Kensei as Martial Archetype

[RedGeomancer]

The Kensei tradition for the Monk appears to be a misfire. See this collection of tweets by Mearls & Crawford:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?509195-UA-Monks-Introduces-the-Kensai-and-Tranquility-Traditions/page22&p=6971070

I think a major problem was using Monks instead of Fighters. There was the whole monk weapon/kensei weapon confusion. The unarmed strikes compete directly with the weapon strikes for the characters action. Personally, I didn't like that the kensei acquired a whole bunch of Monk abilities, such as immunity to disease and poison, speaking all languages, slow aging, and at high level becoming invisible and astrally projecting!

The historical basis for the kensei, Miyamoto Musashi, was a samurai and ronin who went around using his katana to duel other warriors, often those who were expert in specific weapons or other schools of swordfighting. Musashi was a Buddhist, but not a monk, who at the end of his life retreated to a cave to write down his knowledge.

Previous editions of the game honored this legacy by offering character classes that were based on the fighter chassis. In AD&D Oriental Adventures, the kensei was considered a fighter "subclass" (this meant something different in AD&D) and had d10 hit dice and used the fighter's "to hit" tables. In 3x Oriental Adventures, the kensei was a prestige class that also had d10 hit dice and a used the fighter's Base Attack Bonus progression. Because of the way feats and prestige classes worked in 3e, it would have been *possible* but *extremely difficult* for a non-fighter to qualify for the prestige class.

I've taken some of the ideas from previous editions and the recent Monk UA and created the Kensei as a Fighter archetype. I am posting it here, followed by commentary. Suggestions welcome.

Martial Archetype: Kensei

The archetypal Kensei, or weapon master, is devoted to study and mastery of one weapon. The Kensei learns to use this weapon with blinding speed and deadly efficacy, felling foes who don't even have time to draw their weapons.

Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 3rd level, while you are not wearing any armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit. If you have the Defense Fighting Style, your AC equals 11 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

Beginning at 3rd level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier.

Way of the Weapon

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you devote yourself to the study and practice of a weapon, referred to as your kensei weapon. The weapon must do more than 1 point of damage and cannot be an improvised weapon. Your kensei weapon must be able to be used with your Fighting Style (or with at least one Fighting Style that you have, if you have more than one). Whenever you wield a kensei weapon, you choose whether to use Dexterity or Strength for the attack and damage rolls of the weapon. You retain the damage bonus of the Dueling Fighting Style if your kensei weapon has the versatile property and you wield it with two hands.

Kensei often refer to this feature by the name of their chosen weapon, for example, Way of the Sword, Way of the Bow, or Way of the Staff.


When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you devote yourself to the study of a weapon compatible with your Fighting Style, as indicated in the list below. The weapon you choose, referred to as your kensei weapon, must do more than 1 point of damage. Whenever you wield a kensei weapon, you choose whether to use Dexterity or Strength for the attack and damage rolls of the weapon.

You refer to this feature by the name of the weapon and style you choose, for example, Way of the Longsword (Dueling) or Way of the Quarterstaff (Protection).


Archery. Your kensei weapon must be a ranged weapon.
Defense. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon. You retain the benefits of the Defense style whenever you wield your kensei weapon, even if you are not wearing armor.
Dueling. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon that does not have the two-handed property. You may freely switch between wielding your kensei weapon with one or two hands. So long as you wield no other weapons, you always retain the benefits of the Dueling style with your kensei weapon, and if the weapon has the versatile property, you always use the larger damage die of the weapon.
Great Weapon Fighting. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon with the two-handed or versatile weapon.
Protection. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon. You retain the benefits of the Protection style whenever you wield your kensei weapon, even if you are not wielding a shield.
Two-Weapon Fighting. Your kensei weapon must be a light melee weapon. You can draw and stow two kensei weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.


If, due to multiclassing, you have more than one Fighting Style, you must permanently choose one path when you gain this feature. For example, if you have the Defense and Dueling styles and want to devote yourself to the study of the spear, you must choose Way of the Spear (Defense) or Way of the Spear (Dueling). You may not alter this selection if you gain an additional Fighting Style later.

Iajutsu

Starting at 3rd level, you can draw your weapon and react quickly and effectively to threatening circumstances. This grants you several benefits:


You may draw your kensei weapon prior to rolling initiative.
You have advantage on all initiative rolls.
You have advantage on attacks rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat.
You can draw *and* stow your kensei weapon during the same turn, in tandem with your movement and action.
If your kensei weapon is a light melee weapon, you can draw and stow two kensei weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.


Beginning at 7th level, you are able to react quickly at the beginning of a combat. You may draw a kensei weapon for free prior to rolling initiative. You have advantage on all initiative rolls, and you have advantage on attacks rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat. In addition, you can draw *and* stow your kensei weapon during the same turn, in tandem with your movement and action.

Ki

Starting at 3nd level, your training allows you to harness the mystic energy of ki. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of ki points equal to your Wisdom modifier + half your fighter level, rounded up (minimum 1 point, maximum equal to your fighter level). These points fuel various ki features. You start knowing 3 such features: Ki Damage, Seizing Chaos, and Ki-Empowered Weapon. You learn more ki features as you gain levels in this class.

When you spend a ki point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended ki back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest practicing forms with your kensei weapon to regain your ki points.

Ki Damage

When you score a hit with you kensei weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to deal maximum weapon damage instead of rolling. All weapon damage dice are maximized, including damage dice from a critical hit or Press Your Advantage. Additional damage riders, such as those due to magic weapon properties or class features (like Sneak Attack), are rolled normally.

Seizing Chaos

You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge or Disengage action as a bonus action on your turn.

Ki-Empowered Weapon

You can spend 1 ki point to make your attacks with your kensei weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. This effect lasts for 1 minute. Beginning at 6th level, you no longer have to spend ki points for this benefit---your attacks with your kensei weapon always count as magical.

Weapon Sage

By the time you reach 7th level, you have developed extensive knowledge of your kensei weapon. You gain proficiency with Artisan's Tools appropriate to your kensei weapon (for example, Smith's Tools). You also gain proficiency with the History skill. You have advantage on Intelligence checks related to your kensei weapon, including estimating the value of a weapon of that type, identifying flaws or weaknesses, recalling lore about famous, legendary, or magical weapons of that type, as well as heroes who wielded them, famous practitioners or duelists, etc.

Ki Strike

At 7th level, you extend your ki into the weapons you hold, granting you the following benefits.


Magic Weapons. Your attacks with your kensei weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Ki Damage. When you use your kensei weapon, you deal an additional d4 damage of the weapon's type on a successful hit. At 13th level this increases to 2d4.



