Kamigoroshi (Lesser Spirit)

The kamigoroshi (from kami, "spirit," and korosu, "to kill") is a lesser spirit that is as strange as it is frightening. Details about its lifestyle aren't known by the average person; the only trait that is common knowledge is that it devours kami in all of its varied forms.

In its natural state, the kamigoroshi appears almost comical, as a very thin, hairless, ruby-red skinned man less than a foot tall. Unfortunately, it is rare to see a kamigoroshi like this; usually it is much taller, more muscular, and very threatening in appearance. Its exact size depends on its hit dice (see later).

While still ruby-red in this larger form, the skin of the kamigoroshi is grossly different, appearing to be constantly in motion. "Bubbles" rise from the depths to its surface as if it were at a boil. Each of the bubbles bursts with a tiny scream, as if the voice of a soul in torment. These bubbles are the various spirits the monster has devoured, and they constantly boil upward to make their tormented cries and be absorbed again, except when the kamigoroshi concentrates on silencing them (so that it can silently hunt for more). When relaxing or concentrating on something else, such as combat, the kamigoroshi releases this control, and the kami set up their horrible chorus. The activity of the bubbles is determined by the number of kami this monster has eaten, so that no bubbles are seen when it is in its smallest size (having devoured no kami).

The voice of the kamigoroshi itself varies with its size, from a mouselike squeak when small to a booming roar when gigantic. No matter what the sound, it belittles and disparages its opponents in combat, hoping to make them perform a dishonorable act. The honor points lost to a character fighting this creature are instantly devoured by the kamigoroshi (see "Combat').

Combat: In combat, the kamigoroshi strikes with its two long clawed hands. Even if it hits, no physical damage is done to the victim; in fact, the victim may think the monster missed, no matter what the result. If the kamigoroshi successfully hits, however, it will withdraw its hand and messily (but quickly) eat something that it drew from the victim's body: 1-6 of the character's personal earned honor points.

The kamigoroshi begins existence with only 1 HD and 10 hp, but to these it adds the honor and kami points it eats. For every 10 honor points or 1 kami point eaten, add 10 hp and 1 HD more to its total. In addition, each kami point or 10 honor points adds another foot to its height, so that a kamigoroshi with 52 hp above its starting total would be 6' tall; after gaining 8 hp more, it will be 7' tall. For every additional foot it gains in height, the monster also gains an addition of 1 to its movement rate, to a maximum of 18. When a kamigoroshi is wounded in combat, it loses hit dice, movement, and stature at the same rate as it was injured: 1 HD, MV 1, and 1' for every 10 hp cumulative damage done.

For slaying a kamigoroshi, characters earn experience as if they had killed a creature with 1 HD more than half the maximum hit dice of the kamigoroshi; e.g., a kamigoroshi that reached 10 HD at its strongest would earn its slayers the same experience as for killing a normal 6-HD creature, while killing a 20-HD kamigoroshi would result in the same experience as killing an 11-HD monster (see the DMG, page 47).

Magic spells that affect other lesser spirits have normal effects on a kamigoroshi. While a restore spirit spell cannot be cast on the monster, if one is cast on a weapon, shrine, or person from which a kamigoroshi has drained honor or kami, those drained points are immediately returned to their rightful place if the kamigoroshi fails a saving throw vs. spells. The monster can be hit by normal or magical weapons, but weapons imbued with kami suffer a horrible fate when used on a kamigoroshi.

If a character carries items with more kami-energy in them than the character has (remembering that 1 kami point equals 10 honor points), a kamigoroshi will attempt to drain the items instead of the character. The creature attempts to grab a nonweapon item (rolling its attacks against the character's armor class, ignoring all armor except shields). If the attack is successful, the monster drains 1-6 kami points from the item unless a saving throw vs. disintegration (DMG, page 39) is made. Against a weapon things are simpler, as the kamigoroshi merely lets itself be hit by the weapon (taking normal damage from the attack) in order to have a chance of draining the weapon's kami (as above).

A kamigoroshi usually attacks the strongest source of honor or kami in its vicinity first. A character without honor or kami is of course immune to all attacks from a kamigoroshi, which would normally mean that it would have no interest in the character. If an honorless person attacks a kamigoroshi, it flees for its life, not even thinking to grab a normal weapon to use in its defense.

If a character with honor performs actions that reduce his honor while fighting a kamigoroshi (e.g., a samurai flees the fight, or a kensai is forced to use a ninja-preferred weapon), these lost honor points are instantly added to the monster's hit point total. Thus, when fighting this spirit-slayer, it is more important than ever that characters act according to the strictures of their personal codes of honor.

Habitat/Society: Kamigoroshi are always found singly. If two were to meet, they would immediately attack each other, attempting to devour the kami each had previously stored. They would fight until one was killed and the other possessed the full strength of the two.

Kamigoroshi are wandering spirits, constantly on the lookout for new sources of "food." While the Celestial Emperor might have occasion to send one to chastise a village whose inhabitants failed to do their duty to their ancestors' kami, most kamigoroshi start as the spirits of persons who died after committing treasonous acts (acts that cost the character 30 points of personal honor and his relatives 6 points or more of family honor).

Ecology: Kamigoroshi survive by eating the kami of honor, in any form they can find it. The most common form of this is the personal honor of the humans and other intelligent creatures of Kara-Tur, but they prefer that found in various "solid" forms, such as bukigami or kinjogami, because the honor in these items and places is 10 times as concentrated as that in living bodies.

Although it doesn't happen often, kamigoroshi have been known to attack the good doc cu'o'c, or the various evil gaki and other similar spirits, as the latter's hit points are equivalent to honor points and are treated as such for the purposes of the kamigoroshi.

Existence as part of the kamigoroshi is difficult for the various kami it devours; if kept trapped long enough, the kami dwindle and disappear-in effect "dying." The kami of a kamigoroshi "die" at a rate of one kami point per week; when one of its kami "dies," the kamigoroshi loses the hit points, levels, and stature it gained from that spirit. Thus, the kamigoroshi must steal 10 honor points or one kami point of nourishment each week, just to stay the same. However, no matter how starved it is, a kamigoroshi cannot die of starvation, as it has 1 HD of its own to sustain it through "dry" periods.