3 Yokai for OSR Games
I've been a little too busy to post the past couple of weeks with work and holidays, but I'm hoping to get back on the horse this week, what better way than with some monsters.
Yokai are creatures from Japanese folklore that can range widely in appearance, abilities, and tone. From the Aka Manto who kills you for using the wrong public restroom, to the wise and introspective Daitengu.
I've been reading a Morg Borg-inspired Samurai game called Ronin lately that makes heavy use of Yokai in its bestiary. I like the way they are written in that game, so I figured I'd write up a few of my own that I think are great for OSR-style games.
By the way, Ronin has a free version of its rules on the site, including the monster section. You should check it out!
Hashishime - Lady of the Bridge
Quote from Heike Monogatari
Oh great and powerful Kami of Kifune, grant me the powers of a devil while I am still living. Make me a fierce being, terrible to behold. Let my outer form match the flame of jealousy that burns so brightly within. Let me kill.
The Tale of the Hashihime of Uji | 百物語怪談会 Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai
The demon seethes beneath her bridge as a newlywed couple crosses over. White robes stained with the blood of her ex-lover, and each of his relatives. An iron crown on her head bears a trio of torches. She utters a curse, and the man on the bridge clutches his chest in pain. Woe be to lovers who cross her bridge; the Bridge Princess has no mercy for them.
HD 7+4 (35hp)
AC 5 (14)
Attacks: 1x hands 2d8
Move: Standard
Mundane damage immunity: Can only be harmed by magical attacks.
Curse of Jealous Rage: Can be used at will beneath the Hashishime's Bridge. Once per day elsewhere. Up to two targets save vs Magic. A target that fails takes 2d6 damage at the start of their turn if they are within 15ft of the other target. This lasts until the Hashishime is slain or each target individually makes an offering at the Hashishime's Bridge
XP 1250
Using a Hashishime
Since Hashishime live under bridges, they aren't suitable for a random encounter. Hashishime are no major threat to the players as long as they aren't traveling with a lover and don't make a habit of defacing bridges, but they make for a great local encounter you can seed into a rumor table.
You can either run it as a one-off encounter, with a rumor like "The bodies of three couples have been found beneath the bridge in the last two months, and there are whispers that the bridge is cursed."
Or you can run it as a bit of a mystery. A string of murders could strike a town, and each week, a new death is reported. If the players look into it, they'll find all are relatives of the first victim, whose wife disappeared months ago, last seen running from town and into the river beneath the bridge.
Teke teke
She stalks in the night, the dull scraping of bone against dirt and sharp nails tapping on the ground too quiet to hear over the whispering wind and rustling branches – until it's too late, that is. The girl is upon you, filthy black hair covering her furious eyes, sickle in hand, a trail of blood lagging behind the rest of her severed upper body. She aims to carve you in half; to make you like her. No use running. Even without her legs, she's faster than you are.
HD 4 + 3 (21hp)
AC 7 (12)
Attacks: 2 x Sickle 1d6
Move: 3x Standard
Bleed Anyone hit by the Teke teke's Sickles bleeds, taking 1 damage at the start of their turn for 1d4 rounds.
XP 175
Using a Teke teke
This one totally works as a random encounter, though I'd only use it at night. But if you want to get a little more out of this Yokai, we can look at some of the legends surrounding them.
In most of them, the Teke teke was a schoolgirl (occasionally a schoolboy) turned into a vengeful spirit, often having been split in half and killed by a passing train after the train's staff neglected to help her. She exacts her vengeance on the train staff, and after that, anyone who hears her story. The only way to avoid this fate is to spread the story to others. If you're a fan of horror, this should sound familiar.
Maybe your setting doesn't have a train. That's ok, we can think of any number of ways someone can die that would lead to an unhappy, vengeful spirit. That adds some intrigue. The Teke teke could be hunting those who wronged her. Maybe they deserve it. Either way, the bones for a nice 3-part city story are here.
The players need to:
- Figure out why a bunch of people are getting murdered, sliced in 2, in fact
- Determine whether the people deserve your help (if not, do nothing, let the Teke teke exact her vengeance, happy ending. Until she starts attacking others.)
- Lure out and fight the Teke teke
Alternatively, you could use the Teke teke as the starting point for a mystery. The players could encounter the Teke teke near the outskirts of a new town, with something on her person that points towards her killers. While they may still slay the Teke teke, at least they can give the spirit the vengeance it was after.
