Wednesday, 25 January 2023

Monsters: Cacodemons

Monsters: Cacodemons

Let's adapt the cacodemons from the various Doom games to GURPS (in mechanical terms) and D&D (in flavor terms).

This time instead of adapting a monster from another system, let’s adapt a monster that doesn’t really appear in any RPG – the cacodemon from Doom. I love Doom and I have been playing it rigorously for years, so this thought has crept into my mind multiple times, but I’ve never gone through with it. And the cacodemon is D&D-related, because it was based on the head of the astral dreadnought from the Manual of the Planes. However, there is a problem – while this monster is adorable-looking, it is very boring. So, let’s try to adapt it to GURPS and also make it more interesting.

The first question is which cacodemon? We have the classic caco, the Doom 3 caco, the modern caco, the Doom 64 caco, the Doom RPG variants of the classic caco, and even the spectral cacodemon from the Playstation version of Doom. And the answer is “all of them,” but some of them will be merged together. I also have to ask myself another question, because I will still be converting them in the context of D&D-style games, - how do they fit into the D&D cosmology? The “demon” is in the name, so I will make them demons, but what kind of demons? If you are familiar with the D&D bestiary, then you probably know that there are four main groups of demons – tanar’ri (including the spyder-fiends), obyriths, loumara, and elemental demons, but there are also many demons that do not belong to these groups. The cacodemon does not look like a maddening abomination, so it’s not an obyrith. It is not an incorporeal spirit, so it’s not a loumara. It is not tied to the elements, so it’s not an elemental demon. So, I only have two options – a tanar’ri or an unaligned demon. I will choose the latter, because I actually probably will rework the tanar’ri abilities a bit, and I don’t think it’s a good time to do it right now. Thus, the cacodemon will just be a chaotic evil outsider from the Abyss. I will assign them to Layer #100 – The Barrens, an enormous expanse containing ruins of all past and future civilizations ruled by the demon lord Oublivae.

Now, let’s start working on the statblock, starting with the body. I will use the classic cacodemon as the base now. What do we have here? First, it’s slightly larger than a human and round. GURPS Basic Set says to increase the Size Modifier by 2 for spherical beings, so let’s make it SM+3, like a beholder. It is strong physically, but weaker than its size would indicate. It’s tough, clumsy, slow, and not particularly bright. Let’s also give it Hidebound [-5].

Can we see any arms or legs? Nope, let’s add No Manipulators [-50] and No Legs (Aerial). It has only one eye, and a big one at that – let’s give it One Eye [-15] and a quirk that reduces the penalty to hit the eyes by 2. It also has a huge fanged mouth. So, let’s give it Fangs [2] and Born Biter 3. Now, what about the hit locations? How do you make a giant floating head? Easy – you make it a floating torso. I will give the cacodemon Injury Tolerance (No Head and No Neck) [12]. It still has vitals, but they probably require a Physiology (Demons) roll to target. The cacodemon is probably able to see in the dark, so let’s give it Infravision [10]. What about natural armor? The classic caco is more or less uniformly covered in red skin or whatever it is, but let’s take some inspiration from the modern design of the monster and give it some armored chitin plates from the front and the sides, and the top. Instead of buying DR piecemeal for front, left, right, and top, I will buy overall DR and give it a Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and bottom, -10%. This is going to be much cheaper and will accomplish the same thing. Let’s give it DR 5 – this is quite substantial for low-tech games and will force the player characters to exploit the weak underbelly and back. The horns are just for the visuals, they serve no mechanical purpose. Let’s also give it two levels of Nictitating Membrane. This will make it less vulnerable to eye hits, but will keep the eye as a tempting hit location to target.

What about the metabolism? The D&D demons do not need to eat (however, this varies from book to book and from edition to edition), at least for sustenance. So, let’s give the cacodemon Doesn’t Eat or Drink. However, the lore snippets from Doom 2016 indicate that the cacodemons are driven by the need to feed. So, let’s give them Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]. This will give them some motivation to be mean to the player characters, and will give the players another weakness to exploit. They do need to breathe, but they do not need to sleep, so let’s add Doesn’t Sleep [20]. Demons can live forever, so let’s also add Unaging [15]. Speaking of metabolism, what about poison? D&D demons are all immune to poison, but I don’t really like that. Let’s downgrade immunity to Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]. Here’s another minor feature – do you remember that the cacodemons have blue blood? I think it would be great to give them the Unusual Biochemistry [-5] disadvantage. In the context of low-tech games, of course, it will apply not to drugs, but to alchemical elixirs.

