Monday Mashup: Good Vibrations
In this weeks Mashup, we are asked to combine The Beach Boys with a roleplaying setting.

Since I've been thinking up D&D stuff for my campaign, the Beach Boys go D&D!

Follow the ocean's coast north, far away from the land of men and you will find the Waverunners, a race of humanoids that look a lot like gnomes with dark brown skin and child-like faces. The Waverunners may be an off-shoot of gnomes or another race completely. (In my Connemara setting, they'd be a "sub-human" race.) The waverunners are unaware of the troubles in the rest of the world and are largely unaware of other races. Few visitors ever come to this hidden paradise.

Waverunners are named such for their love for water-sports. (No! Not that kind! Get your mind out of the gutter!) When not eating the berries and plants that grow in the area or sleeping, the waverunners run into the ocean with pieces of wood that they use to balance upon the waves. The first human explorer to write bout the Waverunners described them as running along the water.

Waverunners share everything and largely unaware of the concept of property. All that they need grows naturally nearby and can be found in abundance. Even shelter can be found under the thick branches and roots of the nearby Orricka trees.

Waverunners are child-like and playful. At night they can be heard singing songs to eachother and smoking the leaves of the great Orrikka tree which produces a euphoric effect. Later in the evening they will separate in goups of two or more and spend hours lovemaking before falling asleep. The next day they start all over again: eating, playing, singing, smoking, loving and sleeping.

When strangers visit they are extremely open and trusting. Very few waverunners have ever learned any reason to be distrustful of others. Only olderones who are more likely to have dealt with outsiders before may be cautious. Waverunners rarely live past 30. The heavy smoking of the orricka leaves usually cause them to develop a lung condition.

How can Waverunners be used in campaigns? Since they rarely can be found outside of their homeland, it is unlikely that PCs will run into them unless they travel to them. There is little of value to man in that area but there could be temples or other ancient places in the area that PCs would need to visit. They could come across the peaceful waverunners on the way to get some ancient evil artifact only to find some villain threatening the lives of the waverunners when they exit. I'm picturing a group of orcs with knives held to smiling waverunners and a sorcerer saying, "You could leave with the orb.....but...."

Waverunners as PCs: This is a tough one. In many ways I picture the Waverunners like the Kender of the Dragonlance books. After some time in the world, waverunners would be more aware of the dangers around them than Kender, but they still would be extremely playful. Because of this, I would think the best D&D classes for Kenders would be Rogues or Bards. Of course, the big question for a waverunner PC is why they are out in the world in the first place. Perhaps they were taken from their homeland by slavers and escaped or maybe a curious waverunner went to far in the woods one day and lost their way.

Stats: I'm thinking that Waverunners would have high dexterity and charisma at the cost of strength, constitution and wisdom. Something like this: Str -1, Dex +2, Con -1, Int same, Wis -1, Cha +1. They would also have some special ability that represents their amazing sense of balance....learned from years on their surfboards.