D&D General D&D Releases New Japanese Campaign 'Oni’s Right Hand'

There's a new Dungeons & Dragons adventure in town--covertly announced on LinkedIn by Hasbro/WotC Japan's brand manager--designed for the Japanese market. It's designed to draw in new players in Japan, and is not currently available internationally.

The adventure is called Oni's Right Hand, and features 5 pre-generated characters from the land of Kara-Tur, the East Asian themed continent in the Forgotten Realms setting, lying to the east of Faerûn. The setting originally appeared in 1985's Oriental Adventures, before getting its own boxed set in 1988. Other than a brief description in 2015's Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Kara-Tur has not featured in D&D 5E.

Oni's Right Hand is not actually set in Kara-Tur; it's set in Phandelin. A cursed glove from Kara-Tur, known as Oni's Claw, arrives in the town and sets the adventure in motion.

The character sheets are illustrated by Toshiaki Takayama, translated by Masaki Yanagida, and voice actors like Ayana Taketatsu and Tomori Kusunoki bring them to life in the video announcement which you can view on LinkedIn.

When D&D Meets Japan…!

We’re thrilled to introduce an original Japanese adventure campaign: “Oni’s Right Hand.”

Set in the bustling trading town of Phandalin, a cursed glove from the East arrives - and when the sealed “Oni’s Claw” is unleashed, eerie, monstrous shadows begin to creep into the town.

This campaign features five original Japanese-style characters from Kara-Tur, complete with pre-generated character sheets,designed by renowned illustrator Toshiaki Takayama and D&D translator Masaki Yanagida, and brought to life by popular voice talents including Ayana Taketatsu and Tomori Kusunoki.

The response from Japanese fans has been overwhelmingly positive.
D&D’s global appeal lies in its ability to embrace diverse cultural styles, and we’re proud to see Japan’s unique creative spirit seamlessly integrated into the world of D&D.
By weaving traditional Japanese themes into gameplay, we hope not only to delight existing fans, but also to grow the community and welcome new players in Japan.

To support this, Learn-to-Play (LTP) sessions for “Oni’s Right Hand” will begin in Japan this August.

WotC Japan Brand Manager Himmy T confirmed on LinkedIn that they were exploring options for global availability.

 

[haakon1]

I was under the impression that Kara-Tur was a more general fantasy Far East, with fantasy analogues for China (Shou Lung, T’u Lung), Tibet (Tabot), the Stans (Hordelands), Korea (Koryo), Japan (Kozakura, Wa), and various southeast Asian countries (Malatra).

Also, the Shou are one of the FR human ethnicities detailed in the 2014 PHB, and the Tuigan were added in the SCAG, which does also have brief sections on the Hordelands and Kara-Tur. Interestingly, the SCAG says orcs are unknown in Kara-Tur!

There are also a variety of NPCs from Kara-Tur sprinkled throughout the various 5e FR adventures. They’re mainly Shou, but IIRC there’s at least one Kozakuran.

Yes, but the emphasis of the rules and most adventures centered on Wa & Kozakura (versions of Japan based on different political periods of medieval history). Shou Lung & T’u Lung were a similar approach to China, but less prominent in the rules (Samurai, Yakuza, Bushi, Ninja) than fantasy Japan.

The rest were more ab afterthought late in OA, after it was moved to FR.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

past versions of "eastern" stuff hasn't been too... sensitive?

And hasn't sold well in Asia at all.

 

[Charlaquin]

I noticed this myself and was going to comment. I heard on the radio about changing language and the death of the semicolon. With the death of formal writing and rise of texting, its use is down 50 percent; but I hardly ever used it to begin with.

The semicolon is a very strange punctuation mark; the only time it’s “correct” to use is when you don’t need it. It’s functionally just a more pretentious period.

 

[haakon1]

That’s a new one for me! I’ve always equated Baldur’s Gate with London. Cormyr is more fantasy medieval France to me.

In the sense of as far West as you can get without being an island or Iberia. Maybe it’s Lisbon?

 

[Remathilis]

It feels very "yes, but are we going to be able to sell more Sword Coast books?" rather than just letting this take place in a village somewhere in Kara-Tur.

(That said, if I were selling to the Asian market, I probably would want to massively revise or replace Kara-Tur with something that looked more reasonable to Asian fantasy fans.)

I think it's important to remember that this isn't WotC proper making revised Kara Tur book. This is the regional distributor selling the current 5e books in Japanese and wanting to add a touch of regional flavor to sell the PHB and The Shattered Obelisk. This is advertising. If it's popular and gains some traction, I could absolutely see WotC hiring some cultural experts and locals to redesign Kara Tur. But that's not what this project was. This was injecting some local flavor into the current Realms via a module and art that draws on Japanese inspiration.

I don't think this should be read as anything more than convincing locals to buy 5e books using a veneer of local flavor. But I do hope it means WotC might work on an Asian inspired product in the future.

 

[pukunui]

Yes, but the emphasis of the rules and most adventures centered on Wa & Kozakura (versions of Japan based on different political periods of medieval history). Shou Lung & T’u Lung were a similar approach to China, but less prominent in the rules (Samurai, Yakuza, Bushi, Ninja) than fantasy Japan.

The rest were more ab afterthought late in OA, after it was moved to FR.

OK. I’m not familiar with the Oriental Adventures ruleset, but I read the Empires trilogy back in the day. The second one, Dragonwall, was primarily set in Shou Lung and involved a Genghis Khan like character invading across the fantasy Great Wall of China.

The semicolon is a very strange punctuation mark; the only time it’s “correct” to use is when you don’t need it. It’s functionally just a more pretentious period.

Meanwhile, nothing screams “written by ChatGPT” more than an em dash.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Ofc I guess it depends on what the market actually wants... They might enjoy western fantasy since it's DnD past versions of "eastern" stuff hasn't been too... sensitive?

Fun fact these books did in fact have cultural consultants.

 

[haakon1]

The adventures I remember best featured an ninja attack on The Inn of the Globe Fish in the mountains in winter, trapped in by snow.

A Japanese style castle with ghosts and a talking carp down a well. People talked about that for decades (ran it in college), and my college friend who grew up in Japan liked it.

And exploring a tropical island with ruins and an undead King Kong.

Classes I remember were:
F: Samurai, Bushi, Kensai
C: Shukenja
T: Yakuza, Ninja
MU: Wu-Jen

I don’t know the origins of Wu-Jen, but the rest are Japan inspired.

 

[bedir than]

It feels very "yes, but are we going to be able to sell more Sword Coast books?" rather than just letting this take place in a village somewhere in Kara-Tur.

(That said, if I were selling to the Asian market, I probably would want to massively revise or replace Kara-Tur with something that looked more reasonable to Asian fantasy fans.)

It feels like a product they could create now, faster.
More may be possible, but a light touch to start is good.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It feels like a product they could create now, faster.

Yeah, even if they didn't just want to build out from Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, it seems like it'd be pretty easy to find a ton of qualified creators.