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Wu Jen are spellcasters with mysterious powers. The command the elements, spirit forces, and the vary powers of nature. They are seldom found living with the rest of Human society. Instead, they live as hermits in the wilderness, purifying their bodies and minds in order to contact the various natural and supernatural powers of the world. From these entities they learn their spells- magical means to control the invisible forces of the world.
Adventures: Wu Jen typically adventure to expand their knowledge of the world, both magical and mundane.
Characteristics: As with Wizards, a Wu Jen’s spells are their primary class feature, and assume an all-important role in a Wu Jen’s life. Wu Jen draw on the power of the six elements- air, darkness, earth, fire, light and water, as well as the magic that permeates throughout the world that is unspecific to an element. Wu Jen are adept at manipulating their spells, applying metamagic feats to them.
Alignment: Wu Jen tend to stand apart from the lawful society in which they live, flaunting the rules and norms of decent folk. They have a strong tendency towards chaos, but in any event cannot be lawful.
Background: Wu Jen crave magical power in a world where no organized colleges of such wizardry exist. Their third drives them to seek out others like themselves, hermits, recluses, or exiles who have gained the secrets they seek. Nearly all Wu Jen are trained by a single mentor in this fashion, outcast from proper society and set apart by their fearsome supernatural powers.
Races: Most Wu Jen are Humans, though all other races can learn the Wu Jen’s craft.
Other Classes: Wu Jen generally don’t like members of any other class. At the same time, however, a Wu Jen is painfully aware that without Fighters and Samurai to block enemy soldiers, a Shaman to heal her wounds, and perhaps a Rogue to deal with locks and traps, her path to the knowledge she seeks may be blocked by insurmountable and possibly fatal obstacles. This realization of her reliance on other classes might make her accept them or might make her resent them.
Wu Jen have the following game statistics:
Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell a Wu Jen can cast, how many spells per day the Wu Jen can cast, and how hard those spells are to resist. To cast a spell, a Wu Jen must have an intelligence of 10 + the spells’s level. The Wu Jen gets bonus spells based on Intelligence. The Difficulty Class of saving throws against a Wu Jen’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Wu Jen’s Intelligence modifier. High Dexterity is helpful for a Wu Jen, who typically wears little or no armor because it provides her with an Armor Class bonus. A good Constitution gives a Wu Jen extra hit points, a resource that she is otherwise low on.
Alignment: Any Nonlawful
Hit Die: d6
The Wu Jen’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (CON), Craft (INT), Handle Animal, (CHA)Knowledge [All Skills, Taken Individually] (INT), Profession (WIS), Spellcraft (INT), Survival (CON), Use Magic Device (CHA)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + INT Modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + INT Modifier
Wu Jen are spellcasters with mysterious powers. The command the elements, spirit forces, and the vary powers of nature. They are seldom found living with the rest of Human society. Instead, they live as hermits in the wilderness, purifying their bodies and minds in order to contact the various natural and supernatural powers of the world. From these entities they learn their spells- magical means to control the invisible forces of the world.
Adventures: Wu Jen typically adventure to expand their knowledge of the world, both magical and mundane.
Characteristics: As with Wizards, a Wu Jen’s spells are their primary class feature, and assume an all-important role in a Wu Jen’s life. Wu Jen draw on the power of the six elements- air, darkness, earth, fire, light and water, as well as the magic that permeates throughout the world that is unspecific to an element. Wu Jen are adept at manipulating their spells, applying metamagic feats to them.
Alignment: Wu Jen tend to stand apart from the lawful society in which they live, flaunting the rules and norms of decent folk. They have a strong tendency towards chaos, but in any event cannot be lawful.
Background: Wu Jen crave magical power in a world where no organized colleges of such wizardry exist. Their third drives them to seek out others like themselves, hermits, recluses, or exiles who have gained the secrets they seek. Nearly all Wu Jen are trained by a single mentor in this fashion, outcast from proper society and set apart by their fearsome supernatural powers.
Races: Most Wu Jen are Humans, though all other races can learn the Wu Jen’s craft.
Other Classes: Wu Jen generally don’t like members of any other class. At the same time, however, a Wu Jen is painfully aware that without Fighters and Samurai to block enemy soldiers, a Shaman to heal her wounds, and perhaps a Rogue to deal with locks and traps, her path to the knowledge she seeks may be blocked by insurmountable and possibly fatal obstacles. This realization of her reliance on other classes might make her accept them or might make her resent them.
Wu Jen have the following game statistics:
Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell a Wu Jen can cast, how many spells per day the Wu Jen can cast, and how hard those spells are to resist. To cast a spell, a Wu Jen must have an intelligence of 10 + the spells’s level. The Wu Jen gets bonus spells based on Intelligence. The Difficulty Class of saving throws against a Wu Jen’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Wu Jen’s Intelligence modifier. High Dexterity is helpful for a Wu Jen, who typically wears little or no armor because it provides her with an Armor Class bonus. A good Constitution gives a Wu Jen extra hit points, a resource that she is otherwise low on.
Alignment: Any Nonlawful
Hit Die: d6
The Wu Jen’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (CON), Craft (INT), Handle Animal, (CHA)Knowledge [All Skills, Taken Individually] (INT), Profession (WIS), Spellcraft (INT), Survival (CON), Use Magic Device (CHA)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + INT Modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + INT Modifier
One thing, though--any reason why the Wu Jen can't be lawful?
One thing, though--any reason why the Wu Jen can't be lawful?
-That what Oriental Adventures says. I agree, in that it better goes with the concept of an elementalist Wu Jen drawing his/her power from nature. While nature can be viewed as lawful, I like looking at it as chaotic.
-That what Oriental Adventures says. I agree, in that it better goes with the concept of an elementalist Wu Jen drawing his/her power from nature. While nature can be viewed as lawful, I like looking at it as chaotic.
OK, thanks for the explanation.
I really don't like what 3e did with cleric domains, since the spell list for each domain is incredibly narrow, and they are often equally relevant spells from the same level for a given domain, or in this case, mastered element. I am slowly working on redefining every 3e spell in terms of 2e cleric spheres, but using 3e domains as the keywords since 3e's sphere keywords were rather unbalanced.
I really don't like what 3e did with cleric domains, since the spell list for each domain is incredibly narrow, and they are often equally relevant spells from the same level for a given domain, or in this case, mastered element. I am slowly working on redefining every 3e spell in terms of 2e cleric spheres, but using 3e domains as the keywords since 3e's sphere keywords were rather unbalanced.
-In saying that the elemental spell works like a Clerics Domain spells is really a misnomer, on my part. Simply put, it's one extra spell that the Wu Jen can cast, that shows up on her spell list, depending on what element she chooses to specialize in. It's akin to a Clerics getting the extra domain spell to choose from on her spell list. Poor verbage, perhaps, on my part, but the effect is more or less the same. Just an extra spell per level unique to their elemental choice.