Nupperibo

Description

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

No soul is turned away from the Nine Hells, but the truly worthless — those whose evil acts in life arose from carelessness and sloth more than anything else — are suitable only to become nupperibos. These pitiful creatures shuffle mindlessly across the landscape: blind, bloated from unquenchable hunger, and groping for whatever scraps of fetid matter or swarming vermin they can scoop into their groaning mouths.

Nauseating Bulk. Individually, nupperibos are pathetic, but they’re rarely alone and can be dangerous when gathered into packs. They herd together into throngs that can clog a vital passage or an entire valley. Clouds of stinging insects, stirges, and other vermin surround them in a terrifying, reeking sheath that torments any non-devil that draws near.

Hunger Unending. A nupperibo knows nothing but the hunger that propels it on a blind quest for anything to devour. Once it senses a potential meal, it pursues that prey tirelessly until the food is consumed, the nupperibo is slain, or some other morsel crosses the fiend’s path and distracts it.

Slavish Obedience. With no interest of its own beyond the need to consume, a nupperibo obeys unthinkingly any command it receives telepathically from another devil. This blind loyalty makes them the easiest of infernal troops to lead into battle, but their presence in a legion does nothing to elevate its general’s status.

(From Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006):

This bloated creature waddles about, clutching a massive sawtooth halberd in its hands. Though its eyes and mouth are sewn shut, this thing mumbles a shriek as it senses your presence.

Nupperibos are tormented devils forced to take on pathetic, weak forms for their failures.

A common belief among the fiends is if a baatezu cannot perform its task to the satisfaction of its betters, a demotion best serves to hammer home the import of duty. Some such devils are sent to the pain devils for instructions in the virtue of obedience. These torturers subject their victims to maddening torments, carving off bits of flesh, sewing shut their eyes and mouths, sealing their ears with lead, filling their bodies with corruption, and essentially removing all evidence of their former form. The process of this transformation is complete once the pain devils extract the fi end’s brain, drawing the organ out through its nostrils. The new creature is a shuddering wreck, a nearly mindless entity trapped in a hellish state of absolute horror.  

Bone devil overseers gather herds of nupperibos for war. They arm them with crude weapons and relocate them to the frontlines of the Blood War, where they lead the charge against the demonic hordes. It is possible for a lucky nupperibo to regain its status, though it is rare. Few devils survive combat while being both blind and deaf, so most wind up lining the gullet of a rampaging demon.  

In other cases, a devil might hold a lieutenant that failed an important task—yet could still prove useful—in nupperibo form until such time as the master feels its minion could be productive again. Or a devil might steal the nupperibo form of a onetime advisor or general to an enemy. By reversing the process, the devil can extract useful intelligence or even find a willing ally. Rumor has it that Asmodeus sometimes orders a nupperibo granted to a mortal as a servant, then spreads rumors that the nupperibo is the tormented form of a once-important member of his court. The resulting intrigue amuses him to no end. 

Environment: Nupperibos are like vermin in the Nine Hells of Baator. They can turn up almost anywhere because their handlers often lose track of them in the chaos of battle. In civilized areas of Hell, they serve as beasts of burden and slave labor, as well as performing other simple physical roles.  

Typical Physical Characteristics: A nupperibo is about 5 feet tall and 250 pounds. All of them have a few minor traits that mark their previous forms—a tattoo, a pattern of scars, strange colored skin, or some other remnant of its old form always persists.

Society: To the residents of Hell, nupperibos are a disposable resource continually renewed by the endless struggles for social and political dominance among the baatezu. 

Alignment: Nupperibos are always lawful evil. Though almost mindless, they follow the orders of higher-rank devils without question or doubt, and their true wickedness is revealed in the malevolent joy they display when they are sent forth into battle. 

Typical Treasure: Nupperibos never have treasure, unless they are tasked to guard a caretaker’s goods. Whatever items they manage to scavenge from the battlefi eld are promptly taken from them by their handlers.

Combat: Nupperibos have little independent will aside from an instinctual urge to hurt those around them. They respond to the telepathic commands of other devils, making them ideal soldiers for fighting in the Blood War. Most groups of nupperibos have a spinagon leader. But even when directed, nupperibos don’t fight with finesse or any sense of strategy. They simply amble forward, lashing out blindly with whatever weapon they have in hand.

Nupperibos attack en masse in an effort to overwhelm their targets with raw numbers. They lack any inventive or interesting tactics. Instead, they typically serve to distract an opponent while the true threat moves into position. Many stronger devils rely on nupperibos to cover a retreat, occupy an enemy, or otherwise absorb attacks that could have targeted more valuable units.  

Individual (CR 2): A solitary nupperibo is usually separated from the rest of its mob, the last survivor of a suicidal nupperibo attack, or a “gift” bestowed upon a weak but promising mortal.

(From Planescape: Monstrous Compendium Appendix I (1994):

Nupperibos are baatezu petitioners, slightly higher in station than the lemures. They are lowly and woeful beings, used as fighting, feeding, and tormenting stock by all baatezu from the pit fiends on down. 

Nupperibos are much like lemures in appearance, but are even less defined than those creatures. Nupperibos are amorphous, vaguely humanoid monsters with no discernible features. They have appendages that might be construed as arms and head.

Nupperibos are blind, deaf, and mute.

Nupperibos exist by the hundreds of thousands on the first and second layers of Baator. They are the remanants of lawful evil creatures not sufficiently malign to become lemures. Nupperibos readily obey all commands from superiors in order to lessen their torment, and thus are accorded a slightly higher station than lemures; they are considered least baatezu. 

There is, however, a unique and curious relationship between the lemures and the nupperibos. The nupperibos are slightly higher in station than the lemures, hut they can never become higher forms of baatezu without first being demoted to lemure status. Doubtless some greater power in Baator has set the advancement path that way for its own fiendish reasons. 

Nupperibos are commonly used as trading stock to the yugoloths in return for their mercenary services. Like the baatezu, the yugoloths treat the nupperibos horribly and ultimately consume them.

Nupperibos have no intelligence, but are sensitive to mental commands from stronger baatezu and never disobey those commands. 

When a nupperibo is destroyed, it reforms into another nupperibo. However, there is a 1% chance that it becomes a lemure. Although this means a reduction in station (however slight), it also means a chance to become a spinagon in the future. Whether left in Baator or traded to yugolotbs, nupperibos lead a completely wretched existence. Lower planar creatures consider them insignificant.

Combat: Nupperibos. like lemures, attack any nonbaatezu they encounter in Baator, heedless of their own safety. They need never check morale, for they fight until destroyed. 

A nupperibo attacks with two claws (ld2 points .. of damage each). When they form armies, they receive weapons, though seldom anything better than a club. In these cases, they do damage as per weapon type. 

They regenerate 1 hit point per round in Baator or any other lower plane. Any piece of a nupperibo, including its burnt ashes, regenerates. Only holy water, a holy sword, or other sanctified weapon can destroy one permanently.

The mindless nupperibos are immune to all mind-affecting spells such as charm person or illusions. Of hte special powers common to all baatezu, nupperibos may only use cause fear, and that only under orders and when at least 10 nupperibo all attack the same defender.