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Bearded Devil 5e: Stats, the Infernal Wound and Running Devil Soldiers
A bearded devil is a CR 3 Medium fiend with AC 13, 52 hit points and two attacks a turn: a beard that poisons and blocks healing, and a glaive with 10-foot reach that opens an infernal wound that bleeds at the start of each of the victim's turns. The beard stops the healing that would close the wound. Add Magic Resistance, 120-foot darkvision that sees through magical darkness, immunity to fire and poison, and (in 2014) resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered, and you get the devil a level 3 to 5 party meets as Hell's infantry. The 2024 version (SRD 5.2.1) has 58 hit points, drops that resistance, makes the beard poison automatic but brief, and caps the wound at 1d10 for up to a minute.
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Bearded Devil Stat Block (2014)
The SRD 5.1 bearded devil.
Bearded Devil
Medium fiend (devil), lawful evil
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 52 (8d8+16)
Speed 30 ft.
STR
16 (+3)
DEX
15 (+2)
CON
15 (+2)
INT
9 (−1)
WIS
11 (+0)
CHA
11 (+0)
Saving Throws STR +5, CON +4, WIS +2
Damage Resistances cold, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered
Damage Immunities fire; poison
Condition Immunities Poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 3 (XP 700; PB +2)
Traits
Devil's Sight.Magical darkness doesn't impede the devil's darkvision.
Magic Resistance.The devil has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Steadfast.The devil can't be frightened while it can see an allied creature within 30 feet of it.
Actions
Multiattack.The devil makes two attacks: one with its beard and one with its glaive.
Beard.Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the target can't regain hit points. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Glaive.Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an undead or a construct, it must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or lose 5 (1d10) hit points at the start of each of its turns due to an infernal wound. Each time the devil hits the wounded target with this attack, the damage dealt by the wound increases by 5 (1d10). Any creature can take an action to stanch the wound with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check. The wound also closes if the target receives magical healing.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Three numbers decide the 2014 fight. 52 hit points behind resistance means a party without magic or silvered weapons has to deal 104 damage with swords and arrows to kill one. DC 12 on both saves (beard poison and glaive wound) is low enough that most characters pass, but failing both stacks two problems on the same target. Steadfast makes it immune to being frightened while it can see an ally within 30 feet, so in a squad, fear effects do nothing.
The Bearded Devil in the 2024 Rules
Bearded Devil
Medium Fiend (Devil), Lawful Evil
Armor Class 13
Initiative +2 (12)
Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18)
Speed 30 ft.
STR
16 (+3)save +5
DEX
15 (+2)save +2
CON
15 (+2)save +4
INT
9 (−1)save −1
WIS
11 (+0)save +0
CHA
14 (+2)save +4
Resistances cold
Immunities fire; poison; Frightened; Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 120 ft. (unimpeded by magical darkness); Passive Perception 10
Languages Infernal; telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 3 (XP 700; PB +2)
Traits
Magic Resistance.The devil has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Actions
Multiattack.The devil makes one Beard attack and one Infernal Glaive attack.
Beard.Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) Piercing damage, and the target has the Poisoned condition until the start of the devil’s next turn. Until this poison ends, the target can’t regain Hit Points.
Infernal Glaive.Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 10 ft. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) Slashing damage. If the target is a creature and doesn’t already have an infernal wound, it is subjected to the following effect. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12. Failure: The target receives an infernal wound. While wounded, the target loses 5 (1d10) Hit Points at the start of each of its turns. The wound closes after 1 minute, after a spell restores Hit Points to the target, or after the target or a creature within 5 feet of it takes an action to stanch the wound, doing so by succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
2014 Bearded Devil
2024 Bearded Devil
CR (XP)
3 (700)
3 (700)
AC / HP
13 / 52 (8d8 + 16)
13 / 58 (9d8 + 18)
Resistances
Cold; bludgeoning, piercing, slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered
Cold
Fear
Steadfast (immune while an ally is within 30 ft.)
