Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Ancient China D&D? (my players KEEP OUT)

[Emperor Valerian]

Done that, in a way. I've taken some Chinese history classes before, and I still have the relevant textbooks for the period. I've already raided them a few times for some flavor material... such as the Chinese terms for some ranks of nobility, for example. As for NPC names, I'm considering raiding history and mixing an matching.

Deng Enlai, or Zhou Xiaoping might be the names of some NPCs, for example.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I've found the best resource for Chinese history and culture, especially tied to a martial/adventuring tradition has been Carl Weather's song "Kung Fu Fighting."

J/K

I've done craploads of research for a Kara Tur spanning OA game, reading through books of Japanese and Chinese folklore and legends, digging up more obscure texts about Korean (there's a sad paucity of books available for some odd reason up here) and SE Asian cultures, history and the culture itself before I said "Whoa. I still haven't even come up with the first adventure yet!"

 

[Emperor Valerian]

I'd love to be able to do all the reading, but I'm in graduate school, so I sorta get plenty of reading assigned to me. Though it does surprise me that there wasn't more of a Chinese apsect to the OA books.

Another possible idea to reflect part of history. I know China's real life bureaucracy was based heavily on scholar gentry trained in Confuscian principles. How about this realm has scholar gentry that are wizards and clerics?

Most of them would be very low level, but think about it. Who better to be the prefect of the local village than the guy who can look into his books and cast 'zone of truth?' or 'comprehend languages' when a stranger from afar arrives? Maybe the clerics and the wizards form two competing schools of thought, and they are dually assigned as local prefects? I'm just tossing ideas out to gauge reaction, and see what others think. *shrug*

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

i also love to plug the dynasty warriors series to anyone with a ps2 simply because they are just so fun, you are a chinese warrior in the three kingdoms era fighting for one of the sides and you run around in the major battles killing hundreds of enemy soldiers as you lead your master's army to victory. i got turned around on the fire ship level (i play with the maps in tight) once and ended up killing 1247 in a single battle never being more then the equivalent of 200 feet from the enemy leader sun quan. man was that a blast.

Ah, Dynasty Warriors. Quite fun.

One thing the DM did in our Birthright campaign was add in Force points and Sith weaponry (as the elves were Force-users). Once we got ahold of Sith weapons, we found that the Force point (retitled Bloodline points, for when we acted true to the divine bloodline in us) spent to turn them on lasted for a while and was added to damage with them.

Yes, we Musoued. It was QUITE fun, especially when the Force bonus to attack let you power attack more. The tank did vast quantities of damage in fights when he could do that.

Brad

 

[Afrodyte]

Another possible idea to reflect part of history. I know China's real life bureaucracy was based heavily on scholar gentry trained in Confuscian principles. How about this realm has scholar gentry that are wizards and clerics?

Interesting. To refine that idea even further, how about having the competing philosophies be Taoism and Buddhism (Chan sect, aka Pure Land) that would be roughly divided according to the arcane and divine spellcasting classes?

With the Tao Te Ching as the philosophical and theroetical basis, and the I Ching as the application of the theory and philosophy, the Taoists fit the wizard class very well. Spellbooks, instead of being haphazard notebooks, would be more unified based upon the principles and formulae learned from the Tao Te Ching and I Ching. The trigrams and hexagrams would be essential elements to learning and creating spells. Material components would be based on the element associated with the trigrams used. Somatic components would be combining and using the elements in precise ways. For more ideas on how to do this, see if you can find Even Horizon's Swords of the Middle Kingdom RPG. For the Taoist wizards, you may have to refine how you categorize magic, perhaps basing it on the five Chinese elements (Water, Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth) would be best. Unearthed Arcana's domain wizard is a very good start on how to reorganize the spells to suit this flavor.

