[Oriental Adventures] Wu Jen Taboos

[Sidereal Knight]

My group is going to be starting an Oriental Adventures campaign (not set in Rokugan), and I'm thinking about playing a wu jen.

My problem is this: I'm having trouble coming up with some interesting ideas for this character's taboos. The suggestions in the book are OK, but I was hoping to do something different.

I have come up with a couple:
Must remain celibate
Cannot touch birds/feathers

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

Well bear with me, I only played briefly in an OA adventure many many years ago, in 1e I think, and haven't even looked through more than a few entries in the OA 'monster book' (Jeeze, got enough weird critters do we?! ). You'll have to apply these to whatever levels/circles/whatever they may apply to under the current rules. And I wasn't too imaginative when I played my Wu Jen either (hey, I was a kid )

• Never Bathe: Dirt is a part of nature, washing it off robs you of your connection to Nature and thus robs you of power! (Rain doesn't count, it's natural )
• Face N/E/W/S at Dawn: Always green the spirits of the (Insert direction you face here), as they grant you your mighty powers!
• Avoid the Dark: You shun the dark, as the Evil Kami of the night drain your mystical abilities, you will avoid going out at night, or insist upon as much 'artificial' light as possible at all times. (could be reversed for 'evil' Wu Jen)
• Hide from Sunset: You must never greet the Night, facing away and praying whenever sunset occurs, showing contempt of the Night and devotion to Light.
• Shun Clothing: You will only wear the barest minimum of clothing, it interfers with the mystical energies and your control over them.
• Never wear shoes: Doing so would sever your link to the Earth, and the world is the source of your power...

Hope some of those are still viable. I also included why you might want to use them, or at least the reasons my Wu Jen claimed to do the various silly things he did.

Hatchling Dragon

 

[Daiymo]

Here's some from a wu jen vs. blood sorcerer campaign a friend of mine ran last winter.

Shugenja with Fire focus-cannot light a fire or cook food themselves, lest it show a disrespect for the primal element .

With Water focus: May not disturb the rest of the kami of the water,may not travel across water by boat on any voyage that would have them on the water at the setting of the sun or at night.

With Earth focus: May not associate with nezumi in any fashion.

With Air focus: Must perform ritual fasts during monsoon season.

Female shugenja- cannot travel during a full moon.

All shugenja-forbidden to use any bladed weapon, spear, or bow.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Just a small correction I'd like to make:

Celibate means to remain unmarried.

Chaste means to not have sexual intercourse.

Many people think they mean the same thing, and they're so closely associated that often they do, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[Gez]

Never Bathe: Dirt is a part of nature, washing it off robs you of your connection to Nature and thus robs you of power! (Rain doesn't count, it's natural )

Most animals bath, or at least clean themselves. Cats are notorious for that, birds spend a great deal of their time preening and pecking their feathers, the mighty elephants love bathing in mud, and even flies can be seen brushing their eyes to clean it.

Rather than a taboo on bathing (something necessary, to get rid of parasite, as it is necessary to eat, sleep, or piss), I would make a taboo on using artifices for bathing (soap, perfumes, bathtube, etc.). The character should only bath in natural waters (lake, river, puddle...).

 

[Tarril Wolfeye]

Hey, a Wu Jen/Eunuch Warlock NPC in my Campaign has a nice Taboo:

Cannot touch a Woman

 

[Sidereal Knight]

Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions! Keep 'em coming

Just a small correction I'd like to make:

Celibate means to remain unmarried.

Chaste means to not have sexual intercourse.

Many people think they mean the same thing, and they're so closely associated that often they do, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

Thanks for the correction. I did mean "chaste" rather than "celibate".

 

[Benben]

Taboos:

If a man: Must act and dress like a woman.
If a woman: Must act and dress like a man.

Crossdressing is very appropriate for both the genre and magical character types.

And it's fun.

 

[Sidereal Knight]

Crossdressing is very appropriate for both the genre and magical character types.

And it's fun.

Why am I reminded of a line from Disney's Mulan :

"No, your great-graddaughter had to be a cross-dresser!"

 

[Scupper]

Here are my Wu Jen's (he's an Ocean Spirit Folk):

Never sit with your back to the ocean.
Never touch anything that's dead.


I'm kind of wondering, though: Does anyone else find the Wu Jen class to be extremely lame? I'm not very happy with it (though, amazingly enough, it's the first time I've played a spellcaster (as a player, not a DM) since I started playing 3E. Since ALL of the supplementary Oriental Adventures material is Rokugan-centric, and there is no support for the Wu Jen beyond the core book, I feel kind of neglected.