Now, let’s finally deal with the special abilities. The first one that should be tackled is flight. How does a cacodemon fly? I wanted to give them Flight with the Lighten Than Air limitation, but the lore snippet from Doom 2016 says that their flight is psionic in nature. So, let’s give the cacodemon some psionics! GURPS Psionic Powers has the Levitation ability, but I do not want to use it. Flight is the cacodemon’s only mode of movement, so if it fails a roll to maintain Levitation that it would have to roll every minute, it would fall. I don’t want that. I will simply give the cacodemon Flight with the Slow and Psychokinesis limitations.

What about the attack? The Doom I and II manuals say that they spit ball lightning, but the modern lore says that it’s psychoactive narcotic bile that still sort of looks like ball lightning. The bile is said to compromise senses and movement, but doesn’t an electrical shock do the same? So, I say we get rid of this psychoactive bile nonsense and make it a ball lightning attack. This is going to be a psionic ability, but not a generic one, this is going to be something unique for the cacodemons. This is going to be a burning attack that will cost 1 FP per use, be slow enough to be blockable, aimed with the Innate Attack (Breath) skill, and that will behave like lightning – it will have the Arcing Surge enhancement and a stunning Side Effect. For low-tech games, I suggest making it deal 2d damage, but for a proper ultra-tech cacodemon I would scale it up to 9d or so.

All right, that sounds good now, but still quite basic. But did you know that in the modern Doom games, you can play a cacodemon in multiplayer? And if you do, you gain an extensible tongue attack that you can use to pull enemies into your mouth. Now that’s cool, and this ability will make the cacodemon much more interesting. I will treat it as a melee Binding with Retractable and some additional limitations. This will make fighting a cacodemon much more dangerous and tactical.

Now let’s add some disadvantages. First of all, Monstrous Appearance. Bloodlust, Bully, Callous, Impulsiveness, Sadism, Selfish – these disadvantages are basically required if you want to represent the D&D chaotic evil demon mentality. What about the vulnerabilities? I’d like to add vulnerabilities to holy and axiomatic weapons.

You know, that’s a bit too cheap – the cacodemon is only 3 points total. Let’s also add him DR20 against electricity – it’s an electrical demon after all. I use some houserules for elemental DR, so it might not look exactly like what you can see in published GURPS books. Then, let’s add some skills – I think I will only give it Brawling and Innate Attack (Breath), the cacodemons are not very skillful.

And we’re done! The racial template costs 68 points, and your typical cacodemon has a point total of 88 points if we include skills. A demonologist should be able to summon these with the Summon Demon spell. So, how do you use the cacodemon in a game? They aren’t very flexible in that regard, this is just a combat brute monster. As a player, you should exploit proper positioning, softer hit locations, and be wary of the tongue grab, that’s it.


Cacodemon

70 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+3; HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 5 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and underside, -10%) [23]; Fangs [2]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Nictitating Membrane 2 [2]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Lightning: Burning Attack 2d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Ergokinesis, -10%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Nuisance Effect, Behaves erratically around conductors, -5%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [23].
    Electricity Resistance [65]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Electricity, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Electrical Conduction [5] + Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 14 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [41].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; One Eye [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].  
Quirks: Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2) [-1].
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [160]
Replace ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36] with ST+12 [120]
Replace HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14] with HP+10 [20]

Typical Stats

ST:

22

HP:

32

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+3

Dodge:

7

Parry:

N/A

DR:

5 (not from the back or bottom), 20 (vs. electricity)

