D&D 5E Oriental Adventures 5e: How would you do it?

[QuietBrowser]

In D&D's history, twice now, a sourcebook called Oriental Adventures has been published - the first for AD&D 1st edition, written by none other than Gary Gygax himself, and the second for 3.0. Both times, its basic purpose has been to provide information and mechanics to assist DMs and players who want to run games using a more "Asian" feel. In 1e's day, this was inspired by the chop-sockey kung fu films being imported from China, whilst towards the day of 3e, anime and manga were starting to work their way into "nerd" culture. With 5e's desire to bring back lots of old-school material, and the 2010s being a time in which anime/manga fandom is widespread, it's a perfect era to include yet another take on this classic sourcebook.

But, the thing is... the Oriental Adventures sourcebooks of the past have not been entirely good. Honestly, they've been kind of rubbish. In particular, the races are... pretty awful: Korobokuru are outright called "Oriental Dwarves" (and culture-wise are pretty close to halflings), Spirit Folk are Oriental Elves in almost every way that matters, and Hengeyokai take the fascinating variety of shapeshifting animal yokai of myth and boil them down to one super-bland one-trick race that tries to cover the entire cluster at once. 3e was a little better, with the Nezumi ratfolk and the Indian-based Vanara (who are also excellent choices for making a race out of the Monkeys of the Mountain of Flowers & Fruit - aka, the offspring of the famous Son Wukong/Son Goku).

So, yeah, if you were in charge of making the 5e version of the Oriental Adventures sourcebook, what would you put in it, and why?

Myself? Well...

Reprinting the Honor system from the DMG is unavoidable, as is the Samurai & Kensai subclasses from Xanathar's Guide, on account of the "PHB +1" methodology that 5e crunch books try to adhere to.

Fluff sections on the importance of Family & Honor, as seen in both versions of the OA splat so far, are also important; these are big deals. To this, I would add a discussion on the uniquely Eastern approach to alignment, which is far less black and white than the Western version that D&D's 9-grid so clumsily tries to accommodate. Most importantly: nothing is absolute in Eastern alignment, and balance is more directly accorded to good - even creatures that seem "evil" to Western eyes, those spirits associated with the negative aspects of the world, have an expected place to be and a role to fill. That's why demonic and monstrous protagonists are so common in modern anime/manga.

Given that 5e tries to avoid overly complicated rules systems, I would probably avoid giving new systems for Martial Arts. Maybe make feats for "special techniques", which is what people really want - let players emulate Street Fighter or Wuxia.

The Shaman, Shugenja, Sohei and Wu Jen all have some potential as new subclasses.
* The Shaman is tricky, but I think it could work as an alternative to the Life & Nature Clerics; a lightly armored healer who also focuses on attacking "unnatural creatures" (Constructs, Outsiders, & Undead).
* The Shugenja in 3e is a kind of Elemental Wizard-Priest, using the Sorcerer as its basic chassis. In 5e, I would probably go with making it a Sorcerous Origin that sub-divides its features & powers based on which of the four elements you are devoted to.
* The Sohei is a Monk/Paladin hybrid, combining monk fighting styles with limited spell use and broader weapon talents. I would make this as a new Monk Tradition that grants access to some spells and heightened weapon abilities, playing off of its Ki mastery - sort of a Paladin-esque and competently done version of the 4 Elements Monk.
* The Wu Jen could perhaps work as a new Wizard tradition, although it needs a lot of work to make its 5 Elements Magic focus more viable, especially as the Spell Secrets system of 3e does not work in an edition where metamagic is a Sorcerer thing. Its subclass features could support this elemental theme, or give it some Monkly elements, ala that one version from AD&D.

Races should kick the "sacred cow" of the 1e OA square in the gonads. Oriental Fantasy is filled with all manner of mystical and magical beings living alongside or not too dissimilarly from humans; what does it say about D&D when the sourcebook on Oriental Fantasy actually results in a less fantastic world than most urban fantasy manga! Name of the game is to bring in strong, distinctly Oriental races, which makes for an interesting replacement to the classic Elves & Dwarves & Orcs. Kneejerk contenders for that position?
* Kitsune: Without a doubt the most famous Oriental Fantasy race in the world, hands down. In Pathfinder can make them an interesting PC race, then surely D&D can do better than just hiding them under the piece-of-rubbish that was the Hengeyokai, Fox race option.
* Tanuki: Because if we've got the kitsune, we should try and bring in the Tanuki as well. If Kitsune are the "real" elf-equivalent of Japan, then these are Japan's dwarves. Well, its gnomes, at least.
* Bakeneko: Because the catgirl meme will not die, and bakeneko and all their variants are deeply intertwined with Japanese folk-lore.
* Kappa: Though their monstrous stories are more famous, kappa are also said to be friendly to humans, having taught them the secrets of medicine and wrestling. As a strength-focused amphibious small race, they're certainly more interesting and unique than forest-dwelling rural bumpkin halflings (korobokuru).
* Oni: The orcs of Japanese mythology, whilst Oni are often malevolent, they are also often allied to the gods or find redemption. 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 portrayed 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: Whether you want to try an Indian-flavored setting or reflavor them as Chinese/Japanese because of a certain monkey god, you can't beat the appeal of benevolent butt-kicking monkey martial artists.
* Naga: Now, these would probably need to either be Rokugan-style "snake-folk with arms", but still, this is a friendly race in Indian mythology and it's certainly an appealing concept. More non-evil, non-primitive reptile folk in D&D, the better.
* Nezumi: I admit I don't know why these are an "oriental" race - I think they were only in OA 3e because it tried to double up as a Rokugan Campaign Setting. But I like ratfolk, and if they're good enough for Rokugan and Kamigawa, they're good enough for me!

