Ape Demon [Lesser Tanar'ri]

Ape demons look like orangutans, with deep reddish-brown fur and grayish-brown skin where it shows. Their faces are terrifying, and each limb ends in six digits tipped with sharp, wicked claws. They lope along on all fours but prefer to climb through trees, rafters and vines, where they move faster. They speak by telepathy.

Ambush is their style. Masters of camouflage, they shift their coloring like chameleons over one full round, which gives them the equivalent of a 95% hide in shadows skill. They can spring 40' and attack ferociously in the same round, ganging up to overwhelm one unlucky target with claws (1d6) and bite (2d6).

On top of the common tanar'ri powers they use, at 6th level, change self, invisibility and spectral force (each twice a day), plus telekinesis, plant growth, entangle, dispel magic, detect invisibility and a fear-inducing touch. Once a day they may try to gate in 1-6 more ape demons, with a 35% chance.

Small packs roam the Abyss, sometimes scouting for armies in the endless war between demons and devils. Shunning other tanar'ri, they keep to their own kind when hunting, obeying only fiends obviously stronger than themselves.

In some regions they gather into tribes of 300 or more that cut themselves off from Abyssal affairs and set up a crude 'government', the only one in the Abyss. Tribal ape demons obey no other tanar'ri, trusting their numbers to shield them from the true tanar'ri's anger, though stories tell of a balor wiping out an entire rebellious tribe.

Not quite beasts but far from bright, ape demons come closer than any other tanar'ri to being mere animals, and stronger fiends punish them with special cruelty when they step out of line. Unlike their kin, they feel no hatred for the baatezu.