“Enemy at the Gates” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #39

“Enemy at the Gates” – Out of the Box D&D Encounters #39

February 10, 2017

A great villain who sees very little action is the Oni (otherwise called the Ogre Magi or Japanese Ogre). Oni are special in the ranks of the giant-kind in that they are talented spell casters and shape-shifters. They walk the line between brute and Hag, making for a villain that could be very accomplished as both. Some Hags might employ them as minions, but to be honest, given an Oni’s intelligence and accomplishments, any “service” to someone of the same “rank” might be temporary at best. Dangerous, intelligent and strong villains are rarely anyone’s minions for long, usually having plans of their own and no small amount of ambition. However, the Oni might be even more of the threat when it’s in the service of an even more powerful villain like a dragon, greater devil or demon, lich, or mummy lord. This would give the Oni access to greater resources, perhaps a helpful organization, or even its own pool of agents like cultists or spies.

For the purposes of this encounter, the Oni will be the agent of some greater villain in your world. I’ve used medusae, succubi, and nothics in this fashion, and they’re all great in their own way. An Oni can be just as great but, like the succubi, be anyone … anywhere … and really ramp up the paranoia. The Oni could have been hidden among a tribe of Orcs, then disguised as a human guard, and then as a wandering monk … one never knows.

The text in the Monster Manual states that the entire appearance changes size if needed, but their glaive only changes in size. Taken as written, that means they’ll always have a pole arm. That makes it essential for the DM to place the Oni in roles where the existence of such weapons would be logical and acceptable. You may even wish to make such weapons more common in local soldiery and among peasant militia. This is supported in historical fact with such weapons as the bill and the military fork. You could even give the Oni in question a magical glaive that has the ability to temporarily change shape, or even give him the Eldritch Knight ability to call his weapon from anywhere via some sort of teleportation. There are lots of ways around the predicted meta-gaming of the experienced and cunning player.

In this particular case, the Oni will be ready to greet them as they return to civilization – either ahead of them as they arrive in a new town or to “welcome” them as they return to a home community. Just remember, the Oni is a very intelligent opponent. They will act with cunning and a decent tactical sense. They will retreat if things turn badly for them and strike when they have some sort of advantage.

That’s what makes them deadly.

Environment: Urban/City or Town gates.

Suggested level: 7

Description: The road before the party ends in the large wooden gates of the community before you. Two individuals in chain mail wielding pole arms watch you approach and appear to be conversing with each other out of earshot.

What is actually happening is that one of the guards is an Oni in disguise as a human guard he eliminated earlier. As Katsuro watches his chosen targets approach, he casts Charm Person on the guard and then instructs the guardsman that these approaching people are trouble and should be stopped at all costs.

To that end, the Charmed guardsman will be belligerent and seek to deny passage to the characters. If things devolve into combat, the Oni will likely say something to the effect of “These people are trouble. We cannot let them pass. Do you agree?”… and then he’ll grasp his weapon in an offensive manner, but he’ll allow the other guardsman to attack first. Given the level of the party, they will make quick work of this simple guardsman. That’s when the Oni will cast Darkness on the group and then fly directly up and over the player characters. Unless the player characters have Devil’s Sight (or similar) or have an Imp familiar (who also has this sight), they should not hear or see the Oni leave the melee.

On his next action, he will then cast Cone of Cold from directly 30’ above the party. It would be reasonable to expect that the party will either scatter or move well away from the Darkness at this time. Katsuro will know this and will use the Darkness Sphere like a barrier to hide behind – using it to keep the party off balance so that they will find it hard to know where he is. He will seek to separate one or two away from the group so he can properly deal with them. He may even take one of the party members who may have fallen and place them in the darkness so that he can assume their form. He may whisk away with an unconscious party member so he can leverage the party to act on his benefactor’s behalf.

He may try to assess if some members are weak enough to succumb to a Sleep spell after his Cone of Cold, and then take those individuals. He may try to surprise an individual and strike them with a pair of Glaive attacks before casting Sleep. The choice is up to the DM. Parties change in composition and tactical application – allow the Oni to act accordingly. In all cases, he will seek to fight another day if he can. He is cunning and intelligent – allow him to be so. His goal is to either kill, capture, or gain leverage over the party. If he cannot do one, he will always do another. He will never assume true form unless he has to. It’s better to keep the party guessing. A party that cannot identify their adversary will start assuming everyone might be.

Because the Oni has a Ring of Mind Shielding, the players will not be able to track him through the Darkness with spells like Detect Thoughts. They will also not be able to pinpoint him with spells or abilities that track creature type. That means he really COULD be anyone, and could be placed in a variety of circumstances.

Monsters: “Katsuro” – Oni (page 239, Monster Manual)
“James” – Guard (page 347, Monster Manual)

Treasure: James will have little on him save for perhaps 10 sp and a hand-written note from his wife asking him to come home safe (Yes, I’m that kind of DM).

Katsuro, if defeated, will have his Glaive (which will revert to giant-size and therefore be hard to carry or use), a missive from his overlord identifying the party (likely with some special sigil that the overlord uses to sign the missives), 70gp, 110 ep, and a Ring of Mind Shielding.

Complications: There are a few that come to mind. Death, kidnapping, being accused or tracked by local authorities for killing their guard … the list goes on. Keep in mind that Katsuro couldn’t care less about simple human guards (or Dwarf guards or elf guards … you get the idea), so such repercussions from his actions do not play into his motives. His singular motive is the killing of or capture of the party. He may even kill one party member and take his place much like a doppleganger would. If this happens, feel free to take the dead character’s player aside and discuss your plan with him. You may be quite surprised when you discover that the ruthlessness of the Oni is only surpassed by that of the player who gets a chance to “be on the inside.” If this happens, go for it – if only because your table will talk about it for years to come.

This doesn’t include the legal or political fallout that could ensue from killing the constabulary of a local community. You have a chance there to insert local politics if you like, but if your players are not interested, or if they are not of a mindset to deal with such issues, it’s perfectly reasonable to have someone inside the wall discover the victim that the Oni killed to take his place. You could have another guard on the wall, too far away to get involved, see a flying, spell-casting version of what he thought was a compatriot, and thus facilitate an easier resolution of any forthcoming trial.

You could even go so far as to have the wife or older child of the guard slain by the party become a new villain for the party through some sort of Warlock process.

The options here are truly endless.

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