A small sample of odd spirits to be found in Rokugan. I got tired of everything being Shadowlands, because it ignored the much larger Spirit world that Rokugan drew on for inspiration.
Amikiri (net cutter)
The exact nature of the Amikiri is rather difficult to ascertain as few of them have actually been seen while working their mischief. From the few accounts of the creature being seen (typically at night). It will float into view from under a sliding door or perhaps loosely fitted wall, with what appears to be segmented exoskeleton, two pincered arms and a sharply billed bird-like face. The creatures behavior bears little behavior in what could be called maliciousness, and seems to go about it's habits, which consists of cutting mosquito netting or fish netting hung out to dry, much to the considerable annoyance of fisherman, and samurai in across the Empire. When spotted, Amikiri tend to disappear as quickly as possible, preferring to avoid combat (in spite of the fact they cannot be harmed with normal weapons).
Air: 1
Earth: 1
Fire: 2
Water: 2
Initative: 4k2
Attack (if pressed): 4k2
Damage: 3k2
TN: 20 (vulnerable to magic only)
Reduction: 2
Wounds 4: +5, 8: +10, 12 +15, 20: dead
Ame-furi-kozō (little rainfall boy)
Typically seen during rainy evenings, this otherwise ignorable spirit and bee seen running and playing in the various puddles from the rainfall. It appears to be a strange child carrying a paper lantern with the husk of an old umbrella being used as a makeshift hat. It is not exactly certain what the child is, (other than a possible side effect of rain storms) but it is known that those that abuse them seem to incur the wrath of servants of the Lord of Storms
Stats for this particular creature seem rather pointless as anyone with even the most modest weapon can probably dispatch it in short order (no tougher than a child really), but those that do should really expect serious consequences (left to the GM's dark imagination)
Hito-dama (human soul)
The spirits of the newly dead Rokugani said to take on the form of great floating balls of fire glowing in amber, a pale blue, a sickly green, or a ruddy white like the moon with long flickering blue tales of flame behind them. There has been some speculation as to the meanings of the different colors and perhaps the disposition of where the spirit will go, but delving into such matters is severely frowned upon by Rokugani of all castes, not to mention the servants of Emma-O. A Hito-dama is often seen shortly before a sick person dies, leaving the weakening body and heading off for the next stage of existence they often fall to the earth or fade away shortly after they are seen, leaving a foamy of slimy residue. In times of great upheaval with so many dying for various reasons, the servants of Emma-O may have trouble guiding the spirits to their proper paths, and while generally unknown, but not unheard of, there have been occasional instances of ancestral spirits seen wandering helping guide or catch human souls to bring them to the proper path.
Authors note: Again, statistics for these would seem rather pointless as they are spirits merely in transition from one place to another. However, they may serve as a sign to be used by the GM as something in the area is wrong and a recent death or deaths has occurred. Not to mention there may be forces in the area that may try harvesting the souls for their own purposes.
Jorōgumo (Prostitute Spider), Also referred to as the Rakushinpu (Entwining Bride), or Madara-Gumo (Spotted Spider)
The earliest Rokugani record of this form of creature dates from the reign of Hantei IX in the famous Wakan Sansai Zue encyclopedia compiled by Asahina Kyodaiken which reads as follows:
”The rakushinpu is a thing which takes the name of jorōgumo in the valleys, and its yellow, black, green and red speckles are beautiful, but on the contrary it is ugly. Its poison is extremely terrible. In form, compared to a [usual] spider, it has a long, slender back, and a pointed rear end with long black limbs. Its thread is sticky like bird-lime and is tinged with yellow, and it makes its webs in the branches of trees and the eaves of houses. If a person seizes and strikes it will be brittlely smashed and it will bleed and die. Other spiders do not have blood [their bodily fluids are not said to be red]. Its rear end is sharp and in two places it oscillates and sparkles. However it is not as vivid as the light of a firefly. Old things often produce light. At times it is unexpectedly seen on a dark night, or in a light rain.”
The fact that the Jorogumo's body fluids appear closely related to Rokugani had attracted the attention of more than one shugenja of the various clans, particularly of the Crane who have had more than one unfortunate encounter with various versions of spider spirits. And there are differing reports of the exact abilities of the Jorogumo as the legends from various provinces across the Empire tend to conflict.
In common folklore from across the Empire, there are some commonalities which have arisen: The Jorogumo are often associated with supernatural 'masters' of deep pools or waterfall basins. A common tale is that of a workman sitting down to rest, a spider comes along and attaches a web to the workman's leg then wanders off. There are two variations of an ending to this tale, the first being that workman, while not too flustered, manages to remove the web and attach it to a tree stump or a large rock, only to watch in horror as the stump or rock is pulled in but a malevolent water spirit intent on eating him. The other, often Crab and Crane version of the tale, describes the rather grisly end of the worker as he is taken in and devoured.
