Rakshasa, Common

This figure’s backward-bending fingers and its bestial, snarling visage leave little doubt as to its fiendish nature.

Rakshasa CR 10

XP 9,600
LE Medium outsider (native, shapechanger)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 25, touch 16, flat-footed 19 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +9 natural)
hp 115 (10d10+60)
Fort +9, Ref +12, Will +8
DR 15/good and piercing; SR 25

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 kukri +16/+11 (1d4+4/15–20), claw +10 (1d4+1), bite +10 (1d6+1)
Special Attacks detect thoughts
Spells Known (CL 7th)

3rd (5/day)—lightning bolt (DC 16), suggestion (DC 16)
2nd (7/day)—acid arrow, invisibility, minor image
1st (7/day)—charm person (DC 14), mage armor, magic missile, shield, silent image
0th (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound (DC 13), mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 20, Con 22, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 17
Base Atk +10; CMB +13; CMD 29
Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Critical (kukri), Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +20, Diplomacy +16, Disguise +24, Perception +14, Perform +16, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +18; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +8 Disguise
Languages Common, Infernal, Undercommon
SQ change shape (any humanoid, alter self)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Detect Thoughts (Su)

A rakshasa can detect thoughts as per the spell of the same name (CL 18th). It can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. When a rakshasa uses this ability, it always functions as if it had spent three rounds concentrating and thus gains the maximum amount of information possible. A creature can resist this effect with a DC 18 Will save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or cult (3–12)
Treasure double (+1 kukri, other treasure)

The rakshasa is an evil spirit that cloaks itself in the guise of a humanoid creature that it might walk unseen among its prey. They embody what is taboo among most societies, and in the shape of those it seeks to defile, a rakshasa gorges itself on these hideous acts. Were they human, these acts of cannibalism, blasphemy, and worse would mark them as criminals condemned to the cruelest of hells.

When not disguised as a humanoid, the otherwise humanoid rakshasa has the head of an animal. Often, they possess the heads of great cats (such as a tiger or panther) or a snake (like a cobra or viper), yet other heads are not unknown—apes, jackals, vultures, elephants, mantises, lizards, rhinos, boars, and more are possible. In most cases, the type of head a rakshasa possesses speaks in some way to its personality—a tiger-headed rakshasa is stealthy and ravenous, while a boar-headed one might be gluttonous and crude. These changes rarely impact the rakshasa’s base statistics, although there are more powerful variants of the standard rakshasa that possess multiple heads, more potent spellcasting powers, and additional deadly and unusual special abilities.

Rakshasas scoff at religion—they understand the power of the divine, but see themselves as the only thing worthy of worship from the mortal races. Rakshasa clerics are thus quite rare. Although rakshasas are outsiders, they are also very much creatures of the Material Plane, and many believe the first rakshasas chose this exile over some other role offered them by a long-forgotten god. Although they usually work alone, it isn’t unheard of to find extended families of rakshasas working together to ruin a mortal civilization from the inside out over the course of many generations. A rakshasa is 6 feet tall and weighs 180 lbs.

Variant: Possessing Rakshasa (CR 10)

[Source]

These always appear to have the face of white tigers. Any shapeshifting form they take has an albino appearance, though creatures they possess do not. These rakshasa delight in hedonistic activities and especially in forcing individuals they possess into performing acts that would normally violate their nature.

Malevolence (Su)

Once per round, a possessing rakshasa can merge its body with a creature. This ability is similar to a magic jar spell (caster level 7th), except that it does not require a receptacle. To use this ability, the possessor must try to move into the target’s space; moving into the target’s space to use the malevolence ability does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save (DC 18). A creature that successfully saves is immune to that same possessing rakshasa’s malevolence for 24 hours, and the possessing rakshasa cannot enter the target’s space. If the save fails, the possessing rakshasa vanishes into the target’s body. The save DC is Charisma-based.

This ability replaces a common rakshasa’s spell-casting ability.