“This humanoid creature has a fearsome mien, with a cruel red face, glaring yellow eyes, a prodigious nose, and large ravenlike wings.”
This is a creature constructed as a GURPS character that took part in the Lest Dispelled Golarion campaign. It is a conversion from Pathfinder SRD content.
Background
Description
Yamabushi tengus are oni with a predilection toward thievery and trickery, wearing the flesh of wicked, fiendish tengus…. Despite their ability to fly, most yamabushi tengus are nervous in open areas, since it’s easy to be seen in such environs. A yamabushi tengu is more at home indoors or at night, where it can skulk in the shadows when it’s unsure of its surroundings. A yamabushi tengu is 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. 1
Appearances
This particular creature appeared in the Lest Dispelled Golarion GURPS campaign I was running in the first session and shapechanged from a human in the middle of the marketplace during Market Day in Sandpoint, driven by an irrational hunger to take part in the pleasure of driving a humanoid to anger and pain.
Why They Are Cool
Tactically, the creature is capable of a great number of martial feats. He regenerates at an incredibly quick rate, also regrowing limbs to a lesser degree, and has the ability to perform feats of extreme effort as he is able to restore his fatigue points by draining them from his opponents. Finally, he naturally distorts magic around him but is still incredibly susceptible to it, forming an interesting effect that must be dealt with by spellcasters. This opponent was designed in order to drive a party of low-powered characters to outwit and bring it down through an organization of great tactical thinking.
Why They Missed the Spot
The creature was not capable of withstanding great injury and, when faced with one that caused double shock, completely caved into a spiral of pain and inevitable death. In one word, the creature is incredibly mortal and must make use of his ability to deceive with his Warp and his extremely large possible damage output in order to bring foes down before he is taken down himself.
Creature Build
The following comprises the build for this creature.
ST 14 HP 12 DR 2DX 12 Will 13 Speed 6.00
IQ 11 Per 14 Move 6
HT 12 FP 13 Dodge 9 Languages. Native: Tengu, Speaks Tien (Accented), Taldane (Accented), Language Talent Base Damages. sw 2d, thr 1d. Natural Attacks. Punch (14): Reach (C), Parry 0, Damage thr-1 cr. Features. Night Vision 8; Damage Resistance 2 (Tough Skin, -40%); Indomitable, Combat Reflexes; Flight (Winged); Silence 1; Regeneration (Very Fast) (1 HP/s); Regrowth (Minor); Mana Damper 1; Colorblindness; Constriction Attack; See Invisible; Force of Weakening; Magic Susceptibility 2; Dread (Compassion), Dread (Patterns); Fragile (Unnatural); Uncontrollable Appetite (Wrath, Pain); Higher Purpose (Corruption); Longevity; Fanatacism; Morph (Cosmetic; Humanoid Forms Only), Unnatural Features 5; Lifebane; Very Unattractive. Special Abilities. Innate Attack 1 (Fatigue, Based on Will, No Signature, Malediction, Costs Fatigue 1, No Wounding): 1/2 amount of fatigue damage dealt is recovered by the Oni. If >3 fatigue damage dealt, target acquires Berserk; Warp (Reliable 7, Range Limit 50 yards): Only usable once per day. Suggested Skills. Brawling at DX+2, Body Control at HT, Kusari at DX.
Creature Subtypes
Oni
The Oni are a class of demon from Tian-Xia lore that is borrowed from the same concept from modern-day Japanese mythology. More will be revealed on this particular subtype of creatures as the campaign goes on. The players are not yet aware of their existence, nor that this particular demon they fought was one.
Tengu
The Tengu template that was applied is a template based on a Featured Race found in the Pathfinder Advanced Race Guide converted to the following statistic block. Other Featured Races will be expanded upon at a later date.
Tengu [25] Language Talent [10]; Social Stigma (Minority) [-5]; Night Vision 4 [4]; Silence 1 [5]; DX +1 [20]; Per +2 [10]; HT -2 [-20]; Teeth (Beak) [1].More information about the Tengu can be acquired here.
Notes:
- Pathfinder Adventure Path #49: The Brinewall Legacy by James Jacobs ↩