Special Rules Combat Actions: 2 Strike Rank: +11 Movement: 3m
Traits: Camoufl age, Night Sight
Skills: Athletics 50%, Dodge 50%, Perception 35%, Resilience 35%, Stealth 85%
Gaki
Also known as ‘hungry ghosts’ Gaki are semi-corporeal creatures that are the condemned and restless forms of those who succumbed to greed and gluttony in their previous life. Gaki are humanlike in appearance, with corpse-grey skin, dark, beady, hate-fi lled eyes, a constricted mouth and slender neck and an enormous, bloated belly that spills forward and almost down to the
knees. Gaki can press themselves through very narrow gaps, owing to their semi-corporeal nature but are still susceptible to physical attacks and damage.
Gaki eat anything and everything – hence their distended bellies – yet with their tiny mouths and throats, they have diffi culty cramming in as much as they desire. A feeding gaki therefore shovels as much food into its mouth as it can, allowing its cheeks to swell and then swallows in tiny, gasping gulps, frequently gagging and choking as the food lodges in the gullet. Yet their inability to swallow effectively does not quell their appetite: nothing does. Given time, a single gaki can lay waste to an entire paddy fi eld or grain store, its belly swelling to an ever greater size as it does so.
Cursed by Buddha, gaki are especially bitter and fond of decimating the stores and crops of Buddhist temples, and of drinking the purifi cation water found outside Shinto shrines, which renders it unclean. If challenged, gaki usually try to escape but will fi ght if necessary, scratching and kicking with their wickedly long and clawed fi ngers, searching for things such as eyes that can be plucked and consumed.
Characteristics STR 2D6+3 (9) CON 3D6 (11) DEX 3D6 (11) SIZ 5D6 (18) INT 3D6 (11) POW 3D6 (10) CHA 1D6 (4) Gaki Hit Locations
D20 Hit Location AP/HP
1-3 Right Leg –/6 4-6 Left Leg –/6 7-11 Abdomen –/8 12 Chest –/7 13-15 Right Arm –/5 16-18 Left Arm –/5 19-20 Head –/6 Weapons
Type Weapon Dkill Damage / AP
Creatures of Japan
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Special Rules Combat Actions: 2 Strike Rank: +11 Movement: 3mTraits: Night Sight
Skills: Dodge 30%, Perception 35%, Persistence 115%, Resilience 90%
Typical Armour: Gaki sustain half damage from
normal weapons. Any weapon blessed by a Buddhist priest infl icts full damage.
Ghosts
Ghosts and malicious spirits abound in Japan. Souls denied Heaven, Paradise or Hell and forced to wander the Earth until they have found a way to lay whatever troubled them or caused their torment to rest. Ghosts therefore take many forms; from the disgraced samurai who committed seppuku but still feels deep shame for his deeds, through to truly malevolent ghosts seeking to punish any and all who cross their path.
Ghosts are non-corporeal and pass naturally through all physical objects. Destroying them means laying the disturbed soul to rest and whilst an exorcism ritual might send the ghost away, curing an unquiet spirit (or
kwaidan) is more a matter of fi nding the cause of the
ghost’s torment and doing whatever is required to satisfy the spirit’s unarticulated needs.
Characteristics STR – CON – DEX – SIZ – INT 3D6 (10) POW 3D6 (10) CHA 3D6 (10) HP 10 MP 10 Weapons
Type Weapon Skill Damage
Dependent on type of ghost
Special Rules
Combat Actions: 2 Strike Rank: +20 Movement: 10m
Traits: Dark Sight, Dominant Possession, Night Sight, Recurring
Skills: Dodge 40%, Lore (Spirit World), 30%, Persistence 50%, Stealth 50%
Hengeyokai
The hengeyokai are shape-shifters, being able to change between animal and human forms with ease. Whether these are animals enchanted with the power or turn into humans or vice-versa, is unknown. Some believe hengeyokai are kami who have chosen a physical form and prefer to remain within it, whilst others believe that hengeyokai are cursed to adopt a state between animal and man but be accepted by neither.
It is possible that every animal found in Japan has a hengeyokai counterpart but a small number of defi nite hengeyokai are known to exist: henge-I (boar), henge- inu (dog), henge-neko (cat), henge-nezumi (rat), henge- saru (monkey), henge-U (hare). Note that the kitsune, which is a fox capable of taking human shape, is not classed as hengeyokai and is examined in more detail in this chapter.
In human shape hengeyokai retain the key characteristics of their animal form. For example, henge-neko are aloof, meticulously clean and may have cat-like eyes and long, perfectly manicured nails. Henge-I are large, gruff, hirsute and may have prominent lower teeth. In their animal form they retain the ability to reason and speak. Changing from one form to another costs the hengeyokai 1 Magic Point for each transformation, which takes 1D6 Combat Rounds to take effect, during which the hengeyokai is helpless as its form shifts to the new shape. Once changed, the hengeyokai has all the characteristics and abilities relevant to its form.
Hengeyokai tend to be solitary creatures, fi nding little acceptance amongst their animal cousins. In human circles they are distrusted and usually shunned, even though most hengeyokai do little to encourage such attitudes.
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Creatures of Japan
Henge-I (Boar)
In human form, big, powerfully built individuals with a great deal of thick body hair and fl attened, snout-like noses and sometimes, prominent lower teeth. Henge-I are taciturn as humans, preferring to be left alone and becoming aggressive if pestered. In boar form they are powerful creatures that prefer the forests and woodlands. Boar Form Characteristics
STR 3D6+6 (20) CON 2D6+9 (15) DEX 3D6 (10) SIZ 2D6+3 (10) INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10) CHA 5 (5)
Henge-I Hit Locations
D20 Hit Location AP/HP
1-2 Right Rear Leg 2/5
3-4 Left Rear Leg 2/5
5-7 Hindquarters 2/6
8-10 Forequarters 2/7
11-13 Right Front Leg 2/4 14-16 Left Front Leg 2/4
17-20 Head 2/5
Weapons
Type Weapon Skill Damage
Tusk 45% 1D6+1D2
Special Rules
Combat Actions: 2
Strike Rank: +7
Movement: 4m
Skills: Athletics 25%, Dodge 55%, Perception 50%, Resilience 40%, Stealth 55%, Survival 50%, Tracking 25%
Typical Armour: Hide (AP 2, no Skill Penalty)