Hell fiends are primordial creatures formed of the very essence of the Realm of Abomination, sometimes simply referred to as Hell Beasts. As with anything from the Realm of Abomination, Hell Fiends take on a twisted and corrupted form that is a mockery of the true creation. Little more than beasts they serve their own natural instinct, driven primarily by an insatiable appetite for the souls of the Third Creation, which they devour at every opportunity.
This puts them at odds with the schemes and plans of Demons and Devils, who have their own uses for the souls of the Third Creation. As a means of preventing the unwanted devouring of souls, Demons and Devils have both been known to attempt to tame Hell Fiends, even keeping them as pets or using them as mounts when they ride to battle, feeding them only enough to prevent them from running wild. Hungry Hell Beasts make for particularly vicious pets. Those Hell Fiends which cannot be tamed or that grow too hungry to be controlled are instead unleashed as a weapon against their foes in the never ending battles that take place in the Realm of Abomination.
While not naturally occurring in the Realm of Strife, they can be summoned by demons or cultists. Alternately, they sometimes find their way to the Realm of Strife when a natural beast is exposed to demonic energies, akin to a primal form of possession.
Because they don’t belong in the Realm of Strife, Hell Fiends must devour souls to remain outside of the Realm of Abomination, allowing them to sustain their physical substance in a realm where they do not belong. With a sated appetite they can exist in the Realm of Strife, or any other Realm, indefinitely. However, the larger and more powerful they are the more souls it takes to sustain them, so when kept as pets or guard animals in the Realm of Strife extreme care must be taken to ensure they are properly fed. Sensing that their hunger may soon cause their physical substance to perish they will become highly aggressive and irrational.
Whether dying from soul hunger, or falling in battle, when a Hell Fiend is slain it doesn’t truly die. Instead, its Demonic Spirit returns to the churning endless chaos within the Realm of Abomination where it is eventually reborn into a new body, starting its life cycle anew.
Hell Fiend Metargroups
The Codex of Creation separates Hell Fiends into the same Metagroups used by natural Beasts, each with common characteristics:
- Aquatic
- Arthropod
- Avian
- Invertebrate
- Mammal
- Reptile
- Chimera (a mixture of 2 or more species)
Hell Fiend Classes
Hell Fiends can be subdivided into several classes, that characterize the combat and defensive styles employed when engaged in battle:
- Aerial: uses flight as a weapon or means of escape/evasion
- Ambusher: uses stealth and natural environments to its advantage to mask its presence until ready to spring upon its prey
- Brute: uses pure physical violence to overwhelm and intimidate enemies
- Burrower: capable of tunneling through the ground and often surprising foes by bursting onto the battlefield with a variety of effects
- Disabler: uses venom, poison or other means of disabling enemies, often at range
- Herd: use strength of numbers for natural protection and often try to avoid combat, but also possess trample effects that can crush enemies beneath their hooves
- Magical: uses magical powers or natural abilities that mimic magic for self defense or to overcome prey, often at range
- Pack Hunter: gains bonuses when fighting or hunting with other beasts of the same type
- Protector: uses natural abilities or adaptations to protect its territories or targets that it deems important, often capable of drawing enemies attention to itself and possessing natural defenses that make it tougher than most other beasts
Hell Fiend Ranks
| Rank/Age | Typical Size | Description |
| Whelp | Medium | Regardless of how powerful it was at its death, when a Hell Fiend’s spirit reforms in the Realm of Abomination it must begin anew as a relatively weak and unimpressive creature compared to the other denizens of Hell. However it will never stop growing and in time will mature into an “adult” once more. |
| Fiend (Adult) | Large | The majority of Hell Fiends fall into this category, and though little more than a common beast in the Realm of Abomination they can be a dire threat if they find their way to the Realm of Strife. |
| Elder | Huge | It is rare for a Hell Fiend to survive long enough in the Realm of Abomination to grow to the size of an Elder Fiend. Those that do would be thousands of years old by the reckoning of mortals. They are highly prized by Demon Overlords and the Devils of the Abyssal Court. |
| Ancient | Massive | Ancient Hell Fiends are exceptionally rare and have grown to sizes that rival even dragons. They are wild and strong willed, and only the most powerful Demons or Devils would dare try to control one. A single Ancient Fiend let loose against an enemy could decimate an entire army. |
| Progenitor | Gargantuan | Its unknown if any Hell Fiends have grown to this size, but if so they would have to have been among the first Hell Fiends to ever exist. |
Codex of Hell Fiends
The Codex of Hell Fiends is the master list of all Hell Fiends available as enemies for Realm of Strife GMs. While the framework for all known Hell Fiends exists, not all entries are currently complete. It does not contain all known Hell Fiends, but the list continues to expand as designers create new entries in the codex.
If you are looking for a Hell Fiend that does not appear in this list please please contact us and request that an entry be added to the codex and we will endeavor to publish your request in a timely manner.