This Yokai's name doesn't come with a translation because Teke teke actually refers to the sound the spirit's nails make as they tap on the ground while she moves. I would definitely lean on vivid descriptions of the tapping noise and the blood trail she leaves behind her. The Teke teke as a combat encounter is not especially interesting, but she is jarring and her presence raises questions that players will hopefully find compelling.
These two were on the darker side, so I think the next one should have a bit of levity.
Onnen no niwatori - Grudge Chicken
Grey plucked jowels flap
a pincer handed man beast
Monster... or dinner?
Sadly, I don't have a scan of the original scroll image for these fellows. I don't want to use this art without permission, but there's a lovely image of these fellows on yokai.com
HD 2 (9hp)
AC 8 (11)
Attacks: 1 x Pincer hands (1d4) 1x beak (1d4)
Move: 2x Standard
Horrific Shriek: The combined Scream and squeal of a man and chicken murdered. Save vs Magic or stunned for 1 round.
Indigestion: Eating the meat of an Onnen no niwatori makes you sick for a week.
XP 25
Using Onnen no niwatori
The Grudge Chicken is a little lacking in historical material compared to the other 2 Yokai here, originating from a single Edo period scroll, vs the many stories and media adaptations of Hashishime and Teke teke. But I think a chicken guy is weirdly charming.
A Grudge Chicken is formed when a chicken and its owner are murdered. In the original story, the man is a cockfighter, and the chicken a recent winner. His opponents had him killed rather than pay their fee for losing. But this can be malleable depending on whether you want the Grudge Chicken to be sympathetic or not. Either way the Grudge Chicken should have someone that's wronged it, grudge is in the name!
If I put a Grudge Chicken in my game, it would probably just be part of a random encounter table. I think they're a good tone setter. With no additional context, they're a weird, kind of scary, kind of funny monster, and one your players have probably never seen before. Unless my players really dug into it, the reason for the Grudge Chicken's existence would be a mystery; some things are best left unknown.
I love using horror as an element in my games, and I think comedy is a helpful tool for horror (Scream is my favorite horror film). I would describe the Grudge Chickens as sort of goofy. They can walk funny, their pincer hands make it hard to manipulate objects, and they look a little silly. But the grey jowly skin is unsettling, as is their horrible shriek. There’s a fun little push and pull between funny and spooky here.
You could use them as a hook for a low-level quest, though. A chicken man terrorizing the woods is a fun rumor to include, and outlandish enough that it sort of makes sense that the guard wouldn't take it seriously.
In a more modern setting, I can imagine a dungeon set in an abandoned chicken factory, full of dead workers resurrected as Grudge Chickens. That actually sounds pretty cool. So... random encounter or abandoned chicken factory dungeon for these fellows, I think.
Ok one last bonus Yokai because I think the scroll art is kind of cute.
Nurikabe - Painted Wall
Nurikabe are illustrated but they're actually invisible creatures, and all they do is block the way. Even on open roads, the Nurikabe blocks passage as far as one can see in either direction. Some say that the Nurikabe is actually stuck in place because it's afraid, like a deer in headlights, but much bigger, immovable, and invisible. Simply sweeping at its bottom leads it to scurry away.
This could be a funny way to block a not-so-secret room. The characters can see right into the room, but when they try to walk in, they run into the Yokai, Wile Coyote style. They might scare the creature off by accident, but if they have a way of seeing invisibility, they get to see this goober jammed in front of the door.
If you want to add a little more juice to the Nurikabe, you could drop the fear thing. When the party is able to see it, it could talk to them, wanting something in exchange for it moving. I imagine these guys sounding sort of like Eeyore.
I didn't stat this one because I like the idea of Nurikabe simply being large, invisible, indestructible walls.
Learn More About Yokai
Yokai are really interesting. There's so many of them and lots of them have great folk stories attached. You probably know about some already. Tengu and Oni are Yokai!
I'm presenting them here as great inspiration for your TTRPG bestiary, which they are, you could make a whole bestiary of Yokai if you wanted to. But honestly, you should read about more of them just because they're pretty cool. Here's a good starting place. It can be hard to tell where to start since there are so many Yokai, I would just hit random on that site until you find one that looks interesting to you, and then go from there!
Happy reading, try not to get got by the Teke teke.
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