An Honorable NPC
by Anthony Salva
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(Editor’s note: In response to numerous
requests from readers for information about Samurai warriors for use in
an AD&D™
or D&D® game, presented
below is just such an article. The
author is Anthony Salva, who holds
a first-degree black belt in
Hapkido, a Korean martial art. He describes
his interpretation of
the Samurai as “an attempt to realistically
portray the art of
Hapkido. All the techniques are as valid
as possible.”
An earlier interpretation of the Samurai,
created by Mike
Childers and Jeff Key, appeared in issue
#3 of DRAGON™ magazine (October 1976). <Best
of Dragon, Vol. II>
Mr. Salva’s article differs from the
earlier one in many major aspects, and is not designed as an expansion
or extension of the original article.
It is possible that readers with
access to the earlier article may find
ways to combine certain
aspects of each description.
In accordance with this magazine’s policy,
the Samurai is
presented as a NPC — a personality which
the
DM may use to provide players with variety
and new challenges,
but not one which the players themselves
should be able to
assume as a PC. Allowing 1 or more players
to
use Samurai characters could seriously
unbalance an adventure or an entire campaign if precautionary measures
are not
taken to prevent such unbalancing.)
The Samurai Warrior class is a subclass
of the Fighter class. <Monk subclass>
Characters use the combat and saving-throw
tables for Fighters <use the combat and save tables for the Monk>.
Minimum scores of 15 Strength, 17 Dexterity
and 15 Intelligence must be possessed for a character to be a Samurai.
1. SUBCLASS = n/a
2. SOCIAL CLASS MINIMUM =
3. ABILITY SCORE MINIMUMS
STRENGTH =
INTELLIGENCE =
WISDOM =
DEXTERITY =
CONSTITUTION =
CHARISMA =
COMELINESS =
4. POSSIBLE RACES & MAX. LEVEL ATTAINABLE
=
5. MULTI-CLASS POSSIBILITIES =
6. HIT DIE TYPE =
7. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF HIT DICE =
8. SPELL ABILITY =
9. ARMOR PERMITTED =
10. SHIELD PERMITTED =
11. WEAPONS PERMITTED =
12. OIL PERMITTED =
13. POISON PERMITTED =
14. ALIGNMENT =
15. STARTING MONEY =
16. WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
17. NON-PROFICIENCY PENALTY =
18. NON-WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
19. STARTING AGE =
20. COMBAT =
21. SAVING THROWS =
22. MAGIC ITEMS =
A 10% bonus to earned experience is gained by a Samurai with 18 Dexterity and 17 or 18 Strength.
A Samurai may be one of the following races:
gnome, hobbit,
elf, half-elf
or human. A gnome, halfling or elf without
an 18
Dexterity and 17 Strength is limited to
the 9th level of experience. Other Samurai may progress as far as 12th
level, the
highest level a Samurai can attain.
A Samurai may not use any armor at all,
because the proper
exercise of his art requires the ability
to move quickly and
effortlessly. A character’s base armor
class improves as he advances in levels; an otherwise unprotected Samurai
has an armor class of 9 at first level, and it improves by one with every
four levels of advancement beyond first level.
Even magical armor is
prohibited to a Samurai; aside from this,
all magic items usable
by Fighters <Monks>
can be employed by Samurai. A Samurai may use
rings
and cloaks of protection,
Displacer Cloaks, Bracers
of
Defense,
or any similar item which provides the effect of wearing armor without
hindering movement.
Normal weapons usable by a samurai include
the two-handed sword,
sword, the short sword, the bow and the
staff. A Samurai of
fourth level or higher will have an opportunity
to obtain and
possess his personal weapons, all of which
are held sacred by
him. The weapons of honor — Katana, Wakizashi
and Nunchakos — are described further under section “C” of Special Abilities
and Techniques (below).
