- Next creature: The Okuri Inu, ghost-hounds mentioned in Emerald Empires in the Shinomen description.

And as an added bonus, I gave the Head Hunter in my PDF a creepy picture, I thought it deserved one...

On 1/20/2020 at 5:27 PM, Magnus Grendel said:

I shall update the master NPCs roster forthwith!

You will probably have to update the NPC list in the near future: A few creatures have been added, but especially the Metal-Eating Rabbit is now a Young Bulsari.

Updated!

Things to note:

• You've got a slight typo - the Okori Inu's description refers to it as a Tokori Inu
• The Komori Assassin is fine as a monster, but the Komori themselves are a slightly more fleshed out thing in the setting. The Komori people are a non-rokugani native tribe indigenous to the islands of spice and silk, that are pretty integrated into the Mantis clan - Linmei is the wife of Yoritomo, the Mantis Champion. 'Komori' is also the term for...essentially 'were-bat' spirits of the kind depicted in this creature entry; it's implied that there's a degree of crossover between the two (in the way that some but not all of the Kitsune clan are actual Kitsune spirits). I would expect to see some sort of reference to the islands of spice and silk in the entry.
• Shikigami assassin is cool. I would make clear in the entry whether this creature can or cannot be created with the 'Craft Shikigami' technique (since it doesn't have any sealed invocations per se. You say so in this thread but haven't added it to the .PDF!).
  • I do like shikigami properly used. One thing that appeared in our local campaign that would be interesting to see as a counterpart is a 'Maho Shikigama', with one or more Maho techniques sealed inside instead (easy to houserule, I admit).
• Tengu Swordmaster - given that 6 physical resistance is basically "goes through any armour available", I wonder if it'd be faster just to say the damage is supernatural? Also, what is a 'masterwork' Daisho - if it's intended to have any different stats or effects, say so, otherwise just leave it as 'daisho'; something owned by a Tengu swordmaster can be assumed to be ornate and finely crafted!

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Updated!

Things to note:

• You've got a slight typo - the Okori Inu's description refers to it as a Tokori Inu
  Fixed!
• The Komori Assassin is fine as a monster, but the Komori themselves are a slightly more fleshed out thing in the setting. The Komori people are a non-rokugani native tribe indigenous to the islands of spice and silk, that are pretty integrated into the Mantis clan - Linmei is the wife of Yoritomo, the Mantis Champion. 'Komori' is also the term for...essentially 'were-bat' spirits of the kind depicted in this creature entry; it's implied that there's a degree of crossover between the two (in the way that some but not all of the Kitsune clan are actual Kitsune spirits). I would expect to see some sort of reference to the islands of spice and silk in the entry.
  Thanks for the info! Included a reference into the text.
• Shikigami assassin is cool. I would make clear in the entry whether this creature can or cannot be created with the 'Craft Shikigami' technique (since it doesn't have any sealed invocations per se. You say so in this thread but haven't added it to the .PDF!).
  It has the Grasp of the Air Dragon invocation inside, see second ability. That's why it has an Air Ring of 3. It could be crafted, but the GM has to decide whether PCs can use poison on their shikigami, so I didn't want to be too explicit. The ritual is very powerful already.
  • I do like shikigami properly used. One thing that appeared in our local campaign that would be interesting to see as a counterpart is a 'Maho Shikigama', with one or more Maho techniques sealed inside instead (easy to houserule, I admit).
    I'll build one.
• Tengu Swordmaster - given that 6 physical resistance is basically "goes through any armour available", I wonder if it'd be faster just to say the damage is supernatural? Also, what is a 'masterwork' Daisho - if it's intended to have any different stats or effects, say so, otherwise just leave it as 'daisho'; something owned by a Tengu swordmaster can be assumed to be ornate and finely crafted!
  As I try to base creature abilities on existing rules, I gave my Tengo Swordmaster the Mirumoto Taoist Blade's Water Fist kiho passive ability used with one-handed weapons, that's why it came out like this. Makes little difference, I admit, but e.g. Armor of Earth can easily go beyong 6. And it only works when using the weapon one-handed.
  The Masterwork daisho has Deadliness+1, like it was crafted with the Kakita pattern. I tried to avoid mixing Mirumoto und Kakita references, but doesn't really matter. I'll write it like that.

- And here it is: The Maho Shikigami. It poses little threat in combat by itself, but it usually flutters near one of its Undead Horrors. If either Minion NPC are near or after one of the PCs have gone down from fighting the Undead Horror, it may actively show itself to invite an attack, only to transfer that to the NPC or fallen PC using Fiend's Retreat. Maho Shikigami are vicious.

Looks good. I think the one I used had Grip of Anguish and Mark of Desecration - it essentially magically suffocated a sleeping victim, then subsequently raised them as a skeletal bushi to murder everyone else.

Giving it Fiend's Retreat instead is a nice idea, and goes a long way to making up for the fragility of a Shikigami.

