Monster: Kamaitachi
This time, I’m going to tackle a request, not pick a monster at random. The monster in question is kamaitachi, a Japanese yokai. D&D doesn’t have this creature, not even in Oriental Adventures, but Pathfinder has it in Bestiary 6. So, at least I have a base to use as a springboard.
So, what’s a kamaitachi? It’s a human-sized weasel with sharp sickle claws in place of feet. It can fly by suspending itself in a magical dust devil. Another signature ability is to delay damage dealt by the claws to hold the victim hostage. Due to its sadistic nature, the kamaitachi may force the hostage or its loved ones to perform some horrible deeds. The spirit itself is quite fickle, so it might kill the hostage anyway. Honestly, that doesn’t sound compelling to me – seems like one of the “evil for the lulz” monsters. But let’s go with it for now.
Let’s start building the template, starting with the body. I will use my dire weasel template as a base, scale it down to SM+0, and make some additional tweaks. Of course, this spirit is intelligent, so I will replace the IQ penalty with a small IQ bonus. The huge DX bonus seems appropriate for the monster, but ST shouldn’t be high – this is your typical glass cannon. And, of course, let’s give it Sadism. Now, there’s something that I want to change from the Pathfinder statblock. While the main mode of movement for this creature is flight, it still have a good ground move. How do you walk this fast on these? I will reduce its Basic Move by 4, this is going to be a good weakness if its flight is disabled somehow.
Since this is a spirit, not a simple weasel, it also has some other qualities. Let’s give it two levels of Magic Resistance and Vulnerability to Cold Iron – that’s typical for fey in D&D. The creature is also said to constantly be under the effect of the greater magic fang spell, so let’s give it the Magic Touch perk from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 20: Slayers. This one will make all natural attacks of the kamaitachi count as magic weapons for the purpose of weaknesses. There is no information about the diet, lifespan, and reproduction, so I will assume that it’s a carnivore, just like the normal weasel. As for the lifespan, there is no consistent traits for the D&D fey or spirits. Some have a human lifespan, and some may be immortal. I will just go with the normal lifespan.
It is said to live in the sky, so I will have to add at least five levels of Temperature Tolerance (Cold) and also the Pressure-Tolerant Lungs (Thin) perk.
Now, let’s make the sickle blades themselves. It seems that they should be able to deal both cutting and impaling damage, but they are still claws. Plus, they look metallic to me. You know, since these are literal sickle blades, why not make them work like sickles? For that, I will have to use the Natural Weapons from Pyramid #3-65. Since I replace both sets of extremities, I will have to give the kamaitachi two sets of identical Natural Weapons. It will only be able to use swing damage, but will be able to use either cutting or impaling damage type. When used as impaling weapons, the sickle blades might get stuck like picks. Since the creature has DR 1, the resilient enhancement gives the blades DR 5, which seems nice. The addition of the armor divisor will make it dangerous despite the relatively low base damage, and it also is appropriate to the concept. Finally, I had to come up with a new enhancement to give these weapons the ability to use the Hook technique. So, now the creature has actual sickle blades that use unique rules, such as those for having your weapon get stuck and hook. This will really make it feel different from any other monster with normal claws. And since the blades seem to be made of metal, let’s also give the kamaitachi the Affected by Magnetism perk. This is a very situational weakness to certain spells and effects that will feel very rewarding to the player who manages to exploit it.
Now, what about that delayed damage effect? Usually, I would do it by giving the creature a very limited Imbue advantage and the Sudden Death imbuement skill, but that’s lame. Also, if I were to do that, the kamaitachi would be able to use it with its bite, for example, and this ability should be unique to the claws. But thanks to using Natural Weapons, I can just apply Delay, Triggered, +50% to the Natural Weapon advantage and call it a day. However, there is a small detail here. While the claws themselves are not magical, this delayed damage effect is a magical ability, so I will have to limit the enhancement by applying Magical, -10% to it. I have to come up with the cancellation clause. The 1-mile range limit that is described in the Pathfinder version seems fine, as does the Remove Curse spell. There is also this thing – the kamaitachi must use this delay damage ability, it cannot opt not to use it. But it becomes able to use the claws to deal immediate damage if this magical ability is somehow suppressed. This will turn it into a hit-and-run monster – it rushes it, deals several swift attacks, then retreats and uses Concentrate to actually cause injury. I will have to facilitate this type of tactic with other abilities.
