Introduction
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Hey, folks. This is a rework for a campaign I'm running, in a heavily-homebrewed Eastern setting with touches of inspiration from Dark Sun. I really liked the latter's gods-as-elements cosmology, and since the first player to roll up a character expressed interest in being a shugenja, it all just fit together. However, there are some issues with the class, and other issues that arose as the players built up the setting.
1) Lack of class features
Right now, there is absolutely no reason not to prestige class out of shugenja as soon as possible, and I mean none. Wizards have an occasional bonus feat, clerics improve their turn undead as they gain cleric levels, and even sorcerers have a familiar progression. Shugenja levels give NOTHING but casting ability.
Alright, I lied. They occasionally give another daily use of Sense Elements. Hooray.
2) Setting-related change - elements
Similarly to Dark Sun, the deities have effectively been replaced by the elemental and paraelemental planes: Water, Rain (replacing Ice), Air, Sun (replacing Smoke), Fire, Ash (replacing Magma), Earth, and Silt (replacing Ooze). The original shugenja only provides for the original four elements.
3) Setting-related change - classes
Preparation-based casters (archivists, clerics, druids, wizards, wu jen) do not exist in the setting. Other arcane casters (bards, sorcerers) are also absent, with arcane magic being represented by invocation-using classes such as the warlock. Thus, while the favored soul and spirit shaman can to an extent cover the cleric and druid roles, respectively, the shugenja is left to pull some of the weight of the no-longer-present arcane classes.
4) Lack of support after release
The original shugenja has received little to no support from any supplements after its release. Its current, limited spell list consists of PHB spells, a smattering of Complete Divine material, and a note in the Spell Compendium telling us to add some more spells, please!
So, after amalgamating the shugenja with Dark Sun's cleric and elementalist, and throwing in some other stuff for fun, let's see what we have to work with. While it's being designed as a somewhat setting-specific class, it's certainly workable as-is as an elemental-themed caster in any campaign – just ignore all mentions of the Empire and Royal family, have the Orders simply be traditions instead of actual organizations, and you're good to go. If you subscribe to the Tier system, let's call this high Tier 2. If you use balance points, this is Wizard-level. It IS a full caster with class abilities to boot. However, it's running the spirit shaman's casting mechanic, its spell list and abilities are thematically narrow, and all its class abilities run off the same daily pool of uses.
Quick and dirty elemental diagram.
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Elements with a green line between them are considered adjacent. Elements with a red line between them are considered opposed.
A brief cosmology for the setting, so you can see where I'm coming from. Feel free to skip over this.
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Eons ago, there were only the four Elemental Planes and a single Celestial Realm that drew power from them, with the Void permeating the spaces in between planes. All outsiders, holy and fiendish, dwelt in the Celestial Realm. Eventually, their conflicts grew so great that it devastated their races and shattered their home. This caused much upheaval throughout the multiverse. The energy from the cataclysm caused the Elemental Planes to collide into one another, giving rise to the Paraelemental Planes. The two largest fragments of the Celestial drifted apart, becoming the Material and Shadow Realms, while smaller shards fused with the Elemental and Paraelemental Planes and the Void.
The planes as they currently stand in the setting:
The Elemental and Paraelemental Planes: Combination of standard D&D's elemental and outer planes. These aren't just the standard landscapes of fire or endless expanses of air or whatever; the Celestial shards bestowed consciousness upon these realms. That's right, players. If you want to take down the gods of the setting, good luck killing a sentient PLANE. As one might expect from an Eastern setting, each plane has its own Yin and Yang; Ascending and Descending aspects, as we call them. The Material realm (and consequently, shugenja) draws power mainly from the Ascending aspects, the Shadow realm mainly from the Descending aspects.
The Elemental Plane of Void: Combination of ethereal and positive/negative energy planes. Though slightly different in nature from the other Elemental and Paraelemental planes, and usually spoken of separately, the Void does have a consciousness, as well as Ascending and Descending aspects.
