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View Full Version : The Samurai [3.5] - An Ideal.



KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 09:26 PM
Samurai

http://elizabethmcintire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/samurai_fighting_many_enemies.jpg

”The Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance…
…If by setting one‘s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.”

-From the musings of Yamamoto Tsunetomo as put down in the book Hagakure



The Samurai is fearless and strong, master of the blade and of the science of martial arts. Oftentimes noble and urbane, the Samurai is accomplished in many things, not the least of which being leadership and diplomacy.

Alignment: Any Lawful. Often Lawful Neutral. The discipline of the Samurai is strict and unyielding, making lesser men as commoners and ninjas by comparison. It takes a firm, sound mind to accomplish and stay true to the Way where there is no room for frivolity and caprice.

Religion: Any. More often than not, the Samurai, if not his own master, will attend to the belief of his master or liege lord. Religion takes less a part in the martial and fiercely secular nature of practical martial arts. Oftentimes you will find that many Samurai are without the least of drippings of piety, perhaps giving lip service to a god while his conviction lies more in the sharpness of his sword.

Background: It takes fierce devotion to the Way and a comprehensive understanding of the science of martial arts to become said science’s avatar. Few are up to the task, though many think they are capable. Samurai can come from any background (or sourcebook) and claim devotion and understanding and martial prowess, but most are pretenders to the ideal. It takes the sure hand and knowledge of a master and teacher, oftentimes a large institution of martial training, to sculpt and mold the Samurai potential and send him on his way.

Races: Generally, humans are the race most suited to Way, more versatile and adaptable to the ever-changing flux and flow of the battlefield. They also tend to fanatacism more readily than the other, longer lived races, accepting and embodying the Way all the easier. Dwarves have the predisposition toward discipline and hardy nature to make a mighty Samurai warrior, though more hirsute than subtle when it comes to diplomacy. Half-Orcs have the power and the ferocity of the Martial master, however their suitability discipline-wise is to be proven. You see less of the other races taking up the mantle of the Samurai, though sometimes the Half-elf or the Halfling may just be the perfect example of the Charismatic, noble sword swinger.

Other Classes: Received generally as the Paladin, though looser on the morals. Tends to get along with just about everyone (save ninjas, the dart throwing monkey fodder..) due to the fact that he understands that many of these mere mortals fall short of the glory that is his, but that is no reason to treat them with disdain.

Role: In battle he is fierce and implacable. He tries to the best of his ability to take up the entire focus of as many enemies as capable in order to give his allies more breathing room and options. He works best in the center of the fight, sword flashing and blood flying, though he works well as a support for other melee types and as a stonewall for escaping friends and squishy wizards. He relies on the other characters’ knowledge of the arcane and that of healing as he’s more than likely unable to heal himself, so he tends to try to make himself very useful.

Out of combat, The Samurai is sometimes an accomplished diplomat, talking circles around the savviest of rogues or bolstering the morale of the army he leads through the use of a bard-worthy heroic speech. Oftentimes, though, skillful use of intimidation and blunt words are the Samurai’s social bread and butter.

Adaptation: The Samurai is just the name. Most of the mechanics of this class can be changed in name and possibly in application and derivation to suit a more broadly and easily integrated fighter type.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
The Samurai has the following game statistics.
Abilities: Strength is of the most value to the Samurai. Constitution a close second. Depending on the build and make of the samurai and upon the choice of Martial Art, Dexterity and Charisma may also figure highly in his value system.
Alignment: Any Lawful
Hit Die: D10
Starting Age: As Cleric
Starting Gold: As Fighter
Class Skills
Jump(str), Climb(str), Swim(str), Ride(dex), Profession(wis), Craft(int), Iaijutsu focus(cha) + (school specific skills)
Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

CThe Samurai
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|School of Martial Arts, School Boon I

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Bonus Feat

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Holding Down the Pillow

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Stomp the Sword, Bonus Feat

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|School Boon II

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Bonus Feat

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Weapon Familiarity (Blade)

