The most fun with your wu jen taboo

[silverwolfer]

I think the most fun I have ever seen someone have with a wu jen taboo, was the do not bath taboo , and having a party member that was part of royalty, and always had to have watch duty next to the unwashed magic caster :D

[Psyren]

Wu Jen get prestidigitation - you can easily keep clean without bathing. Or simply bathe at the end of the day when the taboo doesn't matter anymore.

[Deepbluediver]

how strong was the taboo? Was it just "can't have a bath" or did the character get paranoid around any body of water larger than a puddle or the mention of soap? :smallbiggrin:

[subject42]

I had a player who decided to play a Wu Jen once. When I asked about the taboo, the conversation went like this:

Me: "Lingual purity compulsion?"

Him: "I may not pick up any item that I have not first checked for purity".

Me: "That doesn't explain the lingual part."

Him: "I check for purity by licking it."

That game got weird fast.

[The Viscount]

I find the suggested "cannot light a fire" taboo highly amusing.
"Hey wu jen, could you help us make a fire for the night?"
"No, I cannot. I am forbidden from lighting fires."
"But you just made that troll go up in flames today!"
"Yes. That's different."

[Psyren]

I find the suggested "cannot light a fire" taboo highly amusing.
"Hey wu jen, could you help us make a fire for the night?"
"No, I cannot. I am forbidden from lighting fires."
"But you just made that troll go up in flames today!"
"Yes. That's different."

Actually, s/he could light a campfire easily. The penalty for violating a taboo is that you can't cast spells for the rest of the day, but who cares about that at bedtime?

Unless of course you're attacked during the night, but then the party is to blame for gimping you.

[Deepbluediver]

What I'm getting from this is that maybe the penalty for the Wu-Jen taboo is too weak. What if instead it was something like: You cannot cast any of the highest level spells you would normally have access to for the next 24 hours.

That way it's not crippling but it can be very annoying.

[Psyren]

What I'm getting from this is that maybe the penalty for the Wu-Jen taboo is too weak. What if instead it was something like: You cannot cast any of the highest level spells you would normally have access to for the next 24 hours.

That way it's not crippling but it can be very annoying.

That would enforce compliance better, but makes an accidental breach crippling to the character.

I'd prefer something like the Buomman violation where you take stacking penalties to all d20 rolls. Maybe with a caster level penalty thrown in, that bars access to your top-level spells. That way you can still do something if you mess up, but have strong incentive not to since you lose your big guns.

[Kobold Esq]

What I'm getting from this is that maybe the penalty for the Wu-Jen taboo is too weak. What if instead it was something like: You cannot cast any of the highest level spells you would normally have access to for the next 24 hours.

That way it's not crippling but it can be very annoying.

Have we learned nothing from the poor, maligned Paladin and Monk? Most mechanical restrictions are pointless (codes, alignment restrictions, etc). Either they are so minor that they are ignored and pointless, or they are so crippling that they render a class nigh unplayable (or result in common house rules or published feats and the like that get around them).

[Ashtagon]

Have we learned nothing from the poor, maligned Paladin and Monk? Most mechanical restrictions are pointless (codes, alignment restrictions, etc). Either they are so minor that they are ignored and pointless, or they are so crippling that they render a class nigh unplayable (or result in common house rules or published feats and the like that get around them).

Different case. The restrictions on the paladin and monk are vaguely worded, and 99% of the time the actual interpretation is as much a matter of opinion as anything. The wu jen restrictions are quite clear and formulaic, and there is no ambiguity about whether one has been broken, unless the player himself got sloppy in wording one.

I quite like the idea of the penalty being "each time you violate a rule, you immediately forget all the highest-level spells you currently have memorised". So a 6th level wu jen would lose his 3rd level spells (if he hadn't already cast them), then his 2nd, then his 1st.

[Edge of Dreams]

I once saw a play-by-post in which a player's Wu Jen character had the taboo "may not speak". Instead, he posted internal monologues and communicated by facial expressions.

[Arcanist]

I once saw a play-by-post in which a player's Wu Jen character had the taboo "may not speak". Instead, he posted internal monologues and communicated by facial expressions.

That is actually pretty cool... One day I will make a Wu Jen that has "May not see evil" and wears a blindfold because she views that the entire world is Corrupt and Evil... :smallcool:

[GenericMook]

That is actually pretty cool... One day I will make a Wu Jen that has "May not see evil" and wears a blindfold because she views that the entire world is Corrupt and Evil... :smallcool:

Bonus points if you use the magical blindfold from the MIC that gives you blindsight.

[Acanous]

Personally I liked the "May not touch a dead body" taboo, and applied it to foodstuffs as well. Vegan character, who refused to loot bodies.
I remember wondering if I could touch the pools in a cave, being that they were dead bodies of water, but it didn't apply :p

[The Viscount]

I'm always tempted to use "may not mark his or her body" as a ban on tattoos and the like, but then I remember that multiple spells require a tattoo as a focus.

[Tokuhara]

Two threads on Wu Jen? Amazing! Wu Jen needs more appeal.

I like the "Can't Sit Facing Direction X" taboo, since if you have to sit in that direction (say when sitting to dinner with the local monarch), you may have to eat standing up.