The Material Realm: Equivalent of the prime material plane. Positive energy, also referred to as material energy or ascending energy, is the concentrated essence of the Material Realm. It infuses and restores anything that hails from the Material, living and nonliving alike, but has no effect on that from the Elemental or Paraelemental Planes.
The Shadow Realm: Combination of the plane of shadow and negative energy plane. Also referred to as the Descending World. This isn't a dim reflection of the Material Realm, but a world in its own right. Shadow (or descending) energy has a restorative effect on that from this place, but is detrimental to anything from the Material. Similarly, though material energy is beneficial to Material items, it harms that from the Shadow. The setting's undead, which are formed from both Realms, are healed by both material and shadow energy, but are harmed by negative energy (renamed entropy damage), the essence of the Ash Paraelemental Plane, as they would be by any other Elemental energy.
The Wound: Equivalent of the far realms. When the Celestial Realm was shattered, the energies released ripped open holes in the Void that lead outside the multiverse. Enter at your own peril, as none of your rules apply here.
THE SHUGENJA
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d6
Skills: The shugenja's class skills are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge(History, Nobility, Religion, Planes, taken separately) (Int), Profession (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int)
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier (x4 at first level)
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus |Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|+0
|+0
|+0
|+2
|Element Focus +1, Elemental Resistance (Energy Resist 10/5), Shugenja Order
2nd|+1
|+0
|+0
|+3
|Channeling, Sense Elements, Order Ability (Lesser)
3rd|+1
|+1
|+1
|+3
|
4th|+2
|+1
|+1
|+4
|Element Focus +2, Elemental Resistance (+4 to saves)
5th|+2
|+1
|+1
|+4
|
6th|+3
|+2
|+2
|+5
|Resistance Aura
7th|+3
|+2
|+2
|+5
|
8th|+4
|+2
|+2
|+6
|Order Ability (Intermediate)
9th|+4
|+3
|+3
|+6
|
10th|+5
|+3
|+3
|+7
|Element Focus +3, Elemental Resistance (Energy Resist 20/10)
11th|+5
|+3
|+3
|+7
|
12th|+6/+1
|+4
|+4
|+8
|Rapid Retrieval (Full-Round)
13th|+6/+1
|+4
|+4
|+8
|
14th|+7/+2
|+4
|+4
|+9
|Order Ability (Greater)
15th|+7/+2
|+5
|+5
|+9
|
16th|+8/+3
|+5
|+5
|+10
|Element Focus +4, Elemental Resistance (Energy Immunity, +8 to saves)
17th|+8/+3
|+5
|+5
|+10
|
18th|+9/+4
|+6
|+6
|+11
|Rapid Retrieval (Swift)
19th|+9/+4
|+6
|+6
|+11
|Divine Aspiration
20th|+10/+5
|+6
|+6
|+12
|Element Focus +5, Elemental Resistance (Auto-succeed on saves)[/table]
SPELL PROGRESSION
{table=head]Level|{colsp=10}Spells Cast per Day||{colsp=10}Spells Retrieved per Day
|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th||0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th|
1st|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-||2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-||3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-||3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-||3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-||4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-||4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-||4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6|6|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-||4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6|6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-||4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-
10th|6|6|6|6|6|4|-|-|-|-||4|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-
11th|6|6|6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-||4|4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-
12th|6|6|6|6|6|6|4|-|-|-||4|4|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-
13th|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|3|-|-||4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-
14th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|4|-|-||4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2|-|-
15th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|3|-||4|4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1|-
16th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|4|-||4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2|-
17th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5|3||4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|2|1
18th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|4||4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3|2
19th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|5||4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|2
20th|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|6||4|4|4|4|4|4|4|4|3|3
[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Shugenja are proficient with all simple weapons and with light armor. Armor does not interfere with a shugenja's casting.
