Cambion (Dungeons and Dragons)

Publication history

The cambion was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The cambion first appears under the demon on page 37 entry in the first edition Monster Manual II (1983), including the baron/marquis cambion (semi-demon) and the major cambion (semi-demon).

A cambion named MacDaer appeared in Dungeon #13 (September 1988).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The cambion appears under the tanar'ri entry in the Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix (1991), including the baron/marquis cambion tanar'ri and the major cambion tanar'ri.

The cambion tanar'ri was further detailed in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994), including the same variants from the Outer Planes Appendix.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The cambion did not appear in any official Wizards of the Coast products for third edition.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The cambion appeared again in Necromancer Games's Tome of Horrors Revised PDF (2005).

The cambion demon returns to official Dungeons & Dragons products in Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007), including the baron and marquis cambion, which also presents the cambion as a player character race.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-2013)

The cambion appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the cambion hellsword and the cambion hellfire magus.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014-)

The cambion appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2014).

Description

The word cambion refers to a male "half-fiend", a cross between a fiend and another creature, often a human. The terms alu-fiend or alu-demon refer to its female counterpart. In the 3rd Edition, cambions are the offspring of a tanar'ri father and a planetouched mother, often a tiefling.

Iuz the Old of the World of Greyhawk game setting is referred to as a cambion. He is the son of the witch Iggwilv and the demon Graz'zt. In addition to his human form of an old man, he can appear as a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m), maroon demon with green eyes.

In the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, Cambions are the result of devils mating with mortal beings- usually humans. They look much like tieflings, but with the addition of functional wings. The title is also gender-neutral, rather than being divided into male Cambions and female Alu-Fiends.

Other publishers

The cambion appeared under the "demon" heading in the Tome of Horrors (2002) from Necromancer Games.

Other media

Two half-elven cambions, Isair and Madae appear in Icewind Dale II, as leaders of the Legion Of The Chimera.