Choin 조인

Medium monstrosity, unaligned

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 45 (6d10 + 12)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (glide, see Glide)

STR 12 (+1) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 14 (+2) · INT 6 (−2) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 7 (−2)

Saving Throws Dex +6

Skills Acrobatics +6, Perception +4, Stealth +8

Damage Resistances cold

Condition Immunities frightened

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages understands Common but can’t speak

Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Traits

Glide. The choin can’t gain altitude, but while aloft it can move horizontally up to 2 feet for every 1 foot it descends, and it takes no falling damage if it can land at the end of its descent.

Keen Sight. The choin has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Fire Fascination. If the choin sees an open flame within 60 feet that is at least the size of a torch, it has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to approach the flame, and opportunity attacks against it are made with disadvantage while it moves toward the flame.

Swift Escape. The choin can take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.

Tangle Weakness. When the choin is restrained by a net, rope, or similar mundane restraint, it has disadvantage on Strength checks made to escape.

Actions

Multiattack. The choin makes two Talon attacks.

Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.

Disorienting Chirp (Recharge 5–6). The choin emits a rapid series of ear-piercing chirps. Each creature of the choin’s choice within 15 feet that can hear it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the choin’s next turn.

Reactions

Skittering Dodge. When a creature the choin can see targets it with an attack, the choin moves up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If this movement takes it out of the attack’s range or line of sight, the attack is made with disadvantage.

Lore

A human-like being covered in long hair. Flies through the sky, slips into villages, loves fire,

The very first—and almost the only—reference to the Choin (조인) appears in Sun-o-ji, a miscellany of notes and legends compiled in 1678 by the Korean scholar Hong Manjong. One brief passage tells of a “bird-man” a monk once encountered on Mt. Jirisan. Late at night the monk heard strange noises near the temple hearth: a shaggy, man-shaped creature had built a fire in the kitchen. When it fanned the ashes, it rose into the sky and disappeared. The monk later stretched a net across the roof and managed to catch the being. It was covered head to toe in long hair and spoke only in odd, bird-like chirps, not human words. Feeling pity, the monk released it. According to the tale, the bird-man loved nothing more than to warm itself by the flames.

Choin (조인) is not a proper name; it is a descriptive term built from the Chinese characters 鳥 (cho, “bird”) and 人 (in, “person”). Bird comes first, hinting that to the people who coined the word the creature was seen as wild and alien, only distantly related to humankind.

From Korean Bestiary 5E, p. 24 · Fern Flower Press