D&D 5E Oriental Adventures 5e - What race options are there?

Dungeons & Dragons has done an Oriental Adventures sourcebook in 1st edition and 3rd edition, and if that pattern holds true, we're due for one in 5th edition.


Here's the thing though... the Oriental Adventures races? They tend to suck.


Traditionally, we've only gotten the three: Korobokuru (Japanese Dwarves, which are basically Jap-Peasant Halflings in flavor), Spirit Folk (Japanese Elves), and Hengeyokai (a clumsy shoehorning of various animal shapeshifters into a single race). 3e at least gave us Rokugan's Nezumi and generic Vanara to go with it.


But, fans tend to come up with more interesting ideas, so I want to pose this question (challenge?) to everyone interested: What are some actual interesting "Oriental" races for a High Fantasy Oriental Adventures setting?


Don't forget, Oriental Adventures can also cover Chinese and Korean, and maybe even Indian inspiration as well as Japanese, so be creative.


Personally, I can easily see:
Kitsune: These are, like, *the* most iconic oriental fantasy race of them all, and if Pathfinder can do it, surely D&D can do it.


Tanuki: These guys actually have a mythological rivalry with kitsunes sort of similar to the famous elf/dwarf rivalry, so there's definitely that element for bringing them over. Plus, in Japan, these guys are about as famous as kitsunes, and we have had "Raccoon Dog Hengeyokai" in 1st, 3rd and 4th edition...


Kappa: When paired up with kitsune and tanuki, these are, like, the holy trinity of yokai in Japan - everybody knows and loves kappa. They're a strength-focused small race that lives along rivers, streams and lakes; that's actually pretty unique. These guys could work as a sort of aquatic dwarf with goblin mischievousness.


Oni: Yeah, they're most famous for being bad guys, but these are literally the orcs of Japan - and like orcs, there are actually lots of stories where they're either redeemed or not even that bad to begin with. You telling me you couldn't get an RPG hook out of "you were sent up from Hell to catch a monster/evil spirit that escaped, and you need to buddy up with these mortals so you've actually got the strength to drag its sorry ass back to Hell"?


Jorogumo: Yeah, I know, these gals are always portryed as bad guys in the stories, but D&D has a long tradition of offering bad guy races - orcs, goblinoids, gnolls, ogres... hell, we got freaking Yuan-ti purebloods in Volo's Guide, and they're supposed to be emotionless world-conquering cannibalistic sociopaths. Surely D&D can reskin Jorogumo into a femme fatale "edgy" PC race, alongside the tiefling and shadar-kai?


Vanara: Yeah, I know Pathfinder has them, but D&D actually did them first (Oriental Adventures 3e), and they are one of the most recognizable heroic fantasy races in Indian mythology.

Vishkanya like Pathfinder has.

Apsara
Lesser Kami

Oriental Adventures is based on Legend of the Five Rings, I thought? Anyways. If you use that as a basis for Oriental Adventures, the Naga and Nezumi are fairly prominant. Oni do exist, but for the most part are acknowledged as BadWrongEvil monsters that taint all that is good and holy. Kitsune have appeared in lore as well as other shapeshifting types, including lions, spiders, and more.

Elemental spirit-type creatures are abound, making the genasi rather appealing, I think.

Zokujin are described as part frog, but I think their description is more goblinoid than part animal.

Mephista said:

Oriental Adventures is based on Legend of the Five Rings, I thought?

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Oriental Adventures is supposed to be a generic sourcebook for more Japanese/Chinese/Korean-themed sourcebooks, although you're partially right in that the 3rd edition version of the sourcebook did also serve double-duty as a PHB for the short-lived Legends of the Five Rings D20 line and thus contained statistics for Rokugani humans and Nezumi.

As far as standard races go I'd mention the kenku, which are already in the Monster Manual and Volo's Guide. Their relatives(?) the tengu are also a possibility.

And the PCs in my current campaign happen to have wandered into a somewhat-China-like region, which has necessitated some homebrew races inspired with a greater or lesser degree of artistic license on Chinese folklore. I've got:

Kui: Short, ugly monopods who lead simple outdoorsy lives. They're great jumpers and draw strength from rain.

Shi Ren: Anthropomorphic guardian lions. They're strong, they can smell lies, and they have a permanent racial geas effect that prevents them from lying or breaking an oath.

Xingtian: Fierce and indomitable warriors with no heads but faces in their chests. They have some trouble wearing armor but get Unarmored Defense because they're all a little bit barbarian. Critical hits just tick them off.

Baboon: They're baboons that can talk and have a civilization. Hey, race design doesn't always have to be complicated.

Since the PCs themselves are from the usual quasi-European area, the fact that two of these races strongly resemble the sciapods and blemmyes of European travelers' tales is a bonus that I did not expect when I first started doing research.

Hiya!

I'm going to be, yet again, the nay-sayer here. So... No. Just a flat out "No" to all of the suggestions so far. Here's my reason why...

In most all "oriental" stories and movies that I see, the focus is on Humans first...with allies and enemies being the non-human ones. Generally you have human, human, human, human, human and the half-korobokuru side-kick....or maybe you have the human, human, human, human, human and they seek out a 'river spirit' to help them cross a mystical area laden with misleading rivers. That kind of thing. You don't really see stories where the human city of X has an uneasy truce with the spirit folk city of Y, and the poor hengiyokai towns in between are caught in the middle. That just doesn't seem to be a 'thing' in the oriental stories I've watched/read.

I think that adding in a dozen playable races would pretty much completely ruin the feeling of any oriental adventures setting/campaign. When I picture "western fantasy" settlements, they are usually filled with humans, but dwarves, halflings, elves, half-orcs, lizardfolk, cat people, etc are there too (almost like a mos eisley canteena! ). This is fine because a lot of these western-fantasy style stories involve humans, and a host of other civilized races, each with their own human-styled "history". We have wooded elven cities, vast underground dwarven enclaves, and dozens of quaint halfling farm-lands...each with relatively human ideas (laws, town councils, social structures, currency/trade, architecture, etc). Sure, each may "look" different and have a different name, but honestly, the "Elven Elder" is basically a Mayor, and the "Dwarven Boar-Rider" is basically a Knight.

Oriental Adventures? Not so much. The closest thing we really get is the Korobokuru, who are "oddly shaped, hairy, primitive, humans". The Spirit Folk and Hengiyokai? Nope...not even close, really. An "Elf" is described as "being one with the forest"...with virtually nothing to back up that claim. Spirit Folk are literally that...spirits of something, given form. When a river starts to dry up due to drought, a river spirit folk gets weak and feeble, and will die if the river doesn't return. If that river starts to swell due to a massive downpour, a river spirit folk gets wild, strong, and unpredictable.

Anyway, yeah, those are my thoughts on it. Oriental adventures doesn't need any "non-human" races more than the original 1e OA had for PC's. That said, I wouldn't be opposed to certain "regional humans" having a bonus/penalty to a stat pair, or other such minor adjustments to the base human. A human who grows up in a bustling capital city would likely have strengths and weaknesses that are quite different from that of a human who grew up as a trappers daughter who lived on the side of a remote, wooded mountainside.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

pming said:

This is fine because a lot of these western-fantasy style stories involve humans, and a host of other civilized races, each with their own human-styled "history".

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Really? In my experience most western fantasy is just as human-focused as eastern. The game lifted the concept of player races (and the races themselves) from Tolkien, who is the exception rather than the rule. Yeah, there are a lot of other fantasy works that have ripped off Tolkien just like D&D did. But look at the more original stuff: Robert E. Howard? Humans. Roger Zelazny? Humans. Ursula K. LeGuin? Humans. Glen Cook? Humans. George R. R. Martin? Humans. Patrick Rothfuss? Humans.

So since the way D&D handles races is a style specific to one individual thread of fantasy rather than fantasy in general, if we're going to play by that style in the west, why not in the east as well?

QuietBrowser said:

Dungeons & Dragons has done an Oriental Adventures sourcebook in 1st edition and 3rd edition, and if that pattern holds true, we're due for one in 5th edition.

Here's the thing though... the Oriental Adventures races? They tend to suck.

Traditionally, we've only gotten the three: Korobokuru (Japanese Dwarves, which are basically Jap-Peasant Halflings in flavor), Spirit Folk (Japanese Elves), and Hengeyokai (a clumsy shoehorning of various animal shapeshifters into a single race). 3e at least gave us Rokugan's Nezumi and generic Vanara to go with it.

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The korobokuru are based on the Ainu legends of the koropokkuru, a legendary little people. While I've never been too fond of the spirit folk, they're more dryads/naiads/oceanids than elves. And there's nothing particularly clumsy about "shoehorning" the various shapeshifting animals into a subraces of a single race (in fact it's fitting for the D&D rules)—mind you, I'd like to see them get some minor magic much like drow and tieflings get (though focus on illusion and alteration) in additoin to shapeshifting.

What we need is more races that are not Japan-inspired. Most everything in the previous Oriental Adventures is terribly Japan-centric (from races, to classes, to equipment), and makes for a sad sourcebook for supposedly covering Asian-style fantasy. Vanara are a good start, but there should be more.

TheCosmicKid said:

Really? In my experience most western fantasy is just as human-focused as eastern. The game lifted the concept of player races (and the races themselves) from Tolkien, who is the exception rather than the rule. Yeah, there are a lot of other fantasy works that have ripped off Tolkien just like D&D did. But look at the more original stuff: Robert E. Howard? Humans. Roger Zelazny? Humans. Ursula K. LeGuin? Humans. Glen Cook? Humans. George R. R. Martin? Humans. Patrick Rothfuss? Humans.

So since the way D&D handles races is a style specific to one individual thread of fantasy rather than fantasy in general, if we're going to play by that style in the west, why not in the east as well?

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Yeah, when I think D&D fantasy, I think "high" fantasy, where there's lots of unique races. Most fantasy novels in general tend to be more "low" fantasy, or "historical" fantasy - they use purely human races. However, Japanese fantasy also comes in lots of different high fantasy stories, via anime, manga, visual novels, light novels, and video games - there are literally countless examples of Japanese fantasy with non-humans to draw on. Even a complete novice like myself can think of Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, and Inuyasha, just off the top of my head.

Azzy said:

What we need is more races that are not Japan-inspired. Most everything in the previous Oriental Adventures is terribly Japan-centric (from races, to classes, to equipment), and makes for a sad sourcebook for supposedly covering Asian-style fantasy. Vanara are a good start, but there should be more.

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Indeed. Japanese yokai may be more famous than most, but not a lot of them are really well-suited for the PC approach. I mean, even if they do often get protag/supporting character roles in plenty of anime, manga, whatever, it's hard to think of how, say, a karakasa could journey alongside other humanoids and partake equally, unless given a more human-like shape. Oni and the various bakemono fit the bill best.

So, yeah, I would happily support more Chinese, Korean and especially Indian races in a proper Oriental Adventures game, but especially for that last field, I personally don't know enough to make suggestions. Apparently, some versions of the Ramyana or other Indian epics do feature non-hostile bear-people, rakshasa and nagas, but I wouldn't know the first thing about that.

Hiya!

TheCosmicKid said:

Really? In my experience most western fantasy is just as human-focused as eastern. The game lifted the concept of player races (and the races themselves) from Tolkien, who is the exception rather than the rule. Yeah, there are a lot of other fantasy works that have ripped off Tolkien just like D&D did. But look at the more original stuff: Robert E. Howard? Humans. Roger Zelazny? Humans. Ursula K. LeGuin? Humans. Glen Cook? Humans. George R. R. Martin? Humans. Patrick Rothfuss? Humans.

So since the way D&D handles races is a style specific to one individual thread of fantasy rather than fantasy in general, if we're going to play by that style in the west, why not in the east as well?

Click to expand...

Huh...different perceptions growing up between us methinks...

I can see what you are saying, definitely. I guess this is simply a matter of what you saw/see "oriental flavour" as being vs what I do. To me (and my group), we generally see our OA campaigns (some of the most memorable RPG campaigns I've ever run, btw; more plots, sub-plots, sub-sub-plots, and sub-sub-sub-plots than you can shake a dead oni at!)....having a very strong humanocentric bent to them. I think it comes from the whole Samurai, Ninja, Yakuza underpinning of the setting as a whole. Each of those 'classes' are intertwined deeply within the societal structure of the campaign and rules; I/we have a very hard time seeing anything other than humans really 'being' any of those classes and caring about how the world sees them. I mean, if you are a spirit folk samurai (not sure if that was even a choice, but for sake of argument...), why would this spirit folk even be a samurai of some ruler in some land that has virtually nothing to do with his "race"? Sure, the spirit folk probably has his/her river/forest/mountain/whatever in the daimyo's province...but that would be it. Why would the daimyo accept such a creature into his confidence? Why should the daimyo even trust such a creature, who obviously would have significantly different ideas on what is "right", "just", or even "legal"...compared to humans?

Anyway...that's how I think of OA and the whole human/not-human schism of things.

^_^

Paul L. Ming