Usagi Yojimbo monsters.pdf

USAGI YOJIMBO

MONSTERS!

An Usagi Yojimbo Role Playing Game Sourcebook

CREDITS

This book

contains material

written for use with

the Usagi Yojimbo

Roleplaying Game

and other Fuzion-

powered products.

Author: Jared Smith

Additional Material: Jason P. Prince and Mark

Arsenault

Cover Art: Stan Sakai

Cover Coloring: Tom Luth

Cover Design: Mark Arsenault

Interior Illustrations: Stan Sakai

Editor: Mark Arsenault

Editorial Contributions: Geoff Berman and Jason

P. Prince

Layout: Mark Arsenault

Author’s Dedication: For my brother Jason and

the adventures we’ve shared.

This book also

contains additional

material written for

use with the

D20 System

and FUDGE.

Rush Entertainment, Inc.

Usagi Yojimbo and all characters and their likenesses are trademarks owned by and/or copyright by Usagi Studios. Used under license; all

rights reserved.

persons portrayed within are fictional and any similarity without satiric intent to individuals living or dead is strictly coincidental.

“D20 System” and the “D20 System” Trademark logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used with permission. The use

of the D20 System Trademark and other copyrights and trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast is done according to the terms of the D20

System Trademark License Agreement version 1.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com.

Published and distributed by Gold Rush Games, PO Box 2531, Elk Grove, CA 95759-2531; (916) 684-9443 (Tel/Fax);

GoldRushGames@aol.com. Visit our web site at www.goldrushgames.com .

Visit the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo, the official Usagi Yojimbo web site at www.usagiyojimbo.com . Stock # U101E

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .................. 3

MONSTERS IN THE USAGI

YOJIMBO RPG .................... 3

Reflections and Shadows ........... 4

Scriptures as Protection .............. 4

Fighting Monsters ........................ 5

GM Tips ......................................... 5

Notes for the GM .......................... 6

Format of This Book .................... 6

NEW SPECIES, JOBS AND

SPECIAL ABILITIES ............. 7

New Species ................................. 7

Boar ............................................. 7

Ferret ........................................... 7

Goat ............................................ 8

Lion ............................................. 8

New Jobs ...................................... 9

Sohei ........................................... 9

Bonze/Ama (Priest/Nun) ........... 10

New Skills ................................... 10

Buddhism .................................. 10

Folklore ......................................11

Physician ....................................11

New Special Abilities ................. 12

Exorcism ................................... 12

THE MONSTERS ................. 13

Bakemono-sho ........................... 13

Beast, The ................................... 14

Hannya ........................................ 16

Hebi ............................................. 18

Jikininki ....................................... 21

Jikumo ......................................... 22

Kappa .......................................... 24

Mukade ........................................ 27

Nue .............................................. 29

Obakemono ................................ 30

Oni ............................................... 32

Tako-oni ...................................... 34

Tengu ........................................... 37

Yurei ............................................ 39

CONVERSION NOTES........... 42

UY: Monsters for FUDGE ........... 42

D20 System Stats ....................... 42

INTRODUCTION

MONSTERS IN

JAPAN

Monsters of all sorts fill books and domi-

nate children’s stories. Country peasants

and townspeople alike have to deal with

monsters of one sort or another. Monsters

fill their night tales and appear with a dan-

gerous regularity. Ghost stories are not only

for children.

The original, “indigenous” gods of Japan,

called kami, are lumped together under the

heading Shinto, or “Way of the Gods.” These

kami interact with many monsters, as leg-

ends go. These monsters may be either ad-

versaries or even servants of the kami. In-

deed, some kami are considered monsters,

just as some monsters are regarded as

kami.

In Shinto belief, spirits inhabit most things,

from mountains to people, filling the world

with the supernatural. The introduction of

Buddhism to Japan in the 6th century added

many more monsters to Japanese mythol-

ogy. The many levels of Buddhist hell are

filled with ghosts suffering various punish-

ments for sins in their past life. The Japa-

nese version of Hell, called Yomi, is the

realm of the spirit Emma. Yomi is the place

where the spirits of evil people are punished.

Evil demons called oni serve Emma in Yomi.

As a rule, only spirits and kami can travel

back and forth between Yomi and the sur-

face world-our world. Ghosts from Yomi of-

ten visit the surface world, sometimes just

to cause mischief, and other times to inflict

severe torment on some poor soul.

Monsters are often blamed for causing

earthquakes and other mysterious or unex-

plained events, as well.

For an overview of the early history of the

origins of Usagi’s world and kami see UY3

#13 and #14 (RP UYB12).

MONSTERS IN

THE USAGI

YOJIMBO RPG

In the Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game,

monsters are as common as they are in “his-

torical” Japanese myths.

This book presents many of the monsters

that Miyamoto Usagi has encountered in his

travels. Monsters are known to inhabit ar-

eas such as geographical boundaries

(gates, bridges, rivers, forests and such) as

well as places of spiritual importance (like

abandoned shrines and temples, places

where a death has occurred, and so on).

Usagi has encountered several monsters in

one notoriously haunted forest, known as

the Tangled Skein.

