No treatment of Oriental Adventures would be complete without some mobs in the mix. Here is an overview of PHB mobs and some animal suggestions. To add a bit more uniqueness to the the mix I recommend you use The Last Airbenders approach to fauna – essentially making hybrid animals. For example the polar-dog and the wolf-bat and so forth. I have listed many under the climate groupings for reference.
BEASTIARY
The lands of Kara-Tur are vast and varied in both climate and geography. Within the near boundless spaces of the continent exist virtually every type of geographic condition known. These conditions provide a wide range of habitats for both normal and fantastic creatures. Many are common throughout the world—deer, oxen, rabbits, horses, foxes, hobgoblins, ogres, and giants. Yet others are unique to the lands of Kara-Tur—pandas, tengu, oni, and water buffalo (caribou). Creatures common to other parts of the world have never made their appearance in Kara-Tur, held at bay by stormy oceans, grim mountain ranges, and scalding deserts.
Hence, there are a number of creatures unique to Kara-Tur. These creatures are collected under the OA Bestiary collection of entries. in this section.
CLIMATE GROUPINGS
- Arctic: Arctic hippo, polar dog, otter penguin,
- Sub-Arctic Forests: Bear, carp, deer, lynx, moose, otter, owl, polar-dog, rabbit, reindeer, roe deer, salmon, snow fox, squirrel, stoat, sturgeon, tiger, wolf, wolverine.
- Temperate Plain/Forest Regions: Badger, bear, bustard, crane, deer, duck, fox, hawk, hedgehog, lynx, marten, otter, rabbit, tiger, weasel, wild ass, wild boar, wild ox, wolf, and wolverine.
- Steppeland: Bactrian camel, badger, bear, deer, flying bison, fox, gazelle, horse, lynx, marmot, otter, sheep, wild boar, and wolf.
- Subtropical Forest Regions: Alligator, bear, black porpoise, deer, ele- phant, fox, fruit bat, leopard, marten, monkey, otter, panda, rhinoceros, river dolphin, tiger, water buffalo, wild boar, and wolf.
- Tropical Forest Regions: Badger, bushbaby, deer, elephant, fruit bat, guar, kingfisher, leopard, marten, mongoose, monkey, orangutan, otter, parrot, peacock, tiger, water buffalo, and wild boar.
- Cold Oceans: Cod, halibut, killer whale, koalaotter, salmon, sea otter, and seal.
- Warm Oceans: Dolphin, dolphin piranha, oysters, porpoise, and shark.
NEW SUBTYPES
Monsters in Oriental Adventures fall into the same general types as those in the Monster Manual— beasts, dragon, giants, humanoids, and fiends are all found in these lands. Two new type modifiers (subtypes) are important for the rules of Oriental Adventures. As with the type modifiers in the Monster Manual (such as cold, fire, or incorporeal), monsters with the Shadowlands or spirit subtype, such as Shadowlands oni or bajangs, still belong to their regular types (fiend and fey, respectively), but they also have the characteristics of their subtype.
Oni/Kami. These subtypes belong to the Fiend and Celestial monster type respectively. Oni and kami are two-sides of the same coin. Oni are corrupted kami who failed in their task to protect their ward and fell to corruption ultimately being banished and becoming bodiless spirites known as oni. When an oni takes a physical form by way of a summoning spell or similar means it seeks only to dominate all living things and enjoy the physical world as much as possible and at any cost. Oni hate kami who remind them of what they once were.
Oni tend to assume the forms of giant-kind of many types. Kami on the other hand tend to have unique shapes when their wards are inanimate or non-living, but living kami wards, in particular beast wards, like a wolf or boar will usually look similar to the base creature. You can apply the kami template to these creatures. Both kami an oni have their own specific templates.
Spirit/Yokai. Spirit is another subtype modifier that is usually part of the Fey monster type but can also exist for other types like undead, elementals and even dragons. Spirit creatures are not necessarily incorporeal, despite their name — in the worlds of Oriental Adventures, some spirits are as much flesh and bone as humans are. The only game effect of the spirit type modifier is that spirit creatures are all affected by spells such as commune with greater spirit, invisibility to spirits, and protection from spirits.