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Bonus Feat

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Mettle

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|School Boon III

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Bonus Feat

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Bonus Feat

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Weakening Critical

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|School Boon IV

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Bonus Feat

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Way of the Samurai

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|Bonus Feat

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Wounding Critical

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|School Boon V[/table]


Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Simple, Martial and Bastard Sword. Light, Medium, Heavy. (no shields)

A Note on the definition of blade when used in context of class abilities:
When stated that an ability is either dependent upon the presence of or works only with a blade it is meant for blade to mean any light, one-handed, or two-handed slashing weapon that cannot also be described as an axe or scythe. (i.e. Falchion, Glaive, Greatsword, Bastard Sword, Fullblade, Short Sword, Kukri)

Class Features

Schools of Martial Arts

The Samurai chooses his school of martial arts at first level and gains the skills associated with said school as well as the school's first boon. At every level divisible by five, he gains another, more powerful boon of which he can make use. At no time may he change his school of focus.


Iaijutsu or Iaido.
The art of drawing and cutting with the blade.

Skills: Balance(dex), Intimidate(cha), Diplomacy(cha)

School Boon I - When wielding a single blade, the Samurai may ignore the hardness of any object or creature.

School Boon II - When wielding a single blade in either one hand or two, the Samurai gains a bonus to attack equal to 1/5 his class level rounded down, and to damage equal to 1/2 his class level rounded down.

School Boon III - Any single blade the Samurai wields hereafter gains the Speed quality.

School Boon IV - The Samurai gains double the effect of the Power Attack feat when applied to a blade of any type. (Remember that the double of a double is a triple, and that the double of time-and-a-half is double.)

School Boon V - When the Samurai is attacked by any enemy of any size and the attack misses due to Armor Class, said attack provokes an attack of opportunity which can be used to attack as per usual, or as either a sunder or disarm attempt. Neither the sunder nor disarm attempt provoke their own attacks of opportunity, even if the Samurai does not have access to the Improved Sunder or Disarm feats.


Individual Two Skies School of Martial Arts.
The Martial Science dealing with the use of two blades.

Skills: Tumble(dex), Balance(dex), Intimidate(cha), Bluff(cha)

School Boon I - The Samurai deals full strength damage with any weapon wielded in his off hand. He may also wield any one handed blade as if it were a light weapon in his off hand. Furthermore, the Samurai need not meet the dexterity prerequisite of any Two-Weapon feat in order to take it.

School Boon II - The Samurai's penalty for fighting with two blades is reduced by one. (i.e., -1/-1 or -3/-3)

School Boon III - The samurai may now may an extra attack with his off-hand weapon as part of any standard action, even as part of a spring attack. The attacks need not be directed at the same opponent, but if used as part of a spring attack, they both must be made before resuming the second part of his move action.

School Boon IV - The Samurai's penalty for fighting with two blades is further reduced by one. (i.e., -0/-0 or -2/-2)

School Boon V - The Samurai may now take a single move action in addition to a full round attack, spacing the squares between attacks as he sees fit.


Bushido.
The martial Science of the Nobility.

Skills: Bluff(cha), Diplomacy(cha), Sense Motive(wis), Intimidate(cha), Gather Information(cha), Knowledge{Nobility & Royalty}(int), K{History}(int), Knowledge{Architecture & Engineering}(int)

School Boon I - Imperious Presence: The Samurai adds his Charisma bonus to all damage rolls when wielding a blade. The extra damage is treated as Strength in regard to critical hits, dual wielding, and wielding with two hands.

The samurai also adds his charisma bonus to all of his saves so long as his blade is drawn and readied.

School Boon II - Social Proficiency: The Samurai gains a bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Intimidate, and Gather Information equal to 1/3 his class level rounded down. He may also take 10 on these checks at any time. Gather information checks to gain knowledge take only (1d4+1*10) minutes instead of 1d4+1 hours.

School Boon III - The Samurai may now make an intimidate check to demoralize an opponent in combat as a move action, gaining a +5 bonus on the check if he previously dealt damage to the opponent. The Samurai may now add his Charisma bonus to all attack rolls made with blades and double to all damage rolls made with blades.

