Has anyone else attempted to use the material in Oriental Adventures to convert the Ethendar Gazetteer to 3.0/3.5?
I'm thinking some of the horse-focused Prestige classes (Battle-Maiden/Kishi Charger) would be a perfect match, as would the use of the Shaman and Wu Jen base classes.
The OA Shadowlands would serve well as inspiration for the Land of Black Sand, and prevelance of Spirits in both settings would seem to mesh as well.
Not being a student of Mongol or Asian history, I'm a tad unsure as to what equipment would be appropriate...I'm pretty sure the Mongols never made us of the Katana for example...
I would appreciate any and all comments on the matter :-)
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Cacofonix
Has anyone else attempted to use the material in Oriental Adventures to convert the Ethendar Gazetteer to 3.0/3.5?
Haven't "officially" done so myself, but I've had much the same thoughts as you.
I'm thinking some of the horse-focused Prestige classes (Battle-Maiden/Kishi Charger) would be a perfect match,
Some other options- the Shaaryan Hunter (from Player's Guide to Faerun) and the Halfling Outrider (from Complete Warrior- with some modifications, obviously).
as would the use of the Shaman and Wu Jen base classes.
These would probably fit well. I'd modify the Wu Jen spellbook feature to more closely match the Hakomon spellsticks (from Gaz12), as well as change the name.
The OA Shadowlands would serve well as inspiration for the Land of Black Sand, and prevelance of Spirits in both settings would seem to mesh as well.
Definitely. In particular, the Taint rules would fit pretty well with the Land of Black Sand.
On another note, you could probably use the options for humans in the Race section to distinguish the various tribes from one another. Optionally, you could come up with some Tribal Feats (along the lines of the Rashemen berserker lodges from Unapproachable East or Shaaryan feats from Shining South) to do the same.
Not being a student of Mongol or Asian history, I'm a tad unsure as to what equipment would be appropriate...I'm pretty sure the Mongols never made us of the Katana for example...
Let's see- from OA, these would probably be good:
Armor-
Lamellar Armor
Brigandine
Leather
Padded
Scale Mail (possibly)
Of course, most types of armor would theoretically be available, given trade with the rest of the Known World. Heavier plate type armor would probably be very rare among the horsemen, though (mobility reasons). Some light forms of barding might be available as well, though likely not heavier barding (again mobility reasons). I'd say you could use any Light and Medium armors (barding and humanoid), but avoid Heavy armors.
Weapons-
Battle Axe
Scimitar
Lance
Bows- the Mongol bow is probably the equivalent of the compound shortbow.
I've seen mentions that they had larger versions (to be used from the ground rather than horseback) as well- these would probably be compound longbows.
Javelin
Gaz12 mentions the lasso, oddly. They actually used something like a long pole with a loop at the end. I don't know if something like this has been statted before; if not, I'd use the man-catcher stats, but without any damage causing.
These would probably fit well. I'd modify the Wu Jen spellbook feature to more closely match the Hakomon spellsticks (from Gaz12), as well as change the name.
Wu Jen for Hakomons sounds like an interesting idea. For the Shaman I'd probably go with the Shaman class from Kalamar.
Gaz12 mentions the lasso, oddly. They actually used something like a long pole with a loop at the end. I don't know if something like this has been statted before; if not, I'd use the man-catcher stats, but without any damage causing.
I didn't know Man-catcher had been statted for 3E. Is there a name for this Mongolian lasso that you describe? Has the regular lasso been statted for 3E btw?
Håvard
What would you regard as a "ranged" alternative. Some powered-up form of rapid shot?("Flurry of arrows" perhaps?)
Gaz12 mentions the lasso, oddly. They actually used something like a long pole with a loop at the end. I don't know if something like this has been statted before; if not, I'd use the man-catcher stats, but without any damage causing.
I didn't know Man-catcher had been statted for 3E. Is there a name for this Mongolian lasso that you describe? Has the regular lasso been statted for 3E btw?
I haven't seen the lasso statted anywhere...but then again I haven't looked very hard up til now.
In my three seconds analysis, I would be more inclined to use the whip as a base item - remove damage, increase range and if you're tripped, you're entangled/snared.