CREATURES FROM PREVIOUS BOOKS
Given below is a listing of some of the monsters already described in various D&D tomes. These creatures are found in various parts of the lands described in Oriental Adventures book. Unless called out specifically the monsters exists in an appropriate cultural form in Kara-Tur.
| Creature | OA Name | Notes | TYPE |
| Angels | Kami | Add the Spirit subtype. | Celestial (spirit) |
| Animated Object | Stone Spirit | Stone spirits are evil spirits that inhabit stone statues and can animate them when they desire. The animating spirits have Intelligence scores of 8 to 10 and always have neutral evil alignment. They have the spirit subtype, so they are susceptible to spells that target spirits. | Elemental (spirit) |
| Aranea and/or Drider | Spider Demon | A spider demon is a spirit—said to be the spirit of an adulterer—whose natural form is similar to a drider: a humanlike torso melding into the body of a spider. Its face is human, except for the prominent fangs. It has the spirit type modifier, but is otherwise identical to the aranea described in the Monster Manual. | Monstroisity (spirit) |
| Azer | Add the Spirit subtype. | Elemental (spirit) | |
| Centaur | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Chimera | Nue | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos but could be a type of Nue. | Monstrosity |
| Demons | Oni | These creatures all have the Shadowlands subtype in addition to demon and are considered Oni | Fiend (demon, oni) |
| Devils | Oni | These creatures all have the Shadowlands subtype in addition to devil and are considered Oni | Fiend (devil, oni) |
| Dragon Turtle | Add the Spirit subtype. | Dragon (spirit) | |
| Dragon, Shadow | Add the Spirit and Shadowland subytpe | Dragon (spirit) | |
| Dragons | All but the Gold Dragon does not exist in Orieintal Adventures. All dragons have the Spirit subtype. | Dragon (spirit) | |
| Dryad | Kami | A type of kami tree spirit | Fey (kami, spirit) |
| Duergar | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Humanoid | |
| Elementals | Kami/Yokai | Add the Spirit subtype. | Elemental (spirit) |
| Elves: Drow | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. Use Spirit Folk instead. | Humanoid (Elf) | |
| Gargoyle | Don’t exist as is however they could easily be rebranded as Terra-Cota Warriors or other similar golem like creature. | Elemental (spirit) | |
| Genies | Middle Eastern Mythos, not appropriate for Kara-Tur. | Elemental (spirit) | |
| Ghoul | Jikiniki | Ghouls in Kara-Tur are the remains of shukenja who die while Tainted. They have the Shadowlands type modifier. In addition to paralysis, the touch of a jikiniki spreads the Shadowlands Taint: A character wounded by a jikiniki must succeed at a Constitution save (DC 14) or gain 1 point of Taint. A jikiniki’s Taint score is 9. | Undead (shadowlands) |
| Giant Spider (variant) | Goblin Spider | Goblins spiders are excellent mimics, able to duplicate any voice or sound they have heard, anytime they like. Listeners must succeed at a Wisdom save (DC 15) to detect the ruse. These creatures sometimes assemble in large groups to worship an entity they call the Earth Spider—an evil spirit that looks like a gigantic black spider with the head of a screaming human man. | Beast (shadowlands) |
| Gnolls | Bakemono | A type of goblinoid. | Humanoid (Gnoll) |
| Gnome, Deep (Svirfneblin) | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Humanoid (Gnome) | |
| Goblins | Bakemono | O-Yori wearing goblins. | Humanoid (Goblin) |
| Gorgon | Sacred Bull | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity |
| Griffon | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Half-Dragon | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Humanoid | |
| Harpy | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. Potentially could be lumped in with bakemono. | Monstrosity | |
| Hippogriff | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Hobgoblin | Common as leaders of Bakemono squads. | Humanoid (Goblin) | |
