Devourer (Dungeons & Dragons)
| Devourer | |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Alignment | chaotic evil |
| Type | Undead |
| Image | Wizards.com image |
| Stats | Open Game License stats |
| Publication history | |
| Source books | Monster Manual 3rd edition, Monster Manual 4th edition |
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the devourer is an undead creature which lurks on the Ethereal Plane and Astral Plane.[1]
Publication history
The devourer first appeared in the second edition for the Planescape setting in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix III (1998).[2] The creature was also detailed in the Guide to the Ethereal Plane (1998).
The devourer appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000),[1] and in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003).[3] The devourer was further detailed in Dragon #355 (May 2007).[4]
The devourer appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008), including the spirit devourer, the viscera devourer, and the soulspike devourer.[5]
Description
In Dungeons & Dragons, the devourer resembles a grey, horrible mutated, malnourished, sickly, shambling humanoid. The barely-there skin on its chest is opened up, revealing the completely dry and empty ribcage.
A devourer has the ability to spray a poisonous fog that instantly traps a foe, and the trapped being takes on an effigy in the devourer's ribcage. This captured life essence sustains the devourer's unnatural life force and gives it the ability to cast five spells. A creature trapped within a devourer's ribcage is unable to escape unless it still has remaining life essence when the devourer is killed. If a trapped creature's life essence has been exhausted by the devourer's spells, it cannot be resurrected without the use of a very powerful spell.
In the game, devourers speak Common and are chaotic evil in alignment.[1]
Other media
Miniatures
Two Dungeons & Dragons miniatures represent devourers. The first, simply called "Devourer", was a Rare miniature in the Unhallowed expansion. The second, an uncommon, was the "Visceral Devourer" in the Against the Giants expansion.
Other publishers
The devourer is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Undead Revisited (2011), on pages 10–15.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ↑ Cook, Monte. Monstrous Compendium Planescape Compendium III (TSR, 1998)
- ↑ Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
- ↑ Stephens, Owen K.C. "The Ecology of the Devourer." Dragon #355 (Paizo Publishing, 2007)
- ↑ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
- ↑ Cagle, Eric, Brian Cortijo, Brandon Hodge, Steve Kenson, Hal Maclean, Colin McComb, Jason Nelson, Todd Stewart, and Russ Taylor. Undead Revisited (Paizo, 2011)