I have been working on this class as well as a Ninja class (will post later) for use with Delving Deeper for some time. I had moved over to other projects and these have been on the back-burner for a while now. These are something of a response to similar classes posted on ODD74 a few months ago. Both sets of classes are based on those that appeared in The Dragon, but I hope that those presented here are much more usable and balanced. I have also allowed some influence from Oriental Adventures to float in.
Allow me to say that I am not an expert with OD&D mechanics, I'm pretty new with it actually. So, I am looking for ideas and critique.
I have not yet considered magic item use, so that will need sorted out.
How does the advancement chart look - too high/low XP, HD? The fighter will maintain the advantage in HD.
Saves are as the fighter.
What about special abilities, reasonably balanced or not?
New weapons are mostly flavor. The katana is considered a two-handed sword, but samurai are allowed to use them in a single hand. The daikyu is simply a longbow that allows for use while mounted.
THE SAMURAI
The warrior samurai occupied one of highest positions in the caste system of medieval Japan. They were officials, landholders, soldiers and the protectors of society. In game terms, the samurai character class is similar to a fighter, but with a focus toward particular weaponry and benefiting from a number of additional abilities.
- Code:
======================================================================== Samurai Progression ======================================================================== Experience S a v i n g T h r o w V e r s u s Samurai Points Hit Wands Paralysis Breath Level Required Dice Poison Rays Petrification Weapon Spells ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 0 1+2 12 13 14 15 16 2 2,000 2+1 12 13 14 15 16 3 4,000 3 10 11 12 15 14 4 8,000 4 10 11 12 12 14 5 16,000 5 10 11 12 12 14 6 32,000 5+2 8 9 10 12 12 7 65,000 6+1 8 9 10 12 12 8 130,000 7 8 9 10 9 12 9 240,000 8+2 6 7 8 9 10 10 360,000 9 6 7 8 9 10 11 480,000 10 6 7 8 9 10 12 600,000 10+2 4 5 6 6 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Samurai requires 170,000 experience points per level beyond the 12th. A Samurai adds one hit die per two levels beyond the 11th.
Samurai are trained in the use of all armor and helmets, but not shields. However, a samurai would generally prefer to go unarmored than to wear armor that does not reflect his status (meaning generally anything over-used, dirty, of poor quality, or even of foreign design).
Samurai are trained to use the battle axe, dagger, hand axe, morning star, pole arm, short sword, spear, sword, two-handed sword and longbow. Samurai may also employ a number of new weapons – the daikyu, jitte, katana, ko-katana, kusari-gama and tessen. Other weapons are considered foreign or dishonorable and are not used by samurai. Samurai attack as clerics.
From before the age of ten, samurai train in the warrior arts, including swordsmanship, archery, horsemanship and swimming, as well as courtly etiquette. Furthermore, samurai are expected to be beholden to a lord and to follow the code of the warrior, bushido. The primary principles of bushido include:
- Duty and loyalty to the lord unto death.
- A samurai must conduct himself with honor and maintain proper manners and appearance.
- To best serve the lord, a samurai must train in the military arts.
- To best represent himself and his lord, a samurai must cultivate the classical arts – scholarship, painting and music.
- A samurai must exhibit discipline and fortitude in all things.
- Samurai are famous horse archers and receive no penalties when firing the daikyu from a mounted position.
- Samurai can draw the katana or wakizashi in an instant, requiring no action and receiving no penalty to initiative.
- Samurai may use the katana as a two-handed weapon or in a single hand.
- Regardless of their Dexterity score, a samurai may wield the katana and wakizashi as a pair, one in each hand.
- When wielding the katana two-handed, the samurai rolls two dice for damage and keeps the higher result. In the case of tied dice, both dice are kept and summed for the damage result.
Upon achieving 4th level, samurai become immune to fear, both magical and mundane. However, samurai are terrifying warriors and can cause fear in lesser foes. Normal - types will not attack a 4th-level samurai if there are other opponents present and suffer a -1 penalty to morale checks.
At 9th level, the samurai is granted a land holding by his lord or is allowed to conquer new lands and establish his own domain. If kept free of marauders and monsters, the domain will draw settlers and soldiers who will each pay 1 gp in taxes each month.
RONIN
In Japanese society the term ronin refers to masterless samurai who have lost their position with the clan either through being disgraced by their own misdeeds, having their clan dispossessed of its holdings (because of war or law), or losing their lord in battle. These men often become vagrant mercenaries or criminals, though others hold to their ideals and perhaps become monks, teachers or martial instructors.
In game terms, a ronin is any samurai character who loses his position in the clan, as described above, and is dismissed from service. A samurai may also become a ronin if he ever changes from the Lawful alignment (though this will not immediately result in dismissal). Becoming a ronin is a great dishonor, and many samurai choose to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) rather than live in disgrace. A ronin does not lose the benefits of the samurai class, though he will not be allowed to establish a holding. However, ronin do suffer several disadvantages:
- Ronin take a 20% penalty to all experience points gained.
- They may never take on hirelings or acquire followers.
- From those who deduce his ronin status, the character suffers a -2 penalty to reaction checks.
- Finally, the ronin is banished from his lord’s domain and is proclaimed an enemy of the clan. He is considered an outlaw and criminal and will be hunted down any time he passes through the domain. Depending on the lord’s status, allied rulers may also bar the ronin from their territories.
SPECIAL RULES/NOTES
The katana weighs 10 pounds, but must be wielded two-handed. (This restriction is lifted for samurai and kensei characters.)
Dual-wielding: Characters with a Dexterity of 13 or greater may choose to fight with a weapon in each hand. Both weapons must be single-handed weapons. One weapon must be designated as the primary weapon and may weigh up to 10 pounds. If the primary weapon weighs more than 5 pounds, the secondary weapon must weigh less than the primary weapon. Dual-wielding grants the character a +1 bonus to hit.