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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Shadow Yai

Oni who assume the form of shadow giants are known as shadow yais. Many shadow yais crave the pleasures of music and go to great lengths to secure bardic or musically inclined supplicants. Smaller beings who refuse to submit to a shadow yai are subject to painful, drawn out, and strangely beautiful deaths, for a shadow yai has a special way of evoking melodic cries and screams from their victims: a veritable symphony of pain. Individuals of particular musical skill who accompany a shadow yai can find the experience extremely lucrative and enriching—as long as they don't run afoul of their liege.

Recall Knowledge - Fiend (Religion): DC 35
Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 35
Unspecific Lore: DC 33
Specific Lore: DC 30

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Shadow YaiCreature 16

Legacy Content

CE Large Fiend Giant Humanoid Oni Shadow 
Source Pathfinder #167: Ready? Fight! pg. 80
Perception +28; greater darkvision
Languages Common, Jotun
Skills Acrobatics +28, Arcana +30, Athletics +30, Deception +33, Intimidation +31, Performance +33, Stealth +30
Str +8, Dex +6, Con +5, Int +6, Wis +6, Cha +9
Items +2 greater striking glaive
AC 39; Fort +25, Ref +28, Will +26
HP 290, regeneration 15 (deactivated by acid or fire)
Attack of Opportunity [reaction]
Speed 40 feet, fly 40 feet; Shadow Step
Melee [one-action] glaive +32 [+27/+22] (deadly 2d8, evil, forceful, magical, reach 15 feet), Damage 3d8+14 slashing plus 2d6 sonicMelee [one-action] fist +28 [+24/+20] (agile, evil, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 3d8+14 bludgeoning plus shadow touchRanged [one-action] sonic missile +30 [+25/+20] (evil, sonic, magical, range increment 60 feet), Damage 3d10+11 sonic plus deafened for 1 roundPrimal Innate Spells DC 37; 8th charm, sound burst; 5th command (×3), shadow walk; 4th charm (×3), darkness; 3rd enthrall (at will); 2nd invisibility (at will; self only)
Change Shape [one-action] (concentrate, polymorph, primal, transmutation) The shadow yai takes on the appearance of a shadow giant. This doesn't change its Speed or Strike attack and damage.Shadow Step [one-action] (conjuration, primal, shadow, teleportation) Requirements The shadow yai is in an area of dim light or darkness or is standing in the shadow of any Large or larger object; Effect The shadow yai instantly teleports to another location that's in dim light or darkness or to a space that's in the shadow of any Large or larger object within 60 feet.Shadow Touch A shadow yai's touch harms their target's spiritual essence in addition to its body. A creature hit by the shadow yai's fist Strike must attempt a DC 36 Will save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes 2d6 negative damage.
Failure The creature becomes drained 1 and takes 3d6 negative damage. As long as the creature is drained as a result of this ability, it loses the ability to speak above a whisper. When the creature attempts to Cast a Spell with a verbal component, it must succeed at a flat check or the spell is disrupted. The DC of this flat check is equal to 5 plus the creature's drained value (for example, DC 7 if the creature is drained 2).
Critical Failure As failure, but the creature becomes drained 2 and takes 6d6 negative damage.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Shadow Competitions

When shadow yais congregate they sometimes hold musical competitions between their servants. Wagers often include the performers themselves, so a servant might attend to many shadow yais over their life. Yais that feel cheated in these games redouble their recruitment in surrounding areas for an upper hand in the next contest.

All Monsters in "Oni"

NameLevel
Fire Yai14
Ice Yai13
Mountain Oni8
Onidoshi8
Shadow Yai16
Taiga Yai15
Water Yai17

Oni

Source Bestiary 2 pg. 188 2.0
Not all divine creations are meant to live as mortals. Some spirits are created as guardians instead, tasked as protectors of elements of nature that cannot protect themselves. When these spirits accept their divine place in the metacosmos and take on such charges, they become kami. But some of these spirits are willful, obstinate, or simply rotten, railing against such demands from the gods and becoming bodiless and unable to interact with the world they can torturously still observe. Others receive such punishment simply for failing at their duty, and their despair at their condition twists them like those that began with a seed of darkness. When these spirits look upon mortal lives and become overcome with envy of the flesh and pleasure that humanoids can revel in, they form surrogate bodies of their own and become monsters known collectively as oni.

When an oni manifests, they always do so in a form that parodies a specific humanoid ancestry closely associated with the oni's obsessions and envies. Giants' over-the-top personalities and sizes are likely the reason why these humanoids are the most common incarnations chosen by oni; such oni are known collectively as yai oni. Yet there exist oni associated with almost every kind of humanoid. Most oni are capable of supernaturally disguising themselves as their associated humanoid type and use this ability to infiltrate societies and seize control from within. Once established, oni typically reveal their true form and revel in dominating those they view as lesser beings fit only to serve their whims.

Oni are nothing if not vain. They typically choose comely or striking appearances in their humanoid disguises—forms that are completely at odds with the ugliness of their true natures. An oni's true form is indicative of their innermost desires and always has features such as oversized teeth that verge into tusks, sharp claws, unusually bright skin colors, or a third eye in the forehead. Oni have desires as varied as those of any being, though by their nature these desires are almost always for hedonistic or destructive experiences of the flesh, typically food, pleasure, or violence.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Oni Daimyo

Oni daimyo are quasi-deities with isolated mortal domains. The most powerful is Inma, the Empress of the World, but Akuma the Horned King, Murona the Dark Mother, and Nataka the Red King are also worshipped.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Oni Origins

The first oni originated in the nation of Minkai on the continent of Tian Xia. Whether due to prevalent local kami— particularly in the mist-shrouded Forest of Spirits—or its peoples' faiths, Minkai is a hotbed of oni activity.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Oni Shapechangers

Oni humanoid forms are limited to one specific appearance. An ogre mage can assume only one specific ogre form, while an ice yai can appear only as one specific frost giant. Some oni have greater control over their shapeshifting power and can assume the form of any humanoid creature, and these oni tend to be the most dangerous.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Other Oni

Different oni exist for nearly every humanoid ancestry. Kuwa oni mask their golden skin and four-fingered claws in human form, while ja oni hide as hobgoblins. Other yai include wind yai (who take their form from cloud giants) and the immensely powerful void yai (who form from other yai and ascend to rule over rune giants).