Fraz-Urb'luu

Description

(from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes - 2018):

All demons are liars, but Fraz-Urb’luu is the Prince of Deception and Demon Lord of Illusions. He uses every trick, every ounce of demonic cunning, to manipulate his enemies—mortal and fiend alike—to do his will. Fraz-Urb’luu can create dreamlands and mind-bending fantasies able to deceive the most discerning foes.

Once imprisoned for centuries below Castle Greyhawk on the world of Oerth, Fraz-Urb’luu has slowly rebuilt his power in the Abyss. He seeks the pieces of the legendary staff of power taken from him by those who imprisoned him, and commands his servants to do likewise.

The Prince of Deception’s true form is like that of a great gargoyle, some 12 feet tall, with an extended, muscular neck and a smiling face framed by long, pointed ears and lank, dark hair, and bat-like wings are furled against his powerful shoulders. He can assume other forms, however, from the hideous to the beautiful. Often the demon lord becomes so immersed in playing a role that he loses himself in it for a time.

Many of the cultists of Fraz-Urb’luu aren’t even aware they serve the Prince of Deception, believing their master is a beneficent being and granter of wishes, some lost god or celestial, or even another fiend. Fraz-Urb’luu wears all these masks and more. He particularly delights in aiding demon-hunters against his demonic adversaries, driving the hunters to greater and greater atrocities in the name of their holy cause, only to eventually reveal his true nature and claim their souls as his own.

Fraz-Urb-luu's Lair:

Fraz-Urb’luu’s lair lies within the Abyssal lair known as Hollow’s Heart, a featureless plain of white dust with few structures on it. The lair itself is the city of Zoragmelok, a circular fortress surrounded by adamantine walls topped with razors and hooks. Corkscrew towers loom above twisted domes and vast amphitheaters, just a few examples of the impossible architecture that fills the city.

The challenge rating of Fraz-Urb’luu is 24 (62,000 XP) when he’s encountered in his lair.

Lair Actions: On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Fraz-Urb’luu can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; he can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Fraz-Urb’luu causes up to 5 doors within the lair to become walls, and an equal number of doors to appear on walls where there previously were none.

• Fraz-Urb’luu chooses one humanoid within the lair and instantly creates a simulacrum of that creature (as if created with the simulacrum spell). This simulacrum obeys Fraz-Urb’luu’s commands and is destroyed on the next initiative count 20.

• Fraz-Urb’luu creates a wave of anguish. Each creature he can see within the lair must succeed on a DC 23 Wisdom saving throw or take 33 ((6d10)) psychic damage.

Regional Effects: The region containing Fraz-Urb’luu’s lair is warped by his magic, creating one or more of the following effects:

• Intelligent creatures within 1 mile of the lair frequently see hallucinations of long-dead friends and comrades that vanish after only a brief glimpse.

• Roads and paths within 6 miles of the lair twist and turn back on themselves, making navigation in the area exceedingly difficult.

• If a humanoid spends at least 1 hour within 1 mile of the lair, that creature must succeed on a DC 23 Wisdom saving throw or descend into a madness determined by the Madness of Fraz-Urb’luu table. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw can’t be affected by this regional effect again for 24 hours.

If Fraz-Urb’luu dies, these effects fade over the course of (1d10) days.

Madness of Fraz-Urb-luu:

If a creature goes mad in Fraz-Urb’luu’s lair or within line of sight of the demon lord, roll on the Madness of Fraz-Urb’luu table to determine the nature of the madness, which is a character flaw that lasts until cured. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more on madness.

D100:     Flaw (lasts until cured):

01-20:    “I never let anyone know the truth about my actions or intentions, even if doing so would be beneficial to me.”

21-40:    “I have intermittent hallucinations and fits of catatonia.”

41-60:    “My mind wanders as I have elaborate fantasies that have no bearing on reality. When I return my focus to the world, I have a hard time remembering that it was just a daydream.”

61-80:    “I convince myself that things are true, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

81-00:    “My perception of reality doesn’t match anyone else’s. It makes me prone to violent delusions that make no sense to anyone else.”

