Ronin - Mythical Creature Update

[Mr. White]

Thanks, both! It took almost two years to get here, but I'm pretty pleased.

Now it's time to do some list building at various point levels so I can invite folks over to game!

[Battle Brush Sigur]

What a great thread. Thanks for sharing. All day today I was looking up references for feudal Japanese village terrain, and I should have just checked here first. Cool work there, and I admire your restraint in terms of colours on the buildings.

[Mr. White]

Thanks!

For the simple color scheme on the village buildings, I was inspired by the cover of the Ronin book as well as the colors of Miyajima Island on a family trip to Japan.

https://wyrdstonesandtacklezones.com/2023/07/07/ronin-mountainside-village/

[Elk101]

Great looking village!

[Cat]

Lovely village — now let's go terrify all the inhabitants with bloody battles!

[Mr. White]

Thanks! I'm gonna try to schedule some games to happen in the next week or two... In the meantime, I painted up a Kappa Daimyo model.



I?ve had five of these Khurasan Kappa models painted for a while using them as either villagers or as an independent force as suggested in the Mythical Creatures document: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/media/qzvnud5q/ronin-mythical-creatures.pdf

I went ahead and picked up the Daimyo model so the group has a proper leader. Using the Osprey Ronin points calculator (https://www.ospreypublishing.com/media/by3dcjby/ronin-points-calculator.pdf) I made a Daimyo character so this unit could have a proper Buntai at 125points? the point value I?ve been playing Ronin at.

I?ve also attempted a ?Spill the Sara? optional rule to better tie the unit into Japanese folklore. Essentially, opponents can make a Disarm attempt and if successful the model is Routed and must Run to the nearest water feature or table edge, where they are removed from the table. in the End Phase of the following turn they can appear along the edge of the water feature or same table edge they fled from. It may make the unit a bit more chaotic, but again, optional rule.

Kappa Buntai Roster: https://wyrdstonesandtacklezones.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/buntai-rosters-kappa-4.pdf

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Nice kappa! There's so many ways those creatures are interpreted that they're always interesting.

[Mr. White]

Having painted up all the Ronin Mythical Creatures provided by author Craig Woodfield, I downloaded his Points Calculator and made a few more creatures to add a little more spice to my table.



This mini project was partially born out of just wanting to paint the models. At the time of this writing, I’m playing through the Kenshin Scrolls campaign and think I might add a few creatures to the final scenario. Particularly on the Bandit side. Maybe have an Oni behind them pulling the strings. Either way, the Oni and these two new creature types will get run in the upcoming Dragon Rampant 2nd Edition for sure.



First up are the Komainu (or Lion/Foo Dogs). The models are from the Northstar Frostgrave line, but fit in perfectly for my Ronin setting. I’ve painted them up as animated statues. I imagine them protecting shrines and hirable by Sohei and Ikko-Ikki buntais. Using the aforementioned Points Calculator, I’ve got them stated in Ronin as follows:

Rank: 2
CP: 2
Initiative: 2
Fight: 2
Shoot: 0
Armour: Medium
Attributes: Tough, Fearless, Hard to Kill
Points: 30

They’re basically a few tweaks on the Amanojaku stat line.



The Tatsu (or Dragon) here is a Reaper Bones Behir. It’s not exactly a traditional Japanese dragon design, but my LGS had the model and it was very affordable for a dragon model. It looks pretty close, besides…it’s fantasy. The only downside here in my experience was that the model was _very_ tacky after priming. Because of that I opted for a quick paint job. Each paint layer showed cracks along the way and I’m concerned how well the paint will hold up on this soft plastic. Anyway, I picture this wise, protective creature being hirable by Koryu and Peasant buntais. Here’s its Ronin numbers:

Rank: 3
CP: 4
Initiative: 2
Fight: 3
Shoot: 0
Armour: Heavy
Attributes: Tough, Fearless, Fly, Formidable, Hard to Kill, Terrifying
Points: 51

This one was originally based on the Oni’s stats. When homebrewing, I try to just make slight modifications to what the author has already made. I don’t have the time to playtest every creation, but I figure between using a predesigned creature as a base and staying with the Points Counts document, it’ll be fine.

Anyway, here’s a few more creature ideas for games of Ronin if anyone out there is looking to add some new additions to their game.

[commissarmoody]

Cool additions.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Nice critters.
I will have to have a look at those Frostgrave figures.