Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Darth Sephiroth 03-05-07, 10:29 AM	Diamond Samurai v0.1 Two men stood facing one another on the field sizing the other up. Then in an instant both reacted and both seemed to blur and then halt in the other starting position. Both men seemed to pause and take a slow breath. Half a second later as one sheathed his blade, the other fell to the ground, cleaved cleanly in two from shoulder to waist. The Diamond Samurai hone their techniques to act at any moment to become the masters of the first strike on opponents. They have honed instinct and knowledge to the point of being able to act without thought through the order of their mind. Hit Die: d10 Requirements: To qualify to become a Diamond Samurai, a character must fulfill the following criteria: Alignment: Any non-chaotic Base Attack: 6+ Skills: Concentration 9+ ranks, Martial Lore 9+ ranks Feats: Improved Initiative, Quickdraw, Rapid Assault, Unnerving Calm Special: Must know at least one Diamond Mind Strike, Counter, and Stance. Class Skills: The Diamond Samurai class skills are Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Martial Lore, Swim, and Tumble Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Level BAB Fort Ref Will ------------------------------ 1 +1 +0 +2 +0 2 +2 +0 +3 +0 3 +3 +1 +3 +1 4 +4 +1 +4 +1 5 +5 +1 +4 +1 Maneuvers Known Level Known Readied Stances --------------------------------- 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 3 1 0 1 4 1 1 0 5 1 0 0 Level Special Abilities ------------------------------------------ 1 Iajutsu (Threat Range) 2 Improved Rapid Assault 3 Iajutsu (Critical Multiplier) 4 Superior Rapid Assault 5 Iajutsu (Slice Through) Class Features: Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Diamond Samurai gains the Exotic Weapon proficiencies in the Bastard Sword and Katana. The Diamond Samurai gains no Armor or Shield Proficiencies. Maneuvers: At every level you gain one new maneuver from the Diamon Mind Discipline that you qualify for. You must meet the maneuvers prerequisites in order to learn it. You add your full Diamond Samurai level to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At each even level, you gain an additional maneuver readied per day. Stances Known: At 3rd level, you learn a new martial stance from the Diamond Mind Discipline. You must meet the stance's prerequisite in order to learn it. If you are incapable of learning a Diamond Mind stance, you may learn the stance when you meet the prerequisites of one you do not already possess. Iajutsu (Ex): Iajutsu attacks are ones made against the unwary opponent and all Iajutsu abilities only apply when either dealing with foes denied their dexterity bonus or are flatfooted. These abilities also come into play during a suprise round in which you may act. When your Iajutsu abilities are used your threat range is doubled. This ability stacks with the Improved Critical feat and Keen weapon enhansement. At 3rd level, this ability increases the Critical Multiplier of your attacks by 1. At 5th level, any of your attacks that achieve a critical during use of Iajutsu are treated as if by a natural 20 with a Vorpal weapon. This ability takes a full round action to use except during a suprise round, though you may move a distance equal to 1/2 your base speed and may not take a 5 ft step. Improved Rapid Assault (Ex): The damage bonus from Rapid Assault improves by an additonal 1d6 points of damage. Superior Rapid Assault (Ex): Your damage bonus from Rapid Assault improves by an additional 1d6.
Darth Sephiroth 03-06-07, 01:09 AM	Made a slight change to Superior Rapid Assault
Xaxor 03-06-07, 01:23 PM	This looks rather overpowered. Too many new maneuvers for one thing. The only prestige class that makes sense for that many is the Master of Nine, considering how much you have to give up to enter. It should probably be reduced to one new maneuver every odd level, one stance at 3rd, and maybe one new maneuver readied at 3rd, or one at 2nd and one at 4th. Improved Rapid Assault could use some toning down as well. The initiative bonus could be halved and it would still be good. But, this class might be even better as with ten levels, though you'd need more abilities to make it interesting enough to take. The final Iajutsu ability seems like a serious capstone ability, not something that can be achieved at level 11. If you go that route, the Improved Rapid Assault ability would be gained at 3rd, 6th, and 9th; that would seem best. Other than that, I don't really know.
Darth Sephiroth 03-06-07, 06:36 PM	This looks rather overpowered. Too many new maneuvers for one thing. The only prestige class that makes sense for that many is the Master of Nine, considering how much you have to give up to enter. It should probably be reduced to one new maneuver every odd level, one stance at 3rd, and maybe one new maneuver readied at 3rd, or one at 2nd and one at 4th. Improved Rapid Assault could use some toning down as well. The initiative bonus could be halved and it would still be good. But, this class might be even better as with ten levels, though you'd need more abilities to make it interesting enough to take. The final Iajutsu ability seems like a serious capstone ability, not something that can be achieved at level 11. If you go that route, the Improved Rapid Assault ability would be gained at 3rd, 6th, and 9th; that would seem best. Other than that, I don't really know. Toned it down somewhat. Yes you gain more maneuvers than a Warblade, but they are restricted to a single Discipline. Also your abilities from this class are only useful during the opening of a fight. Iajutsu's final step only works with a confirmed critical, I may reduce it even more by requiring a Diamond Mind maneuver to be required to trigger it.
