Hannya Oni

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Hannya Oni (CR 13)

No matter how many or how few Gods you believe to exist, the truth of the matter is that spread across all possible realities there are Gods uncountable. Since Gods have a much higher order of perception than mere mortals, they have worked, over the eons, to form a structure, a Celestial Cascade, with the multitude of deities able to interact with one another and their worshipers in a way that allows the greatest harmony.

Perhaps not in your world, (or maybe it is!) a small portion of the Celestial Cascade became more highly organized than most, and became known as the Celestial Bureaucracy. The Celestial Bureaucracy is vast beyond reckoning, even though it is a small portion of the Cascade, and is probably the single largest Deific structure in existence. As a result, the servants and minions of the Celestial Bureaucracy can be found in almost every world, even ones that have never heard of the Bureaucracy, or even the Cascade!

These servants and minions are known as the Oni. They are a large collection of humanoid beings, empowered with Celestial might. And that is the end of their similarities. Oni come in all colors, with variable faces and features, variable numbers of limbs, and with widely varying degrees of autonomy and kindness. Some Oni are quite benevolent, while others would cause a Demon to cower in fear from their awfulness. It should be mentioned that Oni are not exactly evil, but they are also emphatically not good, and they are very very alien compared to most other creatures. It is rare indeed to meet an Oni who has your best interests in mind, and even if they do, Oni are remarkably changeable and fractious creatures, and are likely to turn on you in a heartbeat, purely on a whim.

The Hannya Oni is a populous branch of these strange Celestial creatures. They are tall, handsome creatures with skin of various shades and features with a definite otherworldly cast, leaning to staring eyes and in most cases, horns. Some Hannya Oni are loyal to the Celestial Bureaucracy and serve as erratic but capable bureaucrats. Many others have cast aside the strictures of the Cascade and are now free agents, doing as they will in whatever worlds they find themselves in. Hannya oni are among the most terrifying and cruel of the oni, with a strong sense of theatre and love of terrifying those things weaker than they are. Hannya Oni are marked by their wide, wild-staring eyes, even though their skin and features vary wildly, ranging from orc-like to sylph-like and with every variation of race in between. Hannya Oni are monstrous and animalistic in combat, with the unfortunate habit of rending their own flesh in battle to horrify and discommode opponents.

Despite their truly awful and cruel natures, Hannya Oni are beloved by deities and are masters of the Art Of Balance, and will be unpredictable at the best of times. In all cases, they have a wild and violent streak that makes them dangerous, so approach with care!

GENERAL

CR 13 Hit Dice 19

XP 25,600

CN, Medium, Monstrous Humanoid

Init +6; Senses Precise Hearing 30 ft, Keen Hearing 60 feet, Perception +20

DEFENSE

AC 34, touch 20, flat-footed 30 (+8 armor, +4 dex, +6 natural, +6 deflection)

hp 295

Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +16

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: -

Immunities: -

Weaknesses: -

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., Flight 50 ft

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Tearing Gape +19 (2d8+15/x2), (NOTE: Must use Defaced before using this attack..)

Full Melee Tearing Gape +19 (2d8+15/x2), 2x Ripping Claws +19 (2d6+5/x2)

Ranged 2x Eyebite +19 (2d8+9/x2) (See below for details), Range increment 200 feet, maximum range 200 feet

Special Attacks Eyebite, Yin-Yang, Seething Vapor, Defaced

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha18

Base Atk +13; CMB +26; CMD 30

Feats Improved Disarm, EFFECT: Disarm attempts do not provoke attacks of opportunity, and gain +4 on CMB (included)

Skills Knowledge, Local, +21, Intimidate +19, Fly +20

Languages Celestial, Reave, Common, Abyssal

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Defaced (Su)

Once per encounter, as a swift action, the Oni may tear open its face in a gory spectacle to allow the use of its Tearing Gape attack. The Oni may choose one foe within thirty feet who can see them. When they use Defaced, they may force that foe to make a Will save against a DC of 22 or be [Cringing] until the Oni's next turn begins. If they make the save, there is no effect.

