By Alan McCoy from Dungeons & Dragons: Fundamentals
How to build challenging encounters against a Rakshasa
Note: This has been prepared utilizing only the 5E Core Rules. The Rakshasa can be found in the Monster Manual page 257.
The Rakshasa are products of a dark ritual performed by the Devils of the Nine Hells. This ritual was intended to free them from their fiendish bodies and allow them to leave the lower planes. Very little is known about this ritual only that it must have been undertaken with the permission of the Lords of Hell.
Sages speculate that the intention was to create beings that could interact with mortals, sowing lies, anger and distrust throughout the mortal realms. The ritual was supposed to provide the Rakshasa with the ability to shapeshift flawlessly, such that they could imitate friend, foe, husband, wife, advisor or any other useful human form.
The ritual was imperfect or perhaps was interfered with by the Gods. and instead of providing the Rakshasa with powerful mortal bodies with which to sow hatred and distrust, their bodies now have a major flaw, they must be fed. The only food that can provide the sustenance that the Rakshasa need are mortal souls. In their years upon the prime material, the Rakshasa have grown to be connoisseurs of souls, far preferring the soul that has been terrified as their meal.
The Rakshasa is a creature of delicacy and misdirection. It stays in the shadows and works behind the scenes. It knows that it will be useless as a ‘sower of lies and distrust’ if it were to become common knowledge that a Rakshasa is prowling the area.
Rakshasa sometimes build persona with which to interact with the powerful, most often this is that of a Nobleman, Ambassador, or some other high official. Sometimes this persona is a complete fabrication in others, they have chosen to take the place of an actual official.
The Rakshasa are creatures of the Nine Hells, and if slain, will be transported there to reform with full knowledge of their demise and a strong desire for vengeance.
Rakshasa are Lawful Evil in Alignment.
Step 1) Let’s Review what we know about the Rakshasa
Rakshasa are Exceptionally Charismatic and have Exceptional Constitutions, they have very high Dexterity and Wisdom, High Strength and Above average intelligence.
Rakshasa are faster than normal humans, moving at 40 feet/round.
Rakshasa are exceptional liars (Deception +10) and hard to fool (Insight (+8).
Rakshasa are immune to non-magical weapons (bludgeoning, piercing and slashing).
Rakshasa have a Vulnerability to Magical Weapons Wielded by those of Good Alignment. (In Prev. Ed could be slain only by a crossbow bolt blessed by a Priest of a Good Aligned Deity).
Rakshasa Senses include Darkvision 60 feet, Passive Perception of 13.
Rakshasa are immune to the magic of spells of 6th level or lower unless it wishes to be.
Rakshasa have advantage on saving throws against spells or magical effects.
Rakshasa can innately cast spells (Charisma: +10 to hit, Spell DC 18).
Anyone who has been Clawed by a Rakshasa is cursed with horrible dreams that prevent it from finishing a short or a long rest. Exhaustion will eventually set in, which will eventually cause death.
Step 2) Determine the probable Strategy.
The Rakshasa primarily wants to avoid detection, its primary mission is to sow distrust and create misunderstandings.
The Rakshasa must also feed its existence on the prime material by consuming souls, it prefers to do this quietly, thus it usually targets those that will not be missed, such as travelers, those who exist on the fringes of society or those whose existence is often misunderstood, such as the young.
Always, Always, Always, the Rakshasa labors to ensure that its presence in the larger world remains undetected. They will work to quietly eliminate those that they think have begun to suspect that they are not what they seem.
Rakshasa will seek solitary targets whenever possible.
Step 3) Determine Tactics
It would be difficult to try to explore the machinations that a creature of this sort could be up to, so I will couch my tactics in the terms of “it is time to feed”.
Using its Disguise Self Spell the Rakshasa will pose as a friendly NPC or as a Non-Descript Passerby that strikes up conversation with a single character. It will use its Detect Thoughts Spell to enhance its performance.
Its goal is to gain its victims trust and lure it to someplace where it will be undisturbed while it has its meal and that it will be able to dispose of the remains with ease.
It will make a claw attack upon the flesh of the victim to ensure that on the remote possibility that it were to escape, the lack of the ability to rest and the ultimate demise would both madden the target, making it unbelievable, and eventually result in its death.
The Rakshasa will wear his mask until the last possible moment, to ensure that it generates the maximum possible fear in its victim.
The Rakshasa full spell repertoire consists of:
Detect Thoughts, Disguise Self, Mage Hand and Minor Illusion at will.
Charm Person, Detect Magic, Invisibility, Major Image, Suggestion – 3/day.
Dominate Person, Fly, Plane Shift, True Seeing – 1/day.
As you can see, this is a creature that is designed to control others and its environment and is well able to manipulate everyone around it with ease.
Step 4) DM Tips and Observations
This is a monster around which you can base an entire campaign, with it pulling the strings, even the most staunch ally can be convinced that you are up to nefarious ends, and that it must thwart your evil (or at least mistaken) designs.
We can all benefit from context or having something to relate our vision of a monster too. In my humble opinion, Steven King’s IT: Pennywise, is an insane Example of a Rakshasa.