Press Your Advantage

Starting at 10th level, you are able to use favorable circumstances to aim devastating attacks. When you have advantage on an attack roll you make with your kensei weapon, you may roll weapon damage for each success on the attack dice, and critical hit damage for each 20. You may do this once per turn after seeing the attack roll. Any bonuses or modifiers are applied only once, including bonus damage dice from magic weapons, ability modifiers, class features such as Sneak Attack or Divine Smite, etc. If either attack die is a 20, the attack is a critical hit, and bonus damage dice are rolled twice. The total damage is treated as coming from a single attack.

Improved Fighting Style

At 10th level, you gain a benefit based on the Fighting Style you use with your kensei weapon.


Archery. You gain the Sharpshooter feat.
Defense. When you are wielding your kensei weapon, the bonus to AC granted by the Defense style increases to +2. At 17th level it increases to +3.
Dueling. Once on each of your turns when you miss with an attack, you can make another attack against the same opponent.
Great Weapon Fighting. You gain the Great Weapon Master feat. If your kensei weapon is a glaive, halberd, pike or quarterstaff, you may choose to gain the Polearm Master feat instead.
Protection. You gain the Sentinel feat.
Two-Weapon Fighting. You gain the following benefits:
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
The damage die of your kensei weapon increases by one step. For example, if your kensei weapon is the shortsword, any shortsword you wield does d8 damage.



Iajutsu Mastery

Beginning at 15th level, you are able to explode into action at the beginning of a combat, catching opponents off guard with the speed and intensity of your attacks. For any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat, if you score a hit with the first attack roll you make against that creature, that hit is a critical hit. If you Press Your Advantage, the highest successful die roll is considered to be a 20.

If you are not surprised at the beginning of combat you can use your reaction to move up to 5 feet and make one weapon attack with your kensei weapon before resolving initiative. If other characters with this feature act at the same time, use a contested Dexterity check (like initiative) to determine the order of action. If you are surprised at the beginning of combat you can nonetheless move up to half your speed and make one weapon attack with your kensei weapon on your turn.

Beginning at 15th level, you are able to explode into action at the beginning of a combat, catching opponents off guard with the speed and intensity of your attacks. For any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat, if you score a hit with the first attack roll you make against that creature, that hit is a critical hit.

If you are not surprised at the beginning of combat you can use your reaction to move up to 5 feet and make one weapon attack against any creature within range of your weapon before resolving initiative. If you use your reaction at the same time as amother character or characters with the Iajutsu Mastery feature, the order of action is determined by a contested Charisma check. If you are surprised at the beginning of combat you can nonetheless move up to half your speed and make one weapon attack with your kensei weapon on your turn.

Unerring Accuracy

At 15th level, your mastery of weapons grants you extraordinary accuracy. When you know the outcome of a weapon attack roll, you can spend 1 ki point to reroll one die.

Ki Critical

Beginning at 18th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with your kensei weapon.

[djreynolds]

I like it, but I would stray from charisma or intelligence, too many abuses even though it may be thematic

Maybe strength and dex plus 10 for AC

[Tanarii]

historically D&D Kensei have two defining traits:
1) crazy skill in one specific weapon
2) they couldn't use armor

I'm betting it was the second one that made them pick monk. Especially when they'd already defined Samurai to be the Fighter archetype.

[djreynolds]

Because of the paladin class (which is so well written IMO) anything with charisma is a temptation.

Forcing this guy to max out strength and dex, has benefits

And no handing out feats, fighter's get 7, +3 AC is akin to a wizard at 18 spamming the shield spell, very potent

[Arcangel4774]

I like it, but I would stray from charisma or intelligence, too many abuses even though it may be thematic

Maybe strength and dex plus 10 for AC

I'm with this completely. Charisma doesn't fit at all. While wisdom would be fine, I like the str + dex as a complete physical master.

One of the draws of the monk kensai for many people was the dex martial weapon build. Maybe allow those that go armorless be able to have choice for dex over strength. Could even add a minimum of 13 str for heavy weapons.

[RedGeomancer]

Before I discuss the class features, let me discuss the predecessors.

AD&D OA gives the following benefits:



less likely to be surprised,
increased rate of attack (generally 1/2 more than other warrior classes of similar level),
initiative bonus (extremely rare in 1st edition!),
AC bonus ranging from +1 to +5, attack and damage bonus ranging from 0 to +5 on all attacks,
ki damage (maximize damage) 1/day/level,
two-weapon fighting,
whirlwind attack: This version of whirlwind attack is powerful (attack all opponents within 10 feet!) but uses all of the ki avaiable that day (i.e., no ki damage).



Kensai are not allowed to take weapon specialization proficiency, which grants bushi or samurai some of these advantages (increased rate of attack and more modest attack and damage bonuses). AD&D OA also has a iajutsu proficiency, which allows the character to draw and sheathe weapons freely and makes it possible to surprise an opponent who is aware of them.

In D&D 3x OA, the weapon master (kensei) is a prestige class. 3x makes several class features into feats or skills (as it does across the board). Class bonuses to attack and damage roles are replaced by feats (one of which is a requirement for entering the class). Class benefits include:


ki damage (maximize damage) 1/day/level,
increased critical multiplier 1/day/2 levels,
improved critical threat range


There is no longer an AC bonus built into the class. Whirlwind attack is now an unlimited use feat available to any class, and is in fact a *prerequisite* for the prestige class.

Another prestige class which has some applicability is the iajutsu master. The iajutsu master gets


CHA bonus to initiative,
INT bonus to AC,
CHA bonus to iajutsu damage,
the ability to surprise an opponent who is aware of them




Martial Archetype: Kensei

The archetypal Kensei, or weapon master, is devoted to study and mastery of one weapon. The Kensei learns to use this weapon with blinding speed and deadly efficacy, felling foes who don't even have time to draw their weapons.

Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 3rd level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier.

Not sure about Charisma. The class definitely needs Unarmored Defense. Musashi did fight in wars, presumably armored, but engaged in many of his duels unarmored. AD&D OA included a considerable AC bonus. 3x kensei did not, but iajustu master did (based on INT), and a number of iajutsu-related abilities used CHA.

CHA in 5e is something like "force of personality". I see it as the kensei "filling space" with their ki, giving them a measure of protection. I could use WIS like the monk, but I didn't want a class that was too MAD and I have one other minor CHA-based ability later.


Way of the Weapon

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you devote yourself to the study of a weapon compatible with your Fighting Style, as indicated in the list below. The weapon you choose, referred to as your kensei weapon, must do more than 1 point of damage. You refer to this feature by the name of the weapon and style you choose, for example, Way of the Longsword (Dueling) or Way of the Quarterstaff (Protection).


