Spes Magna Games

This week, I picked up the PDF of Erin D. Smale’s BX Options: Class Builder. I’m digging it. The layout is easy to read, the organization clear and thoughtful, and the system simple but robust. Because I’ve long had a lingering fondness for TSR’s Oriental Adventures, I took the korobokuru race from that book, processed it through BX Options, and produced a korobokuru class suitable for B/X D&D.

Nota Bene: Those previous links are affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I get a few coppers.

Korobokuru

Korobokuru are a race of dwarves who live in vast jungles, snowy mountain forests, or barren wilderness areas. They seldom come into contact with humans. Korobokuru prefer remote and forbidding sites of great natural beauty. There they live in simple villages or camps, moving only when forced to by the advance of human settlements. In appearance korobokuru are about four feet tall, with arms and legs slightly longer in proportion to their bodies than a human’s. Most are bowlegged. Their arms and legs are hairy, and males have sparse beards. Most korobokuru have a wild, unkempt appearance as judged by human standards.

Culturally, korobokuru are much less advanced than most of their human neighbors. They hunt and tend small farms in secluded areas, and create simple pieces of art and craft. They normally avoid human contact. Because of this (and the general conceit of humans), humans consider korobokuru to be backward primitives, and rarely accept them as full members of human society. Korobokuru are typically seen as rude, pugnacious, boastful, and somewhat comical by the so-called civilized world. Korobokuru organize themselves into families and clans much the
same way humans do.

Requirements: Minimum STR 8 and CON 12, maximum INT 15
Prime Requisites: STR, CON
Hit Dice: 1d10
Maximum Level: 10
Armor: Any non-plate, including shields
Weapons: Any small or normal-sized weapons
Languages: Tribal, Trade Tongue, Spirit Folk, Hengeyokai

Restrictions

Bad Reputation: So-called civilized peoples view korobokuru with a combination of disdain and pity. Korobokuru suffer a -1 penalty to all reaction rolls when interacting with such peoples.

Stronghold: When korobokuru reach 7th level, they may build strongholds and attempt to establish clans.

Abilities

Combat: Korobokuru make attacks and saving throws as fighters. Korobokuru enjoy a +1 “to hit” against bakemono, goblins, goblin rats, and hobgoblins. Against giants (including creatures such as oni and ogres), korobokuru enjoy a +2 bonus to AC.

Infravision: Korobokuru have infravision, which allows them to see 120 feet in the dark.

Hunter-Gatherer: Korobokuru are able to identify normal flora and fauna two-thirds of the time (a roll of 1-4 on a d6).

Resistances: Korobokuru have a +1 bonus to saving throws made to resist poison, magic wands, rods, staves, and spells.

Tags: B/X D&D, Character Classes, Oriental Adventures

It’s been a few days since I’ve written about OSRIC. My son Christopher and I were out of town visiting Clear Creek Monastery in eastern Oklahoma, and we were largely sans internet during that time. Now that I’m back home and back on summer vacation, it’s time to get to work.

Two of my favorite D&D books from two different eras of the game are AD&D’s Oriental Adventures and 3E D&D’s Oriental Adventures. (Nota Bene: Those are affiliate links; if you click and purchase, I get a few pennies.) While I just adore both of these books, they have seldom found use in any game I’ve ever participated in. I’ve used bits and pieces of both as DM, introducing OA monsters and spells into non-OA settings. Lately, I’ve been thinking I’d like do something more with the OA source material.

In the AD&D incarnation of OA, the magic-user analog is the wu jen, who “are sorcerers, men of mysterious power. They command the elements, spirit forces, and the very powers of nature.” That sounds exciting. The aforementioned elements come in five flavors: earth (including metal), water, fire, wind, and wood (including nature). A wu jen who “learns all of the spells of a single element up to the highest level of spell he can cast” has mastered that element. The 3E OA wu jen has a similar class feature.

