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The Divine Heir and the Jade Regent

The Emperor is dead, his family murdered by a daring band of bakemono (goblins). As retainers of the Divine Family you are disgraced as you failed in your duty to protect them. Before committing seppuku (ritual suicide) you will find these monsters and punish them. They will join you in Jigoku (hell) if it’s the last thing you do.


An Asian/Japanese inspired campaign.

Oriental Adventures.
Politics: Low-Medium
Roleplaying: Low
Tactics: Medium

Level: 1 to 20+


VITAL INFO

  • Kick-Off: 25th of May and then two weeks thereafter.
  • Character Abilities: Use the MM array for your character: 15, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10
  • Honour is a new ability score like Strength and Intelligence.
  • Races: Humans (use the Great Clan info though you can be clan-less). Other
    available race options: spirit folkkorobokuru, and hengeyokai.
  • Classes: Anything from the player’s handbook (except druids and clerics – druids are replaced by shamans and clerics are replaced by shukenja. All wizards are called wu-jen or shukenja by most people but there is a specific arcane tradition related to wu-jen below) but it will need to be rethemed for Japan (including warlocks which I don’t normally allow but they will need to have Japanese appropriate pacts – mostly kami/nature related).
  • Currency: Same rules apply – everything is in single denomination except its called “sen” instead of coppers in the Land of Dawn.
  • Boons & Banes: Changing these up to make them more thematic. They are now called spirit emblems “A paper doll that harbours the souls of the dead. Only an adventurer could find a use for such a thing“. They work identically to boon and banes except they are now a party resource and you do not automatically get them on level up. You are granted them as rewards for killing oni.

New Class Archetypes

New Class

Oiran a support class that bolsters the party through song.

Other Class Changes:

  • Beastmaster Rangers may also choose foo dog or foo lion as an animal
    companion. Will need to work with me to make a CR appropriate version.
  • Arcane spellcasters have access to unique Japanese themed familiars
    – ancestral spark, lesser nature spirit, lesser phoenix and void thing.
  • Deities and Demigods – the same powers rule the east as the west but their names are changed. There is also a celestial bureaucracy and a plethora of kami – nature spirits – inhabiting the world (oni are kami that have gone rogue).

Other Changes/Additions

PANGAEA: CAMPAIGN SPECIFIC

These options are always available in my campaign setting:

DM SPECIFIC DOCUMENT INDEX

  • Master list of Oriental Adventure 5e stuff.
  • Flowchart of Adventures (for other DM’s).
  • Compiled Monster List – Beastiarum.
  • Compiled Spell List – WIP
  • Compiled Item List – Magic and Gear.

EPILOGUE – 1/August/2020

After facing off against Anumaramon I decided to end the campaign there.  I had planned to extend the campaign to level 21 to 30 where the PCs have to deal with an oni invasion and the true mastermind behind all the troubles of the Orient – Fumeiyoshi, the god of oni and dishonour – but decided to end it there.  Its very time consuming to continually challenge a party of level 20 PCs and any challenge I throw is trivialised by resurrection magic.  Decided to start a new campaign and remove those options going forward.  Overall it was a great campaign and great (and memorable) final battle for everyone.


Phoenix Inquisitors add these spells to their spell list.

BURNING KISS OF STEEL

2nd level evocation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self (targeted weapon)
Components: V, S, F (melee weapon
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

A tentacle of fiery energy extends from the targeted weapon to your hand, lashing out under your control. For the duration of the spell, you may add 5 feet to the reach of the weapon by surrendering your grip to the flaming tendril. You may also use the weapon to attack adjacent opponents.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE

3rd level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: All allies within a 30 ft. radius burst centred on you
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

A favourite of the Phoenix Clan, this spell is said to have been taught to Isawa by that clan’s founding Kami. All targets of this spell receive advantage to their initiative checks.

Posted in 5e, Dungeons & Dragons, Oriental Adventures, The Divine Heir and the Jade Regent

19 Comments

  1. solomani

    Added:

    Currency: Same rules apply – everything is in single denomination except its called “sen” instead of coppers in the Land of Dawn.

    Boons & Banes: Changing these up to make them more thematic. They are now called spirit emblems “A paper doll that harbour the souls of the dead. Only an adventurer could find a use for such a thing”. They work identically to boon and banes except they are now a party resource and you do not automatically get them on level up. You are granted them as rewards for killing oni.

  2. Jonathan Walton

    I think these are all very cool and you’ve done a huge amount of work. To match Core 5e I think a lot of them are a bit more complicated and it makes me wonder about their balance. Feats usually have 1-3 different points, Fighter’s Martial Archtypes get 5 features (6 if ones a ribbon) and Monk Traditions get 4 (5 if ones a ribbon).

  3. solomani

    Martial Arts? I think it works well in concept as it takes a lot of investment from the PC. Having said that I have not tested it much. The one player that has it has rarely used it and never invested in it.

    Happy for alternative that stays faithful to the original 1e version but as I said, its difficult one to convert to 5e because it was an outlier even in 1e. The alternative is to make a feat that grants level 1 monk abilities or force PCs to take 1 level in monk for thematic purposes or potentially break them up into different feats – 1 per style.

    • Jonathan Walton

      I think Martial Arts actually fits Martial Adept well enough to say it fits. It adds a whole new concept and it’s complicated, but if you were to just add Maneuvers through a Feat it would look much the same. Even Nine-Tails feels like it could be restructured to be three bullet points, but it’s not really three different ideas, it’s just explaining one idea. Peasant Bushi has 5, Yakuza has 6, Sword Maiden has 7 very powerful bullets points, and Iaijutsu master at 6.

      Sword Maiden especially should really be a subclass.

      • solomani

        They were originally subclasses actually but decided I didn’t have enough differentiation to be subclasses so looked for an alternate solution. Will rethink them though.

        Edit. Actually martial adept actually works fine looking at it. Though thematically it would be dry. Prefer my techniques 🙂

        • Jonathan Walton

          Oh, yeah, I think Martial Arts is unconventional, but it’s mechanically and word count wise, equal to Martial Adept.

          Iaijutsu master and Sword Maiden (and the rest) are much denser and stronger than any core feat.

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