tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534782797790619934.post5534903415816373110..comments2024-03-10T04:32:25.985-07:00Comments on Improved Initiative: Want to Play a Samurai, But Your DM Said No? Try Calling it a Knight Instead!Neal Litherlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01307649737269196558noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534782797790619934.post-47982012283840674292017-04-12T10:13:25.388-07:002017-04-12T10:13:25.388-07:00I myself was designing an RPG setting and was runn...I myself was designing an RPG setting and was running into the opposite problem: I wanted a setting where knights and samurai coexist and noble lords will often have both in their armies.<br /><br />The problem is that they're actually similar enough concepts that I'm having trouble thinking of why a culture would have both, and how they'd be different other than their fighting styles (IE, how a member of this society would treat a Samurai vs how it would treat a Knight).<br /><br />I'm thinking maybe I'll have Samurai be an ascribed position people are born into, where as Knighthood is an achieved position? Just an idea.Matthew Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06887788945033210212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534782797790619934.post-63172536813074774592015-08-26T12:25:17.422-07:002015-08-26T12:25:17.422-07:00I've seen the reverse. In Order of the Stick, ...I've seen the reverse. In Order of the Stick, there's a Eastern-themed city run by a shogun and his samurai. To Roy's confusion, the first samurai he met from there didn't take a single level in "Samurai" base class from Oriental Adventures or the "Master Samurai" PrC from a splatbook. They're paladins.<br /><br />I've had similar thoughts when worldbuilding. I was planning to use Shugenja to get an unusual spellcaster class for an island culture that developed in near isolation from all the other spellcasting traditions in the world. Then when 4th Edition came out, they presented the Shaman and Seeker classes, which were even better fits for what I had in mind. I just needed some minor tweaks to the crunch.<br /><br />The "shaman" represents their counterpart to theurgy, since they have an animistic religion instead of a god-centered one, and no knowledge of how to use arcane magic. (They occasionally try to get in touch with the 'book spirits' of "Cantrips for Hedge Wizards" once left by a visiting wizard with little success.) They bind a nature spirit to their service, summoning them with a talisman (their "totem" implement") on a string with magical pearl beads. They take a scholarly approach to these spirits and have a numeric/geometric motif to their magic. The somatic component to their spells is essentially playing Cat's Cradle with their talisman, forming shapes and/or numbered divisions appropriate to the element(s) they're using.<br /><br />The "seeker" represents their spirit hunter, exorcist, and the like. They bind minor elemental spirits to sacred arrows to defeat extraordinary threats to the community.<br /><br />Crunch tweaks to both: File off Wisdom as their spellcasting stat, and replace with Charisma, representing their ability to persuade or intimidate spirits into their service. Shift class skill set to a negotiation emphasis, plus a scholarly emphasis for the "shaman."Bronze Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10938257296504189967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534782797790619934.post-84886935965426885322015-08-26T07:28:12.858-07:002015-08-26T07:28:12.858-07:00I've seen the reverse. In Order of the Stick, ...I've seen the reverse. In Order of the Stick, there's a Eastern-themed city run by a shogun and his samurai. To Roy's confusion, the first samurai he met from there didn't take a single level in "Samurai" base class from Oriental Adventures or the "Master Samurai" PrC from a splatbook. They're paladins.<br /><br />I've had similar thoughts when worldbuilding. I was planning to use Shugenja to get an unusual spellcaster class for an island culture that developed in near isolation from all the other spellcasting traditions in the world. Then when 4th Edition came out, they presented the Shaman and Seeker classes, which were even better fits for what I had in mind. I just needed some minor tweaks to the crunch.<br /><br />The "shaman" represents their counterpart to theurgy, since they have an animistic religion instead of a god-centered one, and no knowledge of how to use arcane magic. (They occasionally try to get in touch with the 'book spirits' of "Cantrips for Hedge Wizards" once left by a visiting wizard with little success.) They bind a nature spirit to their service, summoning them with a talisman (their "totem" implement") on a string with magical pearl beads. They take a scholarly approach to these spirits and have a numeric/geometric motif to their magic. The somatic component to their spells is essentially playing Cat's Cradle with their talisman, forming shapes and/or numbered divisions appropriate to the element(s) they're using.<br /><br />The "seeker" represents their spirit hunter, exorcist, and the like. They bind minor elemental spirits to sacred arrows to defeat extraordinary threats to the community.<br /><br />Crunch tweaks to both: File off Wisdom as their spellcasting stat, and replace with Charisma, representing their ability to persuade or intimidate spirits into their service. Shift class skill set to a negotiation emphasis, plus a scholarly emphasis for the "shaman."Bronze Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10938257296504189967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534782797790619934.post-17828811467591695032015-04-06T14:48:42.001-07:002015-04-06T14:48:42.001-07:00Great article and some of the thoughts we've h...Great article and some of the thoughts we've had with our game. In fact this idea is a core philosophy in https://fyxtrpg.com/. For so long the names and descriptions of things had rules tied to them. So when you said “samurai” or “gunslinger” you get the inevitable reactions. In the Fyxt RPG the we take the mechanics and the fluff and totally separate them. So then players can call their characters whatever they want and we know as GMs that they are balanced and work. As you pointed out, now we have a win/win. The crunchy parts of the mechanics are equal to other characters so we don’t worry about the strength balance being upset. And since the mechanics and fluff are separate a player is free to go hog wild with it because it will not affect game mechanics. It is awesome! So call your character a samurai, gunslinger, or whatever you want. At the core, the Fyxt RPG mechanics keep it a fair and fun game.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14218684446397371521noreply@blogger.com