Demon, Balor

This winged fiend’s horned head and fanged visage present the perfection of the demonic form, fire spurting from its flesh.

Balor CR 20

XP 307,200
CE Large outsider (chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +38
Aura flaming body, unholy aura (DC 26)

DEFENSE

AC 36, touch 20, flat-footed 29 (+4 deflection, +7 Dex, +16 natural, –1 size)
hp 370 (20d10+260)
Fort +29, Ref +17, Will +25
DR 15/cold iron and good; Immune electricity, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 31

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (good)
Melee +1 vorpal unholy longsword +31/+26/+21/+16 (2d6+13), +1 vorpal flaming whip +30/+25/+20 (1d4+7 plus 1d6 fire and entangle) or 2 slams +31 (1d10+12)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with whip)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th)

Constanttrue seeing, unholy aura (DC 26)
At willdominate monster (DC 27), greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), power word stun, telekinesis (DC 23)
3/day—quickened telekinesis (DC 23)
1/dayblasphemy (DC 25), fire storm (DC 26), implosion (DC 27), summon (level 9, any 1 CR 19 or lower demon 100%)

STATISTICS

Str 35, Dex 25, Con 36, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 27
Base Atk +20; CMB +33; CMD 54
Feats Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Initiative, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Iron Will, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (telekinesis), Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills Acrobatics +27, Bluff +31, Diplomacy +31, Fly +32, Intimidate +31, Knowledge (history) +27, Knowledge (nobility) +27, Knowledge (planes) +30, Knowledge (religion) +27, Perception +38, Sense Motive +30, Stealth +26, Use Magic Device +31; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ death throes, vorpal strike, whip mastery

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Death Throes (Su)

When killed, a balor 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 33 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 the balor wins the check, it draws the foe into an adjacent square. The foe gains the grappled condition, but the balor does not.

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.

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)

A balor 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.

Ecology

Environment any (Abyss)
Organization solitary or warband (1 balor and 2–5 glabrezus)
Treasure standard (+1 unholy longsword, +1 flaming whip, other treasure)

When folk whisper frightened tales of the demonic, what most envision is a towering figure of fire and flesh, a horned nightmare armed with flaming whip and sword flying through the night in search of its latest victim. The demon these folk fear is the balor, and that fear is justly placed, for few demons can match the mighty balor in strength or brutality.

On the Abyss, most balors serve demon lords as generals or captains (those balors who don’t are even more potent, and are known as balor lords—see below). A balor typically commands vast legions of demons, and while it often lets these slavering and eager minions fight its battles, the balor is far from a coward. If presented with an opportunity to join a fight, few balors choose to resist.

In combat, a balor relies upon its spell-like abilities to fight foes wise enough to avoid melee range, favoring destructive powers like fire storm or implosion and saving dominate monster for use against the rare foe it would prefer to capture alive. A balor usually uses telekinesis to disarm ranged weapons or pull foes into melee—with the use of a quickened telekinesis, a balor can use the latter tactic and still inflict a full-round attack on a hapless foe. A balor reduced to fewer than 50 hit points almost always seeks to flee via teleportation, but if that and flight prove impossible it seeks to position itself such that, if it is slain, its death throes are as devastating as possible to the enemy host.

A balor stands 14 feet in height and weighs 4,500 pounds. Only the cruelest mortal souls can fuel the creation of a balor—unlike in the cases of most other demons, it often takes multiple souls of powerful villains to trigger the birthing of a new balor.

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