Chapter 1 - Class - Character Kits - Warrior Kits
Samurai
The samurai is a warrior from cultures based on the medieval Japanese
civilization. He lives by a very strict code of honor and behavior, a code demanding:
absolute obedience to his lord; readiness to die for honor or for his lord at any time;
eagerness to avenge any dishonor to his lord, his family, or himself; willingness to repay
all debts honorably; and unwillingness to demonstrate the most dishonorable trait of
cowardice.
Samurai must have minimum scores of 13 in Strength, Wisdom, and Constitution,
and of 14 in Intelligence. They may be of lawful alignment only (but still may be good,
evil, or neutral).
Role: In a campaign, unless the campaign itself is set in an eastern culture, the
Samurai is present to provide a touch of the exotic (culture clashes are always very
interesting in a campaign); it also allows for a variety of warrior who can be
tremendously deadly.
A samurai can fall from his noble position within a greater lord's household. It may
be that the house has perished in a war or other calamity, or that the samurai's lord has
rejected him, or ordered him to commit suicide and the samurai has refused, or that the
samurai has left his lord for some other point of honor. Regardless, the samurai is now
masterless; he is called ronin. The ronin has all of the abilities of the samurai, but
operates under slightly different rules, as you will see below. With your DM's
permission, you can create your character as a ronin instead of a samurai. A samurai can
become a ronin at any time in a campaign; likewise, by swearing allegiance to a lord who
will have him, a ronin can become a samurai again.
Before you create a samurai or ronin character, ask your DM if such things exist on
his world and if you may play one. It could be that the DM does not wish to allow
samurai and ronin in his campaign (because the campaign world has no oriental setting to
act as their origin, for instance).
Secondary Skills: - A samurai or ronin must have the Scribe secondary skill.
Weapon Proficiencies: - The samurai and ronin start play with two free extra weapon
proficiency slots—that's the good news. The bad news is that, of his six initial weapon
proficiencies, five are chosen for him. The samurai and ronin must specialize in katana*
(samurai sword, two proficiency slots) and daikyu* (samurai great bow, three proficiency
slots). The samurai or ronin may spend his last proficiency slot as he chooses—but only
from among the samurai weapons listed in the Equipment chapter of this book. (The "*"
symbol indicates a new weapon to be found in the Equipment chapter.) After the
character is in play in another culture, he may become proficient in weapons of that other
culture.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: - Bonus Proficiencies: Etiquette, Riding (Land-Based).
Required (samurai/ronin must purchase these, but gets no extra slots to pay for them):
(Priest and Wizard, costs double slots unless Paladin or Ranger) Reading/Writing.
Recommended: General—Artistic Ability/Calligraphy, Artistic Ability/Painting,
(Warrior) Blind-Fighting, Running.
Equipment: - The samurai and ronin must buy all their starting equipment from the
samurai weapons, armor and equipment listed in the Equipment chapter. They may have
no more than 10 gp left when they have purchased their equipment. Samurai and ronin do not have to buy their katana; that is free to the character.
Special Benefits: - The samurai and ronin are able to focus their vital energies to increase their Strength score—temporarily. Once per day per experience level, the
samurai or ronin can increase his Strength to 18/00. This lasts for one full round, and
must be preceded by a loud kiai shout (making it impossible for him to summon this
strength silently or stealthily). For that one round, all his hit probability, damage
adjustment, weight allowance, maximum press, open doors, and bend bars/lift gates rolls
and functions are calculated as if his Strength were 18/00.
Special Hindrances: - The samurai and ronin have different special hindrances. The
samurai is (supposed to be) absolutely devoted to his lord. He is expected instantly to
obey every one of his lord's orders, up to and including killing himself or those he loves.
If he refuses to obey an order, he is dishonored and is expected to kill himself. (If he does
not, he becomes ronin.) The DM should make sure that the samurai is acutely aware of
this by having his lord occasionally issue orders which are difficult for him to keep. This
doesn't always have to be "Kill all of your allies," but the lord can issue orders which
interfere with the samurai's personal goals and remind him that he is subservient to his
lord. The ronin has his own great difficulty: He earns experience points at half the
normal rate. When the DM awards the characters their experience, the ronin receives only
half what he would if he were still a samurai. This particular hindrance goes away when
the character once again swears allegiance to a lord and becomes a samurai. (Of course,
once he's a samurai again, he is subject to the hindrances of the samurai.)
Wealth Options: - The samurai and ronin start with the normal 5d4x10 gp beginning
money.
Races: - The historical precedent for the samurai is strictly human, so it's up to the
individual DM if he wants to have an oriental-based demihuman culture with a samurai
warrior class. Such a thing is perhaps most visually appropriate to elves and half-elves,
but a DM could allow it to any demihuman race in his campaign.
Note: Players and DMs wishing to have more game-oriented information on the
samurai should read Oriental Adventures, an AD&D® game supplement dealing
exclusively with the topic of eastern campaigns. Your DM may adapt anything he
chooses to use from that supplement to AD&D® 2nd Edition game rules and statistics.
The samurai presented here is a simplified version of the OA samurai.
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