Oni
Lock the door, blow out the light; The hungry oni haunts the night.
Hide and tremble, little one; The oni wants to have some fun.
Hear it scratching on the door; see it's shadow cross the floor.
The sun won't rise for quite a while; Till then, beware the oni's smile.
-Children's rhyme
LORE
Terrifying. That is one of many words that can be used to describe the oni. If you are looking to frighten your players or add suspense to your campaign, I think oni are the right monster to plug into your narrative.
Oni's are D&D's version of the boogeyman. They have an ability to shape change to blend into the population of a town or city without being noticed. According to the Monster Manual, oni would use this ability to hid in plain sight as a merchant, woodcutter, or a traveler to examine the population of the citizens of that town or city, especially children and babies. An oni's favorite snack are human babies.
Oni's are also referred to as ogre mages due to their ability to weave spells but are truly only distant relatives to the swamp loving brutes. (Shrek reference) Just like ogres though, oni have been known to team up with dark wizards and other baddies if there is something in it for them. Oni are usually looking for magical items or some sort of protection.
ROLE PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
As I stated earlier, plugging an oni into your campaign is a very easy task. Oni can be found in populated areas for them to feed so it makes sense for your adventurers to run into one in large cities such as Waterdeep or Neverwinter.
A few possible plot hook ideas are:
My first suggestion is to use the charm person spell to take one of the oni's largest threat in the first round of combat. A few things to know is that if the players are fighting the oni, they would have advantage on the Wis saving throw to resist the charm, also be aware that certain paladin subclasses cause their party members to be immune to charm affects. Thinning out the number of foes is always a great strategy.
Thanks for reading!
All information came from the Monster Manual source book found at D&D Beyond
Oni's are D&D's version of the boogeyman. They have an ability to shape change to blend into the population of a town or city without being noticed. According to the Monster Manual, oni would use this ability to hid in plain sight as a merchant, woodcutter, or a traveler to examine the population of the citizens of that town or city, especially children and babies. An oni's favorite snack are human babies.
Oni's are also referred to as ogre mages due to their ability to weave spells but are truly only distant relatives to the swamp loving brutes. (Shrek reference) Just like ogres though, oni have been known to team up with dark wizards and other baddies if there is something in it for them. Oni are usually looking for magical items or some sort of protection.
ROLE PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
As I stated earlier, plugging an oni into your campaign is a very easy task. Oni can be found in populated areas for them to feed so it makes sense for your adventurers to run into one in large cities such as Waterdeep or Neverwinter.
A few possible plot hook ideas are:
- In a village or a section of a larger city, there have been reports of children going missing in the night. This could be a great starting hook for your players to investigate the disappearances. It can give them some great role play opportunities with each other as well as with NPCs. This plot hook can also give your players who enjoy puzzles and mysteries in their tabletop role playing games a chance to shine. A mystery that involves missing children can also cause your players to feel some kind of emotional connection to solving this problem. (unless your players hate babies)
- Magic shops in the city are reporting several missing magical items from their stock. Oni love magic items to make themselves stronger. Imagine having your players square up against an oni with a +2 glaive that also deals and additional 1d6 of necrotic damage! Along with the oni's prepared spells, this could be a very difficult challenge for your players who love challenging combat.
- My third story hook is short and sweet. An evil wizard has a pair of oni twins who work for him. This can create some role play opportunities and can make combat a challenge. (Inspiration for this idea came from the albino twins from Matrix 2)
COMBAT
While oni are not powerhouses by any means, they can be deadly if used effectively. Below I have a few suggestions of how to use an oni in combat scenarios.
Charm Their Pants Off!
Sneaky Sneak
The oni can cast invisibility at will. Use that to your advantage. Casting invisibility either before combat or in the creature's first round can add a layer of panic for your players. Once invisible, have the oni sneak around and attack the unsuspecting player characters or rather than physically attack the player characters, have the invisible oni cast cone of cold onto the party to hit many characters at once.Mr. Sandman
Another spell oni can cast is sleep. Using this spell at the very beginning of the combat may not be the best tactical choice. I suggest using the sleep in the middle ending stages of the battle since sleep depends on the amount of hit points those you are casting the spell on still have. Sleep causes those effected to become unconscious. When a creature is attacking an unconscious creature, they have advantage on the attack roll. If you attack an unconscious creature that is 5 feet away, the damage is an auto crit. Thats 4d10+4 from a oni in it's regular giant size!
You Can Always Run
Fleeing is always an option in D&D. Well, EVERYTHING is an option in D&D! An oni has an intelligence score of 14. I believe that it is definitely smart enough to know when it has been beaten and to get out of the fray. Casting invisibility is a great way to do that but, what if your players closed and locked the door of the dungeon they are in? An oni has access to the spell gaseous form, which transforms the oni into a cloud of gas allowing it to pass through the smallest of cracks in doors or other obstacles.
Thanks for reading!
All information came from the Monster Manual source book found at D&D Beyond
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