Bone Devil 5e: Stats, the Poison Sting and Running Hell's Taskmaster

A bone devil is a CR 9 Large fiend with AC 19, 142 hit points, a 40-foot fly speed and a Multiattack of two claws and a sting, all with 10-foot reach. The sting is the reason it's feared: 13 piercing plus 17 poison damage on a hit, and a DC 14 Constitution save against being Poisoned for up to a minute. It sees through magical darkness, has Advantage on saves against spells, ignores fire and poison, and talks to its underlings telepathically. The 2024 bone devil (SRD 5.2.1) drops to AC 16 but has 161 hit points, hits harder with every attack, and its sting now poisons with no save and stops the target from regaining hit points until the devil's next turn.

Table of Contents

• •Bone Devil Stat Block (2014)
• •The Bone Devil in the 2024 Rules
• •How Bone Devils Fight
• •Running a Bone Devil Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Bone Devil
• •Where the Bone Devil Fits Among Devils
• •Bone Devil Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Bone Devil Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 bone devil.

For a CR 9 creature, AC 19 is very high: a level 9 character with +9 to hit needs a 10 or better, and a +7 attacker needs a 12. Add resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered, and the 2014 bone devil is a tank that also hits hard. Its saving throw proficiencies (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) cover the saves most control spells use, and Magic Resistance adds Advantage on top. The gaps are Dexterity (+3), Strength (+4) and Constitution (+4).

The Bone Devil in the 2024 Rules

What changes at the table:

• •Easier to hit, harder to kill, more dangerous. AC 16 instead of 19 adds 15 percentage points to every attack the party makes. 19 more hit points and much bigger claws more than pay for it.
• •The sting stops healing instead of lingering. The 2014 poison can give a fighter Disadvantage on attack rolls for several rounds if they keep failing DC 14 saves. The 2024 poison always lands on a hit but ends at the start of the devil's next turn, and while it lasts the target can't regain hit points.
• •Strength save +8. Strength-save spells like Entangle now rarely work: +8 with Magic Resistance's Advantage beats DC 15 about 91% of the time (75% for the 2014 devil's +4).
• •It comes back. A 2024 bone devil killed outside the Nine Hells revives there with all its hit points.
• •Initiative +7. The 2024 bone devil usually acts before most of the party.

How Bone Devils Fight

Damage per round. Against AC 18, a typical armored character around level 9, the +8 attacks hit on a 10 or better: 55%. Ignoring critical hits:

Against a lighter-armored target (AC 15, 70% hit chance), the 2024 bone devil averages about 41 a round. That's most of a level 9 wizard's hit points. 17 or 18 of the sting's damage is poison, so a character with poison resistance (dwarves have it in both SRDs) halves the biggest piece.

Hover with reach. All three attacks reach 10 feet, and the bone devil flies at 40 feet. It can hover 10 feet above a character and attack them while staying out of reach of a 5-foot sword. Characters without reach weapons, ranged attacks or flight can't hit it back, and a devil that never enters the fighter's reach never provokes an opportunity attack. On open ground, play it in the air.

Sting the healer's patient. In 2024, sting the character at the lowest hit points: until the devil's next turn, the cleric's Healing Word restores nothing. In 2014, sting the character with the best attacks, since Poisoned means Disadvantage on their attack rolls until they pass a DC 14 Constitution save. A character with Con +2 passes on a 12 or better, 45% each turn.

Command the squad. Bone devils have telepathy out to 120 feet, as do the devils they command. A bone devil overseeing bearded devils or barbed devils can direct every one of them without speaking: all on the wizard, all on whoever is wounded. Deception +7 and Insight +6 make it a good negotiator before the fight starts, too.

Darkness is a weapon. The bone devil's 120-foot darkvision isn't blocked by magical darkness (Devil's Sight in 2014, written into the senses line in 2024). It can't cast Darkness itself, but if an allied caster drops it on the party, the devil attacks with Advantage and the party, unable to see it, attacks with Disadvantage.

Running a Bone Devil Encounter

A bone devil is worth 5,000 XP. With the 2024 budgets for four characters:

At level 9 a lone bone devil is a Low fight on paper, but it's one creature against four characters' action economy, and a party without fliers or ranged attackers will struggle to hurt it at all. Give it something to fight from: a ledge, a chasm, the air above a burning hall.

