D&D 5E What is a Rakshasas place in the Nine Hells

[Chaosmancer]

So, I'm catching up on Critical Role and they are researching the Nine Hells to deal with a Rakshasa, and they are fairly vague about it.

I've got a homebrew world I'm working on, and hey, I've been meaning to figure out what is going on in the Nine Hells so I start trying to research Rakshasa's for bits of lore.


I can't find anything online that is more useful than what the MM gives us and that doesn't answer one of the most important questions I have.


The Nine Hells are highly regimented, the order of who out ranks who is pretty specific, but where do Rakshasa fit into that hierarchy? They are immensely powerful with their almost unique immunity to magic, and I don't know why that is.


I can make up my own lore, and probably will, but this is bothering me not to know what Rakshasa are supposed to be in the Nine Hells.

 

[gyor]

They aren't devils, so they don't have a rank. Even in hell there are independent elements.
.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

IOW, they're the Housecats of Hell: they ignore the owners, found a warm place and made it their own, and if you try to move them, it's on.

 

[Lancelot]

Rakshasas were listed as possible inhabitants of the Nine Hells way back in the 1e Monster Manual II, but note that the same table that indicated their rarity on each of Hell's layers also listed other non-native creatures like mephits, daemons, nightmares and hoardlings. Dragon magazine articles (#84, #326) have tended to be a bit quiet on their status in the Hells, or have implied that they're mostly occupants of the Prime Material Plane that are simply visitors to the Hells.

The rakshasa "god" (Ravanna) was detailed in Dragon #84, and his plane of origin was listed as Acheron (formerly Prime Material). Hence, it's unlikely that rakshasas are directly tied into the hierarchy of the Nine Hells. Much like mind flayers in a drow city, I would see them as (distrusted) visitors and allies-of-convenience for the devils. Some of them might serve diabolic masters (particular as assassins and spies, given their illusion powers and near-immunity to magic), but most rakshasas will ultimately be pursuing their own ends.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Okay, so they return to the Nine Hells when destroyed and can only be truly killed there because they've made that their "home" but they aren't part of the the Nine Hells beyond that?

I was under the impression that all "fiends" were either Demons or Devils, but I guess thinking on it Night Hags are only considered fiends because they deal with the Hells so often it has changed them. I suppose a similar thing could have happened to Rakshasa.

That's just incredibly odd to me though, to have this entire race of fiendish creatures in the Nine Hells be otherwise unconnected with the rest of the Nine Hells.

 

[Lancelot]

There are a bunch of other fiends that aren't demons or devils. Nightmares, yugoloths, succubi, cambions, etc. Fiend is the generic 5e term for "creature from the Lower Planes"; i.e. Nine Hells, Gehenna, Grey Waste, Carceri, Abyss... and perhaps Acheron and Pandemonium.

By the context of your statement, I'm guessing that you're just looking at the 5e Monster Manual lore? This is inconsistent with previous D&D versions, as noted above (in previous versions, rakshasas were not created in the Nine Hells). However, if you're just looking at 5e, then perhaps the answer is obvious. The MM states that rakshasas are formed from devils who shed their skins and project their spirits into new bodies, so as to better infiltrate the Material Plane. Hence, prior to becoming rakshasas, they are simply devils that already fit into the established hierarchy. Some of them were soldiers in the Blood War, some of them were bureaucrats in the infernal hierarchy, some of them were agents of the Lords of the Nine.

The 5e MM also states: "For a rakshasa, death on the Material Plane means an agonizing and torturous return to the Nine Hells, where its essence remains trapped until its body reforms- a process that cart take months or years. When the rakshasa is reborn, it has all the memories and knowledge of its former life, and it seeks retribution against the one who slew it." Note that it doesn't state exactly which body reforms. Perhaps the rakshasa reforms in its original devil body... which could be a pretty amazing story hook for a campaign. The party takes out a CR 13 rakshasa... and then some time later, they get ambushed by a very angry CR 20 pit fiend, who seems to be nursing a grudge...

