#hadriel
Image by Sam Wood, © Green Ronin Publishing
[Commissioned by Soluman Blevins. Hadriel first appeared in the 3.0 book Legions of Hell, as the leader of two whole factions of devils, the Submitted and the Obeyed. This was yet another “BDSM is Evil” themed monster, which were a common theme in RPGs trying to be “edgy” in the 90s and 00s. And her backstory, rebelling against the misogyny of Hell, gives her original flavor text something of a girlboss vibe. I have nothing against either BDSM or rebelling against misogyny, so I wanted to make sure there was something genuinely evil about my take on Hadriel. Long story short, Hadriel is a TERF.
There is a 5e conversion of The Book of Fiends, which has rather more of an art budget and is in full color. I don’t like that rendition of Hadriel as much; she’s more conventionally beautiful and doesn’t even have visible bone hooks. Sam Wood’s more extreme take is very cool and very HR Giger meets Clive Barker. I suspect Hadriel might even have been an influence on Magic: the Gathering’s Elesh Norn, with the sweeping headdress and corset of gore.]
Hadriel
Duchess of Domination, Lady Cindara, Mistress
Concernsaristocracy, radical feminism, sadomasochism
DomainsCharm, Evil, Law, Nobility
SubdomainsAristocracy, Devil, Lust, Tyranny
Worshipersfemale supremacists,noblewomen, slavers
Minionserinyes, handmaiden devils, kytons
Unholy Symbol a crossed sickle and riding crop
Favored Weapon sickle
Obediencespend one hour inflicting pain on a sapient creature without killing it. You may use yourself for this purpose if you do not have a subject on hand. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saves against the staggered and stunned conditions.
Boons1:eagle’s splendor 2/day; 2: charm monster 2/day; 3: waves of ecstasy2/day (as 6th level spell)
Malebranche, Hadriel
CR 21 LE Outsider (extraplanar)
This giant humanoid is cruelly thin, with violet skin stretched over bone. Her face is beautiful, but cruel, and a mane of spines grows from the back of her head. Bony hooks protrude from her wrists, and she wears a corset made of bones and a skirt made of tanned leather.
Hadriel, the Duchess of Domination, is a powerful and ambitious devil who became a malebranche on her own initiative. Originally an erinyes, she expected and demanded more power, eventually carving her own body into a stronger and more monstrous form and joining the court of Mephistopheles. In the misogynistic hierarchies of Hell, this entailed acting as a consort to a male pit fiend, who met with a “tragic accident” and had his resources usurped by Hadriel. She has since moved to the Material Plane as her primary base, seeking to sacrifice an entire planet to Hell in order to curry Asmodeus’ favor and gain further advancement. Part of this process has been spurring a cult to form on her behalf, granting her a sliver of divine power.
Hadriel is a sadistic combatant, and although she can end fights in an instant with her mind controlling abilities, prefers to drag them out. She wants to leave enemies broken, beaten and humiliated before making them her slaves. She has two auras, the first inspiring fear and the second an enthralling mental weakness. In melee, she fights with her bone hook and quill-like horns, but rarely fights alone, instead working along with a squad of bodyguards and thralls. She has no compunctions about abandoning a losing battle, leaving her minions behind to die as punishment for their failure.
The Duchess of Domination has shapechanging abilities, and commonly travels the Material Plane under the guise of Lady Cindara, a woman of great wealth and vague royal descent. Lady Cindara is the leader of the Shrieking Violet Society, a women’s club that acts as a front for Hadriel’s cult. Every headquarters is the site of an infernal sigil, part of a plan to transform an entire planet into a magic circle and transport it physically into Hell. Initially, the Shrieking Violet Society seems to be a place for upper class women to converse and advocate for their position, but the more initiated one becomes, the crueler revelations are made. Hadriel’s experiences with misogyny have warped her perspective into a complete reversal, envisaging a perfect society where “proper women” completely dominate men and rule over them with an iron fist. The Shrieking Violet definition of a “proper woman” is narrow, and trans women, gender nonconforming people and others who do not fit their criteria are seen as abominations to be exterminated.
Hadriel stands ten feet tall in her natural form. Her pride prevents her from ever assuming male guise through shapeshifting or illusion magic.
