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View Full Version : D&D 4e Dragonborn Samurai, you heard right. (works for 3.x as well)



RedMage125
2014-04-08, 12:10 PM
So, when I was designing my home campaign world, back in the 3.x days, I kind of wanted an Oriental Adventures type area. Didn't quite know what to do with it. Another (completely separate) idea, was that there was a southern continent apart from the one I normally ran my games in, and that this continent was ruled over by dragons (taking kind of an Eberron approach to dragon alignments), with half-dragons and draconic creatures being the norm.

Well, then 4e came about and introduced the Dragonborn race. A lot of the fluff for dragonborn shows that their culture places a heavy emphasis on honor, especially in battle. That's a bit of a short summation, but one that, to me, seemed very similar to bushido. So, when I altered my campaign word for 4e, I moved the timeline up (kind of like what FR did, only more than 100 years), and during that time, a world-shaking event occured, one side effect of which was that the southern continent and the northern one were now connected by a huge, hundreds-of-miles wide valley called The Basin of Life.

The continent to the south...is kind of like a fantasy Oriental Adventures type place. Dragons are the daimyos hee, and the dragonborn are their loyal vassals. During the time advance, some dragonborn (lesser sons of minor nobility, or commoners with the money to travel and leave their life behind) came north, and so dragonborn are available as a race in my northern area as well. But in their ancestral homeland, the dragons rule. The city of Mt. Argent, for example, is the ancestral home of the faith of Bahamut, and is usually ruled over my Silver or Mithral dragons. Fyreholm is ringed with volcanoes, and is ruled by a triumvirate of Gold, Red, and Brass dragons.

The Empire itself is known as the Drakkensrad (from the German for dragon, drakken). People and goods from that empire are known as Drakkensari.

I've done oriental equipment conversions for 4e, here (3.x versions were done in the OA books):
Armor
Cloth: No change (Cord Armor?)
Leather: Ashigaru Armor, Bone Armor, (Cord Armor?)
Hide: Leather Scale, Dhenuka
Chainmail: Brigandine Armor, Partial Armor
Scale: Lamellar
Plate: Great Armor (O-yoroi)

Weapons:
Dagger: Tanto, Aiguchi, Tamo Daggers
Short Sword: Ninja-to, Butterfly Sword, Wakizashi(restricted to nobility)
Bastard Sword: Katana
Greatsword: No-dachi
Falchion: Nagamaki, Ba Gua Dao
Maul: Die Tsuchi
Greatclub: Tetsubo
Greataxe: Ono
Rapier: Tai Chi Sword (scholar's sword)
Scimitar: Dao
Longspear: Yari
Spear/Javelin: Nage-yari
Quarterstaff: Bo
Club: Jo
Glaive: Naginata
Halberd: Kwan Dao
Parrying Dagger: Sai, Jitte
Sickle: Kama

New Weapons
Tonfa: Same stats as club, add Defensive and Off-Hand properties.; Military Weapon.
Nunchaku: Military Weapon; +2 Prof.; 1d6 damage; Mace, Flail, Off-Hand Versatile properties.
Kusari-Gama: Superior, 2h Double Weapon; +2 Prof.; 1d6/1d6 damage; Light Blade, Flail, Off-Hand, Reach properties.


When my players finally arrived here last session, I read them this:

As you crest the cliff and exit the Basin, an endless sea of long grass waves in the wind. This is the Empire of the Drakkensrad, This is Where Wyrms Rule...

Here, There Be Dragons