1 hour ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Looks good. I think the one I used had Grip of Anguish and Mark of Desecration - it essentially magically suffocated a sleeping victim, then subsequently raised them as a skeletal bushi to murder everyone else.

Giving it Fiend's Retreat instead is a nice idea, and goes a long way to making up for the fragility of a Shikigami.

Problem with Grip of Anguish and Mark of Desecration is: They are Rank 1, so the Shikigami would have all Rings of 1. Sure, it can use its auto-sucess ability once, but after that, it is pretty defense- and powerless. So I needed more powerful Maho.

I'll post a third Shikigami later.

- And here the third Shikigami: The Shikigami Renegade, a creature that grew too powerful and killed its creator.

- And some support for the NPC side: Two Shinobi, designed to work in teams and give the PC a challenge.

Inspired by the Usagi Yojimbo comics, they are designed only using techniques and abilities also available to PCs.

Because I need him today, as my players decided to organize a dueling tournament (and since the town they run is named Kami's Rest, the tournament is called "Kami-val"...)

- Another duelist: The Hiruma Knife Duelist.

18 hours ago, Harzerkatze said:

(and since the town they run is named Kami's Rest, the tournament is called "Kami-val"...)

And finally, the last duelist for now:

- The Character Assassin Duelist, a Togashi Chronicler that just yesterday horribly embarassed our Hida Defender in a duel:

Oops, I did it again: After reading Path of Waves, I could not help but add another duelist:

- The Qamarist Duelist.

3 hours ago, Harzerkatze said:

Oops, I did it again: After reading Path of Waves, I could not help but add another duelist:

- The Qamarist Duelist.

Give them the OP qamarist shield, +3tn to be hit against all attacks, and a good water ring to use it while also attacking. Go to town!

5 minutes ago, Avatar111 said:

Give them the OP qamarist shield, +3tn to be hit against all attacks, and a good water ring to use it while also attacking. Go to town!

That's why I didn't use it.
I liked the Mantis shield rules better then the Shadowland ones, but the Qamarist shield from Path of Waves is entirely over the edge.

Harzerkatze I would like to thank you for your monster manual. I'm now scrolling through it looking for inspiration and some monsters for an one-shot and this work doesn't disappoint in that area. Anyway I got some nice ideas from your manual and will go to the drawing board to create stats for a Kasa-obake. I'm thinking of giving it an ability that uses its opp to increase the strife of the PC, when it is in range for licking a PC.

24 minutes ago, Kiso said:

Harzerkatze I would like to thank you for your monster manual. I'm now scrolling through it looking for inspiration and some monsters for an one-shot and this work doesn't disappoint in that area. Anyway I got some nice ideas from your manual and will go to the drawing board to create stats for a Kasa-obake. I'm thinking of giving it an ability that uses its opp to increase the strife of the PC, when it is in range for licking a PC.

Thank you!
Such an ability is surely an option. You could look at the Character Assassin for comparison. Since dealing 2 Strife with an opportunity is already a regular opoortunity use of fire stance, one could ask if an additional ability effectively doing the same is really needed. Opportunities are side effects. If the very aim of an action is dealing Strife, it should be a direct effect, not an opportunity choice. That's why I gave the duelist his ability.

How is this for a kasa-obake stat block?

Kasa-obake
For tools used in human life, there was the way of thought that, as months and years pass by and these tools become older, they have an ability to become apparitions. They are generally umbrellas with one eye and jump around with one leg. The Kasa-obake is not particularly fearsome as far as yokai go. Its favorite method of surprising humans is to sneak up on them and then deliver a large, oily lick with its enormous tongue, although this is often traumatic enough. The kasa-obake is usually a playful spirit.

Conflict Rank, combat 2, Social 1
Endurance: 8, Composure 4
Focus 4, Vigilance 2
Air 2, Earth 2, Fire 1, Water 3, Void 1
Artisan 3, Martial 1, Scholar 0, Social 0, Trade 1.
Weapons: [Body rotation] range 0-1, damage 5, Deadliness 2
Gear: [Umbrella body] Physical 2
Abilities:
Umbrella body: The kasa-obake is an Otherworldly silhouette 1 creature that hops on one leg to move.
Easily scared: When it is compromised, the kasa-obake usually becomes scared and tries to flee the scene.
Oily lick: When making a successful Attack action check, the kasa-obake may spend two opp in the following way:
opp opp: Targeting one target that is within range 0-1 and delivers an oily lick, causing that target to suffer +1 strife and Daze condition for one turn.

The description is copy-past from wikipedia and yokai.com. It want to use this monster as an optional encounter. I'm a newbie GM and there will be two new people at my table with rank 1 characters, so hopefully this won't knock them both unconscious.

1 hour ago, Kiso said:

How is this for a kasa-obake stat block?

Kasa-obake
For tools used in human life, there was the way of thought that, as months and years pass by and these tools become older, they have an ability to become apparitions. They are generally umbrellas with one eye and jump around with one leg. The Kasa-obake is not particularly fearsome as far as yokai go. Its favorite method of surprising humans is to sneak up on them and then deliver a large, oily lick with its enormous tongue, although this is often traumatic enough. The kasa-obake is usually a playful spirit.

