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| Character Classes and Races | - | - | - | Oriental Adventures |
Spirit folk are the descendants of humans and various spirits of nature.
There are three distinct races of spirit folk -- bamboo, river, and
sea spirit folk.
All have very strong ties to the natural world and the society of humans.
All spirit folk can be samurai, kensai, or bushi PCs,
through their strong ties to humans.
In appearance, spirit folk seem extremely human.
Their eyes are slender and their mouths are small.
Their eyebrows are very thin and their complexions are very pale or
golden.
The men are always smooth-shaven, without beards or mustaches.
They appear in all the diversity of humans, but tall radiate a robust
love of life and nature.
Many come close to the ideal of beauty in the society.
Spirit folk are highly attuned to nature and possess special powers
dealing with natural forces and events.
These powers are drawn from their spirit ancestry.
All have infravision with a 120-foot range.
Because part of their ancestry is human, all spirit folk must belong
to a family or clan.
They can, therefore, hold land and establish a family if this is allowed
by their character class and level.
However, spirit folk have an additional responsibility to their spirit
lord -- the Lord of the Wood, the Lord of the Rivers, or the Lord of the
Sea.
While spirit folk can never obtain honor from the actions of this spirit
lord, they are required to answer and obey his summons.
Failing to do so, or acting in a manner that dishonors the spirit lord,
will be punished by natural disasters visited on the spirit folk, and its
human family.
In cases where the human family's and the spirit lord's interests conflict,
spirit folk are expected to support their spirit lord first.
Bamboo Spirit Folk
These spirit folk normally live near forests or jungles.
Bamboo spirit folk have a 75% chance to recognize and identify normal
plants, and a 50% chance to identify normal animals.
They can move alone on foot through woodland, forest, or grassland
without leaving a trail.
When the spirit folk is traveling with others (incl. other spirit folk),
a modifier of -20% (-4 if the 1d20 scale is used) is applied to all attempts
to follow the group's trail.
Wihen in woods or forest, a bamboo spirit folk has a 75% chance to
hide
in shadows.
Each time a bamboo spirit folk gains a level of experience, he can
learn the language of one particular forest animal.
The player chooses the language learned.
Because of their affinity with natural forces, bamboo spirit folk get a +1 bonus on all saving throws versus spells, rods, staves, wands, and miscellaneous magical items that involve the elements earth and wood.
The life force of a bamboo spirit folk is always tied to a bamboo grove
deep within the forest.
If this grove is damaged, the bamboo spirit folk suffers an equal amount
of damage.
If the grove is destroyed, the bamboo spirit folk character dies instantly.
When a bamboo spirit folk enters his grove, he is instantly cured of
all wounds & diseases.
This grove can never be moved, nor do shoots sprouted from this grove
have any special effect.
River Spirit Folk
River spirit folk are associated with one particular river or stream
and commonly live somewhere near it.
River spirit folk can breathe normally in any type of fresh water.
They can swim in any type of water at their normal movement rate (reduced
for encumbrance).
When swimming, all items they carry, including unprotected paper or
scrolls, remain perfectly dry, even if submerged.
Once per day they can lower water in rivers and streams by a
depth of 10 feet, allowing others to cross easily.
This effect lasts five rounds.
River spirit folk are attuned to water in all its forms, so they gain
a +1 bonus on all saving throws vs. spells, rods, staves, wands and miscellaneous
magical items involving the element water.
They are especially vulnerable to fire, suffering a -1 penalty on all
saving throws vs. fire-based attacks.
They speak the language of fishes, the court language, and the trade
language of the land.
The life force of a river spirit folk is tied to a single, particular
river (chosen either by the DM or the player) as it lies in its natural
banks.
Water drawn from the river or diverted for irrigation is no longer
considered part of the river.
Bathing within the banks of this river cures a river spirit folk of
all wounds & diseases instantly.
Likewise, changes in the flow of the river affect the character.
Periods of drought which lower the water of the river also weaken the
PC, temporarily lowering his HP and ability scores.
