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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marandahir" data-source="post: 8410944" data-attributes="member: 6803643">That sounds like appropriation and pigeonholing the concept of a Samurai into these very narrow tropes of kiai shouts etc. At best, you're playing The Last Samurai.Why not just have the subclass be something that can encapsulate samurai or other noble knightly orders and use a term that doesn't reflect a single real world culture? As I said above, just calling what is now the "Samurai" a Battle Master and giving the maneuvers to all Fighters as an option would do wonders to resolve this issue. There's a reason that Ninja, Wu Jen, and Shugenja don't appear in 5e D&D, despite having appeared in past editions in various forms dating back all the way to Oriental Adventurers. There's a reason we don't have an Oriental Adventures book for 5e. There's a reason we don't have a Kara-Tur or Kamigawa book. These are all white guy's appropriations and amalgamations of various Asian cultures, to great detriment. There's a reason that Monk continues to get blowback for even existing as a class.You can still do that trope of a non-Japanese person becoming a Samurai without WotC enshrining it in the rules. Why can't a Champion or Battle Master or Cavalier or Banneret or Psi Warrior be Samurai? Why do we need a specific "Samurai" subclass? These are legitimate issues the game hasn't grappled with because they rushed a concept by "rule of cool" without giving fair consideration to the hurtful consequences.I'm not saying there isn't a place for Wuxia or Martial Arts film or Samurai film or Tale of Genji / Romance of the Three Kingdoms courtly politics in D&D. There most definitely is. The point is that it has to be led with respect and inclusiveness without exoticism of the source material. The Samurai subclass is an exoticism. And it should be led best foot forward by empowering AAPI game creators and letting them tell the stories they want to bring to life.</blockquote>

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