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Hi all,
Looks like a Sword Saint Samurai will have an action to spare in many combats (swift action challenge, move action to approach, leave sword in scabbard for full round action next turn).
Any thoughts on how to make this less of a waste? I know the obvious suggestion is to carry a backup bow or battleaxe but I'm not sure there is enough wealth available in this game to have two magic weapons.
This is World's Largest (Pathfinder) dungeon, so VERY combat heavy.
@Muser - would have to be against an enemy besides the one that you want to use Iaijutsu against. Also, with the Weapon Expertise class feature (gives Quick Draw for favored weapon among other things) you can wield a naginata to strike out against one of the boss's goons then next turn drop it as a free action and Iaijutsu the crap out of the boss the next turn.
@dnjscott - Order of the Warrior -> Way of the Samurai
"Way of the Samurai (Ex): At 8th level, the order of the warrior samurai's sense of honor and loyalty drives him to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. The samurai can, as a standard action, focus his mind and will. Once during the next minute, he can choose to roll an attack roll, skill check, or saving throw three times and take the best result. He must decide to use this ability before the roll is made. Using this ability expends one daily use of his resolve."
Virtually guarantees a critical hit if you're using a katana.
At levels below 8th I would look to the tactic I suggested to Muser (you don't need to be Mr Awesomesauce with a magical naginata to hit the boss's cronies and do good damage, considering your full BAB and all).
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Look up combat scabbard and combat scabbard (sharpened). The sharpened version is only 1 damage die smaller than a katana. Just move up, attack with scabbard (with weapon sheathed) for first round. Next round, swift action challenge and iajiustu strike.
First thing that came to mind for me was intimidate. I have no idea how optimal Shaking your enemies is, but certainly makes sense from a roleplaying standpoint. Get up in your enemy's face and really challenge him.
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If you use Shatter Defenses, then demoralizing your opponent really gets good. Without it, it is still a -2 on pretty much every d20 roll.
Imagine: Way of Samurai and moving to an optimal position, then Dazzling Display with Naginata, then Iaijutsu Strike rolling 3 times to see if you hit to do massive amounts of damage on a really easy to-hit enemy.
Shazam.
The ability seems pretty...underwhelming to me. Maybe don't use it unless the enemy is already adjacent to you when you start your turn?
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Thanks all - there is a tear in my eye for Way of the Samurai, being as I'm not sure I'll make it to 8. So, multi-weaponry juggling or intimidation. Got it.
Second question - is this character worth making? Never played a Samurai. The Sword Saint is a slightly off substitution but then again no room for a mount in the dungeon, so might as well...
I'm really confused. Moronic question: Where is the Sword Saint mentioned? I've looked through Ultimate Combat several times now, and I don't see it. It's not in APG either, and UM doesn't even have a note for cavalier... It sounds like a fun archetype, I just can't find it.
Back to the post, if you're trying to figure out what to do with a move action, I'd go with Intimidate. For the 3.5 samurai, intimidate was almost his whole shtick, and it works really well thematically. Look up "shikanome" (I'm probably misspelling that), or "death-in-the-eyes". I was about to suggest the Dazzling Display feat, but that takes a full-round action. Still, that would give you something to do, while the melee enemies charge at you, leaving them next to you in round 2. (So you can draw your sword and run them through... hey, internal rhyming!)
The 4WFG Samurai, presented in Paths of Power gains the Sword Saint ability at level 20. The benefits: One attack each round is an automatic critical hit, unless the target makes a fortitude save (DC the samurai's total attack roll - a 20th level samurai with an STR 16, rolls a 15 on a D20, giving a DC of 38). The samurai must declare which attack will be critical before rolling. His critical strike reduces the enemies Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity by -4 at the samurai's choice, but he can not reduce any attribute more than once. In addition, he may Intimidate up to his hit dice in enemies as a standard action. Finally, he suffers no miss chance against incorporeal enemies - his sword technique is so perfect it hits even that which lacks a physical form.