D&D 4E Making 0riental Adventures 4e

[Grimgrin]

I want to give my next campaign an "oriental" theme, and I'm considering the best way replicate oriental classes with 4e classes, and want some additional input.


Straight-forward Converstions:
Shaman: same
Barbarian: same
Monk: same
Ninja: Assassin (mystic shadow powers)
Bushi: Fighter


Questionable Classes:
Samurai: Ranger?
Yakuza: Rogue would work but would a Bard/Rogue hybrid be better?
Kensai: No exact match, maybe the Swordmage?
Wu-Jen: Which magic user has the best match the five elements (fire, wood, water, earth, metal) in class powers?
Sohei: No exact match either, maybe Paladin or Avenger?
Shukenja: Would invoker or warden be better?

 

[karolusb]

Without being sure if you mean direct conversions of some previous edition of oriental adventures, or simply a good flavor of the east, I will answer to the latter. Does everything have to map to exactly one thing?

I really like the essentials assassin as ninja (the original not as much).

Monk - I might add psions to represent the more contemplative monks.

Samurai - There is a lot of room here.

Any Era: Warlord, Brawler Fighter, Great weapon fighter

Heian- - Ranger (especially archer builds). Mounted combat a big plus.

Kamakura through Sengoku – Battlerager Fighter. Mounted combat occasional

Edo+ - Two weapon Ranger/fighter, duelist rogue. Armor and mounted combat less common.

Yakuza came around much later, so they don't generally fit with my concepts of the genre, that said rogue seems fine, I am not sure what bard adds to the picture, though if you like bard go with either/both

Sohei, I would likely go with both paladin and avenger, they are depicted with everything from monks robes to full armor, depending on era and temple. Give em a naginata (glaive) either way and you are good to go.

Kensai - anyone who twinks his character . Swordmage could work, though I think the teleporting etc would be problematic for me, light armored warriors who are masters of thier weapons. Sounds like a reskin of the Avenger mechanics to me.

Wu Jen - Sorcerer and Wizard both do fine here.

Shugenja - The term is used for so many things. Warden (as the yamabushi), cleric/shaman/invoker as the crazy hermit. I would probably separate Yamabushi (as wardens) from shugenja (as shaman/invoker) but that’s just me.

Mahoutsukai - Warlock.

Onmyoji - Invoker/Cleric. In later eras They are replaced with Buddhist and Shinto priests (clerics and shaman in my eyes respectively).

As you might guess I have no problem with one class covering multiple social positions, and social positions covering multiple classes. Best of luck with the game

I want to give my next campaign an "oriental" theme, and I'm considering the best way replicate oriental classes with 4e classes, and want some additional input.

 

[willows]

As you might guess I have no problem with one class covering multiple social positions, and social positions covering multiple classes.

Agreed. I'd look at feat chains or themes as a way to differentiate the different social classes:

For faux Japan:

Samurai have feat chains for warlord-ish 'manage your troops' training, and chains for sword schools, in the style of the weapon mastery styles in Dragon 368. Something for the iconic Nito Ryu is necessary:

Nito Ryu Student (Multiclass)
Prereqs: Dex 13, any martial class
Off-hand weapons you wield gain the defensive property. You gain (some unspecified feat power).

Nito Ryu Adept
Prereqs: Level 4, Nito Ryu Student
When you wield a defensive weapon, the AC bonus it confers is equal to your Dex bonus. You can swap a level 3 or higher power for (another feat power).

etc.

Kensei is probably a paragon path about building a relationship with your weapon.

For priests:
Feat chains for the priestly traditions (Buddhism, Shinto, Onmyōdō) all have Religion skill training as a prereq.

Buddhist powers are divine in nature and tend to be about pacifying outsiders or healing allies.

Shinto powers are primal in nature and tend to be elementalist in theme. Summoning allied spirits is a big deal here.

Onmyoji powers are arcane in nature and tend to be about creating zones and controlling movement.

For monkish people:
Warrior monks - yamabushi and sohei - maybe have iconic weapons training. I'd like to see sohei as psionic characters with feats to make Radiant attacks with polearms, and yamabushi as wardens sounds great.

I suppose if you're a contemplative monk and you get in a fight, the monk and psion classes are fine. Artificer might be cool to use here too.

Witchy people:
Mahoutsukai as locks (with reskinning and a focus on demons and blood magic) and shugenja as a whole range of elementalish magicians (dragon sorcs reskinned as fire priests?) sounds great to me.

Sneaky people:
Rogues and assassins are great! Wooo! Rangers too, I think. And really especially mystical ninjas could be locks, avengers, etc.

For faux China:

Fighty people:
Warlords are important here! Fighters cover the rank-and-file military. Lone warriors - the wuxia - are most likely monks or battleminds, since they are often depicted with nigh-magical powers like qigong flying and sword projection and stuff. Swordmages too!

The fightly primal classes are great for nanban (southern barbarians) and warlords and archery rangers are good Mongols.

Sneaky People:
Lin gui (forest ghosts) are probably rogues, rangers, and all the stuff that ninjas are in Fauxpan.

Priestly Magicy People:
See above for Buddhists. Taoists work like Onmyoji, and Confucianists are probably wizards with an emphasis on compulsions. Wuren are elementalists again, so might as well use the shugenja stuff for them.

Crazy mystics-of-the-mountains are wardens or druids? There is a strong tradition (see Journey to the West) of animals learning magical transformation abilities via meditation and study of the Scriptures.