    Fangs (10): thrust 2d+1 impaling (KYOS: 4d impaling), Reach C.
    Belch Lightning (14): The cacodemon belches forth a coruscating ball of electricity that does 2d burning surge damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of injury, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. The ball of electricity is slow enough to be dodged or blocked, but it cannot be parried. This attack behaves unpredictably around conductors; see Lightning (GURPS Magic, p. 196) for more details. Due to having only one eye, the cacodemon must Aim to use its full Innate Attack (Breath) skill, otherwise it is at -3.
    Extensible Tongue (13): The cacodemon’s tongue functions as an ST 14 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the cacodemon takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Electrical Conduction; Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); Nictitating Membrane 2; No Legs (Aerial); No Manipulators; One Eye; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Now that we have our base cacodemon, we can make variations. The first one is the spectral cacodemon that you can (or can’t) see in Playstation Doom. This is a very simple variant – I could have just used to Photorefraction ability from GURPS Psionic Powers, but due to not wanting to bother with the skill rolls, I will simply make a stand-alone ability based on Invisibility with Affects Machines, Fringe, and Ergokinesis modifiers.

Spectral Cacodemon

122 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+3; HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 5 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and underside, -10%) [23]; Fangs [2]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Invisibility (Affects Machines, +50%; Ergokinesis, -10%; Fringe, -10%) [52]; Nictitating Membrane 2 [2]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Lightning: Burning Attack 2d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Ergokinesis, -10%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Nuisance Effect, Behaves erratically around conductors, -5%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [23].
    Electricity Resistance [65]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Electricity, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Electrical Conduction [5] + Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 14 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [41].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; One Eye [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].  
Quirks: Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2) [-1].
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [212]
Replace ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36] with ST+12 [120]
Replace HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14] with HP+10 [20]

Typical Stats

ST:

22

HP:

32

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+3

Dodge:

7

Parry:

N/A

DR:

5 (not from the back or bottom), 20 (vs. electricity)

    Fangs (10): thrust 2d+1 impaling (KYOS: 4d impaling), Reach C.
    Belch Lightning (14): The cacodemon belches forth a coruscating ball of electricity that does 2d burning surge damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of injury, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. The ball of electricity is slow enough to be dodged or blocked, but it cannot be parried. This attack behaves unpredictably around conductors; see Lightning (GURPS Magic, p. 196) for more details. Due to having only one eye, the cacodemon must Aim to use its full Innate Attack (Breath) skill, otherwise it is at -3.
    Extensible Tongue (13): The cacodemon’s tongue functions as an ST 14 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the cacodemon takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Electrical Conduction; Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); Invisibility (Affects Machines; Ergokinesis; Fringe); Nictitating Membrane 2; No Legs (Aerial); No Manipulators; One Eye; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Then, let’s just scale the base cacodemon down to get the weaker malwrath from Doom RPG. We will just have a weaker, smaller version to send against less experienced player characters.

Malwrath

31 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+8 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -20%) [32]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+2; HP+7 (Size Modifier, -20%) [12]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 3 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and underside, -10%) [14]; Fangs [2]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Lightning: Burning Attack 1d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Ergokinesis, -10%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Nuisance Effect, Behaves erratically around conductors, -5%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [12].
    Electricity Resistance [65]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Electricity, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Electrical Conduction [5] + Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 10 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [29].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; One Eye [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].   
Quirks: Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2) [-1].
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [81]
Replace ST+8 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -20%) [32] with ST+8 [80]
Replace HP+7 (Size Modifier, -20%) [12] with HP+7 [14]

Typical Stats

ST:

18

HP:

25

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+2

Dodge:

7

Parry:

N/A

DR:

3 (not from the back or bottom), 20 (vs. electricity)

    Fangs (10): thrust 1d+2 impaling (KYOS: 3d-1 impaling), Reach C.
    Belch Lightning (14): The malwrath belches forth a coruscating ball of electricity that does 1d burning surge damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of injury, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. The ball of electricity is slow enough to be dodged or blocked, but it cannot be parried. This attack behaves unpredictably around conductors; see Lightning (GURPS Magic, p. 196) for more details. Due to having only one eye, the malwrath must Aim to use its full Innate Attack (Breath) skill, otherwise it is at -3.
    Extensible Tongue (13): The malwrath’s tongue functions as an ST 10 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the malwrath takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Electrical Conduction; Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); Nictitating Membrane 1; No Legs (Aerial); No Manipulators; One Eye; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Then, let’s do the same in reverse and get the stronger wretched from Doom RPG to get a more dangerous variant to send against powerful delvers.