I would also like to add a level of Extra Attack to emphasize the sheer speed of this creature.
Now, I have to build the dust devil ability that is essential to this monster. The ability serves three functions – flight, deflection of projectiles, and obscuring senses. That shouldn’t be that difficult. Just link together Flight, a limited Enhanced Dodge and two Obscures. The Pathfinder description also mentions the possibility of disabling the dust devil with certain spells, and I really would like to include it. This is going to be a nuisance effect. Such spells as Shape Air or Vacuum will disable this ability for 3d seconds. That sounds nice, as it gives extra utility to certain spells, and Shape Air is not that useful of a spell as is.
What about the skills? It will need a high level of Brawling and Aerobatics. Area Knowledge probably is necessary for all the vile exploits it could do with the hostages. There is no Survival specialty for the sky, but I assume that the kamaitachi hunts on the ground, so I will just add Survival (Local Terrain Type). Stealth is probably unnecessary, as its flight is noisy. Oh, and Intimidation, that’s a must here. And a few points in the Hook technique. And that’s it, the template is done!
How would a kamaitachi fight? It depends on what it wants and what it rolled against Sadism. If it just wants to kill, it will swoop into close combat, deal as many potentially lethal attacks, such as cutting attacks to the neck or impaling attacks at the vitals, then retreat and Concentrate to activate the wounds. If it wants to indulge in Sadism, it will do the same, but instead of activating all the wounds, it will activate only one of them and attempt Intimidation to force the victim to back off and reconsider. Then, of course, it might force it to perform some heinous act, like killing his friend under the threat of death. And then, the kamaitachi may let him go. Or not. If you want to fight the kamaitachi, landing a hit will be difficult, but it will hurt, especially if you are using a cold iron weapon. Coordinate attacks with your allies, use rapid strikes – multiple defenses are penalized. If you manage to perform a Grabbing Parry or a Judo Parry, then you’re in luck, as the weasel doesn’t have high ST, but it can still wiggle out of grapple due to Double-Jointed. If you bring magic, Shape Air, Hold Metal, Repel Metal, or any area attacks, especially Vacuum, will work wonderfully.
How can I as a GM use it? Honestly, this doesn’t seem like a compelling or interesting monster to me, but I guess I could use it in a quest once just as an enemy that the PCs have to deal with and that probably holds one or two NPCs hostage that will fight alongside it. But I don’t think it is possible to use it in any other way due to its one-dimensional nature. That’s a shame, as mechanically, this monster is interesting.
Kamaitachi [Bestiary 6, page 176]
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [6]; DX+4 (No Fine Manipulators, -40%) [48]; IQ+1 [20]; HT+2 [20].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Speed +0.5 [10]; Basic Move -4 [-20].
Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell 2 [4]; Combat Reflexes [15]; DR 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Discriminatory Smell [15]; Double-Jointed [15]; Extra Attack 1 [25]; Extra Legs (Four Legs) [5]; Fearlessness 2 [4]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Magic Resistance 2 (Improved, +150%) [10]; Night Vision 5 [5]; Peripheral Vision [15]; Sharp Teeth [1]; Temperature Tolerance 5 (Cold) [5]; Ultrahearing [5].
Sickles [46]: 2 x Natural Weapon (Impaling; Armor Divisor, (2), +50%; Delay, Triggered limited by Magical, +45%; Extra Damage Type, Cutting, +20%; Hook, Sharp, +20%; Resilient, Very Fine, +20%; Swing-Capable, Swing-Only, Both types, +30%) [23].
