Wu jen
The wu jen is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Publication history
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The wu jen was introduced in the original 1st edition Oriental Adventures book.[1] In a review of the book, reviewer Ashley Shepherd commented: "Wu-jen, the magic-users, must obey their personal taboos or lose all spell powers."[2] Jim Bambra described the wu jen as "the Oriental magic-user - much tougher and with a wider range of weapons than its Western counterpart".[3]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The wu jen appeared in The Complete Wizard's Handbook as a character kit.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)
The wu jen updated in the 3.0 edition Oriental Adventures book before being presented in Complete Arcane.
Mechanically the class is most similar to the wizard core class. The class provides no armor proficiencies and the worst attack progression. However, it offers a devastating and broad mix of spells. Compared with the wizard class, the wu jen class's spells are more limited (and in some specific cases weaker) however it benefits from some free meta-magic options.
The hengeyokai, a shapshifting race also published in Oriental Adventures has wu jen as a favored class.
References
- ↑ Gygax, Gary, with David Cook, and François Marcela-Froideval. Oriental Adventures (TSR, 1985)
- ↑ Shepherd, Ashley (February 1986). "Open Box: Dungeon Modules". White Dwarf. Games Workshop (74): 9–10. ISSN 0265-8712.
- ↑ Bambra, Jim (June 1988). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR (#134): 76–77.