Monster Monday: Tsuchigumo, Spider-Legged Tiger Demon

Today's Monster Monday entry is the Tsuchigumo, a truly frightening Japanese monster with the body of a tiger, the legs of a spider, and the head of a demon.  They eat people - no big surprise there.  They also use an array of magical powers and their innate shape-changing ability to lure and/or confuse their prey.  Also, they are full of skulls.

Just... no.  Not okay.

Now, I don't usually draw from the well of Japanese folklore for my monsters because they are grounded in a very different culture with different sensibilities and a language completely foreign to my ears and eyes.  But mostly because there are so many of them, and for every badass bone giant or tiger demon, there are ten flying bolts of cloth, giant-testicled raccoon men, or haunted umbrellas.

Tremble in fear

It's sort of like Pokemon.  Sure, there are plenty of awesome ones.  But you have to wade through all the weird stuff.

Anyways, I digress.  I don't usually do Japanese monsters, but my sister sent me this article from io9 and I had to stat up something from it.  The Tsuchigumo and the Gashadokuro stood out as having potential, and since the Gashadokuro has apparently already been statted up for Bestiary 4, I'm doing the freaky tiger-spider.  So here you go sister; from one arachnophobe to another, here is a giant spider-tiger.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is (C)2014 Jonah Bomgaars.
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Tsuchigumo       CR 14

XP 38,400

CE Large magical beast (shapechanger)

Init +6; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +16

Aura frightful presence (30 ft., DC 22; 5d6 rounds)

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 12, flat-footed 25 (+2 Dex, -1 size, +16 natural, +1 dodge)

hp 210 (20d10+100)

Fort +16, Ref +15, Will +9

DR 10/+2; Immune mind-affecting effects

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 50 ft.

Melee bite +25 (2d6+9 plus grab plus poison)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks swallow whole (5d6 bludgeoning and slashing damage, AC 18, 21 hp); 
web (+21 ranged, DC 25, hp 20)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14^th; concentration +14)

   At will - daze (DC 20), detect thoughts (DC 22), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 20)

   3/day – confusion (DC 24), deep slumber (DC 23), invisibility, silent image (DC 21)

   1/day -  summon nature's ally V (1 ogre spider or 1d3 giant black widow spiders or 1d4+1 giant spiders)

STATISTICS

Str 23, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 15

Base Atk +20; CMB +27; CMD 39

Feats bleeding critical, critical focus, dodge, improved initiative, improved vital strike lightning reflexes, mobility, spring attack, staggering critical, vital strike

Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +37, Diplomacy +5, Perception +16, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb

Languages Common, Sylvan

SQ change shape (Medium or Large humanoid, giant, or oni; alter self, giant form I), spider empathy +20

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Change Shape (Su)

A tsuchigumo can take the form of a Medium or Large humanoid, giant, or oni.  This functions as the spell alter self or giant form I except as noted below.  While in this form, the tsuchigumo cannot use any of its natural attacks except its web. In such cases, the web is often mistaken for a rope.  While shapechanged, the tsuchigumo can wield weapons and wear armor. The tsuchigumo often takes the forms of hideous humanoid creatures, strange oni, or even beautiful women in order to deceive and confuse its prey.  

Poison (Ex)

Bite—injury; save Fort DC 25; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Dexterity damage; cure 3 saves.

Spider Empathy (Ex)

This ability functions as a druid's wild empathy, save that it works only on spiders. A tsuchigumo gains a racial bonus on this check equal to its Hit Dice (normally +20).

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate hills or forest

Organization solitary

Treasure standard

Also known as a tiger aranea, a tsuchigumo is a large creature with the body of a tiger, the legs of a spider, and a grotesque humanoid head like that of an oni or demon.  They are voracious and cruel predators that feed on hapless travelers.  The more daring tsuchigumo use their illusions and their natural shape-changing ability to lure warriors to their lairs and torment them.  Their stomachs are filled with the chomping skulls of their previous victims, waiting to rip apart any who are swallowed whole.    

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Naturally, the tsuchigumo could fill a similar campaign role to the aranea, but for higher-level campaigns.  I dubbed it the Tiger Aranea to help integrate it into non-Eastern campaigns as well, where a name like tsuchigumo might feel a bit out of place.

The main tsuchigumo story tells of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who first encounters the monster in the form of a flying skull, then as a series of increasingly bizarre creatures before it finally appears as a beautiful woman.  Fed up and (rightly) suspicious, Yorimitsu up and cuts her with his sword, at which point she disappears.  He follows her blood trail and finds the monstrous spider-beast.  Yoromitsu beheads it and 1,990 skulls roll out of it.

This was my inspiration for adding in the bit about how the animated skulls in the tsuchigumo's stomach tear at any prey it happens to swallow whole.  It's not a part of the original story, but I felt it fit in rather well with the monster, and it's a more interesting way to die than stomach acid.

In another story, Yorimitsu was bedridden with illness, when he was approached by a mysterious monk who shot ropes at him.  Sick or not, Yorimitsu was not going to put up with this shit.  He did what he did best - made a snap judgment and slashed the dude with his katana.  Long story short, the monk was a tsuchigumo in disguise, and Yorimitsu got a bunch of people together to stab it into a river.

Yorimitsu vs. the Tsuchigumo.

Another monster that caught my eye in that io9 article was the Bake-Kujira, a skeletal whale out for vengeance.  Naturally, I thought of my own undead whale monster, the illhveli.  If you want a Bake-Kujira for your own campaign, might I suggest applying the stout skeleton template (found at the bottom of the linked blog-post) to a regular whale.

Well, that about covers it for this week.

-your baka gaijin d20 despot