Dust Devil [67]: Enhanced Dodge 3 (Environmental, Air, -5%; Limited, Small Projectiles, -40%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Can be disabled by air control effects, -5%) [23] + Flight (Environmental, Air, -5%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Can be disabled by air control effects, -5%) [36] + Obscure Hearing 2 (Environmental, Air, -5%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Can be disabled by air control effects, -5%) [4] + Obscure Vision 2 (Environmental, Air, -5%; Link, +10%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Can be disabled by air control effects, -5%) [4].
Disadvantages: Horizontal [-10]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Restricted Diet (Carnivore) [-10]; Sadism (9) [-22]; Vulnerability (Cold Iron, x2) [-10].
Perks: Fur [1]; Magic Touch [1]; Pressure-Tolerant Lungs (Thin) [1].
Quirks: Affected by Magnetism [-1].
Features: Born Biter 1; Tail.
Creature Type: Fey (Air).
|
Knowing Your Own Strength [258] |
Typical Stats
|
ST: |
11 |
HP: |
11 |
Speed: |
7 |
|
DX: |
14 |
Will: |
11 |
Move: |
3 ground, 14 air |
|
IQ: |
11 |
Per: |
11 |
|
|
|
HT: |
12 |
FP: |
12 |
SM: |
+0 |
|
Dodge: |
11 |
Parry: |
12 |
DR: |
1* (tough skin) |
Sickle Claws (17): swing 1d+2(2) cutting or swing 1d+2(2) impaling, Reach C. The kamaitachi has four extremely sharp sickle blades in place of all four extremities. For parrying purposes, these blades are considered to have an effective weight of 1.1 lb and very fine quality. Each blade has DR 5, HP 9. When used to deal impaling damage, the claws may get stuck; see Picks (p. B405). Hook enables the rules under Hook (p. MA74), and may also damage the victim, dealing 1d-2(2) cutting damage.
Resolve the attack normally and work out what injury or other baneful effects your victim would suffer, given the damage roll, DR, damage type, etc. But don’t apply these when the kamaitachi deals the blow! Instead, they happen on its command (a Concentrate maneuver), at any future point and from any distance up to 1 mile. A victim who moves beyond this limit causes the delayed effect to immediately end without harm. Alternatively, this effect can be removed with Remove Curse. A kamaitachi can trigger or cancel as many delayed wounds as it wants with a single Concentrate maneuver. This delayed damage effect is magical in nature and the kamaitachi cannot use its claws to deliver damage without delay, unless this effect is somehow suppressed.
Dust Devil: The kamaitachi can fly by creating a magical dust devil around itself. As the dust devil stirs up dust and debris, it imposes a -2 penalty to all vision-based and hearing-based tasks in a 2-yard radium around the creature, including attacks. The kamaitachi itself is not immune to this. The winds also provide the kamaitachi a +3 bonus to Dodge against small projectiles, such as arrows, crossbow bolts, thrown knives, or bullets – anything weighing 1 lb or less. Anything heavier ignores this bonus.
This ability works only if air is present, and can be disrupted. Such spells as Shape Air or Vacuum, when cast on an area that contains the kamaitachi disable this ability for 3d seconds.
Traits: Acute Taste and Smell 2; Affected by Magnetism; Born Biter 1; Combat Reflexes; Discriminatory Smell; Double-Jointed; Extra Attack 1; Extra Legs (Four Legs); Fearlessness 2; Fur; High Pain Threshold; Horizontal; Magic Resistance 2 (Improved); Magic Touch; Night Vision 5; No Fine Manipulators; Peripheral Vision; Pressure-Tolerant Lungs (Thin); Restricted Diet (Carnivore); Sadism (9); Tail; Temperature Tolerance 5 (Cold); Ultrahearing; Vulnerability (Cold Iron, x2).
Skills: Aerobatics-14; Area Knowledge (Local Area)-12; Brawling-17; Intimidation-14; Survival (Local Terrain Type)-12.
Techniques: Hook (Brawling)-15.
Creature Type: Fey (Air).
Creature Type: Fey (Air).
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