Just asking if anyone has played the samuria subclass and what they thought about it. I'm thinking of playing a half elf samuria archer, just want to know what sort of things they did rp wise to fit a "samuria" into their world. I was thinking of a local folk hero that helps with wolves and the odd goblin that strays too close (start at level 3). Any advice or stories that you have I would love to hear.
I've not played a samurai, but i have played fighters. Seems like a good sub-class. If being a "samurai" is messing with your RP story call it a Knight or a Hero, it's just a name. I'm kind of surprised i don't see it being mentioned in the rogue forums as a multi class option tho, Bonus action to gain advantage 3x per long rest.
Class and subclass names are just that, names. Basically it's a very disciplined fighter or one that is really tough. Could be anything RP wise. Doesn't have to be an Asian dude with a katana.
Half or Elf Samurai Archer...Sharpershooter and Elven Accuracy.....
By 6th level with ACtion surge that's 4 attacks with triple advantage and a +40 damage...
RP wise you say and "Elvin Guard" or other elite soldier that has dedicated his life to defense of his people.
This class goes well with Sharpshooter or GWM, as it gives it's self advantage for a turn...so all attacks and the action surge can be used to hammer an opponent for impressive one round damage. Possibly the best fight class, for sure one with mechanics that compete with Battlemaster....
I play a Samurai 7/War cleric 4 aasimar that's a lot of fun, I can go toe to toe with about anything and am pretty durable. DPS is competitive as well.
I played a straight up Samurai to level 20. It's a really overlooked subclass. Although at level 3 its somewhat underwhelming compared to battlemaster, by level 10 it has (in my opinion) overtaken it as DPS.
Moreover, I just love the flavour - whenever you've taken a real beating, you suddenly invoke this fighting spirit and out of nowhere completely swing the battle. And the capstone ability is incredible, coming back from the dead to take a full turn in the middle of the enemies turn.You really do become damn stubborn in the face of damage.
And yeah - just ignore the name - there's no need to pretend your from feudal Japan unless you want to be. It's the mechanics that are important, and then you chose how to flavour them. The subclass name only exists in the meta. I see it as a strong warrior who just fights with pure strength of spirit / resolve instead of 'fancy tactics' like the battlemaster.
I definitely have plans to roll up a Samurai archer at some point. I might even toss a few levels of Samurai into the Hexblade I'm currently playing. On some levels, it's very straightforward like the Champion, the combat abilities basically let you Fighter even harder, but it throws in a little extra RP capability. The name Samurai certainly conjures up a specific image for a lot of people, but the possibilities are as wide-open as the Monk. It more describes the nature of the character's training & dedication than it does their aesthetic or cultural background.
I just started with a level 3 mountain dwarf samurai. Can recommend, a fun class.
The charisma-related stuff give him things to do outside of combat, and in combat fighting spirit can be amazing. I use two weapon fighting which works nicely with the advantage from fighting spirit, and am planning on the Dual Wielder feat at lv4 to wield a longsword and s ahortsword like Miyamoto Musashi =P
He is your typical nordic-inspired dwarf,. He worships Odin, wears chain mail and a tunic along with a wolf's pelt cloak. I don't RP into the asian aspect, it's more of a basis for inspiration (he wears both his swords on his left hip like samurai often did, and the strict honour code of the samurai blends well with that of the stereotypical fantasy dwarf).
He is a former Kingsguard of his home Hold, having acted as one of the personal bodyguard to one of the king's sons until he was assassinated on a hunting trip. He now hunts the killers through our world, hoping to shed his shame of failure with vengeance.
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"You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?" -Death
My favourite character is a "samurai" and I love her to death. The Character is a Cormyran Noble, who was this sort of awkward child but trained incredibly hard to live up to her father's expectations. She has no siblings, so she had this intense pressure to not only be the perfect daughter, but also the perfect son-- as her father's heir. She became really competent, but never really learned to be a person. So when she came of age, she was recruited into the royal guard and, yeah, like someone already said, just a really disciplined, strong willed character. Mechanically, that means high dex, high wis and high int, low strength and abysmal charisma. I ran this character for about a year, I think she's level 12. Then I moved abroad and, yeah.
