2002-07-26 - 2:57 p.m.
Onjina
Medium-Size Aberration (Electricity)
Hit Dice: 8d8+8 (44 hp)
Initiative: +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: Fly 30 ft. (perfect)
AC: 20 (+3 Dex, +7 deflection)
Attacks: None
Damage: None
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Electrical lash, psionics
Special Qualities: Blindsight, elemental, incorporeal, psionics,
telepathy, turn undead
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +13
Abilities: Str -, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 21, Cha 16
Skills: Bluff +4, Concentration +7, Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +8,
Intuit Direction +8, Knowledge (alien races) +8, Knowledge
(arcana) +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Knowledge (psionics) +8,
Listen +7, Psicraft +8, Scry +7, Search +8, Sense Motive +7,
Spellcraft +7, Spot +9
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organization: Solitary, convocation (3), synod (7)
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually True Neutral or (less often) Chaotic Neutral
Advancement: 9-12 HD (Medium)
Picture Link: Click Here (this one is my own)
Onjina are bizarre energy-based entities that evolved on a frozen world, orbiting an ancient type K3 V sun. They exist simultaneously in this dimension and another, one step removed, and, thus, can only interact with our universe indirectly, through the exchange of energy. They do not age and are immune to all physical ailments, such as disease and poison; however, they can be killed. On this plane, they appear roughly Human in size, but have no fixed shape and no appreciable mass. Corporeal creatures who view an Onjina usually have trouble understanding what they are looking at and, as a weird side-effect of the entity's astral nature, often "fill in the blanks" with features mirroring their own forms. Thus, a Human viewing an Onjina may think he sees a vaguely humanoid form, with eyes, a mouth, and so forth. Historically, the Onjina have been viewed as spirits, faeries, angels, and demons. In Australia, the aborigines knew them well, as the wandjina, and these beings probably inspired the legends of djinni and efreeti, as well.
Onjina are powerfully psionic creatures and have a good understanding of sorcery, as well, although they are completely incapable of using magic to affect the Material Plane. Historically, they have been known to pass this knowledge on to mystically aware Humans, to further their own esoteric goals.
Onjina do not appear to use tools of any sort, relying on others to do their bidding, in this dimension. They rely on telepathy for communication and do not speak any known language directly. While dominating a mortal creature, an Onjina can speak through its mouth, using any language the host knows.
Combat
Onjina find combat distasteful but will resort to it if the need arises. They are normally cool and somewhat emotionless but, if provoked, will lash out with little mercy. They have trouble interacting with the physical world, except through the use of their psionic powers (see below), but are capable of focusing an electrical charge of some strength and using it as a weapon. They will usually only do this once per battle and only when enraged or trying to punish a wayward servant (at a lower strength, in the latter case, causing painful subdual damage, rather than lethal damage).
Blindsight (Ex): An Onjina can ascertain creatures by nonvisual means within 120 feet. Beyond that range, it treats all targets as having total concealment.
Electrical Lash (Sp): An Onjina can lash out with an electrical blast that does 8d6 damage to a single creature within 30 feet and 2d6 damage to every other living being within a 5-foot radius of the primary target. In both cases, a successful Reflex saving throw (DC 18) halves the damage. As previously noted, the damage can be lethal or subdual, at the Onjina's discretion; however, it is always very painful, and the primary target is stunned for one round if he fails the Reflex saving throw. Using this power is fatiguing for the Onjina, and it must "recharge" for at least ten rounds between each such attack.
Elemental: Onjina are, effectively, elemental creatures, at least for purposes of interacting with the Material Plane. They are completely immune to fire, cold, poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning, and they are not subject to critical hits.
Incorporeal: Onjina can only be harmed by other incorporeal creatures and powers (including psionics), +1 or better magic weapons, magic, or (unlike other incorporeal creatures) electricity. Any corporeal source of damage other than electricity has a 50% chance of being completely ignored. They can pass through solid objects at will, and their attacks pass through armor. They always move silently.
Psionics (Sp): At will - anchored navigation, augury, aura sight, brain lock, detect psionics, detect remote viewing, detect thoughts, dimension slide, domination, ethereal jaunt, false sensory input, suggestion. These abilities are as the powers manifested by a 15th-level Psion.
Attack/Defense Modes (Sp): At will - all/all.
Telepathy (Sp): Onjina can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language. Due to the alien nature of their intellects, however, their messages sometimes appear cryptic or even nonsensical to Humans.
Turn Undead (Su): An Onjina can turn undead as a 5th-level Cleric, up to six times per day.
Onjina Society
If Onjina have any form of society, it is not recognizable as such to Humans. They are usually encountered individually, although, on occasion, they may form small groups to deal with specific concerns. There are apparently several stable groups in existence; however, these do not generally manifest on the Material Plane. Furthermore, given the immortal nature of these creatures and their resulting patience, these "permanent" communities may actually represent temporary but long-lived collaborations, called together to monitor long-term situations. It has been noted that, when several Onjina unite, there is seldom a leader, although those with more experience may be given greater respect. In general, any decision made is reached through consensus and negotiation.
Onjina Characters
Onjina change only very slowly and do not have character classes. They grow wiser and somewhat more powerful with age, as represented by an increase in hit dice, with the usual corresponding improvements to saving throws, skills, and feats. To represent the fact that Onjina change physically even more slowly than they do mentally, add the creature's Intelligence modifier to the number of extra skill points that it gets for each extra hit die, and give out the extra hit dice only sparingly. Thus, a typical Onjina gains +6 skill points per hit die, instead of +2. An Onjina's electrical lash attack improves as it grows more powerful, doing a number of d6 equal to its own hit dice to the main target, and one-quarter of this amount, rounded down, to adjacent targets. Its psionic powers also improve, with each extra hit die adding one to the creature's effective Psion level (from a base of 15th level, as noted above).
Onjina Agenda
The Onjina are utterly alien in outlook, although they do make some attempt to understand Humans, on occasion. They seem to be somewhat spiritual beings and have an intimate connection with the primal energies of the universe. They sometimes assist others in reaching their spiritual potential and have been known to interfere in mortal religious and mystical organizations, although they generally have an ulterior motive for doing so. They are not altruistic creatures, even when dealing with their own kind, but are quite capable of cooperating with others effectively, when the need arises. Oddly enough, they do not consider helping another to reach spiritual enlightenment to be an altruistic act; rather, there is a sense that they feel they are somehow improving themselves and the universe, as a whole, by doing so. Unfortunately, the wisdom that they bring is often as alien as they are and has been known to drive Humans mad.
The Onjina originally came to Earth to assist the Vasloi and still tend to cooperate with their ancient allies, if only because they place great importance on living up to any pact they have made with others. They despise the Sheloth and will do almost anything to thwart their plans. Humans are entirely expendable when working toward this goal, although, to be fair, this is partially because the Onjina recognize that the Sheloth are a cataclysmic threat to mankind. On some level, the Onjina probably assume that Humans will happily give up their lives to save their own race. With this in mind, they tend to promote a sense of obligation and even martyrdom in their Human followers, despite the fact that they are rather less charitable, themselves.
P.S. If you are diving into this in the middle and feeling puzzled, make sure that you click on the Older button to check out the very first introductory post. The Paragon rules and Vancouver: 2020 primer can be found at RPG Hoard. If you want to comment on this page, just click here, or press the Contact Cwylric button, to the left, to send me an email. Remember that the kermode.net address listed in older versions of Paragon and Vancouver: 2020 is no longer active, so please use one of these two methods to get in touch with me, instead.