The division of spells into five elements pretty much required modifying the magic-user’s spell lists, introducing many new spells in the process. While I’ve never played either OA enough to say for certain, my impression is that the wu jen’s spells are weaker than the magic-user’s spells. If I were putting together a group of adventures, and I had a choice between a 5th-level wu jen or a 5th-level magic-user, I’d go for the latter. Maybe.

So, what does this have to do with OSRIC? Am I proposing to convert AD&D’s OA to OSRIC?

Well, answering in reverse: No, and permit me to explain.

It might be possible to modify OSRIC’s rules a bit so that the magic-user’s spell list becomes a wu jen’s spell list. This starts with a modifier that applies to many spells:

Variable Special Effect: A wu jen’s spells do not have defined sources related to their effects. In other words, a magic missile is not “a magical energy dart”. A lightning bolt is not “a bolt of lightning” nor is a stinking cloud “a nauseating cloud of vapors”. The wu jen determines the elemental manifestation of his spells when he casts them. This might modify the effects of the spell, as determined by the DM, but most of the time the effects are cosmetic.

Next up, we must turn to the wu jen with an addendum to the magic-user’s basic class ability:

Spellcasting: At first level, a wu jen chooses one of the five elements. This is his keyed element, but he has knowledge of the other four. When a wu jen memorizes his spells, he assigns an element to each spell. This helps determine the effects of the spell when it is cast. Once per day at 1st level, a wu jen may invest a spell with additional power from his keyed element. Doing so has one of the following effects (chosen by the wu jen):

• The wu jen may ignore a spell component of his choice.
• The spell’s range and duration are increased by 25%. This does not apply to a range of Caster or Touch or to a duration of Instantaneous.
• The spell’s casting time is reduced by 50% (but to no less than 1 segment).
• Saving throws against the spell are made with a -1 penalty.
• For effects not related to range and duration, the spell takes effect as if the wu jen’s caster level were one higher.

When a wu jen gains access to a new level of spells, he gains another use of this keyed element ability. At 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th levels, a wu jen adds another key element to his repretoire. Thus, by 11th level, a wu jen has mastered all five elements.

So, what might this look like in play? Eric created Chen Mengjia, a 1st-level wu jen, at the start of the campaign. Mengjia can invest his spells with keyed elemental power twice per day. Through skill and luck, the wu jen has advanced to third level. He has two keyed elements: fire and wind. Mengjia memorizes his spells for the day, assigning an element to each spell.

1st-Level: magic missile (earth), shield (air)
2nd-Level: scare (fire)

During the course of his adventuring day, Mengjia encounters a group of skeletal guardians. He casts magic missile, sending two magical stones hurtling towards the targets. More skeletal guardians arrive, and these have crossbows. Mengjia fears a lengthy battle. He imbues his shield of air with fire. A shimmering barrier of magical heat appears. It has a duration of 19 rounds (the normal 5 rounds/level plus 25%). Later when facing a pair of cockatrices, Mengjia imbues his scare spell with air. A fiery, howling apparition quickly manifests and vanishes. One cockatrice must make its saving throw against scare with a -1 penalty.

Tags: Character Classes, Oriental Adventures, OSRIC

Last week, Kiai! joined The Ways Of… in my DriveThruRPG store. Kiai! details a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D, complete with samurai weapons, samurai armor, three samurai archetypes, and a dozen new spells.

In other similarly themed news, I’ve outlined the Bushi, Wu Jen, Shugenja, Sohei, and Yakuza as archetypes for core classes, but I’ve not made much progress on that document…so far. In a fit of boredom, I updated the dragonborn to fit an Oriental Adventures milieu, and I have vague plans for updating or creating other races, perhaps to include a plethora of humanoid animals inspired by the Japanese zodiac.

Our videoconference foray into The Lost City with four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…, went well last week, but last night’s session got canceled due to me not feeling well. We’ll try again this coming Monday, and that session will likely see the inclusion of a fifth player running a samurai. It’ll be easy enough to work the new PC in by saying he was part of the original caravan that got caught in the sandstorm, with the samurai arriving at the lost city ahead of the others and eventually being taken in by the Warrior Maidens.

