This is another of my conversions in the ongoing Creature Conversion Challenge that I have going with fellow contributor and Skirmisher monster maker, Chris Van Deelen. In past weeks each of us has created different versions of critters, based on art that the other has used in a creature they wrote up in the past. For example, Chris just wrote up my Dragodon as a Tall Croc, while last week, I wrote up the Wyvern-Hawk based on his Dreagle.

This week is a little different for me. I was perusing just one of Chris Indexes of Mutant Future monstrosities, and caught sight of the image he had used as a header for it. I knew right away that I had to write it up. When I asked Chris which creature it was, he confessed that he had not actually written it up, but liked the image enough to use it as a header.

So I wrote it up, and I challenge Chris to write it up too!

Here is my Furnace Demon. I am eager to see what Chris comes up with!

The Furnace Demon is a creation of the Wizards of the Legion of Purification, a cabal of sorcerers in the now destroyed Machine City. The Legion believed that they could excel at the constant competition and drive for power, over their rivals, by harnessing the power of the Outer Realm. Wizards occupied most of the senior positions in the Cabal’s structure, although after a while, demons began to be admitted as councilors. This may well have led to the downfall of the Cabal, if not the Machine City itself.

Furnace Demons were employed at the Demon Forge, crafting blades for sale or use by the Cabal or its warriors. Just as the Demon Forge could function independently, so too could a Furnace Demon could use any forge, but co-operation of the two offered many natural benefits. Centuries after the destruction of the Cabal, and of the Machine City, Furnace Demons sometimes still smith, having found a forge worthy of their skill. Others wander, eager to be free of their binding to the moral world, or at least eager to kill.

Fire doe no damage to Furnace Demons, and in fact heals them. Their own fire does not, but they sometimes seek out areas that are on fire to inhabit. Furnace Demons do not require the heat of a forge, and prefer to use their breath to heat metal to working temperatures.

If a Furnace Demon can be approached peaceably, it is possible that it might be bound or otherwise convinced to share its secrets of Bladesmithing. The details of this are left to the GM, but could include near-instantaneous Instruction in Bladesmithing (skill goes up 1d8+8%), the knowledge of any of the Weapon spells the demon knows, even the acquisition of the Demonblade.

Not all Furnace Demons possess a Demonblade (roll less than the demon’s POW on d100). If they do, it can be of any shape or size, as determined by the Demon who made it. The Demon can also reforge it with a breath action, altering shape or size to suit. Whatever its appearance, it has 12 AP/ 36 HP and Pierce 2 at all times, and can be enchanted temporarily or permanently thereafter. Otherwise, it functions as a weapon of its type. If the Furnace Demon is destroyed, its blade will remain behind, intact, as loot, unless the GM rolls the Demons POW x1 as a Percentage.