Ninja_Prawn
2015-06-25, 06:26 PM
I know lots of people have probably been there already, but I wanted to have a crack at homebrewing samurai- and ronin-inspired martial archetypes of my own. I just love the fighter as a base class; it's solid on its own, but leaves enough room in the archetypes to build all sorts of interesting subclasses.
Anyway. Here we go! Now including updates!
A samurai is a noble warrior who practices not only the arts of war, but also civilian arts such as calligraphy, painting and poetry. Samurai are generally sworn to a feudal lord – they consider loyalty to their lord as the single most important aspect of the way of the warrior.
Rapid Strike
When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you learn ancient techniques that allow you to strike with blinding speed. On your turn, you may replace all of your movement with a single mêlée weapon attack.
Noble Passtimes
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with one tool or instrument of your choice from the following list: calligrapher's tools, fue (flute), painter's supplies, poetry, shamisen (lute) or taiko (drum). Additionally, you may add your proficiency bonus to any skill check relating to gardening, flower-arranging or landscape architecture.
Precise Footwork
At 7th level, your footwork is as fast and delicate as a mountain stream. You can Disengage as a bonus action and you never trigger pressure plate- and tripwire-based traps when you walk over them.
Itto-Ryu
By 10th level, you have perfected the 'one sword' technique, whereby you focus all of your physical and spiritual energy into a single, deadly blow. As an action, you may make a single mêlée weapon attack against a large or smaller target. You do not need to roll for this attack; it is an automatic critical hit. In addition, you may add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll. You may not make any other weapon attacks on the turn when you use this ability, even if you use action surge or similar abilities.
Unbreakable Resolve
At 15th level, your dedication to your master allows you to overcome challenges that would bring down other warriors. Whenever you roll initiative and have already spent your second wind, you regain your second wind if the number on the initiative die is 10 or more.
Improved Itto-Ryu
At 18th level, you have mastered the arts of war. When you use your itto-ryu technique, you roll all of the damage dice one additional time.
When samurai find themselves without a master for any reason, they become wandering ronin. The life of the ronin is one of shame and poverty – without lands or income they must find work wherever they can, and have little hope of ever regaining their honour.
Diverse Styles
Your travels have brought you into contact with a variety of warriors, and you have learned to incorporate their techniques into your own. When you start on the path of the ronin at level 3, you gain one additional fighting style of your choice from any that are available to you.
Constant Vigilance
The life of a vagrant is filled with danger – you are always alert to threats. At 3rd level, you gain the following ability, which you can use if you are conscious and not incapacitated: if a hostile creature surprises you and comes within 5 feet of you during its surprise round, you may draw a weapon and make a single mêlée weapon attack against that creature. You can only use this ability once per surprise round.
Hardened Wanderer
By 7th level, you have become inured to the harsh lifestyle of the ronin. You have advantage on any saving throw made to avoid exhaustion.
Dishonourable Blow
At 10th level, you abandon any pretence of honourable combat. When you use an action to attack a humanoid target, you may replace one of the attacks with a dishonourable blow, which must be declared before rolling to attack. The dishonourable blow does no damage, but if it hits, the target is stunned until the start of its next turn. If the target has legendary resistance, it may expend one use of that ability to avoid being stunned.
Yojimbo
By 15th level, your experiences as a mercenary and bodyguard have given you an instinctive ability to sense when others are in danger. If a friendly creature within 30 feet of you is affected by an attack, spell, trap or environmental hazard, you may use your reaction to move into that creature's space and take the damage and any other effects yourself (the friendly creature suffers no damage or ill effects, but it is pushed 5 feet in a direction of your choice). When you use this ability, you also gain resistance to all damage until the beginning of your next turn.
Ultimate Dodge
When you reach 18th level, your survival instincts have become so sharp that you can dodge attacks moments before they hit you. If you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to add 5 to your AC, potentially causing the attack to miss. Your AC returns to its previous value as soon at the triggering attack is resolved – if the attacking creature is using extra attack, multiattack or similar, ultimate dodge can only affect one of the attack rolls.
