How do you suppose one would go about incorperating OA classes and XPH classes into an AoW campaign?
I don't think the expanded psionic classes are that hard to put in there, as base D&D and the two main Campaign Settings already assume that psionic classes and to an extent, races exist in the campaign.
The bigger issue would be the OA classes, which would require you to find an area of the campaign world that has an asian feel to it, and there for the more asian themed classes. This isn't a big deal for FR as OA classed characters can always be from Kara-Tur.
It all depends if you are trying to keep the GH feel. And even in GH, exceptions are the rule. I wouldn't think it would be hard to use either Oriental or Psionic characters/classes. Where you might have problems would be the lack (so far) of specifically psionic items, or oriental weapons. But you could easily change all or some of the weapons to their oriental counterparts if you were running this as an oriental campaign. I know several groups contain a ninja cnaracter of some sort. Also, Oriental classes don't have to necessarily dress in the steriotypical fashion. The Ninja may wear simple traveling clothes, and a Samuari may don platemail and use a Great Sword. Personally I like it when players in my game take the classes out of Oriental adventures...though few usually do. If they do, I give them access to the magic of Riokan (sp?) and other oriental source books. I think the clashing of cultures makes for an interesting roleplaying oppertunity in the game.
As for Psionics, I've only had one player take a psionic class, and that was under 3.0. They just don't seem to appeal to my players...or my players aren't familiar enough with the rules, or have the books to play one.
ASEO out
How do you suppose one would go about incorperating OA classes and XPH classes into an AoW campaign?
There are a few ideas regarding OA classes that also appear in the Complete Series in this thread:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms/gettingTheCompleteB aseClassesInvolvedWhat about swapping out the idea of "Asian" for "Exotic". Various monster races might not have quite the traditional fighter / cleric / wizard / rogue line-up. For example I've seen it suggested before that the Dhakaani Goblinoid tribes of Eberron, being the descendents of the original rulers of Khorvaire, might have more of these classes.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040816a
Wouldn't a Hobgoblin Samurai fit in nicely with the well-organized, militaristic lawful nature of those creatures? Goblin ninjas? Or stepping outside the goblinoid races, and since it's your avatar, what about a Kenku ninja? Ninjas being masters of stealth and deception might fit nicely with the mimicry of Kenku, and the +2 Hide and Move Silently bonuses are also a plus.
Now fitting monster races into your campaign might be a bit trickier. Eberron would certainly help that since it seems to open the door more to monsters races as PCs and the over-all idea that "things are not as they seem".
One thing to think about too is the ammount your talking about. Are you asking because one or two players want to play a psionic/oriental character? Or are you wanting to put Diamond Lake into an Asian setting with a heavy influence of psionics?
My group has a single psionic character (kalashtar psion), so I don't have all that much to worry about. I'm going to be adding in little psionic bits here and there, just enough so the player doesn't get the feeling he is the only one who's "different" on the whole planet. Some examples include using the previously stated idea that there is a small band of goblins in the abandoned mine office described in last months Dragon, but in my campaign they will be lead by a blue (psionic goblin) instead of a fighter/adept. I'll also be switching out core classes for alternate classes (psionic as well as complete classes) on many of the campaign's NPCs. I don't have much writen in stone reguarding that, but I'd be willing to post more info on the idea if people are interested.
The group I am running includes a xeph soulknife. His race makes him a bit of an exotic in the area but the class seems fine. As a side note I'm wondering if his place of origin, a dark rift valley in the east, may offer some special knowledge as the adventure progresses. They haven't found the worm in Filche's lab yet.
It could be interesting to feed the player bits of knowledge, saying that his homeland experienced something similar, and he is either traveling the world in search of something to help his people, or warn other cities so they don't suffer the same fate as his people. Were I you I would give him/her just as many red herings as actual facts, to make things more interesting.
