Iaijutsu Master (Ex)
At 19th level, a kensai’s initiative roll is automatically a natural 20 and he is never surprised.
Given the wording of a 'surprise round', it would seem that the Kensai can take a full round action during a surprise because he can never be surprised (Which would mean that if there was a surprise round, the kensai would simply treat it as a normal round for himself instead).
Is this correct?
Nope. If there is a surprise round, the Kensai would be treated like any other combatant in the surprise round that is aware of his opponents. The good news is he would never be treated as unaware so he would get to act in any surprise round.
In any situation at all where any combatant is unaware of the combat, every aware combatant gets a surprise round. The rules for this surprise round are the same for every character. Standard or move action, not both, not full-round.
Then I suppose the begs the question: what is the point of saying a kensai is 'never surprised' if he already gains this ability at an earlier level...
At 13th level, a kensai may always act and may draw his weapon as a swift action during a surprise round, though he is considered flat-footed until he acts. During a surprise round or when attacking a flat-footed opponent, he adds his Intelligence modifier on damage with his chosen weapon (minimum 0).
Then I suppose the begs the question: what is the point of saying a kensai is 'never surprised' if he already gains this ability at an earlier level...
At 13th level, a kensai may always act and may draw his weapon as a swift action during a surprise round, though he is considered flat-footed until he acts. During a surprise round or when attacking a flat-footed opponent, he adds his Intelligence modifier on damage with his chosen weapon (minimum 0).
Because if he's unaware, he doesn't get to act in the surprise round.
I apologize if I sound dense, but doesn't the term 'may always act in a surprise round' basically mean that he is always aware regardless? From what I can tell, that seems to be the case, but it doesn't answer the question: what does 'is never surprised' actually mean in gaming terms.
For example, lets say a bunch of enemies ambush the party and a surprise round begins. The party already made their perception checks in order to determine who was 'aware' of the ambush, and any players that made the DC will get to act in the 'surprise round'.
However, a 13th level Kensai would get to act in the surprise round regardless of whether or not he made the perception check (he does this because of the ability gained at 13th level). Yet for this example, let us assume the Kensai is 19th level, and thus can never be surprise.
What happens then?
From what I can tell, the term 'never surprised' seems to suggest that while a surprise round does occur for all other combatants, the Kensai would treat the 'surprise round' as a 'normal round' instead (because he can never be surprised, and is thus not subject to the normal 'surprise round' restrictions). Based on the wording of the ability, this doesn't seem to be an inappropriate explanation, especially when you consider the inverse of a question:
How can a Kensai act in a 'surprise round' if he is 'never surprised'?
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The level 13 ability makes him always able to act in a surprise round, but he still counts as surprised until his initiative roll.
The level 19 ability means he is never flat-footed on top of that, and has the added benefit of nat 20 initiative.