I'm planning on running a Wuxia martial-arts-tournament-kung-fu campaign where the PCs are each monk multiclass. I'm having a bit of a problem thinking up good monsters for the campaign, though, besides the usual (goblins, ogres). I don't want the PCs to just fight waves of ninjas and kung-fu prodigies. There needs to be something else!
Any cool suggestions? I'm checking out Jade Empire this week to see if it gives me any cool ideas, and I'll probably look for a good book to read about myths if I can find one for ideas. But, what do you guys think?
Any cool suggestions? I'm checking out Jade Empire this week to see if it gives me any cool ideas, and I'll probably look for a good book to read about myths if I can find one for ideas. But, what do you guys think?
Lol...I read the thread title and thought immediately of 2 things from Jade Empire before even reading your post...Have fun in the forest. Very fun game.
My personal favorites from Chinese folklore are the Hopping Vampires. Either use them in hordes, or just make them tougher. And although they're Japanese, Tengu are nothing to scoff at. An older d20 monster collection had a King of Tengus in it that you could have a lot of fun with as a nemesis/tutor for some of you PCs. Good luck, and let us know how it shapes up.
I'm planning on running a Wuxia martial-arts-tournament-kung-fu campaign where the PCs are each monk multiclass. I'm having a bit of a problem thinking up good monsters for the campaign, though, besides the usual (goblins, ogres). I don't want the PCs to just fight waves of ninjas and kung-fu prodigies. There needs to be something else!
Any cool suggestions? I'm checking out Jade Empire this week to see if it gives me any cool ideas, and I'll probably look for a good book to read about myths if I can find one for ideas. But, what do you guys think?
You may have to homebrew some monsters, or perhaps just modify existing creatures. Chinese mythology is chock full of anthropomorphic animals. Modified lycanthropes could serve well in this instance. Beyond ogres, use demons. Lots of demons. Near to everything in myth is either a dragon or a demon. Unicorns provide a reasonable stand in for the Kirin or the Xie Cai. There are also strange birds, such as the phoenix. It would not be difficult to keep the stats of established creatures, but describe them as wildly different. A normal Hill Giant becomes interesting when he is the Xing Tian, beheaded by the Yellow Emperor who has he face in his chest doing his fierce war dance.
Check out these two:
Tengu, Feathered King
Greater Tengu, Yamabushi from Kobold Quarterly #14
Check out these articles about Tengu on KQ.com
Check The Lure of the Jade Throne, Spes Magna Games' entry into the One Page dungeon contest. (It features... you guessed it: Tengu!)
Check The Lure of the Jade Throne, Spes Magna Games' entry into the One Page dungeon contest. (It features... you guessed it: Tengu!)
Not just tengu, but tengu ninjas! :)
Steal some Kenku from 3.5 while you're at it.
And now for something completely different:
A 3.5 Celestial Ogre-Mage Paladin 7 courtesy of Blackdirge's Souped Up Monsters Thread of olden days...
Check out Kaidan: A Japanese Ghost-Story Setting Patronage Project (there's a free preview here)
Also check out the 2nd hit of this google search...