Oriental Adventures

2021-12-24T04:12:49Z

2601:248:5280:E240:51AB:A944:F45F:BD7E:

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'''Oriental Adventures''' is a term on [[/tg/]] that can refer to either of two things.

Firstly, it can refer to a specific set of [[Setting Aesthetics]], where the "default" neo-Medieval European trappings of traditional fantasy are removed and replaced with those of Asian or "Oriental" fantasy. Most consider this aesthetic synonymous with Japanese fantasy, but it can also refer to Chinese, Korean, Indian, or a mashup of two or more of these regions - the Japanese/Chinese/Korean mashup is particularly common, since a lot of real-world fantasy elements are actually shared between those three countries in real life.

Secondly, it can refer to either of the two [[Dungeons & Dragons]] sourcebooks created to provide advice on running D&D with this setting aesthetic. The first version was written by [[David Cook]] for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition (while being credited to [[Gary Gygax]] for sales purposes), whilst the second was written by [[Wizards of the Coast]] for 3rd edition. The books are somewhat contentious in terms of quality (and a notorious habit of the 1e OA book's pages to literally fall out in every city and nation that had a copy), with complaints for the AD&D1e version especially about the overt focus on low/historical fantasy settings and the overabundance of clunky, unneccessary "like X class, but Japanese!" classes and oriental weapons.

Common Aspects of an Oriental Adventures setting:
* [[Samurai]]
* [[Ninja]]
* [[Monk]]s
* [[Honor]] system
* [[Oriental Dragon]]s

Oriental Races for D&D include:
* [[Korobokuru]]
* [[Spirit Folk]]
* [[Hengeyokai]]

The 3rd edition version added [[Ratfolk]] (based on the [[Nezumi]] of [[Legend of the Five Rings]]) and [[Vanara]]. The Rokugan D20 Campaign Setting corebook features playable [[Naga]] and [[Nezumi]]. [[Pathfinder]] dumps the hengeyokai and the "Japanese Elves & Dwarves" of D&D for [[Kitsune]]s, [[Tengu]], [[Vanara]], [[Vishkanya]] and [[Nagaji]], so far.

[[Dragon Magazine]] #318 included an update of Oriental Adventures to the 3.5 mechanics. Only two races were significantly affected; [[Vanara]] lost their ability score adjustments, whilst [[Hengeyokai]] dropped their [[Level Adjustment]]s and changed type from Shapechanger to Humanoid (Shapechanger). The other races didn't even get a sniff in.

Campaign Settings associated with Oriental Adventures:
* [[Legend of the Five Rings|Rokugan]]
* [[Mahasarpa]]
* [[Malatra]]
* [[Kara-tur]] - the OA region of the [[Forgotten Realms]] and basically the "original OA setting", losing out that role to Rokugan in 3e.
* [[Golarion]] - not fully, but the region of Tian Xia is basically the Golarion version of Kara-tur.

Though not an official D&D OA setting, the [[Magic: The Gathering]] [[plane]] of [[Kamigawa]] has a similar motif, <s>and a [[Plane Shift]] on Kamigawa is perhaps the best chance of seeing an OA equivalent released for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]].</s> Not anymore now that Kamigawa has gone full Sci-Fi as of Neon Dynasty.

[[Category: Gamer Slang]] [[Category: Setting Aesthetics]] [[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Game Books]]

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Oriental Adventures