RAKSHASA!! *jazz hands*

New DM here. Can someone explain the challenge rating of the Rakshasa? I would see it at around 7. The immunity to physical nonmagical damage is "just" a gate keeping new adventurers out of the fight, but the moment everyone has a way of dealing magical damage at will this creature drops down to 110HP 16AC with two +7 melee attacks for 9 dmg each turn and the only other threat is one use of Dominate Person. This can't be a challenge for a group of four naked monks at level 6, for example, because they can attack four times each turn with magical fists and find a way to remove the one monk who was dominated from the fight for a minute. Of course this is a cherry-picked scenario, but it makes me think a Rakshasa should count as CR6. Am I not seeing something? Does the CR depend on the Rakshasa preparing the fight according to its intelligence and social skills? Every intelligent creature can place traps and meat shields to hide behind, how is this one different?

EDIT: the curse should also not be a real threat, it is easy to come by a cleric or paladin to remove it. Curse of Strahd Zombies cause a curse that not only prevents healing, but reduces the HP maximum by 10 every day until you die. That would lend itself to an ambush strategy fitting a Rakshasa: curse everyone and get out, let them die slowly.

Dose the limited magic immunity also work for things like and Arcane Archers arcane shot?

I would say the combination of limited magic immunity and being able to cast Plane Shift puts it at CR13 against casters, especially if they only have 1 or 2 magic weapon using physical attackers.

Since they are IMMUNE to 6th level spells and lower, you need to be a lvl13 caster at least to be able to do anything to it.
Then if the martial class gets close and it's not a character built with high Charisma or proficiency in Charisma saves, they are pretty much gone when they get plane shifted or as you mentioned Dominate person to get rid of 2 of them.

So lets say you go by the CR assumption of 4 characters at the level of the creatures CR should be able to fight it and say you have a party that has a Wizard, Rogue, Fighter and Cleric all at lvl13. I would have the Rakshasa Plane Shift the Cleric, Tank the Wizards 1 lvl7 spell and then if it survives the attacks from the fighter and rogue, Dominate the fighter and start double teaming the rogue. If the Rogue goes down before the fighter breaks the dominate then they work on the wizard. The last shot would be to give the fighter nightmares of his lost comrades that he helped kill and then fly away invisible. Maybe coming back to plane shift the fighter some day too. If the Rakshasa had any minions, like the masterminds they are supposed to be should have, then it gets even easier for it to do all this.

Now that is a lot of if's, but that is because the 4 characters should be able to defeat the Rakshasa, they should have plenty of opportunities to interrupt that plan. But that doesn't make the Rakshasa any less scary or less deserving of CR13.

Thanks Cap, that cleared it up.

EDIT: see Nerdarchy on this matter on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syXkNurgkjA

 I've ruled that the Rakshasa's disguise can't be seen with the True Seeing spell due to it's magic immunity.

Does this jibe with others' interpretation?

I'd agree, because that would be the very definition of can't be affected or detected by spells of 6th level or lower.

If I'm not mistaken, there's no other 7+ level spell that would do the trick (doesn't look like from a quick look through the spell list). So it comes down to "good old" insight or other means of social detection that a PC could utilize to at least notice something was off. Which is pretty difficult with +10 deception on top of the disguise self (DC18 investigation or a lucky break when someone bumps into the fiend or notices the disguise clipping through objects).

Edit: after further reading of the comments, I stand corrected and the situation is not as dire as I thought above. Delving deeper into the rules, I finally found the pertinent part https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/spellcasting#CastingaSpellataHigherLevel

While you have to be able to cast 7th level spells, the rules state that the spell cast using higher level spell slot assumes the level for that casting. So it is possible to cast true seeing using 7th level spell slot, making it a 7th level spell.

CRITTER SPOTTED

Well True Seeing is a 6th level and according to their description they are immune by spells from 6th and lower. I think they put thought in it with that spell in mind.

