Lesser Devil (5e Race)

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Lesser Devil

“	We are bound by any and all agreements, written, verbal, or otherwise. This is why we write the contracts, and we never agree to anything without first considering every variable and every potential loophole. This is a lesson you humans could stand to ponder more meticulously. It might just save your life. Or your soul.	”
—Azeris 'Queen of Archnids'

Physical Description

Lesser Devils are quite diverse in appearance but are also quite similar to Humans in form and figure. They have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes - some have curling horns like a ram, others have straight and tall horns like a gazelle's, and some spiral upward like an antelopes' horns. They have thick tails, some with arrowhead or spade shaped plates of bone at their tips, others with tufts of hair or feathers, and still others with nothing at their tips. Their tails are four to five feet long and lash when they get upset or nervous. Their canine teeth are sharply pointed. The sclera of their eyes can take many shades of black, white, gray, red, or brown, their irises generally taking shades of red or yellow with slitted pupils and a slight glow. Their skin ranges in tone and hue from greys to reds to blues and violets to any of the more common tones one might find among humans or elves.

Two Names, Two Faces A depiction of the Lesser Devil Lirath 'The Enduring' on the right and her human alias Lerrane on the left. Artist: Phoenix5061

History

The Devils of the Nine Hells have been around since before our earliest written history. For as long as the universe has existed, there have been the forces of good and evil, the armies of the Heavens and the armies of Hell. These fated foes have battled numerous times throughout the ages, causing much death and destruction across the mortal plane which is far too often caught in the crossfire of these cataclysmic confrontations.

Society

The Devils of the Nine Hells have a very strict hierarchy based on the souls that have been consumed or corrupted with a heavy power gap and much animosity between the levels. Lesser Devils are rather close to humans as far as power and physical prowess with Greater Devils being high above them. Above the Greater Devils are the Lords And above the Lords sits the King and Queen of the Nine Hells. The Devils have built an entire economy around buying and selling mortal souls. Moving up in the hierarchy is not impossible, but unless you were born among the elite, it is widely considered too unlikely to be worth putting any effort towards. The number of souls required to go from Lesser to Greater is far higher than can be achieved within a Lesser Devil's expected life span.

Material Walkers live very different lives, however; spending much of their lives among mortals. They pick up the customs, mannerisms, languages, and dialects of those they spend the most time around. Many of them have found mortal company and the material plane to be preferable to the grim realms of the Hells. They'll live out entire mortal lives, artificially altering their disguised vessels to mimic the aging of mortal bodies.

Lesser Devil Names

There is much power in a devil's name, thus they have two, their true name and an alias that they use when traversing the mortal realms. Devils' true names are very guttural, harsh, and in many cases quite difficult for mortal tongues to speak. There is no discernible difference between male and female names. Devils pick their aliases based on the races they interact with most often, and in some cases will have multiple aliases. The chosen alias will always have some similarity or relation to the true name, whether that be a shared meaning, or just similar sound. Devils that gain the attention of the Lords gain a title related to the deeds or traits that gained them the recognition of the Lords of Hell. Depending on the nature of their deeds, this title might be one of respect, resentment, insult, or even warning. It is very rare for Lesser Devils to receive a title, thus even those who receive titles of insult or warning gain a certain level of respect and envy from their Lesser Brethren. Lesser Devils with a title could mean they are just a few souls away from ascending to Greater or that they are just a few unfortunate deeds away from being wiped from existence.

True Names: Rarnis, Thog'hunas, Bir'goxag, Oremeg

Aliases: Nicolaus, Meline, Traric, Yesvaris

Titles: 'The Enduring' 'The Childish' 'The Respected' 'The Unfathomable'