Spells
A shugenja casts divine spells using the energies from the elemental planes. This is done through what is called an elemental tear: a
magatama, often worn as a necklace, aligned to the plane of the shugenja's elemental focus. Whenever a shugenja wishes to cast a spell, she must have the tear on her person as a divine focus component.
To cast a spell, a shugenja must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a shugenja’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the shugenja’s Wisdom modifier. Like other spellcasters, a shugenja can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on the first table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score.
A shugenja begins play knowing ALL 0-level spells and 1st-level spells for the element chosen as her Element Focus, as well as her 1st-level order spell. Whenever she gains the ability to cast a new level of spells, she automatically learns all spells of that level from her chosen element and her order spell. In addition, each time the shugenja gains a level, she may learn two spells of any level she is able to cast, from the universal list or any element not opposed to her chosen element.
Knowing a spell is not enough; before a shugenja may cast a spell, she must first retrieve it. After the shugenja has rested and meditated to recover her daily allotment of spells, she selects the appropriate number of spells of each level, according to the second table above, from her list of spells known to be retrieved. She may then cast any spell she has retrieved at any time, much as a sorcerer may cast any spell he knows, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. As a wizard can leave spell slots empty, to be filled later, so can a shugenja hold off on retrieving a spell to fill a slot. A shugenja may not retrieve a lower level spell in place of a higher level one, but she may use a higher level slot to cast a lower level spell she has retrieved.
*Note: This is effectively the spirit shaman's casting mechanic, substituting “spells known” for “the entire druid spell list”. You can also think of it as similar to the Tome of Battle system, where a martial adept knows several maneuvers but only has a subset of them readied for use at a given time. If that helps.*
As a spontaneous caster, a shugenja must take longer than usual to cast a metamagic spell. Swift action casting times become standard actions, standard action casting times become full round actions, and any spell that takes a full round action or more to cast requires an additional full round action. Shugenja cannot use the Quicken Spell metamagic feat, unless they have taken the Rapid Metamagic feat.
Element Focus
All shugenja have a favored element, selected near the end of their training, which determines the majority of their spell list. A shugenja gains a +1 to her caster level and spell DC when casting a spell from her chosen element. This bonus increases to +2 at fourth level, +3 at tenth level, +4 at sixteenth level, and +5 at 20th level. The cost of this, though, is that a shugenja may not learn any spells from the three elements opposed to her elements, as described below.
The elements are as follows:
WaterWater is the element of stoicism and rationality. Water spells include those which manipulate water and ice, as well as divination magic. Water's adjacent elements are Rain and Silt, and its opposed elements are Sun, Fire, and Ash. The associated damage type for Water is cold, and the associated descriptors are Cold and Water.
Rain is the element of growth and renewal. Rain spells include those which manipulate weather and lightning, as well as restorative magic. Rain's adjacent elements are Air and Water, and its opposed elements are Fire, Ash, and Earth. The associated damage type for Rain is electricity, and the associated descriptors are Air and Electricity.
Air is the element of change and liberation. Air spells include those which manipulate wind, sound, and movement, as well as teleportation magic. Air's adjacent elements are Sun and Rain, and its opposed elements are Ash, Earth, and Silt. The associated damage type for Air is sonic, and the associated descriptors are Air and Sonic.
Sun is the element of truth and purity. Sun spells include those which manipulate light or heat, as well as abjuration and detection magic. Sun's adjacent elements are Fire and Air, and its opposed elements are Earth, Silt, and Water. The associated damage type for Sun is desiccation, and the associated descriptors are Light and Mind-Affecting.
Fire is the element of passion and spirit. Fire spells include those which manipulate fire and emotion. Fire's adjacent elements are Ash and Sun, and its opposed elements are Silt, Water, and Rain. The associated damage type for Fire is fire, and the associated descriptors are Fire and Mind-Affecting.
