Shugenja (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

See also: Shugenja_(D&D_class)

SHUGENJA
A class inspired by the mythologies of Asian cultures, the
shugenja is a divine spellcaster who casts spells by attuning
himself to the primal energies around him and focusing
such energy through his body to produce magical effects.
Like the samurai (described in Complete Warrior), shugenjas
are often members of the noble class, though they are not
as bound by honor and the code of bushido as their martial
counterparts.
Adventures: Shugenjas often adventure to increase
their magical knowledge and personal power. They are
particularly drawn to investigate disturbances in the natural
harmony of the four classical elements (earth, air, fi re,
and water). Some shugenjas dedicate their lives to keeping
the world’s magic in balance, while others simply crave the
power that the unchecked elements offer. Still others are
drawn to plumb the depths of magic for magic’s own sake,
hoping eventually to learn the mysteries of void, the “fi fth
element” that binds the others together.
Characteristics: Shugenjas are much more than
spell slinging sorcerers. In a fantasy culture inspired by
real-world Japan, they can be the foundation of religious
life—priests who teach the rituals of piety, venerate the
memory of long-departed ancestors, and even measure the
passage of time. They study for years to learn even the fundamental
elements of their magical practice, and are the most
literate class in many quasi-Asian societies. A shugenja’s
spells are written on ofudas (nonmagical prayer scrolls) that
the shugenja carries with him, serving as a divine focus for
casting the spell.
Alignment: While many shugenjas attempt to follow the
standards of honor and loyalty, and thus adhere to a lawful
alignment, not all shugenjas live up to those standards. Shugenjas
have no alignment restrictions.
Religion: If you use shugenjas in your game, you should
probably also develop an Asian culture with its own religious
traditions to represent their home—even if the specifi
c shugenjas in your campaign are thousands of miles
away from it, hailing from a far-off land you don’t plan to
visit. Some shugenjas exiled in a traditional D&D setting
express an affi nity for Boccob, Obad-Hai, or Wee Jas, while
others see a parallel between the code of bushido and the
teachings of Heironeous.
Background: Shugenjas are often members of the noble
class. They learn the practice of magic in religious orders
attached to each clan or region, like their samurai kin. You
can easily invent your own shugenja orders, employing
the same principles you’d use when inventing your own
domain.
Races: Traditionally, Asian-themed D&D games have
dispensed with or replaced the nonhuman races, so shugenjas
have been overwhelmingly human. You can invent your
own Asian races, use those described in Oriental Adventures,
or mix Asian culture with the elves, dwarves and other
races of traditional fantasy. With such a mix, dwarves and
gnomes would be slightly more likely to become shugenjas
because they have an affi nity for earth.
Other Classes: Like samurai, shugenjas are set apart by
their noble station and tend to look down upon members
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of other classes. Despite the
prevailing view of society, shugenjas
do not believe that martial
prowess is the ultimate
expression of honor—in fact,
they look down on the samurai
who settle any disagreement
or matter of honor with a duel
to the death. Shugenjas have
little respect for members of
other classes; however, shugenjas,
especially adventurers,
wisely understand that different
classes have specialized skills and
abilities often needed for success.
Role: Because they’re the preeminent
spellcasters in their culture, shugenjas’
spell lists run the gamut from top-notch
combat spells to powerful healing and versatile
utility spells. But they’re less durable
in a fi ght than their cleric brethren, and
like sorcerers, they have a limited set of
spells to choose from.
Oriental Classes in Nonoriental
Settings: Some DMs may choose to
allow classes such as the shugenja and
the samurai in their nonoriental settings.
If they do, the character is most likely to
be a traveler from a faraway land, most
likely trained in his homeland in his
oriental class. Specifi c details of the
character’s background can be worked
out with the DM and the player.