Archery. Your kensei weapon must be a ranged weapon.
Defense. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon. You retain the benefits of the Defense style whenever you wield your kensei weapon, even if you are not wearing armor.
Dueling. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon that does not have the two-handed property. You may freely switch between wielding your kensei weapon with one or two hands. So long as you wield no other weapons, you always retain the benefits of the Dueling style with your kensei weapon, and if the weapon has the versatile property, you always use the larger damage die of the weapon.
Great Weapon Fighting. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon with the two-handed or versatile weapon.
Protection. Your kensei weapon must be a melee weapon. You retain the benefits of the Protection style whenever you wield your kensei weapon, even if you are not wielding a shield.
Two-Weapon Fighting. Your kensei weapon must be a light melee weapon. You can draw and stow two kensei weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.


If, due to multiclassing, you have more than one Fighting Style, you must permanently choose one path when you gain this feature. For example, if you have the Defense and Dueling styles and want to devote yourself to the study of the spear, you must choose Way of the Spear (Defense) or Way of the Spear (Dueling). You may not alter this selection if you gain an additional Fighting Style later.

Iajutsu

Beginning at 7th level, you are able to react quickly at the beginning of a combat. You may draw a kensei weapon for free prior to rolling initiative. You have advantage on all initiative rolls, and you have advantage on attacks rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat. In addition, you can draw *and* stow your kensei weapon during the same turn, in tandem with your movement and action.

Besides the quick-draw, the other two parts are features of the 1st level UA Revised Ranger.


Ki Strike

At 7th level, you extend your ki into the weapons you hold, granting you the following benefits.


Magic Weapons. Your attacks with your kensei weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Ki Damage. When you use your kensei weapon, you deal an additional d4 damage of the weapon's type on a successful hit. At 13th level this increases to 2d4.




This was a hard one. Magic Weapons was a gimme. UA included it at 6th level (when monk's get Ki-Empowered Strike with unarmed). Some people pooh-poohed it, saying that everyone has magic weapons by that level, but this is highly campaign dependent. Better to have it when you don't need it than not have it when you do need it. Also, AD&D OA included the same feature because kensei were forbidden from using magic weapons as it compromised the purity of their devotion.

The damage part was especially hard. Earlier editions of the game gave both static bonuses and damage maximization to the kensei. Static bonuses are of course unusual in 5e (notwithstanding the devs retreat on Ranger Favored Enemy). The damage maximization one is also unusual for weapons (more common for spell effects). Both previous editions also had a per day count, but I didn't feel like adding that to this class, and wasn't even sure what the right number would be. 5e generally likes dice-based damage bonuses, so that's what I went with here. It also synergizes with some of their later powers that are based on criticals.

The questions are, what die and how often? Rogue style sneak attack is out. Mostly I modeled this on Cleric's Divine Strike and Paladin's Divine Smite. Divine Strike is larger (d8/2d8) but can only be used once per turn (even if the Cleric gets Extra Attack form somewhere). Smite requires a spell slot, which we don't have here, and I didn't want to add a ki point mechanism just to handle it. Paladin's Improved Divine Smite adds d8 to every single melee attack, so at least there's a precedent for adding damage to every attack. However, Paladin's only get one Extra Attack. Fighters get two for most of their career and three as a capstone. I decided the point of the kensei is they are applying their weapon to maximum effectiveness every time they use it, so they will get the kicker to every attack with their kensei weapon, but the damage die will be smaller at first, slightly larger later.


Improved Fighting Style

At 10th level, you gain a benefit based on the Fighting Style you use with your kensei weapon.


Archery. You gain the Sharpshooter feat.
Defense. When you are wielding your kensei weapon, the bonus to AC granted by the Defense style increases to +2. At 17th level it increases to +3.



Not sure about this. Defense is not going to be a popular path anyway, but I needed some improvement. I don't know if it's too strong, but if it is, maybe someone will actually use it! Considering most of the other paths are feats or feat-equivalents, I came close to making this be Defensive Duelist instead.



Dueling. Once on each of your turns when you miss with an attack, you can make another attack against the same opponent.



This is Stalker's Flurry, stolen from UA Revised Ranger - Deep Stalker Conclave. Also a tough choice here. Many of the other options give a bonus attack, but usually with some limit. GWM gives a bonus attack only on a crit or dropping an opponent to zero. PAM gives a bonus attack at reduced damage. TWF comes with bonus attack built-in, but with light weapons. It was hard to come up with a way to make this interesting that didn't look a whole lot like GWM. Also, I didn't like the UA Kensei "pummel for +1d4 bludgeoning". In the end, I like the mechanic of Stalker's Flurry. Doesn't increase total number of attacks, but also doesn't eat up a bonus action.



Great Weapon Fighting. You gain the Great Weapon Master feat. If your kensei weapon is a glaive, halberd, pike or quarterstaff, you may choose to gain the Polearm Master feat instead.
Protection. You gain the Sentinel feat.
Two-Weapon Fighting. You gain the following benefits:
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
The damage die of your kensei weapon increases by one step. For example, if your kensei weapon is the shortsword, any shortsword you wield does d8 damage.


Many of these options are feats, and appear in optional rules which your DM may not use. Your DM will have to decide whether to allow these feats as class features, or replace them with another option. If your DM does allow feats generally, and you already have the feat that this feature would grant you, your DM may allow you to replace this feature with an Ability Score Increase.

Iajutsu Mastery

Beginning at 15th level, you are able to explode into action at the beginning of a combat, catching opponents off guard with the speed and intensity of your attacks. For any creature that hasn't taken a turn yet in the combat, if you score a hit with the first attack roll you make against that creature, that hit is a critical hit.

Concept stolen from the Assassin, although Assassin's get this at 3rd level. Also the fact that they only get it the first time they hit each opponent encourages a certain cinematic race-around-trying-to-kill-everyone-in-one-stroke quality.


If you are not surprised at the beginning of combat you can use your reaction to move up to 5 feet and make one weapon attack against any creature within range of your weapon before resolving initiative. If you use your reaction at the same time as another character or characters with the Iajutsu Mastery feature, the order of action is determined by a contested Charisma check. If you are surprised at the beginning of combat you can nonetheless move up to half your speed and make one weapon attack with your kensei weapon on your turn.