Ash is the element of decay and progression. Ash spells include those which manipulate death, poison, and time (to some extent), as well as dispelling magic. Ash's adjacent elements are Earth and Fire, and its opposed elements are Water, Rain, and Air. The associated damage type for Ash is negative energy, and it's associated descriptors are Death and Fear.
*Note: Undead in the setting are harmed by negative energy and healed by positive energy, as with any other creature. Feel free to not worry about that.*Earth is the element of stability and harmony. Earth spells include those which manipulate stone, metal, and force. Earth's adjacent elements are Silt and Ash, and its opposed elements are Rain, Air, and Sun. The associated damage type for Earth is force, and the associated descriptors are Earth and Force.
Silt is the element of deception and secrecy. Silt spells include those which manipulate acid and darkness, as well as illusion and obscuring magic. Silt's adjacent elements are Earth and Water, and its opposed elements are Air, Sun, and Fire. The associated damage type for Silt is acid, and the associated descriptors are Acid and Darkness.
Additionally, there is a ninth element,
Void. Void is the element of existence, of being and nonbeing. Shugenja are not able to specialize in Void.
Elemental Resistance (Ex)
A shugenja gains energy resistance 10 to the associated energy type for her chosen element. In addition, she gains energy resistance 5 to the associated energy type for the elements adjacent to her chosen elements.
At 4th level, a shugenja gains a +4 bonus to all saving throws against spells, as well as spell-like or supernatural abilities, with the associated descriptors for her chosen element.
At 10th level, the shugenja's energy resistances increase from 10 to 20 for her chosen element, and from 5 to 10 for her adjacent elements.
A 16th level shugenja becomes immune to the energy associated with her chosen element, and the saving throw bonus granted by this ability increases to +8.
Upon reaching 20th level, the shugenja automatically succeeds on any saves against abilities with the associated descriptors for her chosen element.
Shugenja Order
A shugenja completes her training by joining one of the Shugenja Orders. Each order has an associated element or elements, and all shugenja of that order must have one of those as a chosen element. The one exception is the Order of the Ineffable Mystery; its associated element is void, but shugenja of any element may join, though membership is exclusive to members of the Royal Family. In exchange for serving the order, a shugenja gains knowledge of one order spell at each spell level and, once she gains the appropriate levels, is taught additional abilities. The orders are detailed further below.
Channeling (Su)
A 2nd level learns to use her divine connection to the elemental planes for more than just casting spells. She gains a number of Channeling attempts each day equal to three plus her Charisma modifier, recovered whenever she rests to regain her spells. She can then use these attempts in the following ways, each use requiring only one Channeling attempt unless otherwise specified:
Turning Undead
Regardless of her alignment, a shugenja can turn or destroy undead as a good cleric of her class level. Shugenja of all elements and orders hate undead, as undead represent a perversion of the natural order.
Turning/Rebuking Elementals
A shugenja can rebuke or command any creature with the same elemental subtype as her chosen element as an evil cleric would rebuke or command undead. She can also attempt to rebuke a creature with the elemental subtype adjacent to her chosen element, though she receives a -4 to her check. Similarly, She can attempt to turn creatures with the elemental subtype directly opposed to her chosen element (Water<->Fire, Rain<->Ash, Air<->Earth, Sun<->Silt) at no penalty, or creatures with the other subtypes opposed to her chosen element at a -4 to her check. A shugenja must decide which elemental subtype she wishes to turn or rebuke when she uses this ability, and may only select one per use.
*Note: Each element has its own, appropriately named subtype, described in a later section. If you don't feel like having to assign paraelemental subtypes to creatures, just use the standard four. If they chose an element, they rebuke that subtype and turn the opposed subtype. If they picked a paraelement, they rebuke either of their adjacent subtypes and turn the other two subtypes, but all of that is at a -4 to their turning check.*
Power Class Features
A shugenja may alternatively use Channeling attempts to activate Sense Elements, her order abilities, or later class features, as stated in the descriptions for those abilities.
