Table 2-3 : The Shaman

Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str) . See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions . The Iaijutsu Focus skill is described in Chapter 4 of this book.

Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level : 4 + Int modifier .

CLASS FEATURES

The following are class features of the samurai.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Samurai are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armor. Samurai are not proficient with shields . Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump,

Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried .

Ancestral Daisho : All samurai begin play with a katana and a wakizashi-two masterwork weapons. These are weapons that belonged to the samurai's ancestors, and protecting the weapons is an important point of honor for the samurai . As a samurai acquires treasure through adventuring, he has the option of awakening the supernatural abilities latent in the weapons . This option allows a samurai who prefers to use his ancestral blade to wield a magic weapon, while a samurai who

TABLE 2-2 : ANCESTRAL DAISHO

Weapon Bonus +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6* +7* +8* +9*

'1 Total Sacrifice

Required 2,000 gp 8,000 gp 18,000 gp 32,000 gp 50,000 gp 72,000 gp 98,000 gp 128,000 gp 162,000 gp

Minimum Character Level 4th 7th 9th 11th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th

+10* 200,000 gp

18th *A weapon can't actually have a bonus higher than +5 . Use these lines to determine price when special abilities are added in . Example : A samurai who has a +4 katana can transform it into a +4 thundering katana with a sacrifice of 40,000 gp, since thundering is a special ability equivalent to a +2 bonus . wields a tetsubo against Shadowlands fiends can use his treasure to acquire new jade or magic weapons.

At any time, a samurai may retreat to a temple or shrine and spend time in prayer in order to awaken the ancestral spirits in his katana or wakizashi . (Most samurai improve their katanas and not their wakizashis .) This requires a sacrifice of valuable items worth the amount shown on Table 2-2 : Ancestral Daisho. This sacrifice does not have to be gold-the character can sacrifice magic items or other goods worth the required amount, rather than selling his goods (at half value) to pay for the sacrifice . The samurai must meet the minimum character level (including any prestige class levels) shown on the table, and he must spend one day per 1,000 gp sacrificed in the shrine or temple. During this time, he must spend at least 8 hours each day kneeling before his ancestors and his weapons, not stop-, ping to eat or rest . Many samurai request the assistance of a shugenja in this process, but a shugenja is not required .

The values shown on Table 2-2 are the total value of sacrifice required to bring a single weapon to the listed weapon bonus . If a samurai already has a +3 katana, he can raise it to a +4 katana by sacrificing 14,000 gp and spending two weeks in prayer. If the same samurai wanted to bring his masterwork wakizashi to a +1 wakizashi, he would have to sacrifice 2,000 gp .

Before a samurai's ancestral sword becomes a +1 weapon, it is an ordinary masterwork weapon in every way . Its latent supernatural powers do not cause it to be considered a magic weapon until those powers are awakened .

A samurai who loses his ancestral swords is dishonored until he can recover them . He cannot enhance any other weapon in this way.

Note : In some campaigns, a samurai might begin play with a different ancestral weapon, such as a tulwar (scimitar) or a jian (longsword) .

Bonus Feats : At 2nd level, the samurai gets a bonus feat . The samurai gains an additional bonus feat at 4th level and every three levels thereafter (7th, loth, 13th, 16th, and 19th) . These bonus feats must be drawn from the list that appears below for the character's clan .

Crab-Emphasize heavy armor, great strength, and unusual weapons . Feats : Armor Proficiency (heavy), Dodge (Mobility, Spring Attack), Endurance, Power Attack (Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great Cleave), Run, Weapon Focus (battleaxe, greatclub, katana, or warhammer) .