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I'm no expert on samurai (and seriously, neither are most of the people posting here with 'definitive' answers, tone it down guys), but I think that feinting was a big part of whole "fighting with a single very sharp piece of steel, no shield, and relatively weak armor" combat thing.
Also, and this might be my L5R experience talking, but knowing how to say "sir, that kimono hides your obese body most effectively" without getting killed / self-killed seems like a valuable trait for a samurai.
Finally, there is a big difference between telling the truth and telling a lie. Talented people do both at once.
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Feinting is a good point here, and even in diplomatic relations it is necessary to not disclose something - including one done through an emotional response.
Linguistics needs to be added as a class skill. I'm not saying I am an expert, but I have spend time looking at previous class concepts of this sort, as well as online info about them, and as an aristocratic entity they would have been well groomed for diplomacy and war alike. Bluff is not out of context here for several reasons, but feinting in combat is the most practical.
Excellent material - I can't wait to playtest the Ninja! ;) Best wishes,
-will
Reading the skill description of bluff and the class description of the samurai, it seems like the samurai would be better served replacing or losing bluff. but maybe i'm not seeing something. does anyone else think this is weird?
Bluff is used for feinting so I see not problem with it.
Bluff is also a Cavalier skill.
It makes sense for a `noble warrior´ who has to deal as much with political intrigue as battlefield combat.
Linguistics I don`t see so much... It`s PRIME usage (learning new languages) doesn`t benefit at all by being a Class Skill, that only benefits deciphering unknown languages and secret codes, etc. Those don`t really seem SO much like core Samurai schticks. With the changes to Class Skills, it doesn`t really matter so much if you have them or not, and any Samurai who wants to be more of a scholar can take 1 level of Bard or whatever and will get the exact same benefit.
My guess is that Linguistics is a nod to Calligraphy. Also, nobles tend to know more languages, by necessity, than commonfolk. EDIT: Also note that Linguistics covers Forgery too, which would be mighty handy for Ronin to have.