Shibaten (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Shibaten or shibatengu are diminutive Japanese spirits, at home on lawns and in streams, kin to kappa and tengu. As game creatures, they are humanoid ducks, related to ducks the same way tengu are related to crows.

A Shibaten Story

Description

Shibaten or duck-folk are humanoids with the physical characteristics of ducks, much like tengu have the features of crows. They mostly live sedentary lives, but have a fierce temper and can be very competitive. Their tempers fade as quickly as they flare and rarely get them into serious trouble.

Physical Description: Duck-folk are small, about 3'6, with duck-like feathered bodies, large beaked heads, oversize eyes, and yellow or orange bird legs with finned feet. Their plumage varies wildly in color; white, black, grey, speckled brown with a blue or green head, or even bright colors like blue, green, red, orange, and purple. Bright colored shibaten often are a motley of different colors. The color of plumage is inherited and varies by gender. White shibaten are considered aggressive, black shibaten sly, brown and grey ones shy, and motley ones vain. Shibaten are surprisingly strong and make excellent wrestlers and fighters despite their small size. Their compact, water-repellent body and finned feet make them excellent swimmers.

Family: Shibaten live in small enclaves, usually close to or mixed with the dwellings of other folk. Their society is loud, intense, and seems violent to outsiders, tough most of this is posturing - shibaten love to show off. Families are loose, often with temporary relationships. Hens lay clusters of eggs and ducklings are even more noisy that adults and considered a chore to raise; it is not unknown for egg clusters to be divided in a community or clan before they hatch. Shibaten eggs are color-coded by the gender and plumage of the duckling inside, and sometimes the drake takes responsibility for the male eggs and the hen for the female ones. Other times ducklings are raised communally or by a permanently mated pair, who need not be their biological parents or even shibaten.

Society: Shibaten tend to specialize in water-related occupations, as fisherducks, ferryducks, and laundryducks. They also farm and forage in marshes and lakes and make great rice farmers, commonly forming bands of migrants to work paddies over a wide area — a very labor intense part of rice farming where their work is much appreciated. Some take to solo wandering and become itinerant craftsmen, mercenaries, or comedians.

Relations: Shibaten are regarded as harmless troublemakers by most outsiders. While neighbors find them noisy, they are tolerated as a humorous element, and their work in water-craft rarely meets serious competition. Shibaten get along decently with humans and well with grippli, kappa, tengu and half-orcs. Elves, half-elves, and halflings tend to shy away from their boisterousness, but accept them once they get to know them and realize they are not truly dangerous. Dwarfs often end up as enemies, answering to the duck-folk's aggressiveness with serious anger that won't blow over. Gnomes find duck-folk scary, and their styles of humor rarely mix, but when they do they can form amazing comedy duos, with the shibaten surprisingly often taking the straight-man role.

Alignment and Religion: Duck-folk are self-centered and boisterous and tend towards chaotic alignments in their personal habits. But they are rarely anarchists — they like to have a stable society to fall back on. They are drawn to boisterous, brave-faced gods much like themselves, patrons that see the value of a quick wit and a good laugh. They rarely pay more than lip service to religion.

Adventurers: More aggressive shibaten adventure to express their exuberance, while others are forced into a life of adventure because they have been kicked out of their homes by bigger or more organized creatures. They make surprisingly good warriors despite their small size, and many are barbarians, bloodragers, cavaliers, swashbucklers, or even paladins. A good number of them display magical powers, especially as oracles, sorcerers or bards. Despite their size, they are too impatient and noisy to make truly good sneak rogues, but can do well as con-men.

Male Names: Ahiru, Akio, Arata, Atsushi, Haruo, Hiro, Hiroki, Isamu, Katsu, Ken, Kichirou, Masa, Orochi, Ryuu, Sadao, Sho, Takayuki, Takeo, Takeshi, Tatsuya, Tsuyoshi, Yasuo.

Female Names: Ahiru, Akane, Asami, Aya, Ayano, Chiharu, Etsuko, Hitomi, Kameyo, Kasumi, Kei, Kohaku, Mari, Mayumi, Nana, Natsuko, Ren, Sango, Takara, Toshiko, Yoshie.