If you decide to make Taoists into divine casters, I'd probably base them off clerics and allow them domains from: Air (replacing Metal), Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, and possibly Knowledge. Since the fullest expression of Tao is expressed in the yin-yang (balance between seeming opposites), I'd make TN the default alignment of Taoists, though some would favor good or evil or law or chaos. Like druids, Taoists would need to maintain some degree of neutrality to be able to fully understand and utilize the principles of Tao. You may need to replace the turn undead class ability with something else, perhaps the metamagic feats similar to the wizard.

The cool thing about this is you can create different sects with different alignment requirements. Heroes may come from a good-aligned sect, whereas villains may have followers or contacts in evil-aligned sects. Drunken masters may be from a school of thought that focused on chaos, whereas the venerable priests who find the secret to immortality may practice a very rigid, lawful type of Taoism (in D&D terms, are likely epic-level cleric-monks).

Buddhist clerics could be used more easily, although I'd limit their domain choices. The general alignment for Chan sect Buddhism is probably NG since the ideals of Buddhism are aimed at attaining nirvana are more or less based in the things associated with good. The neutral element of Chan Buddhism would come from eschewing the extremes of law and chaos. While it's an ideal many aspire to, most still favor one or the other. The domains I'd associate with Buddhism are: Good, Healing, Knowledge, and Protection. While Buddhist warrior-monks do exist in Chinese history and literature, I think that the domains should be a way of describing and emphasizing the goals of Buddhism.

With all this in mind, you may want to waive the multiclassing restriction on the monk because the abilities of that class coincide nicely with those of Taoist sages (*waves to Timeless Body*) and Buddhist warrior-monks (*waves to Still Mind*). Alternatively, you may want to be rid of the monk altogether and give some of the non-combat abilities to the classes that become Taoist priest and Buddhist monks. The combat abilities could be taken as fighter feats, which reflects the martial arts being more widespread than assumed in standard D&D. In addition, you can build powerful martial artists that are not straight-jacketed into the Shaolin monk role. Consider Wudong swordsmen, Tai Chi masters, and drunken masters to name a few.

As far as eunuchs, I agree they should always be evil, but on top of that, maybe they can only be arcane spellcasters since their connection to the divine has been, ahem, severed, rendering them less whole than other people and thus incapable of a real communion with the Tao or the Dharma.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Ah, Dynasty Warriors. Quite fun.

One thing the DM did in our Birthright campaign was add in Force points and Sith weaponry (as the elves were Force-users). Once we got ahold of Sith weapons, we found that the Force point (retitled Bloodline points, for when we acted true to the divine bloodline in us) spent to turn them on lasted for a while and was added to damage with them.

Yes, we Musoued. It was QUITE fun, especially when the Force bonus to attack let you power attack more. The tank did vast quantities of damage in fights when he could do that.

Brad

Now... house exactly does this musuo system work in that campaign? HOw many points did how much damage, etc.? (BOth of the players love Dynasty Warriors... might be something to toss in for them once they reach higher levels.)


As for the scholars... I had never thought of the possibility of Daoist wizards versus Buddhist clerics. I think I'll do it that way. One of the players is a sorcerer, which I've specified are very rare. Wizards being institutionalized will automatically give me some roots for possible adventures (the local Daoist prefect wants the player to prove he isn't evil by doing blah... the local prefect is plotting against him, or maybe even his he practices magic outside the confines of the teachings of (insert homebrew COnfucius here), he's a criminal).

And I've never paid any attention to the rule on monks not multiclassing. Its cooler to have monk assassins that have a few levels of bard to do cool stuff (like inciting a crowd to riot, and in the chaos finding their mark and offing him).

 

[Afrodyte]

feat ideas for martial artists

I did some cursory work to expand the role of martial artists beyond the Shaolin monk stereotype, and this is what I have so far. Mostly, this is to help expand the fighter a bit beyond the tank role and to encompass powerful martial artists who are not necessarily committed to spiritual advancement. The idea is that I lifted some of the monk's combat abilities and made them into feats. I am not yet sure if they should be fighter-only feats, but I do want to say that these are not even remotely balanced unless you remove the monk class.

Greater Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus (unarmed), BAB +1
Benefit: Your unarmed strikes do a base of 1d6 damage.

