OA Samurai Allowed?

[Shadowscale]

Usually when new material comes out it replaces the old material. Does the CW samurai take place over the superior OA Samurai?

I was curious of building an effective Crane Samurai and really dislike the intimitank CW samurai build.

[Talya]

It's up to the DM.

OA was never reprinted. While the samurai was, the samurai in CW would not fit into Rokugan particularly well. It's a generic, all-purpose pile of suck.

OA Samurai actually has uses. It's not great, but it's distinctly optimizable, and multiclasses WONDERFULLY (which is to say, a 1 or 2 level dip in it can actually be a great idea), thanks to it's primary class ability being based on character level, not class level.

[magwaaf]

i was always very disappointed with the samurai class. capstone is useless at its leveou can use the pa level 9 fear is almost always useless and past, the 2wf feats should be taken way earlier than the progression it gives... all in all, see if you can use the pathfinder samurai, it's awesome

[Shadowscale]

i was always very disappointed with the samurai class. capstone is useless at its leveou can use the pa level 9 fear is almost always useless and past, the 2wf feats should be taken way earlier than the progression it gives... all in all, see if you can use the pathfinder samurai, it's awesome

So you're saying your not a fan of the CW or OU samurai?

[Forrestfire]

The PF samurai is pretty mediocre as well. I suggest using a Warblade if you're going for the "katana-using samurai" feel. Diamond Mind and Iron Heart are full of maneuvers that fit that sort of theme perfectly. Or one of the myriad samurai fixes people have homebrewed (I am a fan of T.G. Oskar's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?143018-The-Retooled-Samurai-My-heart-it-burns-Such-force-of-will-Such-fighting-spirit!), personally.)

[Chronos]

Officially, yes, the CW samurai replaces the OA samurai, since it's a thing of the same sort (a base class) with the same name.

It's easy enough to houserule the old one back, though.

[CyberThread]

OA Samurai actually has uses. It's not great, but it's distinctly optimizable, and multiclasses WONDERFULLY (which is to say, a 1 or 2 level dip in it can actually be a great idea), thanks to it's primary class ability being based on character level, not class level.

Examples? Hmm

[Forrestfire]

Examples? Hmm

Well, OA Samurai 2 gets you a bonus feat chosen from a fairly decent list, as well as a pair of masterwork weapons that can be enchanted by sacrificing magic items, gold, or other goods (letting you "sell" loot for full value). You also get iaijutsu focus as a class skill, which is fairly neat to have, even if you're not abusing it, since it's still some extra damage if you go first.

[Talya]

Well, OA Samurai 2 gets you a bonus feat chosen from a fairly decent list, as well as a pair of masterwork weapons that can be enchanted by sacrificing magic items, gold, or other goods (letting you "sell" loot for full value). You also get iaijutsu focus as a class skill, which is fairly neat to have, even if you're not abusing it, since it's still some extra damage if you go first.

Yup.

Even a single level of OA Samurai nets you:
Ancestral Daisho - two melee weapons you can enchant at will by sacrificing loot at full value. The maximum enhancement bonus is based on character level.
Full BAB, High Fort & Will saves.
4 skills/level (x4 if it's your first level) and Iaijutsu Focus class.
D10 hit die.

Take a second for the bonus feat, then go into your TOB class of choice with only a single lost initiator level.

[Hurnn]

Last time this issue came up it was pointed out there was a 3.5 update to OA in Dragon magazine april 2004, and Wotc did put out an errata in 2006.

[CyberThread]

Yup.

Even a single level of OA Samurai nets you:
Ancestral Daisho - two melee weapons you can enchant at will by sacrificing loot at full value. The maximum enhancement bonus is based on character level.
Full BAB, High Fort & Will saves.
4 skills/level (x4 if it's your first level) and Iaijutsu Focus class.
D10 hit die.

Take a second for the bonus feat, then go into your TOB class of choice with only a single lost initiator level.


Do that and ancestral weapons feat stack

[Talya]

Do that and ancestral weapons feat stack

Ancestral Relic? I wouldn't say it "stacks," per se. It gives you yet another customizable upgradeable item (Ancestral Relic does not need to be a weapon, however). Of course if you have both OA Samurai and Ancestral Relic, you end up needing to maintain an LG alignment.

[BWR]

I was curious of building an effective Crane Samurai and really dislike the intimitank CW samurai build.