Comment & criticism is always welcome! I based the ronin's abilities around the concept of 'survival at all costs', but I'm not convinced it ended up as a cohesive, playable class. What do y'all think?
Anyway. Here we go! Now including updates!
A samurai is a noble warrior who practices not only the arts of war, but also civilian arts such as calligraphy, painting and poetry. Samurai are generally sworn to a feudal lord – they consider loyalty to their lord as the single most important aspect of the way of the warrior.
Rapid Strike
When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you learn ancient techniques that allow you to strike with blinding speed. On your turn, you may replace all of your movement with a single mêlée weapon attack.
Noble Passtimes
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with one tool or instrument of your choice from the following list: calligrapher's tools, fue (flute), painter's supplies, poetry, shamisen (lute) or taiko (drum). Additionally, you may add your proficiency bonus to any skill check relating to gardening, flower-arranging or landscape architecture.
Precise Footwork
At 7th level, your footwork is as fast and delicate as a mountain stream. You can Disengage as a bonus action and you never trigger pressure plate- and tripwire-based traps when you walk over them.
Itto-Ryu
By 10th level, you have perfected the 'one sword' technique, whereby you focus all of your physical and spiritual energy into a single, deadly blow. As an action, you may make a single mêlée weapon attack against a large or smaller target. You do not need to roll for this attack; it is an automatic critical hit. In addition, you may add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll. You may not make any other weapon attacks on the turn when you use this ability, even if you use action surge or similar abilities.
Unbreakable Resolve
At 15th level, your dedication to your master allows you to overcome challenges that would bring down other warriors. Whenever you roll initiative and have already spent your second wind, you regain your second wind if the number on the initiative die is 10 or more.
Improved Itto-Ryu
At 18th level, you have mastered the arts of war. When you use your itto-ryu technique, you roll all of the damage dice one additional time.
When samurai find themselves without a master for any reason, they become wandering ronin. The life of the ronin is one of shame and poverty – without lands or income they must find work wherever they can, and have little hope of ever regaining their honour.
Diverse Styles
Your travels have brought you into contact with a variety of warriors, and you have learned to incorporate their techniques into your own. When you start on the path of the ronin at level 3, you gain one additional fighting style of your choice from any that are available to you.
Constant Vigilance
The life of a vagrant is filled with danger – you are always alert to threats. At 3rd level, you gain the following ability, which you can use if you are conscious and not incapacitated: if a hostile creature surprises you and comes within 5 feet of you during its surprise round, you may draw a weapon and make a single mêlée weapon attack against that creature. You can only use this ability once per surprise round.
Hardened Wanderer
By 7th level, you have become inured to the harsh lifestyle of the ronin. You have advantage on any saving throw made to avoid exhaustion.
Dishonourable Blow
At 10th level, you abandon any pretence of honourable combat. When you use an action to attack a humanoid target, you may replace one of the attacks with a dishonourable blow, which must be declared before rolling to attack. The dishonourable blow does no damage, but if it hits, the target is stunned until the start of its next turn. If the target has legendary resistance, it may expend one use of that ability to avoid being stunned.
Yojimbo
By 15th level, your experiences as a mercenary and bodyguard have given you an instinctive ability to sense when others are in danger. If a friendly creature within 30 feet of you is affected by an attack, spell, trap or environmental hazard, you may use your reaction to move into that creature's space and take the damage and any other effects yourself (the friendly creature suffers no damage or ill effects, but it is pushed 5 feet in a direction of your choice). When you use this ability, you also gain resistance to all damage until the beginning of your next turn.
Ultimate Dodge
When you reach 18th level, your survival instincts have become so sharp that you can dodge attacks moments before they hit you. If you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to add 5 to your AC, potentially causing the attack to miss. Your AC returns to its previous value as soon at the triggering attack is resolved – if the attacking creature is using extra attack, multiattack or similar, ultimate dodge can only affect one of the attack rolls.
Comment & criticism is always welcome! I based the ronin's abilities around the concept of 'survival at all costs', but I'm not convinced it ended up as a cohesive, playable class. What do y'all think?