Xaxor 03-06-07, 07:02 PM	I wouldn't say you should continue to reduce it to needing a Diamond Mind strike, but that does seem flavourful. I'm kind of a stickler for clarity when writing, but you could simplify the wording of the Iajutsu abilities as only functioning when attacking a flat-footed opponent, or one denied their Dexterity bonus. Surprise rounds can be rare.
Darth Sephiroth 03-06-07, 07:34 PM	I tried to clarify it so does it work?
madmonk 03-06-07, 10:37 PM	Hmmm... nice, I would love to play as a mindblade/warblade diamond samurai :D It looks good, but you need to fixthat typo about 5th level written as 3rd (the last iaijutsu).
Darth Sephiroth 03-07-07, 01:06 AM	Hmmm... nice, I would love to play as a mindblade/warblade diamond samurai :D It looks good, but you need to fixthat typo about 5th level written as 3rd (the last iaijutsu). You mean Warblade? Can't think of a mind blade class unless you mean Soul Knife
Darth Sephiroth 03-07-07, 05:45 PM	As a side note, I'm using this for a character acting as a bodyguard for an important dignitary in a high level game. The Character is a Warblade 8/Diamond Samurai 5/Legacy Champion (Shishi-O) (Warblade increases) 10
Darth Sephiroth 03-10-07, 03:10 AM	:bump:
enygmatic_me 03-10-07, 03:22 AM	The last Iaijutsu still seems a little powerful. With enough Bluff ranks denying someone their Dex to AC isn't to difficult. Especially if they have no Sense Motive. I agree with Xaxor that this would make a very good 10 level PrC with a little work. The ability to Vorpal on confirmed crits would seem less out of place if it was gained at a higher character level.
Darth Sephiroth 03-10-07, 06:13 AM	The last Iaijutsu still seems a little powerful. With enough Bluff ranks denying someone their Dex to AC isn't to difficult. Especially if they have no Sense Motive. I agree with Xaxor that this would make a very good 10 level PrC with a little work. The ability to Vorpal on confirmed crits would seem less out of place if it was gained at a higher character level. Remember that it is a Vorpal hit on a confirmed critical against a flatfooted foe which isn't that common
enygmatic_me 03-10-07, 10:44 AM	Remember that it is a Vorpal hit on a confirmed critical against a flatfooted foe which isn't that common Or a foe denied their Dexterity to AC. With enough Bluff you can feint and more than likely cause your opponent to lose Dex to AC rather easily. Take Improved Crit and stack it with the 1st level Iaijutsu ability with a Bastard Sword that is a rather large threat range. Make it a scimitar and it gets even larger. Pulling this off on a rather constant basis is easier than you might think.
Darth Sephiroth 03-10-07, 05:10 PM	Or a foe denied their Dexterity to AC. With enough Bluff you can feint and more than likely cause your opponent to lose Dex to AC rather easily. Take Improved Crit and stack it with the 1st level Iaijutsu ability with a Bastard Sword that is a rather large threat range. Make it a scimitar and it gets even larger. Pulling this off on a rather constant basis is easier than you might think. Weakened it slightly, also Bluff isn't a class skill for this class.
enygmatic_me 03-10-07, 06:02 PM	Weakened it slightly, also Bluff isn't a class skill for this class. It looks better. Remember though, despite that fact that none of the Martial Adepts have Bluff as a class skill there are several ways that could still make this a viable possibility. Multiclassing as a rogue, human with the Able Learner feat, any race with the Cosmopolitan feat are just three example off the top of my head that could make this situation feasible.
Darth Sephiroth 03-12-07, 09:59 AM	It looks better. Remember though, despite that fact that none of the Martial Adepts have Bluff as a class skill there are several ways that could still make this a viable possibility. Multiclassing as a rogue, human with the Able Learner feat, any race with the Cosmopolitan feat are just three example off the top of my head that could make this situation feasible. Although it really isn't that much more effective than a Rogue with a high number of ranks in Bluff. Your limited with this even more than with Sneak Attack because you need to confirm the critical, and even with a Vorpal weapon there are several targets that are immune.
Summum_Malum 03-12-07, 10:10 AM	I like the class, though the critical range seems kinda nasty. I can just see someone abusing it with Disciple of Dispater Iron Power, which to my knowledge is still legal, to have improved critical/1st level Iajutsu/Iron power and quadruple the critical range which could be pretty nasty. :D On another note I'd say it'd make a pretty awesome 10 level PrC with either adding some stuff back in, or adding some new stuff. Good work.