Drawing from Japanese legend once more, I present to you a storied creature with many, sometimes conflicting, legends and stories. There was almost too much information to sift through when designing this creature as many of the tales about it had conflicting information. Using its most classic depiction and several of its fabled powers, I built a monster I am proud to share with out - the ushi-oni!
Right from the get-go, I learned that the ushi-oni, an 'ox oni,' has different appearances depending on where the story of it comes from, but the most consistent description for it is that of a giant spider with clawed legs and an ox's head. Settling on this for the basic form for the creature, I began building its stat block.
I wanted something fairly powerful, as most stories have it being slain by a strong hero of some sort, but not too over-the-top, leading me to settle on a CR 9. I debated on whether making it a magical beast or outsider before feeling like the latter better captured the 'oni' nature of the creature, since those are already present in Pathfinder. I wanted a sturdy creature that wasn't too reliant upon damage mitigation such as DR, which it originally didn't have, but my testing of the monster revealed that it either needed some of that DR or an insane Constitution. Playing into the spider aspect of it, I decided to give it a climb speed so it could lurk within caves or shipwrecks, and then gave it a mix of attacks. Rend felt like an appropriate ability for the creature, which I expanded upon with the Rending Fury line of feats. Stories from Wakayama prefecture tell that the ushi-oni can consume souls with their gaze, which felt too cool to pass up on, so I included its soul-stealing gaze. Tales of them spitting poison and spreading disease led to the inclusion of its poison spit and some of its spell-like abilities while others there are classic evil outsider spells.
Pathfinder 1e:
For the 2e version, I was happy to find in my testing that I had found the right balance of self-recovery, AC, and HP that I didn't need any further damage mitigation. Initially, the DC for its Soul-Stealing Gaze was higher, going into the extreme range for a monster of its level, but it felt like a bit much during the testing of it and I think there were more critical failures against it than regular ones. I decided to have it deal damage normally and inflict drained only on a crit failure while also moving the healing of it to Drink Soul as a reaction that it can do when a creature is damaged by it, even without the drained condition. Mechanically, this didn't make too much of a difference but just works within the system better. I was looking for a good disease spell in the flavor of 1e's contagion, and had to settle on abyssal plague, which doesn't entirely capture the feel I was going for. I was glad that I could actually have its Poison Spit deal poison damage in 2e, but I did decide to simplify its other effects somewhat.
Pathfinder 2e:
Blue's D&D 5e Version:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Burial Treasure: Decades ago, an ushi-oni served on a pirate ship who, when they realized that authorities were closing in, hid the treasure in a secluded cave that the ushi-oni stayed behind in. While the pirates scattered to avoid capture, the ushi-oni remained, adding the corpses of treasure hunters and even former crewmates to the hoard it guards. Most recently, the map to the treasure or rumors of it have reached the ears of the heroes, drawing them towards the cave. They must brave the shipwrecks, the sea, and the remaining traps to reach the lair – where they find the grisly treasure has grown and the ushi-oni lurks.
Fiends in High Places: An ushi-oni developed an appetite for other fiends, and its diet has not only twisted its form into something even more monstrous, it has become more powerful, attracting the attention of a demon lord that has granted the beast even more power. This wicked creature is now an avatar of a demon lord or other archfiend, and wields profane magic in its name. The ushi-oni wishes to earn even more favor from its master and seeks to sacrifice an entire village to it, having recruited other fiends to assist it in its effort. Having taken over the local church, the ushi-oni’s forces keep the townsfolk from leaving while it periodically slays victims, drawing out their torment – unless the heroes can pierce through the ranks of demons and slay the empowered ushi-oni within.
Next week is another monster from Japan - but from a game produced there, not its mythology! If you want to join in on the discussion of these monsters, share your own ideas for feedback, or just chat about homebrew stuff, come join our Discord. If you're interested in checking out how the fights with the ushi-oni went down, check out my Twitch channel, ReadyToDieTTRPG, where I try to stream some battles against monsters I've built every Friday and Saturday.
Have a Monstrous Monday!
Comments