Wu-Jen

The people of Soburin were once in touch with the natural world but their highest magical arts were subverted during the Kengen Occupation and militarized for use in the War of Kaiyo. In the absence of proper stewards, dark powers subverted nature and now those who seek an arcane path to better understand the cycle of life must sacrifice themselves to the entities that have seized the machinations behind elemental balance. Though the gifts you receive can force you to change how they go about your life, the blessings granted to you are potent. When selecting this warlock pact, a wu-jen either chooses to worship one patron in particular (maintaining a connection regardless of the season) or to worship the patron of the current season as it changes (in which case the warlock’s patrons and abilities change over time). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed.

Wu-Jen Taboos

You gain proficiency in the Nature skill. Your devotion must be total and complete for your patron(s) to grant you supernatural blessings—you must live your life without breaking these taboos. Many of these forbidden activities may seem insignificant to others but should you violate any of them, you lose the ability to cast spells (and cantrips) and lose any resistances or immunities granted by your pact until after the next dawn or dusk (whichever is further away). You must choose two taboos at 1st level, and
one additional taboo every time your proficiency bonus increases.
• You cannot eat meat or take a living mount or pet (note that find familiar conjures a spirit that manifests as an animal and is immune to this taboo).
• You cannot own more than you can carry, or any exceptionally precious metals like platinum or large gems (excluding those used as spell components).
• You must make a daily offering such as food, flowers, or incense worth 1 gp or more to one or more spirits.
• You cannot bathe or cut your hair.
• You cannot touch a dead body and cannot take items from the dead unless they were willingly bequeathed to you or from the very recently deceased.
• You cannot drink alcohol or smoke any substance for pleasure.
• You cannot sit or sleep facing a certain direction.

Mystic Arcanum Spells.

You do not select your own mystic arcanum spells.