Standard Racial Traits

• Ability Score Racial Traits: +2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom. Shibaten are amazingly strong for their size, creative, and good at taking the initiative. Their energy is infectious, but they are overly focused on one thing at a time and not sensitive to their surroundings.
• Size: Duck-folk are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on their combat maneuver checks and to Combat Maneuver Defense, a +2 size bonus on Fly checks, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks. See "can't shut up" below for more on Stealth.
• Type: Shibaten are humanoids with the tengu subtype.
• Base Speed: 30 ft.
• Languages: Shibaten begin play speaking Common and Tengu. Shibaten with high intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aquan, Catfolk, Draconic, Gnoll, Grippli, Halfling, Sylvan, Vanara, and Yutu.
• Random Starting Age: Base age 15 years
  Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer +1d4
  Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger +1d6
  Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard +2d6.
• Aging Effects: Middle Age 35. Old 55. Venerable 80. Max 80+3d20.
• Height and Weight: Male Height 3'1 Weight 45 lbs. Modifier 2d4 Weight Multiplier x2 lbs.,
  Female Height 3'0 Weight 35 lbs. Modifier 2d4 Weight Multiplier x2 lbs.

Offense and Defensive Racial Traits

• Sumo Aficionado: Shibaten spend a lot of time wrestling and gain a +2 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks to grapple and on CMD against grapple attacks.

Movement Racial Traits

• Paddle (Ex): Shibaten have a swim speed of 30 ft. They gain a +8 racial modifier on Swim checks and can always take 10 on Swim checks, even when in combat or under stress. A shibaten can swim on the surface without getting their gear wet as long as they pass all Swim checks. Shibaten are not actually aquatic creatures and cannot breathe water or hold their breath better than others.

Skill Racial Traits

• Quackitude: Shaibaten have a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks, and ignore Intimidate penalties for being smaller than those they intimidate.
• Natural Comedian: Shibaten have a +2 racial bonus on Perform (comedy) checks but suffer a -4 penalty on Perform (sing) checks.
• Can't Shut Up: Despite their size, shaibaten are not good sneaks. They tend to lose their temper at just the wrong moment, and suffer a -4 penalty on Stealth checks. This counteracts their size bonus to Stealth.
• Seed Finders: Shibaten have good eyesight at close distances and are able to quickly distinguish small details and color differences. They get checks to spot nearby hidden things when they first come within 5 ft. of them, as if they spent an action actively looking for such things. This includes concealed objects, traps, secret doors, and other hidden things that normally requires a move action to be spent on Perception.

Alternate Racial Traits

• Stage Quack: Some shibaten are good at all kinds of performance, get a +2 racial bonus on all Perform checks. Perform is always a class skill for them. This is common among those of motley plumage and replaces quackittude and natural comedian.
• Shy Quack: Some shibaten are less noisy and aggressive, making them better at sneaking. These get no racial skill modifiers to either Intimidate or Stealth. This is common among brown and grey ducks and negates the quackittude and can't shut up racial traits.
• Sly Quack: Some shibaten are tricky rather than rowdy, and their pushiness is channeled into trying to con others into accepting bad deals. They gain a +2 racial bonus to Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for them. This is typical among black ducks and replaces quackittude.
• Glide: Some duck-folk can use their feathered arms and legs to glide. Shibaten with this racial trait can make a DC 15 Fly check to fall safely from any height without taking falling damage, as if using feather fall. When falling safely, a shibaten may make an additional DC 15 Fly check to glide, moving 10 feet laterally for every 5 feet he falls (up to a maximum of double their land speed each move action) and descending as little as 30 ft. per round. Fly is always a class skill for these quacks. This racial trait replaces paddle.
• Gambler: Some shibaten focus on gambling rather than wrestling and get a +2 racial bonus on Profession (gambler) checks and on Bluff, Perception, Sense Motive, and Sleight of Hand checks related to gambling. This replaces sumo aficionado.