The surprise benefits are, I think, minor but flavorful. Though new they are based on the fact that kensei had reduced chance of being surprised in AD&D OA, and Iajutsu proficiency in AD&D and Iajutsu Master in 3e had chance to suprise opponents who were aware of them. I decided to use reaction for one free attack because I didn't want the kensei to always be guaranteed to get a full complement of attacks before anyone else, but I also didn't feel like always requiring a contest or requiring another pre-initiative mechanism before every combat. Also the kensei would often be surprising their own side and being the only one who attacked while opponents and allies stood dumbfounded.


Ki Critical

Beginning at 18th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with your kensei weapon.

Stolen from the barbarian. Barbarians get increased number of crit dice, but don't come in with a built-in way to increase the number of crits. This seems pretty powerful and an effective capstone. It synergizes with increased crits due to Iajutsu Mastery.

Summary

Overall the kensei gets a bit of a damage kicker and has the potential to be extremely effective in the first round of combat. For campaigns not using feats they open up some feats, and I've taken some interesting abilities form other sources.

I'm afraid that it outclasses the Champion, but then again I think a lot of people think everything outclasses the champion. Although a lot of the Kensei's power at high level comes from crits, I decided to leave the Champion's Improved Critical feature alone. It might make the Kensei too powerful, and steals the Champion's one good thing.

[RedGeomancer]

Lots of great comments while I was writing up my "behind the curtain" post. Thanks!


historically D&D Kensei have two defining traits:
1) crazy skill in one specific weapon
2) they couldn't use armor

I'm betting it was the second one that made them pick monk. Especially when they'd already defined Samurai to be the Fighter archetype.

Agree 100%.


Because of the paladin class (which is so well written IMO) anything with charisma is a temptation.

Forcing this guy to max out strength and dex, has benefits

And no handing out feats, fighter's get 7, +3 AC is akin to a wizard at 18 spamming the shield spell, very potent

OK, I see your point with paladin CHA abuse.

Regarding handing out feats, the fact is I don't play with them. I realize I'm in the minority. A lot of complaint regarding the recent UA Fighter Archetypes is that some of them were great for campaigns that don't use feats, not so great for those that do. I didn't want to come up with six unique abilities, and some of the feats seemed thematically appropriate (esp. PAM - kensei with glaive (naginata) who attacks with both ends). I think in campaigns that use feats many players will grab the matching feat earlier, and DM can force an ASI on the player.

Regarding +3 AC, I was thinking about keeping it at +2. UA Kensei did +2 but not as an always-on. As I say in my commentary, I was also thinking about making this Defensive Duelist (but that's handing out more feats). Even with the +3, I just don't think this is going to be a popular path. OTH, if the campaign uses feats, the player can take the feat using an ASI and still get the +3, suddenly not so rare. Hmm.


One of the draws of the monk kensai for many people was the dex martial weapon build. Maybe allow those that go armorless be able to have choice for dex over strength. Could even add a minimum of 13 str for heavy weapons.

OK, I meant to do that with DEX. It's interesting that you said "those that go armorless", because my intention was to make it so that that would be a rare choice.

[Zalabim]

I can just give some piecemeal feedback without much order to it, but maybe it'll help.

First off, Kensei is notoriously an unarmored fighter kit. Going armorless should be expected, not rare. This makes starting from the Fighter base a non-starter, IMO. That aside, level 3 needs to have a benefit for a martial archetype. All the rest do. Level 3 is a really important level in general. You can't just give them unarmored defense which is about equal to their armor, worse if they were using a one-handed weapon and shield, and that you don't actually expect them to use and call it good. This is probably where Ki damage goes, as the archetype's notable offensive feature. Unarmored Defense and Ki damage can both offer improvements with level, when needed, without interfering with later features.

I think a Ki damage as once per fighter level per (recovery period) when you make a damage roll for a weapon and don't like the result, you can use the maximum value instead. It makes the character an above average weapon-wielder who draws out the maximum potential of their weapon. I'd drop the single weapon focus, as well. Most players do that well enough on their own. It doesn't need to be encouraged.

Level 7 is usually a ribbon. It provides only minor benefits, if any, to any other martial archetype. Auto-magic weapon fits here. Ki damage does not. Quick draw, improved initiative, and fluffy superior weapon handling fits here. If there's some non-combat role you want to emphasize, that ability is usually at level 7 in a martial archetype.

For level 10, at no level is "you get an extra feat" an appropriate archetype feature for fighters. It's redundant. You could put in extra mobility, speed, or Ki Whirlwind here.

It's far in the past, but you could probably benefit from reading the Modifying Classes UA, as I'm out of ideas at this point.

[djreynolds]

You know a revised ranger hunter or deep stalker.... with a dash of monk could fit this.

I say 11 ranger and snag whirlwind, and because you are a monk you can use spear/staff with dexterity

The only thing lacking in this is finessing versatile or heavy weapon.

Still get good AC, deep stalker gets iron will, hunter gets very cool stuff.

11 ranger/ 5-6 monk

The only thing lacking is feats since more than likely you need 4ASI to max out for unarmored defense

Also the armor thing could be solved... while wearing only light armor or nothing or giving him access to mage armor---which is worth about a 16 in dex, +3

[Talamare]

Way of the Weapon should be OF THE WEAPON... So remove Defense and Protection

Unarmored Defense change it to "While not wearing Armor or a Shield your AC becomes 13+DEX"
Keep it clean, we don't want to see Warlock abusing this subclass

Change the Level 10 benefit to "You may use your reaction to make an attack against someone who targets you with an attack. Your attack goes first."
Encourages actual Dueling

Get rid of the whole Ki crap

Archery should be restricted to only bows

Get rid of "Great Weapon" and "TWF" and give Specific Weapons Specific bonuses.

Kinda of rushed this, I will think of more later

[djreynolds]

You know the scout, cavalier, and monster hunter are all based around SD.

The monster hunter gets protection from evil once a long rest.... Kensai gets mage armor works for 8 hours. That's it.
This way they get dex +3, max 18AC without goodies, not too shabby but not very defense either. Same as chainmail and shield

Use some superiority dice instead might work.

Try out these chassis first... see how they do.

Or take the 1 level of fighter and the rest kensai and go it in plate armor, who cares about martial arts when you can stun with a greatsword and still take patient defense.

[Giant2005]

When making a subclass, you need to compare it to the already existing subclasses. If you make that comparison and see that your subclass is leagues more powerful than the others, you need to make some changes.
I suggest you make that comparison because this subclass really is leagues more powerful.

You need to take away the damage and AC bonuses.

[MrStabby]

Fighter is a better base for the class than monk. I think this is a good starting point.

I am with the others though when I say that I think Cha abilities are a bad match and should be avoided.