Immune to Frightened
Beard
6 (1d8 + 2); DC 12 Con or Poisoned 1 minute, save ends
7 (1d8 + 3); Poisoned until the start of the devil's next turn, no save
Glaive
8 (1d10 + 3); DC 12 Con or infernal wound
8 (1d10 + 3); DC 12 Con or infernal wound
Wound damage
1d10 per turn, +1d10 every later glaive hit
1d10 per turn, never stacks
Wound ends
DC 12 Medicine (action) or any magical healing
DC 12 Medicine (action, target or ally within 5 ft.), a spell that restores hit points, or after 1 minute
Saves
Str +5, Con +4, Wis +2
Str +5, Con +4, Cha +4
How the changes play:
•The 2014 devil is a low-level wall. Its resistance matters most at level 3, when few parties have magic weapons. The 2024 devil takes full damage from a mundane longsword.
•The 2014 wound escalates. Each glaive hit on an already wounded target adds another 1d10, with no new save. Three hits in a row and the wound is ticking for 3d10 (16.5) at the start of every turn. The 2024 wound is a flat 1d10 and a new glaive hit can't add to it.
•The 2024 beard always lands its poison. No save, but it lasts only until the start of the devil's next turn. While Poisoned, the target has Disadvantage on attack rolls and can't regain hit points.
How Bearded Devils Fight
Beard, then glaive, on the same target. In 2024 the beard poisons with no save, and until the start of the devil's next turn the target can't regain hit points. Then the glaive opens a wound. The 2024 wound closes "after a spell restores Hit Points to the target," and a spell can't restore hit points to a target that can't regain them, so a Healing Word cast that round leaves the wound open. The party's options are a DC 12 Medicine check (an action) or Lesser Restoration to end the Poisoned condition first.
The 2014 beard blocks healing for up to a minute, but only if the target fails a DC 12 Constitution save. DM ruling needed (2014): the wound closes if the target "receives magical healing," while the beard poison says the target "can't regain hit points." Whether a Cure Wounds that heals nothing still counts as receiving magical healing is not settled by the text. Decide before the session and tell the table.
Expected damage against AC 16 (+5 hits on an 11 or better, 50%):
Source
2014
2024
Beard
6 × 0.5 = 3.0
7 × 0.5 = 3.5
Glaive
8 × 0.5 = 4.0
8 × 0.5 = 4.0
Chance to start a wound per round (glaive hits, Con +2 fails DC 12)
0.5 × 0.45 ≈ 22%
0.5 × 0.45 ≈ 22%
Wound damage per turn
5.5, +5.5 per later glaive hit
5.5
About 7 damage a round up front, plus a wound that does 5.5 every turn once it lands. In 2014 a devil that keeps hitting the same wounded fighter builds the wound to 11, then 16.5 per turn. Run a 2014 bearded devil as a duelist that refuses to switch targets.
Use the reach. The glaive reaches 10 feet; the beard only 5. A bearded devil standing behind another devil, or across a pit, can glaive the front-liner every turn without being hit back by a 5-foot sword. It gives up the beard to do it, so the wound has a better chance of being healed.
Fight in the dark. Darkvision out to 120 feet that magical darkness can't block (Devil's Sight in 2014, written into the senses line in 2024) means a devil squad inside a Darkness spell sees normally while the party can't. The devils attack with Advantage and the party attacks back with Disadvantage. Bearded devils can't cast Darkness, but one allied caster who can turns a fair fight into a deadly one.
Fight as a unit. Bearded devils have telepathy out to 120 feet. Play them as a squad that holds a line and gangs up on whoever is wounded. Fear rarely moves them (Steadfast in 2014, immunity in 2024), and they follow orders.
How Many Bearded Devils for Your Party?
Each bearded devil is 700 XP. With the 2024 budgets:
Party
Low
Moderate
High
Four level 3 characters
600 XP: none (one devil is 700)
900 XP: 1 devil
1,600 XP: 2 devils
Four level 5 characters
2,000 XP: 2 devils
3,000 XP: 4 devils
4,400 XP: 6 devils
At level 3, two bearded devils are a High fight and can kill a character who fails both saves. At level 5, three devils (2,100 XP) are a Moderate fight, just past the 2,000 XP Low budget, and any magic weapons the party carries cut through the 2014 resistance.
