Ways to describe encounters with demons, devils, and other unholy creatures spawned from the Lower Planes. Including much of Appendix D: Random Generation of Creatures From The Lower Planes from Gygax’s AD&D1e Dungeon Master’s Guide (p. 194)
Head…
* bat-like
* bird-like
* crocodilian
* horse-like
* human-like
* monkey-like
* snake-like
* weasel-like
Head Adornment…
* antlers
* creat or peak
* horns (1 to 4)
* knobs
* ruff
* spines
* none (bald)
* matted hair
Overall Visage…
* gibbering, drooling
* glaring, menacing
* rotting
* skeletal
* twitching, sinew moving under skin
* wrinkled, seamed
Ears…
* dog-like
* elephant-like
* human, tiny
* human, huge
* trumpet-like
* none
Eyes…
* small, multi-faceted
* small, slitted
* swivel-socketed
* stalked
* huge, flat
* huge, protruding
Eye Color…
* amber
* black
* blue
* green
* metalic
* orange-red
Nose…
* flat, misshapen
* huge, bulbous
* slits only
* snouted
* tiny
* trunk-like
Mouth…
* fanged
* mandibles
* sucker-like
* tooth, small or ridged
* toothed, large
* tusked
Body attributes/torso, bipedal…
* ape-like
* bear-like
* bird-like
* human-like
* pig-like
* rat-like
Body attributes, quadrupedal or other…
* amoeba-like
* bison-like
* cat-like
* crab-like
* horse-like
* insect-like
* serpent-like
* reptilian
* spider-like
Body odor smells like…
* animal musk
* boiling tar
* cat urine
* cooked cabbage
* decaying plants (forest rot)
* diseased feet
* fermented fish
* gangrene / rotting meat
* garbage under a summer sun
* garlic cloves
* human sweat
* mold and mildew
* raw sewage
* rotting onions
* sour herring
* spices (tumeric, cayenne, sage, thyme, cumin, cinnamon, peppercorn)
* sulfur (more like rotten eggs)
* tobacco smoke
* turpentine
* vinegar
* wet dogs
Skin…
* bald / smooth
* furred
* hairy / bristled
* leathery / leprous
* scaled
* slimy
* warted / bumping
* wrinkled / folded
Back…
* humped / hunched
* maned
* normal
* spiked/spined/ridged
* wings, bat-like
* wings, bird-like
* wings, insect-like
* wings, membranous or fan-like
Arms/Hands…
* animal-like (claws, talons)
* human-like
* insect-like (pincers)
* tentacles
Legs/Feet…
* clawed/taloned
* hooved
* human-like
* insect-like
* snake-like
* suctioned
* webbed
Wounds against the fiend…
* bleed black, inky blood
* drop scorpions and spiders
* leak clouds of gnats and flies
* leak red, purple, or green-colored smoke
* flakes of quartz, granite, or rust
* bleed fetid seawater
* bleed thick, tar-like red blood
* bleed burnt ashes
* bleed quicksilver (mercury)
* cause gouts of flame
* liquefy hacked-off fiendish flesh
* shatter fiendish flesh like glass
In the fiend’s footsteps, the ground…
* spawn maggots
* immediately rots
* burns/turns to ash
* freezes solid
* leaves bloody prints
* leaves pools of ichor/slime
* leaves prints like another beast
* spouts patches of thorns/briars
In the area surrounding the fiend…
* flames burn blue, green, or pink
* breaths form clouds of frost
* milk spoils/curls
* beasts recoil/panic/attack
* holy water boils
* stored food rots
* sleepers suffer nightmares
* babies start screaming
* plants wilt
Lawful Evil ideals…
* Might makes right. Obviously.
* The strong are obligated to take from the weak.
* Perfection is worth any price.
* Freedom and dignity are excuses for chaos.
* Differences in others are a threat to unity.
* Those not of the proper race will be purged.
* Those not of the proper faith will be purged.
* Those not native to the homeland will be purged.
* Tyranny is efficient.
* The poor have only themselves to blame.
* The poor are the poor because they are weak.
* Peace and unity require total obedience.
* The end always justifies the means.
* Doubt is always one’s worst enemy.
* It is our duty to save others from their hope.
* Fairness is an excuse for the weak to cheat.
* To save order, the cancer of freedom must be cut out.
* The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
* The wise see the invisible chains that bind the world.
* Unity is strength. Freedom is slavery.
* It is better to be feared than loved.
* Freedom is not a right, not a luxury, but a curse.
* Freedom is sickness that can and will be cured.
* Knowing your proper place is true freedom.
* Nature shows how life always evolves toward better order.
* The power to control is salvation for all.
* Mercy is a sin against justice.
* Those who have earned respect are given respect.
* The way to have power is to take it.
* Power is not preserved by timid measures.
* Never complain, just work harder.
* Oppression crushes the weak to reveal the strong.
Neutral Evil ideals…
* Greed clarifies the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
* The strong take from the weak, but no strength lasts forever.
* Power is not preserved by timid measures.
* It is better to be feared than loved.
* Mercy is a sin against justice.
* Screams are the songs of people experiencing the truth.
* The useful have value; the useless are waste to be removed.
* To your own self be true, sure. But to all others, lie.
* Follow rules only so long as they benefit you. No longer.
* One’s own pleasure is the only honest goal in life.
* Justice is determined by individuals, not laws.
* Loyalty only lasts as long as needed.
Chaotic Evil ideals…
* Consistency is a failing of weaker minds.
* There’s only one law in the cosmos: Everything changes.
* Where there is no love, there is no remorse.
* Suffering liberates hearts and minds. Sometimes literally.
* Live life on your own terms: No limits, no regrets, no survivors.
* Caring about the welfare of others is a fool’s errand.
* Emotions are the only truth, anything else is lying to one’s heart.
* Disorder always opens up new opportunities.
* The weak exist to be controlled and manipulated, not protected.
* Ultimate freedom requires ultimate power.
* The destruction of one is opportunity for growth for another.
* It’s honest work to destroy order, tradition and safety.
* Make the cost of controlling you a price too high for others to pay.
* In a perfect world, all can do whatever they want whenever they want.
* Laws only make outlaws. Anarchy makes everyone free.
* In a mad world, only the mad are sane.
* All real discoveries come from chaos.
* Laws don’t make justice. Only random chaos is truly fair.
* All governments work against liberty; that’s why we must end them.
* Order is an illusion waiting for chaos to reveal the truth.
* Pain is just weakness leaving the body… Preferably someone else’s body.
* Screams are the songs of people experiencing the truth.
* Selfish desires and broken rules are the parents of invention.
* Chaos is the law of nature; order is the rambling of ignorance.
* In the birth of anything new, there is always blood.
Other telepathic thoughts broadcast from the fiend…
* No one has ever really loved you.
* You will die alone and forgotten.
* You’ve disappointed everyone you’ve ever loved.
* Destroying yourself now avoids worse pain that’s to come.