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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6280155" data-attributes="member: 20323">I've run rakshasas in 2e and 4e, and in neither case were they "a little plain", and in both cases it took work to make the monster...well...work. Here are some of the tricks I've pulled with rakshasa:PCs cross threshold and are teleported to separate "rooms" surrounded by monsters (it's an illusion, they're all in the same room, an each PC is made to appear as a certain monster to the others. You have to know both the players and their PCs to pull this off, but it was a devious little puzzle that had the PCs desperately hacking at each other for a bit. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" />Illusion conceals a creature or trap with a visually-triggered component, thus providing "protection" from the basilisk, soul-trapping mirror, or whatever...Especially well suited to a rakshasa who makes no qualms about admitting its all an illusion and insinuating that staying in the illusion would be kinder than returning to reality. As an aside, in the 4e DMG it explicitly states players need a "good reason" to make an active Insight check to disbelieve an illusion, otherwise they use passive Insight; I would consider this bit of RBDMing apropos if a player just says out of the blue (cause they're rakshasa!) "I disbelieve the illusion!" <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" />Rakshasa weaving selective illusion that only NPCs see, but letting the PCs see thru, of the rakshasa as the young son/daughter of a well-loved popular figure. This is good if the PCs try the "reveal to the public" approach to get popular support agains the rakshasa without hard evidence (as is usually the case). Have the NPC/best forces in town rally to rakshasa's defense. In this case, treat the rakshasa's illusion as something that can be dispelled with enough disruption of the rakshasa's concentration, so more than just stabbing but less than killing (the exact measure up to you as DM). Very fun if you can inspire doubt within the party that maybe the rakshasa has just glamored the NPC's child to *look* like a rakshasa. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" />So there are 3 imminently usable ideas for you about how to make a rakshasa encounter more interesting, independent of edition really.</blockquote>

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