I also think that you are adding abilities that are a bit on the powerful side. Characteristic for the fighter class is a big ability at level 3 that kind of defines the class and then incremental improvements to it as you go on.

If I were to do it I would go for something like using dex for any martial weapon attack at level 3. It is a huge boost - on par with superiority dice from the BM and it is really archetype defining.

Proficiency in dex saves at level 7/increased movement speed whilst not in heavy armour.

Something cool at level 10 that other classes don't have - maybe some blindsight or an extra reaction or something. Level 10 is high enough that you can't dip for it so it is a little safer.

[MinotaurWarrior]

I think you're better off porting the Kensai features from the UA directly, and modifying it from there.

Level 3

Unarmored Defense (Dex+Wis, or some other combo)
Dex or STR for martial weapons
Bonus action pummel, +1d4/target
+2ac from holding a weapon and not attacking with it (doesn't stack with shields)


Level 7

Magic Weapon
Precise Strike - bonus action to double proficiency bonus on one attack roll


Level 11

Sharpen the blade - 1/short rest add +1 to weapons


Level 15

Unerring strike - reroll one miss per turn


Level 18

Something new?
Upgrade Sharpen?

[MrStabby]

I think you're better off porting the Kensai features from the UA directly, and modifying it from there.

Level 3

Unarmored Defense (Dex+Wis, or some other combo)
Dex or STR for martial weapons
Bonus action pummel, +1d4/target
+2ac from holding a weapon and not attacking with it (doesn't stack with shields)


Level 7

Magic Weapon
Precise Strike - bonus action to double proficiency bonus on one attack roll


Level 11

Sharpen the blade - 1/short rest add +1 to weapons


Level 15

Unerring strike - reroll one miss per turn


Level 18

Something new?
Upgrade Sharpen?


Unarmoured defence of dex +Str might work if you want the unarmoured guy with big swords look.

[RedGeomancer]

Power

So, this is interesting. A couple of people (MrStabby, Giant2005) remark that class seems OP, but a couple of people (Zalabim, and in another way MrStabby) say that Level 3 in particular doesn't offer enough. These are not of course incompatible, but it does make overall balance tricky. I have competing suggestions to eliminate damage boost and to move it to 3rd level!

A question might be, how powerful is Champion's Improved Critical? Or is that the wrong question. This seems good-not-great to me, and I thought Unarmored Defense plus DEX with kensei weapons plus some minor FS improvements would be enough…

Unarmored Defense

OK, so CHA is a loser.

Not sure what I think about 10 + DEX + STR, although there seems to be some support for it. I would be inclined to fall back on the monk's traditional 10 + DEX + WIS. The proposed alternative does make it possible for STR-based kensei, whereas I think that without it "You choose whether to use DEX or STR" in practice means "You use DEX instead of STR". How might 10 + DEX + STR be abused?

The suggestion to turn it into 13 + DEX is interesting. I wonder if it is enough at high level, considering that I've written it so that they can't use shields with UD.

There is no way I would turn this into something like Mage Armor, that lasts for 8 hours. If it lasts for 8 hours, why not just have it be an always-on effect? I would want it to be always on, or perhaps done via a reaction mechanism (parry), not "cast" like a spell, or fluffed to not be "cast", but still, basically a spell.

Whirlwind Attack

Whirlwind Attack was introduced with the AD&D OA kensei, and was its signature power. As I mentioned, it was also more powerful because it let you attack every opponent within 10 feet. This was in an edition where most warriors topped out at 2 attacks per round (the kensei was special at 5/2 (don't ask)). The ability was nerfed (5 feet) and opened up to everyone as a feat in 3x, albeit in a feat chain that would take a few levels to acquire.

Now in 3e Whirlwind Attack is a Ranger/Hunter ability. I was thinking about how to use this with the kensei and when I thought about it, I realized the Fighter already has a better Whirlwind Attack. It's called Action Surge! The Fighter has 3 attacks for a large chunk of their career (and 4 as a capstone), which Action Surge turns into 6 (or 8)! This is another reason why the Fighter makes a great chassis for the kensei, and there's no need to add an additional feature called Whirlwind Attack. Adding the Ranger/Hunter's version of Whirlwind Attack would, I think, be a step down.

Maximizing Damage

5e doesn't seem to have these kinds of X/day/level abilities. Usually its X per short rest or X per long rest, where X may increase at specifically chosen points. For example, Action Surge 1/SR, but at 17th level becomes 2/SR. Indomitable 1/LR, 13th becomes 2/LR, 17th becomes 3/LR.

I don't think there are any core class features where weapon damage is maximized (although there are some, like Tempest Cleric's Destructive Wrath, which do so for spells). I prefer the extra damage die to the maximize ability. What do people think is preferable?

I also liked that extra damage die can also be an at-will (or could be restricted to once per turn), while maximize would have to be limited. So the next question is if you think class should have maximize, how many how often?

10th Level

There are a couple of remarks (djreynolds, Zalabim) that feats are redundant/inappropriate for a 10th level ability and proposals (Talamare, MrStabby) about what might replace it.

I wonder if the whole idea of having the feature be based on the FS works. Since the Fighter already gets a lot of attacks, I was hesitant to add additional ones. But some of these feats (GWM, PAM) come with bonus action attacks, and Talamare and MrStabby both suggest some version of using your reaction for additional attacks.

I'm inclined to keep Stalker's Flurry/Unerring Accuracy somewhere. Maybe it goes here? I think UA Kensei putting Unerring Accuracy at 17th level is way too late.

Some responses to specific comments:


First off, Kensei is notoriously an unarmored fighter kit. Going armorless should be expected, not rare. This makes starting from the Fighter base a non-starter, IMO.


I think this is the issue that pushed the devs toward monk, with unsatisfying results. I'll fall back on history here. Musashi was a samurai who had battle experience. I didn't look for a reference that said "Musashi put his armor on before the Battle of X", but … Musashi put his armor on before going to war. So I like thematically the idea of the seasoned warrior who develops these skills later, and could put the armor back on (class retains armor proficiencies, obvs) when he wants to. Like when Musashi was called to battle again in the service of a new lord later in his career.


It's far in the past, but you could probably benefit from reading the Modifying Classes UA, as I'm out of ideas at this point.

Will do.


You know a revised ranger hunter or deep stalker.... with a dash of monk could fit this.

This occurred to me, and in terms of class features, it is workable. But those classes are very thematic. I did not like the idea of multiclassing a nature-fighter with a monastic order to get a weapon master.