Channeling benefits from any feats, spells, or class features that would improve Turn Undead, and counts as such for the purposes of qualifying for prestige classes and of taking/activating divine feats. If a shugenja takes levels in classes or prestige classes that
advance Turn Undead, she may choose to have it advance her Channeling instead; those levels then stack with shugenja levels for turning and rebuking checks, or for whenever an ability that uses a Channeling attempt refers to her class level (but not for obtaining new abilities). However, if she takes a class that
grants Turn Undead, the two do not stack, and she cannot use Turn Undead attempts in place of Channeling attempts to power her shugenja class features.
Order Ability (Su)
Each order has its own place and function in the Empire, and their members are trained in certain techniques so that they may serve appropriately. All order abilities are supernatural abilities. Consult the order write-ups for the ability details.
Upon reaching 2nd level, a shugenja learns the lesser ability appropriate to her order. Although no two abilities are the same from order to order, they all require spending a Channeling attempt and usually last for no more than a single action or round.
Upon reaching 8th level, a shugenja learns the intermediate ability appropriate to her order. These abilities typically take the form of an aura, field, or similar effect that moves with the caster. They require spending a single Channeling attempt and a standard action to activate.
Upon reaching 14th level, a shugenja learns the greater ability appropriate to her order. These abilities affect a zone or otherwise stationary area. They require a single Channeling attempt and a full-round action to activate. However, additional Channeling attempts may be spent to increase the size of the effect, as specified in the ability descriptions.
Sense Elements (Su)
Upon reaching 2nd level, as a full-round action, a shugenja may spend a Channeling attempt to become aware of all sources of any single element within ten feet. She may choose to detect any element other than Void, not just her chosen element. The shugenja learns the size and distance of the sources but not their precise location or actual nature.
For purposes of this ability, the following count as sources of an element:
- Actual, physical quantities of a particular element, such as a bonfire or a lake, or related phenomena, such as lightning for Rain.
- Spells, effects, or magic items which have an associated descriptor for a particular element or involve an associated energy type.
- Creatures which used one of the above in the past [Spell Level] hours.
- Living creatures from the Material or Shadow realms, which consist of all elements.
- Creatures with an elemental subtype.
- Any other phenomena or effects that the GM decides appropriate.
By concentrating longer, a shugenja can either extend her senses or gather more information about the elements she has detected. Each round spent in concentration adds five feet to the radius of the sense ability, to a maximum of five additional feet per class level. Alternatively, the shugenja can focus on one source of the sensed element per round, attempting a Spellcraft check to determine more about the item. The amount of information learned depends on the Spellcraft check result:
{table=head]Check Result|Information Learned
20 or more|Item's general location.
25 or more|Whether item is natural or a spell effect.
30 or more|Whether item is a creature or an object.
35 or more|Exact nature of item.
[/table]
In subsequent rounds, the shugenja can retry her check on the same item, shift her attention to a different item, or extend the range of her senses. The effect lasts until the shugenja stops concentrating, and no additional Channeling attempts need be expended past the first.
Resistance Aura (Su)
At 6th level, a shugenja may spend a Channeling attempt to create an aura that grants all bonuses given by her Elemental Resistance class feature to all allies within 5ft per class level. This only applies to allies who remain within the area of effect; if an ally leaves the aura, he or she loses these benefits until he or she re-enters. This ability is a swift action to initiate, and it lasts for one round per class level.
Rapid Retrieval (Su)
A 12th level shugenja may spend a Channeling attempt as a full-round action to fill a spell slot that she previously left blank when she retrieved her spells for the day.
At 18th level, this ability is usable as a swift action.
Divine Aspiration (Su)
At 19th level, a shugenja may spend a Channeling attempt to temporarily acquire the elemental creature template appropriate for her chosen element. This ability requires a swift action to initiate, and lasts for one round per class level. At any point while the ability is still active, the shugenja may spend another Channeling attempt as a free action to extend the duration by the same amount.
Shugenja Redux (3.5, Base Class, PEACH)
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