Superior Unarmed Strike
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus (unarmed), BAB +4
Benefit: Your unarmed strikes do a base of 2d4 damage.

Masterful Unarmed Strike (Can't think of anything better than Superior)
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus (unarmed), Weapon Specialization (unarmed), Greater Weapon Focus (unarmed), BAB +8
Benefit: Your unarmed strikes do a base of 2d6 damage

Flurry of Blows
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, DEX 13+, BAB +2
Benefit: When wielding a light weapon you are proficient with (or unarmed), you may make an extra attack at your highest BAB, but all attacks you make that round, even AoOs, receive a -2 penalty.

Improved Flurry of Blows
Prerequisites: Flurry of Blows, Combat Reflexes, DEX 13+, BAB +5
Benefit: As Flurry of Blows, but reduce the penalty to -1.

Greater Flurry of Blows
Prerequisites: Improved Flurry of Blows, Flurry of Blows, Combat Reflexes, DEX 13+, BAB +9
Benefit: As Flurry of Blows, but you receive no penalties to your extra attack.

Superior Flurry of Blows
Prerequisites: Greater Flurry of Blows, Improved Flurry of Blows, Flurry of Blows, Combat Reflexes, DEX 15+, BAB +11
Benefit: You get a second extra attack at your full BAB.

Ch'i Strike (magical)
Your expertise with your chosen weapon is so extensive that you are able to empower it with ch'i, giving you prodigious abilities with the weapon of your choice.
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialization with weapon, Weapon Focus with weapon, proficient with weapon, BAB +4
Benefit: Your attacks with the weapon of your choice are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction.

Ch'i Strike (aligned)
Prerequisites: Ch'i Strike (magical), Greater Weapon Focus with weapon, Weapon Specialization with weapon, Weapon Focus with weapon, BAB +8, must be of the alignment you wish to imbue your weapon with.
Benefit: Choose one aspect of your alignment (lawful, chaotic, good, or evil). Your attacks with the weapon of your choice are treated as weapons of that alignment for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. You may take this feat again to further align your chosen weapon. For example, a CG fighter can take this feat to have a chaotic or a good weapon, but if he wants both bases covered, he has to take this feat again. This benefit holds as long as you maintain the alignment you chose for your weapon. If you wish to change the alignment, you must take this feat again with the new alignment you wish to associate with your weapon.

Ch'i Strike (keen)
Prerequisites: Ch'i Strike (magical), Greater Weapon Focus with weapon, Improved Critical with weapon, Weapon Specialization with weapon, Weapon Focus with weapon, BAB +8
Benefit: You can stack effects that increase the threat range of your chosen weapon.

Ch'i Strike (adamantine)
Prerequisites: Ch'i Strike (magical), Greater Weapon Specialization with weapon, Greater Weapon Focus with weapon, Weapon Specialization with weapon, Weapon Focus with weapon, BAB +12
Benefit: Your attacks with the weapon of your choice are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction.

Uncanny Dodge
Prerequisites: Mobility?, Dodge, DEX 13+
Benefit: When unarmed or wearing light armor, you keep your Dexterity bonus to AC, even while flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker.

Improved Uncanny Dodge
Prerequisites: Uncanny Dodge, Mobility?, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, DEX 13+, WIS 13+
Benefit: When unarmed or wearing light armor, you cannot be flanked.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Good catch replacing Ki with Ch'i.

 

[Afrodyte]

taoist priest class

TAOIST PRIEST

Even the smallest words and gestures flow with power when they come from a Taoist priest. Taoists devote themselves to understanding and mastering something they call the Tao, which is something like the union of seeming opposites, as exemplified in their symbol, the yin-yang. While understanding this goal is simple enough, applying it is a different matter altogether. According to Taoist priest, upon becoming one with the Tao, they will achieve immortality along with other potent abilities. Note: I realize this is a very simplified rendition of Taoist beliefs, but as a working definition, I hope it serves its purpose.
Adventures: How each Taoist priest conducts himself is a matter of personal preference and temperament. Taoist priests typically adventure to seek more knowledge about the Tao or as couriers between Taoist communities. Many Taoist priests supplement their magical powers with martial arts, primarily in tai chi.
Alignment: Taoist priests must remain neutral to some degree to understand and apply the principles of Tao. However, most priests tend to favor chaos or law or good or evil.

