Hi.
I ran Rise of the Runelords a few weeks ago. I stop just before part 3. For a guy used to writing is own stuff, I can say that I had fun running them. Also, I run Second Darkness on a monthly base with another group. That will be our fifth session soon and everyone seem to have fun.
Lately I was asked to start a new game set in Rokugan. After running Pathfinder for some times, I couldn't help to notice that the old basic samurai class is pretty "plain vanilla" by Pathfinder standards.
So I cooked something using these books as references: Sengoku, GURPS Japan, Rokugan, Oriental Adventures, Way of the Samurai and Quintessential Samurai. I also stole some abilities from the Fighter and the Barbarian and made some "Ki Technique".
I have tried to balanced it and make it as interesting as possible, but only playtesting will tell. I have also tried to make the samurai a "real" fighter, not a chanbara/wuxia kind of fighter. So it have some ki stuff, but it's not overly powerful.
Well, I thought I could share, so if you are curious or want to playtest it as well you can find it here:
I wouldn't bother with Frank Trollmans Samurai, the fluff aspects and a handful of the abilities just don't well...make much sense (Spells and high-powered magic weapons cannot cut through force effects, yet a samurai can?)
I beleive there was a quickie samurai fix floating about around here, though it's quite different from the CW and OA samurai, relaying on a class feature which deals extra damage to any foes flat-footed or shaken.
I beleive there was a quickie samurai fix floating about around here, though it's quite different from the CW and OA samurai, relaying on a class feature which deals extra damage to any foes flat-footed or shaken.
Yeah, that was mine, based on the combat in Yojimbo, in which the main character either intimidates or gets the draw on his opponents, and only then can cut them all down.
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Well, I thought I could share, so if you are curious or want to playtest it as well you can find it here:
Looking over it, here are some initial thoughts;
1) Ki Pool needs to list how often Ki replenishes (I assume once per day?).
2) Ki Techniques range from the amazing (Accurate Strike) to the useful (Clear Mind) to the *maybe* overpriced (Get the Advantage, I'd charge 2 ki for that one). And then there's Ki Gong, which is just painfully weak comparatively. Either it should last an entire minute, or it should grant DR equal to the Ki spent for one round.
3) Armor Training, Armor Mastery, Weapon Mastery and the free Fighter feats are entirely too good, strapped onto the other things available. It's not just a Fighter, it's a Fighter with some Monk and Barbarian type goodies strapped on. I was expecting perhaps a collage of the three classes, but this, I fear, goes a bit too far.
4) And, to be completely contradictory, the majority of the Bushido 'Virtue' feats, are very weak compared to the option to instead choose a Combat Feat or Clan Feat. I'm not sure what the mechanical benefits of a high Honor score are, but those, and the Feat that grants a +2 Wisdom (which the character can use to dump Wisdom and take as his level 1 Feat, to throw some extra points into his Strength, Dexterity or Constitution), seem like the only ones that would get considered, and, even then, I'd probably not begin looking at them until I have every Combat and / or Clan feat that I can get my hands on, as they are so mechanically weak. Rectitude is Skill Focus (Diplomacy). Respect is a variation on that. Depending on what Honor is good for, the Honesty feat is *weaker* than Skill Focus (diplomacy) as it provides less of a bonus, and only versus certain people!
When three to five of your 'Virtue' feats are variations on Skill Focus (diplomacy), which is hardly a feat that the average warrior is clamoring to take, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate them. Honesty giving instead a bonus to Sense Motive checks, useful for both role-playing and some rare combat uses (to avoid Bluff-feints, for instance), might be a more unique choice, for instance, as so many of these Feats seem to just pump up Diplomacy for specific instances.
Overall, I like the mix of Fighter and Ki powers, but the blend seems a little too good (again, except for those Virtue feats!).