SAMURAI ABILITIES TABLE
Damage/Attack:
| Experience
Level |
AC | Side Kick | Chop | Attacks per Round | Special Abilities and Techniques |
| 1 | 9 | 1-8 | 1-4 | 1 | -- -- -- |
| 2 | 9 | 2-8 | 1-6 | 1 | A |
| 3 | 9 | 2-8 | 1-6 | 1 | B |
| 4 | 9 | 1-10 | 1-6 | 1 | C |
| 5 | 8 | 1-12 | 2-8 | 1 | D |
| 6 | 8 | 2-12 | 1-10 | 1 | E |
| 7 | 8 | 2-12 | 1-10 | 3/2 | F |
| 8 | 8 | 2-12 | 1-10 | 3/2 | G |
| 9 | 7 | 3-12 | 2-12 | 3/2 | H |
| 10 | 7 | 2-16 | 3-12 | 3/2 | I |
| 11 | 7 | 4-16 | 2-16 | 3/2 | J |
| 12 | 7 | 3-18 | 4-16 | 3/2 | K |
Special Abilities and Techniques
A) Jump Front Kick:
This is a leaping heel kick to the opponent’s chest or head.
The leap can be as great as the height
of the Samurai attempting the kick, in either a vertical or horizontal
direction; thus, a Samurai who is 6 feet
tall can employ a jump
front kick against a foe who presents a
target no higher than 6
feet above the surface the Samurai is standing
on and no further
than 6 feet away. This kick may only be
employed once every
2 melee rounds, and may not immediately
precede or follow a
side kick. A jump front kick attack is
attempted at -3 to the
Samurai’s “to hit” roll, and if a hit is
scored the kick does 2-12
points of damage.
B) Judo Throw: This
attack may be used against any character or creature attempting to overbear
or grapple with the Samurai, as long as the opponent’s height does not
exceed 3
times the Samurai’s height. This also applies
to any creature
which might jump on the Samurai from above,
as long as the foe
is not smaller than 1/2 of the Samurai’s
height. The judo throw
can be performed at any time, if the proper
“to hit” roll is made,
when such an action is deemed appropriate
or necessary. It is
done by grabbing the opponent’s upper torso,
planting one foot
in the lower torso, then falling back and
kicking upward with that
foot, tossing the opponent backward over
the Samurai’s head.
The throw does an automatic 2 points of
damage to any opponent except another Samurai,
who would have the ability to roll
through the fall and resume a standing
position without being
injured. Any other opponent will need 1
round to regain a
standing position, and during that round
the Samurai will attack
at +2 “to hit” on each attack he makes.
C) Ceremony of Fealty;
The Weapons of Honor:
Upon attaining 4th level, a Samurai will receive his personal Weapons of
Honor from his liege lord. This presentation
is part of the Ceremony of Fealty, which occurs when a Samurai is summoned
by the Shogun of his alignment to become
the vassal of that
leader. In return for taking the vows of
fealty, the Samurai receives his personal Katana, Wakizashi and Nunchakos.
The Katana (long two-handed sword) and
Wakizashi (short
sword) are both made of intricately engraved
handles attached
to slightly curved blades and are encased
in wooden scabbards.
The Nunchakos are two extremely hard and
durable staves of
wood, each 14 inches long, attached to
each other at the ends by
a 5-inch length of rope; this device is
so difficult to manipulate
that no Samurai of less than 4th level
will be able to use the
weapon.
All Weapons of Honor are usable by all Samurai
who are able
to employ such weapons; for instance, a
Samurai of 3rd level or
lower who acquires a Katana or Wakizashi
(from a dead warrior)
will be able to use the weapons at the
damage figures outlined
on the table below. However, non-Samurai
characters who acquire one of the Weapons of Honor will find that the Katana
performs as a normal long
sword and the Wakizashi causes
damage as a normal short sword when used
by those characters. Except in very rare instances, only a Samurai character
may use the Nunchakos with any success
whatsoever.
The Weapons of Honor
Damage vs. Opp.
| - | Length | Width | Weight | Speed | S/M | L |
| Katana | 5' | 2" | 80 gp | 5 | 1-12 | 1-20 |
| - | 3' | 11/2" | 50 gp | 5 | 1-10 | 3-18 |
| Wakizashi | 2' | 1" | 30 gp | 2 | 2-8 | 1-12 |
| - | 1' | 1" | 20 gp | 2 | 1-8 | 1-10 |
| Nunchakos | 14" | 1" | 10 gp | 2 | 1-8 | 1-12 |
Note: The smaller versions of the Katana
and Wakizashi are
designed for use by Samurai who are 4½
feet in height or
shorter.
