell, Asmodeus is still capable of being surprised—though they are very few, there are figures whose powers and influence give him pause; additionally, he is very capable of fury, and can burst into rage if he forgets himself, causing his mask of civility to slip and unveil the evil that lurked below.
Encyclopedia entry
It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
human apart from his horns and tail. He can freeze flesh
with a touch.
[]
The evil demon who appears in the Apocryphal book of _Tobit_
and is derived from the Persian _Aeshma_. In _Tobit_ Asmodeus
falls in love with Sara, daughter of Raguel, and causes the
death of seven husbands in succession, each on his bridal night.
He was finally driven from Egypt through a charm made by Tobias
of the heart and liver of a fish burned on perfumed ashes, as
described by Milton in _Paradise Lost_ (IV, 167-71). Hence
Asmodeus often figures as the spirit of matrimonial jealousy
or unhappiness.
[ Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ]
