How many monsters are there?

[Alderaan Crumbs 441]

I know about witches, ogres, goblins, ghosts and hopping vampires, but what other nasty things crawl from the darkness? How prevalent are they past the Wall? Also, please feel free to gush about which ones you like and why?

Edited September 19, 2018 by Alderaan Crumbs

[llamaman88 430]

well there's shadowlands monsters and undead and demons. But then there's other spirit realms weird stuff like trickster spirits (mujina, kitsune and tanuki being the more commonly used ones) there's two whol forests full of magical creatures (The Shinomen mori has hibagons and naga and all manner of creepy things while the kitsune mori has animal spirits and regular animals touched by the spirit realms) and then there's a ton of creepy types of ghosts and such. Just off the top of my head. They're not creatures just anyone sees, but certainly the type of things an adventuring party of player characters might have to deal with.

[Wyrmdog 54]

There is always Yokai.com or some other online reference to mine for ideas.

I lean toward capricious or malevolent nature and city spirits for monsters that are not born of the Shadowlands directly, and give them a physical manifestation. The game I am running now will likely include Kappa, the Naga, a giant boar, a variant of the slit-mouthed woman, a Rokugani take on the planting of dragon's teeth, giant spiders, some Shadowlands creatures that have infiltrated beyond the wall, possibly some elephant-men from the Ivory Kingdoms (or maybe just war elephants), and I am considering a Rakshasa. It all depends a lot on where the PCs go in the Empire. Regardless, the monsters will a spice, not the main course. That's just how I prefer to use them.

Just to shake things up though, my Kenku are not going to be supernatural, but a revolutionary group of philosopher-swordsmen in the Dragon mountains who wear the masks of crows and have a a unique fighting style. The Dragon are trying to keep their existence secret while they try to stamp them out.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Wyrmdog
clarity

[Alderaan Crumbs 441]

Oh, wow! Those are all so cool! Like you, Wyrmdog, I generally prefer the supernatural to be mysterious, however I’m interested in a monster-hunting game, as I’ve mentioned. One thing that seems really cool is that non-human doesn’t seem to necessarily equate to “Kill it!”, although I could be mistaken.  

[TheHobgoblyn 352]

There aren't any particularly hard rules on what can and cannot exist in terms of monsters. Because outside of a few, they really aren't about being a true-breeding people. You can have all sorts of twisted monstrosities appear as one-offs. After all, these things are coming from other realms where things might not even have physical form and are given flesh in whatever form best expresses their malice.

So basically anything you find in Korea, Chinese and Japanese mythology kind of works. And a lot of the monsters they have might not even have proper names, they were just weird doodles that someone made of some monster thing and plenty of people copied later.

That Youkai.com site is definitely a good place to start.

[Alderaan Crumbs 441]

That website is grand! 

[Magnus Grendel 11,672]

11 hours ago, Alderaan Crumbs said:

One thing that seems really cool is that non-human doesn’t seem to necessarily equate to “Kill it!”, although I could be mistaken.  

Indeed. Kami are essentially animistic spirits of a place/tree/stream/whatever, and they are (normally) a positive thing - like little local gods - and you are far more likely to be given a task to figure out why they're angry and fix things than to try and 'beat' them.

There are hostile equivalents of Kami, though, called Kansen. If you think of them as evil poltergeist/possessing ghosts (compared to Oni which are more physically manifested 'big stompy daemons') you're not far off.

Equally, some clans have - officially recognised or not - non-human allies or races whom they respect and have (occasional) dealings with. The crab have the nezumi - basically ratmen like skaven but (a) not explicitely evil and hating shadowlanders more than humans and (b) not comedic incompetent at everything. 

Have a look at http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/legendofthe5rings/legend_of_the_five_rings and search for stuff with 'Creature' as a trait.

It'll give you ideas of what races exist, which are associated with each clan...and provide you with artwork you can crib for your games!

 

(yes, I know one of them is a horse. Don't underestimate how smart the best of the unicorn's warhorses actually are; the Utaku Steeds - the very finest, who actually are technically unicorns - are more akin to David Weber's Wind Rider Coursers or Tolkein's Shadowfax and more a supporting NPC than a 'mount')

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Magnus Grendel

[Alderaan Crumbs 441]

That card index is fantastic! Thanks a bunch, Mr. Grendel! 

