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 duck the same way tengu are related to crows.

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 fade, however, and rarely get the shibaten 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 single-colored blue or green head, or even motley with bright colors like blue, green, red, and orange. Plumage color is inherited, varies by gender, and sometimes related to social class and occupation. White shibaten are considered aggressive, black shibaten sly, brown and grey ones shy, and motley ones vain. Shibaten are surprisingly strong for their size and make excellent wrestlers and fighters despite their small size. Their compact, water-repellent body and finned feet make them excellent swimmers.

Society: Shibaten live in small enclaves, usually close to the dwellings of other folk. Families are loose, often with temporary relationships. Shibaten eggs differ by gender of the chick inside, and often male eggs are hatched by males and female eggs by females. Other times chicks are raised communally.

Shibaten tend to specialize in water-bound occupations, such as fisherducks, ferryducks, and doing laundry. They also farm and forage in marshes and lakes and make great rice farmers. Some become wandering comedians or clowns, and this is a role many outsiders expect of them. Their society is loud, intense, and seems very violent to outsiders, tough most of this is posturing.

Relations: Shibaten are not well regarded by most other races, but neither are they seen as a serious threat. While neighbors find them noisy, they are tolerated as a humorous element, and their work in water-craft rarely causes 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 dangerous, and their styles of humor rarely mix, but when they do they can form amazing duos.

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 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 - tough 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 stronger creatures. They make surprisingly good warriors despite their small size, and many are fine archers and hunters, but a good number of them display magical powers, as 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: Akio, Arata, Atsushi, Haruo, Hiro, Hiroki, Isamu, Katsu, Ken, Kichirou, Masa, Orochi, Ryuu, Sadao, Sho, Takayuki, Takeo, Takeshi, Tatsuya, Tsuyoshi, Yasuo.

Female Names: 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 surprisingly strong for their size, and 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, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
• 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, Grippli, and Sylvan.
• 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 3'3 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: Shibaten have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
• Bog Stride: Shibaten can move through difficult terrain at their normal speed while within mud, bog, marsh, or flooded areas. Such areas that that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect them.

Skill Racial Traits

• Quackittude: Shaibaten have a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks, and ignore Intimidate penalties for being smaller than those they threaten.
• Natural Comedian: Shibaten have a +2 racial bonus on Perform (comedy) checks but suffer a -2 penalty on Perform (sing).
• 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 of Stealth checks. This negates their size bonus.
• 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, such as traps, secret doors, and other hidden things that normally would take searching to find whenever they first come within 5 ft. of them.

Senses Racial Traits

• Low-light Vision: Duck-folk can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.

Alternate Racial Traits

• Proud Quack: Some shibaten are good at all kinds of performance, and get a +2 racial bonus on all Perform checks, and 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 replaces 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 make others accept 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 5 feet laterally for every 20 feet he falls. 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.

Racial Trait Picks

• Duck of All Trades: You are good at thinking outside the box. You can try to do tasks unskilled that are normally impossible unless you have training in the skill. Of course, your lack of training means that your chance to succeed might be very low.
• Pond Shirk: 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 gain a +4 trait bonus on Stealth checks when you are in water and observers are above the surface. You must make a Swim check each round, and you need to beat the difficulty by 5 to succeed at this maneuver, but your swim speed usually makes this easy in calm waters.
• Quack-Fu: You gain a +2 trait bonus on combat maneuver rolls for dirty tricks.
• Reckless Luck: They say there is a god that looks out for fools - and ducks. Whenever you are surprised, whether by a trap or by creatures, you can choose to fall prone as a free action outside your turn. This does not stop you from being flat-footed, but provides defense against ranged attacks and often some cover as well.
• Spot in the Sun: You have found your spot in the sun, the perfect job for you. Choose one Profession skill, you gain a +2 trait bonus to this skill.

See Also

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