Shugenja

Shugenja (修験者) are practitioners of the Japanese religion of Shugendō. They are sometimes known as yamabushi.

Role-playing games

Bushido

In Bushido, a role-playing game published in 1981 by Fantasy Games Unlimited, Shugenja are portrayed as wizards.

Legend of the Five Rings

In the Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game, shugenja are magic-users, similar to wizards. Their spells are given power by the five different varieties of kami that can be found in Rokugan. Their magic is referred to as Elemental Magic, as opposed to Bloodspeakers who use Blood Magic. In the role-playing game, being a shugenja is one of the main alternatives in character creation.

Dungeons & Dragons

The shugenja (with the alternate spelling shukenja) was introduced in the original first edition Oriental Adventures book as a subclass of cleric. A version of this class (also called shugenja) was incorporated into Dungeons & Dragons in the third edition Oriental Adventures sourcebook, and revised in the 3.5 edition sourcebook Complete Divine.

External links

• Web site on Shugendo & Yamabushi http://shugendo.fr/
• Web site on Shugendo video http://www.dailymotion.com/Ken_Jaku
• Web site on a shugenja http://shugendo.pagesperso-orange.fr/
• Web site from the Yamabushi Christian Grübl about Shugendo Manners http://www.shugendo-austria.org/