Introduction

Well, it’s finally happened to me. I purposefully sat down to write this blog and for about the first 10-15 minutes, all I could do was think of anything but this blog. I kept getting distracted by social media, Discord, thinking about ways to optimize my podcast playlist, and my second PFS2e character since my first one has now hit 5th level. Of course, once I noticed what I was doing, I realized that I had to start this blog and needed to write about it right away. It might’ve taken a bit, but a little mindfulness let me catch it in the end!

I don’t know if any of you have heard, but this blog has launched me into becoming a member of the Know Direction Network! This is super exciting for me, and I cannot wait to show the KD team all that I’ve got! I won’t lie though, there is a little bit of impostor syndrome happening right now too. When I was on the Geek Together, I was getting to talk with some pillars of our community. It was tough not to fanboy while on air! It was a time to be a little light, but also show some professional thought into what I was trying to do with my writing.  

Before You Begin: NPC Concept

On that Geek Together, after John, Ron and I freakishly got dropped from the call (it was as weird on our end as it was on Ryan’s), I mentioned that I was working on finalizing my ideas for the Maharaja Rakshasa and that they’re really aren’t many CR20 creatures to use as a baseline currently published by Paizo (as of this writing there are 2 – a colossus and an ooze). Now that doesn’t stop me from looking at some of the surrounding CRs to get an idea of what I was looking at in terms of power (there are a total of 12 creatures published right now CR18-25). Another interesting tidbit is that the Maharaja would be the smallest CR20 creature by a few magnitudes, as the other two are both colossal in size.

At this point, I had to start thinking about what I wanted from the Maharaja. These baddies aren’t likely to see combat often, and when they do it’s going to be against the best of the best PCs. I know I’ll want the Maharaja to be a spellcaster like many of my previous Rakshasas, primarily based on the Pathfinder 1st Edition’s version that has a ton of spells known and some hefty spell-like abilities on top of that. In terms of special abilities though, it only has one and that one is a doozy in terms of power. We’ll see what I can do with that ability in Starfinder – I’m considering tying it to Resolve Points.

Steps 1-3: Array, Creature Type Graft, Creature Subtype Graft

If you are new to this series, you can check out the reasoning for the Array, Creature Type & Subtypes in the first blog post here.  As with the previous Rakshasa, the Maharaja Rakshasa will have the Spellcaster array (for CR 20), the Outsider Type with the Shapechanger, Native and Rakshasa sub-types.

It is tempting to give the Maharaja the Mystic class graft as it packages a lot of special abilities. There will also not be any template or class grafts for the Mahraja. Put together, this gives us the following stat block so far: 

EAC: 34 KAC: 35
Fort: +17 Ref: +19 Will: +22
HP:  395
Ability DC: 27 Base Spell DC: 23
Str: +6 Dex: +6 Con: +6  Int: +6 Wis: +12  Cha: +10
Special Abilities: 4
Master Skills: +39 (2) Good Skills: +34 (1)
High Attack Bonus: +31, Low Attack Bonus: +29
Ranged Damage: 4d12+20 Energy
Melee Damage: Standard 13d6+20+Str, Four Attacks 5d8+20+Str

Step 4: Class Graft

After much thought and consideration, I’ve decided to give the Maharaja the Mystic class graft, with the Overlord connection. The Maharaja Rakshasas consider themselves gods to be worshiped, this connection, especially at the higher levels, has that perfect feel to it. It packages a lot of abilities into it that I can avoid writing myself. At CR20, the Maharaja has the following relevant things from the class graft:

Special Rules: Choose one mystic connection. I have chosen Overlord
Skills: Master Mysticism & Good or master skills chosen from the connection’s associated skills
Abilities by CR 20: All connection powers, mindlink, telepathic bond, transcendence, and enlightenment.

This time around, unlike the Common Rakshasa where I included all of the class ability descriptions, to save space I will not be doing that. I now honestly see why Paizo went that route for anything with a class graft. My only gripe being that it gives a bit more work for the GM, but as stat blocks get longer, you have to really consider space, and class grafts help condense stat blocks for sure. 

Step 5: Template Graft

The Maharaja Rakshasa will not have any template graft. 

Step 6: Special Abilities

On top of the abilities given by the Mystic graft, I am going to give the Maharaja one additional special ability to hopefully set it apart from any other CR20 Overlord Mystic creature that might be created. Instead of the double initiative, I think I am going to give the Maharaja a miracle/wish/warp reality effect. I don’t want to just use the text from miracle because that particular spell is a caster asking an entity to intercede on the caster’s behalf. A Maharaja Rakshasa would never really do that in my opinion. The other similar spells have options to first duplicate spells of the specific classes at the highest spell level. I think what I may do is force the ability to choose any Enchantment spell of 6th level or lower. This will allow a Maharaja to cast any spell from that school from any of the lists. This first thought though, I need to see how many spells of that school actually exist at 6th level. 