In other news, I’ve long enjoyed the OpenD6 Gaming System, and I adore the Mini Six version put about by AntiPaladin Games. You can get the Mini Six PDF for free, and, for at least the next week or so, you can get the print-on-demand softcover and PDF for less than $3 US.

Mini Six is less a complete RPG than it is an RPG toolkit. The system is easy to grok, and its major elements are modular, which means they can be used as-is, modified, or even ignored, depending on what sort of gaming experience you’re looking for. By way of example, Mini Six characters have four attributes: Might, Agility, Wit, and Charm. Do you want to run a high-magic game where every character is a wizard? Well, you can add Wizardry as an attribute. Going science fiction? You might want to include Tech as an attribute. Want to go minimalist? Reduce the attributes to two: Physical and Mental. Off a bizarre tangent and inspired by Freudian fever dreams? Id, Ego, and Superego might work as attributes.

In my spare time (which I have too much of this summer), I’ve started putting together a Mini Six player’s guide inspired by unequal parts of Mini Six, basic D&D, and RuneQuest. For this untitled project, I’ve expanded the attributes to the classic six from D&D and included themed perks related to class, race, and background. With class and race abilities turned into perks, it is possible to simulate a multi-classed character or a character with a multi-racial family tree.

(Nota Bene: Those last several links are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, Mini Six

The Ways Of…, which presents seven new monastic traditions for seven core races, seems to be doing well. I’ve gotten one three-star rating, which is okay, but also a bit irritating. Not that it’s three stars, mind you, but because I don’t know why it’s three stars instead of two or four. Tomorrow, I continue running The Lost City for four 3rd-level monks, each one using a different archetype from The Ways Of…. The first session went well, the only real problem due to laggy videoconferencing. (Nota Bene: That last link is an affiliate link. If you click and buy, I get a few copper pieces.)

I recently mused about what a 20-level samurai class for 5E D&D might look like. Those musings have been fleshed out into a document that includes said 20-level samurai class, three samurai archetypes, 12 new spells, and sidebars that briefly discuss samurai armor and weapons. I’ll be revising and editing the document more today and/or tomorrow before it too goes up on DriveThruRPG as a PWYW playtest supplement.

I have a few other Oriental Adventures-inspired ideas outlined. I’m probably going to put together a third OA-themed document, this one detailing subclasses. The bushi and sohei are fighter subclasses, the shugenja a cleric subclass, and the wu jen a wizard subclass. Likely the yakuza will get added in as a rogue subclass, but I’ve not outlined that one yet. I’m not sure about an OA-style barbarian subclass, and the assassin rogue archetype hits most of the ninja. More mulling over those that two must occur.

But none of that is what this post is about. This post is about a new 5E D&D monster.

Have you seen The Art of Stefan Koidl. No? Into the circle of shame you go. “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Now that those who deserve punishment have eaten their just desserts, let’s move on to the new monster. Since I don’t have the artist’s permission, I’m linking to today’s inspirational work of horror. If your SAN is low, don’t click here.

Hatiyara

The hatiyara is an undead monster that lairs in abandoned buildings or tunnel systems. In life, the hatiyara was an outcast, one who lived on the fringes of society, often surviving by begging and theft. In undeath, it survives by murder in order to consume the hands of its victims.

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 90 (12d8+36)
Speed 30 feet

STR 17 (+3), DEX 12 (+1), CON 16 (+3), INT 8 (-1), WIS 13 (+1), CHA 15 (+2)

Skills Athletics +6, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +4, Perception +4
Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages the languages it knew in life
Challenge 5 (1,800)

Dimension Door. As part of its move, the hatiyara can pass through a portal (such as a doorway or a window) and appear in another portal within 60 feet. The hatiyara does not need to be able to see the destination portal.

Regrowth. The hatiyara regrows severed arms after a short or long rest. When it regrows a severed arm, its detached limbs cease to be active.

Actions

Multiattack. The hatiyara makes three attacks with its claws.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d4+3) slashing damage plus 2 (1d4) necrotic damage.

