Innate Spellcasting. The oni's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). The oni can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: darkness, invisibility
1/day each: charm person, cone of cold, gaseous form, sleep
Magic Weapons. The oni's weapon attacks are magical.
Regeneration. The oni regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point.
Multiattack. The oni makes two attacks, either with its claws or its glaive.
Claw (Oni Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Glaive. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage in Small or Medium form.
Change Shape. The oni magically polymorphs into a Small or Medium humanoid, into a Large giant, or back into its true form. Other than its size, its statistics are the same in each form. The only equipment that is transformed is its glaive, which shrinks so that it can be wielded in humanoid form. If the oni dies, it reverts to its true form, and its glaive reverts to its normal size.
Japanese Mythology uses the title of "demon," very loosely. To my knowledge, and this may be incorrect, a demon is just any evil yokai. Also, D&D doesn't really classify monsters by what they are called. They mostly classify them by what they are closest to. For example, frost giants are actually humanoid in form and so are pixies, but they are more closely related to other things so that is where they fit.
Yah, the terms translated as “demon” aren’t nearly as narrowly defined as the word is in western canon (even in pre-Christian eras). And, ”Oni” itself can be a pretty loose term in itself.
Depending on your setting’s cosmology, they might be Giants, Fiends, or even Fey.
You're talking out of your behind. Those spells require an action unless stated otherwise. At-Will just means that the spell doesn't consume a spell slot, meaning that the Oni can cast them as many times as he wants.
I occasionally like to involve horror elements into a campaign, if nothing else than to keep players in suspense or on their toes. : )
Oni are wonderful for this aspect; their ability to instill "darkness" or become invisible at-will...this means that empty room in the creepy abandoned mansion may not be entirely safe...I like to make them a bit sadistic, too...they'll make creaking noises on the floorboards, or move the curtains of a window, or scratch their nails across glass...just to terrify the party before they actually reveal themselves.
I even had a character I had rolled with the Urchin background, who lived in an orphanage, and had encountered an oni...children had been disappearing from the orphanage periodically, seemingly overnight.
Everyone thought they were runaways...it happened every now and then...but these disappearances had been frequent.
Then one night, my character witnessed their best friend being carried out the window by a hulking, grinning oni in a ratty cloak, with long fingernails....and it just flew off with him into the night.
It really messed my character up....he never found out what happened to his friend, and all the other kids thought he was lying or had been dreaming.
When he was older, he became a Rogue monster hunter...somewhere between a witcher & Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing, and tracked all manner of terrifying creatures.
I didn't get far with the character...but at some point, the DM had been planning on making an NPC from my native city secretly an oni...the owner of the orphanage, or something close to that effect. Maybe even a cabal of oni, since they all could assume a human form, who ran prisons, orphanages, or hospitals in slums...you know, where they can more easily get "fresh meat"...
At will simply means its a cantrip thus can be done every turns. It doesnt change the action of the spell as written.
Changing the action to a bonus action makes the monster much stronger then its cr as written. Be mindful that d&d is an action economy tactical game the more actions you give a monster. The stronger it gets. I would argue that all monsters are actually missing out on bonus actions unlike players. But the point stays... The more actions per turn a player or monster is able to do. The stronger it gets !
Could a oni regenerate from just a piece of flesh?
If that piece of flesh had one hit point, sure
I asked that because I thought it would be a good recurring villain who would just harass my players and when they finally think they killed him he just comes back from a stray finger.
Wait, I just realized Oni have a flying speed... How do they fly? They don't have wings, so why is the flying speed not also hover?
dang!!!!
Superman doesn't have wings and no one complains about that. Just don't worry about it. It's Oni magic. Lots of things in DND fly without wings.
I am trying to put an Oni into my campaign, that sort of functions as a ferryman of planes, with closer ties to Fey than Giants. Perhaps a deviant Oni, or one whose nature was changed by some force of celestial power. Essentially, a chaotic neutral Oni with some power ups for flavour. However, I’m worried some of the players may immediately distrust the NPC because they’re a monster (as they have done before). How may I ensure against combat without making an NPC that is ‘too overpowered’.