Way of the Weapon should be OF THE WEAPON... So remove Defense and Protection

Get rid of the whole Ki crap

Archery should be restricted to only bows



Does "get rid" of Defense and Protection mean get rid of the 10th level improvements? Since no one likes the 10th level features anyway, this would be easy to do. But I don't want to exclude someone with Defense or Protection from entering the subclass. That turns it into a prestige class (which so far in 5e we only have one UA experiment with, and I'm not sure that there has been much uptake).
Ki crap is thematic, was part of previous editions' versions of class, and was also part of newest attempt considering UA kensei was built on Monk.
The restriction I put for "must do more than 1 point of damage" eliminates net and blowgun. Crossbow was present in China since ancient times, but appears to have had a very brief experimental period in Japan and then disappears. Still, I didn't see any reason to restrict it from the player choice, nor did I see any reason to restrict them from darts (could be fluffed as shuriken) or sling. At the time Musashi was active, he fought duels against people specializing in a variety of weapons--I wanted to keep player choice as wide as possible.



You know the scout, cavalier, and monster hunter are all based around SD.

I thought about SD. It's personal taste, but I don't really like it, and in fact have banned the Battle Master in my campaign. But a thought I had was that the Kensei is just a DEX-based Battle Master.


I think you're better off porting the Kensai features from the UA directly, and modifying it from there.

It's a possibility. It did have some misfires. Pummel for d4 was weird, and they had to clarify within 5 feet so you couldn't pummel at range with a bow. I avoided Sharpen the Blade because it required ki points, but I see you suggest 1/SR. Some commentators did not like Precise Strike. I like Unerring Accuracy, but think it should come earlier. Since it needs one more feature (Figther subclasses get 5 vs. Monk's 4), what did you think of extra critical die at 18th level?

[RedGeomancer]

BTW, what is good form on this forum for iterating these kinds of homebrews? I would like to incorporate some of these proposed modifications. If I edit original post, the forum may become unintelligible, because the features being commented on are no longer there. But if I post a modified version somewhere in the middle, it won't be very easy to find.

The only change I made so far is allowing DEX with kensei weapons, which leaving out was an oversight on my part.

[Giant2005]

BTW, what is good form on this forum for iterating these kinds of homebrews? I would like to incorporate some of these proposed modifications. If I edit original post, the forum may become unintelligible, because the features being commented on are no longer there. But if I post a modified version somewhere in the middle, it won't be very easy to find.

The only change I made so far is allowing DEX with kensei weapons, which leaving out was an oversight on my part.

Put them both in the top post.
Contain each version in separate spoiler tags, labeling each one version 1 and version 2 etc.

As for the damage thing, you should never give a Fighter an infinite use damage bonus. Such bonuses are just too powerful when you have multiple attacks - that is why the martial classes get a significant damage increase at level 11 and not level 10. It is so damage increases (like the Paladin's Improved Divine Smite) cannot stack with the Fighter's third and fourth attacks.

[Tanarii]

Not sure what I think about 10 + DEX + STR, although there seems to be some support for it. I would be inclined to fall back on the monk's traditional 10 + DEX + WIS. The proposed alternative does make it possible for STR-based kensei, whereas I think that without it "You choose whether to use DEX or STR" in practice means "You use DEX instead of STR". How might 10 + DEX + STR be abused?Dex and Str were definitely key attributes for the AD&D Kensai. You needed Str to attack, and Dex was critical to AC, which was 23-Dex score (not modifier), so AC 9 (min 14 Dex) to AC 5 (max 18 dex), -1 / 3 levels .

OTOH no particular reason you can't do it the OA way: start with 10+Dex, and add +1/3 levels. Provided you want to match the AD&D way of "all offense and no defense until high levels".


edit: Changed AC to -1/3 levels, since AD&D AC went down not up.

[RedGeomancer]

Dex and Str were definitely key attributes for the AD&D Kensai. You needed Str to attack, and Dex was critical to AC, which was 23-Dex score (not modifier), so AC 9 (min 14 Dex) to AC 5 (max 18 dex), -1 / 3 levels .

OTOH no particular reason you can't do it the OA way: start with 10+Dex, and add +1/3 levels. Provided you want to match the AD&D way of "all offense and no defense until high levels".


Considering the AD&D Kensai required 14 DEX, and AC modifier was one-for-one for DEX above 14, this was basically an incredibly convoluted way to say "+1 AC".

The reason for avoiding the +1/3 levels is that it seems to be a very un-5e construction. Even the monk went from 3x AC = 10 + DEX + WIS + 1/5 levels to just 10 + DEX + WIS.

[Tanarii]

Considering the AD&D Kensai required 14 DEX, and AC modifier was one-for-one for DEX above 14, this was basically an incredibly convoluted way to say "+1 AC".It's simpler to say 23-Dex instead of AC 9, -1 per point of Dex above 14. So I can see why they phrased it that way.


The reason for avoiding the +1/3 levels is that it seems to be a very un-5e construction. Even the monk went from 3x AC = 10 + DEX + WIS + 1/5 levels to just 10 + DEX + WIS.Totally agree it's an un-5e construction. BTW AD&D Monks were approximately AC 10 minus level, down to AC -3. Unless you had an OA martial art IIRC. So both the Kensai and Monk started with fairly crappy AC, although the Monk was usually worse. The 5e AC philosophy of front- to mid-liners is to start with a decent AC and not go up that much, going up maybe 2-3 points without magic items.

Personally I feel Str + Dex fits a 'traditional' Kensai very well. Although I haven't really thought on how it's abusable yet.

[RedGeomancer]

It's simpler to say 23-Dex instead of AC 9, -1 per point of Dex above 14. So I can see why they phrased it that way.

My point is that every class gets -1 per point of DEX above 14, so it works out to a one-step improvement no matter what the kensai's DEX is:



DEX Score
Standard "Defensive Adjustment"
Kensai Equation
Effective Kensai Defensive Adjustment


14
0
23 - 14 = 9
-1


15
-1
23 - 15 = 8
-2


16
-2
23 - 16 = 7
-3


17
-3
23 - 17 = 6
-4


18
-4
23 - 18 = 5
-5

[MrStabby]

To make the case for Str +Dex:

It is a weak combination traditionally. Str works for heavy armour. Dex doesnt. Having a class that uses Str for defence subverts this.

It is weaker than Dex+other stat. Both of Dex and Str are attack stats so in boosting both of these you are getting overlap. Weaker is good in this case. A weaker fundemental pairing allows more interesting other abilities which otherwise might be too strong.

Str + Dex should make the class OK (if not proficient) in saves that I would imagine a Kensei being good at.

It works better for multiclassing. Your fighter can now dip levels in both rogue and barbarian as they are likely to have dex and str>13. Maybe not the biggest deal but such an expert in use of a weapon should be able to take their training in multiple different ways.