Wretched

114 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+15 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [45]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+3; HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 8 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and underside, -10%) [36]; Fangs [2]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Nictitating Membrane 3 [3]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Lightning: Burning Attack 3d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Ergokinesis, -10%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Nuisance Effect, Behaves erratically around conductors, -5%; Surge, Arcing, +100%; Side Effect, Stunning, +50%) [35].
    Electricity Resistance [65]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Electricity, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Electrical Conduction [5] + Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 17 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [50].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; One Eye [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].   
Quirks: Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2) [-1].
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [195]
Replace ST+15 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [45] with ST+15 [120]
Replace HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14] with HP+10 [20]

Typical Stats

ST:

25

HP:

35

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+3

Dodge:

7

Parry:

N/A

DR:

8 (not from the back or bottom), 20 (vs. electricity)

    Fangs (10): thrust 3d-1 impaling (KYOS: 5d impaling), Reach C.
    Belch Lightning (14): The wretched belches forth a coruscating ball of electricity that does 3d burning surge damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100. Metallic armor counts as DR 1 against this attack, but nonmetallic armor protects normally. Targets stuck by this attack must make an HT roll, at -1 per 2 points of injury, or be physically stunned. On subsequent turns, they can roll HT to recover. The ball of electricity is slow enough to be dodged or blocked, but it cannot be parried. This attack behaves unpredictably around conductors; see Lightning (GURPS Magic, p. 196) for more details. Due to having only one eye, the wretched must Aim to use its full Innate Attack (Breath) skill, otherwise it is at -3.
    Extensible Tongue (13): The wretched’s tongue functions as an ST 17 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the wretched takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Electrical Conduction; Immunity to Noxious Electrical Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); Nictitating Membrane 2; No Legs (Aerial); No Manipulators; One Eye; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Then we have two more variants that are much more different from the basic one. The Doom 64 cacodemon – let’s call him the fiery cacodemon. It seems to be smaller than the normal cacodemon, so let’s use the malwrath as the base. The fiery cacodemon spits fireballs instead of lightning, so let’s change the Belch Lightning attack to Belch Fire. Let’s also replace electricity resistance with fire resistance. This monster seems more leathery, so but I would like to keep the chitin plates with non-uniform armoring of the body. Now, let’s address the elephant in the room – the arms. I will have to remove the No Manipulators disadvantage and add Sharp Claws.

Fiery Cacodemon

78 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+8 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -20%) [32]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+2; HP+7 (Size Modifier, -20%) [12]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 3 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect back and underside, -10%) [14]; Fangs [2]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Sharp Claws [5]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Fire: Burning Attack 2d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Pyrokinesis, -10%) [9].
    Fire Resistance [60]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Fire, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Noxious Fire Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 10 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [29].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; One Eye [-15]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].   
Quirks: Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2) [-1].
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [128]
Replace ST+8 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -20%) [32] with ST+8 [80]
Replace HP+7 (Size Modifier, -20%) [12] with HP+7 [14]

Typical Stats

ST:

18

HP:

25

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+2

Dodge:

7

Parry:

8 (unarmed)

DR:

3 (not from the back or bottom), 20 (vs. fire)

    Fangs (10): thrust 1d+2 impaling (KYOS: 3d-1 impaling), Reach C.
    Sharp Claws (10): thrust 1d+2 cutting (KYOS: 3d-1 cutting), Reach C-1.
    Belch Fire (14): The fiery cacodemon belches forth a ball of fire that does 2d burning damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100. The ball of fire is slow enough to be dodged or blocked, but it cannot be parried. Due to having only one eye, the fiery cacodemon must Aim to use its full Innate Attack (Breath) skill, otherwise it is at -3.
    Extensible Tongue (13): The cacodemon’s tongue functions as an ST 10 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the cacodemon takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Big Eye (Penalty to target the eye decreased by -2); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Noxious Fire Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); Nictitating Membrane 1; No Legs (Aerial); One Eye; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Finally, I have to make a Doom 3 cacodemon. It looks significantly different, so let’s call it the aberrant cacodemon. First of all, I think that this one is much less toothy, so let’s downgrade Fangs to Sharp Teeth. It does have some tentacles hanging from the bottom, but I think that those are not functional, so I’m not giving it arms. This cacodemon also have multiple eyes, so let’s remove One Eye and give it Peripheral Vision. The eyes are also small, so let’s remove the Big Eye quirk, but also let’s remove Nictitating Membrane. Just like for the fiery cacodemon, let’s replace this one’s attack with a fire attack. Now, this monster definitely does not have any rigid natural armor, so let’s give it DR 3 with Tough Skin. However, can you see its brain there? Let’s give the DR a Nuisance Effect that makes it irrelevant for vitals hit. Yeah, even though this is clearly the brain, the cacodemon has Injury Tolerance (No Head), so let’s just treat it as vitals. And that should be enough. I know that it’s supposed to be able to survive in low pressure of the Martian atmosphere, but I’m making a D&D demon here, not a sci-fi Doom monster.

