OSRIC: The Wu Jen
It’s been a few days since I’ve written about OSRIC. My son Christopher and I were out of town visiting Clear Creek Monastery in eastern Oklahoma, and we were largely sans internet during that time. Now that I’m back home and back on summer vacation, it’s time to get to work.
Two of my favorite D&D books from two different eras of the game are AD&D’s Oriental Adventures and 3E D&D’s Oriental Adventures. (Nota Bene: Those are affiliate links; if you click and purchase, I get a few pennies.) While I just adore both of these books, they have seldom found use in any game I’ve ever participated in. I’ve used bits and pieces of both as DM, introducing OA monsters and spells into non-OA settings. Lately, I’ve been thinking I’d like do something more with the OA source material.
In the AD&D incarnation of OA, the magic-user analog is the wu jen, who “are sorcerers, men of mysterious power. They command the elements, spirit forces, and the very powers of nature.” That sounds exciting. The aforementioned elements come in five flavors: earth (including metal), water, fire, wind, and wood (including nature). A wu jen who “learns all of the spells of a single element up to the highest level of spell he can cast” has mastered that element. The 3E OA wu jen has a similar class feature.
The division of spells into five elements pretty much required modifying the magic-user’s spell lists, introducing many new spells in the process. While I’ve never played either OA enough to say for certain, my impression is that the wu jen’s spells are weaker than the magic-user’s spells. If I were putting together a group of adventures, and I had a choice between a 5th-level wu jen or a 5th-level magic-user, I’d go for the latter. Maybe.
So, what does this have to do with OSRIC? Am I proposing to convert AD&D’s OA to OSRIC?
Well, answering in reverse: No, and permit me to explain.
It might be possible to modify OSRIC’s rules a bit so that the magic-user’s spell list becomes a wu jen’s spell list. This starts with a modifier that applies to many spells:
Variable Special Effect: A wu jen’s spells do not have defined sources related to their effects. In other words, a magic missile is not “a magical energy dart”. A lightning bolt is not “a bolt of lightning” nor is a stinking cloud “a nauseating cloud of vapors”. The wu jen determines the elemental manifestation of his spells when he casts them. This might modify the effects of the spell, as determined by the DM, but most of the time the effects are cosmetic.
Next up, we must turn to the wu jen with an addendum to the magic-user’s basic class ability:
Spellcasting: At first level, a wu jen chooses one of the five elements. This is his keyed element, but he has knowledge of the other four. When a wu jen memorizes his spells, he assigns an element to each spell. This helps determine the effects of the spell when it is cast. Once per day at 1st level, a wu jen may invest a spell with additional power from his keyed element. Doing so has one of the following effects (chosen by the wu jen):
- The wu jen may ignore a spell component of his choice.
- The spell’s range and duration are increased by 25%. This does not apply to a range of Caster or Touch or to a duration of Instantaneous.
- The spell’s casting time is reduced by 50% (but to no less than 1 segment).
- Saving throws against the spell are made with a -1 penalty.
- For effects not related to range and duration, the spell takes effect as if the wu jen’s caster level were one higher.
When a wu jen gains access to a new level of spells, he gains another use of this keyed element ability. At 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th levels, a wu jen adds another key element to his repretoire. Thus, by 11th level, a wu jen has mastered all five elements.
So, what might this look like in play? Eric created Chen Mengjia, a 1st-level wu jen, at the start of the campaign. Mengjia can invest his spells with keyed elemental power twice per day. Through skill and luck, the wu jen has advanced to third level. He has two keyed elements: fire and wind. Mengjia memorizes his spells for the day, assigning an element to each spell.
1st-Level: magic missile (earth), shield (air)
2nd-Level: scare (fire)
During the course of his adventuring day, Mengjia encounters a group of skeletal guardians. He casts magic missile, sending two magical stones hurtling towards the targets. More skeletal guardians arrive, and these have crossbows. Mengjia fears a lengthy battle. He imbues his shield of air with fire. A shimmering barrier of magical heat appears. It has a duration of 19 rounds (the normal 5 rounds/level plus 25%). Later when facing a pair of cockatrices, Mengjia imbues his scare spell with air. A fiery, howling apparition quickly manifests and vanishes. One cockatrice must make its saving throw against scare with a -1 penalty.
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