A howl echoed through the jagged peaks of blackened rock, followed by a cracking sound like the peal of thunder. Trying to keep their footing down the steep slopes, the party of adventurers raced away from the terrible noise, the fighter bringing up the rear and scooping up the cleric and wizard whenever they stumbled. Leading the charge was the rogue, who nimbly forged a trail for her companions that they struggled follow. Behind them, the sound of crashing rocks arose and the fighter turned to see an immense figure leap from the rocky spires. Each landing was accompanying by a lightning lancing from the darkened skies to strike the creature, which continued unbothered. As the bolts hit the rapidly closing beast, its dark form grew lighter until it was an immense, golden ape with horns sprouting from its head, bearing down upon them. Arcing sparks crackled through its fur and rage blazed in its crimson eyes as the rajang descended upon the fleeing party.
~I'm going on vacation for the weeks of January 1st and January 8th, so three more posts before the end of the year~
The rajang is designed as a brute within Pathfinder Second Edition but I had to finagle certain aspects to capture other parts of its kit. Its defenses are a little lower with a moderate Armor Class and Hit Points and it keeps following the middle of the road when it comes to its attack modifier with a moderate bonus. Its fists hit at high damage but start stacking up thanks to the forceful trait whereas the range of its rock led to me keeping it at moderate damage.
Rage is so commonplace among MH creatures, it usually isn’t something I include – unless it’s some special to the monster, and it certainly is with the rajang. It has Enrage to resemble its initial rage, which resembles typical rage abilities with extra health, additional damage which is electricity to reflect the element of the creature, and a penalty to Armor Class, reducing it to a low AC. Its fist attack does start hitting at a high value, which is part of the reason it is limited to half health for the rajang. But like in Monster Hunter, it can go a step further – it can Rampage. This does require an action from the rajang as well as being at a quarter of its health, but this is based on the state where all attacks bounce off of the rajang’s limbs. This lends to a resistance to physical damage and also makes the rajang quickened, capturing the frenzy it descends into. But a critical hit takes the rajang out of this state, referencing how taking out its tail pulls it out of his rampage mode.
The rajang has a whole suite of abilities, but some of them become amplified while the rajang is Enraged, featuring additional effects but causing these abilities to inflict two different saves. This is a little weird, so feel free to let me know what you think as I’m still not certain that I’m sold on the design of it. One of the rajang’s most obnoxious attacks is when it fires up into the air before it comes crashing back down in an attack that can be difficult to track. I represented this attack through Thundering Slam, which could pull double duty as its belly flop. This functions akin to a Sudden Leap or Flying Kick feats but the impact also causes tremors, requiring a Fortitude save at a high DC or knocking enemies prone. When the rajang is charged up, it includes from lightning crashes with its impact, inflicting unlimited use area damage against a high DC Reflex save.
Roars are another mainstay of MonHunt that usually gets skipped in my builds but the rajang makes a greater use of it than most with its roar knocking enemies back. For PF2e, the rajang’s Thunderous Roar combines the flinching effect of MH roars with the displays that other apes in Pathfinder 2e put on to inflict frightened. The knockback effect comes online once the rajang is Enraged, potentially blasting enemies off their feat. Moving onto its more standard abilities, Lightning Breath is something that I wish the rajang didn’t have with the way it spams it in the hunts I’ve gone on. But it’s a simple ability that deals limited use area damage at a high DC and goes on a low cooldown because of that aforementioned spamming. Another extremely frequent ability I see the rajang demonstrating is its Spinning Slam where the rajang will throw a punch and follow through with its entire body, twisting about and getting around its enemies. This uses the flourish trait to contain its mobility somewhat though the rajang ends up surprisingly moreso than I originally intended between this ability and Thundering Slam.
I almost forgot to build an item for the rajang! These handwraps, the Golden Hellfists are inspired by the rajang dual blades, featuring its elements through the shock and thundering runes while the forceful rune represents the rajang’s sheer ferocity. It’s activated ability helps to mimic the rajang’s own rage while also referencing the Heroics skill enhanced by the rajang’s armor.
Pathfinder 2e:
There’s actually a few solid distinctions between the two editions of the rajang. It uses blood rage to represent its rage ability, which triggers sooner but has less severe effects than its PF2e Enrage. I did still have to make rampage as a separate ability but that serves as a faithful translation of the effect. Sometimes I like switching up names between editions and I personally have no idea why. In this case thunder fall replaces Thundering Slam while its design is inspired by the bulette’s simply named leap ability. This skips the impact tremors to instead allow the rajang to make two slams but still keeps the electricity damage when it’s enraged. A sizable portion of its power comes from its feats, including feats such as Snatch so that it can hurl enemies around the battlefield akin to the rajang's pin attack and Cornugon Smash with Hurtful providing a nasty combo for the rajang while also allowing it to inflict fear upon its victims.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
The simplicity and brutality of the rajang makes it difficult to come up with a unique encounter hook. They're uninterested in working with other creatures, which makes it difficult to feature with other creatures without defying a core concept of the creature.
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Have a monstrous Monday and some happy holidays!