Aberrant Cacodemon

64 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT+3 [30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM+3; HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14]; Will+2 [10]; Per+4 [20]; Basic Speed -1.50 [-30].
Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 3 (Nuisance Effect, Does not protect vitals, -10%; Tough Skin, -40%) [8]; Flight (Psychokinesis, -10%; Slow, -25%) [26]; Infravision [10]; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck) [12]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Resistant to Poison (+8) [7]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Unaging [15].
    Belch Fire: Burning Attack 2d (Blockable, -5%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP, -5%; Increased 1/2D, 2x, +5%; Pyrokinesis, -10%) [9].
    Fire Resistance [65]: DR 20 (Includes Eyes, +10%; Includes Internal, +20%; Limited, Fire, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) [50] + Immunity to Noxious Fire Effects [10].
    Extensible Tongue: Binding 14 (Melee Attack, Reach C-4, Cannot Parry, -20%; No DR, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Must be regrown if destroyed, -15%; One-Shot, -10%; Retractable, Can release, +100%) [41].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Hidebound [-5]; Impulsiveness (12) [-10]; No Manipulators [-50]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9) [-22]; Unusual Biochemistry [-5]; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2) [-10]; Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2) [-10].
Perks: Anarchic Touch [1]; Unholy Touch [1].   
Features: Born Biter 3; No Legs (Aerial).
Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).

Knowing Your Own Strength [154]
Replace ST+12 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%; Size Modifier, -30%) [36] with ST+12 [120]
Replace HP+10 (Size Modifier, -30%) [14] with HP+10 [20]

Typical Stats

ST:

22

HP:

32

Speed:

4

DX:

9

Will:

10

Move:

4 air

IQ:

8

Per:

12

 

 

HT:

13

FP:

13

SM:

+3

Dodge:

7

Parry:

N/A

DR:

3* (tough skin; does not protect vitals), 20 (vs. fire)

    Sharp Teeth (11): thrust 2d+1 cutting (KYOS: 4d cutting), Reach C.
    Belch Fire (14): The aberrant cacodemon belches forth a coruscating ball of fire that does 2d burning damage. The attack has Acc 3 and Range 20/100.
    Extensible Tongue (14): The aberrant cacodemon’s tongue functions as an ST 14 melee Binding (p. B40) that can grapple foes at Reach C-4 and pull them into the mouth. The tongue has no DR, but if it is destroyed, the cacodemon takes 2 HP of injury and cannot use the tongue until it recovers this injury.

    Traits: Anarchic Touch; Appearance (Monstrous); Bloodlust (12); Bully (12); Born Biter 3; Callous; Doesn’t Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Flight (Psychokinesis; Slow); Hidebound; Immunity to Noxious Fire Effects; Impulsiveness (12); Infravision; Injury Tolerance (No Head, No Neck); No Legs (Aerial); No Manipulators; Peripheral Vision; Resistant to Poison (+8); Sadism (12); Selfish (12); Social Stigma (Monster); Unaging; Uncontrollable Appetite (Flesh) (9); Unholy Touch; Unusual Biochemistry; Vulnerability (Axiomatic Weapons, x2); Vulnerability (Holy Weapons, x2).
    Skills: Brawling-11; Innate Attack (Breath)-14.
    Creature Type: Outsider (Chaotic, Evil).


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