After a dive into the 6th level spells, I learned that there are only three 6th level spells that are enchantment spells (mind swap, psychic surgery, and suggestion,mass). I may be missing spells, but I don’t believe so. If you take a look at them though, you’ll see that all three of them are Mystic spells. I believe this is by design as the Technomancer gets very few enchantments, and the Witchwarper only gets some of the staples. Mystics though, are the ones with access to the majority of enchantment spells in the game.  With this in mind, I don’t think I really need to readjust the spell, I just need the interceding power portion of this spell (interestingly enough, the Mystic has this limitation, but the Technomancer and Witchwarper do not).

Miracle: Once per day, for 1 Resolve Point, a Maharaja can create a miracle, that works similar to the spell miracle. The one difference is that the Maharaja Rakshasa is requesting from itself, so a request will never be out of line with the power’s nature. 

Step 7: Skills

As a Mystic with the Overlord connection, the Maharaja will be Master at Mysticism and  Intimidate. It will have Good Diplomacy, Bluff and Disguise. 

Step 8: Spells

I’ll do my best to reproduce the spell-like abilities from Pathfinder 1st Edition, however it won’t be a straight reflection.

Spells Known (Melee +31, CL 20)
3/day — baleful polymorph VI (DC 29), mind thrust VI (DC 29), snuff life (DC 29), suggestion,mass (DC 29)
6/day — dispel magic, greater, dominate person (DC 28), feeblemind (DC 28)
At will –  dimension door, hold monster (DC 27)

Spell-Like Abilities (Melee +31, CL 20)
At Will – fly III
Constant – comprehend languages, tongues

Step 9: Final Check

The final Rakshasa that I’ll be converting, here is the Maharaja Rakshasa!

Rakshasa, Maharaja  CR 20 RP [Spellcaster]
XP 307200
LE Medium Outsider (native, rakshasa, shapechanger)
Init +6 Sense darkvision (60ft.) Perception +39
DEFENSE HP 395 RP 9
EAC 34; KAC 35
Fort: +17 Ref: +19 Will: +22
DR 20/good and piercing; SR 35
OFFENSE
Speed 40ft; 60 ft. fly (average)
Melee +31 Bite (5d8+26 P)
Multiattack  +27 4 Bites (5d8+26 P)
Ranged +29 Phased Perforator Pistol (4d12+20 So)
Space 5ft., Reach 5ft.
Offensive Abilities  detect thoughts (DC 27), inexplicable commands, greater forced amity (DC 27), echoes of obedience, jealous overlord, forceful commands, absolute control
Spell-Like Abilities (Melee +31, CL 20)
At Will – fly III
Constant – comprehend languages, tongues
Spells Known (Melee +31, CL 20)
3/day — baleful polymorph VI (DC 29), mind thrust VI (DC 29), snuff life (DC 29), suggestion,mass (DC 29)
6/day — dispel magic, greater, dominate person (DC 28), feeblemind (DC 28)
At will –  dimension door, hold monster (DC 27)
STATISTICS
Str: +6 Dex: +6 Con: +6  Int: +6 Wis: +12  Cha: +10
Skills Bluff +34, Diplomacy +39, Disguise +34, Intimidate +34, Mysticism +39
Languages: Aklo, Common, Infernal
Other Abilities: change shape (any Medium humanoid)
Gear: Phased Perforator Pistol, Nanotube Carbon Skin
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Change Shape (Su): As a standard action, a Maharaja can assume the shape of any medium humanoid including specific individuals.
Detect Thoughts (Su): A Maharaja can detect thoughts as per the spell of the same name. When a Maharaja uses this ability, it always functions as if it had spent 3 rounds concentrating and thus gains the maximum amount of information possible.
Miracle: Once per day, for 1 Resolve Point, a Maharaja can create a miracle, that works similar to the spell miracle. The one difference is that the Maharaja Rakshasa is requesting from itself, so a request will never be out of line with the power’s nature. 

Final Thoughts

Next time, I’ll be stretching some slightly different muscles by creating some new player facing options that you might find in an Alien Archive entry. I’ve already given a taste of a weapon I’ve created. Expect to see at least one additional option, and if I can work it out, a playable race option related to Rakshasa as well. 

 

Sources:
Bestiary 3
Starfinder Core Rulebook
Starfinder Alien Archive
Starfinder Armory