Library / Bestiary

Rakshasa

CR 10.00 Outsider LE Medium
This figure's backward-bending fingers and its bestial, snarling visage leave little doubt as to its fiendish nature.

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.

STR
16
DEX
20
CON
22
INT
13
WIS
13
CHA
17
HP
115 (10d10+60)
AC
25, touch 16, flat-footed 19 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +9 natural)
Speed
40 ft.
Init
+9
Melee
+1 kukri +16/+11 (1d4+4/15-20), claw +10 (1d4+1), bite +10 (1d6+1)
BAB
+10
CMB
+13
CMD
29
Fort
+9
Ref
+12
Will
+8
DR
15/good and piercing
SR
25
Racial Modifiers
+4 Bluff, +8 Disguise

Weapons: Martial, Simple

Detect Thoughts — 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.

change shape (any humanoid, alter self)

Combat Expertise from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You can choose to take a &ndash;1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by &ndash;1 and the dodge bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that you are making an attack or a full-attack action with a melee weapon. The effects of this feat last until your next turn.</p>

Dodge from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.</p>

Improved Critical from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> When using the weapon you selected, your threat range is doubled.</p>

<p class="stat-block-1"> You get a +4 bonus on initiative checks.</p>

Weapon Finesse from Feat

<p class="stat-block-1"> With a light weapon, rapier, whip, or spiked chain made for a creature of your size category, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armor check penalty applies to your attack rolls.</p>

Bluff +20, Diplomacy +16, Disguise +24, Perception +14, Perform +16, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +18

spells known:
3rd (5/day)—Lightning Bolt, 3rd (5/day)—Suggestion, 2nd (7/day)—Acid Arrow, 2nd (7/day)—Invisibility, 2nd (7/day)—Minor Image, 1st (7/day)—Charm Person, 1st (7/day)—Mage Armor, 1st (7/day)—Magic Missile, 1st (7/day)—Shield, 1st (7/day)—Silent Image, 0—Dancing Lights, 0—Detect Magic, 0—Ghost Sound, 0—Mage Hand, 0—Mending, 0—Message, 0—Prestidigitation
Details
Type
Outsider
Alignment
LE
Size
Medium
Environment
any
Organization
solitary, pair, or cult (3-12)
Treasure
double (+1 kukri, other treasure)
Senses
darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +14
Languages
Common, Infernal, Undercommon
Source
Bestiary
Sources Used in This Record
22 House/Core
  • Uses feat: Combat Expertise (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Dodge (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Critical (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Improved Initiative (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Uses feat: Weapon Finesse (Feat)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Lightning Bolt (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Suggestion (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Acid Arrow (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Invisibility (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Minor Image (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Charm Person (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Mage Armor (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Magic Missile (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Shield (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Silent Image (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Dancing Lights (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Detect Magic (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Ghost Sound (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Mage Hand (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Mending (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Message (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
  • Knows spell: Prestidigitation (Spell)
    House/Core — covered by the site's Section 15.
OGL 1.0a Notice. Pathfinder-derived Open Game Content on this page is used under the Open Game License v1.0a and Section 15 notice.