Writober! Fiend! Shadowdark Post-a-Day In October

This month is Drawtober: 31 drawing prompts related to the Shadowdark RPG, 1 a day, each day throughout the month. But I’m borrowing the daily drawing prompts for a series of (usually short) writing prompts. Today’s prompt is “Fiend”.

Fiends in dungeons and dragons are typically devils and demons and other creatures from the Hells and abyss. On the other hand, creatures of other planes and those of the cosmic horror sub-genre are typically called “outsiders”.

When upgrading a creature or making a new one, I often look for powers from related creatures. If you’re building your own fiend, here are several abilities to consider:

• Barb. Each spine sticks, dealing [1d4] damage each round. DC __ STR check on turn to remove.
• Carrion Mist. Each time ____ hit, 3:6 chance of carrion mist in near-sized cube centered on ____. All enemies DC __ CON or violent vomiting 1d4 rounds.
• Contract. Can grant mighty boons and patronage on behalf of an archdevil in exchange for a sworn soul. ADV on related Charisma checks
• Drain. The target takes [1d6] temporary WIS damage. A target reduced to 0 WIS this way swears its soul to an archdevil.
• Hellfire. DC __ DEX or [2d8] damage per round until flames extinguished.
• Screech. All enemies in double near DC __ WIS or DISADV on checks and attacks for 1d4 rounds.
• Soulbind. All targets within near DC __ CHA or fall under control of archdevil for 1d4 rounds. DC __ CHA each turn to end the effect.