D) Sweep (Knockdown)
and Double Chop: At 5th level, a
Samurai acquires the ability to perform
these 2 combat maneuvers. The Sweep is performed by stepping to one side
of the
opponent, grabbing his upper torso and
knocking his feet out
from under him with the Samurai’s front
foot. The knockdown
does 1 point of damage
(if “to hit” roll is made), and because the
opponent must take the next melee round
to stand up, the
Samurai will strike at +2 “to hit” in that
round, just as with a Judo
Throw. The Samurai receives +1 “to hit”
the first time a Sweep is
<img>
attempted against a particular opponent,
and -2 “to hit” for each
subsequent Sweep attempt against the same
opponent. In order
for the Samurai to use this technique,
the opponent must be
bipedal and not more than twice as tall
as the Samurai. If another
Samurai is the intended victim of a Sweep,
the opponent may
attempt to counter the move and reverse
it, at -3 on the “to hit”
roll for such an attempt.
The Double Chop is a variation of the chop
attack in which the
same arm makes a continuous “figure 8”
motion, striking the
opponent in the same location twice in
rapid succession. If a
normal “to hit” roll is made as for a normal
chop, then damage is
rolled separately for each blow. This attack
cannot be used in
2 successive melee rounds.
E) Crescent Kick/Side
Kick Combination: The Crescent Kick
(a circular kick that strikes with the
inside part of the foot) is
directed toward the opponent’s weapon hand.
If it hits, the
weapon is knocked out of the opponent’s
hand, and the Samurai
follows with an immediate, automatic Side
Kick (no “to hit” roll
is required) as part of the same attack.
The Crescent Kick is
performed at -2 “to hit” and does an automatic
1 point of damage
if it hits. Damage for the Side Kick is
determined separately,
according to the Samurai’s experience level.
The Crescent Kick-
/Side Kick Combination cannot be used in
the round before or
after another form of kicking attack is
employed.
F) Back Roundhouse Kick:
This is a spinning back kick that
strikes with the heel of the foot anywhere
on the opponent’s
body. It is done at -3 “to hit” and does
3-18 points of damage if a
successful hit is scored. Like other kicking
attacks, it may not be
performed in 2 successive rounds and cannot
be used in
combination with other kicking attacks
immediately preceding
it or following it.
G) Illusionist Spell
Ability: Beginning at 8th level, a Samurai
gains the ability to learn Illusionist
spells. This ability increases
by level, so that a 12th-level Shogun has
the same number of
spells usable as a 5th-level Illusionist.
H) “360” & Downward
Kick: The “360” is a knockdown technique that is accomplished by grasping
the opponent’s hand
and spinning oneself in a tight circle,
twisting the opponent’s
wrist and making him fall to the ground.
The Downward Kick is
then directed toward the downed opponent’s
head or torso. The
“360” is attempted at -3 “to hit” and does
1-6 points of damage if
successfully performed, with a 30% chance
of breaking the
opponent’s wrist if the “to hit” roll succeeds.
If the “360” succeeds in forcing the opponent to the ground, the Downward
Kick is attempted at +3 “to hit” and does
the damage of a Side
Kick if it succeeds. As with other attack
forms involving a
knockdown, the Samurai can attack at +2
“to hit” in the round
immediately following the knockdown, except
against another
Samurai.
I) The SLAYING
Hand: This power is usable once
per month by a
Samurai of 10th level or higher, and may
not be employed
against these types of characters and creatures:
all undead, all
creatures who can be hit only by magical
weapons, all creatures
or characters with more than twice the
number of HD as the
Samurai, or any other Samurai of 10th level
or higher.
When successfully applied, the power induces
vibrations in
the opponent’s body as soon as the Samurai
touches his foe.
The vibrations will cause death,
either instantaneously or as
long as a month after the touching, depending
on the frequency
of the vibration (which is under the control
of the Samurai).
The use of the power requires the Samurai
to remain absolutely still and in total concentration for 3 rounds, after
which
the touching of the intended victim (by
making a “to hit” roll
when the victim is within touching range)
must be accomplished
within 2 rounds. If the Samurai’s concentration
is broken
during the 3 rounds of preparation (treat
as if the character
were casting a spell) or if the Samurai
fails to touch a victim
within 2 rounds after preparing the attack,
the power is dissipated and cannot be attempted again for a month,
J) Flying Side Kick:
This attack is essentially identical to the
normal Side Kick, except that movement
space is required, and
the damage potential is greater because
of the momentum
caused by the leap. To perform a Flying
Side Kick, the Samurai
must be positioned at least 5 feet away
from the target, and no
further away than 2½ times the Samurai’s
height. The kick is
attempted at -3 “to hit” and does 1-20
points of damage if
successful. It may not be employed in 2
successive rounds.
