The Fang Shih

Scholarly masters of chi magic from lands in the distant East, the Fang Shih character class combines the use of arcane spells like those used by wizards with the subtle geomantic art of placement to alter the flow of chi, the magical energy flowing through the world around them. Fang shih are welcomed by many communities as auspicious harbingers of good fortune.

Weapons: Dagger, staff

Armour: None

Hit Points: 1d4 per level

Divert Chi Energy. This ability allows you to increase or decrease the total amount of chi in an area, whether it is balanced or leaning toward positive or negative, therefore making it harder or easier to cast spells in that space. By employing luo pan mirrors, tokens of specific colours, and rearranging items found in the target area through the art of placement, the DC of all spells cast in an area of up to near size can be increased or decreased by 1 + the fang shih’s INT modifier for one hour. It takes 2d6 minutes to set up the items required.

Geomantic Observation. You are naturally observant of nature, terrain, and architecture, gaining advantage on checks to find water, predict the weather, and locate hidden doors and traps or other odd construction around you. You are also adept at using a geometer’s compass, or “luo pan”, a special eight-sided mirror, to check the flow of chi through an area, and skilled at reading signs in the terrain and weather. This also allows you to identify areas of high or low chi, spot zones of charged chi, detect magic, locate planar entities and portals, and identify curses or enchantments affecting an area.

Languages. You know one additional common language and one rare language.

Learning Spells. You learn spells similar to the way wizards do. You can permanently learn a wizard spell from a spell scroll by studying it for a day and succeeding on a DC 15 Intelligence check. Whether you succeed or fail, you expend the spell scroll. Spells you learn in this way don't count toward your known spells.

Spellcasting. You can cast spells you know as a wizard. You begin knowing two tier 1 spells of your choice from the wizard spell list. Each time you gain a level, you choose new wizard spells to learn according to the Spells Known table below.

Fang Shih Talents

2d6 Effect

2 Learn a greater feng shui application.

3-7 +2 to Intelligence stat or +1 to feng shui skill checks.

8-9 Gain advantage on casting one spell you know.

10-11 Learn one additional wizard spell of any tier you know.

12 Choose a talent or +2 points to distribute to stats.

Greater Feng Shui Applications

The art of feng shui allows the fang shih to manipulate chi without the need to cast a spell by using the placement of items to affect chi. This requires items of the right colours and symbolism to influence the flow of energy in a location. Moving items like furniture, rocks, mirrors, and tapestries in a room or even a cave can make a difference in the way magical energy is used in that space. Natural formations like rivers, mounds, trees, and boulders can be incorporated into the layout of an effect as they are part of the natural flow of chi in an area. Fang Shihs typically carry a number of small mirrors, banners, amulets, incense sticks, bells, gongs, and other items to spread around an area to alter the flow of chi, a process that typically takes 2d6 minutes to set up for a near sized or smaller area. Disturbing the placement of items of an effect after it has been activated halves the remaining duration of the effect. An effect may be set up in advance to be activated with a single action if desired, such as when a chi barrier is used to trap an incorporeal creature.

Auspicious Alignment: With a successful DC 12 feng shui check, you can identify an auspicious location and design a beneficial layout for a building before it is constructed. Anyone living or working in a building with auspicious alignment built by your instructions gains a luck token each day. You must see the location and spend an hour taking measurements and drawing a layout using a luo pan to design an auspicious space. A single room can also be enhanced in a building that has already been built if it does not have an overall negative or inauspicious flow of chi.

Chi Barrier: By making a DC 12 feng shui skill check, you can make a wall of chi energy between two points in near range of each other by using the placement of symbolic items. The chi barrier can be configured into different shapes based on the location of the items used to make it, so long as all points are within near range of each other. Incorporeal creatures cannot pass through this barrier. Spells cast through the barrier have their casting DC raised by +1d6 as the flow of energy is hindered by the wall. The barrier lasts one hour.

Yin/Yang Pool: By making a DC 15 feng shui skill check, you can create a close sized area of either enhanced positive or negative chi via the placement of items that signify the chi you wish to increase. The pool lasts 24 hours so long as the placement of items is not disturbed. Performing a long rest in a pool of positive “yang” energy bestows a Luck Token on a living recipient, and the full rest takes half as long as normal. Cure spells cast in a yang pool roll at advantage on casting checks and to determine the number of hit points they restore. Resting in a negative “yin” pool prevents natural healing and bestows a Jinx Token of negative chi. Cure spells cast in a yin pool roll at disadvantage on casting checks and to determine the number of hit points they restore. Undead and other creatures of negative energy are affected in reverse, benefitting from yin chi and being disadvantaged in a yang chi area.

Repair Chi: By making a feng shui skill check to overcome an opposed casting check, this ability allows the Fang Shih to remove curses and dispel enchantments cast over an area of effect of up to near size by placing the correct items to balance the location’s chi, releasing the energy held in the local curse or enchantment effect. It can also repair magic “dead zones” where spells cannot be cast with a DC 15 skill check, returning the flow of chi in an area to normal.

Sever The Flow: By making a successful DC 18 skill check, this ability allows a fang shih to block all spell casting in an area of up to near size for up to 24 hours. All spells cast in the area have a casting check DC of 18 until the flow of chi in the area is restored. Areas with blocked chi can be hazardous. Anyone injured who tries to rest in the area of effect will not naturally heal unless a DC 18 CON check is passed due to a near total lack of chi energy in this zone.

Negative and Positive Chi

Chi is the energy that powers life, magic, and the processes of birth, growth, decay, and death. Normally it is balanced between life-promoting positive chi, and disease inducing negative chi. When chi is out of balance, it can enhance or diminish the ability to heal, alter the difficulty to cast spells,

and change rates of decay. In areas where pools of high positive chi accumulate, all living creatures can gain a daily luck token.

Many merchants and craftsmen pay to have their shops located in areas with high positive chi to increase their profits. In locations where high negative chi gathers, all of these factors gain a daily jinx token that randomly makes one roll per day be at disadvantage.

For undead creatures, these effects are reversed, as they benefit from high negative chi and are harmed by positive chi.

Certain features of terrain and some rare buildings have a naturally high positive or negative chi flow. Ley lines may occur in nature that connect sites high in positive chi energy, affecting the casting of spells along their routes. Chi may fluctuate day-to-day or week-to-week depending on the natural flow of energy in an area. It can be highly negative or positive, or high or low in total energy but neutral in charge.

Jinx Tokens

Just the opposite of a Luck Token, a jinx token is a gamified piece of bad luck that bestows disadvantage on the recipient’s next die roll, whatever that may be.

Feng Shui Skill

This is a Wisdom based skill that allows the user to perform the art of placement to analyse the flow of chi in an area and alter it by the arranging of mirrors, tokens, and other objects in a specified area. Terrain features like rivers, ponds, forests, and hills are often integrated into the arrangement to take advantage of natural chi flow. Places with meagre life such as a salt flat or that are prone to disease, such as a swamp, are more likely to have a high negative chi. Areas with clean, rushing rivers, dense forests, or ocean shorelines are more likely to have high positive chi. The type of terrain in an area is thus responsible in part for the balance of chi and can affect the operations of a fang shih. It takes a mix of experience, knowledge, and intuition to accurately analyse and manipulate the chi in an area.