Game Rule Information
Abilities: As the PHB wizard.
Alignment: NG, LN, TN, CN, NE.
BAB: poor
Saves: Will good, Fortitude and Reflex poor
HD: d4 (although an argument could be made in favor of d6)
Class skills: Class skills for the Taoist priest are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Profession (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), and Spellcraft. Skill points at 1st level and each additional level as PHB wizard.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: All simple weapons, no armor or shields.
Spellcasting: Spells known and spells per day as PHB wizard. Taoist spellcasting is based off the principles of the I Ching. The various trigrams are put together to make hexagrams. Just like wizards, they depend upon the proper combination of materials and gestures for their spells to take effect. However, unlike wizards, their components are more universal, based upon the trigrams and hexagrams. Gestures may be rooted in calligraphy, taiji, or even certain times of the day, month, or year.
Unlike wizard spells, which are organized by school, Taoist spells are organized along the trigrams, which represent the fundemental principles of the universe. You may want to consider transplanting spells from the bard's, cleric's, or druid's spell list and altering at what level they'd be available.

• 
  Chien (Force): Action: Persisting. Element: Water. Spells generally come from the Abjuration and Transmutation schools. Abjuration spells tend to focus on resistance of some kind, whereas the transmutation spells tend to be like mage hand, telekinesis, physical buff spells, and the Bigby spells. Spells from the Strength domain can work too.
  K'un (Field): Action: Yielding. Element: Earth. Spells generally come from the Transmutation school, focusing on altering non-living matter. Lifting blight from the druid can work for this "school" too.
  Chen (Shake): Action: Chaos. Element: Fire. Spells generally come from Evocation and Necromancy school. Evocation effects are mostly based in storms and lightning, and the necromantic spells tend to have fear-based effects. Spells from the cleric's Chaos and Destruction domains or druid spells related to storms would be great too.
  K'an (Gorge) Action: Going. Element: Water. Spells are typically related to movement enhancements based on altered mental states (like rage or heroism). Spells from the cleric's Travel and War domains can fit well.
  Ken (Bound) Action: Stopping. Element: Wood. Most spells come from the Abjuration school, although Conjurations related to protection of some kind work as well. Some spells from the cleric's Protection domain can be good too.
  Sun (Ground) Action: Entering. Element: Wood. These spells tend to directly affect living things. Taking a few spells from the druid spell list or the Animal and Plant domains can help make this "school" distinct from K'un too. Cure-type spells can be associated with this school as well.
  Li (Radiance) Action: Congregating. Elment: Fire. Most of these spells are from the Divination and Evocation schools, although spells such as eagle's splendor certainly fit. Evocation spells tend to be those related to light. Transporting some spells from the cleric's Knowledge and Sun domains would be ideal as well.
  Tui (Open) Action: Stimulating. Element: Metal. Spells typically come from the Conjuration (summoning), Divination, Illusion, and Enchantment schools. Illusion spells focus on being hidden or unseen. Enchantment spells are used to infuence emotions. Including some spells from the cleric's Magic domains can help too.

Special Abilities: I'm replacing the wizard's bonus feats with some class abilities taken from the monk to better emphasize the ideals and goals of the Taoist priest. Combined with the Buddhist monk and the martial artist feats I outlined in my previous post, the PHB monk would be obsolete, but I don't think that'd necessarily be a bad thing, depending on what you want. It might be best to alter at what levels these special abilities become available.
Bonus feat. Can be taken at 1st, 7th, 10th, and 13th level. Chosen from wizard's bonus feat list, but Spell Focus depends upon the different trigrams detailed above rather than the PHB school divisions.
Purity of Body. As PHB monk class ability. 5th level. Prerequisites: Constitution 13+
Diamond Body. As PHB monk class ability. 11th level.
Divine Health. As PHB paladin class ability. 14th level.
Timeless Body. As PHB monk class ability. 17th level.
Perfect Self. As PHB monk class ability. 20th level.

