Pop Culture Builds 12: Wence the Wanderer (Magi-Nation Duel)
It’s these pop culture build specials that really make me realize how important data preservation really is. Sure, well-known characters will have oodles of resources for them both in the real space and digital spaces for ages to come. However, when it comes to obscure media, something that is someone’s favorite but didn’t get a lot of attention back in the day… How long will all-digtal resources for such things last without anyone to maintain them? Whether it be fan wikis or the increasingly rare fansites, such information can be exceedingly hard to find, and even then, those resources can be incomplete or leave out details that only fans would already know.
Which is why I’m so grateful that the original person who suggested this character reached out to me about them! Thank you again!
In any case, let’s get right down to it. Magi-Nation Duel was a short-lived CCG which centered around the denizens of the Moonlands and the Dream Creatures they summon to do battle. (It’s probably not lost on you how close “Magi-Nation” is to the word “imagination”)
In any case, today’s subject is Wence, a Naroomese Eliwan magus. The Eliwan are the descendants of the ancients who settled on the Moonlands after being driven from the surface of their homeworld by the “Invaders”. The Eliwans appear to be able to adapt heavily to the various environments they settle in, giving each regional subspecies drastically different appearances.
In any case, Wence lives apart from other Naroomese, and seems to be something of a wandering magus who travels about righting wrongs and even befriending eliwan of different regions, as noted by his friendship with the Underling Eliwan siblings Gruk and Ulk.
While Wence plays a relatively minor role in the Gameboy Color tie-in game, he does also exist in card form as well within the card game itself.
In any case, we’ll try our best to replicate his abilities here in Pathfinder!
The first hurtle I had to overcome was what ancestry to translate the Eliwan into, but this actually proved very easy, all things considered. Both Elves and the Eliwan are noted for their ability to adapt heavily to whatever environment they are in while still being the same species, so I decided to use elf as the base for him. I would also recommend the Woodcraft alternate trait to give him an edge as a woodsman, however.
Class was a bit harder, given most fighting is done by summons in Magi-Nation. However, I settled on a cross-class build. The first being the Wild Caller archetype for summoner (the Heroes of the Wild version), granting him a plantlike eidolon which can shift in base form depending on the local terrain, and access to summon nature’s ally instead of summon monster, which better fits with the themes of a Naroom deck, especially with one of the feats we’ll talk about later.
Meanwhile, his eidolon should be based on either the Bungaloo (humanoid grass monster) or the Arboll (a spherical leafy plant monster with two gnarled wooden arms)
The other class, which I recommend at least four levels of, is the guide archetype for ranger, granting Wence some better woodcraft, the ability to aid others in traversing terrain, and even some minor nature-based spells.
As both a summoner and a ranger, feats that let you bolster your summons or eidolon are important, as well as those that buff your ranged and outdoorsy skills. A super important one to take, however, is Summon Plant Ally, which adds a large number of plant creatures to your summon nature’s ally list, ranging from mighty treants to leshies and carnivorous plants!
The Naroom deck style revolves around transferring energy between summons and their magus, and since this represents both buffing and healing, that informs some of the spells for this build, such as rejuvenate eidolon and instant restoration to keep both your eidolon and summons in the fight, as well as summon nature’s ally to be able to have both your eidolon and summons out at the same time. Other buffing spells are also a very good choice as well, bolstering their abilities. Naroom also has some plant-manipulation cards in the set, so I’d also recommend spells that can be reflavored as monstrous vines, such as black tentacles, as well as those that conjure plant matter wholesale, as well as entangle from your ranger levels.
The only bit of equipment I was able to confirm Wence having was a bow and arrow, but given the nature of Naroom relic cards, we can assume for this build that he would probably prefer items that boost vitality and allow one to travel stealthily.
If summoner/ranger doesn’t appeal to you, you could perhaps go for a plant master hunter to focus on the combination of being a far-ranging wanderer with a plant companion and access to summon nature’s ally. If you’re playing Pathfinder second edition you could just play a straight-up summoner with a plant eidolon, since you get access to the primal spell list with that anyway, possibly with the ranger multiclass archetype as well.
This was a fun and challenging build for me to come up with, but hardly limited to replicating wence, focusing on supporting your monsters both with spells as well as ranged attacks.
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