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) rate one bone devil as Hard for four level 7 characters (Hard starts at 4,400) and Medium for four level 9 characters (Medium starts at 4,400, Hard at 6,400). Adding even one bearded devil changes a lot: 5,700 XP × 1.5 for two monsters is 8,550, Hard for level 9. Add a second bearded devil and it's 6,400 × 2 = 12,800, past Deadly (9,600).

Good party levels: 7 to 11 as the boss of a devil squad, 11 and up as a lieutenant to a horned devil or an erinyes.

How Players Beat a Bone Devil

• •Bring it down to your level. A flying devil with 10-foot reach is the problem. Ranged attacks, reach weapons and flight solve it. Fighting indoors under a low ceiling takes away most of its hovering.
• •Use attack rolls, not saves. Magic Resistance gives it Advantage on saves against spells, and its Int, Wis and Cha saves are proficient on top of that. Attack-roll spells skip the problem: Guiding Bolt, Eldritch Blast, and Spiritual Weapon. Magic Missile doesn't roll at all.
• •If you must force a save, use Dexterity. Dex +3 is its weakest save. Lightning Bolt against DC 15: the devil saves on a 12 or better, 45%, and with Advantage about 70%. So it fails about 30% of the time, and takes half of 8d6 even on a success. That's still better than Banishment (Charisma +7 with Advantage: it fails about 12% of the time against DC 15).
• •Don't bring fire or poison. It's immune to both. Fireball does nothing. Cold is resisted.
• •2014 only: magic or silver. Bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered is halved. Silvering a weapon costs 100 gp under the SRD, cheap at level 7.
• •Save healing for after the sting. In 2024, healing the character the bone devil just stung is wasted until the start of the devil's next turn. Heal someone else, or heal right after the devil acts.
• •2024: killing it isn't the end. Diabolical Restoration sends it home to the Nine Hells. If the party needs it gone for good, it has to die in the Nine Hells, or be dealt with some other way, like a bargain.

Where the Bone Devil Fits Among Devils

The bearded devil's wound bleeds a target over several turns. The bone devil's sting is one big hit, 30 or more damage, and its 2024 version locks out the healing that would undo it.

Bone Devil Encounter Ideas

The overseer of the dig. A bone devil supervises a gang of mortal laborers digging a shaft beneath a ruined fortress, looking for something a devil lord wants. It flies above the work site, two bearded devils keep the workers in line, and the workers are contract-bound and terrified. Freeing the workers is half the fight: every laborer who runs is one less hostage.

The interrogator. The party's captured ally is being questioned by a bone devil in a prison built for this purpose. It doesn't want to fight the party; it wants to make a deal. Its Insight +6 reads their bluffs, and its Deception +7 hides its own. Whatever it offers is technically true.

The one that came back. Under 2024 rules, a bone devil the party killed at level 7 revives in the Nine Hells and spends the next year earning the right to return. At level 9 it arrives with a squad of bearded devils and a precise memory of which character dealt the killing blow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a bone devil in 5e?

A bone devil is CR 9 and worth 5,000 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

How much damage does a bone devil's sting do?

The 2014 sting deals 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing plus 17 (5d6) poison, 30 total, and forces a DC 14 Constitution save against being Poisoned. The 2024 sting deals 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing plus 18 (4d8) poison, 33 total, and the target is Poisoned and can't regain hit points until the start of the devil's next turn.

What is a bone devil's AC?

AC 19 (natural armor) in the 2014 rules and AC 16 in the 2024 rules.

Can a bone devil fly?

Yes. Both versions have a 40-foot walking speed and a 40-foot fly speed.

Is a bone devil resistant to nonmagical weapons?

The 2014 bone devil resists bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered. The 2024 bone devil resists only cold.

What happens when you kill a bone devil?

In the 2014 rules it dies like any other creature. In the 2024 rules, Diabolical Restoration applies: if it dies anywhere outside the Nine Hells, its body vanishes in sulfurous smoke and it reforms somewhere in the Nine Hells with all its hit points.

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.