| Hydra | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Kenku | Native creature to Kara-Tur. | Humanoid | |
| Kobold | Bakemono | A type of goblinoid. | Humanoid (Kobold) |
| Lycanthrope, Wererat | Goblin Rat | Goblin rats are a race of natural lycanthropes distinguished by two factors: they cannot transmit their lycanthropy, and they are deathly afraid of felines. Whenever it faces a cat or catlike creature, a goblin rat must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the feline’s HD + the feline’s Charisma modifier) or become panicked. In humanoid form, goblin rats tend to be short, with wiry bodies, thin mustaches, greasy skin, and darting eyes. They have the goblinoid subtype. | Humanoid (goblin, shapechanger) |
| Lycanthrope, Weretiger | Thamàn Kyà | According to some legends, people can become weretigers by drinking from a tainted well, by eating certain patches of grass, or from the effect of a spell or a potion. Also, some spirits are thought to be able to possess tigers and turn them into humans to lure the unwary. | Humanoid (human, shapechanger) |
| Manticore | Nue | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. Could be a type of nue. | Monstrosity |
| Medusa | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Merfolk | Ningyo | Ningyo are a red-haired, peace-loving variety of merfolk. Unlike their common relatives, ningyo are frequently spellcasters (shukenja, shamans, or wu jen). They are otherwise identical to the merfolk described in the Monster Manual. In Kara-Tur, the ningyo are allies of the naga, though they remain secluded in the waters of the eastern sea. Tales also tell of ningyo inhabiting White Shore Lake (Shiroi Kishi Mizuumi) in the Unicorn lands far to the north. | Humanoid (merfolk) |
| Minotaur | Bull Demon | An Oni spirit being that has the Spirit and Shadowlands subtype. | Monstrosity (oni) |
| Nagas | Nure-Onna | Monstrosity (spirit) | |
| Nymph | Apsara Kami | These heavenly beings sing and dance before the rulers of the spirits. They have the spirit subtype, but are otherwise identical to the nymphs described in the Monster Manual. | Fey (kami, spirit) |
| Octopus (Giant, Fiendish) | Garegosu no Bakemono | Garegosu no Bakemono, a creature often summoned by powerful maho-tsukai, is a giant octopus with the Shadowlands type modifier. It also has the feed special ability, similar to a barghest’s ability: When it devours a humanoid corpse, it gains 1 HD per HD of the victim. This destroys the body and prevents any form of raising or resurrection that requires part of the corpse. A garegosu no bakemono’s Taint score is 3. | Fiend (demon, oni) |
| Ogre | Shadowland Ogres, Ogres | Ogres come in two varieties, the degenerative creature found in the Monster Manual as well as a smarter, fiercer breed. This Shadowland Ogre is identical to the MM version except it has Str 21, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12 | Giant (oni) |
| Oni | The Ogre-Mage is native to Kara-Tur and is the most common oni encountered. Sometimes referred to as a common oni. | Giant (oni) | |
| Orcs | Bakemono | Orc, Orc War Chief, Orc Eye of Gruumsh, Orog | Humanoid (orc) |
| Pegasus | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. Kirin is the typical replacement. | Celestial | |
| Peryton | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Monstrosity | |
| Satyr | Generally don’t exist in the Kara-Tur Mythos. | Fey | |
| Skeletons | Has the Shadowland subtype and a Taint score of 5 | Undead (shadowlands) | |
| Sprite | A Kami spirit creature with the Spirit subtype. | Fey (kami, spirit) | |
| Tarrasque | Kaiju | Sometimes monster, sometimes hero always destructive. | Monstrosity |
| Unicorn | Kirin | The unicorn is replaced by the Kirin | Celestial |
| Will-o’-Wisp | Phii Khamot, Thamop | These creatures are spirits that cause people to lose their way in marshy areas. They are identical to the will-o’-wisp described in the Monster Manual, but they have the spirit subtype. | Undead (shadowland, spirit) |
| Zombies | Has the Shadowland subtype and a Taint score of 5 | Undead (shadowlands) |