While a Usagi Yojimbo RPG adventure

works perfectly well without a single mon-

ster in it, monsters and the supernatural add

an unknown and dangerous element that

can add mystery and horror.

If you do decide to use monsters, magic

and the supernatural, please remember the

words from the Usagi Yojimbo RPG: “...over-

exposure to the fantastic will make it mun-

dane.” It is suggested that monsters and the

supernatural be used sparingly in your

games so this does not happen. This should

ensure that they are all the more forceful

and mysterious when they are encountered.

When portraying monsters in the Usagi

Yojimbo RPG, remember that good story

can come from allowing players to discover

and exploit monsters’ weaknesses. Chal-

lenge players’ wits as opposed to their lucky

dice rolling.

In many of Usagi’s adventures it is discov-

ering these weakness that leads him to vic-

tory, even with his superb swordsmanship.

In game terms,

sutras must be writ-

ten by a Priest.

Writing sutras on

an object requires

20 minutes for each

limb, or a person’s

head, or a sword, or

any item of similar

size. It takes two

hours to write

sutras over a

Reflections and

Shadows

Reflections and shadows reveal the true

nature of supernatural beings, including spir-

its and legendary crea-

tures (such as

kitsune). Any

creature that

has changed

its shape or is

otherwise dis-

guised as a

normal person

will still cast a

shadow in the

shape of the

creature’s origi-

nal form.

For example,

if a kitsune has

shape-changed the form of a beautiful

young maiden, anyone viewing its shadow

will see the shape of a small fox! Likewise,

any creature’s reflection will be seen as the

creature’s true self. A hideous oni disguised

as an old farmer would still cast a reflection

appearing as an ugly demon.

person’s entire body.

The type of protection sought from the

sutras must be declared to the GM before

the work begins. Sutras can be written to

render a person invisible to spirits and su-

pernatural monsters or

they can be written to

render the object or

person invisible to

them. Both types of

sutras prevent the

person or item from

being possessed.

In order to receive

the protection of-

fered by sutras, they

must be written on

the item or person/

creature to be pro-

tected. But the

sutras only protect that which

they are written on.

For instance, in the famous story Hoichi

the Earless, Hoichi had sutras written on his

body in order to be rendered invisible from

ghosts that were haunting him. A priest

wrote sutras all over Hoichi’s body, except

for his ears. When the ghost came for Hoichi

again, he saw only Hoichi’s ears. Angry at

not finding the rest of Hoichi, the ghost took

Hoichi’s ears-tearing them right off Hoichi’s

head-and left.

Weapons inscribed with sutras allow the

weapon to inflict damage on spirits and

ghosts, even when they are non-corporeal

and immune to normal weapons or other

physical attacks.

Sutras as Protection

The sacred texts or scriptures of Buddha,

called sutras, have power over monsters.

Sutras can protect a person from physical

harm and render one invisible to the mon-

sters. Sutras also serve as a shield against

possession.

Fighting

Monsters

Many of Usagi’s

encounters with

monsters are

more than just a

series of swings

and thrusts.

When fighting

monsters Usagi

is usually on the

move, running

from powerful

magical attacks, helping others away from

harm and waiting for that moment where he

can strike a decisive. In several instances

Usagi’s own sword has been the target of

attacks and knocked free of his grasp. For-

tunately for Usagi he carries two swords.

The lesson here from the Usagi Yojimbo

comics is to run combats in a descriptive

way that rewards creative efforts. If, when

running combat, players focus too much on

their choice of combat Strategy and rolling

dice, rather than painting a mental picture

of their actions, then some of the atmo-

sphere and feel of the comics will certainly

be lost. This can make these most tense

moments less interesting and exciting.

With monsters this is especially true be-

cause no fight with monsters is the same

and the fear they generate comes from the

unexpected and unknown. It is highly rec-

ommended that the GM and players use the

scenery around them in their fights. Allow-

ing players to discover and exploit mon-

sters’ weaknesses during a fight can help

build tension as the fight goes against the

heroes, until they can turn the tables on

their foes.

The GM is encouraged to reward player

ingenuity with bonuses to their attacks (+1

to +3 to the player’s die roll) if they man-

age to come up with clever ways to put

monsters at a disadvantage during the

fight.

Many of the monsters in this book have

more than one attack form (for example:

a bite attack and a claw attack). Monsters

usually only use one attack form per Phase,

and those that have multiple attacks per

Phase are indicated in their description.

All damage from monster attacks is lethal

or killing damage, unless described as an

attack that does Stun damage.

A GM must decide which attack form(s) a

monster will use when they are deciding

strategies. If a monster looses a limb their

Combat stat is reduced by 2. If it was a leg

their Movement drops by 2 as well.

GM TIPS

Preparing Your Players

If you decide to use monsters in your game

you should prepare the players. Tell them

that you may be using monsters in the game

and that monsters are “real” in your adven-

tures, just as they are in the Usagi Yojimbo

comics.

Monster Write-ups

The descriptions and game statistics of the

monsters in this book should be regarded

as stereotypes and guidelines only. Just as

every samurai is different, so should each

monster be different and unique. Compar-

ing these monsters to the ones in the Usagi

Yojimbo comic books should point out some

differences in their nature, motivation and

powers. With this in mind, feel free to modify

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