And a new entry to challenge the players: The Shikigami Assassin.

It is a regular shikigami created with the Craft Shikigami ritual (Shadowlands p. 114).
It was created with the Grasp of the Air Dragon invocation and using 3 invocations to give it Skulduggery 3.
Its creator had a Composition skill of rank 3, so that is what the Shikigami uses to perform invocations.
The only special thing is that the paper edges were poisoned.

The Shikigami Assassin is not supposed to be a regular skirmish opponent, a single attack will destroy it. It is meant as a way to pose a danger to the PCs when their real enemy has yet to be revealed.
It is a crafty spy, listening to conversations, and poisoning food or drinks (which deals a Critical Hit of Severity 10, so unless 4 Successes are rolled on the resist check, it does permanent damage!). It may also murder sleeping targets, which is especially deadly in L5R rules, as Unconscious targets cannot defend against damage unless they spend a Void Point, and increase the deadliness of attacks against them by 10. This means that the Shikigami Assassin need just two successes with its attack to cause a critical hit of severity 15 if the sleeping target has no Void Points. The GM should use this ability on a PC with at least one Void Point or on an NPC the PCs are with first, to show how big the treat is, not simply inform the player that their character is suddenly crippled or dead.

Interesting details of this encounter are:
- the shikigami can often hide in plain sight, posing as decorations on top of furniture if its targets do not know the room too well, e.g. in an inn, or may be sent as an artful message to a PC and only later turn out to be alive. As the crane is a symbol of happiness, being sent an origami crane can be understood as a message from a secret admirer.
- the Shikigami Assassin also makes a great watchdog, left in a room the shinobi PC sneaks into, and riding hidden in the PCs clothes back to the PCs hideout, only to reveal it to its creator later
- it is very hard to trace the shikigami back to its creator. Killing it only means that the person in the background can perform the ritual again and send a new shikigami the next night. Trapping it (in a box etc) might be a better plan, as it deprives the opponent of the invocation sealed in the shikigami.
- As all shikigami have the rebellious disadvantage, the can be goaded into attacking if presented with a seemingly perfect assassination target, like a seemingly sleeping person.
- Finding a hidden Shikigami Assassin is not easy, it rolls three Ring Dice and three Skill Dice for its hide check and can reroll 2. It can be automatically found with the By the Light of the Lord Moon invocation.

If the GM has house rules about shikigami, e.g. removing the powerful automatic spell success ability, the Shikigami Assassin should have the same limitations.

And another one, the Baku (Dream Eater).

The Baku has two different ways of feeding: It may possess its target every night and leave before dawn, in which case others usually only realize something is wrong when the target becomes very forgetful. The Baku does this when it must fear that strong samurai or its mortal enemy, shugenja of the Moth Clan, are nearby. Alternatively, the Baku enters a sleeper's dream and does not leave until the dreamer is dead from hunger or thirst, which can under medical care take weeks.

The Baku can be fought in two ways: In reality or in a dream, both are difficult. In reality, it can flee by moving through walls, so immobilizing it e.g. with Bind the Shadow or Grasp of Earth may be necessary, as well as access to weapons that are Blessed or do supernatural damage. In dreams, the Baku is a lot more powerful and can turn the dream into its weapon, creating Dangerous, Defiled or Imbalanced terrain.

1 hour ago, Harzerkatze said:

In dreams, the Baku is a lot more powerful and can turn the dream into its weapon, creating Dangerous, Defiled or Imbalanced terrain.

You know, Yume-do as a setting is something which could be fleshed out more.

The Nezumi dreamers (and transcendant ancestors) have access to it, as does whoever ends up with Hiruma Masami's notes (from Mask of the Oni), and there are supposed to be a few physical 'doors' in and out scattered here and there in Rokugan.

As a basic idea, a setting where you can rapidly change the terrain and environment seems sensible. Options to spend to move and apply terrain qualities already exist, but unlike in the 'real world' where you're 'noticing' that a bridge is rickety or similar, in the Realm of Dreams, 'thinking' an Obscuring forest/hall of mirrors/swarm of flying mauve-coloured badgers* into existence mid-fight is entirely realistic. That wouldn't necessarily be restricted to an 'experienced dreamer' (like a Baku, Moth shujenga or Nezumi dreamer), but obviously they should be better at it.

