Servitor Rakshasa

Family: Rakshasa

Medium fiend, lawful evil

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 32 (5d8 + 10)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	11 (+0)

Skills Insight +4, Perception +4
Damage Vulnerabilities piercing from magic weapons wielded by good creatures
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Infernal
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Limited Magic Immunity. The servitor can’t be affected or detected by cantrips unless it wishes to be. It has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.

ACTIONS

• Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage.
• Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage.
• Spellcasting. The servitor casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 11):
  • At will: detect thoughts, disguise self
  • 1/day: cause fear
  “

REACTIONS

• Protecting Pounce. When a rakshasa the servitor can see within 15 feet of it is the target of an attack, the servitor can move up to half its speed toward that rakshasa without provoking opportunity attacks. If it ends this movement within 5 feet of the rakshasa, the servitor becomes the target of the attack instead.

ABOUT

A trio of cat people stand beside a seated tiger man, dutifully poised to carry out his instructions.

In the rigid hierarchy of rakshasas, low-ranking rakshasas serve the more powerful to gather and increase their own power.

The Saahase. The fierce infantry class of the rakshasa, more commonly known as myrmidons, serves as the tiger’s claws. Myrmidons blend arcane might and martial warfare, and they guard the palaces and secret hideaways of their masters or serve as bodyguards for the masters themselves.

The Pustakam. When a rakshasa is killed on the Material Plane, its spirit is banished back to the Hells, where it is tormented by devils until it is reincarnated in a new body. Sometimes, when it committed a grave error that resulted in its death, the slain fiend returns in an inferior form, obliged to perform a series of evil deeds before regaining its former status. These rakshasas occupy a unique rank outside the standard hierarchy and are called pustakams. Separate from their brethren, pustakams reside almost entirely on the Material Plane, disguising themselves as books, paintings, or statuettes and insinuating themselves into mortal hands. Their natural form is that of a mauve-skinned fiend the size of a halfling with the tell-tale backward hands of a rakshasa.

To regain its former status as a full rakshasa, the pustakam must tempt mortals into committing evil acts, and the severity of its failure determines the depth of the acts or how many mortals it must manipulate before it regains its power, which only the pustakam itself knows. Pustakams typically coerce victims into performing minor acts first, then push them into progressively more evil and depraved actions until the pustakam earns its return to the Hells, where it is reincarnated as a true rakshasa.

The Chhota. The laborer class of the rakshasa, called servitors, serve as the lowest rung in rakshasa society. Minor functionaries, builders, and laborers, servitors possess a burning desire to advance. When a servitor proves itself worthy, elder rakshasas perform the “Unnati” ritual. In this ritual, the servitor literally earns its stripes, transforming from a leopard-like fiend into a more powerful, tiger-like rakshasa.

The Slayer. When a rakshasa or greater rakshasa needs an enemy spied upon or killed, it sends a slayer to carry out the mission. Slayers operate outside rakshasa society to better protect themselves and their employers. They can assume dozens of identities and humanoid forms, switching identities as needed.