Pathfinder: 10 True Things About Tengus

We’re really enjoying this series of 10 True Things and 10 Misconceptions about a race. Previously we released 10 True Things about Catfolk and Lizardfolk and Misconceptions about Elans. Today we bring you 10 True Things about Tengus. Enjoy.

1. Tengu feel cheated that despite their avian heritage, they cannot actually fly. Many spend their lives looking for various ways to compensate for this, including magical options, or substituting mastery over air, lightning, kites or other vicarious alternatives.
2. Adolescent and young adult tengu often play the game Freefall. A combination of a race, cliff diving, and an obstacle course, the game always starts from the tallest local feature. Freefall often results in injury, or even death, as the winners are the tengu who are willing to risk the longest drops before grabbing onto a nearby surface to slow their fall.
3. Tengu practical jokes often involve stealing an object of minor value and planting it on their friend or rival. Then they make sure the victim finds out that the target of the joke “robbed” them, and sit back and watch the argument, fight or chase that ensues.
4. Tengu make surprisingly good cooks. Picking up recipes and spices in their travels, just like languages, they often create unique fusion cuisines.
5. The best way to become friends with a tengu is to trust them, especially if they aren’t worthy, especially if they’re not worthy. The gesture is often the first time a given tengu has ever been trusted by an outsider. There have even been documented cases where such a friendship has caused a tengu to return whatever they have invariably stolen from their foolish friend.
6. Tengu are driven to be the best at anything they do. They deny or cover up their failures and will often exaggerate about their achievements. Tengu capacity for self delusion often allows them to ignore otherwise incontrovertible evidence that they are not the masters of their chosen skill.
7. As important as success is to tengu, they also put great emphasis on style and panache. While a simple straightforward strategy might work, most tengu prefer elaborate plans which achieve the same goals. Either in a more dramatic fashion, or so that there is absolutely no evidence that they were involved.
8. Tengu love a good party, especially if they’re the center of attention. However, they often can’t hold their liquor. However, some would say that a drunk tengu is indistinguishable from a sober one.
9. Tengu are allergic to vanilla. Eating too much of it causes their feathers to fall out.
10. A common tengu superstition is that if someone dies destitute, they will rise as a vengeful undead. This doesn’t stop tengu from tomb robbing or stealing from the dead. What’s important is if someone died with no wealth to their name, not if they’re buried with it.

Download the Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Compendium now at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow, d20PFSRD, and Paizo.com.