Personally, my first one is I cannot turn left. I can face left, but I always have to turn 270* right in order to "turn" left.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Actually, s/he could light a campfire easily. The penalty for violating a taboo is that you can't cast spells for the rest of the day, but who cares about that at bedtime?

The person who took the oath to act in a certain way, probably.

[Psyren]

The person who took the oath to act in a certain way, probably.

Possibly; it doesn't actually have to be an oath. It could have been mental conditioning by the Wu Jen's master (or even a strange but binding edict from the spirit world itself), unlocking great power in the practitioner but sealing those inner pathways if arbitrary conditions are not met. I think that would be an interesting concept to roleplay - a wu jen who hates her taboos yet is nevertheless a slave to them, similar to the Contractors from Darker than Black.

The point being that fluff is mutable as always.

[Snowbluff]

Actually, s/he could light a campfire easily. The penalty for violating a taboo is that you can't cast spells for the rest of the day, but who cares about that at bedtime?

Unless of course you're attacked during the night, but then the party is to blame for gimping you.

Last week I learned WotC did not know math.

Now I know WotC doesn't know what a Taboo is. These are moors at the worst.

[Daftendirekt]

Contractors from Darker than Black.

Ah. Darker than Black. Such an amazing premise. Such a terrible storyline.

[Laserlight]

Cannot mention a dead person's name.

Cannot walk (run, jump, etc) around a thing counterclockwise; it was okay if he was mounted or otherwise being carried.

[Acanous]

"May not wear clothing" would be funny. You've got a Wu-Jen with Vow of Nudity :D

Probably clothed in their own body hair.

[JeminiZero]

How about "May not fall asleep in a safe area" :smallbiggrin:

[Deepbluediver]

How about "May not fall asleep in a safe area" :smallbiggrin:

First of all, how exactly would you determine what "safe" is?

I think the most interesting part of this is staying awake for several days and roleplaying a character so sleep-deprived they start to hallucinate or suffer other mental impairments.

Of course, if they hallucinate demons everywhere, does that give them permission to fall asleep? :smalltongue:

[Story]

Oh that's easy. Play something that doesn't sleep. Your taboo doesn't prevent resting after all.

[silverwolfer]

Booze is my sleeping aid with such a taboo

[JeminiZero]

Its quite simple, you go to sleep, and if ambushed in the dead of the night, the area is dangerous, and you retain your spells. If you wake up unharmed, the area is safe, and you may no longer cast spells... yesterday. (since the taboo is against FALLING asleep.)

[silverwolfer]

what happens if he is restless and ends up only falling asleep after midnight?

[Daftendirekt]

Oh that's easy. Play something that doesn't sleep. Your taboo doesn't prevent resting after all.

In which case the character (read: not the player. The character) probably wouldn't take the taboo, as it is meaningless. Taboos are supposed to have an impact. That's the whole point.

[Arcanist]

In which case the character (read: not the player. The character) probably wouldn't take the taboo, as it is meaningless. Taboos are supposed to have an impact. That's the whole point.

"You cannot rest for longer then an hour" = IMPOSSIBLE MODE :smallcool:

[Story]

In which case the character (read: not the player. The character) probably wouldn't take the taboo, as it is meaningless. Taboos are supposed to have an impact. That's the whole point.

What if they originally had to sleep and then went Necropolitan?

[Starbuck_II]

I thought up the best Taboo: May not gain XP

At the end of each battle you have to choose between gaining XP or losing spellcasting for the day.:smallbiggrin:

[silverwolfer]

That would be in a rp sense, saying you must live a boring life.

[Arcanist]

I thought up the best Taboo: May not gain XP

At the end of each battle you have to choose between gaining XP or losing spellcasting for the day.:smallbiggrin:

Now I always thought XP was a day by day thing (at the end of the day you get your XP)

[Ashtagon]

I thought up the best Taboo: May not gain XP

At the end of each battle you have to choose between gaining XP or losing spellcasting for the day.:smallbiggrin:

As a DM, I wouldn't let that fly, because XP is a metagame construct, not something the character can directly observe.

[Malak'ai]

*Cannot wear manufactured Fibers
**Cannot eat cooked flesh
***Cannot bathe in water

All these are one's I've seen used.

[Malimar]

I had a player whose wu jen had the "cannot carry more than a light load" taboo, and combined it with low strength and the flaw that makes everything you carry weigh twice as much for the purpose of determining encumbrance. That character put a fair amount of effort into buying the lightest possible silk pants and a bandoleer of leather from a creature from the Plane of Air.

[VGLordR2]

I played in a campaign once where everyone made a ridiculous character. One of my friends made a Wu Jen with the Taboo: "Cannot cast spells". That was a funny campaign.

[Starbuck_II]

As a DM, I wouldn't let that fly, because XP is a metagame construct, not something the character can directly observe.

What? But Item crafting requires XP, so it is an observable thing to lose.

Okay new Taboo: Must Murder someone in the morning
So after each morning you don't murder you lose spellcasting.

[Arcanist]

What? But Item crafting requires XP, so it is an observable thing to lose.

Okay new Taboo: Must Murder someone in the morning
So after each morning you don't murder you lose spellcasting.

Define "someone" better :smalltongue: