Dorotabo 泥田坊

Medium undead (yokai), neutral (often vengeful)

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points 66 (12d8 + 12)

Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft. (only through mud or soft, waterlogged earth)

STR 16 (+3) · DEX 10 (+0) · CON 12 (+1) · INT 8 (−1) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 8 (−1)

Saving Throws Str +5, Con +3

Skills Athletics +5, Stealth +2, Survival +3

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 30 ft. (while in soft mud), passive Perception 11

Languages Yokai Speech, understands Common but rarely speaks (mostly moans or mutters)

Challenge 4

Traits

Mire Dweller. Dorotabo ignores difficult terrain caused by mud or standing water and can burrow through soft, waterlogged earth at half speed. Its tremorsense works only in muddy or flooded terrain.

Earthen Camouflage. While in mud (such as in a waterlogged rice paddy), Dorotabo has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide. If motionless in mud, a creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot it.

Swampy Resilience. Whenever Dorotabo would be knocked prone or forcibly moved, it can plant itself in the saturated ground as a reaction, granting advantage on any related saving throw or ability check.

Actions

Multiattack. Dorotabo makes two Mud-Fist attacks or one Mud-Fist and uses Dragging Grasp if available.

Mud-Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.

Hit: 9 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If Dorotabo is standing in soft mud, it can add 3 (1d6) additional bludgeoning damage by hurling wet clumps of dirt and stone.

Dragging Grasp (Recharge 5-6). Dorotabo attempts to yank a target into the mud. One creature it can see within 10 feet must make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the target is pulled up to 10 feet closer and knocked prone in the mud. If the target lands in difficult muddy terrain, it must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw at the start of its next turn or remain stuck, reducing its speed to 0 until the end of that turn.

Bonus Actions

Earthen Surge. (1/Short Rest) Dorotabo violently churns the ground in a 10-foot radius around itself. Creatures in this area treat the terrain as difficult (ankle-deep mud) until the end of Dorotabo’s next turn.

Reactions

Clod Barricade. When a creature within 15 feet attacks Dorotabo with a ranged weapon, Dorotabo can fling a chunk of mud mid-flight, imposing disadvantage on the attack roll. Once used, this reaction recharges at the start of Dorotabo’s next turn.

Behavior & Lore

Legends say Dorotabo forms from an old farmer’s grudge or from neglected farmland itself. While it rarely hunts victims outright, it attacks those who trespass if it feels wronged.

At night, Dorotabo moans with heartbreak, calling for the land’s restoration or cursing those who let it fallow.

If approached gently, it might relent, even guide travelers. But malicious or careless treatment triggers a vengeful assault.

Lore

Spectral ghost emerging from swampy fields, lamenting over neglected farmland.

As is widely known, much of Japan’s landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges and stony soil, unsuited for farming. The relatively few arable lands are precious beyond measure. Families may save their entire lives to purchase even a small piece of farmland, hoping to pass it on to their children. Yet children do not always honor the labors of their forebears. If a prodigal son squanders his father’s hard-won fields by indulging in gambling or drink, he may return home only to find Dorotabo waiting: a restless spirit born from the very earth itself.

Dorotabo are the ghosts of elderly farmers who spent a lifetime toiling in rice paddies, only to watch helplessly— after their death—as their beloved land fell into disrepair. They appear as oneeyed, three-fingered humanoids rising from the mud at night. Legend says our five human fingers represent three vices (anger, greed, ignorance) and two virtues (wisdom, compassion). The Dorotabo appears with only three fingers, signifying the vices. Dragging itself half out of the mud, this spirit can only spew curses and howl incoherently: “Give me back my land!” A Dorotabo is driven by rage and vengeance—fury at the ignorance and avarice that have spoiled the fruit of its life’s work. Though it manifests in a rice field, it is not bound to remain in just one spot; using its arms, it can crawl slowly along the muddy ground.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, p. 100 · Fern Flower Press