Buerozas, sometimes called steel devils, are baatezu soldiers, lesser devils who fight on the front lines in the wars of the Nine Hells.[1][2]
Description[]
Steel devils are humanoid figures that stand six feet tall and weigh two-hundred forty pounds. Their armor is covered in dust and cobwebs, and every gap and hole in their suits is completely sealed shut. Once slain, steel devils collapse into piles of junk, the fine steel used to construct their armor warping into worthless lead. They move with daunting inevitability, like lumbering beasts, but wield their weapons with fluid, if ponderous motions.[1]
Personality[]
Steel devils are consummate soldiers, beings who exist to fight and destroy Hell's foes and who have no motivation beyond marching in step towards battle. They are disciplined and loyal creatures compelled by duty to commit acts of terrible evil. They are naturally intelligent but somewhat lacking in wisdom, as demonstrated by their lacking survival skills.[1]
Abilities[]
Steel devils are slow, but strong and sturdy. They can strike with such tremendous force that it forces their opponents away, and they are immune to all manner of effects, including those that affect the mind, put one to sleep, stun, paralyze, and cause instant death. At will they can use greater command, haste themselves, and cast scare as spell-like abilities.[1]
In terms of unique abilities, steel devils can produce a horrid, rhythmic, shrieking chant, a sound like metal rasping against metal, that befuddles the mind and senses, making it difficult to cast spells. More buerozas join in this unholy chorus, making it ever more unbearable for those too close.[1]
Combat[]
Steel devils are fighters by nature and generally only specialize further with time. Many become quite skilled in arms, usually wielding masterwork cold iron greatswords. Typically this experience comes from hard-fought Blood War battles and combat against the forces of good. They also benefit from battling alongside others of their kind, being almost preternaturally good formation fighters, and are less dangerous the less of them there are.[1]
Steel devils may lack the sheer power of other combat-focused devils, but they more than compensate with their keen intellect and talent for battlefield control. They are cunning opponents who use a variety of tactics to overcome the enemy, and their natural mental acuity helps them benefit from combat experiences, expand their tactical repertoire, and master new tricks. They specialize in locating and slaying especially troublesome spellcasters and magically adept demons.[1]
Typically steel devils fight by hastening themselves and beginning their chant before focusing on commanding spellcasters towards themselves while scaring away weaker, armored foes. They maximize use of their strength, such as by attacking a warrior such that he's pushed away before moving on a spellcaster now that they're unimpeded and/or moving vulnerable casters even further away from the melee combatants trying to protect them. The more skilled become even better at controlling the battlefield by learning to trip and disarm the enemy.[1]
Society[]
Native to the Nine Hells, steel devils go wherever they are ordered to. They might fight on Avernus in the Blood War, invade the Upper Planes, or even battle their own kind in the struggles between archdevils. If not engaged in combat, they return to their barracks in the depths of infernal citadels and stand by, ready for the conflicts to come.[1]
Bueroza are most likely to be encountered in squadrons, platoons of four that fight in tight two by two formations. While the front rank fights in melee, the rear manipulates the enemy with spell-like abilities, switching places if the front become too vulnerable. They can fight in pairs, where one focuses on a spellcaster while the other holds back the other enemies, or in even larger regiments.[1]
Steel devils are intensely loyal to one another and their commanders, but have little use for other devils. This is particularly the case with orthons, who outmatch them in raw strength and who they see as rivals, and it is not unheard of for bueroza to cut their way through a unit of those devils to reach a demonic mob.[1] A six devil squad of either type might be ordered to provide support for a hellfire engine.[3]
Steel devils can be called using a summon monster VII spell. Service to a wizard or cleric of the Material Plane is one of the circumstances in which a steel devil will usually be encountered alone. When forced to fight as such they focused on splitting the enemy into smaller groups, attacking the weakest members and working their way up to the toughest.[1]
Creative origins[]
They are likely to be named for the Buer, a demon appearing in D&D and originating the 16th-century Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.