The fearsome Rakshasas, originally demons in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, are evil magical shapeshifting spirits. Fictional usage has developed far beyond the original myths, so much there’s a wikipedia page on it. In fiction, they are often humanoid with animal heads, commonly tigers. Here I will specifically discuss their use in D&D.
In D&D, Rakshasas are powerful humanoids, with a head of a tiger, panther, or some other big cat, with conveniently opposable thumbs. They can shapeshift, just like the Rakshasas of myth, resist magic and are dangerous both with weapons and sorcery. Oh, and they’re really cool. As you can see by the picture, they’re really scary. (Explanation: there were no decent copyright-free images, so, well, this was the next logical step, since I can’t draw)
As per the myths, Rakshasas are highly evil, manipulative, and intelligent. This, combined with their physical attributes, makes them perfect for putting into absolutely any D&D campaign. They have reason to be anywhere, explained by their illusions and manipulations, and they’re a good challenge for any party.
Rakshasas’ intelligence and the like makes them perfect for being an evil mastermind big bad evil guy. What’s better than a big bad evil guy who can use swords and magic and disguise himself as anyone he wants? Wow. In my opinion, Rakshasas are up there with dragons on the awesomeness scale.
So, for the DMs out there, how do you include one of these fantastic creatures in your campaign? The first thing you have to do is decide whether the Rakshasa(s) is/are a single encounter, or something more; they’re good for either.
The technical nature of an actual encounter is simple: the Monster Manual, for both 3.5 and 4E, gives good choices. The 4E MM gives you everything you need with an encounter group and several varieties of Rakshasa, whilst for 3.5 you should work out some allies to give the Rakshasa. A creature of that intelligence and power doesn’t go into deadly combat alone if they can help it. For either system, remember that Rakshasas’ magic and illusions make them ideal for escaping from a losing battle. Remember that even the weakest Rakshasa has above average intelligence and wisdom, and would not want to fall in combat. In 4E, the Rakshasa Noble is really the one to use if you want a recurring big bad evil guy. The 4E MM also has some interesting ideas for making a Rakshasa a recurring villain.
The setup for the Rakshasa is more interesting. You should make use of all the Rakshasa’s abilities, they are clever enough to do so. A typical story could involve one or more Rakshasas using their powers to infiltrate a powerful organisation, and either try to take it over or manipulate its actions to their own desires. For a short-term Rakshasa investment, you can explain the motive as “being manipulative evil spirits”, but if they’re going to recur you should give the Rakshasa(s) some reason for doing it all.
Here is an example of a potential plot:
The Rakshasa noble Ravana, ruler of the Rakshasa city-fortress Trikuta, had a perpetual lust for power. Disgusted by the humans’ misuse of magic, he invaded with a huge army of Rakshasas. The battle was bloody, but the humans eventually allied together and fought Ravana’s forces back. Ravana escaped, and vowed to have his victory. He waited many years, until almost all who fought him were forgotten. Knowing a similar invasion by him would result in failure, Ravana resolved to weaken the human nations before attempting any military action. Calling forth his best spies and assassins, Ravana ordered them to infiltrate the human nations and incite turmoil and war.
Ravana’s assassins used their illusions to infiltrate a powerful merchant guild in the strongest human city. Patiently, they worked to pull down the city from the inside. By manipulating trade agreements and embargos, the Rakshasas spread distrust between the human cities and sparked border conflicts. Using hired hands to ambush caravans, the Rakshasas created blame. The humans grow restless, and rumours of war are heard.
Here enter the player characters. Perhaps they witness one of these ambushes. Perhaps they are hired by the city to investigate the internal problems. The characters can then use many methods to find the culprits. Perhaps they trace the mercenaries to the source, and find the employers. Perhaps they themselves can infiltrate the merchant guild. However they do it, they will eventually encounter and unmask the Rakshasas behind it all.
This can be used as but a short adventure, or something more. After defeating the Rakshasa, the players could find information of other such operations in other cities; after uncovering more clues, they could be led all the way to the source of the entire operation, and fight the noble Ravana himself.
Whatever you do, Rakshasas are powerful, interesting monsters, and are worth including in any campaign.
Stay tuned for another monster next week! If you haven’t already, you can get news of updates by clicking on the Subscribe link on the top of the sidebar on the right.
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One of the great things about getting together with friends for a game is the food and drink shared around the table. Anthropologists tell us that eating and drinking together is one of the very basic activities which have united groups of people for millennia, and is one of the most fundamental ways of expressing social inclusion we have. Well, one of the very earliest alcoholic beverages known to us is Mead and it is very easy to make yourself. 
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