As a suggestion, based off the shadowlands rules for - whenever a character keeps one or more on a check, they may resolve an additional which can only be spent on adding terrain features or on adding qualities to nearby terrain features or items. Those used to this sort of thing might either generate extra bonus or be able to increase the cost of an enemy doing so.

The fact that whatever-you-can-imagine-is-possible means you should potentially be able to perform some analogue of most invocations and kiho, even if you don't normally have access to them, too.

* delete as appropriate to the twistedness of your PCs' collective subconscious....

12 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

You know, Yume-do as a setting is something which could be fleshed out more.

The Nezumi dreamers (and transcendant ancestors) have access to it, as does whoever ends up with Hiruma Masami's notes (from Mask of the Oni), and there are supposed to be a few physical 'doors' in and out scattered here and there in Rokugan.

As a basic idea, a setting where you can rapidly change the terrain and environment seems sensible. Options to spend to move and apply terrain qualities already exist, but unlike in the 'real world' where you're 'noticing' that a bridge is rickety or similar, in the Realm of Dreams, 'thinking' an Obscuring forest/hall of mirrors/swarm of flying mauve-coloured badgers* into existence mid-fight is entirely realistic. That wouldn't necessarily be restricted to an 'experienced dreamer' (like a Baku, Moth shujenga or Nezumi dreamer), but obviously they should be better at it.

As a suggestion, based off the shadowlands rules for - whenever a character keeps one or more on a check, they may resolve an additional which can only be spent on adding terrain features or on adding qualities to nearby terrain features or items. Those used to this sort of thing might either generate extra bonus or be able to increase the cost of an enemy doing so.

The fact that whatever-you-can-imagine-is-possible means you should potentially be able to perform some analogue of most invocations and kiho, even if you don't normally have access to them, too.

Yes, I try to keep the rules on the creatures short, but of course, fighting an enemy in dream world invites adding new options and rules, precisely because dreams do not follow set rules. I really hope more official material to this comes out, with the Moth clan and the Realm of Dreams.

A problem to keep in mind with altering landscape (whether done by the Baku or players) is that it can easily be too powerful. When I talk of changing terrain at will, I do not mean "create an abyss below the PCs feet and have them fall to their death", I mean "suddenly the house is burning and counts as Dangerous for checks".

I thought about including the first one, where both the PCs and the Baku can alter terrain and it becomes an ability that is resisted or it does damage. But I feared that it would become too unbalanced without a lot of rules text, so I kept it short.

An interesting aspect of the Baku is that when the PCs enter a persons dreams, they might see things they are not supposed to. So if a Daimyo is possessed by a Baku, the PCs might be called for help, only to be targeted for assassination later to keep the secrets they may have witnessed buried. It is also a great way to show backstory of the PCs lord, wher he always acts according to Bushido, but in his dream, they see something dark he has done. Or maybe has not done and only dreamt of?

15 hours ago, Harzerkatze said:

I really hope more official material to this comes out, with the Moth clan and the Realm of Dreams.

A problem to keep in mind with altering landscape (whether done by the Baku or players) is that it can easily be too powerful. When I talk of changing terrain at will, I do not mean "create an abyss below the PCs feet and have them fall to their death", I mean "suddenly the house is burning and counts as Dangerous for checks".

I thought about including the first one, where both the PCs and the Baku can alter terrain and it becomes an ability that is resisted or it does damage. But I feared that it would become too unbalanced without a lot of rules text, so I kept it short.

Indeed. I was suggesting it be a separate 'environmental ruleset' rather than a property of the Baku. As you say, working it into the abilities of a single creature would (a) be way too wordy and (b) kind of miss the point.

Shadowlands has the 'global rules' for being in the shadowlands (in both Shadowlands and Mask of the Oni), plus several tables of ways to spend when in the shadowlands, fighting tainted opponents, or when tainted oneself. A matching set for Yume-do doesn't sound unreasonable.

