Min/Max Boards

HD: d12. No, seriously. A combination of martial training and intense mental discipline makes the Samurai THAT hard to kill.

BAB: High.

Saves: All high.

Weapon and armor proficiency: All armors, no shields (SHIELDS ARE FOR PUSSIES!), all martial weapons, plus one weapon of choice to be his "soul". This can be any weapon, including but not limited to natural weapons. YES, your "soul" weapon can be a rock, a totem pole, your dead grandpa's ash urn, whatever you can think of. Samurai begin play with their "soul" weapon of choice. Keep in mind that armor can hinder some of his class abilities, such as evasion, while granting him others. If you choose two-weapon fighting as either a primary or a secondary weapon style, you gain extra proficiency in both weapons chosen. If you choose your fists as your weapon, you gain the monk's unarmed attack progression (complete with the entry) and flurry of blows along with your proficiency.

Skill points: 6 + INT mod. The list of Samurai class skills is as follows: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Heal, Iaijutsu Focus, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (all, taken individually), Listen, Perform, Profession (ha ha), Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Spellcraft, Survival, and Tumble.

Code of Honor: Part of the power of the samurai lies in his alignment according to his own personal code of honor. This code of honor varies from bushi to bushi (as many samurai tend to consider themselves warriors in search of enlightenment first and servants second, they also address themselves differently), although the majority of them consist of the seven classical virtues of Bushido:

    * Rectitude ( gi)
    * Courage ( y?)
    * Benevolence ( jin)
    * Respect ( rei)
    * Honesty ( makoto)
    * Honor ( meiyo)
    * Loyalty ( ch?gi)

However, since the concept of each virtue is somewhat vague and they are often at odds with each other in terms of practicality, most samurai tend to focus on some aspects over others. No, it is not dishonorable not to face a dragon if you're sure you stand no chance against him. It is not dishonorable to lie so long as the truth is a worse alternative (though it would be MORE honorable to observe silence instead). Observing the tenets of Bushido is also not a matter of "good" and "evil" or "law" and "chaos", as it is a subjective code rather than an objective one. Thus, there are good and evil samurai, just as there are lawful and chaotic ones (and unsurprisingly, neutral ones as well). Furthermore, one may be honorable without strictly adhering to Bushido or even knowing of it; as such, the details of such a code are best left to be defined by the player and the DM.

Contrary to popular belief, despite being born into the social class, samurai were not born with a master, and until the prohibition set forth by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it was possible to be elevated to the condition of samurai without even being a warrior (with Hideyoshi himself serving as an example, as he was Nobunaga Oda's sandal-bearer before being elevated to a position of management). Therefore, it is not inherently dishonorable to be a samurai without a master, or ronin. It is also not inherently dishonorable not to commit seppukku if your master is killed or defeated in battle, as demonstrated by Akechi Mitsuhide and Ranmaru Mori (both of which became Nobunaga Oda's servants after the defeat of their lords at his hands). Seppukku was meant to be a manifestation of atonement or the ultimate sacrifice a samurai could do to bring his master to the correct path if he were led astray.

Now, on to actual class features. I will explain them first, and assign levels second. Suggestions are welcome.

Evasion, Mettle, Uncanny Dodge/Improved Uncanny Dodge: Samurai get all of these. They're a function of a samurai's focus and unrelenting attention to his surroundings.

No sleep: Somewhen between levels... 3 and 7, Samurai get the ability to never need sleep. A Samurai may rest as normal, and if he happens to be a multiclass caster for some reason, he regains spells as normal, but mantains all of his normal senses sharp and alert. Having his rest interrupted does not hinder him in any way.

Relentlessness: Somewhen around level 10, Samurai cannot get tired. They're immune to the effects of exhaustion and fatigue, magical or not.

Weapon styles: There are three 'basic' weapon styles for samurai. They choose one at level 1, another at level... let's say twelve, and get the remaining one at level 18. Each are 'trees' with different abilities attached to them, and gaining a secondary style automatically grants all abilities associated with that style up to the level the samurai's in. They are:

- Dual-weapon style (Nittou): Self-explanatory. Focuses on shifting between defense and offense at the user's convenience. Focusing on either provides the user with nigh-unbeatability on either field. Its main abilities include being able to deflect pretty much anything, and slicing things to ribbons with a truly MASSIVE amount of attacks.

- Iaijutsu (AKA Battoujutsu): Typically focuses on first strike capability or counterattacks. Although it is named for the technique that consists of sliding the back of the sword against one's sheath to gain added speed and attack power, the principle behind it is focus on a perfect attack in a moment of absolute clarity. Among its unique abilities are the capacity of delaying the damage of one's strike to increase its power, and a number of small improvements to use Iaijutsu Focus with.

