Samurai Class

The Samurai

"My ancestors had words for people like you. They were not nice words."

Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 4+Int
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (any), Listen, Move Silently, Perform (any), Profession (any), Sense Motive, Swim, Tumble

Proficiencies: the Samurai is proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons, as well as one Exotic Weapon that is considered a cultural or racial weapon for them (for the Yuan'ti Game, they gain proficiency with the Bastard Sword and the Tail Scythe). The Samurai is proficient with Light and Medium Armour, but not with Shields.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1	+1	+2	+2	+2	Ancestral Weaponry, Pledge of Loyalty
2	+2	+3	+3	+3	Horde Breaker
3	+3	+3	+3	+3	Kiai!
4	+4	+4	+4	+4	Whirlwind Attack
5	+5	+4	+4	+4	Ancestral Guidance
6	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5	Blindfighting, Terrible Blows
7	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5	Iaijutsu
8	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6	Parry Magic
9	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6	Subtle Cut
10	+10/+5	+7	+7	+7	Blade of Devastation
11	+11/+6/+6	+7	+7	+7	Iaijutsu Focus
12	+12/+7/+7	+8	+8	+8	Cut Magic
13	+13/+8/+8	+8	+8	+8	Deny Arcane Defences
14	+14/+9/+9	+9	+9	+9	Final Cut
15	+15/+10/+10	+9	+9	+9	Iaijutsu Master
16	+16/+11/+11/+11	+10	+10	+10	Reflect Magic
17	+17/+12/+12/+12	+10	+10	+10	Blade of Souls
18	+18/+13/+13/+13	+11	+11	+11	Deny Armour
19	+19/+14/+14/+14	+11	+11	+11	Iaijutsu Grandmaster
20	+20/+15/+15/+15	+12	+12	+12	Scrolls of Wisdom

Ancestral Weaponry:

Every culture with a Samurai tradition has a signature weapon that Samurai from that culture use. Whether it is the Spiked Chain of the Hobgoblin Khanate of Khadun or the Katana of the Human Empire of Rokugan, the weapon serves as a symbol of the oce and prowess of the Samurai.

A samurai can only have one weapon designated as his Ancestral Weapon at a time, and this weapon must be a masterwork weapon exalted by the Samurai's warrior culture. He must perform a 24 hour ritual to call his ancestral spirits into the weapon and designate it as his Ancestral Weapon. This ritual costs 100 gp in incense and offerings, and once performed grants the following abilities:

• Counts as his Ancestral Weapon for all Samurai abilities.
• Has a minimum enhancement bonus to attack and damage equal to his level divided by three (round up)
• The Ancestral weapon has double HPs and +10 Hardness, and has the Ghost Touch special property.

Pledge of Loyalty:

Samurai pledge their loyalty to a Lord, a gure of temporal power and head of a noble family or clan. To retain this Lord, they must follow this Lord's orders and uphold any Code of Conduct the Lord obeys. As long as a Samurai does these two things, he cannot be forced to act against his Lord or Lord's family by mind-affecting effects. Samurai who have broken their vows to their lord are called ronin, while samurai who have never been pledged to a lord or are unwilling to do so are weaponmasters called kensai, sword saints, or simply \master swordsman" or other descriptive title. Regardless of their name, Samurai without a Lord receive a +4 bonus against mind-affecting effects.

Horde Breaker:

A Samurai gains Horde Breaker as a bonus feat at 2nd level. If the Samurai already has this feat, he may choose a [Combat] Feat instead, but only if he meets the prerequisites of that feat.

Horde Breaker:

You kill really large numbers of people.
Benefit: you gain extra Attacks of Opportunity equal to your Dexterity bonus (if positive)
+1 BAB: whenever you drop an opponent with a melee attack you gain a bonus "cleave" attack. This is treated as an Attack of Opportunity.
+6 BAB: every time you are entitled to a Cleave attack, you may take an extra 5' step (either before or after the attack)
+11 BAB: whenever you drop an opponent, you generate a 10' radius aura of fear (DC 10 + target's Hit Dice)
+16 BAB: if you have the Edge on a foe, they provoke an AoO off you just for attacking you or moving into a square you threaten.

Kiai! (Ex):

At 3rd level, a Samurai may convert a successful strike into a conrmed critical hit. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to his half his Samurai level (round down) +2. This ability is a free action that is declared after the strike is rolled and conrmed as a hit, but before damage is rolled. This ability cannot be used on Attacks of Opportunity.

Whirlwind Attack:

A Samurai gains Whirlwind Attack as a bonus feat at 4th level.

Whirlwind Attack:

You are just as dangerous to everyone around you as to anyone around you.
Benefit: as a Full Round Action, you may make one attack roll, which is then made against everyone within reach.
+1 BAB: you gain a +3 bonus to Balance checks.
+6 BAB: as part of the Full Round Action of the Whirlwind attack, you may make a single Move Action. The attack is made against anyone you reach at any point during the movement.
+11 BAB: until your next turn after making the Whirlwind attack, foes provoke Attacks of Opportunity from you by entering your threatened area.
+16 BAB: as a Full Round Action you may make a charge, not necessarily against the nearest foe, and can Overrun any target in your path. You make one attack roll, which is then made against everyone within reach at any point in the movement.

Ancestral Guidance(Sp):

At 5th level, a Samurai may seek guidance from his ancestors. This counts as a commune effect that can be used once a day. A samurai can also seek guidance from other peoples' ancestors if they are available. This works like a speak with dead effect that may be used once per day.