Summer.
6th—delayed blast fireball; 7th—fire storm; 8th—incendiary cloud; 9th—meteor swarm.
Autumn.
6th—circle of death; 7th—finger of death; 8th—mind blank; 9th—storm of vengeance.
Winter.
6th—freezing sphere; 7th—wall of ice; 8th—antipathy; 9th—time stop.
Spring.
6th—instant
summons; 7th—prismatic
spray; 8th—earthquake;
9th—prismatic wall.
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Summer Patron, Natsu Ītā
Natsu Ītā is
The sunshine and sky consumed.
Summer is no more.
—Kasen Rekishiya
Expanded Spell List
Natsu Ītā lets you choose from an expanded
list of spells when you learn a warlock spell.
The following spells are added to the warlock
spell list for you.
Table: Summer Wu-Jen Expanded Spells
Spell Level Spells
1st burning hands, faerie fire
2nd flame blade, scorching ray
3rd fireball, protection from energy
4th fire shield (warm only), wall of fire
5th flame strike, sunbeam
Heat of the Sun
Starting at 1st level, whenever you use the
eldritch blast cantrip you deal 1d12 fire damage
instead of 1d10 force damage and the
range of the cantrip is reduced to 90 feet.
Summer Acclimation
Starting at 6th level, you gain resistance to fire.
If you already have resistance to fire damage,
you ignore an additional 5 points of fire damage
after applying resistance.
Summer Resilience
Starting at 10th level, you gain immunity to cold.
Summer Jaunt
Starting at 14th level, when you hit a creature
with an attack, you can instantly transport the
target through the warped home of Natsu Ītā.
The creature disappears and hurtles through
the corrupted landscape, scorched by the sun
and troubled by what they’ve seen.
At the end of your next turn, the target
returns to the space it previously occupied, or
the nearest unoccupied space. If the target is
not an elemental, it takes 32 (5d12) fire damage
and 22 (5d8) necrotic damage as its body
yields to your patron’s ruinous powers.
You can’t use this feature again until
you complete a long rest.
Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is in tune with
your patron and takes the form of a Magma
Mephit with an alignment that matches yours.
The magma mephit loses its death burst, innate
spellcasting, and fire breath abilities.
Pact of the Blade. Your weapon could be a
scimitar with engravings of flames
that dance along the handle and
sizzle the air with each swipe.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows might
be a crimson red tome with gold engravings of
fire that is always warm to the touch no matter
how cold the environment around it is.
Autumn Patron, Akinochisō
All the blossoms fall,
Akinochisō remains.
Autumn is no more.
—Kasen Rekishiya
Expanded Spell List
Akinochisō lets you choose from an expanded
list of spells when you learn a warlock spell.
The following spells are added to the warlock
spell list for you.
Table: Autumn Wu-Jen Expanded Spells
Spell Level Spells
1st inflict wounds, thunderwave
2nd gust of wind, protection from poison
3rd bestow curse, protection from energy
4th confusion, phantasmal killer
5th harm, modify memory
Winds of the Fall
Starting at 1st level, whenever you use the
eldritch blast cantrip you deal 1d12 thunder
damage instead of 1d10 force damage and the
range of the cantrip is reduced to 90 feet.
Autumn Acclimation
Starting at 6th level, you gain resistance to
thunder. If you already have resistance to thunder
damage, you ignore an additional 5 points
of thunder damage after applying resistance
Autumn Resilience
Starting at 10th level, you gain immunity to
lightning.
Autumn Jaunt
Starting at 14th level, when you hit a creature
with an attack, you can instantly transport the
target through the decaying and fetid abode
of Akinochisō. The creature disappears and
hurtles across the diseased lands there, withered
and beaten by the whipping winds that
scour the landscape.
At the end of your next turn, the target
returns to the space it previously occupied, or
the nearest unoccupied space. If the target is
not an elemental, it takes 32 (5d12) thunder
damage and 22 (5d8) necrotic damage as its
body yields to your patron’s ruinous powers.
You can’t use this feature again until
you complete a long rest.
Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is in tune
with your patron and takes the form of a Dust
183
Mephⁱt with an alignment that matches
yours. The dust mephit loses its death burst,
innate spellcasting abilities, and blinding
breath abilities.
Pact of the Blade. Your weapon could be a
whip with a hilt of dead branches, leaving a
few fluttering leaves in the air when it strikes.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows
could be an autumn brown tome enwrapped
by an intricate copper bricolage, its pages
rustling with the secrets of the beyond
whenever you read it.
Winter Patron, Fuyu-Noyaban
Even the cold is frozen
inside Fuyu-Noyaban.
Winter is no more.
—Kasen Rekishiya
Expanded Spell List
Fuyu-Noyaban lets you choose from an expanded
list of spells when you learn a warlock
spell. The following spells are added to the warlock
spell list for you.
Table: Winter Wu-Jen Expanded Spells
Spell Level Spells
1st false life, fog cloud
2nd blindness/deafness, silence
3rd protection from energy, slow
4th fire shield (cold only), ice storm
5th cone of cold, forbiddance
Arctic Chill
Starting at 1st level, whenever you use the
eldritch blast cantrip you deal 1d12 cold damage
instead of 1d10 force damage and the
range of the cantrip is reduced to 90 feet.
Winter Acclimation
Starting at 6th level, you gain resistance to cold
damage. If you already have resistance to cold
damage, you ignore an additional 5 points of
