[Fighter Archetype] Wandering Samurai [PEACH]

[Extra Anchovies]

The Wandering Samurai
A Pathfinder Fighter Archetype
Yeah, it's sorta like that.

Although some Samurai may dedicate themselves to their lord and gain all the wealth and power that service provides, others live more simply. They have no master to serve other than their own will to survive, and no devices other than their wit and sword.

Starting Gold:
A Wandering Samurai begins play at 1st level with only their well-worn blade (see below), a single outfit worth up to 10 gp, and 10 gp worth of other mundane items.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
A Wandering Samurai is not proficient with any armor, or with any shields. They are still proficient with all martial weapons. They are also proficient with all weapons in the monk weapon group.

Well-Traveled:
A Wandering Samurai gains 2 additional skill ranks at each class level. Furthermore, Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Perception (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis) are all added to the Wandering Samurai's class skill list. However, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int) is not a class skill for the Wandering Samurai.

Well-Worn Blade:
A Wandering Samurai begins play at 1st level with one of the following:

• A single masterwork ōdachi, with the same game statistics as a greatsword
• Two masterwork wakizashis, with the same game statistics as shortswords
• A single masterwork naginata, with the same game statistics as a glaive
• A single masterwork longbow, plus a set of 20 non-masterwork Durable Arrows

The Wandering Samurai receives Weapon Focus with their chosen weapon as a bonus feat at 1st level. This replaces the bonus feat normally gained at 1st level.

A Wandering Samurai has learned to live and die by their blade, and in time the link between weapon and wielder can border on the supernatural. Their Well-Worn Blade's hardness and hit points increase by an amount equal to the samurai's character level. In addition, the Wandering Samurai gains a bonus on Craft checks to repair their Well-Worn Blade (or to make a new one; see below) equal to their character level, and may make such checks untrained.

Starting at 4th level, a Wandering Samurai can sacrifice wealth (in coins or in non-currency items of equivalent value) to imbue their weapon with magical enhancements. To grant their weapon a particular total enhancement bonus, they must be of sufficient character level and must sacrifice enough wealth, as indicated on the table below. In addition, the Wandering Samurai must practice with their weapon for at least 4 hours each day for 1 day per 1,000 GP of sacrificed wealth.

Sacrificed wealth must be left behind when the Wandering Samurai breaks camp for the morning, and crumbles to dust within 1 hour of the Samurai's departure. Alternately, sacrificed wealth may be donated to non-allied NPCs in the form of over-paying for food, lodging, or other basic amenities. Whether this influences the recipients' attitudes is entirely up to the DM. A Wandering Samurai who chose to have two wakizashi may enhance each one at three-fourths the value listed on the table (thus, raising a masterwork wakizashi to a +1 wakizashi in this way only costs 1,500 GP, but enhancing both costs 3,000 GP).

Enhancement Bonus	Required Wealth Sacrifice	Minimum Character Level
+1	2,000 GP	4th
+2	8,000 GP	7th
+3	18,000 GP	9th
+4	32,000 GP	11th
+5	50,000 GP	13th
+6	72,000 GP	14th
+7	98,000 GP	15th
+8	128,000 GP	16th
+9	162,000 GP	17th
+10	200,000 GP	18th

The values shown on the above table are the total value of sacrifice required to bring a single weapon to the listed weapon bonus. If Wandering Samurai already has a +3 naginata, he can raise it to a +4 naginata by sacrificing 14,000 gp and spending two weeks in practice. If a Wandering Samurai wanted to raise one of their their masterwork wakizashi to a +1 wakizashi, he would have to sacrifice 1,500 gp.

If a Well-Worn Blade is lost, the Wandering Samurai may either attempt to recover it or they may declare it permanently lost. If a Well-Worn Blade is destroyed or permanently lost, they may designate a new weapon of the same type as their Well-Worn Blade by crafting it themselves and spending one month practicing with the weapon for at least 4 hours per day. For the purposes of crafting their Well-Worn Blade (but not for crafting other weapons, even of the same type), a Wandering Samurai is considered to have a number of ranks in Craft (Weaponsmithing) equal to their class level. A newly-created Well-Worn Blade has no weapon enchantments applied. Upon the creation of this new well-worn blade, the previous well-worn blade crumbles to dust, breaks irreparably, or otherwise becomes useless.

Anticipate Blows:
Starting at 1st level, a Wandering Samurai adds their Wisdom bonus to their Armor Class and CMD when unarmored. At 3rd level, they also gain a +3 insight bonus to their armor class and to initiative checks; this bonus increases by 1 for every four class levels thereafter (e.g. +4 at 7th level +5 at 11th level, etc.). This ability replaces Armor Training.

Master of One:
At 5th level, a Wandering Samurai receives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls while wielding their Well-Worn Blade or another weapon of the same type. This bonus increases by 1 every four levels thereafter.

At 9th level, a Wandering Samurai adds the same bonus to their CMB and CMD while wielding their Well-Worn Blade or another weapon of the same type.

At 13th level, a Wandering Samurai may combine a full attack with a single move while wielding their Well-Worn Blade or another weapon of the same type. They may move an amount up to their speed and may make their attacks at any point during their movement; however, they must move at least five feet between attacks. They may use Acrobatics to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity during this movement; however, if they do so, they are limited to moving half their speed.

At 17th level, a Wandering Samurai increases the critical threat range of their Well-Worn Blade by 1; this is applied before threat range multipliers such as those from Improved Critical or the Keen weapon property. In addition, they increase the critical multiplier of their Well-Worn Blade by 1. This increase does not stack with other effects that increase a weapon's critical modifier.

