Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Devigod 12-14-07, 10:19 PM	I should have put PEACH in the title Okay, cut me some slack, this is my first post: A couple of months ago, I had this inspiration for a different kind of samurai than the one in C. Warrior, which is, unless you're really interested in dual wielding swords, horrible. I had this different idea of a samurai that is as fancy with a single sword as others are with two, I also knew I wanted it to be able to fight in heavy armor (historical samurai) or in no armor (monkish or fantasy samurai) hence it was born. Without further ado: Samurai Hit Die: d10 Requirements To become a samurai, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Alignment: Any lawful. Base Attack Bonus: +6. Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5 ranks. Feats: Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (bastard sword). BAB Fort Ref Will +1 +2 +0 +2 AC bonus, armor training, graceful katana +2 +3 +0 +3 Uncanny Dodge +3 +3 +1 +3 Fast Movement +10 ft. or heavy superiority +1 +4 +4 +1 +4 Improved initiative, flurry of blades +5 +4 +1 +4 Improved uncanny dodge, kiai charge or unimpeded movement +6 +5 +2 +5 Fast movement +20 ft. or heavy superiority +2 +7 +5 +2 +5 Standoff +8 +6 +2 +6 Powerful swing +9 +6 +3 +6 Fast movement +30 ft. or heavy superiority +3 +10 +7 +3 +7 Greater flurry The samurai’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Class Features All the following are class features of the samurai prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Samurai gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Armor Training (Ex): At first level, a samurai chooses whether to specialize in Unencumbered Training (light or no armor) or in Heavy Training (medium and heavy armor). Samurai that specialize in Unencumbered training gain the AC bonus at first level as well as class features that allow them to fight well in light armor or no armor. Samurai that specialize in Heavy Training gain class features that increase their mobility and defense in heavy armor. AC Bonus (Ex): A samurai with Unencumbered Training is highly skilled at dodging blows and has a sixth sense that lets him avoid even unanticipated attacks. At 1st level, when unarmored and unencumbered, the samurai adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC. This ability does not stack with the monk or ninja’s AC bonus ability (a samurai with levels in monk does not add the bonus twice). These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the samurai is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load. Graceful Katana (Ex): A samurai is artistic in his skill with the blade, relying on technique rather than a shield in a fight. At 1st level, when fighting with a bastard sword in his primary hand and no weapon or shield in his off-hand, a samurai receives the following benefits: When a samurai wields a bastard sword in one hand and nothing in the other, he treats the bastard sword as ‘Light’ (i.e., Weapon Finesse applies to it). Regardless of whether he wields it with one or two hands, a samurai receives a +1 Shield bonus to AC, if he is Fighting Defensively or using Total Defense, he instead receives a +2 Shield bonus to AC. Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a samurai gains the ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a samurai already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead. Flurry of Blades (Ex): When carrying a bastard sword in one hand and nothing in the other, a samurai may strike with a flurry of blades at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, he may make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the samurai might make before his next action. A samurai must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blades. When attacking with the flurry of blades, a samurai applies his Strength bonus (not Str bonus × 1½ or ×½) to his damage rolls for all successful attacks, he must wield the weapon in one hand with nothing in the other. The samurai can’t use any weapon other than the bastard sword as a part of the flurry of blades. When a samurai reaches 10th level, his flurry of blades ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack he gets from flurry of blades, he gets a second extra attack at his full base attack bonus. Fast Movement (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a samurai with Unencumbered Training gains a +10 foot enhancement bonus to his base land speed. At 6th level, this bonus increases to +20 feet and at 9th level increases to +30 feet. A samurai loses this benefit when carrying a shield, or when wearing medium or heavier armor or carrying a medium or heavy load. Heavy Superiority (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a samurai with Heavy Training learns to wear heavy armor more effectively, becoming very agile in normally restrictive armor. The maximum Dexterity bonus for any medium or heavy armor he wears is increased by 1. In addition, he also reduces the armor check penalties 1. At 6th level, you improve these bonuses to 2 and at 9th level to 3. Improved Initiative: At 4th level, a samurai has honed his reflexes through great practice. He now has the Improved Initiative feat. Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a samurai can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the samurai by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has samurai levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character. Kiai Charge (Ex): At 5th level, a samurai with Unencumbered Training is able to charge into melee with a flurry of attacks. When the samurai wearing no or light armor makes a charge, he may make a full attack at the end of it with no penalty. A samurai carrying a shield or any weapon besides a single bastard sword loses this ability. Unimpeded Movement (Ex): At 5th level, a samurai with Heavy Training no longer reduces his movement when wearing medium or heavy armor. Further, if he has the Spring Attack feat, his unimpeded movement ability allows him to use Spring Attack even while wearing heavy armor. Standoff (Ex): A samurai is never outnumbered, adhering to a code of honor and never attacking a non threatening enemy when he’s clearly outmatched, a samurai also learns how to fight those with no such obligations. When a samurai of 7th level would normally be flanked by two or more enemies (despite improved uncanny dodge), instead, he gets a flanking bonus and is for all purposes treated as if he were flanking them. Powerful Swing (Ex): At 8th level, a samurai learns to swing his sword powerfully and effectively. When he wields a bastard sword in one hand and nothing in the other he may apply 1½ times his strength modifier to damage rolls, as if he was wielding it in two hands. He doesn't apply 1½ his strength to damage rolls when making a flurry of blades. He still treats the bastard sword as a one handed weapon for feats, such as Power Attack. Code of Honor (Insert some code of honor here) Multiclassing Note: A Paladin who becomes a Samurai may continue advancement as a Paladin. Tell me what you think; balance, flavor...