Alternatively, maybe the diabolic spirit reforms in the Nine Hells in its new rakshasa body. In this case, it's probably a figure of some derision and amusement for the other devils. Think about it... you've just shed your diabolic body to create a new rakshasa form on the Material Plane. Your existence back in the Nine Hells in rakshasa form implies that somebody killed you, and you've recently regenerated. It's like wearing a big sign saying: "Some humans killed me!".

And for those rakshasa who willingly travel to the Nine Hells (using their daily plane shift ability), their motivations for returning are likely the same as any expatriate citizen. Some may be visiting because they're homesick; others for business; others because they have personal holdings (property, slaves, wealth) in the Nine Hells that they wish to access. Maybe, in particularly rare cases, they've returned to the Hells because of bonds of friendship or even "love". There was a classic Planescape adventure that had a Romeo-Juliet theme between a horned devil and a succubus (which were demons, back in those days). I think there could be an equally interesting story to tell about a devil that shed it's skin to become a rakshasa on the Material Plane... and is now seeking adventurers to help escort it back to the Nine Hells to visit its erinyes devil ex-lover, while avoiding the vengeful rage of other rival devils who despise that their old "friend" managed to escape the Hells by becoming a rakshasa.

 

[MNblockhead]

For Rakshasha's I like to go back to the Hindu mythology and tweak it. Below is how I approach them

1. They were created by [some powerful LE deity]
2. Their blood lust was so insatiable they attempted to EAT THEIR CREATOR and were punished by being banished to the Prime Material plane.
3. I play them as insatiable "cannibals" (man eaters), in the past their were huge armies of them, but most have been vanquished—those that remain are especially powerful, intelligent, and subtle but man-eating is still something they are compelled to engage in.
4. Their true form is an ugly, fierce, huge fanged creature, with flaming eyes—but in a nod to D&D tradition, a tiger like appearance—think tiger demon. In my game they may reveal a "partial true form" which is similar to a huge were-tiger in hybrid form, but without a tail. They might use this to show who their "true nature" to followers or to strike fear when they need to intimidate, but where they don't wan to reveal their true terrifying form. In my campaign, they tend to surround themselves with Were Tiger allies/servants, so this partially true form serves them well.
5. They can fly, vanish, and have powers of illusion.
6. They are gluttonous and greedy and work to place themselves in positions of wealth and power
7. There are legends of highly civilized vegetarian Rakshasha (based on Jain mythology)
8. Those who remain on the Prime Material plane as especially powerful and when they die and return to hell, they are seen as a threat, but also a as a means to exert Devilish influence in the Prime Material plane. After a period of torture and punishment for the transgressions they committed at their creation, they are banished back to the Prime Material plane, with their pain of their recent visit to hell freshly seared in their mind along with a great desire for revenge against those responsible for sending them back to hell.

 

[ScaleyBob]

THere was a very good GM's Word of the Week about them: https://www.gmwordoftheweek.com/home/zxei2ci9gtmemkx8vn88z34psb8kvo
that answered (and created) a lot of questions about them, like just how much of the D&D ones are not like the Mythological ones.

As for why they're in the 9 Hells, I suspect it probably because they're Lawful Evil Fiends, and that's where Lawful Evil Fiends are based, no matter what.

I rather liked the 4E version of them, where they were the reincarnations of Devas (Aasimar) who become corrupt and evil over the course of their lifetimes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nine Hells. Nine lives. Coincidence?

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Promotion might not be that common in the 9 Hells, so impatient devils might opt for "alternative career path" as a rakshsas. You get a power boost (if you were weaker than a rak to begin with) and the perks of living the good life on the material plane, but your odds of advancement are pretty small (even smaller than for a normal devil). On the other hand, if you have been passed up for promotion 100 times, what have you got to loose?