K) Psionic Ability:
A Samurai who ascends to the rank of
Shogun has a base 25% chance to gain 30
points of psionic ability (roll for attack/defense
modes and strength as per
Players Handbook).
If a character who already possesses psionics
achieves 12th level, the 30 points may be added to the already existing
number.
<Technically, samurai do not roll for
psionic strength: they have 15 Attack points and 15 Defense points>
<Get rid of "psionic strength" and then use 3 seperate points scores:
attack points, defense points, discipline points>
The Samurai philosophy
Samurai have a strong sense of honor
and dignity. If a Samurai is humiliated or dishonored in any way (such
as being bound
and gagged or having his weapons stolen),
he is compelled to
seek immediate and absolute revenge, according
to Bushido,
“The Way of the Warrior.” In order for
a Samurai’s honor to be
restored, he must either obliterate his
foe or die in the attempt. If
he fails to defeat and destroy his foe,
the Samurai is further
dishonored and must, according to Bushido,
immediately
commit seppuku, or ritual suicide.
The procedure for seppuku consists of grasping
the Wakizashi in the left hand (if a Samurai’s personal short sword is
unavailable for this purpose, a normal
dagger or short sword
may be used — but this further increases
the Samurai’s dishonor), thrusting it into the lower abdomen and cutting
upwards, then stabbing into the right side of the stomach and
slicing to the left side, and finishing
by slitting the throat.
This is the only honorable way for a Samurai
to die, other than
death in battle (which could also be dishonorable,
depending on
the CIRCUMSTANCES).
A warrior of 3rd level or lower is able to be
resurrected,
no matter what the cause or circumstances of his
death; however, if a Samurai of 4th level
or higher has died a
dishonorable death, he is considered to
have broken his vow to
Bushido and cannot automatically
be resurrected. If a dead
Samurai’s comrades and constituents feel
there is no clear-cut
way to determine whether his death
was honorable or not, they
may appeal to the Samurai’s liege lord
(the Shogun of the same
alignment as the Samurai) for a judgement.
There is a base
chance of 5% per point of Charisma of the
dead Samurai that the
liege lord will grant the constituents
an audience. If their plea is
heard, there is a base chance of 5% per
each experience level
above 3rd of the dead Samurai that the
constituents’ appeal
will be granted by the lord, and the Samurai
will be able to be
resurrected. Both of these chances for
success should be modified at the DM’s discretion, depending on the circumstances.
Bushido also demands that once a Samurai’s Katana or Wakizashi blade is unsheathed, it should not be returned to its scabbard unbloodied.
The warrior’s code also forbids the use of poison as a cowardly and dishonorable act.
Because a Samurai of 3rd level or below
has not yet taken his
vows to abide by Bushido, he is
NOT bound to uphold the code.
He may be resurrected regardless of the
circumstances of his
death,
but his actions in life and the way of his death will have a
bearing on how well he is received by his
superiors when he is
called to take his vows at 4th level.
A Samurai may belong to one of 5 specific
alignments: true
neutral, lawful
neutral, neutral good, chaotic neutral or neutral
evil. Each of these alignments denotes
a particular organization
within the Samurai class. There may be
only 5 Shoguns at one
time, one for each alignment type, but
there can be an unlimited
number of Samurai of each alignment at
any lower level.
When a Taiko (11th-level) acquires enough
XP
to advance to 12th level (Shogun), the
conflict must be resolved
by a duel to the death between the characters,
or by one or the
other committing seppuku. In organizations
of certain alignments, it is possible that the Shogun will be required
to commit
seppuku as soon as an heir acquires enough
XP
to replace him. If a Taiko is compelled
to have combat with a
reigning Shogun, he must either comply
or immediately commit
seppuku.
A new Shogun will automatically acquire
all the material possessions of the former Shogun.
The vassals of the former Shogun are not
obligated to the new Shogun in any way, but most
will swear fealty to him rather than become
ronin (a Samurai
who has no liege lord).
