User:Darth l33t/Demon Lords and Princes

Above the ranks of the minor and major demons are several unique, named demons. They are divided into lords and princes, the latter being of higher rank.

Name	Rank	Alignment	Level	Lair	Notable Features
Asmodeus	Prince	Lawful	49	Asmodeus' Lair	Powerful cold attack; wands of fire and cold
Baalzebub	Prince	Lawful	41	Baalzebub's Lair	Stunning gaze
Demogorgon	Prince	Chaotic	50	none	Arcane monster spells; disease attacks
Dispater	Prince	Lawful	36	none	Arcane monster spells
Geryon	Prince	Lawful	33	none	Very slow
Juiblex	Lord	Chaotic	22	Juiblex's swamp	Engulfing disease attack
Orcus	Prince	Chaotic	30	Orcus-town	Arcane monster spells; wand of death
Yeenoghu	Lord	Chaotic	25	none	Confusion attack; magic resistance

Traits

All demon lords and princes are covetous, and will warp to you when they detect you, and to the up stairs to flee and heal. They will pick up the Amulet of Yendor if they can, and attack any monster carrying it other than the high priest of Moloch and the Wizard of Yendor. Orcus additionally covets the Book of the Dead.

Like their lesser brethren, unique demons nominally respect Elbereth, although it has no power in their native Gehennom.

Bribery

Lawful demon princes are generated peaceful. When one detects you, it will warp to you and demand some portion of your carried gold. If you pay it off, it will vanish from the game; if you refuse, or have no gold, it will turn hostile. You may shortchange it up to 39 gold with a chance of success. If the demon has the Amulet, the bribe will always be more than you have, so that the demon and Amulet aren't removed from the game.

If you are polymorphed into any &, the prince won't ask for a bribe, but will remain on the map, peaceful, until you deal with it.

Wielding Excalibur causes lawful princes to be generated hostile, so they won't ask for a bribe. They will turn hostile if you wield Excalibur when they would demand a bribe, or if fooled by your displacement.

Chaotic demons are always generated hostile (except when summoned by a chaotic character's same-race sacrifice), and will attack on sight.

Lairs

Four of the demons have their own lairs in Gehennom. All four lairs are guaranteed to be generated, which means you're almost certain to see all four demons if your character gets that far. However, all four lairs can also leave bones, so it's possible for a demon not to appear in its own lair if it was previously dispatched or led away. Each demon is unique, so it will also be absent if generated by other means (e.g. sacrifice or other demons).

Rank

A demon's rank has no effect on its combat prowess, but does affect some other aspects of the game:

• Demon gating will summon a demon at most one rank over the original one, so major demons can't summon princes. Princes are more likely than lords to summon other unique demons.
• Same-race sacrifice will summon a lord, or a major demon if both lords have been generated. It will never summon a prince.

Strategy

Although some of the most powerful monsters by the numbers, most unique demons aren't a huge threat, because they appear late in the game, when players have had plenty of time to prepare for them. Asmodeus is nearly impotent against a fire- and cold-resistant character, for example, and Baalzebub's gaze won't penetrate a blindfold or towel. Characters playing for speed, who don't have good AC or all the resistances, may have more difficulty. Orcus' spells can cause trouble for even magic-resistant characters, and Demogorgon, should he appear, can kill almost anyone. Pacifists may also have trouble finding pets willing to attack such high-level creatures -- all demons are level drain resistant.