Jigoku no Jinmenken
The Jigoku no Jinmenken is a hideous demon-creature made from a corrupted mortal shell still plagued by its sense of lost humanity. It is a hunter, often focusing on a single lonely prey and using its superior strength and durability to bring it down. As with articles on other units (to date, the Thug and the Disciple of Malphas), this article will focus on the current state of the Jinmenken, as well as previous iterations and leaders it might excel with in a game of Pendant World.
The Present
The Jigoku no Jinmenken is a stalker-type model. Four-Legged makes it faster than other models, which allows it to outflank and prey on the weak.
Claw-Like Fingers is a melee attack with decent modifiers, and although it's not the strongest attack, it sits on a model that has a Flesh score of 7. Fighting other models one on one will most likely end up in the Jinmenken's favour as a result. To add to its ability to hunt down single models, Scuttle (its defence reaction) has an Invest that forces the Bleed status on the attacker. Between this, its attacks, and its durability, lonely enemy models will have trouble surviving the Jinmenken's attentions.
On top of that, the Jinmenken is even more maneouverable than Four-Legged would suggest. Memories of Paradise Lost helps it use bystanders as magnets - particularly useful if the bystander is alone and can be easily disposed of. Even if it isn't, the target of Memories cannot Witness that round, giving the Jinmenken a bit of time to deal with other possible witnesses. This ability even lets the Jinmenken teleport through walls, which could be a handy way of jumping between rooms that your opponent thought were safe.
To aid in its ability to outflank and destroy prey, the Jinmenken has What We Could Never Be, a sort of debuff that it can put on an enemy to then get additional movement whenever that enemy has Charge spent on it. As long as the Jinmenken does nothing but move, it can increase its movement range through your opponent's Charge spends - and then break the ability to finally pounce on its victim.
Last but definitely not least, the Jinmenken has a Manifestation, one of Ravenous Beyond's unique mechanics. As a demonic profile, the Jinmenken does not need to be deployed on the table at the start of the game; instead, it can deploy whenever a bystander model is destroyed, and it does so on the closest table edge. With some careful planning and targeted bystander destruction, you can exploit openings in your opponent's line and surgically insert the Jigoku no Jinmenken exactly where it needs to be.
The Past
Unlike many other units, the Jinmenken does not trace a straight line back to any original concept. The closest it gets is the Skulker at the Gate, a creepy-crawly demon unit that swarmed and overwhelmed enemies.
Other than being superficially connected by their crawling theme and faster movement, though, the Jinmenken looked like this:
This version was able to manipulate bystander movement through walls, using Ghost Sounds (which will pop up again in the current version of the game!). It was also able to push models in an aoe around itself whenever it took damage, and move a little bit more whenever it destroyed another model. It had the makings of a predator, but not enough focus to really be useful in the role.
Useful Leader Kit
As a demonic model, the Jigoku no Jinmenken does not have a lot of Kit options with most leaders. Andres Salinas focuses chiefly on the mob with a bit of a dip into supporting cultists, while The Koken has a strong focus on cults. She does bring Prior Directions, though - a small perk for the Jinmenken, as it grants a bonus on an Overcharge roll once per turn. Dr. Abberline's sole demonic kit, (Breaker of Sight) might be more interesting, though, as it means you can move the Jinmenken around with less fear that it will be witnessed. Hugging walls and taking advantage of models that block line of sight will really amp up Breaker of Sight's effectiveness, as you will not have to worry about one part of the 6" witness bubble if the angle just isn't there.
Future Ravenous Beyond leaders, like Johannes Bauer, will provide more direct support to the Jinmenken, but for now it is relatively leader-agnostic murder-dog that will likely be ranging out far away from the rest of your force, causing trouble and eating people.
Conclusion
Although loosely based on the Japanese urban myth of the Jinmenken, this creature is actually a human being that has been tormented and warped into service by some darker entity from beyond the borders of space and time. When designing demons, I didn't want to stick to the traditional horns-and-tails, instead drawing on inspirations (usually chthonic deities) from a variety of cultures. Since the true demons in Pendant World exist as endless entities beyond space and time, they themselves couldn't be actual models - even one entering the world would result in its abrupt and painful end. Cue the manifestations, creatures that have either been created or warped into service.