Hadriel CR 21
XP 409,600
LE Large outsider (devil, extraplanar, evil, lawful, malebranche, shapechanger)
Init+11;Sensesdarkvision 60 ft., detect chaos, detect good, Perception +37, see in darkness, true seeing
Aurafrightful presence (60 ft., Will DC 34), heady perfume (10 ft., Will DC 31)
Defense
AC37, touch 25, flat-footed 26(-1 size, +11 Dex, +5 deflection, +12 natural)
hp391 (27d10+243); regeneration 10 (good, silver)
Fort+19,Ref+26,Will+24
DR20/good and silver; Immunecharm and compulsion effects, death effects, fire, poison; Resistacid 30, cold 30; SR32
Defensive Abilities pain to pleasure
Offense
Speed40 ft.
Melee2 claws +35 (2d8+9/19-20 plus grab), gore +35 (2d6+9)
Space10 ft.; Reach10 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d8+13), utter domination
Spell-like Abilities CL 21st, concentration +32 (+36 casting defensively)
Constant—detect chaos, detect good, tongues, true seeing
At will—charm monster (DC 25), greater command (DC 26), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), misdirection(DC 24)
3/day—dream, false vision (DC 26), geas/quest, greater dispel magic, mass inflict pain (DC 27), mass suggestion (DC 27), nightmare(DC 26), veil(DC 27), quickened waves of ecstasy (DC 27)
1/day—irresistible dance, mass hold monster (DC 30), overwhelming presence(DC 30), summon (9th level, 1 devil of CR 20 or lower, 100%), unholy aura (DC 29)
Statistics
Str28,Dex32,Con27,Int30,Wis25,Cha33
Base Atk +27;CMB+37 (+41 grapple); CMD64
FeatsCombat Casting,Combat Reflexes,Critical Focus,Deceitful,Deflect Arrows (B),Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (claw), Iron Will, Quicken SLA (waves of ecstasy), Persuasive, Power Attack,Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Toughness
SkillsBluff +45, Diplomacy +45, Disguise +45, Intimidate +45, Knowledge (arcana, history, local, religion) +37, Knowledge (nobility, planes) +40, Perception +37, Perform (oratory) +38, Sense Motive +37, Spellcraft +37, Stealth +37, Use Magic Device +38
LanguagesCelestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 300 ft., tongues
SQchange shape (humanoid or animal, greater polymorph)
Ecology
Environmentany land or urban (Hell)
Organizationunique
Treasuretriple standard (ring of protection +5, rod of splendor, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Heady Perfume (Su) Hadriel exudes a cloying scent that clouds the mind. Any creature within 10 feet of Hadriel must succeed a DC 31 Will save or be affected as per a mind fog spell, taking a -10 penalty to Wisdom checks and Will saves while in the aura and for 2d6 rounds thereafter. A creature that succeeds its save is immune to Hadriel’s heady perfume for the next 24 hours. Hadriel may use this perfume even when in another form. This is a mind-influencing compulsion effect, and the save DC is Constitution based.
Malebranche Traits (Ex/Su) Hadriel is a malebranche, a powerful unique fiend. She possesses the following traits:
- Immunity to charm and compulsion effects, death effects, fire, and poison.
- Resistance to acid 30 and cold 30.
- Telepathy 300 feet.
- Hadriel’s natural weapons, as well as any weapon she wields, are treated as epic, evil and lawful for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Pain to Pleasure (Ex) Hadriel makes no saves against pain effects, but gains benefits instead of penalties. Any damage dealt by a pain effect are treated as temporary hit points that last for 1 hour or until expended. Any penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill and ability checks or damage become morale bonuses to those rolls that last for the duration of the effect.
Utter Domination (Su) Three times per day, Hadriel can control the will of another creature within 60 feet as a standard action. Treat this as a dominate monster effect (Will DC 34, CL 27th), except that the creature gains no saving throw against actions against their nature. The dominated creature can make a saving throw to resist an obviously self-destructive command, but if it succeeds that saving throw resists that command specifically for the next 24 hours, not breaking the domination effect completely. This is a mind influencing compulsion effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.