Major flooding makes the character wild and uncontrollable.
Damming and other engineering changes make the character progressively
weaker until he finally dies.
Sea Spirit Folk
The sea is vast, so of all of the spirit folk, those of the sea are
the most numerous.
Sea spirit folk, like their river kin, breathe normally in any salt
water, and swim at their normal movement rate (reduced for encumbrance)
in any type of water.
The equipment they carry while swimming never becomes wet.
Once per day, they can predict the weather for the next 24 hours with
a 75% chance of being right.
They speak the court language, the language of the sea lords, and the
trade language of the land.
They have a +1 bonus on all saving throws versus fire-based attacks.
Sea spirit folk are not affected by changes in the sea, nor do they
receive healing benefits from it.
Once a year they can recieve one favor from the sea--a violent storm,
fair sailing winds, rain, the recovery of a particular item from the bottom
of the ocean, etc.
The sea spirit folk must ask for a specific thing.
Should two sea spirit folk ever make opposing requests, neither will
be granted and their favors for that year are lost.
Of all the spirit lords, the Lord of the Sea has the most authority
and takes most interest in the activities of his kin.
If a sea spirit folk character raises his honor to 85, the Lord of
the Sea bestows a gift upon him.
This may be a valuable treasure from the bottom of the ocean, a special
service, or a magical item such as the pearl of rising tide.
This gift is given with no conditions or expectations of repayment.
S6/18
D12/18
C6/14
I12/18
W9/18
CH14/18
+1 Comeliness
CLASSES: Samurai12-l, Kensai9-l, BushiU-a, Monk17-l
Samurai ...L...35+2d4... (12, 13=16, 14=17, 15=18, 16=18.90, 17=19)
Kensai ...L...35+3d4... (9, 10=17, 11=18.75, 12=18.99, 13=19, 21=14)
Bushi ...A... 30+d4... (U)
Monk ...L... 35+d4 (17)
Note: bamboo spirit folk begin at 0+xd4 years of age.
Like Tolkien's elves, all spirit folk are immortal.
* infravision 120'
H=55+d10
W=110+3d12
+5pp, +10ms, +10hs
BAMBOO
* 75% identify normal plants
* 50% identify normal animals
* pass without trace
* hide trail
* 75% hide in shadows
* +1 forest animal language per level
* +1 save vs. spells that involve earth & wood
* +1 save vs. rods, staves, wands that involve earth & wood
* +1 save vs. misc. magic items that involve earth & wood
* pick a forest square on the overland map : this is your grove
* if the grove is destroyed, then so are you
* when you enter the grove square, you are healed of all HP damage
& disease
RIVER
* swim at normal movement rate
* all items remain dry when swimming
* lower water 1/day
* +1 save vs. spells that involve water
* +1 save vs. rods, staves, wands that involve water
* +1 save vs. misc. magic items that involve water
* speak fish languages
* speak the Court language
* speak the Trade language
* pick a forest square on the overland map : this is your grove
* if the grove is destroyed, then so are you
* when you enter the grove square, you are healed of all HP damage
& disease
SEA
* swim at normal movement rate
* all items remain dry when swimming
* predict weather 1/day (75% chance of success)
* speak the Cout language
* speak the language of the Sea Lords
* speak the Trade language
* +1 saves vs. fire attacks
* ask one sea favor per year (perhaps: locate object, control weather,
tsunami)
* when honor of 85 is attained, then the Lord of the Sea bestows a
gift
<finish above>
Intro: Hi, I bought OA when it came it, back in 85, when
I was 13.
I was blown away by it, like AD&D had taken a step
forward.