She was a stone wall. Very high AC (shield and a breastplate and a pretty high AC... and defensive duelist), but also ridiculously high saves. So all of those things that DMs try to get a fighter out of the way... don't really work that well on a well-built samurai. So the character gets to a level of indestructable (not literally) that makes her really fun to play as a heroic knight type, where I was free to play her with a blind recklessness: if someone needed help, she charged in to provide cover: unrelentlessly heroic. Samurai as a class does facilitate that sort of throwing yourself into the thick of it, because the temporary hp really keep you there for a lot longer. Plus, at some point you just go ballistic, pop your extra action, and you're rolling double your attacks in a round and all with advantage. It became a little bit of a meme at the table, because I would have to roll 8d20s to cover my attacks for most of the campaign.
Ironically, I was running this character (samurai) as a sort of noble knightly rapier and shield character, whereas my brother was running ranger/monk as a sort of zen archer. I really like the samurai archetype.
How does Two Weapon Fighting synergize with the Fighting Spirit? Wouldn't they have to be used on mutually exclusive turns, due to both being Bonus Actions? Meaning, you can't use Fighting Spirit and also attack with your offhand, negating the benefit of TWF?
Sorry, this was supposed to be a reply to Phaeoron's post, and quoting his post, but I'm a nub and don't know how to post in forums properly...
Exactly that. The samurai really doesn't benefit from TWF all that much because you can't attack with your bonus weapon on the turn that you use Fighting Spirit. He was made for duelers and Big weapon fighting. Kind of fits the theme I suppose.
I think the real point of the build is that you combine it with the Great Weapon Master feat. That means you can take the -5 penalty to attack bonus and still reliably hit. As a result you are able to deal a huge amount of damage thanks to action surge + GWM + Fighting Spirit. If you weren't using GWM then you don't really need advantage as much and you'd be mechanically better off with a different subclass.
You're all correct, of course. The 5THP is nice, but the build is indeed inefficient I've come to see. Funny how I'm on my second character and still get confused about the actions system. It's fun though, and if I burn my action surge I still get some mileage from the advantage if I wanna Musashi out with my blades out in a rough spot (blinded or something). Thank the All-Father a longsword is versatile so I can two-hand grip it if I want =D
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"You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?" -Death
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Just asking if anyone has played the samuria subclass and what they thought about it. I'm thinking of playing a half elf samuria archer, just want to know what sort of things they did rp wise to fit a "samuria" into their world. I was thinking of a local folk hero that helps with wolves and the odd goblin that strays too close (start at level 3). Any advice or stories that you have I would love to hear.
I've not played a samurai, but i have played fighters. Seems like a good sub-class. If being a "samurai" is messing with your RP story call it a Knight or a Hero, it's just a name. I'm kind of surprised i don't see it being mentioned in the rogue forums as a multi class option tho, Bonus action to gain advantage 3x per long rest.
That Is true it would work well with rouge ad well
Class and subclass names are just that, names. Basically it's a very disciplined fighter or one that is really tough. Could be anything RP wise. Doesn't have to be an Asian dude with a katana.
Half or Elf Samurai Archer...Sharpershooter and Elven Accuracy.....
By 6th level with ACtion surge that's 4 attacks with triple advantage and a +40 damage...
RP wise you say and "Elvin Guard" or other elite soldier that has dedicated his life to defense of his people.
This class goes well with Sharpshooter or GWM, as it gives it's self advantage for a turn...so all attacks and the action surge can be used to hammer an opponent for impressive one round damage. Possibly the best fight class, for sure one with mechanics that compete with Battlemaster....
I play a Samurai 7/War cleric 4 aasimar that's a lot of fun, I can go toe to toe with about anything and am pretty durable. DPS is competitive as well.
I played a straight up Samurai to level 20. It's a really overlooked subclass. Although at level 3 its somewhat underwhelming compared to battlemaster, by level 10 it has (in my opinion) overtaken it as DPS.
Moreover, I just love the flavour - whenever you've taken a real beating, you suddenly invoke this fighting spirit and out of nowhere completely swing the battle. And the capstone ability is incredible, coming back from the dead to take a full turn in the middle of the enemies turn.You really do become damn stubborn in the face of damage.
And yeah - just ignore the name - there's no need to pretend your from feudal Japan unless you want to be. It's the mechanics that are important, and then you chose how to flavour them. The subclass name only exists in the meta. I see it as a strong warrior who just fights with pure strength of spirit / resolve instead of 'fancy tactics' like the battlemaster.
Cheers that's amazing! I can't wait to play one now!!
