The Moto Avenger

TABLE 11-6: THE BAYUSHI DECEIVER

Class

Base

Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

Attack Bonus +0 +1 +2 +3 +3 +4 +5 +6 +6 +7

Fort Save +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7

Ref Save +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7

If a Bayushi deceiver gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.

Poison Use : Bayushi deceivers are trained in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade .

Strike First, Strike Last (Ex) : A Bayushi deceiver of at least 2nd level adds his intelligence modifier to his initiative checks .

Scorpion Feint (Ex) : When a Bayushi deceiver of 4th level or higher uses the Bluff skill to feint in combat against a humanoid opponent, he receives a +2 competency bonus on his Bluff check and a +2 circumstance bonus on his next attack roll if the feint is successful . He gains no bonus against nonhumanoid opponents.

Improved Disarm Feat : At 6th level, a Bayushi deceiver gains the improved Disarm feat . He need not have taken the Expertise feat, normally a prerequisite, before this .

Opportunist (Ex) : Once per round, a Bayushi deceiver of 8th level or higher can make an attack of opportunity against an opponent who has just been struck for damage in melee by another character. This attack counts as the deceiver's attack of opportunity for that round . Even a deceiver with the Combat Reflexes feat can't use the opportunist ability more than once per round.

POISONS

Shosuro assassins use a variety of poisons not known in the standard DUNGEONS & DRAGONS world . Table 11-7 : Poison describes the effects of these toxins .

TABLE 11-7 : POISON

Initial Secondary

Poison Type

Damage Damage Price Wasp venom Injury DC 11 1 Dex 1 Dex 75 gp Bee venom Injury DC 11 1 Con 1 Con 90 gp Scorpion Injury DC 11 1d2 Str l d2 Str 100 gp venom Snake venom Injury DC 11 1d6 Con l d6 Con 200 gp Black piper Injury DC 14 1d4 Str l d6 Str 150 gp venom jellyfish Contact DC 16 2d12 hp 1d6 Con 300 gp Ketsu Ingested DC 13 1 Con 1d8 Con 120 gp Warui paseri Ingested DC 11 1d4 Str l d4 Str 150 gp Jeruku ropu Ingested DC 16 1d6 Dex 1d6 Dex 210 gp Pufferfish (fugu) Ingested DC 14 Paralysis 2d4 Str 400 gp Kirei-ko Ingested DC 15 1 Dex 2d4 Dex 500 gp Fuantei shi Ingested DC 18 2d6 Con 1d6 Con 300 gp + 1d6 Dex Jeruku ropu Inhaled DC 15 2d4 Dex 2d4 Dex 750 gp smoke

Will Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3

Special Sneak attack +1d6, poison use Strike first, strike last Sneak attack +2d6 Scorpion feint Sneak attack +3d6 Improved Disarm feat Sneak attack +4d6 Opportunist Sneak attack +5d6 Improved Critical feat

Improved Critical Feat : At loth level, a Bayushi deceiver gains the improved Critical feat with a weapon of his choice .

SCORPION LANDS

The lands of the Scorpion are not rich, though they are also not as barren as the Crab lands to the south . The wide, slow River of Gold flows through the heart of Scorpion lands with its many tributaries, forming numerous wetlands and watering low rice paddies. Poppies are the other major "crop" of Scorpion lands .

The palaces of the Scorpion families are clustered in the north, with both Yogo Shiro and Shiro Soshi nestled among the Spine of the World Mountains . Shiro Shosuro guards access to the northern region, while Kyuden Bayushi dominates the central plain and controls the southern villages .

ADVENTURE HOOKS

The large city of Ryoki Owari is the pride of Scorpion lands and one of the largest cities in Rokugan . During the Scorpion's exile to the Burning Sands, the city was governed by Unicorn magistrates . The returned Scorpions have not yet managed to reclaim the right to govern the city, so the Unicorns are still in chargeat least in name . In fact, the Unicorns maintain very little control over day-to-day affairs in the city, with Scorpion lords and businesses (legal and otherwise) exercising most of the power in the city. Ryoko Owari is the center of a thriving (but illegal) opium trade . In addition, it is the home of a small, strange cult of maho-tsukai and other fanatics devoted to the moon deity . For many years, this cult (dedicated to Onnotangu, the original Lord Moon) operated with stealth and secrecy in the docks and heimin areas of the city. It has grown in the years of the Unicorn occupation, and a kikage zumi dedicated to Hitomi now controls the cult, with several maho-tsukai under his command. A map of Ryoko Owari appears on the facing page.

Beiden Pass was once the only pass through the Spine of the World Mountains wide enough to march an army through, connecting the (then) bustling city of Beiden with Shiro Matsu in Lion lands . Thanks in part to Scorpion treachery, Beiden Pass collapsed during the Spirit Wars (crushing the spirit army as it fell), closing off the major route connecting Rokugan's northern and southern portions. Yakamo, the sun deity, created a new pass in the mountains near both Unicorn and Scorpion lands, the Great Crater. Though the Unicorns have been quick to claim this pass and try to bring it under their control, the Scorpions are loath to give up their access to this crucial route .

Population : 3,600,000 ; humans (Unicorn clan noble caste, 15%; common caste, 85%)