The Bayushi Deceiver

TABLE 11-5 : THE SHIBA PROTECTOR

Class

Level Base

Fort Attack Bonus Save +0 +1 +2 +3 +3 +4 +5 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5

8 +6 +6

9 +6 +6

10 +7 +7 Ref Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3

No Thought (Ex): Shiba protectors add their Wisdom modifier, if positive, to their attack and damage rolls .

Aid Shugenja (Su) : At 2nd level, a Shiba protector can use her own personal energy to empower a shugenja's spell when she is the target of that spell . The spell is treated as if the shugenja had used the Empower Spell metamagic feat, including the longer casting time . The Shiba protector can use this ability once per day at 2nd level, twice per day at 4th level, three times per day at 6th level, and four times per day at 8th level . He must make a successful Spellcraft check (DC 10) to enhance the spell. A failed check does not count as a use of the ability .

At 8th level and above, the protector can apply the Maximize Spell feat to spells cast on her instead. The Spellcraft DC is 15 . She must decide before any applicable dice are rolled whether she wishes to maximize or empower the spell .

A Shiba protector cannot empower an already empowered spell, or maximize an already maximized one .

Dancing with the Elements (Ex) : Beginning at 3rd level, a Shiba protector gains a bonus on all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects . This bonus is +2 at 3rd level, +4 at 5th level, and +6 at 7th level.

One with Nothing (Su): Three times per day, a Shiba protector of 6th level or higher can fall into a trance that allows her to perform actions quickly but with perfect clarity . For a single round, the samurai can act as if under the effect of a haste spell .

Diamond Soul (Ex) : At 9th level, a Shiba protector gains spell resistance equal to 20 + her Wisdom modifier . In order to affect the Shiba protector with a spell, a spellcaster must roll Will Save +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 Special No thought Aid shugenja 1 /day Dancing with the elements +2 Aid shugenja 2/day Dancing with the elements +4 One with nothing, aid shugenja 3/day Dancing with the elements +6 Aid shugenja (maximize) 4/day Diamond soul

One with all and nothing

the protector's spell resistance or higher on 1d20 + the spellcaster's level.

One with All and Nothing (Sp) : A Shiba protector of loth level has recognized the deep truth that all her ability scores spring from the same essence . In a moment of perfect clarity, she can use her highest ability score modifier when making a skill check, attack roll, damage roll, or saving throw, in place of the ability score modifier she would normally use . Thus, she could add her Wisdom modifier to a damage roll instead of her Strength modifier, her Charisma modifier to her Reflex saving throw instead of her Dexterity modifier, or her intelligence modifier to her Spot check instead of her Wisdom modifier . The Shiba protector can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her highest ability score modifier .

PHEONIX LANDS

The Phoenix dwell in the lush, hilly lands of Rokugan's far northeast . The sea and surrounding mountains shelter the Phoenix lands from the cold of the north . The Isawa home is in the extreme northeast of Rokugan, on the coast beyond the Mori Isawa (Phoenix Woodlands) . Shiro Shiba lies a little farther south, but also on the coast, at some distance from the heart of the Phoenix-Dragon conflict . The Asako dwell in a castle at the southern tip of the Phoenix Woodlands, its white walls rising high above the forest to shine like a beacon over the Phoenix, lands. The Agasha dwell closest to the Dragon lands, high in the mountains that remind them of their Dragon homeland .

THE ORACLES The Five Oracles of the Elements embody all that is powerful and pure about the five elements in Rokugani philosophy . According to myth, when humans arrived in Rokugan, the dragons (see the sidebar) saw them and were fascinated by them . Though they could not remain closely involved in human affairs, the dragons left parts of themselves on earth, so they could always contact the mortal realm and learn of its people . Each dragon chose one individual to carry its "soul-shadow," a small part of the dragon's spirit, and serve as its voice in the empire . These individuals were the first Oracles, and since that time, a part of each dragon's spirit has lived in one or another human form . The Oracles are no longer human, and they age very slowly, but eventually each must pass on the dragon's spirit to a successor, passing on the collected memory and wisdom of an immortal life .

The Oracles are the bringers of prophecy and fortune, able to see into the Spirit World and possessing the wisdom of ages . Rumors are whispered of Dark Oracles who lair in the Shadowlands, each one representing a twisted and evil form of the element of air, earth, fire, or water. (The Oracle of Void, apparently, has no Dark Oracle counterpart .) The source of their power is unknown .

The Oracle of Air is said to dwell in a tremendous palace that floats among the clouds . The Oracle of Fire has a home deep in the Sleeping Thunder Mountain, near the Shrine of the Ki-Rin . The Oracle of Water is said to live in the sunken naga city of Candas, holding court over the ningyo and other creatures of myth . The Oracle of Earth has a tall tower in the Twilight Mountains, made of twisting vines and holding a throne of stone .

The last Oracle of Void, Isawa Kaede, denied her nature as Oracle in order to live with her husband, the Emperor Toturi . Designated his successor, she fled the throne shortly after his death and seems to have disappeared into the Void .