I don't know if it was:
a) hey, the thing didn't fall apart in my hands (I bought
UA the first day it hit the stores in Vancouver)
b) proficiencies (note that I'd never seen a 'skill-based'
system before, my 3 years of RPG experience being limited to (A)D&D
: wow! skills!)
c) Zeb (or his editors) managed to lay everything out
in a clear format (maybe part of the reason I was blown away, again, 4
years later, when the 2E PH came out .... but that is a story for another
thread)
1. I don't know if there is a mythological precedent for
the SF
1a. Nothing on http://www.wikipedia
1b. http://www.google.com = kami human
mating japanese mythology = nothing defininte, so far
2. For the Bamboo spirit folk, I think David Suzuki would
be a good 'example', as a mnemonic
I'm hesitant to write this, but it the mnemonic idea
does reinforce
(a) they look human -- almost indistinguishable to the
eye ("extremely human")
(b) they love Nature
3. For those Kara-Tur OA gamers, the box set comes with
4 fold-out maps (I'm looking at them now)
They're notable for a couple of reasons
a) they're double-sided (rare for a 1E fold-out map)
b) a couple of them have a 580 mile to the inch scale
(2EFR gamers: note this is revised, 1/2ed, I think, I the Horde box set)
Now, I think of campaign maps in grid terms (like UNLIMITED
ADVENTURES, 16x20 numbered squares, 320 squares per 8x11 panel, if I have
my math right -- a constant & invariable format).
Note that the maps would have to be turned -| perpendicular
|- to apply this correctly in the UA320 format.
However it's done, the SF character basically CHOOSES
A SQUARE on one of the maps, and that is noted as part of the campaign
setting.
ie. square 320 : home to Sensei Fukama (SF monk), etc.
So, every time a player chooses SF for race, a little bit of campaign detail is +added+. (bonus!)
Now, for the specifics: you can use the 90 or 30 square
mile maps, basically
(In other words, not a square on the 580 mile maps, and
not a square on one of the city maps).
Of particular interest are the Bamboo Forests on the Xiao
Lung map (sorry, Shou Lung, and, sorry, again: that should have been noted
in the box in the top right that has the Key/Scale).
- - - - -
With regards to Bamboo ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo
) :
Perhaps a starting age of 4-8 years for a SFb (bamboo
spirit folk).
Like all other spirit folk, they are immortal.
FN1
Now, I don't know if that is technically bamboo there,
in the image (hey, it's green, it's grass, the memory of that image &
Bamboo Garden on Victoria Park are fresh in my mind, so close enough)
<below is for halfling: use this template for the 3 OA races>
ABILITY SCORE MODIFIERS:
RACIAL LIMITATIONS:
STRENGTH: 6/17
INTELLIGENCE: 6/18
WISDOM: 3/17
DEXTERITY: 8/19
CONSTITUTION: 10/18
CHARISMA: 3/18
RACISM, Hairfoot (HH): Neutral (duergar, svirfneblin, half-orcs), Tolerant
(AG: -5%: hill dwarves, mountain dwarves, gray elves, high elves, valley
elves, wild elves, wood elves, surface gnomes, half-elves, humans), Antipathy
(L: -5%, AG: -10%: drow), Preferred (L: +20%, AG: +15%: all halflings).
RACISM, Stout (HS):
RACISM, Tallfellow (HT):
STARTING AGE: Druid (40+3d4), Fighter (20+3d4), Thief (40+2d4)
AGE CATEGORIES: Young adult (23-33), Mature (34-68), Middle-aged (69-101),
Old (102-144), Venerable (145-199)
RACIAL TENDENCIES:
HEIGHT, M: 36. 01-10 (-d3), 11-90 (d100, 01-30 = -d3(/2), 31-70 = 0,
71-00 = +d3(/2)), 91-00 (+d6).
HEIGHT, F: 33. 01-10 (-d3), 11-90 (d100, 01-30 = -d3(/2), 31-70 = 0,
71-00 = +d3(/2)), 91-00 (+d3).
WEIGHT, M: 60. 01-10 (-2d4), 11-50 (d100, 01-30 = -d4, 31-70 = 0, 71-00
= +d4), 51-00 (+2d6).
WEIGHT, F: 50. 01-10 (-2d4), 11-50 (d100, 01-30 = -d4, 31-70 = 0, 71-00
= +d4), 51-00 (+2d4).
NPC ABILITY SCORE MODIFIERS: