A well-meaning thread that degenerated into "is the OA Samuari historically accurate"

[gfunk]

What did they do to the Tattooed Monk? I'm using one tomorrow. I'm most interested in how they changed the Crab ability (the old version gave you DR = 2*tattoos / Con mod) with the new DR system, but as much info as you could give would be fantastic.
Thanks!

Crab: DR 2/magic. Improves by 2 for every tattoo possessed.

Monk BAB, Monk Saves, Monk Skills

Most monk abilities stack (AC, unarmed damage, speed)

Tatto at level 1 and every other level after that

Arrowroot: 1/day/tattoo, Wis bonus x class level damage heal, but not on self

Bamboo: 1/day/tattoo, Add # tatoos as enhancement bonus to Con, 1 round/level

Bat: As Bamboo, but Dex

Bellflower: 1/day/tattoo, Add Cha mod as enhancement bonus to ability score (including Cha)

Butterfly: As Bamboo, but Wis

Centipede: 1/week, shadow walk

Chameleon: 1/day/tattoo, alter self 1 hour/class level

Crane: When taken, immune to nonmagical diseases. Next tattoo, immune to poison. Next tattoo, cannot be magically aged/no penalties for aging.

Chrysanthemum: Heals hp equal to leel every hour in real sunlight

Dragon: 1/day/tattoo, fire breath as elixir

Dragonfly: 1/day, dodge bonus to AC # tattoos, 1 round/class level

Falcon: Immune to fear, allies within 10 ft gain bonus vs. fear equal to Cha mod

Lion: 1/day/tattoo, smite +4 attack, Class level to dmg

Monkey: +1 on most Dex-based skills

Moon, Crescent: 1/day, ethereal jaunt

Moon, Full: 1/day/tattoo, +2 luck on attack, skill, or ability roll. Cannot be used during daylight hours

Mountain: 1/day/tattoo, Similar to defensive stand of Dwarven Defender, cannot be moved (no bull rush/trip), impossible to make Dex based skill checks

Nightingale: Heal damage equal to 2 x class level, self or others

Ocean: No need to eat, sleep, drink

Phoenix: SR = class level + 15

Pine: Remain Conscious feat (presumably typo, should be Diehard)

Scorpion: 1/day/tattoo, force foe to use lowest ability mod when making attack roll

Spider: Poison instead of stunning attack, 2 Con primary/secondary

Sun: 1/day/tattoo +2 on attack, skill, ability roll. Can only be used during daylight hours

Tiger: 1/day/tattoo, +1 attack +1d6 dmg, lasts 1 round/class level

Tortoise: 1/day/tattoo, can use class level for ranks of skill he does not have, add Cha mod to roll

Wasp: 1/day/tatto, haste, 1 round/class level

White Mask: As ring of mind shielding, +10 bonus on Bluff checks

 

[Felon]

Samurai's dual wield a masterwork bastard sword (one-handed, they get EWP for free) and a masterwork short sword. As they progress in levels they get Two-Weapon fighting at 2nd, Improved at 11th, and Greater at 16th.

No wonder Samurai Jack is having so much trouble beating Aku...he's fighting wrong all this time!

Gets +4 to Intimidate at 6th, can intimidate in a 30 ft radius as a std action at 10th, can generate the equivalent of dragon fear at 20th level.

OK, he can dish out fear, but how well can he take it?

d10 hp, Figher BAB/saves, 2+Skill points/level, Proficient with all weapons and armor but not shields. Alignment: any lawful

Hmm. I think I prefer the OA version. A samurai should have good Will saves and decent skill points per level IMO.

I'm curious to know how the ronin PrC compliments the samurai core class.

Also, would love to hear how the swashbuckler measures up to Arcana Unearthed's unfettered class.

 

[gfunk]

I'm curious to know how the ronin PrC compliments the samurai core class.

Also, would love to hear how the swashbuckler measures up to Arcana Unearthed's unfettered class.

Ronin is a samurai gone bad. It's just like a fallen Paladin who turns into a Blackguard.

You gain infamy at 1st level, if someone has heard of you, usually DC 10 Gather Info or Knowledge (Nobility) then you get a -4 penalty on Cha skills.

Banzai charge at 2nd. When charging, take a -2 to AC and +2 to hit. Can be raised in increments up to your BAB. So BAB of +8 means max of -8 AC and +8 to hit.

Sneak attack, +1d6 at 1st level, +1d6 every 3rd level thereafter.

Bonus feats at levels 5 and 10.

Fighter BAB, saves, skills.

1st-5th level ex-Samurai regains Ki smite feature.
6th-10th level ex-Samurai, as above, but gains Intimidation improvments
11th+ level ex-Samurai can cash in Samurai levels for Ronin.

