[D&D 3.5] Roleplaying a Rakshasa

[theonesin]

So, I'm playing a Rakshasa in an upcoming campaign, but I'm honestly not that familiar with the race. I get that they're evil, but they're also lawful, so I assume they have a "code" of some sort(instead of destroying stuff willy-nilly).

Does anyone know where I could find more information on them? Any advice on roleplaying one in a "standard" adventuring party(no, we don't have a good cleric or paladin in the group, fortunately).

If it means anything, the campaign is pretty much about dealing with a so-called unstoppable army of insect creatures(diopsids) threatening the world, so I could certainly see an evil character putting differences aside for the greater threat.

Thanks.

[Grinner]

I think they're shapeshifting tiger-men in D&D. That may or may not have anything to do with their origins as spirits in Indian mythology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa).

[theonesin]

Hmm, anymore information on them?

[angry_bear]

One of their primary abilities is their alter self ability... Typically they're more about misdirection and manipulation rather than direct force. Not that they're incapable of brute force, but it's just a question of preference for the race it seems.

[fluke1993]

If you have read The Dresden Files, the Skin-Walker from Turn Coat could be a good fit.

If you haven't read Turn Coat, My advice would be to make heavy use of the shape-shifting aspect to cause fear and havoc in the enemy ranks. Spell casting could be very good IF the LA isn't too big.

As far as build goes, if you don't have anything planned I would say a sorcerer with a penchant for fear effects could be a good fit OR a skirmisher type build using swift hunter warshaper and pounce. I would like to add that these builds are not mechanically ideal.

[DefKab]

Well, I've never roleplayed a Rakshasa, but since I've found them vastly interesting, I have done a little research on them...

For the most part, they are left untouched. Especially in 3.5, because, well, they belong to Indian mysticism, not any major cultural influence that spurs the imagination of DnD.

However, 4.0 did a little bit to expand the Rakshasa, and it may be something to think about. To explain it, I'll need a little exposition...

(clears throat)

The Deva is a race of angelic beings in 4.0. Unnecessarily good, and driven by divine influence, the Deva are immortal, dying only to be raised again by their patron gods, who gave up their hosts of angels permanently to the mortals below. Once an Angel gives up their holy duties to become a servant of the mortals, they become a Deva, never again to roam their respective planes of Devout Goodness. However, that mortality (in sort) does have its downsides. Should a Deva be driven to evil acts, and decide to lay its lots with the more... nefarious of sorts, its soul in inexplicably ripped from its mortal coil, and the twisted, mal-aligned creature that remains is a being of the darker forces. Still immortal, the Deva returns to the realm as a Rakshasa, evil incarnate in the form of a humanoid cat, its hands disfigured by the deeds that it has done. It treasures its intelligence above all things, which makes it hard to argue that it is in fact evil. If he knows more than you, how can you call him wrong?

This explains a bit more. Rakshasa's are indeed evil, but their long, pressing, angelic past leave them with a sense of dignity. They take pride, not seeing themselves as a willing evil, but a necessary one. They do serve a greater purpose, and the fact that they still maintain a code of conduct, give credence to the idea that they might still return to their Deva form. However, most choose not too...

As to how to roleplay a Rakshasa, your biggest toolkit should be anonymity. Cover your hands, lie about your past, keep your identity secret. Most importantly, however, should be your goal. Who's host you serve now will be your biggest draw, so you should plan out your patron, his needs, and why you feel it must be accomplished.
Or, better yet, play double agent as you plan your return to divinity. Either way, I imagine playing a Rakshasa to be great fun.

[Phelix-Mu]

A common and relatively simple way to role play LE is to play a controller, someone that sees people as tools. A manipulator. By robbing your "tools" of their free will or good judgement via enchantments, social manipulation, or corruption, a rakshasa can get others to serve it in its master plan. And as very intelligent evil creatures, there is usually a plan.

As a controller, a rakshasa probably keeps its plan super-secret. As far as its allies are concerned, the goal is x; but only the rakshasa knows that everyone is being subtly maneuvered to help accomplish secret goal y.