When a Wandering Samurai reaches 20th level, their Weapon Mastery ability, instead of applying to one type of weapon, only applies to their Well-Worn Blade.

This ability replaces Weapon Training and alters Weapon Mastery.

Uncanny Dodge:
Starting at 2nd level, a Wandering Samurai can react to danger before their senses would normally allow them to do so. They cannot be caught flat-footed, nor do they lose their Dex bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. They still lose their Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A Wandering Samurai with this ability can still lose their Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action (see Combat) against them.

If a Wandering Samurai already has uncanny dodge from a different class, they automatically gain improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

This replaces Bravery.

Improved Uncanny Dodge:

Starting at 6th level, a Wandering Samurai can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking them, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target does.

If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

Indomitable:
At 19th level, a Wandering Samurai gains DR 5/—. The damage reduction granted by this ability stacks with all other types of damage reduction. This ability replaces Armor Mastery.

Spoiler: Now that you've finished reading...

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What do you think? Too strong? Not strong enough? Any other comments/critiques/suggestions?

[Bluydee]

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Why are the weapons they get just reflavored normal ones, when pathfinder already has all of them?

In addition, samurai wielded a wakizashi and a katana, not dual wakizashi.

EDIT: You also mention katana in the well worn blade part, but you aren't able to actually get one.

[Extra Anchovies]

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Why are the weapons they get just reflavored normal ones, when pathfinder already has all of them?

In addition, samurai wielded a wakizashi and a katana, not dual wakizashi.

EDIT: You also mention katana in the well worn blade part, but you aren't able to actually get one.

I made the weapons reflavored normal ones because naginata and ōdachi are martial weapons while wakizashi and katana are exotic; naginata and ōdachi are on par with most martial weapons (damage/crit stats as heavy pick and glaive, respectively), while wakizashi and katana are better (one die size large than kukri and scimitar, respectively). Also the 18-20 crit range of katana and wakizashi + improved critical + the 17th-level Master of One ability = 11-20 crit range, which just shouldn't happen. 11-20 means it's more likely that you score a threat than it is that you score a normal hit, probably much more so. ETA: Now that I think about it, 13-20 is pretty strong too, especially with TWF; maybe should I switch it so that the increased crit range only applies to the first one or two attacks per round?

That's a good point. Should I add a katana-and-wakizashi style? The reason I left it out is that using two different weapons is a fairly weak method of TWF; dual wakizashi fighting would be more effective. Maybe I'll make the first-level feat a bit more variable; e.g. naginata and ōdachi grant Weapon Focus, dual wakizashi and wakizashi-and-katana grant Dual Slice (without needing prereqs), and Longbow grants Point Blank Shot?

And I'll admit, the mention of the Katana is because I copypasted that paragraph from Oriental Adventures

[Oracle_of_Void]

I like the idea, but I'm not sure about it. The low starting wealth means no dungeon/utility items and his wealth sacrifice mechanic discourages magic items. And to take full advantage of the WIS bonus to AC, it would make the samurai MAD. Might need tweaking. (On second thought, he'd do pretty well in low magic games but that's a different matter.)

[Extra Anchovies]

I like the idea, but I'm not sure about it. The low starting wealth means no dungeon/utility items and his wealth sacrifice mechanic discourages magic items. And to take full advantage of the WIS bonus to AC, it would make the samurai MAD. Might need tweaking. (On second thought, he'd do pretty well in low magic games but that's a different matter.)

The wealth sacrifice lets him exchange wealth on a 1:1 ratio for enchanting his weapon, rather than having to sell items and get 1:2. It's an exact copy of the OA Samurai's mechanic.

As for the AC bonus, Wisdom isn't required for good AC; they eventually get +7 from the base class feature, and then they can still tack on Bracers of Armor. They get a slightly higher potential AC with bracers and the class feature (25 before modifiers, vs. 23 for +5 full plate), but in exchange they can't get armor abilities. I'm actually considering removing the Wis to AC bit since they already get their full Dexterity, what do you think?

Also, I should change it to read "when unarmored" rather than "when unarmed"

[Extra Anchovies]

Bumping for additional feedback. Specific areas I want advice on:

1. Should I use the Eastern Weapons versions of the ōdachi, wakizashi, katana, and naginata? My concerns are A) that the wakizashi and katana are exotic while the ōdachi, naginata, and longbow are martial and B) that the katana/wakizashi + improved critical + the 13th-level Master of One ability gets a crit range of 11-20, which is more than I think should be allowed (especially on the TWF-based weapon set); plus, the Naginata would yield a crit range of 15-20/x4, which is too much for a one-feat investment. For balance reasons (balance against other martials, that is), I'm leaning towards sticking with the current standard-weapon equivalents.

2. Should I replace one of the shortswords in the TWF set with a broadsword-equivalent Katana?

3. Should this class get Wisdom to AC?

4. Is the crit-range increase from the 13th-level Master of One ability too much? I'm concerned that it could get nasty with critical feats or burst weapons.

[Extra Anchovies]

I've reworked the 17th-level Master of One ability; it now increases threat range by 1 before any threat range multipliers, and increases the critical multiplier by 1 as well.

I've also changed the Uncanny Dodge ability (it replaces Bravery instead of two feats) and altered the skills from "4+int" to "2 extra skill ranks per level" so this archetype can stack with DSP's Myrmidon. Let me know what you think.

[Submortimer]

I agree with one of the posts here...traditional samurai Daisho is a katana and a wakazashi. This SHOULD be an option, especially if you're gonna use the name 'samurai' for this archetype.