Lesser Devil Traits

The lowest ranks of the legions of Hell; Devils of low status but unmatched cunning.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Age. Lesser Devils mature at the same rate as humans and can't die from old age but due to the power gap between the Lesser and Greater Devils and the animosity among the legions of Hell, Lesser Devils are not expected to live much longer than a century.
Alignment. Devils are bound by fiendish magic to fulfill all promises and agreements they make, forcing them into lawful alignments. Devils are largely self-centered in nature, meaning the majority of them are evil. Outliers, while rare, do however exist. Material Walkers are the most likely to stray from their evil nature due to the amount of time they spend amongst mortals.
Size. Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Creature Type. Your creature type is Fiend (Devil).
darkvision. Thanks to your infernal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
Infernal Disguise. As an action, you can make yourself appear as a member of another race. If you disguise yourself as a race that lacks horns, wings or a tail, those features disappear and you lose the ability to fly or use your tail attack if you have them; otherwise, your game statistics don't change. You determine the specifics of the changes, including race, sex, skin tone, hair length and coloration, eye color and appearance, etc. You must adopt a form that is humanoid. You can also adjust your height and weight, but not so much that your size changes. You can change the appearance of your clothes with this feature, but not your armor or equipment. While disguised in this way, no amount of physical scrutiny or investigation can identify you as a devil; only magic can reveal your fiendish nature. While Disguised, you can use an action to materialize your wings or tail, granting you the ability to fly or the use your tail attack if you have them, but all creatures that can see you are immediately made aware you are a Devil. You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.
Infernal Wings. Much like angels must earn their wings, Lesser Devils are not born with wings, but gain them later in their lives. While most don't live long enough to take flight, a select few have. When you reach 5th level, you gain a pair of leathery wings. Granting you a fly speed of 30 feet while in your Devil form.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal.
Subrace. Choose one from Material Walker, Succubus, and Imp. While not as abundant as Imps or Lemures, the Material Walker Devils are one of the more common varieties of Devil; The term was popularized by the Greater Devils as a derogatory statement meant to cast the Devils of this variety in a negative light, throwing insult at them for spending so much of their lives among mortals which are seen as nothing more than currency. They spend much of their time in the material plane, hiding amongst mortals. Succubi are lesser Devils who specialize in the allure of lustful temptation. Imps are the smallest and lowest of devil kind, generally seen as inferior to all; the only devils lower than Imps being Lemures.

Material Walker

Ability Score Increase. One ability score of your choice increases by 1. You can not increase your charisma score with this feature.
Size. Material Walker Devils range anywhere from just under 5 feet to over 6 feet in height and are on average taller and more slender than humans. Your size is medium.
Natural-Born Deceivers. You have proficiency in the Deception skill.
Devils' Sixth Sense. A devil has an unnatural sense when it comes to potential prey. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect mortal souls. Until the start of your next turn, you become aware of every humanoid soul within 60 feet of you. You know whether the soul is living or dead or if it is bound to an object, but do not learn the soul's identity. Additionally, you feel a pull in the general direction of the soul, but do not learn their exact location.
Additional Language. Having spent more time among mortal civilization, you learn one additional language of your choice which you and the GM agree fits the character.

Succubus

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Size. Succubi encompass a similar height range to humans and have slender, graceful builds. Your size is medium.
Lustful Allure. Humanoids have disadvantage on saving throws to resist being charmed by you.
Devil's Charm. As an action, you can force one humanoid creature you can see to make a Wisdom saving throw the DC of which is equal to 8 plus your charisma modifier plus your proficiency bonus. The target must be able to see and hear you. On a failed saving throw, the target becomes charmed for one hour. The charm ends if you or your allies deal damage to the charmed creature.

Imp

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Size. Imps range from 3 to 4 feet in height and average about 40 pounds. Your size is small.
Sting. You have a scorpion like tail that you can use to make an unarmed strike. You can use strength or dexterity for the attack and damage rolls and your are considered proficient. On a hit, you deal 1d4 piercing damage instead of the usual bludgeoning damage of an unarmed strike. The target must then make a DC 11 constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 poison damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. The poison damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Invisibility. As an action, you can become invisible until you attack or your concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment you are wearing or carrying is invisible with you. Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.

Random Height and Weight

Table: Material Walker Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
4′ 9″	+ 2d10 in	100 lb.	x2d4

Table: Succubus Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
4′ 8″	+ 2d10 in	90 lb.	x2d4

Table: Imp Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
2′ 11″	+ 2d4 in	35 lb.	x1

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