School Boon IV - Overwhelming Presence: The Samurai's attempts to Demoralize an opponent ignore the 'immune to fear and/or mind affecting effects' descriptor or ability of most monsters and classes. He still may not affect any creature without an intelligence score. Additionally, a number of times per day equal to 1/5 his Class level, the Samurai may attempt to demoralize all opponents within sight and hearing distance as a standard action. For those he has dealt damage to, he gains a +5 bonus for those who can see him and a +2 bonus for those who can only hear him. If more than 1/3 of the enemies facing him are demoralized in this way, the demoralized attempt to flee, regardless of the morale situation of the enemy as a whole.

School Boon V - The Samurai gains the Frightful Presence ability as a Dragon of HD equal to his level. The DC is Charisma based (10+1/2CL+Cha) and affects even those immune to fear and/or mind affecting effects (save creatures without an intelligence score)

Bonus Feats
Taken from the Fighter bonus feat list. The Samurai qualifies for fighter level dependent feats as a fighter of equal level, but may only take the weapon focus feat tree for any type of blade.

Holding Down the Pillow(Ex)
"Holding down the pillow means that when you have attained my science in reality and are engaged with an opponent, whenever the opponent evinces any sign of intending to make a move, you perceive it before he acts. Stopping an opponent's attack at the initial outset, not letting him follow through, is the sense of 'holding down the pillow.'" - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

+2 untyped bonus to Initiative.
If the Samurai acts in the surprise round of combat or the first round of combat, attacking and dealing damage to a flat footed opponent (one per round, should he act in the surprise), that enemy must delay his action in the initiative until the rest of the Samurai's allies have taken their action, regardless of initiative. The new initiative order made by this ability stays in place for the rest of the encounter.

Stomp the Sword(Ex)
"...if you strike in the wake of an opponent's striking sword, it will turn into a clashing, clanging volley of blows, and will get you nowhere. When an opponent lashes out with his sword, you overpower his assault by stomping the sword down with your foot, seeing to it that he cannot strike a second blow... This means getting the jump on everything. It does not mean randomly hitting the opponent with the idea of settling the contest all at once. It means instantaneous and unyielding follow-up." - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings


The Samurai, when wielding any blade, gains a dodge bonus to AC equal to 1/4 his class level.

Weapon Familiarity(blade)

When the Samurai wields any bladed weapon, he may apply the use of any weapon specific feats he has taken for any other type of blade.

Mettle(Ex)

If the Samurai makes a Will save or Fortitude save that has an effect on a successful save (such as the damage on a successful save vs. Disintegrate), he takes no effect on a successful save (i.e., ‘Will half’ & ‘Fortitude partial’ become ‘Will negates’ and ‘Fortitude’ negates).

Weakening Critical(Ex)

On a critical hit, the Samurai also does two points of Strength damage.

Way of the Samurai(Ex)
"Even if one's head should be cut off, he should be able to do one more action with a certainty." -From the text Hagakure

Once per day, if brought to between 0 and -9 hit points by any attack, the samurai may, as an immediate response, make a single melee attack against the enemy that hit him should he be in range. He may charge if the enemy is within range, but not adjacent, provoking attacks of opportunity as normal, though if hit by an attack while charging, the ability fails and the Samurai takes damage as normal. If the attack hits, the Samurai gains temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt that last for one minute. He may act as if not disabled during this time, though it he sustains damage enough to exceed the temporary hp, he dies. If the Samurai's attack should kill or knock unconscious his target, he gains the total damage dealt by his attack as actual hp.

Wounding Critical(Ex)

On a critical hit, the Samurai also does two points of Constitution damage.

~fin~

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 09:29 PM
Was aiming for Tier 3. I think it's close, though my experience in balancing be crap.

NeoSeraphi
2011-12-04, 10:18 PM
Alright, I don't want you to have to do any recoding (believe me, I know how much it sucks), so why don't you go back and at the top of the page or something say "A blade is a light or one-handed slashing weapon". That way it is clearly stated in mechanical terms what constitutes a "blade".

Of course, a light or one handed slashing weapon still includes axes, so if you want to be even clearer, you can say "A blade includes any of the following weapons: daggers, kukris, shortswords, longswords, or bastard swords".

