Oriental Adventures


 * For the 3rd edition book, see Oriental Adventures (3rd edition)

Oriental Adventures is a 1st-edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons accessory. It is part of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting and set in Kara-Tur.

"Dungeon Masters and players: prepare yourselves to enter a whole new world-the world of Oriental Adventures!

The material in this book will enable you to play the AD&D game as you've never played it before. In the lands of Oriental Adventures, characters are not judged solely on their prowess with sword and spell. Oriental characters' social skills and personal honor are just as important as their combat abilities. When was the last time politeness and proper manners really mattered in your campaign? How can characters associate with nobility if they know nothing of courts or court etiquette? How many AD&D characters worry about how their actions reflect upon their families and comrades? These and many other intricacies of social interactions and responsibilities are brought to light in this volume. Don't get the idea that Oriental Adventures characters don't fight. Pages and pages of Oriental weapons and armor are described and illustrated here. From the favored weapons of the ninja to thin pieces of cloth that actually stop arrows, the arms and defenses of the Orient are yours in the lands of Kara-Tur. Have a favorite monster from Japanese films? Find it under Gargantua in the Monsters section! Want to learn a martial arts style or create a new style? You can do it in the new worlds opened up to you in Oriental Adventures!"

Contents

 * Creating the Player Character
 * Character Classes and Races
 * Families, Clans, and Caste
 * Honor
 * Money and Equipment
 * Proficiencies
 * Shukenja Spells
 * Wu Jen Spells
 * Combat
 * Events and Encounters
 * Encounter Tables by Terrain Type
 * Monsters
 * Treasure and Magical Items
 * An Overview of Kara-tur

History
Oriental Adventures was written by Gary Gygax, David "Zeb" Cook, and François Marcela-Froideval, and published in 1985 by TSR for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition rules. The book's early chapters introduce ten character classes and three races that Oriental campaigns use in place of D&D's original classes and races. Further chapters provide spells, monsters, magic items, and other rules used in Oriental campaigns.

The original Oriental Adventures introduced two major innovations to the AD&D system. Although previous TSR publications (such as Deities & Demigods) had touched on using non-European settings for the game, Oriental Adventures was the first official supplement entirely devoted to roleplaying in a non-Western setting. Oriental Adventures also introduced a new game mechanic to Dungeons & Dragons, as the first official supplement to include rules for nonweapon proficiencies. Both non-weapon proficiencies and non-European settings were explored in more detail in 2nd edition AD&D rules.

The fantasy setting introduced in the original Oriental Adventures is Kara-Tur. TSR went on to produce eight adventures using the Oriental Adventures rules and the Kara-Tur setting.

Gary Gygax intended to incorporate the material from Oriental Adventures into revised versions of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, but left TSR shortly after announcing the project. Little, if any, material from Oriental Adventures was incorporated into the AD&D 2nd edition core books, and Oriental Adventures itself was never revised for the 2nd edition. However, the recent release of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons contains many references to this campaign setting and includes rules for mapping the differences (nunchuku = clubs with strings, etc) as well as providing the Monk class using many of the original martial arts rules found in Oriental Adventures.

Credits

 * Original AD&D Game: Gary Gygax
 * Original Oriental Adventures Concept: Gary Gygax with Francois Marcela-Froideval
 * Oriental Adventures Design: David "Zeb" Cook
 * Editors: Steve Winter, Mike Breault, Anne Gray, Thad Russell
 * Cover art: Jeff Easley
 * Illustrations: Roger Raupp, James Holloway, Jeff Easley, Dave Sutherland
 * Cartography: Dave LaForce
 * Product Design: Linda Bakk, Mike Breault, Steve Winter
 * Typography: Linda Bakk, Betty Elmore, Carolyn Vanderbilt
 * Keylining: Dave Sutherland, Colleen O'Malley, Linda Bakk
 * Proofreaders: Jon Pickens, Harold Johnson, Bruce Heard