How to determine stats of the rulers of the Nine Hells?

Question

When reading in the DMG about the Nine Hells, I got curious what Asmodeus' powers actually might be. I was assuming I would find this in the MM, but I couldn't find even a hint. The section about the devils mentions a lot about the Nine Hells and who is ruling where and so on.

But there are no stats for any of them, just stats for their vassals. And I could also see no hint of how I might modify the "common" devils to represent the Dukes nor anything else.

So is this all up to me to create the stats of well-known lore "bosses"? Or am I just overlooking some info about how to extract this from or modify common monsters to form important known ones?

Answer 1

Powerful devils like Asmodeus have never been mere 'pit fiends'. Indeed, none of the Archdevils nor their Demon Lord counterparts could possibly be mapped to anything in the 5e MM.

If you absolutely must have statistics, you'll have to create them yourself at this point.

We aren't completely in the dark on how to do it. Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide offers some insight into Asmodeus' character under his description as a deity. The Rise of Tiamat presents stats for an avatar of Tiamat, and Out of the Abyss has stats for several very different Demon Lords. Asmodeus' avatar (remember Asmodeus is a Forgotten Realms deity currently) should easily be on par with Tiamat's avatar and make even Demogorgon and Orcus look weak by comparison. Don't be afraid to throw out all the stops.

If you still need ideas on what powers Asmodeus should have, then I'd recommend looking up in entry in the 3.5e Book of Vile Darkness. It cannot be mapped directly to 5e, of course, but reading through it should give you an idea of who and what Asmodeus is.

Answer 2

Deities aren't defined in any of the books because the deities themselves can't be defined

Just like any real religion, the way everyone interprets gods is different in D&D 5e as well; some are like Greek Gods, who come to earth often, make mistakes, and act mostly human, but are immortal. (This is similar to the deities that can make avatars listed in the DM Guide).

These avatars are the gods power given form, and allow gods to act on the mortal planes without seriously distorting life and and magic, and often possess some of their power, but killing them simply Inconveniences the the deity, rather than actually hurting them.

Some compare them to the Norse gods who were essentially just magic people, who could be met, beaten, and could die. (Second level of god).

As a DM, it's up to your interpretation if Asmodeus can even be defined by the rules of monsters set in the Monster Manual. For instance, Solars are comparable to the Lords of Hell. Not the Balor (or its devil equivalent) but the actual lords. However, even a Solar doesn't get close to the power of the deity that it serves, so really it's up to personal choice on how to depict the god.