What sort of Crane samurai?
Doji warrior? OA/R samurai, Hoturi's Blade and/or Doji Elite Guard
Kakita trained duelist? OA/Rokugan Samurai, head into Iaijutsu Master and maybe Hoturi's Blade
Daidoji scout? start with OA/R samurai, then mostly ranger levels
Daidoji Harrier? any combination of Ranger, Rogue and Rokugan Ninja
Daidoji Iron Crane? OA/R samurai, maybe Fighter levels for feats, Daidoji Bodyguard

[Shadowscale]

What sort of Crane samurai?
Doji warrior? OA/R samurai, Hoturi's Blade and/or Doji Elite Guard
Kakita trained duelist? OA/Rokugan Samurai, head into Iaijutsu Master and maybe Hoturi's Blade
Daidoji scout? start with OA/R samurai, then mostly ranger levels
Daidoji Harrier? any combination of Ranger, Rogue and Rokugan Ninja
Daidoji Iron Crane? OA/R samurai, maybe Fighter levels for feats, Daidoji Bodyguard

I like the idea of a Daidoji Warrior with samurai levels and Daidoji Bodyguard. Any idea what feats to build and effective one? This seems like it'd be really fun to play as long as my DM doesn't mind this much Asian focus. (He's usually cool with whatever, especially from martial classes.)

[BWR]

I don't know how optimized your group plays, and am not particularly good at it myself.
With this in mind,
1. ask your DM if you can use Improved Toughness instead of Toughness as a requirement for DdBG.
2. ask if your DM accepts stuff from AEG's Rokugan d20 books. Because there are lots of nice feats that are thematically appropriate. Mostly appropriate for a Kakita duelist, sadly, but lacking real support for Daidoji warriors (plenty of stuff for Harriers, though) they can do. Way of the Crane and The Sudden Strike work well for increasing initative (a typically Crane thing to do), and if you can use Void feats, Kakita's Technique and Tread on the Blade are very nice.
3. Ask if he accepts homebrew stuff because I have a lot that fit a Daidoji warrior very well.
4. Apart from that, I can't really think of anything that would be very good. Fitting in with the tank ideal, you might want to take one level of Fighter to pick up Heavy Armor Proficiency, and the Armor Focus feat from Rokugan grants you a +2 Dodge bonus to AC in a specific type of armor.

[Shadowscale]

I don't know how optimized your group plays, and am not particularly good at it myself.
With this in mind,
1. ask your DM if you can use Improved Toughness instead of Toughness as a requirement for DdBG.
2. ask if your DM accepts stuff from AEG's Rokugan d20 books. Because there are lots of nice feats that are thematically appropriate. Mostly appropriate for a Kakita duelist, sadly, but lacking real support for Daidoji warriors (plenty of stuff for Harriers, though) they can do. Way of the Crane and The Sudden Strike work well for increasing initative (a typically Crane thing to do), and if you can use Void feats, Kakita's Technique and Tread on the Blade are very nice.
3. Ask if he accepts homebrew stuff because I have a lot that fit a Daidoji warrior very well.
4. Apart from that, I can't really think of anything that would be very good. Fitting in with the tank ideal, you might want to take one level of Fighter to pick up Heavy Armor Proficiency, and the Armor Focus feat from Rokugan grants you a +2 Dodge bonus to AC in a specific type of armor.

I'm very interested in all the homebrew content I'll see if all those suggestions are allowed this seems like it'd be a very unique and fun experience to play as.
I've been looking for stats for a Nodachi (Large two handed katana-like sword, but more built for strength than speed) and a Kanabo (Iron studded greatclub) If you were to have that or know where I could find it. I'm really a fan of OA, it actually delves pretty deeply into a number of Asian cultures.

[BWR]

I'm very interested in all the homebrew content I'll see if all those suggestions are allowed this seems like it'd be a very unique and fun experience to play as.
I've been looking for stats for a Nodachi (Large two handed katana-like sword, but more built for strength than speed) and a Kanabo (Iron studded greatclub) If you were to have that or know where I could find it. I'm really a fan of OA, it actually delves pretty deeply into a number of Asian cultures.

Japanese weapons and armor can be found in both the Rokugan core book and The Complete Exotic Arms Guide, both for d20 L5R. The kanabo is called the tetsubo in Rokugan, and I'd suggest using the CEAG stats rather than the ones found in Rokugan.
If you want the homebrew stuff I'll need an email address to send to, since the document weighs in at nearly 100 pages. To be frank, I've not used most of the stuff, and hardly gone over it for balance more than once or twice, so there may be some weird stuff there.