Tokagemono Oni
There are a lot more races of outsider now than there used to be: asuras, daemons, divs, kami, oni, rakshasa, and no doubt many more I’m forgetting, which weren’t around when the game was born. Overall, the various bestiaries and other support books do a good job of expanding these fledgling outsider groups, but I still feel the need now and then to expand their rosters and ensure they get some love and support. With that in mind, today’s Exotic Encounters provides a new oni for spirits taking the form of reptilian humanoids.
Oni, Tokagemono
This green giant’s skin is mottled with patches of glossy, reflective reptilian scales that pepper its body like a strange rash. Its eyes are golden with reptilian slits for pupils, but its face is decidedly humanoid in appearance, a fang-filled mouth stretched to an unnatural razor-sharp grin beneath a bulbous green nose.
ONI, TOKAGEMONO CR 4
XP 1,200
NE Large outsider (native, oni, shapechanger)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +7 natural, –1 size)
hp 42 (5d10+15); regeneration 5 (acid or fire)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +2
Defensive Abilities primitive brain; DR 5/magic; SR 15
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee mwk greatclub +9 (1d10+6), bite +3 (1d4+1), or two claws +8 (1d3+2), bite +8 (1d4+2)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +5)
3/day—animate rope, jump
1/day—entangle (DC 11)
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +5; CMB +10; CMD 22
Feats Improved Natural Armor, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Bluff +8, Perception +9, Stealth +6, Survival +9, Swim +12
SQ change shape (Small or Medium reptilian humanoids; alter self), cold-blooded
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary or tribe (1 plus 3–24 kobolds, lizardfolk, or troglodytes)
Treasure double
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Cold-Blooded (Ex): Tokagemono oni are very sensitive to ambient heat. In environments of less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, a tokagemono oni is sickened, and in environments of less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit, a tokagemono oni is staggered. The tokagemono oni is also staggered for 1d4 rounds any time it suffers cold damage. By contrast, a tokagemono oni is empowered by ambient heat, and gains a +4 enhancement bonus to its Strength and Dexterity scores while in environments of greater than 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Primitive Brain (Ex): Tokagemono oni rely heavily on the more primitive part of the brain, which handles instinctive and primordial responses, sometimes referred to as the “lizard brain.” They gain a +4 bonus on saving throws made to resist compulsion effects. Additionally, whenever a tokagemono oni would be subject to a fear effect, there is a 50% chance that it instead becomes confused and is affected as though by the rage spell for the same duration that the fear effect would have lasted.
Ecology
Typically, only the crudest and simplest of oni spirits choose to take the form of a tokagemono oni, those most attracted to the primitive, reptilian minds of creatures such as lizardfolk, kobolds, and troglodytes. Although many tokagemono oni infiltrate the ranks of reptilian species and take places as tribal chieftains, much as other oni do with the humanoid races they emulate, an unusually large number of these oni prefer to live completely solitary lifestyles, in a borderline-feral existence as predators. Such tokagemono oni often spurn the trappings of civilization, making lairs and dens in caves or other natural features.
Tokagemono oni are driven by a variety of impulses, all of which are primal and deep: they experience deep hungers and cravings for raw meat, the thrill of the hunt, more carnal lusts, fierce territorialism (especially against others of their kind), and so on, being carried along through their lives on wave after wave of instinctual need.