So am I to understand that somehow "Limited Magic Immunity" has an unlimited leeway for cheese? The question being, if someone summons a fire elemental with a level 5 spell, does the Rakshasa suffer any affects of the elemental's attacks, or can it completely ignore the elemental and be immune to it due to the summoning being below level 7 magic?

What about something like Tenser's Transformation? Would a Rakshasa be immune to the bonus damage, ignore the advantage on the attack rolls and deny the PC their second attack?

All serious questions I've been wanting desperately to use this monster in a campaign but I really don't understand what "limits" on their magic immunity make it limited. I won't use them unless I have a solid reasoning behind why specific spells might work but most spells do nothing to them.

Anyone feel free to provide criticism. The party is fighting their way through what appears to be a slave smuggling organization in the docks, at the end they find a large room with 3-6 heavily armed guards and 1 tall bald man wearing fine robes, the guards harry and delay the PC's, the "Sorcerer" dominates one of the party, on turn 1. On turn 2 he casts detect magic, and then following up that on turn 3 he suggests the paladin with a magic sword to throw it away, down into the water, the sorcerer does the same thing again to the fighter suggesting that he doesn't really need that magical axe after all,

Only after his guards are dead and the party is left with no magic weapons does the real fight begin, this sorcerer seems immune to magic and weapons dance across his skin without causing harm. He laughs and boasts his research was successful, slaughtering all of the pitiful weaklings and harvesting their souls to make him a demigod, indestructible to mortal hands. He rakes his hands across every member of the party before flying away, up out a skylight in the ceiling, he laughs madly to himself, declaring that he has stolen a fraction of their soul, if they ever want to find peace again they will work for him. Soon after the party finds they are haunted by terrible nightmares, and they hear screaming and crying in the night, their dreams filled with unsettling images.

I'm pretty sure it refers to spells that directly affect the rakshasa, as well as divination/detection spells that would be used to find it. Indirect things such as damage from a summoned elemental or tenser's transformation would still function as normal. At least, that's how I would rule it.

@Democratus I like that very much

In an Octagon, 4 on 1, maybe the monk scenario is valid. That is not the way the Rakshasa would go about his business INMHO

Check back soon for a link on how a Rakshasa might manipulate and attempt to kill a party...

Rakshasa makes a deal with the deal making devils:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/282889/ADVENTURE-A-Wager-Between-Fiends?filters=45469_0_0_0_0_0

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/282889/ADVENTURE-A-Wager-Between-Fiends

The link is new, I look at the string of zeros and wonder if it will change. I am working on my prevalence in the search categories.

Right now it is the very newest.

No, but it has advantage in the saves.

Remember his magical immunity keeps him from taking damage from any Paladin spells (all are under 6th level). It also stops 1/2 of all classes until they go a certain level effectively. Not to mention they are not there for fighting you directly. They will engineer your demise otherways. But to your point, the Challenge Rating System is horribly inaccurate and inconsistent. However its spells make even more formidable. Just something to keep in mind.

The elemental was summoned. That is the spell. It's not targeting the Rakshasa with the spell, so it's not immune. The Rakshasa would get advantage however, on the saving throws from any  magical effects. And Tensers Transformation effects the caster not the Rakshasa. The person under the effects of the spell gets to attack twice. That doesnt concern the Rakshasa. So the immunity doesnt apply. The best methods is to not overthink the ability. If the spell is cast to apply to the Rakshasa and is 6th or lower, it fails.

couldnt you just cast the detection spell at 7th level?

User101,

Looking up True Seeing, it's 6th level and does not have a note about casting it at a higher level. So, if you were high enough to have a level 7 spell slot, you'd still just be casting a level 6 spell, though you'd be using a higher level spell slot that could be used to deal some damage...like Finger of Death or Fire Storm.

That's what I'd tell my players, at least.

So, common consensus, would a counterspell cast lower than sixth level be automatically resisted? Or would a player get a chance to roll? I am thinking that it would be resisted through the ability without any opportunity to be countered, but 5th is still new for me.

Wow, I never even noticed the magical piercing vulnerability! Thanks, Lore You Should Know.