You have two dead levels for no reason. I know that coming up with extra abilities may be tough, but I strongly suggest you do it, for no other reason than to avoid half of the people who actually leave a comment saying "Why do you have two dead levels?"

I was surprised that your Bushido school did not grant a bonus to Craft (Calligraphy) skill checks. Samurai were refined and artistic people as well as noble!

Why does the Frightful Presence ability make an exception for intelligent undead? I'm just curious here. What makes a vampire so much more resistant to a samurai's intimidation than say, a wizard with the mind blank spell up, or a construct?

Each of the School Boon Vs are powerful and useful at high levels, and make perfect capstones, so bravo for that.

Holding Down The Pillow: I strongly suggest you find a copy of Oriental Adventures and took a look at the Iaijutsu Focus skill. It seems perfect here.

Mettle: The appropriate phrase here is "Will Negates" and "Fortitude Negates"

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 10:46 PM
Thank you for the help. I made necessary changes, which incidentally gave me an idea to improve the iaijutsu style a bit by the removal of the 'one-handed' stipulation. Also, I meant Blade to mean polearms as well as swords of any type. Mainly due to Musashi's insistence upon pragmatism and practically, putting no weapon in your arsenal first, but using the one suited to the situation.

I couldn't think of much to put in the dead levels, honestly. I suppose I could try to fabricate a few more class abilities based off of the Book of Five Rings.

The ability to be proficient in calligraphy is there for all the variety of Samurai, but a bonus as a class ability seems a bit much. And fluffy. Will consider the idea, though. Maybe the ability to make spirit wards as part of a Calligraphy check.

In regard to the frightful presence and the demoralization abilities, I meant for the mindless qualifier to attach to undead as well as the creatures. Anything with the facility for rudimentary thought can be affected. Including Vampires, liches, Solars, and house cats.

(I'm a little stricken by fanboydom that Seraphi deigned to grace my thread. LOVE lovelovelove the Brawler.)

Never have had access to Oriental Adventures. Just about the only sourcebook I haven't had regular access too. Anywhere I can find a description of that feat on the internet, by chance?

NeoSeraphi
2011-12-04, 10:54 PM
Well, the way it's written now "Save mindless creatures and undead", it sounds like you're excluding all undead. Why don't you just write "Save any creature without an Intelligence score"? That way you exclude zombies, skeletons, vermin, and etc, but not vampires or inevitables or any other Intelligent creatures that are normally immune.

Iaijutsu Focus isn't a feat. It's a skill. You use it by making a Iaijutsu Focus check when you draw your sword and strike a flat-footed opponent with it in the same round. If you make the check, you deal extra d6 of damage based on how high you rolled. (It's like Sneak Attack). The bonus damage goes up to +9d6 if you hit 50 or higher. It's Charisma-based, by the way.

Also, thank you for the compliment. You know, it's kind of weird how some people on the site talk about me like I'm some kind of important person, I'm really just another user like the rest of you. :smallredface:

Othesemo
2011-12-04, 10:55 PM
It isn't a feat, it's a skill. Here's a link- http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Iaijutsu_Focus_Skill

EDIT: Ninja'd.

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:13 PM
Yes please. Rofl. Will add. That's.. that's just ungodly awesome.

Hiro Protagonest
2011-12-04, 11:15 PM
School Boon III for the dual wielders is negated by the fact that at that level, you'll easily have a +14 tumble modifier.

And the einhanders get enough boons to make them as good as the others... except for the capstone. Seriously? Vorpal?

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:21 PM
You are right. Boon III is a bit pointless. I will think of a better idea. Suggestions are welcome.

What's the matter with Vorpal? Too much?

Hiro Protagonest
2011-12-04, 11:27 PM
What's the matter with Vorpal? Too much?

Only works on a natural 20, only works on creatures with heads (and one head at that), doesn't work on anything not affected by head loss.

As for Boon III, maybe ability to make two attacks at no TWF penalties as a standard action.

