AC 16 (natural armor)
HP 161 (19d8 + 76; bloodied 80)
Speed 40 ft.
Proficiency +5; Maneuver DC 16
Skills Deception +10, Insight +8
Damage Resistances bludgeoning and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Infernal, one other
Innate Spellcasting. The rakshasa’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: detect magic , mage hand , major image
3/day each: charm person , dominate person , fly (self only), invisibility (self only), locate creature , modify memory , true seeing
Lawful Evil. The rakshasa radiates a Lawful and Evil aura.
Limited Magic Immunity. Any spell that would target or detect the rakshasa, or cause the rakshasa to make a saving throw , fails unless the spell is 5th-level or higher, or the rakshasa voluntarily allows it to be cast.
Magic Resistance. The rakshasa has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The rakshasa makes two attacks.
Claw (True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it is cursed . Whenever a cursed creature takes a long rest, it is troubled by terrible visions and dreams and gains no benefit from the rest. The curse can be lifted with remove curse and similar magic.
Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.
Sweet Promises. The rakshasa targets a creature that can hear it within 60 feet, offering something the target covets. The target makes a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw . On a failure, the target is charmed until the end of its next turn, and stunned while charmed in this way.
Invisibility (2nd-Level; V, S, Concentration). The rakshasa is invisible for 1 hour or until it attacks or casts a spell.
Fly (3rd-Level; V, S, Concentration). The rakshasa gains a fly speed of 60 feet.
BONUS ACTIONS
Shapeshift. The rakshasa magically changes its form to that of any Medium or Small humanoid or to its true form. While shapeshifted, its statistics are unchanged.
Read Thoughts. The rakshasa magically reads the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet that it can see. Until the end of the rakshasa’s turn, it has advantage on attack rolls and on Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion checks against the creature.
Quickened Spell. The rakshasa casts invisibility or fly .
REACTIONS
Counterproposal. The rakshasa uses Sweet Promises on a creature that attacked it or attempted to target it with a spell.
Combat
The rakshasa avoids fighting powerful enemies, preferring instead to cause mischief from afar. If forced into battle, it fights with its claws (or its rapier if masking its identity) while confounding enemies with Counterproposal and Read Thoughts. The rakshasha has no interest in dying and uses Quickened Spell to fly away or flee invisibly when bloodied. If the rakshasa escapes after cursing opponents with its claw, the rakshasa may attack at a later time to take advantage of their weakness.
True Form
1–2 Tiger head, backwards hands
3 Elephant head, backwards elbow and knee joints
4 Snake head, long neck
5 Monkey head, hand-like feet (climb speed of 40)
6 Horns and fangs, four arms (can make a claw attack as a bonus action)
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or Religion check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Fiends escaped from Hell, rakshasas have the heads of animals on humanoid bodies. They are always marked by some other abnormality as well, such as an uncannily long neck or additional limbs.
DC 15 Rakshasas possess a variety of magical abilities, which they use to hide their true forms and mislead their victims.
DC 20 Rakshasas shrug off nonmagical weapons and all but the most powerful spells. Strangely, they have no such resistance to arrows and crossbow bolts.
Rakshasas are fiends who have escaped from Hell to enjoy the decadent pleasures of the Material Plane. Their mastery of magic allows them to cloak their diabolic appearances in illusion. In their true forms, rakshasas appear as humanoids with an animal’s head and one or more other abnormalities, such as backward-facing hands or mismatched limbs.
Unwelcome Guests. Rakshasas implant themselves in mortal communities by tempting those in power with the same pleasures they enjoy. These indulgences might include food and drink, games of chance, lavish works of art, or emotions such as a desire for revenge. A mortal may even welcome a rakshasa into their home, not realizing that once a rakshasa has settled in a place, only a combination of powerful magic and weapons wielded by champions of righteousness can banish the fiend.
Immortal Evil. The most successful rakshasas rise to become political or religious leaders in the communities they infiltrate. Because a slain rakshasa re-forms in Hell unless defeated there, its reign in the mortal world might last generations. In some places, a rakshasa’s seemingly immortal nature compels its subjects to revere it as a god.
Change of Heart. Over eons, even the most ancient evils can experience change. Very rarely, a rakshasa may develop a genuine fondness for the people it encounters on the Material Plane. While such rakshasas never abandon their evil pasts entirely, they lose their Lawful Evil trait.
Wilderness Behavior
1 In its true form in its lair, smoking a pipe with great enjoyment. Prefers to talk before fighting
2 Hunting down someone that once killed it; tries to fool adventurers into helping exact its revenge
3 Disguised as a treasure hunter; wants to lure people into danger
4 Watching from hiding: uses detect thoughts and disguise self to adopt a guise familiar to travelers
Settlement Behavior
1 In its luxurious manor, living as a merchant, noble, crime boss, high priest, or other rich person
2 Invisible; tracking you for its master or employer
3 Looking for an important mortal to impersonate and kill
4 Hungry for flesh; hunting in a shadowy back road or alley
5 Exacting revenge on a list of enemies; the family and associates of someone who once destroyed its body
6 Invisibly watching the party, trying to decide whether they pose a threat or an opportunity
Wilderness Signs
1 A mix of humanoid footprints and animal pawprints
2 The smell of tobacco smoke
3 A distant roar
4 A humanoid corpse, savaged by claws and teeth
Settlement Signs
1 Rumors of a series of grisly murders
2 Rumors of a rich traveler such as a visiting merchant or noble
3 A corpse, savaged by claws and teeth
4 A frightened commoner who claims to have seen an important person’s corpse a few days ago; however, the person is alive and well today
5 Big, clawed pawprints
6 Rumors of mysterious disappearances
Rakshasas prey on humanoid communities.
CR 11–16 rakshasa ; rakshasa with doppelganger , green hag , or wererat ; rakshasa with duped commoners , nobles , or soldiers
Treasure 2,000 gp, dragon-shaped tobacco pipe (250 gp), amber and gold ring (250 gp), two love notes and one challenge to a duel, elemental gem (earth) , cape of the mountebank
CR 17–22 rakshasa with cambion , malcubus , night hag , or ogre mage ; rakshasa with 2 doppelgangers or weretigers
Treasure 500 pp, 1,000 gp, opal earrings (2,500 gp), 10 sets of fancy clothes (100 gp each), 3 forbidden books (250 gp each), wardrobe containing teleportation circle, 3 potions of supreme healing , crystal ball of mind reading
CR 23–30 2 rakshasas ; rakshasa with 3 or 4 doppelgangers or weretigers
Treasure 28,000 gp, gold tiger statuette with ruby eyes (7,500 gp), vial of purple worm poison (2,000 gp), platinum ring with the seal of a royal family (750 gp), shocking memoirs detailing 300 years of rakshasa impersonations, amulet of the planes , scimitar of speed
Fiends are evil-aligned creatures from Hell, the Abyss, and other cursed realms. Most fiends are demons and devils, each of which have their own subtypes and hierarchies. Some fiends, such as hell hounds , are neither demons nor devils.