Wu-Jen (Apath)

Wu jen are spellcasters with mysterious powers. They command
the elements, spirit forces, and the 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 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.
Like wizards, they tend to approach adventures with careful
planning, since their daily spell selection is vitally
important.
Characteristics: Wu jen are the arcane spellcasters
of the Far East. As with wizards, their spells are their
primary class feature, and as such assume an all-important
role in their lives. Many wu jen spells draw on the power
of the five elements (earth, fire, metal, water, and wood).
Finally, wu jen are adept at manipulating their spells,
increasing their range, duration, or effect, or eliminating
verbal or somatic components through permanent
metamagic effects.
Alignment: Wu jen tend to stand apart from the lawful
societies predominant in most cultures, fl outing the rules
and norms of decent folk. They have a strong tendency
toward chaos, but in any event they cannot be lawful.
Background: Wu jen crave magical power in a world
where no organized colleges of wizardry typically exist.
Their thirst 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 members of
all the common races of the eastern lands can learn their
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 fi ghters 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 might 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.
15
CHAPTER 1
CLASSES
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Wu jen have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell
a wu jen can cast, how many spells the wu jen
can cast per day, and how hard those spells are
to resist. To cast a spell, a wu jen must have an
Intelligence score of 10 + the spell’s level. A wu
jen gets bonus spells based on Intelligence.
The Diffi culty Class of a saving throw against
a wu jen’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the
wu jen’s Intelligence modifi er. 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 very low
on.
Alignment:
Any nonlawful.
Hit Die: d4.
Class Skills
A wu jen’s class
skills (and the
key ability for each
skill) are Concentration
(Con), Craft (Int),
Knowledge (all skills,
taken individually) (Int),
Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft
(Int).
Skill Points at 1st Level:
(2 + Int modifi er) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional
Level: 2 + Int modifi er.
Class Features
All the following are class
features of the wu jen.
Weapon and Armor Profi -
ciency: Wu jen are profi cient
with all simple weapons. They are not profi cient
with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any
type interferes with a wu jen’s arcane gestures,
which can cause her spells with somatic components
to fail.
Spells: A wu jen casts arcane spells, which are drawn
from the wu jen spell list (page 91). She is limited to a certain
number of spells of each spell level per day, according to her
class level. A wu jen must choose and prepare spells ahead
of time like a wizard (see Preparing Wizard Spells, page 177
of the Player’s Handbook).
To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a wu jen must have an
Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell’s level. A wu jen’s
bonus spells are based on Intelligence. The Diffi culty
Class for saving throws against wu jen spells is 10
+ the spell’s level + the wu jen’s Intelligence
modifi er.
A wu jen’s base daily spell allotment is
given on Table 1–3. In addition, she receives
bonus spells per day if she has a high Intelligence
score (see Table 1–1: Ability
Modifi ers and Bonus Spells, page
8 of the Player’s Handbook).
Bonus Languages:
A wu
jen can substitute
Draconic
or Giant for one
of the bonus languages
available to
the character because
of her race, since many
ancient tomes of magic are
written in these languages and
apprentice wu jen often learn them
as part of their studies.
Watchful Spirit: Once per day, a wu jen can reroll
an initiative roll she has just made before she knows
her place in the initiative order. She takes
the better of the two rolls.
Bonus Feat: A wu jen begins play
with a bonus metamagic feat.
Spell Secret: At 3rd level, and
every three levels thereafter, a wu jen can choose one
spell known to her that then becomes permanently
modifi ed as though affected by one of the following
metamagic feats: Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell,
Still Spell, or Silent Spell. The spell’s level does
not change, and once the choice of spell and modifi cation
are chosen, they cannot be changed. As the wu jen goes up
in level, she can choose the same spell to be modifi ed in different
ways with multiple spell secrets. She does not need to
know the feat she applies to the spell.
Hide-yori,
a wu jen
Illus. by M. Cavotta
16
CHAPTER 1
CLASSES
Elemental Mastery: Many of the wu jen’s spells
are divided into fi ve elemental groups: earth,
fi re, metal, water, and wood. At 6th level,
instead of receiving a spell secret, a
wu jen becomes a master of one of
these fi ve elements (her choice).
Thereafter, whenever a wu
jen casts a spell of that element,
her effective caster
level (for purposes of determining
level-dependent spell
variables and for caster level
checks) is increased by two. In
addition, the wu jen herself gets
a +2 competence bonus on saving
throws against spells of that element.
Certain spells on the wu
jen spell list are designated “All”;
this means they belong to all elemental groups, and a wu jen
who is a master of any element gains the mastery bonuses
with respect to those spells.
Spellbooks: A wu jen must study her spellbooks each day
to prepare her spells, much like a wizard. She cannot prepare
any spell not recorded in her spellbook (except for read magic,
which all wu jen can prepare from memory).
A wu jen begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-
level wu jen spells plus three 1st-level spells of your choice.
For each point of Intelligence bonus the wu jen has (see Table
1–1: Ability Modifi ers and Bonus Spells, page 8 of the Player’s
Handbook), the spellbook holds one additional 1st-level spell
of your choice. At each new wu jen level, she gains two new
spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based
on her new wu jen level). For example, when Hide-yori
achieves 5th level, she can cast 3rd-level spells.
At this point, she can add two 3rd-level spells
to her spellbook, or one 2nd-level spell and
one 3rd-level spell, or any combination of
two spells between 1st and 3rd level.
At any time, a wu jen can also add
spells found in other wu jen’s
spellbooks to her own, much
like a wizard (see Adding Spells
to a Wizard’s Spellbook, page
178 of the Player’s Handbook).
Taboos: To maintain their
supernatural power, wu jen must
abide by certain taboos that might
seem inconsequential to other characters
but are vitally important to the
wu jen. If a wu jen violates one of her
taboos, she cannot cast any more spells that
day. A wu jen must choose one taboo at 1st level, and one
additional taboo every time she learns a spell secret. Possible
taboos include:
• Cannot eat meat.
• Cannot own more than she can carry.
• Must make a daily offering (such as food, fl owers, or
incense) to one or many spirit powers.
• Cannot bathe.
• Cannot cut her hair.
• Cannot touch a dead body.
• Cannot drink alcohol.
• Cannot wear a certain color.
• Cannot light a fi re.
• Cannot sit facing in a certain direction.

Table 1–3: The Wu Jen
Base
Attack Fort Ref Will ——————— Spells per Day ———————
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Watchful spirit, 3 1 — — — — — — — —
bonus feat
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 4 2 — — — — — — — —
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Spell secret 4 2 1 — — — — — — —
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 4 3 2 — — — — — — —
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 4 3 2 1 — — — — — —
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Elemental mastery 4 3 3 2 — — — — — —
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 4 4 3 2 1 — — — — —
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 4 4 3 3 2 — — — — —
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 Spell secret 4 4 4 3 2 1 — — — —
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 4 4 4 3 3 2 — — — —
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 — — —
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Spell secret 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 — — —
13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 — —
14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 — —
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 Spell secret 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 —
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 —
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 1
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Spell secret 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Wu-Jen (Apath)

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