Swashbuckler
d10, Fighter BAB, Fighter saves, Monk skills
All weapons proficiency, light armor

At 1st gains Weapon Finesse
At 2nd gains +1 to Reflex save, +2 11th, +3 20th
At 3rd gainst Int bonus to damage with light weapon or Finessable weapon
At 5th, Dodge feat, +2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, +4 at 20th
At 7th, Acrobatic Charge (a la duelist)
At 8th, +4 to hit when flanking
At 11th, may re-roll 1/day
At 13th, can always take 10 on Jump/Tumble checks
At 14th, crit deals 2 Str damage
At 17th, gains Slippery Mind
At 19th, creat delas 2 Str and 2 Con damage

 

[Uncle Jemima]

Can you give us a rundown of what the tempest gets?

He sucked before, only one ability was worth getting (losing the -2/-2 penalties to both hands)

Off-hand parry was a waste.

Hopefully they made him MUCH more useful, since going regular fighter and getting the TWF feats and Weapon speci/Greater weapon speci from fighter is hard to beat.

 

[gfunk]

Can you give us a rundown of what the tempest gets?

He sucked before, only one ability was worth getting (losing the -2/-2 penalties to both hands)

Off-hand parry was a waste.

Hopefully they made him MUCH more useful, since going regular fighter and getting the TWF feats and Weapon speci/Greater weapon speci from fighter is hard to beat.

Tempest no longer exists.

Dervish is quite similar though.
Figher BAB, d10 HD, Bard Saves, Monk skills

1st level, Dervish Dance 1/day, extra use every other level
Allows you to make a move and still full attack. However, you must make a 5 ft step (at least) after each attack and you may not enter the square that you just exited. However you can return to the square later in the attack sequence. You still provoke AoOs while moving, but can Tumble to avoid. Lasts for 1 round for every 2 ranks in Perform (dance)

1st level, Movement Mastery, can always take 10 on Tumble, Jump, Perform (Dance)

1st level, Slashing Blades, Scimitary is considered light for all purposes (such as two-weapon fighting)

2nd level, Fast Mvmnt, +5 to mvmt, increase by +5 every 3 levels

3rd, Spring Attack for free

4th, Dance of death, can Cleave during Dervish Dance

6th, Improved reaction, +2 Initiative

7th, Elaborate parry, +4 extra bonus to AC when fighting defensively or going total defense

8th level, Tireless dance, no longer fatigued after dervish dance

10th level, A thousand cuts, 1/day can double all attacks when performing a full attack, can be used with dervish dance. Also can Great Cleave.

BTW, there is an NPC example. She's a Figher 7/Dervish 10

Her attack bonus using the Dervish Dance and A Thousand Cuts is

+31/+31/+26/+26/+21/+21/+16/+16 (1d4+16, plus 1d6 fire/15-20, +2 flaming scimitar)

AND!!!!

+31/+31/+26/+26 (1d4+14 plus id6 cold/15-20, +2 frost scimitar)

Can you say OUCH!?

 

[Felon]

Ronin is a samurai gone bad. It's just like a fallen Paladin who turns into a Blackguard.

What....no...what...why?

Never mind lol. Thanks for the rundown. The swashbuckler sounds pretty flacid as well.

On the whole, this sounds like a book chock full of not-so-great ideas. Then again, it also sounds like it's full of so much content that some of it's bound to be well-thought-out. I'm gonna have to give this one a serious thumbing through.

 

[FoxWander]

How much of what's in the book is Open or Closed Content? Will any of it be in the SRD someday?

 

[Celtavian]

Samurai's dual wield a masterwork bastard sword (one-handed, they get EWP for free) and a masterwork short sword. As they progress in levels they get Two-Weapon fighting at 2nd, Improved at 11th, and Greater at 16th.

Kai Smite 1/day at 3rd and every 4th level afterwards. As a free action can add Cha mod to dmg and attack roll for next attack.

Quickdraw for free at 5th.

Gets +4 to Intimidate at 6th, can intimidate in a 30 ft radius as a std action at 10th, can generate the equivalent of dragon fear at 20th level.

Improved Init for free at 8th.

d10 hp, Figher BAB/saves, 2+Skill points/level, Proficient with all weapons and armor but not shields. Alignment: any lawful

I don't know who wrote this version of the Samurai, but they sure didn't do their research. That is nothing like a real Samurai.

 

[Celtavian]

re

This book doesn't sound very interesting or good. Doesn't seem to fit with many literary or historical archetypes. Just more superhero Prc's given abilities for the sake of balance rather than versimilitude. I was expecting more from this book.

 

[jgsugden]

This book doesn't sound very interesting or good. Doesn't seem to fit with many literary or historical archetypes. Just more superhero Prc's given abilities for the sake of balance rather than versimilitude. I was expecting more from this book.

If I had to choose between balance and versimilitude (where is my darn dictionary .... oh, yeah, good word), I'd choose balance.

Of course, I'd prefer both and I don't think that both would have been out of the question. Instead of starting with balanced abilities and building a class around it, they could go for the good class idea and fill it with appropriate balanced abilities. If you can't find a way to make it work while maintaining flavor and balance, you can always leave it out.

Still, it seems balance is better in this book than in past supliments. There are still a few questionable calls, but the percentage of them seems to be way down. Now we've just got to wait and see what unanswered rules questions arise and see how long it takes for the appropriate errata to appear.