There are certainly other possibilities for this list, but my understanding of the fascinating world of Oriental Fantasy races is less than stellar, and mostly centered on Japanese mythology.

That's... all I can think of as necessary for a 5e Oriental Adventures off the top of my head. What about you folks? Any opinions?

 

[Chuck Ocenasek]

Considering it is an offensive term for Asian cultures I hope they call it something different.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Rokugan is the world for Legend of the Five Rings, so you will not be seeing that used in any 5E version. Kara-Tur is the Forgotten Realms Asian-equivalent setting that they would go back to, if they go this route again.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Slit518]

I would suggest starting here,

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/187283/Heroes-of-the-Orient-Players-and-DMs-Companion?src=hottest_filtered&filters=45469

and

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/215595/Monsters-of-the-Orient-Complete-Bestiary?src=hottest_filtered&filters=45469

 

[Sunseeker]

Considering it is an offensive term for Asian cultures I hope they call it something different.

I suspect they are more offended by the fact that mythologies from at least 5 distinct cultures, as well as their hero legends, religions, and general histories have been mashed into one great big "asian" pile of goop. Not that Europeans fared any better, and Europeans are free to be offended by that too, but it's still somewhat different when Westerners mash up Western Culture than when Westerners mash up Eastern Culture. But on that note, I don't want them to pull a Blizzard WoW take and make their "Asian adventures" into "China adventures".

They could probably skip all these problems by coming out with a an official 5E setting that just "happened" to include a generally asian-styled culture, races and variant classes.
But then ya know, they'd have to actually put their finger on a specific setting and run with it. Unless they pulled an Avatar: The Last Airbender type solution and made an entire asian-themed world.

 

[Eltab]

"Offensive" to whom - the people(s) whose mythology is being portrayed, or somebody who has only outsiders' knowledge of the culture?
Let's not unload a heap of intellectual nonsense where it isn't needed. Or wanted.

Tales of the Celestial Kingdom(s) might best be organized pseudo-IRL. The "standard" mythos would look an awful lot like China. (Including a secular philosophy of The Public Good.)
Regional variants can describe Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the Silk Road cultures, Mongols / other steppe nomads, Tibet, and the Siberian tribes - all of whom were influenced to various degrees by Chinese culture, and each of which took what they received and ran with it to various degrees.

 

[Azzy]

Well, first I'd start by calling it something else (WotC got flack for it in 3e, perhaps they'll learn this time). Call it something like "Kara-Tur Adventurer's Guide", and make like SCAG, and be a gazetteer of Kara-Tur with some player options.

Second, unlike the previous two incarnations, I'd make it so that it wasn't just Japanese stereotypes hammered to death, with a few other Asian culture elements thrown in as an afterthought. You'd think that there would at least more Chinese elements included, given its cultural influence on the surrounding countries.

I would not reinvent the wheel just to give it an Asian name—armor, weapons, and classes I'm looking at you. You don't need a katana when the D&D longsword is a functional equivalent, you don't need a specific samurai armor when it's already covered by scale, banded (oops! 5e got rid of banded, and kept the non-existant splint. smh), and half plate. (And speaking of Japanese armor, let's forget about the o yoroi—it's an early period armor that's functionally equivalent to scale and was supplanted by later designs.) You don't need a yakuza subclass because it's already covered by the thief subclass and the criminal background.

I would not include rules for honor. Roleplay that crap, like you do alignment.

I'd keep Korobokuro as they're based on Ainu legends, but I'd equate them more to halflings than dwarves. I'd also keep hengeyokai, because we don't need a separate race for every shapechanging animal in Asian folklore (and because the abilities of each shapechaning animal don't actually vary much), and I'd give them spells in the same manner as drow and tieflings (I'd go with dancing lights, disguise self, and alter self). I'd include dragonborn options based on the lung dragons. Additionally, I'd try to dredge up some race option from a non-Japanese culture (sorry, Japan, I love you, but we can't have you hog the spotlight like you did the last two iterations). Vanara were a good addition from 3e. I'd reluctantly keep spirit folk because they're already established in FR/Kara-Tur lore. No effing cat girls.

