D&D Monster Spotlight: Spined Devils
Spined devils might be classified as least devils, but they’ll always have a special place in our hearts, here at the Monster Spotlight.
We’re continuing our march through the Nine Hells as we prep for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, due out in September. Today, we arrive at the Least Devils, a classification that hails back from 1st Edition days, and signifies devils that even a basic party of adventurers can tangle with. But Spined Devils aren’t pushovers, not by a long shot. Here’s a look at their Fiendish history, starting all the way back in 1st Edition’s Fiend Folio, where Spined Devils first appear.
Here there’s not much on the Spined devils, other than that they are small fiends who are responsible for carrying messages, acting as couriers and herding lemures. These are halfling- or gnome-sized devils, but they’re also the first ones we get that have a traditionally devilish appearance: batlike wings, lashing tail, that sort of thing. These devils are cannon fodder, but can also fire their spikes as flaming darts that deal damage and can cause flammable things to burst into flame.
Like most infernal creatures, they have a number of magical powers, including the ability to control flame, change their appearance, and summon a more powerful devil with a slight chance of success.
2nd Edition devils bear the scars of the Satanic Panic, and so they aren’t devils per se. Instead they are Baatezu–and Spined Devils become Spinagons to safely hide from censors and concerned parents. Spinagons benefit from the advent of Planescape as well, with an expanded role in the fiendish hierarchy. Being promoted to a Spinagon from the pool of Dretches is a great honor, because they have room for promotion.
You might be the lowliest of devils, if you’re a Spinagon (you don’t even get the standard devil powers–but hey you do have some of your own). But you are a devil, and that means that even the other devils will look out if someone starts messing with you. It’s a double-edged sword, because speed and scaling is everything. Spinagons are basically the equivalent of entry-level workers at a startup: you’re expected to do everything from scouting out the Nine Hells for intruders, carrying messages, various errands, grabbing half-caf almond milk lattes for upper management, and gathering the armies of the Nine Hells. Hustle is everything for a Spinagon. And just as it is at a Startup, Spinagons who stick it out and help increase the numbers can find themselves quickly advancing–becoming mighty barbed devils and other things. But workers that can’t hang are subject to destruction by mid-level baatezu.
Working at a startup is literal hell is the lesson here.
3rd Edition Spined Devils are a hidden secret. They don’t appear until the Fiendish Codices come out, which reflects a much later stage of the 3.x development cycle. And their entry shows it–it’s one of the more complex entries in the various monster manuals. But Spined Devils here have a role. They are less the erranddevils and gophers of the Nine Hells–they are flocks of cruel creatures that delight in torture. They fly around shooting spikes or produce flame at creatures and are basically devilish vermin. Except they will absolutely kill a low-level party that is unprepared.
4th Edition Spinagons are early enough that they still use the 3rd Edition artwork. And they are basically a mix of the devils we know from 2nd and the devils we don’t from 3rd. These raucous vermin are commonly summoned because they are weak and easy to control. Interestingly, these are the most demonic of the devils, delighting in destruction and mayhem above all else.
Also now they’re venomous, dealing fire damage and poisoning victims they hit with their spikes.
5th Edition Spined Devils are much more devilish. With a pitchfork and everything. Like their earlier counterparts, they are still Small fiends. But devils are much cooler in 5th Edition, able to see in magical darkness and with flyby attack to help make them great skirmishers, Spined Devils are much more of a threat. Especially since they have resistance to damage from nonmagical attacks that aren’t silvered, Spined Devils make an excellent low-level villain because cultists could summon them, but your average party will still trounce them into the dirt. It will feel dire though.
And that’s the Spined Devil. Stay tuned for more fiendish friends as we venture through the Nine Hells.
Happy Adventuring!