It opens up some more interesting choices. AC being 10+S+D is symmetrical but you could add some abilities that do something a number of times per rest equal to dex modifier, and other abilities that do the same but for Str. If these are balanced then there is reason for different players to build their characters in different ways. Some might go the great weapon route and max str and get smaller benefits from the dex based abilities until higher levels. Others may go a finesse route but have fewer benefits from the class features based on strength (although this is somewhat mitigated by all the extra ASIs that class has).

[Tanarii]

My point is that every class gets -1 per point of DEX above 14, so it works out to a one-step improvement no matter what the kensai's DEX is:Huh. Will you look at that. I never actually lined them up side by side like that, even inside my own head. :smallyuk:

[RedGeomancer]

Working on a revision of this proposal. There are a lot of ways to do bonus damage that I have been considering:


Damage rider as originally proposed
Additional ability modifier (WIS?), like Ranger's Foe Hunter
Maximize weapon die damage - this is a resurrection of Ki Damage ability used in both AD&D and 3x
Increase damage die of weapon - could go up one die size, like an improving Superiority Die, or could be a "floor" die size, like Monk's Martial Arts damage.
Weapon enhancement like magical bonus - like Sharpen the Blade from UA Kensei
A combination of weapon enhancement and damage rider - would work similar to the Elemental Weapon spell

Following some comments here (particularly by Giant2005), nearly all of these are too powerful to allow as at-wills, so some method of limiting them is necessary. Currently I am leaning towards Ki Damage, in previous editions a limited use power to maximize weapon die damage. Rather than limit it to X times per short rest--a number which I would want to increase with level--I am working on introducing ki points like Monk, maybe at about half Kensei level. This would also give me flexibility with higher level features because if they seem too powerful as at-wills, I can impose a ki point cost rather than ditch them entirely.

Since Ki Damage maximizes damage but can't push it higher than die size, I'm also looking at increasing weapon damage dice under special circumstances. I'm working on the following ability, which is a modification of Rapid Strike feature of UA Knight and Samurai. I'm considering it as a 10th level ability.

Press the Advantage

You are able to use favorable circumstances to aim devastating attacks. When you have advantage on an attack you make with your kensei weapon, you may roll weapon damage for each success on the attack dice, and critical hit damage for each 20. You may do this once per turn after seeing the attack roll. Any bonuses or modifiers are applied only once, including bonus damage dice from magic weapons, ability modifiers, class features such as Sneak Attack or Divine Smite, etc. If either attack die is a 20, bonus damage dice are rolled twice for a critical hit. The total damage is treated as coming from a single attack.

For both Rapid Strike and Press the Advantage, you roll two d20s, and can do damage for each success. It is slightly weaker than Rapid Strike in that, I'm only allowing bonus or rider damage to be added once. It is slightly more powerful in that it doesn't use up a bonus action (making it more useful to TWF), but still limited to once per turn. It is also designed to synergize with Ki Critical. If the player uses Ki Critical to maximize weapon damage, both successes are maximized (but not damage riders).

Comments welcome. I've made several other changes and will be working on incorporating the new version into the top post, while preserving the history.

[RedGeomancer]

Version 2 editing into top post. General comments seemed to indicate:

Not enough was offered at 3rd level (mostly Unarmored Defense).
Broke with standard pattern of martial archetypes where 7th level is supposed to be aid in the exploration/interaction pillar, not combat.
Allowing bonus damage with a Fighter subclass was overpowered.

Accordingly, Ki Damage has been changed from a d4 damage rider to damage maximization, which is the way it worked in OA (AD&D and 3x). It has also been moved from 7th level to 3rd level and the noncombat feature Weapon Sage was created for 7th level. In order to limit uses of Ki Damage, a pool of ki points has been created. This allowed me to add some additional powers that are also constrained by ki points.

Comments on selected new and modified features:



Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 3rd level, while you are not wearing any armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit. If you have the Defense Fighting Style, your AC equals 11 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

I had previously done 10 + DEX + CHA, but this was unpopular. There were suggestions for 10 + DEX + STR. In the end I had a hard time justifying that in game terms, and I wanted to have it be a mental stat. Going with WIS pushes the character more in a monkish direction.

I decided to allow shields. Note that personal shields were unusual in Japanese warfare. Allowing shields gives greater cultural range, and higher AC for a class that is supposed to be a front-line fighter.

Also simplified interaction with Defense Fighting Style.


Seizing Chaos

You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge or Disengage action as a bonus action on your turn.

UA Kensei had similar abilities because it was based on monk chassis. Once I went with ki, I decided to include as well, without add-on benefit of great leaps. Also, no Flurry of Blows, which poorly interacted with monk chassis and was a major source of confusion.


Ki-Empowered Weapon

You can spend 1 ki point to make your attacks with your kensei weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. This effect lasts for 1 minute. Beginning at 6th level, you no longer have to spend ki points for this benefit---your attacks with your kensei weapon always count as magical.

UA Kensei had magic weapons at 6th level. I originally had this at 7th level, but this was a combat ability and therefore didn't fit standard fighter subclass feature progression. I am cheating here by adding it at a lower level but requiring ki points, then making it free at 6th level, which is really where I want it for parity with the monk.


Press Your Advantage

Starting at 10th level, you are able to use favorable circumstances to aim devastating attacks. When you have advantage on an attack roll you make with your kensei weapon, you may roll weapon damage for each success on the attack dice, and critical hit damage for each 20. You may do this once per turn after seeing the attack roll. Any bonuses or modifiers are applied only once, including bonus damage dice from magic weapons, ability modifiers, class features such as Sneak Attack or Divine Smite, etc. If either attack die is a 20, the attack is a critical hit, and bonus damage dice are rolled twice. The total damage is treated as coming from a single attack.

This is a somewhat weaker (I think) version of Rapid Strike, a 15th level feature from UA Knight and Samurai. I does not require a bonus action like Rapid Strike, so is limited to once per turn. Rapid Strike is more powerful because it allows two full attacks with all bonuses and damage riders, while I am limiting it to increasing weapon damage dice only. It is treated as being a single, well-targeted attack, and synergizes with Ki Damage. But the rules are perhaps a bit fiddly, and I'm not sure that it wouldn't be better to just use Rapid Strike.


Unerring Accuracy

At 15th level, your mastery of weapons grants you extraordinary accuracy. When you know the outcome of a weapon attack roll, you can spend 1 ki point to reroll one die.

This is 17th level ability of UA Kensei, although I am imposing a ki point cost rather than allowing it to be used once per turn. I don't know if that makes it too weak.


