OA BESTIARY: BAJANG

In this set of blog entries I aim to convert the original 1e Oriental Adventure monsters to 5e to provide some extra fodder for an OA campaign. I am using both the original 1e source and the updated 3e source as reference for the build. I left some of the 3e spells intact – as […]

WU JEN SPELL LIST

Since the wu jen has a special ability tied to being able to master spells of different elements it requires adding a tag to the spells in the PHB and those from Princes of the Apocalypse. Unique spells are also added including the signature fire shuriken. I have also stuck to the Aristotelian view of the […]

ARCANE TRADITION: WU JEN

Here is the fourth class for Oriental Adventures the wu-jen. Much like the samurai, sohei and shukenja beforehand I decided to make the wu-jen a wizardly arcane tradition. WU-JEN Wu-jen are sorcerors, men of mysterious powers. They command the elements, spirit forces, and the very powers of nature. They are seldom found living with the rest of human society. Instead, they live […]

OA BESTIARY: BAKEMONO

ORIENTAL ADVENTURES BESTIARUM VOCABULUM

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 […]

PRIMAL PATH: PATH OF THE KOMAINU RAGER

Inspired by the original singh rager from 3e D&D Oriental Adventures this is a hengeyokai only barbarian primal path – something unusual in 5e D&D. It emphasis the combat abilities of the hybrid form of the hengeyokai just like the Nine-Tails feat emphasis the combat proves of the animal form. But this is much more of a commitment to […]

MARTIAL ARCHETYPE: KENSAI

Though I decided against making a yakuza class – I think the basic rouge covers this well enough – the kensai is unique enough to have its own archetype in Oriental Adventures. You can find other classes for OA here. KENSAI Kensai means “sword saint” or “swordmaster” and is usually applied to characters who have perfected the art […]

SORCEROUS ORIGINS: SHUKENJA

Here is the third class for Oriental Adventures the shukenja. Much like the samurai and sohei I decided to make the shukenja a subclass, in this case of, sorcerous origin. Though the shukenja can conceivably fit with either the monk or sorcerous class the spellcasting ability of the shukenja is more intrinsic to the class concept than the martial arts so I went with […]

PSYCHIC DUELS

A new option for 5e Oriental Adventures. The rules are taken from 3e OA with little modification (which is was taken from 1e OA with little development work as well – none really needed). They work fine almost as is 5e. PSYCHIC DUELS Far less lethal than an iaijutsu duel, a psychic duel involves two samurai staring each other down—focusing their energy […]

ROGUISH ARCHETYPE: NINJA

The ninja class for 5e Oriental Adventures. You could argue that the assassin archetype fits the ninja quite well but historically the ninja was as much a spy as an assassin. I have used the assassin as the base archetype but added more spy and mystical type abilities to the ninja’s repertoire. NINJA Ninjas are the invisible warriors; spies and […]