Yin-Yang (Su)

Once per encounter, as a move action, an Oni may forcibly exchange positions with another creature, the both of them flying wildly through the air. To use the Yin-Yang ability, the oni must have line of sight and line of effect to their target, and vice-versa. The Oni must be within 40 feet of its intended target. The Oni declares they are using Yin-Yang, and they swap places, both of them moving up to eight squares, and each ending up in the starting square of the other. This ability is only usable on a foe the same size as the Oni or smaller, and both parties of the movement must be able to fit into their ending squares without squeezing. Yin-Yang is resolved as two simultaneous forced movements, and each is resolved simultaneously, then the Tearing Gape attack is resolved. No Yin-Yang movement ever provokes attacks of opportunity or bonus attacks of any sort.

During this forced movement, the Oni is allowed to make a single Tearing Gape attack on its startled foe, as they pass by each other in the center, at the normal chance to-hit and inflicting normal damage if they hit. The victim is not allowed to make an attack in return, even if they normally have some power or ability which would permit such a thing. As with all forced movement, either the Oni or the victim may fall prone at any point along the path of the travel to end the forced movement in that square. If one of the creatures affected by Yin-Yang falls prone or otherwise resists some or all of this forced movement, the Oni does NOT get an attack unless they have already become adjacent, and may be forced to end their movement early as the other person in the Yin-Yang affect may now block their movement. Falling prone or otherwise resisting must therefore be declared before the Oni makes their attack roll.

Seething Vapor (Su)

Once per encounter, as a swift action, the Oni may pull a small object from its personal effects and dash it against the ground or other hard surface (even other creatures) to release a vile Seething Vapor. Seething Vapor grants total concealment against all vision, and fills the Oni's space and all adjacent non-blocked squares. (3x3 AOE centered on the Oni.)Oni are immune to the effects of Seething vapor (the have hearing as a targeting sense) and take no damage from the gritty acidic cloud. For all others, it provides total concealment (50 percent miss chance) unless they have a sense which overcomes it, and even worse, it lasts until the end of the encounter unless removed with a strong wind. A Gust of Wind spell will suffice to disperse it after one round, and stronger wind effects remove it immediately. Note that since this requires a swift action, this may not be used in the first round of combat, as the Oni is usually expending a swift action then to enable their Tearing Gape attack. Any creature which enters or begins their turn inside the Seething Vapor takes 3d6+2 points of acid damage, unless they make a Fortitude save to resist it.

Eyebite (Su)

As a standard action, the Oni may, once they have enabled their Tearing Gape attack by expending a swift action to rip off their face, make an Eyebite attack to victims within 200 feet. They must have line of sight and line of effect, as their toothy jaws separate from their skulls and fly about the room, delivering bite attacks. While separated, the jaws cannot be targeted and attacked, as they are defined as melee attacks. Note that Hannya Oni may use their Improved Disarm feat with their Eyebite attacks! The Oni may roll to-hit against one or two foes as long as both are within thirty feet of each other, and for each hit, they inflict normal Tearing Gape damage +19 to-hit, (2d6+15).

Note: Oni cannot target attacks with hearing further away than 30 feet! Beyond their, they require line of sight and line of effect as normal.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 11,250 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Hannya Oni look deceptively 'normal' at most times, with flesh and skin and a face much like other creatures. Their wild-staring eyes strongly indicate their vicious madness, but aside from that, they seem rather prosaic.

In combat, however, a Hannya Oni uses it's claws and teeth to fight. At such times, it's normal humanoid face becomes a problem, as they cannot use their Tearing Gape attack as long as their face remains intact. Therefore, as a swift action, a Hannya Oni may tear open it's cheeks or even just rips its face completely off, so it may use it's Tearing Gape at will. This is their creepy Defaced ability, which does not play well with Seething Vapors. Which tactic a Hanya Oni uses will depend on the fight and the situation, and it is not uncommon for squabbles to occur between Oni as one'steps on' the actions of another.

Hannya Oni are not great combatants, but they are remarkably cagey. One favorite trick is for them to all use Defaced in the first round, and anybody who is stricken with Cringing is then targeted with Yin-Yang. The Oni then throws down a Seething Vapors in the midst of their enemies and let the battle commence.

As all Oni, Hannya oni will move the fight around all over the place, using Yin-Yang and Seething Vapors. One particularly nasty tactic is for one or two of them to stand back and use Eyebite on heavily armored foes, but instead of full damage, they will roll to make Disarms. Any enemies that are disarmed are the Ying-Yanged away from the square where their weapons dropped!

Oni are a pain in the neck.

Once the battle is joined, Hannya Oni have no fear of death on the Prime Material Plane and will fight to the death without hesitation.