To add to the confusion, there have been enough incidents with 'hauntings' by the Jorogumo to draw the attention of the Kuni Witch Hunters and the Kitsu Sodan-Senzo and after comparing notes, both schools are convinced there is something to the legends, but little if any definitive proof (by samurai standards) allows them to go forward with a plan to counter the creatures.
In one tale, a young samurai takes shelter for the night in an old Shintao shrine, only to encounter a strange woman who holds out her child to him and insisting he is its father. The man glares and fingers his sword, assuming this unlikely pair are the trick of some bakemono, but hesitates until the mother comes for him herself. When he strikes the strange woman, she scampers up onto the ceiling of one of the shrine's buildings. In the morning the man inspects the ceiling and finds the dead, sword-slashed body of an enormous jorōgumo spider, surrounded by human corpses. He realizes also that the "child" had been nothing but a stone gorintō stupa, and if he had struck at it his sword would have broken and rendered him helpless.
In the Kitsu Hideyoshi Monogatari (Tale of Kitsu Hideyoshi) a wealthy rural bushi named Hideyoshi builds himself a second house in which to calm his nerves and recite poetry. One day an old woman approaches him, saying her daughter listens to him every day and is pining with love for him, and leads him to the courtyard of a strange house with many doors. The beautiful daughter emerges and begs him to stay with her as her husband, but he refuses, as he thinks he is in too low a social position for a woman of such high breeding and already has a wife, besides. Her insistent begging eventually becomes too much for him to bear and he flees, at which point the strange house vanishes and he is back on his own veranda. When asked, a servant claims Hideyoshi had been sleeping the whole time. The bushi then notices a jorōgumo spider dropping from the ceiling. He remembers the strange girl attempting to guilt-trip him because he had tried to kill her mother with akiseru pipe just the other day, when he had in fact used his pipe to try to drive a spider away. Realizing the many spiders on the ceilings are invading his dreams, he has the servant gather them and their webs up and discard them in a distant field, after which he is plagued by no more strange events.
Gm's notes: As there are many legends surrounding the jorogumo spider, There will be several options presented in the Stat block below for usage.
Option 1: (Simple Spider herald of a malevolent master)
Air: 2,
Earth: 1
Fire: 2,
Water: 1
Initative: 2k3
Attack: 2k1 (spider poison) Damage: (2k2) (while not, normally life threatening, it is potent)
Armor TN: 10 (while moving) otherwise TN: 5
Wounds: +5 dead
Special abilities: Spinnerets: The jorogumo spider can attach a web to an unsuspecting target. This is a Complex Action with a attack roll of 4k2. If discovered, a simple Str TN roll of 5 to remove the line is needed. If nothing is done, the 'master's attack roll is 7k6 to yank in the unsuspecting target for drowning and consumption with a Damage of 6k6. The exact nature should anyone chose to investigate it is open to the GM's dark imagination, but a twisted water spirit or perhaps it's how the jorogumo's children feed.
Human form: The Jurogumo's 'human form' will resemble a normal Rokugani in every way (typically female), with a kimono with colors resembling the spiders own and patterns reminiscent of webs.
Option 2: As above but add the following to simulate the tales of the jorogumo entering dreams, typically if the target has aroused it's wrath:
Dark Dreams: Every night, a target of the jorogumo must make a Willpower roll of TN 20. If they fail, they are not to have considered to have rested properly as the jorogumo attempts to implant strange and disturbing dreams into the targets mind, typically related to becoming wed to the jurogumo's 'human' form, or images of webbed residences. After three consecutive failures, the target has a +5 to Willpower rolls to resist the temptations and pleadings of the dream, as well as +5 to all TN's as fatigue begins to take it's toll. At 10 consecutive failures, the target has fallen under the control of the jurogumo and will walk in a sleep-walking fashion to where the jurogumo can set up the target to be fed upon.
Noppera-bō: (Faceless ghost)
This particular apparition has earned a special place in the hearts of Rokugani for incitement of dread and terror among all of the castes of the Empire. Exactly when they began to show up is open to question, but particularly after the revelation of the existence of the Lying Darkness, it has become an object of intense interest (some might say near panicked response) to various samurai and shugenja, which has made the lower classes perhaps more than a bit nervous about these particular spirits.
There are many stories about encounters with the Noppera-bo, most of which tend to follow the same rough story pattern: The protagonist encounters what appears to be ordinary human being with the back turned or the face obscured in some fashion. Trying to strike up a conversation, the victim is met with a face as smooth as an egg, without eyes, nose, or mouth. Scared out of his wits, he runs away and seeks out the comfort of another persons's presence, sometimes someone he knows. After the victim has recounted the whole unnerving story, their companion agrees that this is a very weird tale, and then proceeds to ask, "This face, was it this sort of face?, or something along those lines?” At this point what the poor fellow thought was another human loses his facial features as well, and the victim often winds up fainting in helpless terror.