That would probably do for a few enemy encounters - I would probably give it more thought if one of my characters wanted to actually use one of course
On a completely unrelated note, I'm curious as to how you may have integrated the Ethengar Spirits in with the rest of the Known World. Do you let them "migrate" to other areas, or are the confined to the Steppes (and possibly the Clans?).
Are "Spirits" actually more common than indicated, perhaps appearing in other forms in other areas? (Such as Oberon and the Fey court?)
Ultimately, I'm trying to come up with an explanation for why and how a Shaman's spirit-related powers might remain useful if he/she leaves the Steppes...
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Cacofonix
I didn't know Man-catcher had been statted for 3E.
The mancatcher can be found in Complete Warrior.
As far as Oriental Adventures goes, I thought about using the Spirit Shaman from that book for both the Shamans of Ethengar and the Shamani of the Atruaghin Plateau, perhaps with a customised Spirit Domain or two for each culture to add some distinction. I was disappointed that they apparently abandoned the Spirit Shaman's domains when they republished the class in Complete Divine.
I have a player desperately wanting to try out his copy of Oriental adventures. He has decided he wants to run an Ethengar Samurai - using the Unicorn clan Samurai as a basis.
I am leaning towards allowing this, albeit with the following few changes:
1) Equipment: Given the Ethengarian focus on horse archery, I find the melee ancestral daisho to be inappropriate. I was thinking of replacing them with the standard Composite Shortbow & handaxe mentioned in the Gazetteer (and let them be "awoken" as per the samurai rules).
2) Customise the code of behaviour for a member of the Horde. The result will probably will be a lot more brutal on the player than the "standard" samurai code
Any thoughts?
Additionally, do you think the Iaijustu skill has any purpose amongst the Ethengar?
Cacofonix
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(Note the concept of "barbarian" depends on your perspective - the Ethengars will regard most other known world folk as barbarians after all.)
There is contact with Ochela (through Thyatis) so he should be able to get to the known world OK, he just needs that reason (seeking slayers of someone would be a good possibility).
Some other options- the Shaaryan Hunter (from Player's Guide to Faerun) and the Halfling Outrider (from Complete Warrior- with some modifications, obviously).
There's also the Wild Plains Outrider (from Complete Adventurer), may need tweaking.
Slightly off topic, but I've been meaning to go through all the PrC's in the Complete ... series and see which would fit Mystara and which wouldn't. Whether any would need tweal=king etc.
Gary
Casting Resurrection on this thread...
1) Equipment: Given the Ethengarian focus on horse archery, I find the melee ancestral daisho to be inappropriate. I was thinking of replacing them with the standard Composite Shortbow & handaxe mentioned in the Gazetteer (and let them be "awoken" as per the samurai rules).
Except for the Dragon Clan (who need to take feats to make Two-Weapon Fighting work), the daisho set is really only worth a single weapon: the wakizashi just goes unused most of the time. Shortbow and handaxe gives you way more flexibility. (On the other hand, it's way less powerful than a katana, so maybe it balances out.)
Additionally, do you think the Iaijustu skill has any purpose amongst the Ethengar?
I never liked the Iajutsu skill anyway - the mechanic doesn't seem quite right. (And when I tried to talk a friend who's written d20 mechanics for a major company into letting me play a visiting Samurai in his XCrawl campaign, he took one look at Iajutsu and said, "That's essentially sneak attack for a fighter. Fighters do not get sneak attack, ever, cause that's a Rogue's core combat ability."
I agree that trying to stick a Samurai into Ethangar doesn't really seem appropriate.
I have never found a Mystaran equivilent to "chinese". I am hoping that somewhere on Davania or Skothar we might find them yet....
Does that book have any "horse archer" type rules? I think a PrC or feats for a mounted archer is right up an Ethengarian's alley. For that matter, has anyone done any work on these horse warriors? Could be interesting...
For Horse Warriors, I generally recommend using Rangers, chosing Horse as their animal companion. Ofcourse, that is the Quick and Dirty way of handling it. Creating a Horse Warrior as a Ranger variant class is also possible.
Håvard
Does that book have any "horse archer" type rules? I think a PrC or feats for a mounted archer is right up an Ethengarian's alley. For that matter, has anyone done any work on these horse warriors? Could be interesting...
As I said the Wild Plains Outrider should work for this. Picture here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/cx_gallery/86371.jpg
I'll look thru my books and see if there are any others.
Gary