So, a smooth talker with a silver tongue. Everyone thinks of the rakshasa as a friend; after all, if the others think they are doing themselves a favor as they help accomplish the master plan, then they are less likely to question their actions.

Misdirection can also be key to the kind of control that rakshasa are often engaged in. Think of the following.

- The rakshasa has secured the services of several "friends," let's call them A, B, and C.

- The rakshasa wants A and B to be cooperative with some kind of plan to accomplish questionably moral act x, let's say it's kidnapping some person D.

- The rakshasa convinces C to go do something while dressed up as D, something bad that A and B will notice.

- A and B now think that D did this terrible thing, and therefor kidnapping D is justified.

See? And this is Evil 101, kids. If you want advanced lessons, I can help you with that, too.:smallcool:

[Big Fau]

Wear a cloak and hold your hands behind your back when socializing. View your fellow partymates as trusted minions, and make sure they won't expose your true nature. Much like playing a Changeling, your goal should be to act as a manipulator. You are the puppetmaster in the party, and you allow others to take the stage so you can keep yourself safe.

[theonesin]

Some good information so far. I'd like to pop in with a few more details about my character and the campaign to help a bit with specifics.

The campaign involves alien visitors(led by the Bug Empire) coming to this world, and using their technology to pretty much end all living and food problems we had. Then suddenly, the Bug Empire declared war on everyone, and dominated combat with technology foreign to even the other alien colonists. Some of the resistance is trying to move people underground, as the Bugs refused to go there for some reason. Our party's overall goal is to stop the Bug Empire, of course.

To preface my character, I need to mention that we're doing a gestalt game, with the idea of taking normally crappy/lackluster classes and making them into something useful. Since we started at level 6, I'm actually playing the Savage Species Rakshasa progression(subbing in spell resistance for spell immunity, and losing the "blessed crossbow bolts instakill me" thing). My overall character is Rakshasa 6//Lurk 2(kind of a psionic rogue)/Martial Monk 1(trading Flurry for Rage)/Voce Warrior 3(psionic PrC from Hyperconscious that fights with a blade of sound).

The Lurk/Voce Warrior half actually came before thinking of using Rakshasa, so by default, I'm not mechanically built for manipulation(while I have a high Cha, I don't have ranks in the social skills, though I can change this). The build came out as a melee fighter with a lot of attacks, with a bit of arcane and psionic casting. And currently I have a Hat of Disguise to make up for my inability to use Alternate Form at will(I get that in 2 levels).

I suppose I should've mentioned this earlier, but I didn't know if it was relevant at the time. >.>

[AmberVael]

I think they're shapeshifting tiger-men in D&D. That may or may not have anything to do with their origins as spirits in Indian mythology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa).

Well, you'll notice that there is nothing about tigers at all on their wiki page... and having read the Ramayana and Mahabharata, I gotta say, I'm not sure where that part came from.

There are three things about them that have stood out to me, as someone who know them from their source material. None of this stuff necessarily applies to their D&D lore, but I've never been fond of that version of them anyway.

1) While not all Rakshasa are bad dudes, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibhishana) the majority of them are pretty awful. And by pretty awful, I mean cannibal murder monsters. They kidnap, dismember, trick, and desecrate.
2) Shapeshifting and wild forms. There are a lot of rakshasa that shapeshift. Those that don't shapeshift at minimum seem to stick around in really weird forms- for example, Ravana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravana) had a ton of arms and heads and his brother Kumbhakarna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbhakarna) was a giant.
3) Illusion. Illusion magic and trickery are just a thing for Rakshasa. If they don't use illusion magic to trick people, they use their shapeshifting to trick people. They're not always sneaky manipulative dudes though, it's just that they use deceit to achieve their goals. Indrajit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrajit) would run around on the battlefield invisible and shoot people, for example. Not exactly subtle. Still using illusion to his advantage though. It does sound pretty Lurkish.