Game Rule Information
Shugenjas have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma
determines how powerful
a spell a shugenja can
cast, how many spells the
shugenja can cast per day,
and how hard those
spells are to resist. To
cast a spell, a shugenja
must have a Charisma score of
10 + the spell’s level + the shugenja’s
Charisma modifi er. High Dexterity is
helpful for a shugenja (who typically
wears little or no armor) because it provides
him with an Armor Class bonus.
A good Constitution gives a shugenja extra hit
points, a resource that he is otherwise low on.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d6.
Class Skills
The shugenja’s class skills (and the key ability
for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft
(Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge
(all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession
(Wis), Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 4 of the
Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifi
er) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional
Level: 4 + Int modifi er.
Table 1–3: The Shugenja
Class Base Fort Ref Will —————— Spells per Day ——————
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Element focus, sense elements 5 3 — — — — — — — —
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 — 6 4 — — — — — — — —
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 — 6 5 — — — — — — — —
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 — 6 6 3 — — — — — — —
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 — 6 6 4 — — — — — — —
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 — 6 6 5 3 — — — — — —
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 — 6 6 6 4 — — — — — —
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 — 6 6 6 5 3 — — — — —
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 — 6 6 6 6 4 — — — — —
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 — 6 6 6 6 5 3 — — — —
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 — 6 6 6 6 6 4 — — — —
12th +6 +4 +4 +8 — 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 — — —
13th +6 +4 +4 +8 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 — — —
14th +7 +4 +4 +9 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 3 —
15th +7 +5 +5 +9 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 —
16th +8 +5 +5 +10 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 3
17th +8 +5 +5 +10 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4
18th +9 +6 +6 +11 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
19th +9 +6 +6 +11 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
20th +10 +6 +6 +12 — 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Illus. by S. Belledin
A shugenja
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Class Features
All of the following are class features of the shugenja.
Weapon and Armor Profi ciency: Shugenjas are profi
cient with all simple weapons and with the short sword
(they often carry a masterwork short sword called a wakizashi).
They are not profi cient with any type of armor, nor with
shields. In their home culture, it is considered inappropriate
for a shugenja to wear armor, although shugenjas serving
with the military or traveling in foreign lands sometimes
take the time to learn how to wear armor properly. Armor
check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the
skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move
Silently, Sleight of Hand, Swim, and Tumble. Armor does
not interfere with his spellcasting.
Spells: A shugenja casts divine spells (the same type of
spells available to clerics and druids), which are drawn from
the shugenja spell list (page XX). He can cast any spell he
knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard
or a cleric must (see below).
To learn or cast a spell, a shugenja must have a Charisma
score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Cha 10 for 0-level
spells, Cha 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Diffi -
culty Class for a saving throw against a shugenja’s spell is 10
+ the spell level + the shugenja’s Charisma modifi er.
Like other spellcasters, a shugenja can cast only a certain
number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily
spell allotment is given on Table 1–3: The Shugenja. In
addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high
Charisma score (see page 8 in the Player’s Handbook).
A shugenja’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A
shugenja begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two
1st-level spells of his choice, plus one 0-level spell and one
1st-level spell determined by his shugenja order. At each
new shugenja level, he gains one or more new spells as
indicated on Table 1–4: Shugenja Spells Known. (Unlike
spells per day, the number of spells a shugenja knows is
not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on Table
1–4 are fi xed.) One spell of every level is determined by
the shugenja’s order; sometimes these spells are normal
spells on the shugenja spell list, but often they are additions
to the spell list. These spells are listed with the
shugenja spell list below. Half of the spells a shugenja
knows must be of his chosen element, as indicated on
Table 1–4.
A shugenja may use a higher-level slot to cast a lower-level
spell if he so chooses. For example, if an 8th-level shugenja
has used up all his 3rd-level spell slots for the day but wants
to cast another one, he could use a 4th-level slot to do so. The
spell is still treated as its actual level, not the level of the slot
used to cast it.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered
shugenja level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a shugenja can
choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows.
