Sohei

each clan, like their samurai kin . The shugenja schools of Rokugan include the Kuni school of the Crab clan, the Asahina school of the Crane clan, the Tamori school of the Dragon clan, the Kitsu school of the Lion clan, the Agasha and Isawa schools of the Phoenix clan, the Soshi and Yogo schools of the Scorpion clan, and the Iuchi school of the Unicorn clan .

Races : Almost without exception, all shugenjas are humans from the major clans. In Rokugan, spellcasters from other races (and human peoples) are sorcerers . In other campaign settings, most spellcasters are shamans, sorcerers, or wu jen .

Other Classes : Like samurai, shugenjas are set apart by their noble station and tend to look down upon members 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.

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 . A shugenja gets bonus spells based on Charisma . The Difficulty Class of a saving throw against a shugenja's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the shugenja's Charisma modifier . High Dexterity is helpful for a shugenja (who typically wears little or no armor) because it provides her with an Armor Class bonus . A good Constitution gives a shugenja extra hit points, a resource that she is otherwise low on .

Alignment: Any . d6 Hit Die :

CLASS SKILLS

The shugenja's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (InT), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, exclusive skill),

Spellcraft (Int) . See Chapter 4 : Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions .

Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4 .

Skill Points at Each Additional Level : 4 + int modifier . CLASS FEATURES

The following are class features of the shugenja .

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shugenjas are proficient with all simple weapons and with the wakizashi . They are not proficient with any type of armor, nor with shields. It is considered inappropriate for a shugenja to wear armor, and many samurai consider it an insult to their station to have a nonsamurai wearing the armor that they believe is a badge of their rank . Likewise, while a shugenja is entitled to wear the wakizashi as a member of the noble class, wearing a katana is considered an indication that the wearer is prepared to use it in defense, and most shugenjas would rather leave the swordplay to the samurai. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape

Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble .

Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried .

Spells : A shugenja casts divine spells, but her spell knowledge is limited, much like that of a sorcerer . Your shugenja begins play knowing four 0-level spells (also called inori) and' two 1st-level spells of your choice, plus one 0-level spell and one 1st-level spell that are determined by your school . At each level, the shugenja gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table 2-5 : Shugenja Spells Known . One spell of every level is determined by the shugenja's school ; 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 in Chapter 7 : Magic and Spells . (Note : The number of spells a shugenja knows is not affected by her

Charisma bonus, if any; the numbers on Table 2-5 are fixed.) ,, "

A shugenja is limited to casting a certain number of spells of each level per day, but she need not prepare her spells in advance . The number of spells she can cast per day is improved by her bonus spells, if any. For instance, at 1st level, Kitsu Mari can cast four 1st-level spells per day-three for being 1st level (see Table 2-4 : The Shugenja), plus one thanks to her high Charisma . However, she only knows three 1st-level spells : cure light wounds (her school spell of that level), bless, and burning hands (see Table 2-5 : Shugenja Spells Known) . In any given day, she can cast cure light wounds four times, cast bless four times, cast burning hands four times, or cast some combination of the three spells a total of four times. She does not have to decide ahead of time which spells she'll cast .

Ashugenja may use a higher-level slot to cast a lower-level spell if she so chooses . For example, if an 8th-level shugenja has used up all her 3rd-level spell slots for the day but wants to cast

TABLE 2-4 : THE SHUGENJA Base Fort Ref Will Spells per Day

Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1 st +0

2nd +1 +0 +0 +2 Element focus, 5 3 - - - - - - - +0 +0 +3 sense __ elements 6 4 - - - - - - -

3rd +1 4th +2 5th +2 +1 +1 +3 +1 +1 +4 +1 +1 +4

6th +3 7th +3 8th +4 9th +4 10th +5 +2 +2 +5 +2 +2 +5 +2 +2 +6 +3 +3 +6 +3 +3 +7

11th +5

+3 +3 +7 12th +6/+l +4 +4 +8 13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 6 5 - - - - - - - 6 6 3 - - - - - - 6 6 4 - - - - - - 6 6 5 3 - - - - - 6 6 6 4 - - - - - 6 6 6 5 3 - - - - 6 6 6 6 4 - - - - 6 6 6 6 5 3 - - - 6 6 6 6 6 4 - - - 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 - - 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 - - 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 - 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 - 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 3 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

another one, she 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.

To learn or cast a spell, a shugenja must have a Charisma score of at least t0 + the spell's level . The Difficulty Class for saving throws against shugenja spells is 10 + the spell's level + the shugenja's Charisma modifier .

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's 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 action, casting a metamagic spell is a fullround action for a shugenja . For spells with a longer casting time, it takes an extra fullround action to cast the spell . Shugenjas cannot use the Quicken Spell metamagic feat .

Element Focus : All shugenjas have a favored element: air, earth, fire, or water. A shugenja's choice of specialized element is determined by the clan schools in which she studies . At least half the spells a shugenja knows at each spell level must belong to her favored element, and the spell dictated by her school also belongs to that element . This is reflected on Table 2-5, 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 her school and two additional water spells, plus two other 0-level spells of any element . She also knows one 1st-level water spell from her school, one additional 1st-level water spell, and one ist-level spell of

TABLE 2-5 : SHUGENJA SPELLS KNOWN"

Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 any element . Shugenjas automatically gain the benefits of the Spell Focus feat for spells from their favored element. 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, influence, divination, and illusion . Earth is the prohibited element for air shugenjas. The Asahina school of the Crane clan and the Scorpion clan's Soshi school specialize in air magic . Earth : Earth spells involve resilience and resolve, health and growth, the body and its strength . Air is the prohibited element for earth shugenjas. The Kuni school of the Crab clan, the Tamori school of the Dragon clan, and the Yogo school of the Scorpion clan specialize in earth magic .

1st s+2+2 s+1+1 - - - - - - - 2nd s+3+2 s+1+1 - - - - - - - 3rd s+3+2 s+2+1 - - - - - - - 4th s+3+3 s+2+1 s+1+0 - - - - - - 5th s+3+3 s+2+2 s+1+1 - - - - - - 6th s+4+3 s+2+2 s+1+1 s+1+0 - - - 7th s+4+3 s+3+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 - - - - - 8th s+4+4 s+3+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 - - - - 9th s+4+4 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 - - - - 10th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 - - - 11th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 - - - 12th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 - - 13th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 - - 14th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 - 15th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 - 16th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 17th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+1+1 18th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+1+1 s+1+0 19th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+1+1 20th s+5+4 s+3+2 s+3+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+2 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+2+1 s+2+1 *At each level, a shugenja gets a school spell for each spell level, starting at 1 st. The "s" 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 .