Watsyurname529 12-15-07, 12:24 PM	First off, put your class chart in (Code) (/Code) tags, replacing the paraenthises with brackets. That'll make it easier to read. Now you have a problem here, you give a Wis Bonus to AC if weaing no armor, class ablilities that require light or no armor and then class abilities that require heavy armor. Heavy Superiority is pointless when most all of your class abilities require light or no armor. Pick one specialization, Light/No Armor or Heavy Armor. Don't try both because then you get class abilities you never use which are barely more than dead levels.
Devigod 12-15-07, 12:35 PM	Well the idea is that it is able to wear heavy armor, or function in light or no armor, making it accessible to classes that depend on heavy or no armor. That said, there are no dead levels as whenever you get an ability with one of the armors, you also get an ability with one of the others. I will make it so that you must choose at the beginning whether to specialize in unencumbered training or in heavy armor training.
Watsyurname529 12-15-07, 02:39 PM	Much better. Although I would try to think of another Heavy Armor ability for the 8th level of the PrC. The heavy armor needs something else to make it better and fill the dead level. Otherwise, this is how a Samurai should work. Much better than C. Warrior.
Devigod 12-15-07, 02:42 PM	Thank you very much, although the samurai in C. Warrior is not hard to top. I'll send you a private message when I come up with a new ability.
CryoSilver 12-15-07, 02:45 PM	Historically, didn't most fighting styles use the katana in both hands?
Devigod 12-15-07, 03:09 PM	You're probably right, but... uhhh.... one handed implies that he's using technique and such, plus it was a great way for me to make a bastard sword finessable. I got Graceful Katana from Graceful edge, a great feat in one of the Dragon magazines I beleive. It worked the best mechanically. You can find the feat at Crystal Keep (http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php) under the feat pdf, hit ctr+f and enter Graceful edge and it should pop up. That is a good point though.
SkipSandwich 12-16-07, 07:33 PM	well, flurry's mechanic means that it doesn't really matter weither you wield a weapon in 1 hand or 2, because the damage is the same either way. as for graceful edge, just add a line to the end saying that the 'counts as a light weapon' part only applies when the weapon is being wielded 1handed, but the shield bonus applies regardless if the weapon is being weilded 1 or 2 handed.
Devigod 12-16-07, 07:51 PM	Oh you're right, I haven't specified that, thank you for pointing that out.
Devigod 12-23-07, 05:22 PM	Addendum: Powerful Swing While wracking my brain for more ideas on how to fill in the (previously dead) 8th level, I came up with some whacky ideas. I finally resolved to make it a selection between two feats when I had the idea of Powerful Swing. Does anyone think this breaks the class at all? For anyone new to the post, Please Evaluate and Critique Honorably (or Honestly)
CryoSilver 12-24-07, 01:26 PM	For Powerful Swing, I assume you mean adds 1.5 Str to damage, because you don't add 1.5 Str to your attack roll.
Devigod 01-01-08, 06:58 PM	Okay, does anyone have any more suggestions for the class? Balancing issues, suggestions, compliments... insults? Or is it time for this thread to die a long horrible thread death?
Spikes01k 01-01-08, 07:30 PM	Personally, I try to eliminate the dex modifier restrictions to AC when ever possible. Its just silly that someone with more dex can get more AC mechanically wise than some one wearing armor. Armor proficiencies are supposed to do something...
