Hi. So, I am thinking of hitting the reset-button for my CoS campaign. (Long story). The players aren’t far into the story yet, but they know about old bonegrinder. I thought of changing things a bit, to surprise them. I thought of replacing the Hags witu an Oni! The Oni is easily as terrifying as the Hags, and he could stalk or even infiltrate the party. He would still make dream pastries, and maybe have three old women work for him. Is this a bad idea? An Oni is a pretty big enemy and I fear that maybe he would take the spotlight away from Strahd? Any thoughts/suggestions? :-)
The Oni is a good pick, three night hags with spellcasting capabilities are way tougher though, so you don't need to worry about him stealing the spotlight.
At lv3 when they meet him, it will be an impossible challenge (1 cone of cold + multi-attack would finish off any 3rd lv party before they could output enough damage), but when the reach lv5+, the Oni can easily be dealt with (way easier than the hags)
Yeah, they won’t be able to beat him on low levels. But the same is true for the Hags, so I think I am good :-). I’ll probably give him some minions, to even the challenge?
It depends on how things go, the Oni often use minions, the tough part is to select what kind in this setting, but is definitely an option.
Onis are also manipulated by powerful spellcasters (e.g: Strahd) to work for them, and Strahd could put some of his Barovian Witches of Zombies at the Oni disposal.
Honestly, switching from 3x Night Hag (Coven Variant) to 1x Oni changes the encounter from "guaranteed TPK at the level they suggest you go there (4)" to "winnable fight". While I wouldn't say that coven variant hags quite deserve their CR, 3xlightning bolt during round 1 is still gonna be dead PCs.
Hi. So, I am thinking of hitting the reset-button for my CoS campaign. (Long story). The players aren’t far into the story yet, but they know about old bonegrinder. I thought of changing things a bit, to surprise them. I thought of replacing the Hags witu an Oni! The Oni is easily as terrifying as the Hags, and he could stalk or even infiltrate the party. He would still make dream pastries, and maybe have three old women work for him. Is this a bad idea? An Oni is a pretty big enemy and I fear that maybe he would take the spotlight away from Strahd? Any thoughts/suggestions? :-)
The Oni is a good pick, three night hags with spellcasting capabilities are way tougher though, so you don't need to worry about him stealing the spotlight.
At lv3 when they meet him, it will be an impossible challenge (1 cone of cold + multi-attack would finish off any 3rd lv party before they could output enough damage), but when the reach lv5+, the Oni can easily be dealt with (way easier than the hags)
Yeah, they won’t be able to beat him on low levels. But the same is true for the Hags, so I think I am good :-). I’ll probably give him some minions, to even the challenge?
It depends on how things go, the Oni often use minions, the tough part is to select what kind in this setting, but is definitely an option.
Onis are also manipulated by powerful spellcasters (e.g: Strahd) to work for them, and Strahd could put some of his Barovian Witches of Zombies at the Oni disposal.
You probably already saw this, but in case not, this link might be helpful: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/223-how-to-play-an-oni-like-a-living-nightmare
Honestly, switching from 3x Night Hag (Coven Variant) to 1x Oni changes the encounter from "guaranteed TPK at the level they suggest you go there (4)" to "winnable fight". While I wouldn't say that coven variant hags quite deserve their CR, 3xlightning bolt during round 1 is still gonna be dead PCs.