D&D 5E Agility-based katana wielder: is it possible?

[Giltonio_Santos]

I think this specific player will probably enjoy the reflavored quarterstaff suggestion better. It could even be one of those wooden training swords, for bonus awesomeness...

Thanks for all the suggestions, people. I'll probably let him choose between wielding a finesse longsword or being a monk with a quarterstaff that looks like a katana. Both options will capture the flavor he wants pretty well, and won't break anything.

 

[Kobold Stew]

There are all sorts of ways to cheese it by making a two-handed finesse weapon: between the great weapon fighting style and sneak attack, the damage gets out-of-proportion quickly. Even if your player is not thinking along these lines, I think it sets a bad precedent. They made a point of not including any two-handed finesse weapons.

As has been noted, finesse weapons mean that you can effectively dump strength completely.

There are a few options:
1. Use STR-based attacks, and reskin as longsword.
2. Use rapier, get the duelling fighting style, and reskin as longsword.
3. The monk idea above (well done Plane Sailing!), perhaps with the pole arm mastery feat.
4. Houserule a new feat. I, for example, would allow something like this (and it's something the variant human could start with at level 1):

Katana wielding.
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher.
When you are wielding a longsword, it is considered to have the finesse property. If applicable, Sneak Attack dice are not re-rolled if you also have the Great Weapon Fighting Style.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

first the funny answer...

It has to be a finesse weapon that is versatile 1d12/3d6... and they all add +1 to hit because they are just that awesome...

then serious
I would totally just say long swords are finesse, and can be refluffed as katanna... boring I know.

 

[Inchoroi]

I think this specific player will probably enjoy the reflavored quarterstaff suggestion better. It could even be one of those wooden training swords, for bonus awesomeness...

Thanks for all the suggestions, people. I'll probably let him choose between wielding a finesse longsword or being a monk with a quarterstaff that looks like a katana. Both options will capture the flavor he wants pretty well, and won't break anything.

...Outlaw Star's Twilight Suzuka?

 

[guachi]

I'd let a player wield a katana two-handed as a finesse weapon with the following conditions - it/s 1d8/1d10 finesse/versatile. It benefits from no features that benefit two-handed weapon use but can benefit from Duelist.

I'm not certain how it benefits a character much aside from look/feel. He essentially gets one more point of damage versus 1d8 at the cost of no shield and no off-hand attack.

 

[Cannyjiggit]

I like the reskinned staff idea in this and it probably fits well.

Another idea though could be to use rapier stats, allow it to be versatile but with no change in damage dice for 2 hand use*. It could of course still be used with 2 handed feats/styles etc and would be unique in using dex to do so but I don't think that in itself would break anything whilst still allowing all the flavour.

*Whenever something seems to not quite fit the rules and can't be exactly copied across (such as using the stats exactly from one thing but calling it another) but offers the chance to add some flavour, then I generally like to make it just a tiny bit weaker if it in some way adds something elsewhere. Typical example here in making the new weapon versatile d8/d8 compared to the other versatile d8/d10 variants. An example in previous campaigns was a spell researched by a mage character that dealt the same damage as a fireball but in acid form - we made it an acid rain that lasted 1 round but bumped it to 4th level instead of 3rd - the 1 round duration turned out to be important in a number of cases.

 

[was]

You could also create a new fighting style, unique to students of a certain academy in your campaign world, for fighters which allows them to finesse one specific 2-handed weapon. Then make it part of the character's backstory.

 

[kerleth]

Well, when I think agile katana wielder I think Rurouni Kenshin. So you have a character focused on speed, either killing the enemy before they can act, or avoiding most attacks. Also, parrying seems to be a staple of samurai combat in lots of media, though I've heard it isn't very historically accurate. So how does that relate to the mechanical numbers.

We want:
1) A character that runs off of dex.
2) Fast.
3) Tends to block or avoid most attacks.
4) Deadly, but there is usually some sort of massive brute with more raw destructive power.

There IS a style that perfectly represents that. Rapier and shield. Say that wielding his katana in both hands allows him to parry with it, granting a +2 to AC instead of increasing damage. Then price this rare, finely crafted weapon at the same cost as a rapier and shield.
Should the player choose a fighting style, let him choose duelist ones, since his swordsmanship focuses on speed, precision, and deflection as opposed to raw power, making it more similar to swashbuckling styles.
When the party starts running into magic weapons, play up the rare and legendary nature of the katana. Treat it balance wise as though you had given him both a magical sword and shield. So a +1 Katana would grant a +1 to attack and damage. Furthermore, when wielding this weapon with both hands he also gains a +1 to AC.
That would seem to be the simplest to me. The monk one sounded pretty awesome, but that limits it to only a single class option, where as this could be used in many others.

 

[rjfTrebor]

This is and excellent suggestion. It allows for the fast attacking business one sometimes sees with samurai archetypes, it allows for high levels of movement, it even allows for a samurai vs ninja vibe (way of the shadow).

i feel like this works, but at the end of the day, it still says quarterstaff on the sheet not katana. i'd rather just let him use a longsword with dex.

 

[Eejit]

Another option is refluffed barbarian. Uses str to attack but (when Unarmored) dex for defense, rage can be fluffed as battle meditation, greatsword can stand in for the katana.

Potentially take the martial adept feat for something like parry or precise strike? Or just great weapon master.


That's what I'd do to make a Wheel of Time blademaster, which is conceptually very similar.