Conflict Rank, combat 2, Social 1
Endurance: 8, Composure 4
Focus 4, Vigilance 2
Air 2, Earth 2, Fire 1, Water 3, Void 1
Artisan 3, Martial 1, Scholar 0, Social 0, Trade 1.
Weapons: [Body rotation] range 0-1, damage 5, Deadliness 2
Gear: [Umbrella body] Physical 2
Abilities:
Umbrella body: The kasa-obake is an Otherworldly silhouette 1 creature that hops on one leg to move.
Easily scared: When it is compromised, the kasa-obake usually becomes scared and tries to flee the scene.
Oily lick: When making a successful Attack action check, the kasa-obake may spend two opp in the following way:
opp opp: Targeting one target that is within range 0-1 and delivers an oily lick, causing that target to suffer +1 strife and Daze condition for one turn.

The description is copy-past from wikipedia and yokai.com. It want to use this monster as an optional encounter. I'm a newbie GM and there will be two new people at my table with rank 1 characters, so hopefully this won't knock them both unconscious.

Very nice! I like that you chose one of the weirdo monsters of japanese mythology, we need more of those.

I have little to add to your design, looks sound to me. I would increase the Strife damage to 2 or 3, since with three ring dice and one skill die, it will only seldom get two opportunities, and getting licked by a monster umbrella should be at least as freaky as getting insulted by an enemy. One Strife has little effect. But that is up to you. I would give him a kick instead of the body rotation, because that opens up the funny quest of having the sensei sent the monk on top of the mountain to learn how to throw a kick from a Kasa-Obake with no additional information, and when he gets there, he finds a hopping umbrella. That kicks him.

Since this is effectively a comic-relief creature with a long tongue and the word "LOng-Tongued" is a thing, I'd give him Social 2 and have him talk people's ears off.

He has a high Artisan rank. Do you think he might be good to ask for insight into crafting, as he is am object himself? Could be an alternative way of using him in an adventure.

Do you mind if I make a stats block out of him and add him to my Monster Manual? Like this:

Sidequest Ideas :
The Kasa-Obake looks funny and should be played as such. There are a lot of options to use him to provide comic relief: The story might start like a straight poltergeist tale with a house haunted by creaks and bumbs from the attic and even a sound like rustling of large wings, and when the PCs enter the attic, this is what they find. Another trope subversion would be an enemy who has found an invocation to summon Yokai, and when the big confrontation arrives, this is all he summons. Or a sensei sending the young monk on a quest to learn how to throw a powerful kick from a “Kasa-Obake” with no additional information what that is, and have the monk find an umbrella at the end. That kicks him.
- The PCs might be sent on a quest by a supernatural creature to get insight into crafting a superior katana from a sage on a mountain-top, and when they reach the top, all that is there is this hopping umbrella. They might not realize that the Kasa-Obake is the sage they were looking for.

1 hour ago, Harzerkatze said:

Do you mind if I make a stats block out of him and add him to my Monster Manual?

Please do, I like your improvements. I was just going through creating advantages and disadvantages before you beat me to it. Anyway thanks for the advice, it seems solid improvements to me.

1 hour ago, Harzerkatze said:

Or a sensei sending the young monk on a quest to learn how to throw a powerful kick from a “Kasa-Obake” with no additional information what that is, and have the monk find an umbrella at the end. That kicks him.

That would be one of the funniest moments.

16 minutes ago, Kiso said:

Please do, I like your improvements. I was just going through creating advantages and disadvantages before you beat me to it. Anyway thanks for the advice, it seems solid improvements to me.

OK, updated the PDF. Now @ Magnus Grendel can link to the Kasa-Obake in his NPC thread.

Also, it is so cool that this is an original Edo period paining of it: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enshin_Kasa-obake.jpg.

Could we request the admins to pin this post? This work is just awesome! 🙂

Time for the next creature: The Kumo, intelligent spiders from the Realm of Animals, feared for their deadly nets. Older ones can even take human form.

Also, I renamed the Baku into Dark Baku, for I read that the creatures Baku may also be beloved childhood friends that protect humans from bad dreams, depending on which source you believe. I wanted to allow for those Baku to exist in Rokugan, too.

And here is the next creature, chosen because its 19th century picture just looks awesome:

The Kamaitachi , a weasel with sickle feet riding a whirlwind.

PS: Kamaitachi would be a great nickname a swordmaster sensei gives his fight-hungry pupil...

9 hours ago, Harzerkatze said:

PS: Kamaitachi would be a great nickname a swordmaster sensai gives his fight-hungry pupil...

Particularly for a disorganised niten student given to flailing in all directions with multiple blades...

" Kami forgive me, child, but if you can't at least aspire to some restraint and poise I'm going to put you in a fur cloak, tie another daisho to your feet and when Mirumoto-dono asks who you are I'm going to deny all knowledge of meeting you and claim a kamaitachi somehow got loose in my dojo!"