[Hida Jitenno 586]

Not to mention, Oni are an incredibly diverse lot. An Oni is summoned by a person who names it. Essentially, a person conducts a ritual to contact the formless demon-essence that lives in Jigoku, and offers his or her name to the demon.

If the demon accepts, it becomes an Oni, and takes on traits derived from that summoner. For example, say a Bushi, Kanbei, who is a glutton offers the Oni his name in exchange for the ability to summon any delicacy from afar.

Kanbei no Oni will likely be a fierce demon, driven by hunger to devour anything and everything. It may have extra mouths on its hands or chest, it does not need to appear humanoid.

Now if Kanbei were a Courtier with similar predilections, then Kanbei no Oni may be a tempting, seductive beast, that comes with whispers in the mind that it brings gifts for its soon-to-be-victims, who it then devours.

Now there have been a few things I've seen from time to time that these Oni can spawn lesser versions if themselves. So perhaps the monster-hunting party encounters one of these lesser spawn, but because it's a new Oni, they don't recognize it. So that begins the campaign arc where they track down the summoner in his/her base to banish the Oni from the mortal plane.

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

On 9/19/2018 at 3:15 PM, Alderaan Crumbs said:

I know about witches, ogres, goblins, ghosts and hopping vampires, but what other nasty things crawl from the darkness? How prevalent are they past the Wall? Also, please feel free to gush about which ones you like and why?

some severely tainted folk no longer pass for human...

The Naga are enigmatic and fun to use.

the 2E & 3E bestiaries include a lot of the D&D monster manual critters inspired by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean legends.

[Alderaan Crumbs 441]

Hida, that’s so awesome! AK, I love naga. And even though D&D isn’t my favorite game, I adore it’s critters. 

[Tonbo Karasu 2,606]

The karakasa is mentioned in one of the fictions.  The only reason that it's dismissed is because no-one would take an umbrella into the Shinomen:

[TheWanderingJewels 226]

A rather long list of Japanese supernatural creatures. I use it as a reference when wanting to do other than shadowlands creatures

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_from_Japan

[AtoMaki 1,431]

I like to give a spin to existing creatures. Subverting expectations, so to speak. The party might meet an oni who is not (literally) ****-bent on being MEGA EVIL and can become a trustworthy and reasonable ally. One can meet non-feral trolls who are still superior smiths and architects. There are cases when reality has a few tough surprises if all the player knows is legends: the Yuki no Onna being a beautiful woman (it is not... also, avoid the snow at all cost and trust nobody, not even yourself), the Bakemono having "taboos" (never fall for this), the Nue being an evil monster (leave that poor guy alone), or the Kappa liking cucumber (uh... it is complicated). This way, the players can have something old and familiar but still new and exciting. 

Another thing I like to explore is Manifested Kami. These guys can provide a very interesting and diverse set of encounters because there is no hard rule for how they should look like. A Manifested Earth Kami can can be a fully armored samurai made out of dirt or a lumbering behemoth straight out of Shadow of the Colossus or a generic earth elemental kind of creature - the possibilities are endless!

[Tonbo Karasu 2,606]

In Legacy of the Forge, there's a Shadowlands Creature who's started to worship Amaterasu.  I can't remember whether it was an Ogre or an Oni.

Then there was Okura no Oni.

[Magnus Grendel 11,672]

On ‎9‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 10:38 AM, AtoMaki said:

Another thing I like to explore is Manifested Kami. These guys can provide a very interesting and diverse set of encounters because there is no hard rule for how they should look like. A Manifested Earth Kami can can be a fully armored samurai made out of dirt or a lumbering behemoth straight out of Shadow of the Colossus or a generic earth elemental kind of creature - the possibilities are endless!

And because a Kami, by definition, isn't exactly a monster in the way Oni or Kansen are. A Kami is a 'natural' supernatural being (if there is such a thing) and is - or should be - a broadly neutral or even benevolent spirit; if it's angry and destructive you may have to stop it but there's a good chance someone else has made it angry, and you should really be doing something about that.

And yes, the sky's the limit for what shape they choose to take.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Magnus Grendel