 

[Afrodyte]

buddhist monk

BUDDHIST MONK

Buddhist monks are a force of purity and compassion in a world that often seems to lack either. By renouncing the world of violence, greed, and lust, they hope to achive inner peace through their adherence to the Eightfold Path. In the meantime, they frequently develop awesome powers on their path to nirvana, but they see these as tangental to the goal of inner peace. Note: I realize this is a very simplified version of what Buddhist monks are all about, but my intent is to give a working definition. I hope I achieved that.
Adventures: Monks rarely leave their monasteries, but some choose to adventure to learn more about the world they renounce, or as emissaries to different regions.
Alignment: While Buddhists do not typically concern themselves overmuch with ideas of good and evil, the ideals espoused by the Eightfold Path correlate very strongly with the PHB description of good. However, they seem less interested in the distinction between law and chaos, even holding either extreme as an obstacle to nirvana. Therefore, most Buddhist monks are likely to be NG, though many have a lawful bent as well.

Game Rule Information
Alignment: The ideals and habits described as the Dharma fit the PHB's description for the NG alignment.
Abilities: As the PHB cleric.
Alignment: LG, NG, LN, TN. Though the ideal Buddhist monk is likely to be NG, the abbeys and monasteries where monks live grant a little more leeway in accepting those who wish to find nirvana. Though monks need not be entirely benevolent, at the very least they must not be malevolent. Though monks need not be particularly disciplined, at the very least they need a modicum of principles and guidelines for their behavior. Those who are too unruly (chaotic) or corrupt (evil) are turned away until they learn better.
BAB: poor
Saves: Will good, Fortitude and Reflex poor
HD: d4 (although an argument could be made in favor of d6)
Class skills: Class skills for the Taoist priest are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Profession (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), and Spellcraft. Skill points at 1st level and each additional level as PHB wizard.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The vows taken by Buddhist monks limit the weapons they are allowed to wield. Buddhism's chief ideal is peace, and weapons which are specifically designed for war and violence are forbidden. Buddhist monks are not forbidden to use tools which can double as weapons when the need arises. Buddhist monks are proficient with the dagger, sickle, club, quarterstaff, spear, dart, and sling. Monks with a more martial bent often multiclass with the warrior or fighter.
Spellcasting: as PHB cleric. Buddhist monks begin play with only one favored domain chosen from: Good, Healing, Knowledge, and Protection. The Buddhist monk's available spells are a lot more limited than the cleric's. They do not cast spells from the Death, Destruction, Evil, or War domains.
Special Abilities: I'm replacing the cleric's domain abilities with some of the monk's and paladin's class abilities to better emphasize the Buddhist monk's ideals and goals. You may want to change the special ability progression, though.
Turn undead. As PHB cleric.
Spontaneous spellcasting. As PHB cleric, but the spell can come from the Buddhist monk's chosen domain.
Aura of Good. 1st level. As PHB paladin.
Bonus feat. 2nd, 10th, 14th, and 17th level. Choose from: any metamagic feat (except Quicken Spell, Silent Spell, and Still Spell), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration.
Still Mind. 5th level. As PHB monk.
Divine Grace. 7th level. As PHB paladin.
Bonus domain. 6th, 12th, and 17th level. Choose another domain from: Good, Healing, Knowledge, and Protection. You can cast spontaneously from this domain as well as the one you chose at 1st level. Alternatively, you may select a bonus feat from the Buddhist monk's bonus feat list.
Aura of Courage. 11th level. As PHB paladin.
Diamond Soul. 13th level. As PHB monk.
Empty Body. 19th level. As PHB monk
Perfect Self. 20th level. As PHB monk.