Ki Critical

Beginning at 18th level, you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with your kensei weapon.

This is equivalent to Brutal Critical, a 9th level Barbarian feature, although without scaling to even more damage dice. This seems fairly powerful to me, but I'm not sure if it is good for an 18th level power.



I like the Press Your Advantage feature, but I am not sure if the rules are too complicated for it. In addition to commentary on individual features and overall class, I am interested in comments on the order of the 10th, 15th, and 18th level features. I have:

10 - Press Your Advantage
15 - Iajutsu Mastery & Unerring Accuracy
18 - Ki Critical

However, these are very roughly equivalent to the following powers:

Press Your Advantage (10) ~ Rapid Strike (UA Knight/Samurai 15)
Iajutsu Master (15) ~ Assassinate (Assassin 3)
Unerring Accuracy (15) ~ Unerring Accuracy (UA Kensei 17)
Ki Critical (18) ~ Brutal Critical (Barbarian 9)

So there is perhaps some argument for moving Ki Critical or Iajutsu Master lower and Press Your Advantage higher. Unerring Accuracy could stay where it is or go to 18th level.

Comments and criticisms welcome. I got a lot of good feedback last time and think the current version is stronger because of it.

[TentacleSurpris]

Here's the Kensai that I wrote for a book on DMsGuild. Feel free to steal any ideas.

The flavour is taken from OA, from 3.0, from the Kara Tur boxed set, from the Book of 5 Rings and from movies.

The first ability, to maximize a damage die is taken from the original OA abilities. It just happens to work well with a high-damage die weapon, such as a d10 2-handed longsword (Katana). It increases average damage over time but not top-end damage, so as to temper min-maxing. It deliberately uses ki points so as to be multi-class friendly with Monks (but not too much overlap, such as "Kensai weapons" to prevent min-maxing). Staving off power creep is a big goal. Its damage is roughly around that of the battlemaster, without all of the extra saving-throw based effects. Many players want simpler archetypes without long lists of abilities on different saving throws, so this class delivers that without the weakness of the Champion. The 10th level abliltiy lets the DM customize the magic weapon, as treasure progression varies widely between campaigns, specifying the powers of the item would either feel too good or too bad. It also allows for some uniqueness for each Kensai, and to create a sense of anticipation, a la Christmas morning when the character finally reaches level 10 and asks "what did I get?" Because the archetype can use both magic weapon abilities on different weapons, it helps to alleviate the 2-weapon fighters dilemma towards magic items.



Kensai

A Kensai is called a "sword saint" and is spiritually dedicated to the lessons one learns from the martial arts, especially the art of swordplay. They are philosopher-warriors and revere the teachings of the Book of Five Rings by the master Miyamoto Musashi. Many Kensai are motivated to travel the Empire, seeking out other masters of the sword to defeat them in a duel of honor. Duels are typically fought unarmored, for to wear armor is to lack confidence in one's abilities; Musashi teaches that the Kensai who lacks confidence will always lose to the one who possesses it.

Many Kensai in Kozakura aspire to be admitted to the Light-Water-Sparkling school.

Most Kensai practice their art with the sword, though some Kensai-Monks blend hand-to-hand techniques with swordplay and eschew armor altogether.

Kensai are most often from the Samurai, Ronin, Folk Hero, or Hermit backgrounds.

When this archetype is selected, a Kensai gains two abilities, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, and Masamune.

The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

A Kensai can draw on the inner reserves of Ki and focus it into a single strike with the power of a crashing wave. A Kensai gains four Ki points. A ki point may be spent to maximize the result of one damage die on a weapon attack, once per round. This point may be spent after damage is rolled, but before it is applied.

The Kensai recovers all ki points when meditating during a short or long rest. They are interchangeable and stack with other sources of Ki points, such as from the Monk class.


Masamune Blade

A Kensai gains proficiency with smith's tools if he does not already have it. He may use the techniques of the smith Masamune to craft an exquisite weapon, paying the weapon’s normal cost in materials and working during downtime.

This weapon is blessed by the ancestors and considered a magical weapon when wielded by the Kensai. The ancestors will only bless one such weapon unless the first weapon is destroyed and the Kensai completes a ritual of atonement and crafts a new one.


Fearless

Musashi teaches that the way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. At 7th level, a Kensai has advantage on saving throws against being Frightened.

The Kensai adds one ki point to his maximum.



Hattori Hanzo Blade

At 10th level a Kensai may pray to dedicate only one weapon he owns to her ancestor's memory and it will be blessed by Hattori Hanzo, the legendary master smith. The Dungeon Master selects one magical weapon property from the Dungeon Master's Guide or from other magical weapons available in her campaign, and imparts this property to the weapon. It should be superior in quality to a magical weapon already possessed by the Kensai. If the weapon is lost a Kensai will go to any lengths to retrieve it. If it is destroyed, he may complete a great quest of the Dungeon Master’s devising to ask Hattori Hanzo to bless another weapon. A Kensai cannot otherwise receive a second weapon this way.

The kensai adds one ki point to his maximum.


Blind Swordsman Zatoichi

Musashi teaches that the swordsman must learn to perceive that which the eye cannot see. Starting at 15th level, a Kensai can take an Action to focus and spend one Ki point to gain Truesight out to a distance of 30 feet. This effect lasts for one minute.

The Kensai adds one Ki point to his maximum.

[RedGeomancer]

Here's the Kensai that I wrote for a book on DMsGuild. Feel free to steal any ideas.

Thanks, this is interesting. Did you come up with this prior to the release of UA Kensei? My first version didn't start out with ki points, but I ended up at the same points you did, using ki points even though it is a fighter martial archetype, not a monk. In the end, I think it works. If you can have a fighter and rogue subclass with spell slots, why not have one with ki points

Some other comments/qestions:


Is there an 18th level feature? Or why isn't there?
Ki points start better than monk (4 at 3rd level), but after the full progression are quite low (7 at 15th level). I don't think it should be better than monk at low levels, but should be higher than it is (though not as good as monk) at high levels.
Masamune Blade - Interesting to associate the magic weapon with something the kensei actually makes. I also gave the kensei the ability to craft weapons at 7th level, and would think about adopting this as a replacement for Ki-Empowered Weapon. The question is whether it is too limiting to tie it to the weapon. I guess it wouldn't be worse than any other fighter, but it would be worse than the monk who has gets always-on Ki-Empowered Strike at 6th level.
Fearless - OA kensei did have fear resistance, and I did consider this, but left out in favor of weapon-oriented features. Note that as pointed out by others in this thread, 7th level feature should be an exploration/interaction feature, not a combat feature.