While were on the subject of psionics, does anyone know if there is an eratta for the Expanded Psionics Handbook? Last night I was shown quite bluntly just how unbalanced mind thrust is, especialy when weilded by a wilder.
Are there like any psionic variants of the ninja? I like really love psionics and ninjas, they would just totally make a great combination, but I like haven't seen any ninja-style classes that use psionics. Can like anyone help me?
I'd consider the ninja psionic enough all things considered. The soulknife is a "psionic" class, but has no psionic abilities, and I don't see the ninja all that different from that. It's all in the backstory...
Are there like any psionic variants of the ninja? I like really love psionics and ninjas, they would just totally make a great combination, but I like haven't seen any ninja-style classes that use psionics. Can like anyone help me?
While I can't think of any specific cross class you could always simply multi-class. I have a ninja player who is planning on multi-classing as a Psionic Warrior, but I think most of the Psionic classes would work with a ninja.
Personally I'm hoping the classes mix well as currently the party Ninja is the laughingstock of the whole party and the player is becoming demoralized.
Were there any materials from 1E or 2E dealing with psionics and ninjas that could be converted? Wasn't there an article in Dragon about psionic ninjas a few years ago?
Are there like any psionic variants of the ninja?
Not a psionic ninja, but the WOTC D&D website has a variant rogue that uses psionics and can be found here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723b
Hope that helps,
Rhen
You could just convert the entire AoW to an oriental atmosphere. There are a few ways to accomplish this. A) set it in a homebrew world (easiest), B) set it in Kara-Tur or Rokugan, or C) try to fit it in on the fringes of civilization or some undiscovered land in your favorite campaign setting.
Of course, if you want to maintain true flavor, you'd need to do some heavy conversion. Some of the lesser creatures could remains fighters and rogues and what have you, but the boss monsters and "named NPCs" really need to be changed to oriental classes to make the flavor work.
Alternatively, if you simply want to allow one or two players to play oriental classes in an otherwise fantasy-medieval world, you could utilize the wandering traveller device. If set in Greyhawk, the PC could be from the Twilight Monastery, where similar arts are often practiced. In fact the Twilight Monastery can be converted to just about any campaign setting to be a settlement of oriental-style peoples who live near Diamond Lake.
As for incorporating psionics, they fit easily into Eberron so you may wish to run it there. In Greyhawk and FR it is a bit trickier since psionics are not prominent in either world. Followers of Zuoken in Greyhawk often discipline themselves to master the powers of the mind, so simply requiring your PC to be a worshipper of Zuoken with a "divine gift" to manifest psionics could work. In this situation, I suggest using the psionics-magic transparency rule. Also, add a percentile chance (around 10-20% is good) that any magical item the PCs find is instead a psionic item of similar price and power. Psionics is even less a part of FR so you could explain it as an aberrant genetic trait or divine gift of some kind. You should also remember to add psionic items to treasure but in the case of FR the chance should probably be more like 5-10%.
Don't worry necessarily about the fact that the PCs won't face psionic opponents. If you really want them to, converting Zyrxog (Hall of Harsh Reflections) to a psionic mind-flayer is probably the best place to do it. Perhaps occassionally there will be other villains the PCs encounter in future scenarios that can be adapted into psionic classes, but I wouldn't go too far with it. No more than one psionic bad guy every 1-2 adventures would probably be best.
Some say psionics is a bit overpowered. It can be, but in recognizing that, remind players of classes like psion or wilder that blowing all their power points in one battle is likely to be the death of them since they won't be able to keep up with the PCs for long. I've already seen plenty of parts of this AP in which resting too much for too long a period results in damaging effects to the storyline which may send the PCs reeling for a long time. Encourage moderation in use of power points by making resting difficult due to time constraints and you should have no balance issues. Every once in a while, a wilder may boost a power to such enormous proportions that the enemy is obliterated, but this is unlikely to happen to the toughest villains and if the PC does it too often, they had better be content sitting at the back of the party and firing a crossbow the rest of the time.