Oriental Adventures Artificer?

[Afgncaap5]

I've been running an artificer for a while now that died and came back. The story is going to be moving to said artificer's home town, and the DM said that coming back from the dead might be a good excuse for rebuilding the character a bit (some different feats, skills, etc.) and he suggested that I look into Oriental Adventures or the other Rokugan books made for 3.5 since the character had always felt "appropriate for that setting" as he put it (I RPed it as wearing that style of clothing and calling on elements of Japanese folklore and Indian mythology for the actual process of making the infusions.) Other members of the party include a fighter, a wizard and a recently added Samurai class member.

I'm a bit lost in all the terminology that I'm looking through, though, and was wondering if people had any suggestions. Eggshell Dust Bombs seem like a cheap but effective use for alchemy (blindness on a direct hit with no save? Nice...) and the Crane clan seemed to have a good feat for reducing crafting costs (which was fitting since I was already in the Crane clan before the DM suggested the rebuild.) Craft Talisman looks like Brew Potion but less effective at a glance, and while things like Iajutsu Focus and Psychic Duels seem fun I'm not sure how useful they'd be (though since it seems like my quaint hometown of artificers is about to be attacked by an army of samurais I might want to find ways to at least counter Iajutsu strikes.) I dunno. Any suggestions on what I should be drawing from these books?

[BWR]

How closely do you want to stick to canon as presented in the books?
Can you mix and match Clan techniques without Different School? Are ancestor feats treated as normal feats? How much homebrew conversion of L5R material is allowed?

Oh, and the Rokugani d20 stuff is 3.0, not 3.5.

[Greenish]

Iaijutsu requires the target to be flat-footed.

Win initiative.

[Afgncaap5]

How closely do you want to stick to canon as presented in the books?
Can you mix and match Clan techniques without Different School? Are ancestor feats treated as normal feats? How much homebrew conversion of L5R material is allowed?

Oh, and the Rokugani d20 stuff is 3.0, not 3.5.

The DM is letting me play relatively fast and loose with it. Having said that, some of the stuff I saw in OA that said it was exclusive to a clan other than the Crane clan is stuff I'm avoiding (so, I wouldn't take an ancestor feat from the Crab or Phoenix clans.)

[Vaz]

If you're playing in the Crane Clan, I suggest that you need three books, and one of those is optional.

Rokugan Campaign Setting; Has the courtier class. Has the Leadership feat for free, or grants a bonus to your Leadership score provided its a bodyguard from the clan.
Secrets of the Crane Clan; two very useful courtier abilities; Doji's Beauty (+2 Cha, +1 Diplo; net +2 to Diplo up to 6 times), and Emperor's Left Hand (only useful if you have other Secret's books; basically learn one other courtier ability limited only to other schools)
Power of Faerun; Leadership bonuses, Epic Leadership rules. Ask if you can use the table without the feat. If not, well, there's not much point in going so high.

A Venerable Crane Clan Courtier with a +6 Item, +5 Manual, and +5 in Charisma has 49 Charisma, with +6 to Diplo. Bind Vestige (Naberius; Silver Tongue), and you can take 10 even when threatened. +48 to Diplo with maxed ranks, can Rush, and not take a penalty. Basically; +58 to Diplo checks before you roll a dice. That's HUGE.

And then you have your ECL 18 Artificer Yojimbo kitting you out.

Note; that's a lot of cross setting stuff, and fairly high powered. The Diplomacy alone counters the need for ANYTHING strictly related to melee, you've basically thralled it.

Throw in Iaijutsu ranks (cannot remember if courtiers have it as a class skill), and you're sorted; +42 to the checks is insane.

[Afgncaap5]

I don't think he'd let me switch up my previously picked class levels just yet, but that may be something to consider if we do cross-continuity Rokugan games in the future. And while being Venerable does give nice bonuses, I doubt I'll be suddenly aging my character any.

Getting my hands on the Rokugan books'll be the challenge, I think. Though the local game store may have the core setting book for a reasonable price. Thanks.