The Oriental Adventures book began, as
an idea, many years ago. It was an idea
worth pursuing -- but, like all good ideas
(it seems), it had to wait for a while. There
were other projects that had to be done,
schedules to be kept, and a general lack of
time. Finally, in the spring of 1985, everything
coincided and the work began. By
early autumn, the design and production
were finished, and the book should be available
by now in your neighborhood bookstore
or game/hobby outlet.

So, what is the OA book? Well, don?t take the title too literally
?this book is not a great big module or
series of adventures set in oriental lands. It
contains new PC races and
classes, new rules for clans, revised and
expanded rules for proficiencies, new rules
for honor, new monsters, new treasures,
and new weapons and equipment. The
book is an AD&D game expansion that
gives characters brand-new and different
lands in which to adventure. It is meant to
be for the Orient what the original AD&D
rule books are for the Western world.
In keeping with this purpose, Oriental
Adventures draws its inspiration from all
the lands of the Far East, not just one single
country or nation. Included within this
book are elements of the Japanese, Chinese,
Korean, Philippine, Malaysian, Indo-
Chinese, Mongolian, Ainu, and Siberian
cultures. The historical periods covered
range from ancient to medieval. Dungeon
Masters will be able to recreate any number
of fantasy settings with the rules and information
provided.

There are two principal ways you can use
the OA expansion. Both
are perfectly fine ways to use the book (and
so are any other uses for the material that
you may find).

The first and most obvious
way is to use the material for an oriental
campaign. Such a campaign would be set
exclusively in the oriental world. Playercharacter
classes and races from other books
would not be allowed.

However, many of you already have
campaigns well under way. Publication of
the OA rules hardly means
you have to scrap your current world. A lot
of the book is information that you can
integrate into your current campaign --
you can introduce the new character classes,
new races, new spells, and so forth into the
world you?ve already designed.

The emphasis in the OA
rulebook is on new material, and most of it
is designed to be used by players (and their
characters).

Player characters can be human,
or can belong to one of three new
character races --

Each of the new non-human races has its
particular strengths and limitations. The
korobokuru are hardy and stout fellows like
their dwarvish cousins, but in the highly
civilized and cultured lands of the orient
they are considered somewhat backward
and primitive. The hengeyokai are able to
assume three forms at will -- their animal
shape, a combination of human and animal,
and a human form. But they are loners,
occupying a niche outside the highly structured
human society. The spirit folk gain
powers from their supernatural heritage,
powers that can both aid and hinder them.

The selection of new character classes is
broad, reflecting the diversity of the oriental
world.

In addition to these new character classes
are a couple of familiar names,

But the mere descriptions of the character
classes do not create the complete oriental
character. Of near equal importance to the
setting are their skills in the arts and their
family background. Thus, new rules have
been provided to give the characters skills
and abilities such as weapon-smith, calligraphy,
poetry, falconry, herbalist, ettiquette, <>
and swimming. These skills, an expansion
of the proficiency rules already found in the
AD&D game system, help create the knowledge
of the character.

Still, the oriental character would be
incomplete without a family clan and history.
Each player determines his character?s
birth rank, designs a family (according to
simple rules), learns the family's history and
background, and determines the character?s
birthrights. Thus, a samurai character may
be the grandson of the head of his clan, who
owns a small castle and several parcels of
land. Before adventuring, the character is
given a sword of quality and several horses
as his birthright. Another character may
have had a famous general in his ancestry,
but his family has fallen on hard times
since. The family background can become
important in play, affecting the reactions of
NPCs to the character on the basis of his
family.

Of course, a brand-new setting leads to
brand-new equipment and weapons. Unlike
many other possible historical settings, the
oriental world offers a wide range of new
and exotic equipment. Weapons range from
the commonplace to the bizarre -- from
swords, spears, bows, and crossbows to chuko-
nu, jitte, kau sin ke, kiseru, kusarigama,
metsubishi, sode garami, and
uchi-ne.

Those of an unusual nature are
described and illustrated for easy reference.
Likewise, armor ranges from common suits
of leather, chain mail, and banded mail to
specific pieces such as do-maru, hara-ate-gawa,
and sune-ate.

New rules are provided
for wearing pieces, not complete suits, of
armor, a common enough situation in many
oriental lands. The rules allow characters to
wear any combination of pieces -- kote
(armored sleeves) with sune-ate (shin
guards) or do-maru (breastplate), haidate
(thigh guards), and sode (shoulder guards),
etc. Players accustomed to the armors used
in the AD&D game system will be in for a
surprise -- there is no type of plate armor
commonly available in oriental lands.
Exotic weapons are one thing associated
with the orient.

