Taking it to the next level..

I enjoy the Oriental Adventures book for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition and have played it quite a bit in my past, to the point my book is falling apart. In the past while running games out of this book, I’ve stepped it up or taken it to the next level by speaking in Japanese for Non-Player Characters. I’ve designed custom sheets for the game and even tried to supply the table with props for the game.
When I was living in New York, everytime we played, we ordered Japanese take out to help get in the mood of the game. I’d like to think the players enjoyed themselves as it helped really set the mood of the game that day, and helped them get in the frame of mind for some great roleplaying.
I know quite a few people dislike this book, because of various reasons, but I really enjoyed this book from the first game I played when I was kid, up to this day as a man. I know this game was redesigned for the 3rd Edition D&D, and I never used it, but the best thing came of the game, when it was turned into the Legend of the Five Rings. Great game, with an awesome system still being played by lots of people who enjoy this type of gaming.

5 thoughts on “Taking it to the next level..

  1. That wasn't your copy of Oriental adventures I bought from the RFI store on Amazon was it? 😉
    We are getting ready to run a Bushido campaign in my gaming group. It should be fun. It plays most like Basic D&D.

  2. I love OA, it is one of my favorite books. As for Legend of the Five Rings, I've heard nothing but good things about it. Also, Qin: The Warring States is a great system if you enjoy Chinese history, fantasy, and epics. Have you ever played Bushido? The system is a tad complex but it is awesome in its detail and level of customization. It gives a good chunk of material that let you enjoy Sengoku or Edo period styles of play.

  3. L5R is a great game, not a lot people can get into it and I can see why. The game has heavy roots in a political type based society. I'd love to get in a game of it again.

  4. I bought OA new back in the day, and I loved it from day one. I immediately started using a good bit of it, from the proficiencies to the honor system to the races and classes.

    The classes blew me away. I could go on and on about how much I dug the kensai and the OA barbarian. The sohei is a great concept. The new races also fascinated me with their implications. I especially liked the korobokuru.

    The adventures for the setting, especially the first five, are really cool. They have a very definite, distinct feel from baseline D&D. The Kara-Tur setting is outstanding. It presaged Al-Qadim in how it was not afraid to take D&D's concepts and implied setting and put them aside in favor of something different.

    Very underrated book.

  5. I like the book. And, the idea of using food to help set the mood is something I have done once or twice, as has another gamer friend of mine.

    And, L5R is really a fun one. Just wrapped up a game of it. Really fun.

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