(from 3.5e Fiendish Codex I Supplement - 2006):

This hulking menace stands just over 18 feet tall, despite his hunched posture. His muscular body is covered with short, coarse pale-blue fur. Two black, leathery wings protrude from his back, and his coiling tail ends in a cruel razor-sharp point. His face is framed by large, ragged ears, and while his eyes are relatively small, his mouth is overly large and fi lled with fangs.

Deceptive Fraz-Urb’luu is the patron demon lord of illusionists and tricksters, a wrathful prince who only recently escaped imprisonment on the Material Plane.

Servants, Enemies, and Goals: The most signifi cant event in Fraz-Urb’luu’s recent past was his imprisonment on the Material Plane below Castle Greyhawk by the mad archmage Zagig. Fraz-Urb’luu remained imprisoned in those infamous dungeons, trapped in a bas-relief carving on a wall, for over two hundred years before he was accidentally released by a pair of adventurers whom Fraz-Urb’luu promptly repaid by destroying their gear and stranding them in his Abyssal realm.  

Since his escape, Fraz-Urb’luu has spent the past 25 years rebuilding his Abyssal realm of Hollow’s Heart and searching for his staff, a potent artifact that was stolen at the time of his imprisonment. Fueling these goals is rage—rage focused primarily on all of humanity. Fraz-Urb’luu hopes that when he has fully re-established his power over Hollow’s Heart and has reclaimed his staff, he’ll be able to bring this rage to bear on his enemies.  

Fraz-Urb’luu counts no other demon lord as an ally, because his ability to deceive them and trick them makes him a particularly hated demon lord. Rumors hold that this hatred might have encouraged some of the other demon princes to aid in Fraz-Urb’luu’s imprisonment. For now, his enemies keep a watchful eye on Hollow’s Heart but dare not move against him. He might be alone, but Fraz-Urb’luu remains one of the more powerful of the Abyssal lords nevertheless.

Strategy and Tactics: Fraz-Urb’luu is never encountered without a greater magic fang spell in effect on all of his natural weapons; the statistics above include these bonuses. He opens combat by fi rst summoning monsters and demons, sending these minions to engage the enemy while he hangs back and uses telekinesis and unholy blight to support them. 

Fraz-Urb’luu’s hatred of humanity tends to trump these tactics, though. Against humans, he prefers to close to melee immediately, focusing his physical attacks on such enemies until they are slain.  

Whenever Fraz-Urb’luu is brought below 100 hit points, he immediately uses his deception power to try to summon another demon lord, teleporting away the instant before the other demon appears.

Constrict (Ex): Fraz-Urb’luu deals 2d8+10 points of damage with a successful grapple check, in addition to damage from his tail attack. 

Deception (Sp): Fraz-Urb’luu’s most notorious ability is his knack for deceiving other powerful demon lords into believing they have been summoned by some foolish mortal. He can attempt to deceive another demon in this manner once per day as a free action. The demon can resist the summons with a successful DC 32 Will save. Since this ability is a free action, Fraz-Urb’luu often uses greater teleport to retreat elsewhere just before the deceived demon appears. Demons deceived in this manner quickly realize what has happened and usually fly into a fury and attack anything in sight as a result.

Although doing so is not beyond his ability, Fraz-Urb’luu generally avoids deceiving demons with a CR higher than his own, since he doesn’t enjoy inviting the wrath of such powerful fiends. 

Since this ability summons demons rather than calls them, they cannot perform summoning effects of their own. Likewise, they are not actually slain if defeated in combat; rather, they return whence they came in such an event. In any case, a deceived demon vanishes automatically after 2 minutes. 

This ability is the equivalent of an epic-level spell. An epic spell has no fixed level. For purposes of Concentration checks, spell resistance, and other possible situations where spell level is important, an epic spell is treated as if it were a 10th-level spell. 

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Fraz-Urb’luu must hit an opponent of any size with his tail attack. He can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If he wins the grapple check, he establishes a hold and can constrict. 

Inscrutable (Su): Fraz-Urb’luu is immune to most divination spells and effects. Attempts to scry on him are automatically foiled by a screen effect (CL 20th). FrazUrb’luu can suppress this defense by concentrating. 

Summon Tanar’ri (Sp): Once per day, Fraz-Urb’luu can automatically summon 1d4 vrocks or 1 nalfeshnee. These demons gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and Constitution due to Fraz-Urb’luu’s Augment Summoning feat.