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Possible Allies or Enemies for Oriental Adventures

Deviation Actions

Published: Dec 8, 2014

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Literature Text

The following characters are options that can be used by the Dungeon Master as possible NPCs for the PCs to face or join forces. This is intended to be used in 3.5 Edition, but it will be up to the Dungeon Master how to adjust these to be used in other editions.

Gruu

High in the mountains, no traveler ever wishes to hear the dreaded howl of the Yeti as it stalks the snowy crags for prey in the night. However, there are a few that are not so quick to attack and feed on unlucky adventurers, in fact they may help those who have lost their way from the path. One of these rare yetis is Gruu, who wanders the mountain trails of Shou Lung. He is very lazy and passive compared to the rest of his race and he can be seen eating his meals off the side of the road. When confronted with strangers, he tries to ignore them and keep to his own business, but he snaps and gets irritable when they get too close or attempt to steal his food. However, he does sometimes provide care and shelter to those who succumb to the mountains' many dangers, though it is hard to figure out why he would do this. Some say this is a test for him to see if he can fool someone to stick around to be his next meal, others say that it may simply just be a small bit of kindness behind the creature's terrifying appearance. What he is particularly fond of is the children of most other humanoids and he keeps them around the longest. This, of course, lands him into a lot of trouble as a menace in most communities and results into him being driven out on sight by the townsfolk, even when he guides the youth he nursed to health back home. Again, this is a mystery of what his motives are or why he targets children the most to bring to his den, but a clue can be found from a picture he scratches on the walls of each cave he stays in. It is of two adult yetis, standing around a very small one.

Gruu

Male Yeti
1st Level Yeti
ECL: 6
Large Monstrous Humanoid (Cold)
Languages: Giant
Alignment: Neutral
HD: 4d8+2 plus 1d8+2
HP: 44
Initiative: +1
Speed: 40 ft.
AC: 14
Attack: +6
Melee: 2 Claws +6 / 1d6+3 damage
Special Attacks: Improved Grapple
Special Qualities: Cold Subtype
Saves
Fort: +2
Ref: +5
Will: +5
Str: 23 (+6)
Dex: 13 (+1)
Con: 15 (+2)
Int: 9 (-1)
Wis: 13 (+1)
Cha: 10 (+0)

Skills and Feats: Climb +8, Hide +3, Move Silently +3, Wilderness Lore +3, Power Attack

Hui Hong Gang

Ogre Mages are the boogiemen that the children of Shou Lung and the Island Nations were told to be afraid of in dark nights by their parents and they were why they should never go out after sundown. These monsters have populated the globe, disguising themselves with magic to infiltrate society and make the forces they lead seem weaker than it really is. Then there's Hui Hong Gang, who doesn't live up to the terrifying nature of his kin, but instead plays the part of a local thug and bully in the towns he wanders into. His reason to wander the continent is to gain infamy among his peers and to become rich with a palace to call his home. Gang is a very heavy drinker and he carries jugs of sake, ale, and wine with him at all times. He also likes to disguise himself as a human to woo females of many different races whenever he gets drunk and elves and hengeyokai women are his favorites. When he's sober, he uses his spell-like abilities to gain more money for his drinks and avoid getting caught by the authorities. It's very hard to get into good terms with this monster, but to those who have gained his respect or (very rarely) his friendship, he is a beast with a good sense of humor and a mind that almost matches that of a graduated scholar.

Hui Hong Gang

Male Ogre Mage
1st Level Ogre Mage
ECL: 13
Large-Size Humanoid (Giant, Spirit)
Languages: Giant, Common, Dwarven, Goblin, Spirit Tongue, Orc
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
HD: 5d8+3 plus 1d8+3
HP: 54
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
AC: 16
Attack: +2
Melee: Greatsword +7 / 1d10+7 slashing damage
Special Attacks: Spell-Like Abilities (Charm Person 1/day, Sleep 1/day)
Special Qualities: Regeneration 5, Spell Resistance 15
Saves
Fort: +6
Ref: +1
Will: +1
Str: 20 (+5)
Dex: 11 (+0)
Con: 16 (+3)
Int:18 (+4)
Wis:18 (+4)
Cha: 20 (+5)
Skills and Feats: Concentration +9, Craft (Calligraphy) +7, Listen +8, Spellcraft +11, Spot +8, Combat Casting

Nanami

Ryujin has many servants attending to him in his palace under the waves and his most trusted one is his his court shaman, Kanikara. The daughter and apprentice to this shaman is Nanami, who still has a lot to learn in the matters of the natural spirits the ningyo worship and the dragon king keeps in contact with. She's easily bored with her father's lessons on how to pray at a shrine or which of the spirits are needed for any spell she would cast, but she does like taking advantage of some of the benefits. Her duty in the palace is to keep watch over the sacred totems her father prays to, work as the royal messenger and examine the food prepared for Ryujin. If the meal is diseased or poisoned, she is to inform the dragon king and purify it for his safety. As one would expect, she's grown tired of this job and wants to find the best excuse to get out of it and spend time with her pet porpoise. Contrary to her beauty and wisdom, she hides her manipulative and short-tempered personality. During fights, she just sits in the background, expecting others to go toe-to-toe with any threats while she does the easy job of supporting them.

Nanami

Female Ningyo (Merfolk)
2nd Level Shaman
ECL: 4
Medium-Size Humanoid (Aquatic)
Languages: Common, Aquan
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
HD: 1d8+3 plus 2d6+3
HP: 26
Initiative: +1
Speed: 5 ft., swim 50 ft.
AC: 17
Attack: +1
Melee: unarmed strike -1 / 1d3-1 bludgeoning damage
Ranged: dart +5 / 1d4+5 piercing damage (Range: 20 ft.)
Special Qualities: Amphibious, Low-light vision, Unarmed Strike, Animal Companion, Spirit Sight, +8 to swim checks.
Saves
Fort: +3
Ref: +1
Will: +2
Str: 7 (-2)
Dex: 14 (+2)
Con:16 (+3)
Int:14 (+2)
Wis: 16 (+3)
Cha:17 (+3)
Skills and Feats: Concentration +10, Diplomacy +8, Heal +11, Knowledge (Arcane) +7, Knowledge (Spirits) +7, Improved Unarmed Strike
Domains: Nature, River
Spells
Lvl 0 - Detect Disease, Detect Poison, Guidance Mending, Inflict Minor Wounds, Purify Food and Drink, Resistance, Virtue
Lvl 1 - Animal Friendship, Bless Water, Cure Light Wounds, Entropic Shield, Speak with Animals, Trance

Animal Companion: Porpoise (See here. )

(More may come later.)