As to "create an abyss" - I agree, no. I mean, yes, obviously you can.

But mechanically , what you've done is create dangerous terrain. The PC can, after all, step from piece of falling rubble to piece of falling rubble and run back out. Or fly. Or you can continue the fight with both of you falling.

As an alternative, falling rules are fine, but since falling has a known fatigue/severity, such an effect is one that can be costed appropriately.

Hmmm...

To the house-rules section!

@everyone: Any wishes or ideas which creature I should do next?

(I want to avoid creating Oni, as there are already rules to create a great variety in the Shadowlands book. As encountering Oni outside the shadowlands is rare, I feel like we have enough of them for those situations.)

The book has a 'build-an-oni' kit, more to the point, so not only is there a great variety but a rule-set for creating generic ones on demand.

As to monsters - Rokugan is a mash-up of China, Japan and Korea (especially the Phoenix), and the third of these generally gets overlooked, so maybe dig a bit into Korean mythology ?

An interesting one might be discussing more human opponents - potentially something we're likely to see in The Path of Waves with rules for Gaijin. I dunno.

A big question will be if we see any rules for Gaijin Pepper weapons; obviously it's banned to the same level as blood magic but then blood magic is something you see the bad guys using. A nefarious villain with Tortoise or Mantis contacts having a black powder pistol should be a scary thought....

Black-Powder weapons are probably not going to be really that interesting when they are introduced, as they are primarily Prepare ranged weapons with either high damage and/or high deadliness, and the bows pretty much go as far as is practical there (including the right arrows, even the Core Rulebook bows offer Damage 7 +2 Armor-Piercing or Deadliness 7. The Shadowland Crossbows go beyond that.

One thing one could do is let them ignore armor (firearms were the reason heavy armor was eventually given up). But generally, I thing the effect would be less than impressive.

Regarding Korean creatures, I do not know any, but I'll have a look.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

As to monsters - Rokugan is a mash-up of China, Japan and Korea (especially the Phoenix), and the third of these generally gets overlooked, so maybe dig a bit into Korean mythology ?

The problem with a lot of the Korean creatures is that they have a body but no abilities: a three-legged crow has 3 legs and represents the emperor, but we have no idea what it can do. Likewise, an Inmyeonjo is a swan with the head of a woman, but that is all. Hard to make an interesting creature out of that.

But I'll design a Dokkaebi this evening and turn the metal-eating rabbit into a young Bulgasari. That way, I can avoid the unfortunate digressions into Monty Python territory.

And here is the Dokkaebi, your typical wish-fulfilling troll:

I escalated its mythical invisibility power to full dematerialisation, because otherwise the Scorpion Clan would hold a few captive and have them produce lots of stuff.

I also tried to keep the wished-for items in check, to avoid having it hand over one of the Black Scrolls or the Hantei's Sword.

The thing to keep in mind is that the Dokkaebi does what IT wants. It cannot be bribed or caught or controlled, so it is no never-ending font of money, nor will it produce all of Bayushi Shosuro's letters, one at a time. If it wants, it grant someone a wish by producing an item asked for and then vanish. It does not follow human psychology and actually has no interest in possessions. Its club itself isn't magical, so wishing for it just gives you a club.

Part of the fun of the Dokkaebi is that the items given to the human has come from somewhere, and its former owner might recognize it. Not if it is a bag of coin, but if it is a Kakita-pattern sword, then it is quite possible.

The L5R rules do not lend themselves to wrestling matches, since the Earth stance makes you immune to the Snaring Quality of attacks. That's why I went with Competetive checks instead.

Next entry: the Onibi, or Witch Light. Like a meaner will-o'-wisp. Usagi Yojimbo encountered a few of them.

On 1/22/2020 at 10:10 AM, Magnus Grendel said:

An interesting one might be discussing more human opponents - potentially something we're likely to see in The Path of Waves with rules for Gaijin. I dunno.

While I have the impression that the books already have too many human opponents with barely any interesting features, I designed an uncommon human: An Agasha Mystic that works as a Duelist and thus can be used as an opponent in a tournament or someone's champion in a duel.

To keep the need to look up invocations to a minimum, I gave him three invocations and included their rules into his sheet.

