Editing Oni (section)

==Dungeons & Dragons==
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[[File:Japanese ogre Greyhawk.jpg|left|300px]]
Oni have a long tradition in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], where they were initially ported over as the '''Japanese Ogre''' of OD&D, which eventually became the '''Ogre Mage''' in [[AD&D]]. This was [[FAIL|described]] as an [[ogre]], but much smarter, and with both a variety of innate magical abilities and an affinity for spell-casting classes. In other words, pretty close to the opposite of an actual ogre. As such, it was a much greater threat than the standard ogre, which was basically just a bigger, tougher [[orc]] or a wimpier [[giant]], depending on how you looked at it.

An AD&D monster directly called the Oni did appear in the [[Kara-Tur]] setting.

In 3rd edition the ogre mage was notoriously weak for its [[Challenge Rating]]. It wasn't a good melee brute, it wasn't a good caster and even with invisibility it wasn't terribly sneaky. It was so notorious for these failings that [https://web.archive.org/web/20161031220119/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060721a Wizards published a complete redo on their website]. [[d20 Modern]] maintains the original 3E version though the stats only show up in free adventure ''The 7:48 from Central Avenue''. An Ogre Mage is an ally in [[Urban Arcana]]'s sample adventure, but he is never given stats.

In 4th edition, WoTC decided it was time to stop denying that the Ogre Mage was anything other than an Oni with the name changed. They created an entire class of oni creatures, with the Ogre Mage now the... [[Derp|Oni Mage...]] and added the Night Haunter in their first MM. This creepy sumbitch had a breath weapon that could put victims to sleep, heal itself by draining life from sleeping victims, disguise itself as any elderly humanoid of Medium or Large size, and assume a gaseous form. The second 4e MM added the Devourer, Overlord and Thunderer oni. "Open Grave" introduced two [[Shadowfell]]-native oni strains; the Souleater (take a wild guess what he does), and the Spiritmaster, a [[necromancer]] subspecies that considers the dead of all species, including its own, to be nothing more than potential servants.

Naturally, as a race that combines lesser-[[giant]] strength with magic, oni are pretty much off the playable list as far as most DMs are concerned, seeing them as basically "the [[gish]] problem" applied to a race. But, there were a few times they had support...

===2e Stats===
In 2nd edition, the AD&D oni - sorry, "ogre mage" - appeared alongside its [[Ogre]] and [[Half-Ogre]] cousins in the Complete Book of Humanoids:
::Ability Score Range: [[Strength]] 12-18, [[Dexterity]] 7-18, [[Constitution]] 8-14, [[Intelligence]] 8-17, [[Wisdom]] 3-16, [[Charisma]] 2-14
::Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Strength, -2 Wisdom
::Class & Level Limits: [[Fighter]] 9, [[Wizard|Mage]] 8, [[Shaman]] 7, [[Rogue|Thief]] 8
::+5 hit points at 1st level
::Natural Armor Class: 4
::Gain the following abilities as they gain hit dice:
#Cast Gaseous Form 1/day, Fly for 12 turns 1/day
#Become Invisible at-will, Cast Charm Person 1/day
#Cast Sleep 1/day, [[Regenerate]] 1 hit point per round (reattach lost members)
#Cast Darkness (10ft radius) at-will
#Can Polymorph into a humanoid at will, cast Cone of Cold 1/day (60ft cone, 20ft diameter at end, 8d8 damage, save vs. spells for half damage)
::+1 Morale
::Take damage as a Large creature
::Requires '''double''' the normal amount of XP to advance each level.
::Should use the [[Honor]] system from [[Oriental Adventures]]
::Weapon Proficiencies: Daikyu, Katana, Naginata, Scimitar, Tetsubo, Wakizashi, Whip, Halberd, Spear, Trident
::Non-Weapon Proficiencies: Acting, Armorer, Bowyer/Fletcher, Etiquette, Fortune Telling, Poetry, Reading/Writing, Spellcraft, Weaponsmithing, Weaving, Wild Fighting

===3e Stats===
In 3.0 there were rules for playing them in ''[[Savage Species]]''. Like most monster classes in that book, it was very stupidly underpowered. It was actually even weaker than average because of the above mentioned issue of being a weak monster. This results in a class that squeezes basic brute stuff and a mere 5 HD over 12 levels where it was long obsolete. Essentially the same as the 3.5 option but more granular.

And then, in 3.5, the "Ogre Mage" was playable right out of the box with the Monster Manual... officially. Like ''Savage Species'' you couldn't play a full power one till level 12.:
::+10 Strength, +6 Constitution, +4 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +6 Charisma
::Large
::Based land speed 40 feet, Fly 40 feet (Good Manueverability)
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Racial Hit Dice: 5 levels of Giant, which provides 5d8 Hit Points, a Base Attack Bonus of +3, and Base Saving Throw Bonuses of Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1.
::Racial Skills: An ogre mage has 8 X (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) skill points, and its class skills are Concentration, Listen, Spellcraft and Spot.
::Racial Feats: 2 bonus feats.
::+5 natural armor bonus
::Spell-Like Abilities: Darkness (At-Will), Invisibility (At-Will), Charm Person (DC 14, 1/day), Clone of Cold (DC 18, 1/day), Gaseous Form (1/day), Polymorph (1/day), Sleep (DC 14, 1/day). All spell-like abilities have a caster level of 9th and Charisma-based saving DCs.
::Regeneration 5, cannot resist Fire and Acid damage, reattach severed limbs rather than regrow them.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +7

After this, the oni as a PC option slipped away. That said, the [[hagspawn]] race are described as looking a lot like an oni, and [[hag]]s were actually considered a subspecies of [[giant]] in D&D's early days, so refluffing hagspawn wouldn't be the worst way to get your oriental ogre on...

