Asian heavens and hells are almost terrestrial places that you can walk to (if you know where to get in). A Korean myth involves a girl basically going to boarding school in heaven and falling in love with a divine person. I think the Soratami/moonfolk in MtG alluded to this idea, so some sky race might add something.
I forget their name, but Ainu myth had the tiny green/leaf people, basically Japanese brownies. Tengu also are a thing.
Djinn, effreet, diva, or other magical/divine species you could work into either stable races or common/known background monsters. Find a few Indian gods like Gandiva and base an elephant race around them.
Noah Thomas
Tell me more about playing kitsune.
Jace Rivera
Sounds like reskinned/reflavored planetouched races could be helpful, but thanks a lot.
Lincoln King
>I forget their name, but Ainu myth had the tiny green/leaf people, basically Japanese brownies Koropokkuru
Asher Price
Okay, personally, these are the first races to pop into mind when it comes to Oriental High Fantasy:
Hengeyokai: My big issue with D&D's treatment of these is how it tends to reduce them to a one-trick race, rendering the result incredibly boring. Instead, I treat them as what they are in the myths; distinct races with distinctive cultures, traits and abilities, but sharing the one racial trait of shapeshifting.
Ratfolk: The Nezumi appear in both Kamigawa and Rokugan for a reason. The Rat is the first animal in the Japanese/Chinese Zodiac, and in native Japanese mythology is associated with Daikoku, the God of Weath, Fertilty and Industry. So, whilst nezumi as a "ninja race" works, a more Japanese-appropriate depiction would be as farmers, smiths and merchants. In either case, they're distinctively not evil.
Rabbitfolk: With this race, one could go two routes. The first is the "Jade Rabbit" route, depicting them as a race of alchemists, healers and mages. The second is a more warlike race - akin to the Shin'hare, who are a compound of the worst traits of Imperial Japan, Communist China and North Korea all wrapped up in cute little bunnyfolk.
Vanara: Aside from these monkeyfolk being an actual Indian mythological race, the concept is readily reworked into kung fu-fighting monkeys ala the infamous Son Goku/Son Wukong of Journey to the West.
Thomas Hughes
contined
Oni: Japan's ogres are highly distinctive, they're not always evil in their own mythology, and the Oni (under the name "Ogre Mage") actually was a surprisingly well-balanced PC race in AD&D's Complete Book of Humanoids. They can easily replace the Goliath or Half-Orc as a resident "big bruiser" type race in Oriental D&D.
Tengu: The blend of skilled swordsmanship and flight might be hard to balance, but these are one of the more "civilized" yokai, and so readily suggest themselves as PC fodder.
Kappa: Again, the need for water may require balancing, but kappa aren't always evil in the stories. They even taught humanity the arts of sumo wrestling and bone setting. Plus, a small but strong race with ties to the water is certainly unique, yes?
Nagas/Serpentfolk: Rokugan had Nagas in the "humanoid from the waist up, giant snake from the waist down" style, and they were actually a PC race in Rokugan D20. Kamigawa has the Orochi, a race of non-malevolent four-armed serpentfolk warrior-mystics from the deep jungle. Snakes have a very positive association in Asian mythology, so non-evil serpentfolk make plenty of sense, to me.
Curseborn: There are several distinct varieties of Yokai in Japanese mythology who are humans under dark curses, most notably the dodomeki/todomeki, the futakuchi-onna, and the rokurokubi. None of these races are inherently evil, so could easily be developed in an Oriental Fantasy setting into being true-breeding races, ala tieflings or drow.
Yuki-onna: At heart, not that different to the Winterkin Eladrin of 4e; a "fey" spirit with elemental affinity for the cold.
Grayson Martinez
Moonfolk
Jeremiah Nguyen
The Dutch, English, and Germans.
Kayden Nelson
How exactly would you orientalize dragonborn? D&D does have Lung Dragons, but how would you tweak the 5e dragonborn to draw from them?
The first thought that comes to mind is that "oriental dragonborn" may begin their life as amphibious kobold-like beings, reminiscent of the Yu Lung, and then mature into a true dragonborn-like being reminiscent of one of the seven "adult" breeds of Lung Dragon.
Joseph Parker
So, query; aside from discussing race ideas, would discussing stat ideas also be thread-relevant?