Blindghting:

A Samurai gains Blindghting as a bonus feat at 6th level. If the Samurai already has this feat, he may choose a [Combat] Feat instead, but only if he meets the prerequisites of that feat.

Blindfighting:

You're a pro at Murder in the Dark.
Benefit: you can re-roll any Miss Chance incurred due to Concealment.
+1 BAB: you can move at regular speed in darkness without a problem.
+6 BAB: you have Blindsense out to 60'
+11 BAB: you have Tremorsense out to 120'
+16 BAB: you can never be caught Flat-Footed

Terrible Blows (Su):

At 6th level, a Samurai's Ancestral Weapon bypasses Damage Reduction and ignores Hardness.

Iaijutsu (Ex):

When a 7th level Samurai has the Edge on an opponent, he may take an attack of opportunity against that opponent as an immediate action at any time.

Parry Magic (Su):

At 8th level, a Samurai may use his Ancestral Weapon to parry magic targeted at him with Attacks of Opportunity provoked by the targeted effect. If he can make an attack roll against an AC equal to the spell or effect's DC with this Attack of Opportunity, the effect is automatically dispelled.

Subtle Cut: A Samurai gains Subtle Cut as a bonus feat at 9th level. If the Samurai already has this feat, he may
choose another [Combat] Feat instead, but only if he meets the prerequisites of that feat.

Subtle Cut:

You cut people so bad they have to ask you about it later.
Benefit: any time you deal any kind of damage to anyone, this damage is increased by 1.
+1 BAB: as a Standard Action, you may make a weapon attack that also reduces the target's speed: for every 5 damage they take, their speed is reduced by 5' (minimum 5'). This heals when the damage does.
+6 BAB: as a Standard Action, you may make a weapon attack that also does 2d4 points of Dexterity damage.
+11 BAB: any weapon you wield is treated as having the Wounding Property.
+16 BAB: as a Standard action, you may make a weapon attack that also causes the opponent to need to make a Will Save (DC 10 + half HD + Intelligence mod) or be Dazed for 1 round.

Wounding:

The weapon leaves terrible wounds that never heal. It deals Vile damage, and the target must make a Fortitude Save (DC 10 + half HD + Charisma mod, once per round only) or be Staggered with pain for one round.

Blade of Devastation (Su):

At 10th level, the Samurai may attack enemies within his reach through objects and walls, his Ancestral Weapon automatically destroying any unattended object or wall in the way with a Hardness less than 20. As a result, enemies do not gain cover bonuses against an attacking Samurai. This effect can also pierce [force] effects. As a standard action, he can also destroy unattended objects of any Hardness with a successful Ancestral weapon attack, or dispel up to a 10' by 10' section of a [force] effect.

Iaijutsu Focus (Ex):

At 11th level, a Samurai may make up to his per round limit of Attacks of Opportunity against any opponent(s) that he threatens as an immediate action.

Cut Magic (Su):

At 12th level, a Samurai may attack ongoing spell effects by attacking the square they are in for Area of Effect effects or the object or person for targeted effects (which does damage as normal to the object or person). This attack is handled like the Samurai's Parry Magic ability, but it only dispels a 10' by 10' section of an Area of Effect spell or spell-like ability.

Deny Caster Defences (Ex):

At 13th level, a Samurai attacking with his Ancestral Weapon ignores any AC bonuses on his targets that come from spells or spell-like abilities.

Final Cut(Ex):

At 14th level, a Samurai's Ancestral Weapon gains the Vorpal Special quality, even if it is not a slashing weapon.

Vorpal:

Any time the weapon strikes someone, they must make a Fortitude Save (DC 10 + half HD + Charisma mod) or die. Any given person is affected by this no more than once per round.

Iaijutsu Master(Ex):

At 15th level, any enemy struck by a Samurai's Attacks of Opportunity must make a Fortitude save against a DC equal to 10 + half the Samurai's HD + the Samurai's Wisdom bonus or be dazed for one round. A successful save against this effect makes the enemy immune to this effect for five rounds.

Reflect Magic(Su):

At 16th level, an spell effect that would be dispelled by a successful use of the Samurai's Parry Magic ability can instead be reflected back on the caster, as per a spell turning effect.

Blade of Souls (Su):

At 17th level, any enemy killed by a Samurai's Ancestral Weapon has his soul sucked into it, and this enemy cannot be raised, resurrected, or otherwise returned to life until the Ancestral Blade is broken. Each time the Ancestral Weapon takes a soul, the Samurai gains a single bonus use of his Kiai! ability that must be used before the next sunrise.

Deny Armour(Su):

At 18th level, a Samurai attacking with his Ancestral Weapon ignores any AC bonuses on his targets that come from armour or natural armour.

Iaijutsu Grandmaster (Ex):

At 19th level, any Attack of opportunity made by the Samurai is automatically a confirmed critical hit.

Scrolls of Wisdom:

At 20th level, the Samurai has reached the pinnacle of his art, and he may compose a treatise of his collected wisdom. If he spends one month composing this treatise, he may distribute it and spread his wisdom. Anyone who reads this treatise gains a +2 competence bonus to attack characters with Samurai levels, but a -8 penalty to attack the writer of the treatise.

In addition, a Samurai who writes his treatise no longer takes ability penalties for aging as long as one copy of the treatise exists.