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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dagredhel" data-source="post: 4072401" data-attributes="member: 3421">Samurai (Sai)The samurai is the warrior ideal of the land of his birth, a master of melee combat, the martial arts, horsemanship and archery.    Like the knight, the samurai belongs to a warrior caste of martial nobility.  The typical samurai serves a noble of higher rank with fanatical dedication and zeal.  While the knightly ideal is chivalry, the samurai’s code is bushido.  The samurai embraces the credo of death before dishonor, defining his actions in the context of absolute and unwavering obedience to his overlord, and a fearless disregard for his own life that brooks no possibility of surrender, only of victory or of death.      As the longsword and lance are emblematic of the knight, the katana sword (perhaps paired with a shorter blade) and daikyu bow are the weapons most closely associated with the samurai warrior.  While a samurai may wear a sword, at least as a symbol of his warrior status and high birth, it is not necessarily a weapon of any great value, nor the warrior’s weapon of choice.  Samurai may choose to wield any number of weapons, and even their swords vary in kind and quality, depending on their resources, their rank, and the place and time in which they live.  Likewise, while a samurai is trained in riding, in the use of the bow, and in the techniques of unarmed combat, the focus of a particular warrior may be quite different; one samurai might be an expert archer, another a master of judo, while another might concentrate on skill with his blade.    The human samurai may be a warrior from a far-off land or a member of a culture or group with a similar martial tradition.  Similar traditions may well exist among nonhuman races.  Elven samurai would be skilled with blade and bow, but likely embrace a less fatalistic philosophy.  The bushido code is better suited to the dour dwarven disposition, although archery and horsemanship would be atypical.  Hobgoblins, with their martial and disciplined culture, best fit the samurai mold.    In addition to their fighting skills, samurai warriors are schooled in proper etiquette and modes of address, and in the ways of the martial nobility to which they belong.  As a compliment to their training in both armed and unarmed combat, they often become adept at leaping and tumbling, developing these skills as a part of their fighting style.    A samurai who adheres to the bushido code will be lawful in alignment.  But just as many knights fall short of the ideals of chivalry, there are warriors trained as samurai who fail to exemplify the bushido code.  A samurai may be sworn to an overlord, an ideal or a cause, or may pursue his own agenda, be it for good or ill, for the common weal or selfish gain.  A samurai without an earthly master is called a ronin.Class FeaturesAll of the following are class features of the samurai.Class Skills:   The samurai’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Cha), and Ride (Dex), Tumbling (Dex) and Swim (Str).Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A samurai is proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons and with light and medium armor.Starting Feats:   The samurai receives the Improved Unarmed Combat feat in addition to his weapon and armor proficiencies and fighter bonus feat.Recommended 1st level Bonus Feat:  The samurai should consider Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Mounted Combat, Two Weapon Fighting, and Weapon Focus (any melee weapon, bow, or unarmed strike) when selecting his 1st level fighter bonus feat.</blockquote>

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