With the Shogunate goes the ultimate responsibility
for fulfilling the purpose of that organization:
the domination of all other Samurai organizations
(alignments), by force if necessary. The
Shogun who is the head of the superior
organization earns the
right to wear the
purple sash as Emperor of all Samurai for the
duration of his reign and his alignment’s
supremacy.
Thieving abilities
and combat
A Samurai’s training enables him to block
attacks by non-edged projectile weapons by making a successful SAVE
vs. petrification.
Because of his tumbling and gymnastic abilities,
a
Samurai is able to fall a distance of 5
feet per each 2
experience levels without sustaining damage.
The ability begins
at 2nd level, increases to 10 feet at 4th
level, 15 feet at 6th
level, 20 feet at 8th level, 25 feet at
10th level and 30 feet at 12th
level.
A Samurai relies on stealth much like a
Thief does, and possesses the Thief abilities to Hide
in Shadows and Move Silently,
with the same chance
of success as a Thief of equivalent level.
Beginning at 4th level, a Samurai gains
the ability to Read
Languages like a Thief because of his studies
in ancient customs and archaic knowledge. Again, the chance for success
increases by level just as it does for
a Thief.
Besides being able to attack with a weapon,
a Samurai can
employ 2 basic means of weaponless attack,
the side kick and
the chop. Damage caused by these attack
forms increases as a
Samurai gains higher levels, as outlined
in the Samurai Abilities
and Techniques table.
Using a side kick is a strenuous activity
which can only be
attempted once in 2 successive melee rounds;
thus, this attack form can only be used in combination with a weapon attack
or another weaponless attack, such as a
chop or one of the
special techniques.
A Samurai is able to dive and roll over
any obstruction which is
not taller than 3/4 of his height or longer
than 2½ times
his height.
Samurai I
Dear Dragonists,
As an aficionado not only of fantasy but
of
the martial arts, I appreciated Anthony
Salva’s
“Samurai” article, especially for its attempt
to
incorporate specific unarmed-combat techniques
into play.
However, it may be argued that Mr. Salva’s
new character class departs further from
the
characteristics of real-world samurai than
was necessary. (The real samurai, for instance,
did wear armor; and nunchakus were
not so much used by the samurai as against
them, in the Okinawan and Korean guerrilla
resistance to Japanese CONQUEST.)
I would still be glad to employ the “Salva
Samurai” as NPCs in an Oriental-type campaign,
but on this condition: There should
also, more or less independently, exist
a
PC “Samurai
class” whose characteristics
would at once be modest enough
for PC use, and closer to real-world samurai.
(I have experimented with such in my own
campaign.) The Salva-created class would
then serve the same purpose as the
Ninja
class described in past issues (#16
and #30) of
DRAGON magazine; in fact, both classes
could figure in an Asiatic
campaign—and PC
samurai (and monks!) could get caught in
the
middle of a feud between the two NPC classes.
Joseph R. Ravitts
Rockford, III.
(Dragon #51)
Samurai II
Dear Editor:
I have been studying the martial arts and
its
history for over a year now and I am appalled
by your story on the Samurai NPC class
in
issue #49 of DRAGON
magazine. Although I
am sure that Mr. Salva is an excellent
Hapkido
practitioner, his idea of what a Samurai
should
be is most likely based on the modern martial
artist, and most assuredly it is not based
on
the true Samurai of old.
According to the article, a Samurai can
be
any 1 of 5 different races. Although I
am
intrigued by the idea of an elven Samurai,
I
cannot accept the thought of gnomes and
hobbits
roaming about the countryside claiming <LMAO>
to be great Samurai warriors. They simply
do not have the fighting spirit that is
required
to be a Samurai; they would most likely
use an
indirect method to accomplish what a Japanese
warrior would do in the most direct
fashion.
It was stated that a Samurai may not use
any armor at all, because the proper exercise
of his or her art requires the ability
to move
quickly and effortlessly. I found this
to be
ironic since on the opposite page was a
sketch of a Samurai in full armor. They
did
wear armor in those days of the type illustrated
in the abovementioned drawing. This armor
was a mixture of leather, chain, and plate
armor forming a light, unobstructive, and
powerful suit of armor equal to elven chainmail
in all respects except for AC
value which would be AC 4. It should be
noted
that Samurais never use shields, since
this
would encumber an arm which could be put
to better use.