I definitely have plans to roll up a Samurai archer at some point. I might even toss a few levels of Samurai into the Hexblade I'm currently playing. On some levels, it's very straightforward like the Champion, the combat abilities basically let you Fighter even harder, but it throws in a little extra RP capability. The name Samurai certainly conjures up a specific image for a lot of people, but the possibilities are as wide-open as the Monk. It more describes the nature of the character's training & dedication than it does their aesthetic or cultural background.
I just started with a level 3 mountain dwarf samurai. Can recommend, a fun class.
The charisma-related stuff give him things to do outside of combat, and in combat fighting spirit can be amazing. I use two weapon fighting which works nicely with the advantage from fighting spirit, and am planning on the Dual Wielder feat at lv4 to wield a longsword and s ahortsword like Miyamoto Musashi =P
He is your typical nordic-inspired dwarf,. He worships Odin, wears chain mail and a tunic along with a wolf's pelt cloak. I don't RP into the asian aspect, it's more of a basis for inspiration (he wears both his swords on his left hip like samurai often did, and the strict honour code of the samurai blends well with that of the stereotypical fantasy dwarf).
He is a former Kingsguard of his home Hold, having acted as one of the personal bodyguard to one of the king's sons until he was assassinated on a hunting trip. He now hunts the killers through our world, hoping to shed his shame of failure with vengeance.
"You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?" -Death
My favourite character is a "samurai" and I love her to death. The Character is a Cormyran Noble, who was this sort of awkward child but trained incredibly hard to live up to her father's expectations. She has no siblings, so she had this intense pressure to not only be the perfect daughter, but also the perfect son-- as her father's heir. She became really competent, but never really learned to be a person. So when she came of age, she was recruited into the royal guard and, yeah, like someone already said, just a really disciplined, strong willed character. Mechanically, that means high dex, high wis and high int, low strength and abysmal charisma. I ran this character for about a year, I think she's level 12. Then I moved abroad and, yeah.
She was a stone wall. Very high AC (shield and a breastplate and a pretty high AC... and defensive duelist), but also ridiculously high saves. So all of those things that DMs try to get a fighter out of the way... don't really work that well on a well-built samurai. So the character gets to a level of indestructable (not literally) that makes her really fun to play as a heroic knight type, where I was free to play her with a blind recklessness: if someone needed help, she charged in to provide cover: unrelentlessly heroic. Samurai as a class does facilitate that sort of throwing yourself into the thick of it, because the temporary hp really keep you there for a lot longer. Plus, at some point you just go ballistic, pop your extra action, and you're rolling double your attacks in a round and all with advantage. It became a little bit of a meme at the table, because I would have to roll 8d20s to cover my attacks for most of the campaign.
Ironically, I was running this character (samurai) as a sort of noble knightly rapier and shield character, whereas my brother was running ranger/monk as a sort of zen archer. I really like the samurai archetype.
In a one-shot, I played a Giff Samurai. Giff have a very regimented hierarchy and are militaristic, so it was a good fit.
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How does Two Weapon Fighting synergize with the Fighting Spirit? Wouldn't they have to be used on mutually exclusive turns, due to both being Bonus Actions? Meaning, you can't use Fighting Spirit and also attack with your offhand, negating the benefit of TWF?
Sorry, this was supposed to be a reply to Phaeoron's post, and quoting his post, but I'm a nub and don't know how to post in forums properly...
Exactly that. The samurai really doesn't benefit from TWF all that much because you can't attack with your bonus weapon on the turn that you use Fighting Spirit. He was made for duelers and Big weapon fighting. Kind of fits the theme I suppose.
Yes as above, it's not a good mix with Samurai.
I think the real point of the build is that you combine it with the Great Weapon Master feat. That means you can take the -5 penalty to attack bonus and still reliably hit. As a result you are able to deal a huge amount of damage thanks to action surge + GWM + Fighting Spirit. If you weren't using GWM then you don't really need advantage as much and you'd be mechanically better off with a different subclass.
You're all correct, of course. The 5THP is nice, but the build is indeed inefficient I've come to see. Funny how I'm on my second character and still get confused about the actions system. It's fun though, and if I burn my action surge I still get some mileage from the advantage if I wanna Musashi out with my blades out in a rough spot (blinded or something). Thank the All-Father a longsword is versatile so I can two-hand grip it if I want =D
"You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?" -Death