Another area linked to that
of the orient is martial arts -- the exotic
styles of combat with and without weapons.
Here, the original rules for martial arts
have undergone a great deal of expansion to
allow the DM and players to create different
styles of martial arts. Each style generates
its own armor class, number of attacks,
damage, main method of attacking, and
special maneuvers. The last of these, special
maneuvers, are extraordinary feats that can
be attempted by the characters -- flamboyant
kicks, powerful punches, throws, locks,
parries, and mental feats. Learning these
maneuvers requires dedication and patience
on the part of the PC, as well
as the sacrificing of other proficiencies he
could learn instead. In addition, the martial
arts fighter can learn to use a number of
specialized weapons, adding these to his
repetoire of fighting skills.

Of course, no adventure is complete
without adversaries. Therefore, new monsters
peculiar to the oriental milieu are
provided. New dragons and other creatures
make their first appearance -- the ikiryo,
kuei, jishin mushi, jiki-ketsu-gaki, tengu,
and shirokinukatsukami (winner of the
longest monster name yet), to name a few.
They range from implacable foes to benevolent
protectors of mankind. A new class of
creature type is introduced here, too -- the
lesser and greater spirits. These creatures
(of which there are many) are those things
of the "half-world," the boundary between
the mortal and celestial realms. Normally
found throughout the oriental world, these
creatures possess supernatural powers, often
quite formidable in scope. Fortunately for
the characters, the shukenja and wu jen are
provided with spells to deal with these spirit
creatures. Indeed, dealing with spirits is the
shukenja's equivalent of the cleric's turning
undead.

Along with new monsters come new
treasures. The stories of the orient are filled
with unusual and powerful magic items.
Furthermore, the vast number of new weapons
need to be included in the lists of possible
magical weapons. The new treasures
listed include miscellaneous magic items
representative of those found in the orient
and a system for creating magical weapons.
No longer are swords the only intelligent
weapons -- many different weapons have
the chance for special powers and intelligence.
Not only are there magic swords,
there are magic halberds, daggers, katana,
kama, naginata, and more. There are
magic bows, arrows, crossbows, spears,
darts, sling stones, uchi-ne, shurikens, and
other missile weapons. There are magic
martial arts weapons and magic ninja weapons.
The DM can create any number of
magic weapons with a variety of powers.

The OA rules can be
used within an already existing campaign or
to play in an entirely oriental world. For the
latter option, new encounter tables have
been provided.

However, there are more
than just encounter tables. Given here is a
system for creating yearly and monthly
events. These events can be natural disasters
(fires, earthquakes, floods, and
plagues), social events (contests, rebellions,
wars, births, assassinations, and bandits) or
even supernatural occurrences (hauntings
and visitations). By creating a year's worth
of events, the DM forms a backdrop for the
play of his campaign -- a living world his
characters can adventure in. The event
system breathes life and energy into a campaign
world.

Finally, there are sections giving an overview
of the life and culture of a mythical
oriental continent -- Kara-Tur. This continent
can be used as a starting place for
creating your own adventures and will also
be the setting for future Oriental Adven

<missing text>

is the general climate, geography, and principal
empires of the land. In addition, there
are also sections dealing with aspects of the
daily life in the orient -- types of food,
dress, buildings, and so forth.

Finally, to get
you started are a series of suggested adventures,
highlighting the different style of play
in the oriental world. <??>

Playing in an oriental setting is different,
and this difference creates excitement and
enjoyment. The standard "dungeon crawl"
is an uncommon event here. Instead characters,
even low-level ones, will find themselves
undertaking more wilderness
journeys and adventures. More emphasis is
placed on dealing with NPCs, too. The
oriental lands are highly civilized and cultured
places, more so than the lands of the
west at the same time. Players will find their
characters more often dealing with nobles,
lords, and officials ? engaging in politics
and government, helping to shape the destiny
of provinces.

The OA book has something
for every DM and player, not just
those fascinated by the inscrutable East.
Within its pages is material that can be
applied and adapted to any campaign. DMs
and players are encouraged to experiment,
mixing the strange powers and wonders of
the orient with their own campaigns. Such
experimentation is creative, imaginative,
and, most of all, fun. And fun is what the
AD&D game system is all about.