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[Let's Read] Nyambe: African Adventures
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7634979" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/SKVY240.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Nyambe takes a different approach than most 3rd Edition D&D settings. For one, the Player’s Handbook classes are not native to the setting with a few exceptions, usually originating among one of the three foreign groups: Northerners, Near Easterners, or Far Easterners, with only the Cleric, Fighter, and Monk common to indigenous Nyambans to any degree due to cultural contact with the latter two groups. Psions and Psychic Warriors, who are not “core,” tend to either be Far Eastern foreigners and Zamaran disciples or developed among the Mbanta. And no, we do not have an explanation for what psionics <em>is</em> other than “weird foreign magic.”</p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead, Nyambe has five core classes of its own design, mapping out evenly to the warrior/thief/priest/mage classic schematic, with the fifth a variant “mage.” A few of the PHB classes, such as the bard, monk, and ranger, have become Prestige Classes of their own. So technically speaking the Barbarian and Paladin classes are the only two you cannot replicate using Nyambe’s new choices. Overall this entire system feels unnecessary when the base rule options already give you all this and more. Nowadays we’d make such options alternate class features in Pathfinder.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/eyqAVEP.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><em>Gamba Fighter:</em> The gamba is a rural village warrior who are either part-time warriors with little formal training or join proper warrior societies. As standing armies are an overall rarity in Nyambe, most gamba spend a majority of their lives hunting, herding, or farming, taking up arms only in times of war.</p><p></p><p></p><p>They are basically the Fighter class, but they trade in 4 of their 11 bonus feats for Fast Movement and the Barbarian’s Damage Reduction progression, and have a d12 Hit Die and more skill points. Nothing really spectacular.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/VQG85M8.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><em>Mchawi Wizard:</em> One of the two arcane casters of the setting, the mchawi are effectively <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ur-priest" target="_blank">ur-priest wizards</a> who learned how to steal magic from the Overpower by selling their immortal souls to fiendish orisha. As such they cannot be of good alignment, and most are neutral evil on account that the fiendish orisha have a vested interest in making the world a worse place and don’t choose their bargains lightly.</p><p></p><p></p><p>They are much like Wizards, but with some deception and trickery-based class skills like Disguise, Escape Artist, and Intimidate. Instead of using spellbooks they prepare spells by making use of magical trinkets carried in what is known as a mojuba bag. They are also all specialists in Necromancy and can prepare extra spells from that school, but are forever barred from learning or casting Divination spells. At 2nd level they can summon a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/blackguard.htm" target="_blank">Fiendish Servant</a> like a blackguard, and at 5th level their souls are damned such that if they die they automatically reincarnate into a barozi animal (evil spellcasting animal template), but cannot be truly resurrected into their “base form” by any other means.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I like this class; although the barozi animal death opens up various balance concerns, it is a good example of setting fluff and crunch melding together to create something truly unique.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RHAqvjj.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><em>Nanala Rogue:</em> This is the rogue class, and is just as broad for all manner of occupations relying upon deception and stealth. What makes them different than PHB Rogues is that Sneak Attack is their only fixed class feature; at 1st and every even numbered level they get bonus feats for Roguelike choices such as Dodge and Point Blank Shot, or they can “buy” iconic class features such as Evasion or Trapfinding.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Being 3.0 the bonus feat list is not very impressive, but overall I love the concept of a custom-built mix-and-match Rogue class.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/4bODyCg.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><em>N’anga Cleric:</em> This represents all manner of religious functionaries of Nyamban society; although anyone can honor the orisha, the n’anga devote their whole lives to serving as their emissaries in the mortal world. They can cast spells of up to 9th level, but derive spells from either the cleric or druid spell list depending on their patron orisha, or an orisha towards which they dedicate special veneration. They are otherwise clerics, choosing two domains related to their patron orisha and all that entails. There’s also a flavor effect of when they prepare for spells as their honored orisha possesses their body; a n’anga who undergoes this is known as a “farasi,” or horse, as the orisha is taking control of their physical functions. Technically speaking the player still retains full control of their PC, but they take on personality traits and motivations of said orisha and may do things like stand in the sun for minutes if a plant orisha, be polite and charitable to everyone they meet if a celestial orisha, etc.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Finally, n’anga gain unique special abilities based upon their worshiped orisha, most of which correspond to existing PHB class features: an Animal Orisha grants druidic wildshape, Ancestor Orisha gain bonus feats, Celestial/Fiendish Orisha may turn/rebuke undead, etc. The ones which I’d describe as “new” in a 3rd Edition context include shapechanging into an elemental form for Elemental Orisha or casting Tree Shape and gaining some permanent plant immunities for Plant Orisha.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The n’anga is a Swiss Army Knife of non-paladin divine spellcasters, and I like its versatility. It also handles the whole superfluousness of Clerics of nature deities and how they’re different from Druids in standard D&D by making them one and the same.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/fNdEjHX.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><em>Sei Sorcerer:</em> The sei are effectively sorcerers, although they have an explicitly draconic origin rather than more generic supernatural bloodlines. Although instrumental in overthrowing the Kosan Empire, the sei’s association with arcane magic makes them controversial in Nyamban society. As to why, it is unknown whether the Overpower approves or disapproves of the sorcerer’s loophole in accessing arcane magic.</p><p></p><p></p><p>They are PHB sorcerers, but get more class features depending upon their primary draconic heritage. They must learn a set of thematic spells as soon as they can qualify for a new heritage feature at certain levels, but in exchange they gain some of the abilities of true dragons. For example, a black dragon-blooded sei can breathe underwater indefinitely, a brass dragon-blooded can summon a djinni once per day, a gold dragon-blooded can imbue gems with good luck, etc. They tend to be more utility than directly offensive or defensive, but a few are clearly better or worse options than others. The green dragon-blooded gets water breathing and an underwhelming bonus to Climb skills equal to their class level both at 1st level, whereas a silver dragon-blooded can breathe a cone of paralyzing gas once per day at 10th level. The DC for sei abilities is 10 + their Charisma bonus + their class level, which is leagues better than the D20 default of 10 + Charisma + half your Hit Dice/class level, meaning that the aforementioned paralyzing gas can be very effective.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Finally Sei are a special case; due to being an inherited condition one cannot multiclass into it unless the character is unthlatu or the GM makes a special story exception for latent dragon blood.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> Back in the 3.0 days I could see several of the base classes as visible improvements, notably the Rogue and Sorcerer, and the mchawi wizard is my favorite mostly due to thematic reasons. However, in more modern 3rd Edition and Pathfinder games they’d feel artificially limiting. The magical classes are all full 9-level casters which makes them strong options, whereas the gamba and nanala have no magic and so are batting around their PHB counterparts.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover Nyambe’s Prestige Classes in Chapter Five!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 7634979, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/SKVY240.png[/IMG][/CENTER] Nyambe takes a different approach than most 3rd Edition D&D settings. For one, the Player’s Handbook classes are not native to the setting with a few exceptions, usually originating among one of the three foreign groups: Northerners, Near Easterners, or Far Easterners, with only the Cleric, Fighter, and Monk common to indigenous Nyambans to any degree due to cultural contact with the latter two groups. Psions and Psychic Warriors, who are not “core,” tend to either be Far Eastern foreigners and Zamaran disciples or developed among the Mbanta. And no, we do not have an explanation for what psionics [I]is[/I] other than “weird foreign magic.” Instead, Nyambe has five core classes of its own design, mapping out evenly to the warrior/thief/priest/mage classic schematic, with the fifth a variant “mage.” A few of the PHB classes, such as the bard, monk, and ranger, have become Prestige Classes of their own. So technically speaking the Barbarian and Paladin classes are the only two you cannot replicate using Nyambe’s new choices. Overall this entire system feels unnecessary when the base rule options already give you all this and more. Nowadays we’d make such options alternate class features in Pathfinder. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/eyqAVEP.png[/IMG] [I]Gamba Fighter:[/I] The gamba is a rural village warrior who are either part-time warriors with little formal training or join proper warrior societies. As standing armies are an overall rarity in Nyambe, most gamba spend a majority of their lives hunting, herding, or farming, taking up arms only in times of war. They are basically the Fighter class, but they trade in 4 of their 11 bonus feats for Fast Movement and the Barbarian’s Damage Reduction progression, and have a d12 Hit Die and more skill points. Nothing really spectacular. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/VQG85M8.png[/IMG] [I]Mchawi Wizard:[/I] One of the two arcane casters of the setting, the mchawi are effectively [URL="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ur-priest"]ur-priest wizards[/URL] who learned how to steal magic from the Overpower by selling their immortal souls to fiendish orisha. As such they cannot be of good alignment, and most are neutral evil on account that the fiendish orisha have a vested interest in making the world a worse place and don’t choose their bargains lightly. They are much like Wizards, but with some deception and trickery-based class skills like Disguise, Escape Artist, and Intimidate. Instead of using spellbooks they prepare spells by making use of magical trinkets carried in what is known as a mojuba bag. They are also all specialists in Necromancy and can prepare extra spells from that school, but are forever barred from learning or casting Divination spells. At 2nd level they can summon a [URL="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/blackguard.htm"]Fiendish Servant[/URL] like a blackguard, and at 5th level their souls are damned such that if they die they automatically reincarnate into a barozi animal (evil spellcasting animal template), but cannot be truly resurrected into their “base form” by any other means. I like this class; although the barozi animal death opens up various balance concerns, it is a good example of setting fluff and crunch melding together to create something truly unique. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/RHAqvjj.png[/IMG] [I]Nanala Rogue:[/I] This is the rogue class, and is just as broad for all manner of occupations relying upon deception and stealth. What makes them different than PHB Rogues is that Sneak Attack is their only fixed class feature; at 1st and every even numbered level they get bonus feats for Roguelike choices such as Dodge and Point Blank Shot, or they can “buy” iconic class features such as Evasion or Trapfinding. Being 3.0 the bonus feat list is not very impressive, but overall I love the concept of a custom-built mix-and-match Rogue class. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/4bODyCg.png[/IMG] [I]N’anga Cleric:[/I] This represents all manner of religious functionaries of Nyamban society; although anyone can honor the orisha, the n’anga devote their whole lives to serving as their emissaries in the mortal world. They can cast spells of up to 9th level, but derive spells from either the cleric or druid spell list depending on their patron orisha, or an orisha towards which they dedicate special veneration. They are otherwise clerics, choosing two domains related to their patron orisha and all that entails. There’s also a flavor effect of when they prepare for spells as their honored orisha possesses their body; a n’anga who undergoes this is known as a “farasi,” or horse, as the orisha is taking control of their physical functions. Technically speaking the player still retains full control of their PC, but they take on personality traits and motivations of said orisha and may do things like stand in the sun for minutes if a plant orisha, be polite and charitable to everyone they meet if a celestial orisha, etc. Finally, n’anga gain unique special abilities based upon their worshiped orisha, most of which correspond to existing PHB class features: an Animal Orisha grants druidic wildshape, Ancestor Orisha gain bonus feats, Celestial/Fiendish Orisha may turn/rebuke undead, etc. The ones which I’d describe as “new” in a 3rd Edition context include shapechanging into an elemental form for Elemental Orisha or casting Tree Shape and gaining some permanent plant immunities for Plant Orisha. The n’anga is a Swiss Army Knife of non-paladin divine spellcasters, and I like its versatility. It also handles the whole superfluousness of Clerics of nature deities and how they’re different from Druids in standard D&D by making them one and the same. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fNdEjHX.png[/IMG] [I]Sei Sorcerer:[/I] The sei are effectively sorcerers, although they have an explicitly draconic origin rather than more generic supernatural bloodlines. Although instrumental in overthrowing the Kosan Empire, the sei’s association with arcane magic makes them controversial in Nyamban society. As to why, it is unknown whether the Overpower approves or disapproves of the sorcerer’s loophole in accessing arcane magic. They are PHB sorcerers, but get more class features depending upon their primary draconic heritage. They must learn a set of thematic spells as soon as they can qualify for a new heritage feature at certain levels, but in exchange they gain some of the abilities of true dragons. For example, a black dragon-blooded sei can breathe underwater indefinitely, a brass dragon-blooded can summon a djinni once per day, a gold dragon-blooded can imbue gems with good luck, etc. They tend to be more utility than directly offensive or defensive, but a few are clearly better or worse options than others. The green dragon-blooded gets water breathing and an underwhelming bonus to Climb skills equal to their class level both at 1st level, whereas a silver dragon-blooded can breathe a cone of paralyzing gas once per day at 10th level. The DC for sei abilities is 10 + their Charisma bonus + their class level, which is leagues better than the D20 default of 10 + Charisma + half your Hit Dice/class level, meaning that the aforementioned paralyzing gas can be very effective. Finally Sei are a special case; due to being an inherited condition one cannot multiclass into it unless the character is unthlatu or the GM makes a special story exception for latent dragon blood. [B]Thoughts So Far:[/B] Back in the 3.0 days I could see several of the base classes as visible improvements, notably the Rogue and Sorcerer, and the mchawi wizard is my favorite mostly due to thematic reasons. However, in more modern 3rd Edition and Pathfinder games they’d feel artificially limiting. The magical classes are all full 9-level casters which makes them strong options, whereas the gamba and nanala have no magic and so are batting around their PHB counterparts. [B]Join us next time as we cover Nyambe’s Prestige Classes in Chapter Five![/B] [/QUOTE]
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