To make a more Japanese oni all you have to is change their type to fiend, their languages to common and infernal and maybe change cone of cold to something like fireball upcasted to 5th level and you should probably make their original form medium if you really want a Japanese oni.
If your going more for the fiendish aspect you could give them at will firebolt.
At will means they can cast like a cantrip even if it isn't but you still need to obey the casting times however your the DM so its your choice in the end.
Then you can add all the weird folklore remedies like soybeans that do things like prevent its regeneration and as an option also deal damage
Can someone give me an idea of what Onis would have for servants, like Bandits, Minor demons, possessed cultist?
Just looking for an idea for an Oni from another land that stowed away on the PC's ship (Invisibility every chance it could) and it causes problems everywhere they go, so while it terrorizes the PCs he does recruiting of "Something" then the PCs fight the Oni's merry band of misfits.
Any help would be appreciated.
I have them in my current campaign as lieutenants of an Ordning of Giants. They oversee a group of NPC cultists known as the League of Giants made up of (currently 2 but potentially more), cells in one of my cities who are seeking to disrupt the port and acquire ancient lore to help the Ordning. The party just stoled a book out from under the nose of the Cultists (including a 7th level War Priest as well as his magical mace, cloak, potions of giant strength) and enough gold to make it quite annoying. The cultist failure has prompted a visit from the Oni, but he comes bearing a gift. The cultists are currently searching for the party's location. Once found, a package will be dropped off for the PC's. Trolls are part of the Ordning as well. Three have been conscripted, their hearts cut out and the bodies burned. The Oni's Cone of Cold flash froze the hearts of 3 trolls (in my world freezing temporarily slows regeneration), placed in a small chest that will be delivered to the player characters' residence. If they open the chest they find the frozen hearts, seemingly innocuous. If they are paying attention, they will figure out that these are not ordinary hearts. A few distractions or a short beckons away from their residence by the cultists tied with, opening the chest should allow the hearts to thaw. Not quickly of course, but by the time the characters return from where they have been, the trolls will have been ravaging their neighborhood attracting unwanted attention, or waiting for them in the living room. Once they are weakened, the Oni and remaining cultists will try to capture them. The cultists subscribe to the belief that during the Giant wars that they lost, the world was left in a state of imbalance and that the true order must be restored. Might is right and first, everything else fits below in its proper hierarchy. Annoying Gnomes, mouthy Halfling, and Dwarves need to be put in their proper places. Humans and spell casters are upstart leeches who have no place interfering with the truly Grand World Order. And the money's good.
Because the Oni can change shape, and they are all on a boat, you could have it eliminate crew members, one by one, throwing them overboard and taking their place. Then have the "crew member/oni" point out to the rest of the crew that people didn't start disappearing until the party members came on board and that interestingly enough, none of them seem to be disappearing. The one could certainly leave incriminating evidence (crew member possessions) in amongst the party's belongings to help that narrative along.
Just a thought.
You are a genius, that's awesome. And spooky, when they get to shore will the Oni have gotten to the captain and take over?
Totally up to you. Because the Oni can shape change, it could even appear as one of the party members seen killing a crew member from too far for the other crew to reach and then once they try to get near, the Oni simply goes invisible. The charm person works well for the Oni to persuade individual crew members that the party is dangerous. I think the trick is to balance it out so your party has some way of defeating the Oni. Have fun!
Just want to put this out there.....technically speaking an oni can change shape into a spirit troll (CR 11), rot troll (CR 9) or any other number of "Large giants". Granted, this change doesn't affect its stats but an Oni pretending to be an intelligent spellcasting spirit troll?!?! I mean come on!
Even an oni pretending to be an ogre (CR 2) to lure overconfident adventurers into their lair would be deadly.