Yuki-Onna 雪女

Medium undead (spirit), neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 95 (10d8 + 50)

Speed 30 ft.

STR 8 (−1) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 20 (+5) · INT 12 (+1) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Con +8, Cha +7

Skills Deception +7, Perception +5, Stealth +7

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities cold, poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Yokai Speech, Common (rarely speaks)

Challenge 6

Traits

Snowbound Form. While in snowy terrain or during snowfall, the Yuki-Onna is lightly obscured to creatures that rely on sight and has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. She also ignores difficult terrain caused by ice or snow.

Frost Body. A creature that touches the Yuki-Onna or hits her with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 5 (1d10) cold damage.

Incorporeal Glide (1/Day). As a bonus action, the Yuki-Onna becomes partially incorporeal until the start of her next turn. During this time, she can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object.

Actions

Multiattack. The Yuki-Onna makes two Frost Touch attacks or one Frost Touch attack and uses Winter’s Gaze (if available).

Frost Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature.

Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) cold damage plus 8 (2d6) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have its speed reduced by 10 feet until the end of the Yuki-Onna’s next turn.

Winter’s Gaze (Recharge 5–6). The Yuki-Onna targets one creature she can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become paralyzed for 1 minute. A paralyzed target can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Icy Breath (1/Day). The Yuki-Onna exhales freezing wind in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 21 (6d6) cold damage and is blinded until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, it takes half damage and isn’t blinded.

Legendary Actions

If you wish to make her more formidable (or if your player is exceptionally powerful or well-prepared), give the Yuki-Onna 1 Legendary Action, which she can use at the end of another creature’s turn to take one of the following options:

Frost Glimmer (Costs 2 Actions). The Yuki-Onna forces one creature within 30 feet that can see her to make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the end of the target’s next turn.

Lore

Ethereal female spirit emerging in snowstorms, freezing travelers with her icy breath.

Some legends speak of a spirit roaming Japan’s snowbound mountains—a phantom of a young woman who froze to death in a blizzard. Her depictions and stories vary by region, yet she remains a stark symbol of lethal peril on winter nights. Most descriptions agree she’s renowned for her supernatural beauty and allure, floating above the ground, entirely devoid of legs. Her hair often appears frosted with ice, her eyes a deep violet hue, and her skin white as snow. Her kimono seems woven from ice itself, adorned with snowflakes—making her, in some sense, the very embodiment of cold and frost, the queen of the snowstorm.

In some parts of Japan, a legend depicts Yuki-Onna appearing by night in the midst of a blizzard, holding an infant. In these tales, she is associated with Ubumē—a spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. Tall and draped in a semi-translucent kimono, she wanders forest paths asking passersby for help, offering them the child. Anyone foolish enough to accept finds themselves freezing to death, or else Yuki-Onna drains their vital energy (Ki). In other accounts, witnesses report that upon meeting her, she says nothing and displays no hostility—instead, she simply fades into the wintry air.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, p. 8 · Fern Flower Press