Devigod 01-10-08, 05:54 PM	Yeah, that's sorta what I did there. *Bump*:bump:
The_Shaman 01-10-08, 06:00 PM	The flurry of blows feature kind of irks me somehow. I mean, I'm not a practitioner of kendo, and I've heard that there are techniques (iaijutsu) that revolve around making extremely fast attacks, but those are singular blows. On the other hand, flurry is not a matter of single blows - it is of very fast routine of attacks, usually at the expense of accuracy. I don't know if samurai deserve such a feature, because, to be quite honest, I'm not sure they make more attacks per second than, say, a master duelist stabbing away with a rapier. If the latter makes 4 attacks per 6 seconds, why should the former make 6? Class features shouldn't just be nice; they should have some relevance to the class archetype as well imo. Rather, I'd see you build on the powerful swing feature, also adding elements of the Frenzied Berserker's improved power attack or the Kensai's ki powers - or, perhaps, the good old fashioned bonus feats (OA did a good job there, allowing samurai to be more flexible and have more schools/styles). Don't make their attack more, make them more damaging.
Devigod 01-10-08, 06:56 PM	Oh, heh, read my background eh? It is just martial arts, nothing in the way of swords, but you bring up a valid point. I guess I just wanted to make the samurai more monk-esque, and flurry of blows/blades seemed a way to go. It sorta is meant to compensate for the fact that they are unable to dual wield. I'll contemplate this... There's a feat that lets you do it with the longsword in the Eberron campaign setting, it's in the SRD, called Whirling Steel Strike. You need to have weapon focus with it. That was mostly why I assumed it would be flavorfully feasible. A duelist with proficiency with the elven thinblade can treat it as a longsword for the feat and it crits as well as the rapier, I think monk levels are still required. Would you recommend that I only make flurry available to samurai with light armor training? That would allow a reason for their speed, although it would significantly downpower the heavy armored samurai. Once again, I'll think about it, the expansions on powerful swing sound tempting, so does taking a direction toward kensei. (Kensai is a mistranslation) Thanks for the reply.
Spikes01k 01-10-08, 10:53 PM	Yeah, that's sorta what I did there. *Bump*:bump: I would increase it to 2 instead of 1 at each increment at the very least, and I would contemplate completely ignoring the ACP and max dex restrictions at level 9. Also ignoring the heavy armor reduction of speed a little would be nice.
The_Shaman 01-11-08, 07:11 PM	Oh, heh, read my background eh? It is just martial arts, nothing in the way of swords, but you bring up a valid point. I guess I just wanted to make the samurai more monk-esque, and flurry of blows/blades seemed a way to go. Er, I didn't until now. BB in kenpo, eh? My MA background is practically non-existant, but I just don't know if FoB is the best feature in this case. It's just that I think FoB something characteristic of a truly hectic style that practically rains blows at an enemy - after all, it is called flurry. Anyway, is your PC limited to swords only or are you planning to allow other weapons supposedly used by samurai, like staves or polearms, to work with this PrC?
Devigod 01-11-08, 09:33 PM	Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea at all. I'd probably want to find some other sort of abilities, as I don't think graceful edge will swing for a polearm or staves. It could be fun to build one that uses a glaive (or whatever polearm it is they use.) Hmm. I'm inspired. I might just post another class that has fairly similar features. Cool idea, thanks! I'm going to look at kensai (really kensei) for suggestions on replacement for flurry. Or just wrack my brain, I'll post anything that I decide to change.
Captain_Kobold 01-15-08, 05:04 PM	While the idea of finessing a bastard sword makes me twitch, I'll accept it as one of the semi-mysticall abilities about the class. :P However, what about adjusting the various abilities so that they work when the samurai is holding his weapon two-handed as well? It seems odd that he would have more control of his sword when he takes one hand off the hilt. This would also match more closely with the historical style. Flurry of blades seems odd, and a little out of style as well. Perhaps replace with an ability to make a single attack, but add wisdom modifier to hit and Will save to damage. Call it "Decisive blow" or something. Powerful swing could be changed to increase damage by a further 0.5 x strength mod. (i.e. 1.5x when wielding one-handed and 2x when wielding two-handed.) Possibly increasing power attack value by this modifier as well. Or maybe allowing the Samurai to add an extra 0.5 x strength mod to hit when using the weapon two-handed. Fast movement is unusual. Weren't the Samurai usually mounted for battle? Maybe allow it to apply to their mount as well as themselves. Perhaps a little less focus on just one of the weapons of the Samurai and more that they could do with the Spear and Bow. IIRC these were the primary weapons of the samurai: the sword was for duelling, cutting up fleeing infantry, and after you had been dismounted/disarmed.