Any objections to the fwuffiness written so far?
SAMURAI
The Samurai is a warrior noble who is supposed to accept the concept that his only purpose in life is dying in service to his Lord, or for his own honor. To accept that keeping to the ideals of honor are more important than his own life or happiness. There are many who only pay lip service to this ideal, as in any other profession in life. They make things difficult for those who do follow the Way.
You will be expected to be both a powerful warrior, and an accomplished poet or artisan. You will be expected to lead men into battle, and in turn be led by your Lord who may ask you to give your life whenever he pleases. And if your Lord is an evil and dishonorable man, following his orders to your death is still preferable in the eyes of some to disobeying him and bringing dishonor to yourself. But an evil Lord will eventually put you in the position that leads to your being dishonored regardless of what you do. At that point you may end your life, or become a Ronin. The life of a Ronin will be hard. Your old master may want you dead, your friends and relatives may disown you for the stigma of your dishonor, and finding a new Lord will be next to impossible. Since the only marketable skill you know is killing, you will likely have to become a mercenary or assassin for money.
Welcome to Hell.
MAKING A SAMURAI Quick generalization of what you should focus on when making the class.
Abilities: Since the Samurai is a warrior, your physical stats are expected to be good. As a Noble your mental stats will be expected to be good. Earlier Samurai are horse archers and will need Dexterity. Later Samurai who are expected to be warrior-poets will need Wisdom and Charisma to deal with other members of the Nobility. Many of your Ki Pool abilities will be based on your mental stats as well.
RacesAlignment: Samurai are required to be Lawful. Most are Lawful Neutral, particularly if they follow the Code of Bushido. Lawful Good Samurai are less common, and many end up becoming Ronin, unable to reconcile their duties to their Lord with what they believe to be right. Lawful Evil Samurai are monsters, murdering anything in their path, and manipulating the system to protect themselves.
Starting Gold: Same as a Fighter.
Starting Age: Same as a Fighter.
Class Skills The Samurai's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography, History, Local, Nobility & Royalty)(Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skills Per Day at 1st Level : (4 + int)x4
Skills Per Day at Each Additional Level : 4 + int
Hit Dice: d10
Weapon Proficiencies: Samurai are proficient in all Simple and Martial Weapons, and one Exotic Weapon (please see Oriental Adventures for stats of oriental simple/martial/exotic weapons). They are proficient with all armor, and light and heavy shields, but not tower shields.
PLAYING A SAMURAI Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Religion: A brief description of the different religions that the class commonly follows. It's best to state your sources if you are using non-core gods.
Other Classes: An in detail section on how your class interacts with other classes. Best to state your sources if your going to refer to non-core classes.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
AdvancementSAMURAI IN THE WORLD Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: The Samurai are members of the middle and upper classes, and richer ones own large farms or command armies for the government. All Samurai belong to a military organization of one clan or another. By taking the Leadership Feat and doing well in battle a PC could open his own swordsmanship school, or be promoted to General someday.
NPC Reaction SAMURAI IN THE GAME This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
AdaptationEncounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.
EPIC SAMURAI Hit Die: d10
Skills Points at Each Level : 4 + int
Class Ability Class Ability.
Bonus Feats: The Epic Samurai gains a Bonus Feat every x levels higher than 20th