An Interesting thought. One observation - an Earth 5, Martial 3 character with invocations is no way in heck a martial 4 opponent. She's massively better than that - I'd say she's at least on a par with a Provincial Daimyo or Mirumoto Kazuya, which would put her at martial rank 7 or so.

35 minutes ago, Magnus Grendel said:

An Interesting thought. One observation - an Earth 5, Martial 3 character with invocations is no way in heck a martial 4 opponent. She's massively better than that - I'd say she's at least on a par with a Provincial Daimyo or Mirumoto Kazuya, which would put her at martial rank 7 or so.

As she is meant as a duelist or tournament opponent, her combat rating implies she faces one Rank 4 opponent, not 4 Rank 1 ones.

Yes, but a rank 4 NPC is supposed to be a meaningful challenge to a rank 4 PC, not one they'll likely lose. A fight you'll probably lose is more like double your rank and an each-way odds is about half again.

A goblin or bandit is not a fair fight for a rank 1 PC, but they're something you can't ignore.

The Agasha character has 70 XP spent, that is a Rank 3. So a Rank 4 character should be superior, but I'll follow your recommondation and lower the Earth Rank to 4.

Not much sense in designing dueling opponents meant for Rank 6 PCs...

i'll probably design 2 or 3 more, just so that we have a nice set of opponents for a tournament arc.

Well, with 5 Earth, she is the best first blood duelist in the game. Unless one of the PC have heartpiercing strike (what a crutch that is..), she will win everything.

Because Earth Stance is, simply put, super problematic.

Impossible to wound that ring, she is assured to roll that 5 ring on all her actions until somehow someone manage to go through her 16 endurance before the staredown ends the duel.

Regarding Yume-do, I get the impression we'll hear more about it if they do some more details on the Moth Clan, since it appears to be something they are involved with.

9 hours ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Regarding Yume-do, I get the impression we'll hear more about it if they do some more details on the Moth Clan, since it appears to be something they are involved with.

I wouldn't be surprised. "Realms Other Than Ningen-Do" might well be the 'environmental rules' we get in the Phoenix book, whenever we get that.

As promised, two more duelists for a possible Tounament arc.

I build one duelist for Earth, Fire and Water stance each, I'll do an Air stance one later.

And here is the Air stance duelist, a Soshi Illusionist. I know that technically, you can't use the Guard action in a duel, but the alternative was giving him Grasp of the Air Dragon, which the PCs would have liked less. As an NPC, it is allowed for him to have abilities that diverge from PC abilities. The Skillful Ronin from the Core Rulebook has aStriking as Fire ability that is way better than the PC's one, too.

I tried to give each Duelist their own fighting style, representative of their element:

- The Earth stance duelist lets damage just bounce off of her while whittling down the opponent with normal attacks.

- The Fire stance duelist deals damage and Dazed conditions while defending and drives his opponent towards being Compromized.

- The Water Stance duelist deals a ton of damage and uses Bleeding to make rolls painful.

- The Air stance duelist increases the TN of checks to hit her and thus fights defensively, plus using tricks.

I decided against:
- Heartpiercing Strike for the Togashi, which in a dueling situation is almost too powerful, and I used that for the Tengu Blademaster already.
- Coiling Serpent Strike for the Asahina. Blocking weapons is very good, especially in a duel, but the mechanics of how to respond to that (drawing a knife and attacking with that for example) would require more text.
- Grasp of the Air Dragon for the Soshi, as it is potentially a one-hit-finisher, and it is never fun to fight in a duel not not even get to act.

Oh, and I purposefully chose uncommon schools for Duelists, to merit inclusion into Strange Creatures of Rokugan .

Hmmm... The Asahina Duelist doesn't really need her Bo of Water invocation if I think about it, asince I decided against Coiling Serpent Style.

Here is an alternative Water stance duelist: A ronin with a dream.

I changed the Asahina Duelist to Fire stance, so that she can make better use of Summon and Augment invocations.

- Another creature inspired by Usagi Jojimbo: The Komori Assassin.

Yay! 20 creatures reached (plus 5 NPC duelists)!