darkmaster wrote:No, they shouldn't because, that is not what actual fantasy samurai are like. You can argue that's what fantasy Samurai should be but actual Japanese people will think you're weird for it in the same way westerners would think you're weird if you said the archetypal knight should be a morally ambiguous psychopath who goes around butchering peasants out of boredom.
You might personally think it's cliche, but things become cliche because they're good and fucking with people's archetypes is usually a recipe for disaster especially when you want that archetype to resonate with people on a personal level so they personally enjoy walking in its skin.
So you really really do want kenshin or Mitsuhide from Samurai warriors.
Not saying they should be uber dark or psychopathic, just try and be a bit different. The Gempei war is full of stuff that would be fun to turn into magic. Uber archery, holding a bridge full of arrows while desperately waiting to let your comrade commit suicide. Nobunaga won outnumbered 10 to 1 by slipping into the enemy camp under the cover of a rainstorm and killing the enemy daimyo. In short, magic gold.
In part this is because you really should keep the wuxia and magic samurai shit to Ninjas and Youxia (Chinese knights errant), keep everybody a little different. Here's kind of how I would structure the powers. Kept it generic since I don't really know d20 and don't know the system you want. This is just for some ideas, haven't put too much thought into this.
Innate:
Weapon Master- Samurai can use any weapon without an untrained penalty. They use their highest weapon skill to hit with any weapon.
Armor bane- Samurai are trained from early childhood on how to fight armored opponents. If the samurai can grapple an enemy, they can then use their knife to hit for X dam (big shit). Against non human armored enemies, they can find weak spots if given X rounds, ect.
Balance: Samurai cannot use more than two powers from one group in a row.
Shinto:
Whispers of the Kami- by concentrating and listening to the chatter of the spirits around him, a samurai can immediately sense anything within X range of him. Any opponents attempting to do a surprise attack are instead surprised themselves.
Daemonic Fear- by channeling the Oni through his mask, the samurai can appear to be a walking daemon come to judge the souls of the damned. All enemies must pass an (morale/courage/x) test or retreat x range.
Gales of fury- channeling the power of the kami through his war fan, the samurai summons a great wind, all people with X range must take X dam from the thrown debris and are pushed back X.
"Shinto" powers would concentrate on controlling traffic and gaining space.
Buddhist powers
Whirlwind of death- If the samurai kills an enemy, they can immediately move to any enemy with X range and strike them too. This chain continues until the samurai fails to kill in one blow. If the enemy is holding a weapon that does more damage than his, the samurai can also take it and use it immediately.
Windmill- If using a polearm, the samurai can use his weapon skill to block ranged weapons.
Arrow Time- The samurai can use all his concentration to go into a hyper aware state. For X rounds he always goes first and has a bonus to attack and dodge. Upon leaving the state, however, he is disoriented and vulnerable.
Buddhist is basically rage, pummeling one opponent.
Confucian/Ancestor Worship
Noble Lineage- Calling upon the samurai of old, they can loudly proclaim their family tree and advance towards an enemy. That enemy must target the samurai for the next x rounds.
Arrow of the Ancestors- A ghostly bow appears in the samurai's hand and he can use it to do x kind of different hits.
Honor the clan- The samurai ignores wounded penalties and can take an additional x amount of damage past that where he would die. If he kills an enemy past death, the spirits of his clan consider him worthy of living longer and heal him to 1 hp (or equivalent).
Confucian/Ancestor powers are meant to tank damage and draw in an enemy. The bow is mostly designed to synergize with Shinto.
So all in all, this is kind of how I see samurai. Heavily armored, neutral Jedi knights. Save the crouching tiger hidden dragon stuff for the ninja and youxia.