<link to armor in OA>
The Level Title part of the Samurai Experience
Table is the silliest part of this chart
1st of all, it should be noted that Samurais
did not progress in skill by the color
belt system
which was devised in a more recent time
than that we are concerned with. At the
7th
level of experience the Samurai is titled
a Ninja;
yet, a Ninja is considered by the Samurai
to
be the lowest form of life ever created;
if
anyone referred to a Samurai as a Ninja,
the
warrior would promptly dispatch the poor
fool. At 10th level the Samurai is referred
to as
a Tai-Pan— a Chinese term, not Japanese.
In the part titled “Special
Abilities and
Techniques,” sections
A, E, F, and J are all
obsolete because in general Samurais did
not
study Atemijitsu (the Art of Striking)
to a very
high proficiency, because more often than
not they and their opponents would be wearing
the aforementioned armor. Some did
study Atemijitsu to a high degree, but
most
considered it to be “peasant
fighting” for unarmored
opponents.
Concerning the “Weapons of Honor”: Last
heard, nunchakos was spelled Nunchaku and
it was used as a farming implement to flail
rice. It was considered to be a peasants’
weapon
and not worthy of one who was a member
of the Bushi
class. Nunchakus would be considered
a dishonorable weapon, not a “Weapon
of Honor.” Some of the weapon sizes
given are incorrect. It says that the Katana
used by us big folk would measure 5 feet
in
length, but this is a half-truth. The Katana
measures anywhere from 2.5 to
5 feet long, usually about 3 feet. A 5-foot-
long Katana would be called a Dai-
Katana or an O-Dachi, and would require
both hands to use, whereas the shorter
Katanas
can be used with one hand (although 2
hands would be used more often than not).
As
for the Nunchakus, it is made up of two
pieces
of 14” sticks with a 5” cord of horsehair
rope,
totaling a length of 33” minus 6” for the
hand
grip, or 27”.
The alignments a Samurai may represent
are listed as true
neutral, neutral good, chaotic
neutral, neutral evil, or lawful neutral.
This
list sounds more like the list for a Samurai
turned Ronin, a leaderless Samurai who
holds
no title or position in the affairs of
the country.
The author explains the concept of Bushido
and how it demands total loyalty from the
Samurai to his lord, and then he tells
you that
only 1 out of 5 Samurai warriors are
lawful.
Thomas Stansfield
Eugene, Ore.
(Dragon #51)
Joseph and Thomas, and presumably lots
of other people, weren’t satisfied (to
put it
mildly) with the Samurai NPC article,
That’s
unfortunate, but not unsurprising. Whenever
we present an article of this type (a
NPC
based on an interpretation of a historical
figure),
we don’t expect everyone to agree with
the author’s interpretation. Then again,
we
don’t get too many letters that express
disapproval
as strongly as Mr. Stansfield’s letter
does.
But on second thought, considering the
subject matter in this case, maybe that’s
not
too surprising, either. Many aspects
of the
description of a Samurai, or any other
sort of
oriental warrior-type, are subject to
different
interpretations by different people
with different
backgrounds in the study of Oriental
history and the martial arts.
Tony Salva's background, as pointed out
in
the text accompanying the NPC presentation,
is in the art of Hapkido. The
"Samurai" class
he offers is drawn from that background.
If
Mr. Stansfield or Mr. Ravitts or anyone
else
chooses to create a Samurai class drawn
from
a different background and based on
different
information, they are free to do so.
We'll share the "blame" for what seems
to
be a major reason for Mr. Stansfield's
distress.
Based on the historical information
he points
out, it is apparent that "Samurai" was
technically
an inaccurate description for the NPC
class which Tony Salva created and we
published.
The word was used as a generic term
to describe an oriental warrior-type
character
which, if Mr. Stansfield's facts are
correct and
his reasoning sound, is not necessarily
a
samurai-type figure.
The only real test for an article such
as this
is whether it works — whether the character
as presented is playable and able to
be enjoyed
by players and DMs alike. We felt that
Tony Salva’s “Samurai” filled that requirement
when we accepted it for publication,
and
we still feel that way.
— KM
(Dragon #51)