The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, which our encounter calculator uses, read harsher at level 3. One devil (700 XP) is Medium for four level 3 characters. Two devils are 1,400 XP × 1.5 = 2,100, past Deadly (1,600). At level 5, three devils come to 2,100 × 2 = 4,200: Hard, just under Deadly (4,400). For 2014 tables, the resistance makes it harder still: without magic or silvered weapons, each devil effectively has 104 hit points.
How Players Beat Bearded Devils
•Bring the right damage. Not fire (immune), not poison (immune), not cold (resisted). Radiant, force, lightning, thunder, acid and necrotic all work. In 2014, add magic weapons or silvered ones; silvering a weapon costs 100 gp in the SRD.
•Attack rolls beat Magic Resistance. Magic Resistance gives Advantage on saves, not a penalty to attacks. Guiding Bolt, Eldritch Blast, Magic Missile and Spiritual Weapon all ignore it. AC 13 is low; most characters hit it on an 8 to 10.
•Target Intelligence, then Wisdom or Charisma. Its weakest save is Intelligence (−1). In 2014 Charisma (+0) is next; in 2024 Wisdom (+0) is. Even then, Magic Resistance gives it Advantage, which cuts a 55% failure chance to about 30%.
•Banish it.Banishment is a Charisma save. Against a DC 15, a 2014 bearded devil (+0, with Advantage) fails about half the time; a 2024 devil (+4) fails about one time in four. If the spell lasts a full minute, a Fiend that isn't on its home plane doesn't come back.
•Skip what doesn't work. Fear spells fail (Steadfast in a group, immunity in 2024). Hold Person can't target a Fiend.
•Treat wounds fast. The cheapest fix for an infernal wound is a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check as an action. In 2014, magical healing also closes it (see the DM ruling above if the target is also beard-poisoned).
Bearded Devil vs Bone Devil and Other Devils
The bearded devil sits near the bottom of the SRD's devil ladder, above the lemure (CR 0) and the imp (CR 1) and below the barbed devil (CR 5).
Sting that poisons (both editions) and blocks healing (2024)
They fight differently. A bearded devil wears a target down over several rounds through the wound. A bone devil front-loads damage: 30 or more per sting. A bone devil leading a squad of bearded devils is an encounter for a level 7 to 9 party.
Bearded Devil Encounter Ideas
The contract guard. A merchant prince signed a contract with a devil years ago, and the devil sent two bearded devils to make sure he doesn't skip town before the debt comes due. They stand in his house in plain sight, polite and silent. The party is hired to get him out. The devils will fight anyone who tries, and they will let the merchant leave the moment someone else signs his debt.
The dark chapel. A cult's inner chapel is kept under a permanent Darkness effect from an enchanted censer. Three bearded devils guard it. They see perfectly; the party sees nothing. Covering the censer with something opaque (which blocks the Darkness spell in both editions) turns the fight around.
The field hospital. After a battle with a fiendish army, the party's allies are dying of wounds that won't stop bleeding. The party has a healer and a rumor: the enemy captain carries a salve that seals infernal wounds. The salve exists, but a DC 12 Medicine check closes a wound too, and anyone can attempt one. Teaching a camp of frightened soldiers to do it saves more lives than raiding the captain's tent, though the tent has other things the party wants.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a bearded devil in 5e?
A bearded devil is CR 3 and worth 700 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.
How do you stop an infernal wound?
Take an action and succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check. In 2014, magical healing also closes it. In 2024, a spell that restores hit points closes it, and the wound ends on its own after 1 minute.
Does the infernal wound stack?
In the 2014 rules, yes: each later glaive hit adds 1d10 to the wound's damage. In the 2024 rules, no: a creature that already has an infernal wound can't get another one, and the damage stays at 1d10 per turn.
Is a bearded devil resistant to nonmagical weapons?
In the 2014 rules, it resists bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered. The 2024 bearded devil resists only cold damage.
Can a bearded devil see in magical darkness?
Yes. Its darkvision reaches 120 feet and magical darkness doesn't block it: the Devil's Sight trait in 2014, part of its senses line in 2024.
What's the difference between a bearded devil and a bone devil?
A bearded devil is a CR 3 Medium foot soldier with a poisoning beard and a wounding glaive. A bone devil is a CR 9 Large flier with two claws and a poison sting that deals about 30 damage. A bone devil makes a natural officer for a squad of bearded devils.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.