3.5 Samurai

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(back to 3.5 Base Classes)

Samurai[edit]

Alignment: Any lawful.
Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills[edit]

The samurai’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Battle (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Iaijutsu Focus (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str) and Tea Ceremony (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Samurai[edit]

Level	BAB		FS	RS	WS	Special
1st	+1		+2	+0	+2	Daisho
2nd	+2		+3	+0	+3	Technique feat
3rd	+3		+3	+1	+3	—
4th	+4		+4	+1	+4	Technique feat
5th	+5		+4	+1	+4	—
6th	+6/+1		+5	+2	+5	—
7th	+7/+2		+5	+2	+5	Technique feat
8th	+8/+3		+6	+2	+6	—
9th	+9/+4		+6	+3	+6	—
10th	+10/+5		+7	+3	+7	Technique feat
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+7	—
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+8	—
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+8	Technique feat
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+9	—
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+9	—
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+10	Technique feat
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10     —
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	—
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	Technique feat
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	—

Class Features[edit]

All of the following are class features of the samurai.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A samurai is proficient with the Kenjutsu group plus any three other groups and with light and medium armor. Samurai are not proficient with shields.
Daisho: At 1st level, a samurai is given a katana and wakizashi. These are masterwork blades. As the samurai advances in level, he has the option of awakening the spirit of the blades and thereby granting them supernatural abilities. At any time, a samurai may retreat to a temple or shrine and spend time in prayer in order to awaken the ancestral spirits in his katana or wakizashi. This requires a sacrifice of valuable items worth the amount shown on the table below. The samurai must meet he minimum character level shown on the table in order to awakened it to the listed power level and must spend one day in prayer at the shrine or temple per 1,000 gp sacrificed. A samurai of sufficient level is free to choose desired special abilities rather than simple enhancement bonuses when awakening his daisho, calculating the total weapon level normally.

Table: Samurai Daisho Advancement[edit]

Samurai Class Level 	Weapon Bonus 	Total  Sacrifice
4th		 	+1	 	2,000 gp
7th			+2	 	8,000 gp
9th			+3	 	18,000 gp
11th			+4	 	32,000 gp
13th			+5	 	50,000 gp
14th			+6*	 	72,000 gp
15th			+7*		98,000 gp
16th			+8*		128,000 gp
17th			+9*		162,000 gp
18th			+10*	 	200,000 gp

Note: A weapon cannot actually have a bonus higher than +5. Use the values marked with asterisks (*) to determine the sacrifice and level requirements when special abilities are added in.

The values shown on the table above are the total price of awakening a single weapon to the designated level. If a samurai wished to increase his +2 katana to a +3 katana, he would have to sacrifice 10,000 gp (the difference between the requirements for a +2 weapon and +3 weapon) and spend 10 days in prayer. Samurai may awaken the spirits in both their katana and wakizashi but must sacrifice and pray separately for each.
Technique Feats: At 2nd level, a samurai gets a bonus technique feat. The samurai gains an additional bonus technique feat at 4th level and every three samurai levels thereafter (7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, and 19th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as samurai technique feats. A samurai must still meet all prerequisites for a technique feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. These feats must be taken from the list for the Clan with whom the samurai is studying unless the samurai has taken the Multiple Schools feat. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A samurai is not limited to the list of bonus technique feats when choosing these feats.
Ex-samurai: Samurai who become non-lawful or violate their code of honor is dishonored. Dishonored samurai lose any abilities of their awakened daisho and cannot progress in levels as a samurai. They keep all technique feats they have thus far acquired. They may receive an atonement spell in order to return to honor. Doing so returns them to honor, restoring their daisho to full strength and allows them to continue progressing as samurai.

Discussion[edit]

I guess I should say right off the bat that my choice to return to gp rather than xp for the awakening of the daisho will likely not be a popular one, but it is part of my overall "karma points" handling of the gold piece issue in L5R d20, which I talk about here. YMMV as always. ---Shisumo no Shiryo 20:06, 16 Jul 2005 (PDT)