Shibaten in Greyhawk

Shibaten are relatively common in Nippon and the Nippon Territories, and exist in small enclaves in Hepmonaland. Only a few individuals ever get as far away as the Flanaess, a place they consider cold and hostile. In Nippon, they exist in all social classes, but are often seen as upstarts or intruders. Their chaotic natures make them rise and fall quickly in the strict hierarchies of Nippon, which is alien to most other inhabitants of that land.

Shibaten on Porphyra

Shibaten are native to Porphyra and once lived on the borderline between water and land, in coastal plains and marshlands. Back then, when their attitude got them into trouble with one faction, they survived by escaping into the territory of the other, and this is true for duck-folk even today. Always willing to move, shibaten have spread far but thin over the patchwork world. A few isolated families can be found almost anywhere, often acting as intermediaries between other peoples.

In dynamic societies where thrift and energy is valued over serenity and civility, shibaten can thrive. Such places include Azag-Ithiel, Bulwark, the Clockwork Lands, Creeper's Rift, the Fenian Triarchy, Freeport, the Haunted Sea, the Hinterlands of Kesh, Iffud, the Purple Mountain, the Pygmy Nations, the Seven Principalities, and the Trade Consortium of Blix. Never nation-builders, shibaten live as one of many races in these areas.

Some suppose the islands of the Last Kingdom is the original home of the shibaten. History is unclear, but fact is that the Lost Kingdom has one of the larger shibaten populations on Porphyra, and this in a culture where the duck-folks impatience would seem to be a poor fit. Even a highly formalized society does need safety valves, and this is the function of the shibaten in the Last kingdom; they are wanderers, comedians, and annoying but non-dangerous neighbors everyone loves to be shocked at. This extends to the Green Bay area of the Lotus Blossom Steppes.

An isolated population of duck-folk exist in the Rainbow Isles, presumably surviving since before the NewGods War. Savages living in isolated villages, this is perhaps the closest to the aboriginal duck-folk and the closest to a "kingdom" they have on Porphyra, but not a place civilized shibaten want to be a part of.

Religious shibaten honor Chiuta, Saren, Veiloaria, and Yolana but often in simplified versions that miss the deeper significance of these cults. Chiuta is seen as a goddess of ponds and rivers, Saren a god of half-humans and exuberance, and Yolana a goddess of riots and public feasting. Only the shibaten version of Veiloaria resembles what others expect of the gods as the protector of itinerant workers and wanderers.

Advance Race Guide Design Points

+2 Sumo aficionado
+4 Paddle
+2 Quackitude
-2 Can't Shut Up
+1 Seed Finders

7 points

Race Traits

• Ahiru of All Trades (Race): You are good at thinking outside the egg. You can try to do tasks unskilled that are normally impossible unless you have training in the skill. You gain a trait bonus on all untrained skill checks of +1 per 5 Hit Dice you have.
• Pond Shirk (Race): Shirking from work in the rice paddies taught you some very useful tricks. You are good at hiding in water, only the tip of the beak exposed. You be in improved cover from opponents above the surface and still breathe normally, but you count as prone while doing this. You can use Stealth this way even when asleep.
• Quack-Fu (Race): You gain a +2 trait bonus on combat maneuver checks for dirty trick maneuvers.
• Reckless Luck (Race): They say there is a god that looks out for fools—and duck-folk. Whenever you are surprised, whether by a trap or a creature, you can choose to fall prone at the start of the surprise round. You are never flat-footed while prone.
• Spot in the Sun (Race): You have found your spot in the sun, the perfect job for you. Choose one Craft or Profession skill, you gain a +2 trait bonus to this skill.

Racial Feats

In Your Face (Combat)

You often fly in the face of much larger opponents.

Prerequisite: Shibaten, quackitude racial trait.

Benefits: You count as one size category larger, but only for the purpose of which creatures you can target with combat maneuvers. This does not change your size modifier to CMB or CMD.

Shibaten Adventurers

Shibaten appreciate grabbing fate by the tail feathers and holding on tight. They can thrive in classes that requires guts and a strong arm, but there is at least one duck in each of life's ponds.

External Links

• Shibaten in Tengu article on Wikipedia.
• Fictional Ducks on Wikipedia.

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