Is there any way to make the Iatjusu focus skill useful?

[Kae'Yoss]

Normally, Iaijutsu Focus is used only in, well, iaijutsu duels. It's drawing your weapon and striking your enemy in one fluid motion, before he does it to you. If you're hacking at each other with katanas, you use kenjutsu (the sport of hacking at each other with swords).

It's not supposed to be used outside of formal duels - which are an important part of the everyday life in the Emerald Empire - unless, of course, you attended the Kakita Bushi School - which allows you to use your iaijutsu in place of your kenjutsu in normal fights. Of course, not everyone gets into one of the two most prestiguous bushi schools just like that. In fact, not even every Crane makes it there, and for a non-crane, it takes phenomenal ability or political connections to get in.

 

[starwed]

There are several abilities in the Tome of Battle which cause your opponent to be flat footed. (Especially Diamond Mind strikes.) They might actually throw the iaijutsu abilities out of balance, though. (I don't think they're supposed to be easy to take advantage of.)

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Iaijutsu is supposed to work once during a duel. Not more. Not during the whole duel, not during regular fights.

 

[Question]

Yes but its more or less useless that way.......unless of course you run a OA campaign where duels are fairly commonplace(i get the impression they are incredibly rare).

 

[Kae'Yoss]

In Rokugan, they're not rare. If you're not playing in Rokugan, or not use many duels, just forget about that skill, it's not for you.

Getting new uses for Iaijutsu Focus because your game doesn't involve many situations where the intended use comes into play is like saying: "I want a way to get bonus damage against enemies with NPC classes except commoner if I have Knowledge (royalty and nobility) ranks, because that skill is hardly ever used in my campaign."

Iaijutsu's just a skill. It's not a major class ability for some common base class or something.

 

[Drowbane]

making Iaijutsu "useful"

Aside from the obvious "win initiative, then strike!"

Feats
Flick of the Wrist (CW): If you draw a light weapon and make a melee attack with it in the same round, you catch your opponent flat-footed. You may use this feat once per round and once per opponent during any single combat encounter.

Karmic Strike (CW): you can make an AoO against an opponent that hits you in melee... (take -4 penalty to AC, blah blah blah)
+
Mercurial Strike (DCv1): Any time an opponent provokes an AoO from you but you are unarmed, you may draw a melee weapon and make your AoO with it. The target of your AoO is caught flat-footed for that attack. (after first Iai-strike, spend your Standard to resheath your blade... its worth it!)

There are more feats along these lines out there... I seem to remember one or two in Dragon (the Githyanki Incursion issue?) that let you make two AoO for one provocation...

PrC
Iaijutsu Master: nuf said, really.

Do you really need more?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Mercurial Strike (DCv1): Any time an opponent provokes an AoO from you but you are unarmed, you may draw a melee weapon and make your AoO with it. The target of your AoO is caught flat-footed for that attack. (after first Iai-strike, spend your Standard to resheath your blade... its worth it!)

Look into the Gnome Quickrazor from Races of Stone - it's sheathed as a free action on every attack, from memory.

However, as written, Mercurial Strike seems useless unless you have some way of threatening while unarmed. If you don't threaten, no AoO is provoked. (Perhaps they meant "Any time an opponent would provoke an AoO from you"...? Does it work if they're ten feet away and you have an undrawn reach weapon?)

-Hyp.

 

[silentspace]

What's DCv1?

 

[Hypersmurf]

What's DCv1?

Dragon Compendium (volume 1).

-Hyp.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Aside from the obvious "win initiative, then strike!"

Feats
Flick of the Wrist (CW): ...
Karmic Strike (CW): ...
Mercurial Strike (DCv1): ...

PrC
Iaijutsu Master: nuf said, really.

I think those feats are not only useful for Iaijutsu, but also fit into its theme - in L5R, you can use Iaijutsu to draw your weapon without spending an option for it.

The feats basically let you have little duels during normal combat.

And the Iaijutsu Master is the best bet, of course. They're like the Kakita Duelists, who are trained to use Iaijutsu in place of Kenjutsu (of course, that means using the skill, not the duel rules) and they get all kinds of bonuses against enemies with a lower initiative and/or honour.

Look into the Gnome Quickrazor from Races of Stone - it's sheathed as a free action on every attack, from memory.

It's no katana, though.