In effect, the shugenja “loses” the old spell in exchange for
the new one. The new spell’s level must be at least two levels
lower than the highest-level shugenja spell the shugenja
can cast. For instance, upon reaching 4th level, a shugenja
could trade in a single 0-level spell (two spell levels below
the highest-level shugenja spell he can cast, which is 2nd)
for a different 0-level spell. At 6th level, he could trade in a
single 0-level or 1st-level spell (since he now can cast 3rdlevel
shugenja spells) for a different spell of the same level.
A shugenja may swap only a single spell at any given level,
and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the
Table 1–4: Shugenja Spells Known*
Level 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st o+2+2 o+1+1 — — — — — — — —
2nd o+3+2 o+1+1 — — — — — — — —
3rd o+3+2 o+2+1 — — — — — — — —
4th o+3+3 o+2+1 o+1+0 — — — — — — —
5th o+4+3 o+2+2 o+1+1 — — — — — — —
6th o+4+3 o+2+2 o+1+1 o+1+0 — — — — — —
7th o+4+4 o+3+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 — — — — — —
8th o+4+4 o+3+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0 — — — — —
9th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 — — — — —
10th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0 — — — —
11th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 — — — —
12th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0 — — —
13th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 — — —
14th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0 — —
15th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 — —
16th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0 —
17th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+1+1 —
18th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+1+1 o+1+0
19th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+1+1
20th o+5+4 o+3+2 o+3+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+2 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+2+1 o+2+1
* At each level, a shugenja gets an order spell for each spell level, starting at 1st. The “o” on this list represents that. The
number in the middle is the number of spells of the shugenja’s favored element, and the final number is the additional
number of spells known of any element.
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same time that he gains new spells known for the level. A
shugenja still must honor his elemental focus.
Shugenjas do not have spellbooks, though they write
their spells on ofudas. These ofudas serve as divine focus
items and must be read as part of the spellcasting process.
Shugenjas can use the Scribe Scroll feat to create magic
scrolls that work the same as a wizard or cleric’s scrolls.
When casting metamagic spells, remember that the shugenja
has not prepared the spell in advance, and is doing so
on the spot. The shugenja, therefore, must take more time
to cast a metamagic spell than a regular spell. If its normal
casting time is 1 standard action, casting a metamagic spell
is a full-round action for a shugenja. For spells with a longer
casting time, it takes an extra full-round action to cast the
spell. Shugenjas cannot use the Quicken Spell metamagic
feat.
Element Focus: All shugenjas have a favored element:
air, earth, fi re, or water. A shugenja’s choice of specialized
element is sometimes determined by the shugenja order in
which he studies. At least half the spells a shugenja knows
at each spell level must belong to his favored element, and
the spell dictated by his order often belongs to that element
as well. This is refl ected on Table 1–4, which indicates how
many spells of each level must be spells of the shugenja’s
favored element. At 1st level, for example, the shugenja Kitsu
Mari must know at least three 0-level water spells—one
water spell determined by his order and two additional
water spells, plus two other 0-level spells of any element.
He also knows one 1st-level water spell from his order, one
additional 1st-level water spell, and one 1st-level spell of
any element. Shugenjas automatically gain the benefi ts of
the Spell Focus feat (+1 to spell DCs) for spells from their
favored element, regardless of its school.
As the cost of specializing in one element, a shugenja is
prohibited from learning spells associated with a different
element. The prohibited element is dictated by the favored
element, as described below.
Air: Air spells are subtle, involving travel, intuition, infl uence,
divination, and illusion. Earth is the prohibited element
for air shugenjas. The Order of the All-Seeing Eye and
the Order of the Spring Zephyr specialize in air magic.
Earth: Earth spells involve resilience and resolve, health
and growth, and the strength of its body. Air is the prohibited
element for earth shugenjas. The Order of the Impenetrable
Crucible and the Order of the Perfect Sculpture
specialize in earth magic.
Fire: Fire spells are destructive and blatant, though they
also deal with intelligence, inspiration, and creativity. Water
is the prohibited element for fi re shugenjas. The Order of the
Consuming Flame specializes in fi re magic.