{{D&D2e-Races}}

===Ogre Mage Subraces===
Five different forms of oni - or Ogre Mage, whichever you prefer - existed in 3rd edition. Two, the Umbramage and the Cereborg, were only to be found in the pages of [[Dragon Magazine]] #349's "Ecology of the Ogre Mage". The other three, the so-called "Elemental Magi", are found in the Monster Manual V (5).

Cereborgs and Umbramages tie into the oni creation myth provided in that article, which states that oni are grandchildren of [[Vaprak]] by his three demigod sons. The "common" oni are descendants of Muaj, but the unique talents of Muaj's brothers gave rise to different straings.

Cereborgs are characterized by frostbitten-looking blue skin, and their potent powers of the mind rather than the mystical powers of standard oni. Their artwork in the magazine also depicts them as bald with a head covered in a network of bulging, throbbing veins, making it almost look like a brain. Children of Agmori, the most intellectual and domineering of Vaprak's sons, the cereborgs replace the standard spell-like abilities of an oni with the Psi-Like Abilities of Cloud Mind (DC 15, At-Will), Empathy (DC 14, At-Will), Death Urge (DC 17, 1/day), Dimension Swap (DC 15, 1/day), Mental Disruption (DC 15, 1/day) and Psionic Dimension Door (1/day), all with a manifester level of 9th and Charisma-based save DCs. They are noted to most frequently progress as [[Psion]]s, [[Psychic Warrior]]s and [[Soulknife|Soulknives]], so any of these would be a logical [[Favored Class]] switch.

Umbramages descend from Hakuni, the Vaprak-spawn specialized in deception and assassination. This gives them darkly pigmented skins and a natural knack for stealth. Beyond tending to favor the [[Rogue]], [[Ninja]] and [[Shadowcaster]] classes, which again would be a likely [[Favored Class]] switch, their spell-like abilities are more illusion focused: they can cast Darkness and Invisibility at will, and 1/day can cast Detect Thoughts (DC 15), Enervation (DC 17), Scare (DC 15), Shadow Walk (DC 19), and Waves of Fatigue (DC 18), all as 9th level caster and with Charisma-based saving DCs.

The Elemental Magi are a trio of semi-related oni with [[elementalism]] powers, though very distinctive beyond that. They readily band together, as their presence mystically strengthens each other, and are more martial than the common oni; rather than the standard array of spell-like abilities, they are mostly imbued with a small array of elemental supernatural abilities, and all have the [[Favored Class]] of [[Fighter]].

Ken-kuni are the shortest and broadest, with marbled gray flesh and three horns; two bull-like, and one jutting from the center of their forehead. These elemental oni are connected to the Earth, giving them the Earth subtype and an Earthshock supernatural attack they can use once every 1d4 rounds. They are the least magical of their kin; outside of their Earthshock, fast healing and damage resistance, their only unique power is their Magic Strike special ability, which lets them treat their weapons as being magical. They are noted as the most territorial of the ken-oni, being neither as clever nor as ambitious as their fellows.

Ken-li are broad-shouldered and massive-chested, with burnished bronze skin and two black horns curving backward from their skulls amidst red hair. They are connected to Fire, giving them the Fire subtype and the ability to both weathe themselves in a protective aura of flame and to exhale a blast of flames every 1d4 rounds. Whilst possessing keen insight and malicious temperament, their arrogance and impulsiveness makes them prone to sabotaging themselves, going on aimless rampages for the sheer pleasure of burning everything that looks flammable.

Ken-sun are the tallest and leanest of the elemental magi, with blue-white skin and a single great horn - some 2 to 3 feet in length - protruding from its forehead. Their writeup states that they have "a rocky appearance", but their artwork doesn't really support that. These oni are tied to the element of Air, and are the most magical of their kin; in addition their subtype, they possess a "Wind Breath" supernatural breath weapon that blows enemies away, a Deflecting Winds aura that surrounds them with a permanent, personal windstorm (unless they wish otherwise), and a permanent Freedom of Movement effect. More notably, they are the only elemental oni with spell-like abilities, being able to cast Control Weather 2/day and Sleet Storm 1/day. Smartest, most ambitious and most leader-like of their kin, they invariably gather large warbands arond them and even become legitimate rulers-through-conquest.

===Gallery===
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<gallery>
Ogre mage 1e.jpg|1e
Ogre mage trading card.jpg|AD&D trading card
Oni MCV1.jpg|2e
Oni MC6.png
Oni 2e.png
Ogre mage DttU.jpg
Ogre Mage 3e.jpg|3e
Ogre mage planar handbook.jpg
Elemental Magi.png
Oni, Common.jpg|4e Common Oni
Oni, Night Haunter.jpg|Night Haunter
Oni, Thunderer.jpg|Thunderer
Oni, Devourer.jpg|Devourer
Oni, Spiritmaster.jpg|Spiritmaster
Oni 5e.png|5e
</gallery>
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