Around the Lantern Light: Share your Tian Xia characters!


Pathfinder Second Edition General Discussion


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With the announcement that we're getting a World Guide, Character Guide, and 4-book AP as a lavish 2e treatment of Tian Xia, I've been bouncing off the walls thinking about what a fresh palette for adventure that continent provides! While the books are a ways off still, a good number of Tian options are already in 2e, and 1e veterans had plenty of time to potentially touch the continent.

This thread is for everybody who calls the place home: everything from Kitsune pickpockets and Oni-blooded assassins to your Wayang pirates and gun-slinging Nagaji agents. Did you escort Ameiko to her throne, or win the Ruby Phoenix tournament? I want to see them!


I did have a Hungerseed (Oni-spawn tiefling) barbarian bodyguard in a homebrew game for a while, in 1e. Big ol' brute complete with massive tetsubo. I have fond memories of him, to the point where I recently had a custom mini of him made - perhaps he'll resurface in 2e now.


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One that I've been tossing around is a Tengu spirit barbarian. Nodachi wielding undertaker. Spirit barbarian is my favorite instinct and this setting fits it nicely. Soul forger for more spirit magic flavor. Bounding SPIRIT of course. lol.


Before the occult classbook came out in 1E, I had a kitsune fire wizard/monk character that I played and he used a sansetuskon. When the bender class came out I converted him into that class. He was really fun!


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

A character I played in 1e would be from Tian Xia. In the game I played her in the previous game, background lore was left vague intentionally. Her name was Samine but I would probably change it.

She was part of a noble family that had been put under a curse. When they were under high levels of stress, or when incapacited or asleep they would transform into small animals. Her family closed off their homes and did not dare to leave the estate.

Samine however proved "difficult" to her family. She wouldnt always speak, she would make "strange sounds and motions," and often "outburst for no reason" this led to herself becoming a her animal(a white rabbit) more frequently and sometimes the others as well. So the family reached out to devotees of Tsukiyo to mentor and watch over Samine. Under their tutelage Samine was able to embrace her differences and learn coping mechanisms when the world became too loud.

Samine become a worshipper of Tsukiyo. She would often go on incursions of the sect of Tsukiyo worshippers to atudy under them and provide aid to those who need it.
Samine eventually decided to head out on her own, to prove herself to her family. She struggled greatly and nearly died but was saved by a large white rabbit. She would eventually name the rabbit Shashi, and beleives the rabbit to be a spirit or some entity sent by Tsukiyo.

In 1e she was a Nature Oracle.

Trying to create her in 2e has been difficult.

Cosmos Oracle, Life Oracle, and ancestor oracle have been possibilities.

So has cleric, divine witch, and summoner( with either angel or beast eidolon)

Most of those options would include getting beastmaster.

The small animal curse was from a third party book for 1e, but in 2e I would probably just go with her being a beastkin and use critter shape to represent it.

(Fun fact along the way she also befriended a badger. So if that plot beat remined i could pcik one up as a second companion)


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Goro the tanuki is a bard/captivator that plays his belly like a taiko drum


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Quan Tai is a half-elf monk from Xa Hoi. He's pretty sure that one of the Dragon Princes is his father, given that he can spit fire from his mouth. He learned to emulate his dragon forebears in combat at a monastery and eventually developed magical abilities, including the ability to turn his hands into sharp claws. He has now devoted himself to realizing the full extent of his draconic abilities and eventually claiming a place among the Dragon Princes.

Vigilant Seal

Shoji is a Half-Elf Samurai from Tian Xia. I use the Swashbuckler mechanics to represent that, but I may be better served with a Magus. Not sure. I don't know enough about Tian Xia right now to know which exact part yet, but I have had this character for a long time.

Swashbuckler may be more Samurai X/Samurai Champloo and Magus may be more Demon Slayer.


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Trixleby wrote:

Shoji is a Half-Elf Samurai from Tian Xia. I use the Swashbuckler mechanics to represent that, but I may be better served with a Magus. Not sure. I don't know enough about Tian Xia right now to know which exact part yet, but I have had this character for a long time.

Swashbuckler may be more Samurai X/Samurai Champloo and Magus may be more Demon Slayer.

Minkai is the nation closest to being "fantasy Japan" meanwhile Jinin is formed of elves who arrived in Tian Xia through a cave to escape Earthfall. Odds are good if you split the difference to have both human and elf parentage with some official samurai status via noble birth.

Vigilant Seal

Well at first I thought the tumble through Mechanic seemed very Rurouni Kenshin, slicing through oppononents with high speed, plus the Panache speed increase and high single target damage, with a few feats to move and attack multiple times/enemies. However I've backed off a bit on that reading some threads here that apparently Swashbuckler is kind of a feelsbad class that has to jump through a lot of failure points to do anything so..less than a cool Samurai slicing at high speeds through the battlefield you end up just looking like a goober doing a whole lot of nothing.

So then I thought, I know of some magic moves that let you move and strike, some water move I can't think of the name of the spell, but there's a handful like that, maybe an elemental themed Samurai like from Demon Slayer with lightning, water, or fire could be cool with Magus.

Also I really like that idea. How, in Pathfinder Society, do I mark down being from 2 different countries? I don't know the noble background, but it sounds cool. This might make a lot of fundamental build differences, but actually since he was inspired by Yasuo from League of Legends gameplay (slicing through enemies with E, mostly, and quick strikes from Q, the Swashbuckler has a move where you use a finisher on something in the air like his R ability) a wind magic magus could be on point.


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A Thaumaturge whose esoterica are paper seals with different symbols that he attaches to his weapon and implements.


I feel like there's a few different ways to make a Samsaran Oracle that all sound really, really fun. 'Ancestors' as your past lives bubbling to the surface? Lore as the memories flooding into your mind once more? Ashes, Bones, Life... nearly all of them fit.

Phoenix Sorcerers likewise are a fun pull, for similar reasons.


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As an old D&D 4e fan, I've always had a lot of fondness for that edition's Devas: a species of immortal reincarnating angel-folk who risked becoming rakshasas if they lived sinful-enough lives.

The realization that Nephilim Samsarans can play any point on that spectrum, from "angelic" to "nearly fallen," is delightful.

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