The Jigoku no Jinmenken is the faction's hunter-killer model. If you're looking for a beast that can appear partway through the battle and hunt down models that have wandered too far from the pack, the Jinmenken is for you.
The Present
The Jigoku no Jinmenken is a stalker-type model. Four-Legged makes it faster than other models, which allows it to outflank and prey on the weak.
Claw-Like Fingers is a melee attack with decent modifiers, and although it's not the strongest attack, it sits on a model that has a Flesh score of 7. Fighting other models one on one will most likely end up in the Jinmenken's favour as a result. To add to its ability to hunt down single models, Scuttle (its defence reaction) has an Invest that forces the Bleed status on the attacker. Between this, its attacks, and its durability, lonely enemy models will have trouble surviving the Jinmenken's attentions.On top of that, the Jinmenken is even more maneouverable than Four-Legged would suggest. Memories of Paradise Lost helps it use bystanders as magnets - particularly useful if the bystander is alone and can be easily disposed of. Even if it isn't, the target of Memories cannot Witness that round, giving the Jinmenken a bit of time to deal with other possible witnesses. This ability even lets the Jinmenken teleport through walls, which could be a handy way of jumping between rooms that your opponent thought were safe.
To aid in its ability to outflank and destroy prey, the Jinmenken has What We Could Never Be, a sort of debuff that it can put on an enemy to then get additional movement whenever that enemy has Charge spent on it. As long as the Jinmenken does nothing but move, it can increase its movement range through your opponent's Charge spends - and then break the ability to finally pounce on its victim.
Last but definitely not least, the Jinmenken has a Manifestation, one of Ravenous Beyond's unique mechanics. As a demonic profile, the Jinmenken does not need to be deployed on the table at the start of the game; instead, it can deploy whenever a bystander model is destroyed, and it does so on the closest table edge. With some careful planning and targeted bystander destruction, you can exploit openings in your opponent's line and surgically insert the Jigoku no Jinmenken exactly where it needs to be.
The Past
Unlike many other units, the Jinmenken does not trace a straight line back to any original concept. The closest it gets is the Skulker at the Gate, a creepy-crawly demon unit that swarmed and overwhelmed enemies.
Useful Leader Kit
As a demonic model, the Jigoku no Jinmenken does not have a lot of Kit options with most leaders. Andres Salinas focuses chiefly on the mob with a bit of a dip into supporting cultists, while The Koken has a strong focus on cults. She does bring Prior Directions, though - a small perk for the Jinmenken, as it grants a bonus on an Overcharge roll once per turn. Dr. Abberline's sole demonic kit, (Breaker of Sight) might be more interesting, though, as it means you can move the Jinmenken around with less fear that it will be witnessed. Hugging walls and taking advantage of models that block line of sight will really amp up Breaker of Sight's effectiveness, as you will not have to worry about one part of the 6" witness bubble if the angle just isn't there.
Future Ravenous Beyond leaders, like Johannes Bauer, will provide more direct support to the Jinmenken, but for now it is relatively leader-agnostic murder-dog that will likely be ranging out far away from the rest of your force, causing trouble and eating people.
Conclusion
Although loosely based on the Japanese urban myth of the Jinmenken, this creature is actually a human being that has been tormented and warped into service by some darker entity from beyond the borders of space and time. When designing demons, I didn't want to stick to the traditional horns-and-tails, instead drawing on inspirations (usually chthonic deities) from a variety of cultures. Since the true demons in Pendant World exist as endless entities beyond space and time, they themselves couldn't be actual models - even one entering the world would result in its abrupt and painful end. Cue the manifestations, creatures that have either been created or warped into service.
The Jigoku no Jinmenken is the faction's hunter-killer model. If you're looking for a beast that can appear partway through the battle and hunt down models that have wandered too far from the pack, the Jinmenken is for you.
Comments
Post a Comment