Shiba Akihiro's page

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Appearance:
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Tall and powerfully built, Akihiro's well-trimmed beard hides deep laugh lines. His clothes, died in reds and oranges, are trimmed in fur and he's rarely seen without his armor and never without his spear nearbye.

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Personality:
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Akihiro is a quiet man, by choice rather than inclination, and spends most of his free time folding ever more elaborate origami sculptures or playing Go. He's introspective and occasionally philosophical, but, no matter how hard he tries, he's still an extrovert at heart. When he's up and moving, Akihiro is loud and thundering - his laugh rolls streight from the belly and his fights are filled with shouts. He lives with gusto, and always seems to be just on the safe side of excess.

He also never drinks alcohol, and one of the few things guarenteed to get his blood up is drunkards.

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Background:
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Born the eldest son and grandson of a war-hero, Akihiro's early life should have been as carefree as a child's could be. Sadly, it wasn't. His father was an alcoholic, a petty man who brought only shame on the family and, worse, didn't seem to care. To compensate for his father's boorishness, Akihiro took to playing Go with his grandmother and, when his sister was born, teaching her how to make elaborate origami sculptures. His father's excesses only got worse with time, though. Alcohol became women and then drugs, until one day Akihiro's father broke Akihiro's arm - an accident, to be sure, but the last straw. His grandmother marched straight to the house and threw his father bodily out of it, taking the children for her own. No-one protested - Akihiro's father had long since become a non-person - and from that point forward Akihiro was his grandmother's son, not his father's.

In the Phoenix clans, when a child comes of age the shugenja take and test him, looking for any magical talent. In some families, if they find you capable you have no option but to become shugenja. In the Shiba, however, you are allowed to choose. Akihiro chose to honor his grandfather, and to wipe out the stain of his father, by following in his footsteps. He trained as a yojimbo, a bodyguard, ready to lay down his life for his charge if need be.

Ability Scores: STR 18; DEX 11; CON 13; INT 16; WIS 10; CHA 10

Traits:
Unorthodox Method (Piercing Thunder)
Defensive Strategist

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Skills:
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Acrobatics +5, Climb +8, Craft (Origami) +9, Diplomacy +6, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (Martial) +9, Knowledge (Nobility) +9, Knowledge (Strategy) +6, Perception +3, Ride +3, Sense Motive +6, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7, Swim +6

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Defenses:
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AC: 16, Touch: 11, Flat-footed: 14
HP: 39
Fort: +4 Ref: +2 Will: +3
CMD: 18

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Offenses:
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Initiative: +1, Speed: 20ft
BAB: +3, CMB: +7
Melee:
Masterwork Branched Spear +9 (1d8 + 6, 20, x3)
Note: +2 Attack for AoOs provoked by movement
Haft Bash +9 (1d3 + 4, 20, x2)
Wakizashi +3 (1d6 + 4, 18-20, x2)
Other: 4 AoOs per round, Armiger's Mark (4/day, -4, 11%), Guardianship (+1), Defensive Intercept (4/day)

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Feats:
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Weapon Focus (Branched Spear), Combat Reflexes, Dirty Fighting, Improved Trip

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Class Abilities:
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Armiger's Mark: Whenever the warder attacks a foe in combat and inflict at least 1 point of damage, as a free action she may mark them as her foe (he may even mark a foe during an attack of opportunity and may make the free action to do so, even though it is not her turn). The target is aware of being marked, and the mark remains for 3 rounds. Marked targets suffer a -4 penalty to attack rolls against foes that are not the warder, and arcane spellcasters suffer an increase in arcane spell failure of 11% until the mark expires. The warder may only maintain 7 marks a time, and she may make 4 marks per day.
Zweihander Training: When wielding a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon in both hands, the warder gains a shield bonus to his armor class equal to his Guardianship bonus.
Guardianship: When in combat and the sworn protector's ward is within 10ft of their ward's position, the ward gains a +1 morale bonus to their AC and savings throws. Additionally, the sworn protector may add her guardianship bonus to her attack and damage rolls as a morale bonus if the ward is within the sworn protector's guardianship range. A sworn protector may only have 1 ward at a time. To select a ward, the sworn protector must take ten minutes discussing tactics and practicing with his ward so that he may learn how best to protect him, and from there on he practices those tactics when he readies his maneuvers. A sworn protector may dismiss a creature as his ward at anytime as a free action.
Armament Shield: When wielding a one-handed weapon in two hands or a two-handed weapon, the weapon is treated as a light shield for the purposes of performing a shield bash attack on an opponent.
Defensive Intercept: 4 times per day the Warder may leap to her ward's defense with lightning speed. As an immediate action, the sworn protector moves up to her base speed to a space within 10 ft. of a ward who is being subjected to an attack or effect that would cause harm, to thereby grant her guardianship benefits. This movement is subject to attacks of opportunity. If the sworn protector is too distant to reach her ward, she cannot use this ability.
Shared Counter: At 3rd level, the warder's ability to protect those around him expands to allow him to use readied counters with a range of personal to protect another as long as he is adjacent to their position. If the counter is unsuccessful, then the protected ally must rely on their own defenses. He may use this with no daily limit, but only as often as he has an immediate action to initiate a counter. Additionally, in the defense of a ward she may use her defensive intercept ability as part of the same immediate action to use a shared counter. This ability functions with the Extended Defense class feature.

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Maneuvers and Stances:
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Maneuvers Prepared:
Warden's Bearing
Snapping Strike
Iron Shell
Thunderous Fall

Maneuvers Known:
Level 1: Warden's Bearing, Guard's Oath, Iron Shell, Snapping Strike, Oaken Shield, Piercing Strike, Bronze Lancer's Edge
Level 2: Thunderous Fall

Stances:
Level 1: Stance of the Defending Shell, Vigilant Keeper's Stance

Default Stance: Vigilant Keeper's Stance

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Equipment:
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Shawl of Life-Keeping, Fighter's Kit, Bandages of Rapid Recovery x2, Origami Swarm, Bird Feather Token, Portable Go Set