Darkness - Legend

Large Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar)

Hit Dice: 20d8+160 (250 hp)
Initiative: +9
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 35 (-1 size, +5 Dex, +21 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 30
Base Attack/Grapple: +20/+34
Attack: Claw +29 melee (2d6+10)
Full Attack: 2 claws +29 melee (2d6+10) and gore +27 melee (2d8+5)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Aura of Despair, Command Darkness, Corrupting Touch, Dominate Will, Spell-Like Abilities
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 15/good and silver, Darkvision 120 ft., Immunity to cold and fear, Resistance to fire 20, Spell Resistance 30, Regeneration 10 (good-aligned weapons), Unholy Resilience, Vulnerability to Light
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +17, Will +21
Abilities: Str 30, Dex 20, Con 26, Int 22, Wis 24, Cha 30
Skills: Bluff +33, Concentration +31, Diplomacy +35, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (religion) +29, Listen +30, Sense Motive +30, Spot +30
Feats: Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (darkness), Multiattack, Ability Focus (Dominate Will)
Environment: Any land or underground (especially shadowed realms)
Organization: Solitary or with corrupted fey and fiendish servants
Challenge Rating: 18
Treasure: Standard (often includes powerful cursed artifacts)
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 21–30 HD (Large), 31–40 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

Description:

Darkness manifests as a towering, horned figure of terrible majesty, his form equal parts physical perfection and infernal nightmare. His crimson flesh gleams like polished stone, every contour sculpted with unnatural symmetry, while vast black horns sweep upward from his skull in a crown-like arc. His presence is overwhelming - not merely because of his size, but because of the oppressive awareness that he is watching, judging, and wanting.

Shadows gather unnaturally around him, clinging to his body and stretching outward in defiance of any light source. Even in full illumination, the world seems dimmer in his presence, as though brightness itself recoils from him. His voice is smooth, resonant, and dangerously persuasive, carrying the weight of absolute certainty.

There is a calculated duality to Darkness. Though immensely strong, he does not rely on brute force alone. He is patient, philosophical, and deeply fascinated with the corruption of purity. Violence is merely one expression of his will - his true power lies in temptation, manipulation, and inevitability.

Special Attacks:

Aura of Despair (Su): Creatures within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 28 Will save or take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Command Darkness (Su): Darkness can control and reshape shadows within 100 feet as a swift action. This functions as deeper darkness at will. In addition, he may grant himself concealment (20% miss chance) or total concealment (50%) as a free action once per round as shadows bend to his will.

Corrupting Touch (Su): Melee touch attack deals 2d6 Constitution damage (Fort DC 28 half). A creature reduced to 0 Constitution by this ability rises in 1d4 rounds as a shadow under Darkness’s control.

Dominate Will (Su): As a standard action, Darkness may dominate a creature as per dominate monster (CL 20th, Will DC 30 negates). Creatures affected by his Aura of Despair take a -4 penalty on this saving throw.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will - darkness, deeper darkness, detect good, detect thoughts, suggestion (DC 26); 3/day - blasphemy, unholy aura, fear (DC 25), greater dispel magic; 1/day - power word stun, mass suggestion (DC 28). Caster level 20th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.

Special Qualities:

Unholy Resilience (Su): Darkness adds his Charisma modifier as a bonus to all saving throws (included above).

Regeneration (Ex): Darkness regenerates 10 hit points per round. Good-aligned weapons deal normal damage. If reduced to 0 hit points, Darkness dissolves into shadow and reforms in 1d10 days unless destroyed within an area of pure, overwhelming light.

Vulnerability to Light (Ex): In bright natural sunlight or within the area of a daylight spell, Darkness takes a -4 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, and Armor Class, and his regeneration is suppressed. If exposed to intense, concentrated light (such as a unicorn’s horn or equivalent artifact), he takes 5d6 points of damage per round and cannot regenerate.

Lore:

Darkness is not simply a fiend, nor a ruler of any conventional infernal hierarchy. He is the embodiment of an idea - the inevitable corruption of innocence when it is placed under strain. Where demons revel in chaos and devils in tyranny, Darkness represents something more absolute: the quiet, patient certainty that purity cannot endure forever.

Scholars and occult philosophers have long debated his origin. Some claim he emerged from the deepest layers of the Lower Planes, while others insist he predates them entirely - a metaphysical counterweight to creation itself. In these rarer theories, Darkness is not born, but called into being whenever light becomes too pure, too unchallenged.

His fascination with mortals is deeply selective. He is drawn to innocence, beauty, and virtue, not out of admiration, but out of purpose. To corrupt such things is, to him, an act of cosmic significance. The fall of a single pure soul is more meaningful than the destruction of entire cities steeped in vice.

Legends consistently tie his presence to the destruction or corruption of unicorns and other embodiments of purity. Whether literal or symbolic, the pattern is unmistakable - where innocence stands at its peak, Darkness will arrive to test it, and more often than not, to claim it. 

From Legend (1985)