Reactions

Severed Arm. When the hatiyara takes slashing damage, it can choose to have one of its six arms be severed by the attack. The hatiyara takes no damage from the attack. As a bonus action, the hatiyara can control its severed arms as long as they remain within 30 feet of it. If more than 30 feet separates the hatiyara and a severed arm, the severed arm “dies” at the end of the hatiyara’s turn. A severed arm has a base speed of 15 feet. It has the hatiyara’s AC, resistances, and immunities. A severed arm has 9 hit points, and it can make one claws attack on its turn.

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, monsters, samurai

So, if I’m heading toward a new campaign starting circa October of this year, and if this campaign is to use the 5E D&D ruleset but with influences from early edition Oriental Adventures and Birthright, that means renaming, tweaking, and rewriting a certain amount of material. For example, no OA-inspired setting would be complete with a samurai character class. After rummaging through my bookshelves, I found five books, each one with a version of the samurai. To wit:

Oriental Adventures (1E): This character class starts with katana specialization and the possibility of specializing in daikyu, making samurai the only class allowed two weapon specializations. As they advance in levels, samurai become proficient in horsemanship, the bow, calligraphy, painting, and poetry. They gain multiple attacks at higher levels. Samurai can focus their ki via a “loud, fierce shout” that increases attack and damage ability. As samurai earn levels, they become more able to damage foes, gain immunity to fear, are harder to surprise, and can cause fear in their enemies.

The Complete Fighter’s Handbook (2E): This warrior kit grants bonus weapon and nonweapon proficiencies that focus on samurai weapons and skills. The kit grants the “loud, fierce shout” ability found in 1E OA.

Oriental Adventures (3E): This character class grants an ancestral daisho at first level. The daisho becomes more powerful as the samurai earns levels. Starting at 2nd level, the samurai gains bonus feats drawn from a list of feats associated with the different samurai clans.

Complete Warrior (3E): Another take on the samurai as a character class. This time the samurai gains daisho proficiency at 1st level, but the samurai’s daisho do not gain power as the samurai advances in level. At 2nd level, the samurai learns to fight with both katana and wakizashi at the same time. After that, we see a return of the “loud, fierce shout” theme coupled with a gradually improving ability to cause fear in enemies.

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (5E): The samurai is a fighter subclass, available starting at 3rd level. The samurai gets a bonus skill proficiency and a “fighting spirit” to start. The latter improves a single weapon attack and grants bonus hit points. At higher levels, the samurai becomes an “elegant courtier” and his fighting spirit ability expands and improves.

Out of these five options, I prefer the samurai be its own class rather than an add-on (2E) or a subclass (5E). These abilities seem a must:

1. Emphasis on the daisho.
2. Skills that combine martial and courtly foci.
3. Some sort of “loud, fierce shout” ability.
4. Some sort of ability to cause fear, perhaps related to the “loud, fierce shout” ability.

Samurai subclasses (available starting at 3rd level) might focus on different different fighting styles. For example, a Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu style would focus on fighting with two swords, using one for offense and the other for defense, whereas a Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu would focus on drawing and cutting with the sword as a single motion. What might these look like in game terms and modified for a fantasy world? Well, I’m not sure about that.

My initial thoughts involve basing different subclass abilities on the themes of eight or so samurai fighting styles. To fit the subclass pattern of things, each style would need to grant an ability at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th levels. Since I’m not even going to attempt create 40 different abilities, I’d combine fighting styles, ignore this, emphasize that, et cetera. My goal isn’t historical accuracy.

If I whittled down, say, eight fighting styles to three or four, I could then create a “menu” of character options for the aforementioned levels. A samurai who focuses on a single style would have greater ability within a narrow field, whereas a samurai who dabbles a bit in different styles would have a wider range of weaker abilities.

Perhaps over the next few days, I’ll put together a rough-draft samurai class?

Next up, to repeat myself, for the first time in a while, I’ve finished a new Spes Magna product, this time for 5E D&D. The Ways Of… presents seven new monastic traditions, each one available to a different core rules race.

Tags: 5E D&D, Character Classes, samurai