Water: Water spells involve transformation, cleansing,
healing, and friendship. Fire is the prohibited element
for water shugenjas. The Order of the Forbidding Wasteland
and the Order of the Gentle Rain specialize in water
magic.
The shugenjas of the Order of the Ineffable Mystery can
specialize in any of the four elements. The Ineffable Mystery
also trains shugenjas who specialize the fi fth element,
void. (See the void disciple prestige class in Chapter 2.)
Sense Elements (Sp) : One of the fi rst “spells” a shugenja
learns—a magical effect so basic that it becomes a spell-like
ability—is the ability to sense elements. As a full-round
action, a shugenja can become aware of all sources of one
chosen element (air, earth, fi re, or water) within 10 feet of
him. The shugenja learns the size of the objects but not their
precise location or actual nature.
By concentrating longer, a shugenja can either extend
her magical senses or gather more information about the
elements he has detected. Each additional round spent in
concentration allows the shugenja to add 5 feet to the radius
of his sense ability, to a maximum of 5 additional feet per
shugenja level. Thus, at 4th level, Kitsu Mari can sense elements
to a maximum range of 30 feet by concentrating for
fi ve full rounds. Alternatively, the shugenja can focus on one
source of the sensed element per round, attempting a Spellcraft
check to determine more about that single item. The
amount of information he learns depends on his Spellcraft
check result:
Check Result Information Learned
20 or higher Item’s general location (square containing
it, or its nearest boundary if it is larger than
a 5-foot square)
25 or higher Whether the item is natural or a spell effect.
(A normal Spellcraft check against DC 20 +
spell level can then determine the nature of
the spell effect.)
30 or higher Whether the item is a creature or an object.
35 or higher The exact nature of the item (for example
whether a creature is an efreeti or a fire
elemental, whether an object is gold or
stone, whether air is breathable or not.)
In subsequent rounds, a shugenja can retry his Spellcraft
check on the same item, shift his attention to a different
item, or extend the range of his senses.
A 1st-level shugenja can use this ability three times per
day. Every fi ve levels he advances as a shugenja allows him to
use the ability an additional time per day (four times at 5th
level, fi ve times at 10th level, and so one). Like many divination
spells, a shugenja’s sense elements ability is blocked by
1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead,
or 3 feet of wood or dirt.
For example, Kitsu Mari enters a room and concentrates
to sense water. (Athough he is a water shugenja, he could
just as easily sense any other element, including fi re.) He
becomes aware of all sources of water within 10 feet. A basin
of water rests on the nightstand, a person lurks behind the
door (living creatures are usually made of all four elements)
holding a vial of poison—Kitsu Mari discovers
three sources of water within 10 feet of him: one Medium,
one Small, and one Fine. Focusing on the Medium source
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and concentrating for a round, he makes a Spellcraft check
and gets a result of 31. He learns that the Medium source
of water is a creature, that it is natural, and where it is. If
the assassin behind the door has not already jumped out to
attack him, he has learned that a creature is hiding behind
the door ... but more likely, he has learned this too late.
Human Shugenja Starting Package
Armor: None (speed 30 ft).
Weapons: Short sword (1d6, crit 19–20/×2, 2 lb., light,
piercing).
Light crossbow (1d8, crit 19–20/×2, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb.,
piercing).
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 5 + Int
modifi er.
Skill Ranks Ability Armor Check Penalty
Concentration 4 Con —
Diplomacy 4 Cha —
Heal 4 Wis —
Knowledge (arcana) 4 Int —
Knowledge (religion) 4 Int
Spot (cc) 2 Wis —
Search (cc) 2 Int
Spellcraft 4 Int —
Feat: Great Fortitude.
Bonus Feat: Alertness.
Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail rations,
bedroll, sack, fl int and steel. Three torches. 10 bolts. Ofuda.
Gold: 1d4 gp.