a few tips for a samurai's special ability

[SorvahrSpahr]

ok, it's like this. I'm trying to come up with a special ability for my samurai. Our House rule is that every PC has a unique ability.
I was thinking of something like this: the samurai must sheathe the sword and stand in an attacking stance for 1 round. he cannot be hit during that round. on his next round, he attempts a melee attack against his opponent. IF he manages to hit the attack roll, the opponent must make a reflex save (the dc would be the samurai's attack roll), if the opponent succeeds, he will only receive a regular damage roll (or no damage at all), if the opponent fails the reflex, he would die. How does that sound? any tips are welcome

 

[Land Outcast]

I'd prefer, instead of it being an instant kill, giving a x4 multiplier as if a critical hit had been done.

(If we are speaking about Special Abilities for characters, of course... a goood starting point would be giving us the abilities of the other PCs)

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

i see. the other special abilities are decided when we're starting. but it's always something like:
having no penalties when using two weapons, extra spells, being proficient with every weapons without needing feats, etc
would the causing x4 damage to the enemy hit as soon as the samurai hit the attack roll, or should the opponent get a save check?

the samurai's ability i was talking about is something like battoujutsu- the name of the technique in which you draw your sword and cut in the same motion

 

[Arkhandus]

If nothing else, the DC is a bit too high.

I'll give two comparisons for example: 20th-level samurai against 20th-level monk. Monk has +5 Cloak of Resistance, and 18 each in Dex, Con, and Wis, after magic items. Monk has a total of +21 on all saving throws. Samurai has +20 base attack, +5 magic katana, +1 weapon focus, and 22 Str after magic items, for a total attack bonus of +32. Monk's chance of surviving this special ability is about 45% if my guessimate is correct. Only monks, rogues, and bards (and rangers if playing 3.5) could really be expected to have that high of a Reflex save, though. Enemy fighters, samurai, barbarians, and paladins (and rangers if playing 3.0) would stand very little chance, only about 15% or 10% maybe, and that's assuming they bothered with a high Dexterity score. Chances are, if the samurai's foes are lucky, the samurai will kill one tough enemy every 2 or 4 rounds.

Second comparison, 3rd-level samurai against 3rd-level monk. Monk has +1 Cloak of Resistance and a score of 15 each in Dex, Con, and Wis, total of +6 on all saving throws. Samurai has +3 base attack, +1 magic katana, +1 weapon focus, and 18 Str, total of +9 attack. Monk's chance of surviving this special ability is around 85%. Standard fighter, samurai, or whatever is likely to instead have a chance of about 70%. Chances are, if the samurai's foes are lucky, the samurai will typically kill one tough enemy every 4 or 6 rounds.

I'd suggest lowering the Reflex save DC by 2 or 4 points. Also, I agree with Land Outcast that instead of insta-kill, the ability just deals quadruple damage similar to a critical hit. However, alternatively, it may be fine to just have the ability be an automatic coup de grace attack, without provoking attacks of opportunity. Either way, the Reflex save should stay. If it does get used for a coup de grace rather than insta-kill or quad-damage, that would give foes 2 saves, one Reflex to avoid the extra effect and, if that fails, a Fortitude save to avoid insta-death from the coup de grace, but still taking critical hit damage if they fail the Reflex save.

Also, clarify the 'not being hit' part. Does it mean that the ability is interrupted if the samurai is hit while in the attack stance? Or something else? Depending on what exactly this part is supposed to mean, it may be enough of a liability as to negate any need to lower the save DC or whatnot, possibly....

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

yup, the samurai couldn't take any damage during the stance or the attack would be stopped and the turn would've been wasted.

So it would be something like this: if the samurai hits the target, the target must first try a reflex save, if succeds takes no damage, if fails, it will roll a fortitude, if it wins, it takes x4 damage, if it fails instant kill. Sounds right

 

[Land Outcast]

Sounds about right, and I like it.... I specially liked this idea of giving out unique abilities...

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

our original DM came up with it. It's a nice way to make the PCs stand out from the NPCs of the same class

 

[Hautamaki]

Sounds good

On principle I dislike insta-kill abilities and much prefer a simple x4 multiplier as well. Beyond that I don't think it's overpowered. If you have to sacrifice an attacking turn and also not get hit during that turn, it's not gonna unbalance the game. Who at 20th level, fighting other 20th level opponents with massive attack bonuses, is not going to get hit even once in a round? Especially if they know the pain is coming if they don't hit you? But like I said, insta-kill is kinda silly; what if your fighting some kind of garguantuan beast with 400 hp? You kill it with one deft swing of the samurai sword?

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

a creature like that would have a good fortitude save. so it would be hard to kill it in one blow. and if you have a spellcaster around. you just have to ask him for a few defensive spells. if he has them

 

[Cartigan Mrryl]

the samurai's ability i was talking about is something like battoujutsu- the name of the technique in which you draw your sword and cut in the same motion

If you're going for Battoujustsu I'd suggest an automatic critical, because that's really all it reflects. Maybe give him an extra to the crit? Such as X3 ups to X4, (X2 goes up to X3) .... Just a suggestion.