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:29 PM
Only works on a natural 20, only works on creatures with heads (and one head at that), doesn't work on anything not affected by head loss.

As for Boon III, maybe ability to make two attacks at no TWF penalties as a standard action.

True. Implacable and Transmutable.

NeoSeraphi
2011-12-04, 11:31 PM
Vorpal is a passive ability that only appears 5% of the time. It's powerful, but it's not as useful as the other two, one of which lets you violate the action economy, and the other lets you scare everything that sees you charge.

The other thing you have to consider is that the vorpal ability completely invalidates two of your class features (Weakening Critical and Wounding Critical), by making an average of half of your critical hits instantly kill before you even apply Strength or Constitution damage.

Let's see...I suggest you give him the ability to sheathe his weapon as a swift action, so that he can make much more liberal use of the Iaijutsu Focus skill (though actually, now that I've said that, that could just be used to fill in one of your dead levels, as it's not that powerful)

Okay, capstone capstone capstone...

Well, how about that every iterative attack you make gets a +5 bonus to hit? So if you had a +5 weapon, your attack routine would be +25/+25/+25/+20/+15, instead of +25/+25/+20/+15/+10. Since you had your off-hand free, you would be able to aim better, which is why you have such deadly accuracy.

And grant a +5 bonus to damage rolls too. This is a capstone after all.

Ziegander
2011-12-04, 11:39 PM
Holding Down the Pillow(Ex)
"Holding down the pillow means that when you have attained my science in reality and are engaged with an opponent, whenever the opponent evinces any sign of intending to make a move, you perceive it before he acts. Stopping an opponent's attack at the initial outset, not letting him follow through, is the sense of 'holding down the pillow.'" - Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

+2 untyped bonus to Initiative.
If the Samurai acts in the surprise round of combat or the first round of combat, attacking and dealing damage to a flat footed opponent (one per round, should he act in the surprise), that enemy must delay his action in the initiative until the rest of the Samurai's allies have taken their action, regardless of initiative. The new initiative order made by this ability stays in place for the rest of the encounter.

Just want you to know that I think this is both powerful and awesome, despite the odd name.

bobthe6th
2011-12-04, 11:43 PM
could add some minor abilities to use archery... like strength to hit and damage after a round of concentration? avoid some MAD, and give a way to deal realistic damage with a bow... make a point that samurai used bows.

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:43 PM
See.. Good idea. I like the fact that flat bonuses like that are applicable to fighter types. It makes sense, being as they're supposed to be SOOOO much better at killing things. It's also a bit redundant as the Iaido samurai already has a scaling bonus to attack and damage. Admittedly, it doesn't make iterative attacks as viable as the proposed bonus would, but still. I was looking for something with less.. numbers. >.>

EDIT: @ Seraphi

NeoSeraphi
2011-12-04, 11:46 PM
Ah, you are correct! I completely missed that, sorry. Hold on, I'll think up something else.

Edit: I admit, my knowledge of The Book of Five Rings is...nonexistent, but how about: When the Iado samurai is attacked by a creature and that creature misses, the samurai is allowed to make a Sunder attempt as an immediate action. This consumes one of his attacks of opportunity for the round. The Sunder attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity and the samurai receives a bonus to his opposed attack roll equal to the difference between the creature's attempted attack roll and the samurai's AC.

Flavor-wise, this turns any miss against the samurai into a deflection, and allows the samurai to punish a target's mistake by smashing his weapon apart. It also continues the boost from School Boon I.

What do you think?

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:53 PM
could add some minor abilities to use archery... like strength to hit and damage after a round of concentration? avoid some MAD, and give a way to deal realistic damage with a bow... make a point that samurai used bows.

Excellent idea. I'm actually tooling around with more School formats. Had a few more that weren't complete when I put this to post. Maybe a general weapons master or one that focuses exclusively on four different weapons (i.e., Sword, Bow, Halberd, Spear or something equivalent.)

The other idea I had was based on my own martial art (at least the name).

Shinken-do - The way of the true sword. Was thinking a "magic sword" type deal with status effects instead of damage on command. Possibly some SLA's.

