There are plenty of different enemy types inDungeons & Dragons.

Which dragon is your favorite?

One of the many archetypes of monsters that you could run as a DM is the fiend.

Dungeons and Dragons - 5 Strongest Named Dragons

Especially something as varied as fiends.

The Nine Hells, Avernus, the Abyss, etc.

are all so-called lower realms.

ghoul with long tongue in crypt holding severed arm

These “fiendish” realms are those of evil incarnate.

But, evil comes in all shapes and sizes.

That way you might better realize when they should appear during your adventures.

A split image of a ranger drawing a bow with an ancient ruin in DnD.

Fiends want the evil of their home planes to spread.

But, you’re free to go beyond that.

Knowing their power levels and inherent abilities is the first step to understanding what to throw at your party.

Asmodeus sits on a throne, wielding a scepter. He has red horns and wears dark red and black robes.

Asmodeus the Archfiend by Aleksi Briclot

Nightmares will be the least of your adventuring party’s problems when they encounter these beasts.

But, most also have resistance to fire and aren’t bothered by low-light areas.

They don’t have to just be the fantasy versions of cannon fodder though.

Split image of the arch devil Zariel flying and a humanoid holding a skull.

Descent To Avernus art via Wizards Of The Coast

Fiends can be great NPCs to encounter for your adventuring party.

Baubles and trinkets, gold and silver, all mean little to them.

So it can be hard to win the favor of a demon or devil with a coin purse.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing Avernus with spikey ground and fiery comets.

Avernus by Kent Davis

They do, however, appreciate the inherent cost of a soul.

Using this odd economy that fiends align with means anything your party asks of them will definitely cost something.

It doesn’t have to be a member’s soul per-se, but it should make them think.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a pit fiend.

Art by Eric Belisle

This also goes for when your party loots a fiend, especially a high-level one.

1Hesitant Information

Shake On It?

With that kind of lifespan comes with a knowledge of decades, if not hundreds of years.

Orcus from Dungeons & Dragons, a large demon lord with the skull of an animal and large horns.

Orcus 5th Edition via Wizards of the Coast.

This means fiends make great ways to let your party know special information.

For a price that is.

Put your party through the moral and ethical conundrum of making deals with devils.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing several tiefling playing cards.

Tieflings playing cards by Clint Cearley

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a paladin fighting monsters.

Art by Bryan Sola

An adventurer is afflicted with a magical demonic curse in Dungeons & Dragons.

Demonic Possession by Alexandre Honoré

A demon queen of fungi with purple hair examining a mushroom spore in Dungeons & Dragons.

Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungi by Dawn Carlos

Zariel wielding a blue, blowing sword in Dungeons & Dragons.

Sword of Zariel via Wizards of the Coast

D&D Tiefling Drunken Master

Tiefling Drunken Master via Wizards of the Coast

dungeons-and-dragons-series-game-tabletop-franchise

Tabletop