cold damage after applying resistance
Winter Resilience
Starting at 10th level, you gain immunity to fire.
Winter Spell
Starting at 14th level, when you hit a creature
with an attack, you can instantly transport the
target through the twisted realm where Fuyu-
Noyaban dwells. The creature disappears and
hurtles through the freezing, torturous landscape,
warped by the rapid and disturbing journey.
At the end of your next turn, the target
returns to the space it previously occupied, or
the nearest unoccupied space. If the target is
not an elemental, it takes 32 (5d12) cold damage
and 22 (5d8) necrotic damage as its body
yields to your patron’s ruinous powers.
You can’t use this feature again until you
complete a long rest.
Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is in tune with
your patron and takes the form of an Ice Mephit
with an alignment that matches yours. The ice
mephit loses its death burst, innate spellcasting
abilities, and ice breath abilities.
Pact of the Blade. Your weapon could be a
warhammer with fittings and symbols resembling
a fierce snow storm, leaving a tinge of
frost whenever it touches the ground.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows might
be a royal blue with silver engravings
that swirl like snow, granting you deep
insights into the cold truths of reality.
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Spring Patron, Haru-Oshōhi
Chaos and entropy
reign with Haru-Oshōhi.
Spring has left the world.
—Kasen Rekishiya
Expanded Spell List
Haru-Oshōhi lets you choose
from an expanded list of spells
when you learn a warlock spell. The
following spells are added to the warlock
spell list for you.
Table: Spring Wu-Jen Expanded Spells
Spell
Level
Spells
1st guiding bolt, longstrider
2nd phantasmal force, see invisibility
3rd lightning bolt, protection from energy
4th greater invisibility, polymorph
5th chain lightning, forbiddance
Spark of Change
Starting at 1st level, whenever you use the
eldritch blast cantrip you deal 1d12 lightning
damage instead of 1d10 force damage
and the range of the cantrip is reduced to
90 feet.
Spring Acclimation
Starting at 6th level, you gain resistance to
lightning. If you already have resistance to
lightning damage, you ignore an additional
5 points of lightning damage after applying
resistance
Spring Resilience
Starting at 10th level, you gain immunity to
thunder.
Spring Retreat
Starting at 14th level, when you hit a creature
with an attack, you can instantly transport
the target through the maligned and
chaotic realm of the powerful Haru-Oshōhi.
The creature disappears and hurtles across
the entropic plane, seared and jolted by the
unending storms that stretch for as far as
the eyes can see.
At the end of your next turn, the target
returns to the space it previously occupied,
or the nearest unoccupied space. If the
target is not an elemental, it takes 32 (5d12)
lightning damage and 22 (5d8) necrotic
damage as its body yields to your patron’s
ruinous powers.
You can’t use this feature again
until you complete a long rest.
Pact of the Chain. Your familiar is in tune with
your patron and takes the form of a Steam
Mephit with an alignment that matches yours.
The steam mephit loses its death burst, innate
spellcasting, and steam breath abilities.
Pact of the Blade. Your weapon could be a
two-headed flail with carvings resembling a
fierce lightning storm, crackling with electricity
whenever its chains rustle against one another.
Pact of the Tome. Your Book of Shadows
could be a tattered and worn diary of the wujen
of Springs past, the words and meaning
changing ever so slightly every time you open
it to gradually grant you a more comprehensive
understanding of the secrets of nature.
Playing a Wu-Jen
A wu-jen in Soburin is far different from a run-ofthe-
mill nature-based arcane spellcaster (or for that
matter, any nature-based magic user). Of all the
character options presented in both this chapter and
the next, none sum up what Mists of Akuma is really
about nearly as well: corruption and despair in a
decaying, dying world.
Whatever they might have been in the distant
past is long behind them and the wu-jen of the
present day are not individuals to be taken lightly.
They have seen what horrors await the races of
Soburin and know (undeniably, in the very core of
their being) just how wounded the world is after
the horrifying events of the War of Kaiyo. There is
no doubt in their minds that the heretical weapons
of the foreign armies have rendered an injury that
might never heal, and whether hopeless or spiteful
the notion that there is no salvation is never far from
their thoughts. This does not necessarily mean that
a wu-jen must be despondent or melancholy, but
they are certainly more disposed to pragmatism
and therefore compromise (so long as the ultimate
ends serve their goals).
It is not uncommon for a wu-jen to display
auditory and visual effects reflecting the terrible and
despicable pacts they have forged with the entities
that have subsumed nature. Sometimes these can
be mistaken as manifestations of Haitoku (and very
well may overlap if the wu-jen has truly lost themselves
to dark, great powers), but sometimes they
are more subtle; an umibo wu-jen might find their
watery bodies becoming dirtier with each day, and
hengeyokai wu-jen might appear to be more feral
in their animal forms. How exactly a wu-jen's horrendous
sacrifice might make itself known is at the
discretion of the GM and the player, but it should be
a major part of that character's roleplay—the pact
forged with Natsu Ītā, Akinochisō, Fuyu-Noyaban
and/or Haru-Oshōhi is not one to be taken lightly.