I'd include a shaman subclass for druids that uses the wildshape ability to temporarily summon/banish spirits (in a similar way that the spore druid uses it to power a non-shapeshifting ability), and note that in some countries (like Kozakura and Wa) it's called a "shugenja", and in other countries (like Shou Lung and Tu Lung) it's call a "wu". Also, a wizard subclass that's an homage to Taoist mystics of legend (and no call it a wu-jen, as that's a made up term). No ronin subclass (really, 1e?). We've already got a samurai subclass, so we don't need that (I'd also note that, as a social position, that any class could be a samurai). A paladin subclass that nods at the sohei. Shadow monk and assassin rogue already cover ninja and their equivalents.

Some new/alternate version backgrounds.

Maybe a few new feats. Maybe some quasi-supernatural ones.

New spells. There were plenty of neat spells from both the 1e & 3e OA. Bring 'em back.

Monsters! If the previous OAs shed their Japanese-centricity anywhere, it was in the monster list. So, let's bring back those monsters.

Personal Desire: Get ride of all the Wade-Giles transliterations of Chinese, and go with Pinyin instead.

 

[ad_hoc]

1) Don't call it Oriental Adventures
2) Hire authors who are native to the cultures represented
3) Make it an adventure

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Well, I'm gonna disagree with the OP on many, many things. If I was to do a 5e version of OE, it would be very true to the 1e version. Every version after that was a pale imitation that failed on many different fronts, from my point of view.

First...the whole anime/manga thing? Yeah...just get that RIGHT out of yer noggin' right now. The 1e OE didn't have any of that feel to it. It felt, to me, more like a baseline of "Samurai and Ninja" movies made by japanese/korean/chinese (Yojimbo, 7 Samurai, Heaven & Earth, etc...oh, except for the SHOGUN mini-series that aired on TV....I freaking LOVE that 'movie'!). Now, toss in some "Kung Fu Theater" for some amusingly over the top stuff and PRESTO! First Edition AD&D Oriental Adventures.

Basically, do that, but with the 5e system.

For Martial Arts...definitely would have to have it's own "sub-system". IMHO, just reducing it all to the OPTIONAL (!) Feat system would be whole inadequate. It wouldn't "feel" like I was performing any sort of "martial art awesomeness", and would instead feel like "Oh, yeah. I took that feat so I do d10". Bleeachy! The only thing I'd tweak would be the "effectiveness" of the MA damages vs. weapons/spells. IMHO, if you aren't a Monk, Shoei, Kensai, or Wu Jen...then you shouldn't be doing the same 'deadly 1:1 damage' as some Bushi with a naginanta. Everyone who learns MA (which, lets face it, is about 98% of any OA NPC) would have learned/trained/developed their MA style to beat others. And when I say "others" I mean humans (and 'demihumans'...it is fantasy, after all) style of MA. Some tea house Kung Fu master should wipe the floor against any boisterous drunkard who starts something in his tea house...but when an Oni, Pan Lung, or Bajang pops up? Well, any 'attack' should be much less effective!

I think a couple tweaks to the three OA non-human races (Korobokuru, Hengeyokai, and Spirit Folk) might be in order....stronger/more drawbacks, but stronger/more powerful 'otherworldly stuff'.

Classes? About perfect, really. All of them felt like they had their own niche in the world. With the choices for 'customizing' many of them built in (e.g., Kensai and his chosen weapon, Wu Jen and their '5-Elements' type spells, etc), I think each could have one or two Arch-Types would be more than enough to cover anything a campaign may need.

Now, when they get to the 'Campaign Setting" aspect. THIS is where I'd like to see a bit more effort. Chinese, Japanese and Korean are obviously the focus...but India, Mongolia, Vietnamese, Philippines, etc should have at least a couple pages about how to incorporate some of those cultures/histories/fables. Better still, put out a separate "campaign add-on" book/box that could add more in-depth setting stuff for that.

Oh, and one last thing:

Considering it is an offensive term for Asian cultures I hope they call it something different.

Sorry, Chuck, but...no. I do not find it an offensive term. I don't know your lineage, but my last name should give away the majority of mine. I don't speak for "all orientals" (or all swedes, or german, or cherokee...my other 'major bloodlines' in my family), and neither should you. Perhaps "I consider OA a bit of an offensive term, and would welcome a changed name/title" would have been better. 'Nuff said.

Game on!

^_^

Paul L. Ming