Demogorgon, Mandragoron, and More

I finally finished painting the Gale Force Nine Demogorgon miniature, though “miniature” is hardly an appropriate descriptor for this gigantic model, which gives the Prince of Demons an appropriate heft amidst 28mm figures. This is an absolutely great sculpt by Charles Woods: from almost any angle, this thing looks fearsome.

The model is made out of resin, which is very different than the Reaper Bones PVC material I’ve primarily been working with. The resin is hard, brittle, and took a lot of washing to get clean. The nice thing about resin is it’s lightweight and retains excellent details with comparatively little flashing or mold lines. The bad thing is it’s fairly rigid, and if two connecting pieces don’t mesh perfectly it’s a lot of work to patch in some Green Stuff to fill the gaps.

I assembled everything according to the GF9 assembly guide and then addressed the gaps, of which there were several. In retrospect, it probably would have been easier to have begun priming and base coats before assembling anything, as several areas in this piece are hard to get at with a brush once all the pieces are in place.

I primed the whole piece using the Army Painter Uniform Gray spray-on primer. This is my go-to general primer. I then began the tedious base painting with a brush. The online painting guide makes an explicit pitch for using an airbrush on this model, and this mini definitely made me realize it was time to break down and get an airbrush rig. Demogorgon himself has a mostly dark green base coat, while the ruins he stands within have a black base coat. It was so hard to get a good, even coat – every time I’d put the brush down I would immediately see half a dozen tiny spots I had missed, particularly in the gaps between the scales and fur.

I did a few washes with Vallejo Umber Wash, but I am curious what using some of the Army Painter Strong Tone would have been like. I was a big fan of the Vallejo wash, but the Army Painter stuff seems to work better for me, particularly on larger models.

I then began the dry brushing and cleanup painting. Dry-brushing was fun: the model has tons of small details, particularly on the scales, and it felt very satisfying to see these details emerge. (I did burn through several brushes in the process.)

It felt like cleanup on this model took forever. I am altogether much too fussy for my relatively low skill level but I just can’t rest until I’ve knocked down all the blemishes I can find. I followed the GF9 painting guide for the most part, but didn’t want to try the fiery split chest effect.

I had bought this model for the conclusion of my Out of the Abyss campaign, and was looking forward to dropping him on the board for the climactic battle. I got him close enough for this purpose, but unfortunately COVID prevented us from playing the finale out in person. Demogorgon got boxed up for months as I moved on to other projects.

Finally, the new airbrush inspired me to work through my backlog. I was too far along with this model to use the airbrush, but because the rest of my workflow was moving again I was able to return and finish out this model. I used some different glazes on the tentacles to help vary the green-and-brown color scheme, and then varnished everything with Testor’s Dullcote spray lacquer, my go-to varnish. I added some Vallejo gloss varnish to the teeth, mouth, and tentacles to give them a little slimy look.

Overall, I’m very happy with the results even though the process I took was much too long and laborious. It’s an absolutely great looking sculpt and I hope I did it some measure of justice.

Demogorgon in the Great Dungeon

The Great Dungeon of the North calls out to the followers of many demon princes, offering lost treasures, magic, and dark secrets. What little is known of Demogorgon was carried out of the Distant West, where conjurers are said to have mastered the foul art of commanding and binding demons. There Demogorgon is widely considered to be, if not the supreme demon prince in the Abyss, certainly one of the most powerful. 

Several areas within the Great Dungeon are infected with a slowly-spreading demonic taint that steadily warps the affected areas with evil and chaos. In these infected sites gates to the Abyss spontaneously open and close like suppurating wounds, allowing demons to enter the Dungeon—and occasionally drawing the unwary into the Abyss that awaits beyond.

Several years ago the lesser demon lord Mandragoron, a valued servant of Demogorgon, disappeared on the deepest levels: he is rumored to have been swallowed up by the Great Dungeon. Today vassals of Demogorgon, commanded by a powerful demon queen, are said to have established a stronghold somewhere in the lowermost halls.

The image of Mandragoron below was generated using Dall-E 2. The following text is Open Game Content.

Mandragoron

Mandragoron is a unique demon who, while not as powerful as one of the great princes of the Abyss, is nevertheless a terrible foe and justly loathed by the forces of good. He is allied with the mighty Demogorgon, the Prince of Demonium, and the two demons are sometimes said to be related, though the exact nature of this relationhip—sibling, spawn, or other—has never been established.

Mandragoron appears as a giant baboon with long yellow fangs and tattered raven wings, his fur and feathers filthy and patchy.

Mandragoron

Large fiend (demon), chaotic evil
Armor Class 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points 253 (22d10 + 132)
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
23 (+6)	14 (+2)	23 (+6)	17 (+3)	15 (+2)	19 (+4)
Saving Throws Dex +9, Con +13, Int +10
Skills Intimidation +11, Perception +9
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning
Damage Immunities poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing that is nonmagical
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned
Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 21 (33,000 XP)
Innate Spellcasting. Mandragoron’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 21). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: detect magic 3/day each: darkness, dispel magic, fear 1/day: teleport
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Mandragoron fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Mandragoron has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. Mandragoron’s weapon attacks are magical.
Noxious. Mandragoron constantly sheds patches of filthy fur and feathers that crawl with abyssal vermin. Any living creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of Mandragoron must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is poisoned until its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. Mandragoron makes three attacks: one with his bite and two with his claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) piercing damage plus 11 (3d6) poison damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing damage.
Legendary Actions
Mandragoron can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Mandragoron regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Bite Attack. Mandragoron makes a bite attack.
Detect. Mandragoron makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). Mandragoron beats his wings. Each creature within 15 feet of the demon must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Mandragoron can then fly up to half his flying speed.

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    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
    • System Reference Document, Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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