Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.

Oni are inspired by Japanese mythology and have been in the game since the beginning. However I believe this is the first time in official D&D history in which they’ve been called by this name. Before, they were known as “ogre mages”. Here, they are only in the Monster Manual.

The Lore

If I recall correctly, the name “oni” translates roughly into “ogre”! The portrayal of oni in Japanese mythology varies depending on which story you’re hearing. Some are just big dumb brutes best represented by the standard ogres we just looked at. Others are still big, but they’re also smart and capable of sinister sorceries. This is the type represented by this entry.

4th Edition oni look a lot like their mythological counterparts, and a bit like ogres, though the two species are not related. Despite their great size and strength, oni are clever and prefer subtle tactics to advance their own goals and hurt their enemies. Most of them know how to assume illusory disguises and turn themselves to mist, in addition to a repertoire of other spells and rituals that match their preferred tactics.

The typical oni sees itself as a mighty lord deserving of respect, and is quite vengeful to anyone whom it sees as not giving it that respect. Oni measure their status by the wealth they’ve accumulated, along with the number and quality of the slaves they own. They build hidden strongholds to live in and surround themselves with all manner of luxury, and go out to enact their plans and/or inflicting suffering on the surrounding population.

The Numbers

Oni are Large Natural Humanoids, proving that “Natural” doesn’t mean “Mundane”. They have darkvision, a ground speed of 8, and a flight speed of 8 (clumsy).

They also have a couple of signature powers: Deceptive Veil allows them to take the form of any Large or Medium humanoid. Piercing the disguise is an opposed Insight vs. Bluff roll, and Oni tend to be good at Bluff. Gaseous Form allows them to become insubstantial mist with a flight speed of 8 (hover), but since it requires standard actions to sustain they can’t do anything but move around while in this form. It’s useful for escaping, or for sneaking up to the PCs prior to the fight starting.

Oni Night Haunter

This is a Level 8 Elite Controller with 180 HP, and it’s ironically a bit of an exception to the typical oni portraited in the lore section. Night Haunters live in small huts or caves, disguising themselves as elderly hermits. At night, they fly out to sneak into villages and towns and devour sleeping victims.

They don’t just eat the flesh of those victims either! When faced with an unconscious victim, the night haunter can use Devour Soul (melee 1 vs. Will)! A hit deals psychic damage, heals the oni for 10 HP, and doesn’t wake the victim up.

If its enemies are awake, it can try to put them to sleep with its Hypnotic Breath (close blast 5 vs. Will; recharges when first bloodied). This does no damage, but dazes on a hit (save ends). After the first failed save this worsens to unconsciousness, and then it’s Devour Soul time.

If its enemies stubbornly refuse to sleep, then the oni has to resort to its Reach 2 Morningstar and bash their heads in. When it looks like it will lose the fight, it likely uses Gaseous Form to escape.

Oni Mage

According to the book, these are often and mistakenly called “ogre mages” by ignorant mortals, which means they’re the classic model.

Oni mages are Level 10 Elite Lurkers with 172 HP. They wear mail, so their ground speed is only 7, but their flight speed remains the same.

In addition to Deceptive Veil, oni mages can become invisible at-will as a standard action, which lasts until they attack. They deal extra “sneak attack” damage on melee attacks when they have combat advantage.

Before engaging in melee, though, they’ll likely fire off a few attack spells: Freezing Blast (close blast 5 vs Fortitude; recharge 6) does cold damage and slows (save ends); and Lightning Storm (area 2 within 10 vs. Reflex; recharge 5-6) does lightning damage with no riders.

When they finally engage in melee, they’ll use finely crafted Greatswords for those sneak attacks while they wait for their spells to recharge.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

The sample encounters each feature one oni and a variety of other angry humanoids like ogres, orcs and trolls, which illustrate well who it is that the oni usually enslave. Depending on the individual in question, they might do it through overt conquest, or by disguising themselves as an ogre or orc and taking over the tribe that way. As accomplished mages, oni might also be surrounded by summoned creatures or other more exotic monsters.

I like oni! They work well as fairytale horrors despite their Natural origin, and are smart enough to be used in situations where the party is forced to negotiate with them. They’re one more type of monster that might be in possession of a secret or ritual the PCs need to avert a worse evil.

Mechanically, they do need an update. Like all mid- or high- level MM elites, they need a damage boost and something equivalent to the ability to make two basic melee attacks per action. I’d also increase the mage’s sneak attack damage to something more than a piddly 1d6, and probably make it apply to the spells as well.