KainelWyst
2011-12-04, 11:57 PM
Edit: I admit, my knowledge of The Book of Five Rings is...nonexistent, but how about: When the Iado samurai is attacked by a creature and that creature misses, the samurai is allowed to make a Sunder attempt as an immediate action. This consumes one of his attacks of opportunity for the round. The Sunder attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity and the samurai receives a bonus to his opposed attack roll equal to the difference between the creature's attempted attack roll and the samurai's AC.

Flavor-wise, this turns any miss against the samurai into a deflection, and allows the samurai to punish a target's mistake by smashing his weapon apart. It also continues the boost from School Boon I.

What do you think?

Am digging the idea. What about a choice of combat maneuvers? Maybe between a free disarm or sunder or trip (if your weapon can DO that).

NeoSeraphi
2011-12-04, 11:59 PM
Am digging the idea. What about a choice of combat maneuvers? Maybe between a free disarm or sunder or trip (if your weapon can DO that).

Indeed, that sounds good. Make sure to note that the Trip can work on creatures of any Size though (You're probably not going to be fighting too many monsters that are Large or smaller at level 20)

KainelWyst
2011-12-05, 05:10 AM
Fixed Boon V for the Iaido Samurai and Boon III for the Dual Wielder.

I think they work. Comments are welcome. The ones so far have been greatly appreciated.

KainelWyst
2011-12-07, 06:47 AM
Level seventeen is no longer dead.

Lonely Tylenol
2011-12-08, 06:34 PM
I had more or less the same idea for a Samurai homebrew, but with a different line of thought for what is essentially the Iaido style. Since you've stolen my thunder and utterly deflated my motivation (jerk :smallsmile: ), I'll post what I had, and you can use whatever you like (even if it's nothing... Don't worry! I'm a big boy; I can take it!)

Quick-Draw Style
Level 1: The Samurai gains the benefit of the Quick Draw feat. In addition, the Samurai may sheath their weapon as a swift action.
Level 2: If a Samurai is selected as the target of an attack by a creature who is within range of the Samurai's attack, when the creature rolls to hit, the Samurai can choose to make an opposed attack roll instead of having the creature roll to hit against their Armor Class before knowing the result of the roll. If the Samurai did not ready an action to use this ability, this attack is made at a -4 penalty. If the Samurai succeeds, the creature's attack is parried, and the Samurai can make an attack of opportunity against the attacking creature. If the Samurai interrupts a charge in this fashion, the attack of opportunity is treated as if the weapon was set against a charge.
Level 3: During any round in which the Samurai draws a weapon, both the critical threat range and the critical multiplier of the weapon the Samurai is wielding are doubled for the first attack only. This benefit stacks with all other modifiers to the Samurai's critical threat range and critical multipliers.
Level 4: The Samurai can spend a full-round action (or any readied action made to interrupt an attack with a parry) to make a single strike at their highest Base Attack Bonus. If they do, the attack is treated as having the benefits of the True Strike spell, and gains a +20 insight bonus to their attack roll.
Level 5: All attacks made by the Samurai during a round in which they draw a weapon are treated as having a doubled critical threat range and multiplier, instead of just the first attack. Further, if you ready an action to interrupt an attack with a parry and you make a successful attack of opportunity afterward, you do not use an attack of opportunity for the round. (If you do not ready an action to interrupt, you must still use your attack of opportunity for the round.)

Essentially, I tried to make this style the "counter-striker expert"; waiting, with weapon poised (and possibly sheathed), for the enemy to make the foolish first move would allow the Samurai to negate the attack and unleash a devastating blow upon the enemy. The ability also focuses on the Samurai's quick-drawing techniques adding speed to the cut of the sword, and interacts well with Iajutsu Focus.

I always did wonder if the True Strike ability was too powerful, though, considering its interaction with Power Attack (free +40 damage with a two-handed weapon? Don't mind if I do), but it doesn't seem like a capstone ability, since it's basically a first-level spell with slightly better action economy.

KainelWyst
2012-01-08, 12:22 AM
Meant for this to be a PEACH thread.

Am also working on the specifics of making a Fighter adaptation using this as a basic design.