- The Vision of Life (Seigan): This style focuses on the pursuit of one path, and one path only: forward. Seigan (or more commonly, chuudan) is the middle-level posture adopted in kendo. Despite being basic, it is very effective. This style focuses on the pursuit of the correct movement to swiftly finish a fight. Unlike Iaijutsu, that seeks a perfect strike to end all fights, Seigan is fluid and adopts the movement most adequate to the situation and desired outcome at hand. Its main abilities consist of crippling the opponent and striking the opponent with the air pressure created from the cut.

The styles are not mutually exclusive. One can combine the effects of up to two styles at once to produce tertiary effects (so a user may combine Seigan with Iaijutsu to strike at a distance with an attack that delays its damage to increase its power, or combine Nittou with Seigan to fire multiple blades of air at once).

Weapon of the Journey: a samurai's weapon is his soul. As such, it shares a supernatural connection to him that cannot be broken or twisted in any way. Starting at level 1, a samurai's chosen weapon is unbreakable by any means short of killing the samurai himself (as the samurai increases in level, he gains an increased chance to have his soul reside in his weapon(s) of choice; therefore, any methods that would prevent ressurrection or destroy his soul forever automatically fail unless the weapon is also broken). From level 3 onwards, it is impossible to steal it by any means - the weapon will merely teleport itself to its owner regardless of distance or difference of planes.  Also from level three onwards, the weapon improves itself along with its user based on his skill. It automatically gains the ghost touch property, ignores miss chances of any kind provided by any effect, and gains an enhancement bonus equal to half its master's BAB, rounded up. Alternatively, its master may choose effects for it from any available property list. (For the purpose of this ability, weapons with a fixed price equate to abilities of similar close cost, so a sizing property equates to +1.) Natural weapons equally enjoy this benefit, and if the master dies, the effect passes on to his clothes or similar belongings. If he goes around buck naked, you can go fuck yourself.

Kiai: Samurai are (in)famous for their ability to make themselves cooler by shouting. What few people know is that the Kiai is a method in martial arts used to improve one's muscle coordination, improve one's breathing, and instill terror (and subsequent temporary paralysis) onto his opponent. Whether it be shouting his technique's ancestral name or just going "HIIIII-YAHH!!", the samurai has an effect on his opponents. At lower levels, this takes the effect of making the target of a samurai's attack shaken, and forcing a Fort save (save DC equals 10 + 2/3s the Samurai's BAB, rounded up, plus the highest of his Int, Wis, or Cha mods) versus stun (if he succeeds, he avoids the stun. But he's shaken anyway, barring immunity. This ability auto-triggers per attack). As the levels climb, stun becomes full-on paralysis (for a number of rounds equal to half the Samurai's BAB), shaken becomes frightened (if the target's immune to fear, he's only shaken). Then, after that, paralysis becomes nondescript paralysis (I.E. it affects even targets normally immune to paralysis, otherwise identical) and frightened becomes cowering (or just plain frightened if immune to fear). Later, he gains the ability to do this soundlessly (up until then, he has to yell, so a zone of silence stops him). A little later still, he gains the ability to do this without attacking, to anybody within his ability to sense. So if there are invisible attackers, he gets to do this to them. If he can see somebody through a crystal ball, he can project his ki through it. The no attack version is a free action once per turn, except he can do this even if it's not his turn.

Focusing Solution: A samurai may add the highest of his mental score mods to any skill check, though he still cannot use a skill that requires training without any ranks in it. In addition, for Craft, Profession or Perform rolls, he can replace them with an attack roll instead. The time required in the latter case becomes one standard action. Every problem is solvable with enough weapon skill or thinking really hard.

Know thy foe: A Samurai gets Knowledge Devotion as a free feat at first level, even if they don't meet the prerequisites.

Lightning Footwork: When wearing light or no armor, a Samurai gains a competence bonus to his speed equal to [+30 * 1/3 his BAB, rounded up], in addition to a miss chance equal to [5% * 1/2 BAB, rounded up] and an insight bonus to AC equal to the highest of his mental score mods.

Enduring Discipline: If wearing medium or heavy armor, a samurai gains DR 5/-, which increases by 5/- for every four levels. He is also unimpeded by difficult terrain, or any effect that would hinder his movement.

Slippery mind: As the rogue ability.

Void Mind: A Samurai can use a Concentration check to replace the effect of any one save. This can be done before or after the actual save, but before the DM announces the result. He keeps the best out of the two rolls.

Undefensable: A Samurai's weapon bypasses DR and Hardness, even X/- and X/Epic.

True Iron Heart: As a standard action, a Samurai may end any one ongoing effect that hampers his performance in any way (even if he would normally not be entitled to a standard action that round; in that case he can attempt a new save on his turn. He still doesn't get a standard action if he's dead, except if he was killed by a death effect). In addition, he is immune to ability damage and ability drain.