samurai

[IranicuS]

hello...this is my second topic(partty)...and I have again a question. I want to make a Samurai( yes I have seen last samurai and thats the reason I want to make one) but I tough: lets ask on the fprum what u think the best stats,skills,etc are for a samurai....Also I want to make a good katana so does someone know a item creator so you can import it inot the game en then recieve it with the createitemcheat or with the SK( shadow keeper)...
\until now my samurai has:
5 stars at katana and one at single weapon style.
is a fighter-kensai
have 18 strengh and 17 dextarity
constitution intelligence and wisdom are 10 and charisma is 11

[ 03-09-2004, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: IranicuS ]

[Butterfingers]

A Kensai is NOT a Samurai. Nor could he be.

Samurai lived and died not only by their sword, but, their armor as well. Their armor was a symbol of their power as a feudal Lord. And a Kensai... Can not wear armor. See a problem here? The finely crafted splint mails worn by many Samurai could never be worn by a Kensai.

The Barbarian class is actually closer to the Samurai ideal then the Kensai, if you really wanted to play true to form. Barbarians can wear splint mails. A Samurai values hardiness, physical and emotional endurance, courage, and honour. Something a Barbarian has in spades. Barbarian Rage and it's immunities are very similar to a Samurai's focus in battle. A fearless unrelenting unwavering assault. A Samurai did not acknowledge pain or suffering. He did not submit to fatigue. A Samurai was at best, a blank slate in battle. Emotionless. He was wise, well educated, charismatic, hardy, hale, and strong. So in roleplaying terms, no stat should be anywhere near average. Ideally, you would want about 15 or so in every stat, for a well rounded well balanced character. He would be a paragon of order and control, probably of some lawful alignment.

Samurai used more then swords. Spears, pole arms, short and long swords, sword and shield, two handed swords, armor crushing flails, and in some cases, used daggers or fans in combat. Yes, fans. No, I wont bother to explain, it's complicated. They were also expected to be skilled archers, well trained from youth with powerful long bows. (Another problem with a Kensai, how does he use a bow...)

More importantly, role playing wise, how does a Samurai emerge out of Candlekeep? Taking over the Keep would take on special importance, to prove his role as a Feudal Lord. Would be an interesting bit to roleplay.

[ZFR]

But Butterfingers... barbarians cant be of lawful allignement...

[IranicuS]

Butterfingers I know that their is a great difference between a samurai and a kensai...still they both are from Eastern culture...but still tnx...I gonna make a good one...I hope that u can choose in Bg3 an samurai...but lets first hope their comes one...

[teardropmina]

you can *imagine* that you transform a Kenasi to a Samurai in SoA alright, it's just that you'll be roleplaying a ronin rather than a samurai in the real sense of that group of people. Ronin = samurai without master. We can talk about the way or the spirit of samurai; that's something any kind of warrior can learn to have; but to be a *samurai* one has to have a master to serve, and the main character of BG saga certainly serves no masters.

[SixOfSpades]

The annoying thing is that, if we're going to be historically accurate, just about anybody worth naming in Japan was a samurai. If your family owned land, you were samurai. If you held any official position, you were samurai. Obviously, these sorts of conditions did not automatically imply that the holder of the name "samurai" was automatically brave, loyal, strong, hardy, or even particularly honorable. Another point was their guns: During the 16th century (the height of the Japanese civil wars, and hence the most samurai-crazy era), every lord worth his salt had a battalion of hand cannoneers, and the men trained to use them. (Don't be misled by The Last Samurai on any of these points--nothing in that film ever happened.)

And look, it's 3:00, and I've got to go. More later.

[karlosovic]

Shogun - Total War...
That's where I got most of my knowledge on Samurai [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Incidently, there IS a Samurai class that's playable if you download and install the mod: The Darkest Day. it's by TeamBG, but I havent got the link handy. Its also a pretty big mod (300mb +)

[shamrock_uk]

http://tdd.teambg.net/

There you go, certainly an interesting mod. It has its flaws but is a welcome diversion once you've played SoA to death. And the BG1 nostalgia with some of the maps! Simply awesome. Haven't played that game in years.

[Butterfingers]

Wrong.

Berserkers, of the Fighter kit, can not be Lawful. Barbarians can be of any alignment, including Lawful Good.

[SixOfSpades]

And let's not forget the tricky point of their armor. Technically, it's Leather armor, but so tough that it's as strong as Splint Mail. So what should the armor restrictions of the kit be? And it's not like they had any deep-seated moral compunctions against wearing metal armor, it's simply that there isn't a whole lot of good iron in Japan, and what there was had to be used for weapons. I'll bet that hordes of samurai would have been willing to wear Plate if it was available to them.


To elaborate on the fans: War fans were a common item among the wealthier samurai. They were made of thin sheets of metal, not paper, and were a good deal larger than the ones used today. They could be used in battle for identification (coats of arms could be painted on them), signalling ("You take 200 men up to that hill"), deflecting arrows, and (when folded) parrying enemy blows.

Originally posted by teardropmina: you can *imagine* that you transform a Kenasi to a Samurai in SoA alright, it's just that you'll be roleplaying a ronin rather than a samurai .... to be a *samurai* one has to have a master to serve, and the main character of BG saga certainly serves no masters.

Um, I'm of the opinion that samurai without a lord could be just as honorable as those serving a titled landowner--the only real reasons that ronin were looked down on were:

• Samurai under a lord bore that lord's insignia, and had to maintain his good reputation or lose their job (or worse). Ronin had no such restrictions.
• Landed samurai were pretty much assured of a steady paycheck and food on the table. Ronin had to fend for themselves, and therefore went hungry more often--and therefore were more likely to turn to crime.
• Conversely, bandits commonly claimed to be ronin. (What are they gonna say, "Yeah, I'm a bandit?")