Rakshasa lair ideas

[Voadam]

My 16th level party has slain a rakshasa who has posed for decades as an influential decadent tiefling in the military palanar gate city of Rigus that borders Acheron. He was posing as the factor of a planar warlord the party wants to investigate as part of a dwarven veangance mission as the lead suspect mastermind in a murder mystery. The Rakshasa was known for deceptions, double dealings, setting up those who worked with him, setting one faction against another, and for his decadent tastes for inflicting pain.

They now want to explore his home in the city before going after his lair in Acheron. It is in the rich and powerful seventh ring of Rigus (seven inner walls separate different quarters of the city) which the party has just gotten access to.

I don't have anything on this lair yet except that it will have hosting rooms, a torture chamber, and a few traps. Maybe have some design schematics for some custom golems that guard the warlord. Possibly use the SJGames Haunted mansion map as the floorplan.

Any suggestions?

 

[Vorput]

There was a thread on this not too long ago... maybe pre-crash... or maybe just after, I forget. Someone with search could probably point you to it- had a lot of ideas on rakasha's lairs and their general pyschology.

Vorp

 

[Voadam]

Sounds good. Hope someone with search could find it.

 

[pawsplay]

Given their deceptive nature, a rakshasa's home would be something out of nightmares. It might have entire rooms devoted to lulling intruders into a false sense of safety, fake diaries. There might be false walls... that lead into traps.

His larder might be full of humanoids, slaughtered and kept on ice, with a couple of toddlers cooking in a smokehouse.

 

[haakon1]

Given their deceptive nature, a rakshasa's home would be something out of nightmares. It might have entire rooms devoted to lulling intruders into a false sense of safety, fake diaries. There might be false walls... that lead into traps.

Roger that about being tricky. But I'd go PG13 rated on the dead folks.

I'd also consider the real inner lair should be either Indian or East Asian, as the rakshasa is presented as being Indian in the original Monster Manual, but is also a more general term for a demonic creature in East Asia too (I saw one in a museum in Singapore, from a Chinese Buddhist temple, but it wasn't catlike).

 

[Vorput]

Picture the height of wealth and snobbery with a twisted cruelly evil side...

Imagine a dining room with a fine oak table, succulent food, tapestries- expensive carpets, the whole works- with various art around the room consisting of bodies nailed to the wall in various poses.

There should be torture chambers... or rather- torture 'rooms' scattered about... it's probably the rakasha's favorite past time.

Picture your typical mansion, but wherever you can- insert twisted imagery and gruesome acts.

Vorp

Also, wizards had an adventure with a Rakshasa's lair here
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20020830a
but i can't remember if it was worthwhile or not...

 

[shilsen]

Check Shemeska's planescape story hour. He did some brilliant stuff with a rakshasa BBEG and her lair. Maybe you could just make a post on the story hour thread asking to be directed to the relevant bit?

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Maybe its lair is an example in duplicity. A series of "false" rooms with the real, secret rooms located behind/beneath/within secret passages--all of which allow the rakshasa to spy on intruders.

Or what about having its lair actually be in another dimension or on the ethereal plane, where the rakshasa can spy on intruders back on the Material plane.

Obviously, lots of traps and illusions. Since enemies will rely upon illusions, perhaps have so many of them that it becomes difficult to distinguish the real from the false.