Sohei - to weak?

[kolvar]

Today I took my Oriental Adventures for a read and skimmed through the pages, and as allways I stop at the Sohei and think, nice class, a few spells later on, like Paladin or Ranger, a weaker form of Rage with his ki-fury and a few protection abilities. 2 good saves, too. All Armor (no Shield), a few good Weapons.
But than I think: clerics BAB, 2 skill points, heavy armor, a bit like cleric, but a not so good version of rage (+2 on St and Dx and Flurry of Blows possible), once per day on first level?
Sounds like a cleric, who is forced to be a front-line fighter, with nothing to make him useful compared to the other front-liners.
Has anyone out there ever played a Sohei? How did they fare? Am I the only person, who thinks, they are to weak? Do I just miss something? Is there a Sohei with a bit more o it?

All Answers Apreciated

 

[saucercrab]

I played one, in a very short OA game (made it to about 4th level, I think). I felt they were/are a bit weak, for the reasons you stated.

 

[Storyteller01]

Power increases significantly when you throw in the Rokugan Void feats.

 

[kolvar]

But does not the power increase for everybody with these feats, or are they better for sohei?

 

[Storyteller01]

Power increases for all users, but the sohei (if you choose to rule this way) has the advantage of choosing void feats for fighting or spellcasting. Pheonix sohei can be rather... annoying.

Tends to work out nicely.

 

[kolvar]

OK, have to check the void-feats again (although I thought that Sohei weren't part of Rokugan )

 

[Storyteller01]

they're not, but it is a game...

 

[kolvar]

true, true

 

[Ranger REG]

All Answers Apreciated

Perhaps you may want to get a 3.5e update of the Sohei class, found in Dragon magazine #318 (April 2004).

 

[kolvar]

Maybe I want to ... drat, I looked through several dragon indizes on the net and did not find it. well I take a look, many thanks.