Samurai

The feudal retainers of warlords, members of Hit Die Type: d10 (max 9 hit dice)
powerful warrior clans, Samurai are the keepers of Alignment: Any Lawful
societal order and enforcers of their lords’ will. While Experience Bonus: Str and Dex 16+
their dedication to their purpose and seeming Armor/Shield permitted: Any armor, no shield
fearlessness in the face of danger are comparable Weapons Permitted: Any
to paladins, there are very important distinctions Weapon Proficiencies: 2+1 every 2 levels (but
between the two. While both are often tasked with see below)
upholding the law, a paladin will uphold only laws Penalty for non- -2
that preserve the greater good that create order proficiency:
for the benefit of all — they will not enforce evil Weapon Specialization: N/A
laws. Samurai, however, uphold the law to satisfy Birth Table Required: Yes
social order, regardless of good or evil. The degree Family Required: Yes (+10 on the roll)
to which order is enforced varies by Samurai or Honor if No Family: N/A
clan, however any open act of disrespect or
defiance from a peasant to a Samurai or noble is
considered a punishable offense, either by a
Samurai Abilities
Challenge: Once per day, a samurai can
flogging, being tossed in an oubliette, or among
challenge a foe to combat. As part of his other
the more ruthless, killed on the spot! Thus, instead of
actions in a round, the samurai chooses one target
the warm reception most Ashigaru get from the
within sight to challenge. The samurai’s melee
common folk, Samurai are respected but feared.
attacks deal extra damage when made against
Samurai whose lords have died before them or
the target of his challenge. This extra damage is
who have been rejected by their lord for some
equal to the samurai’s level. The samurai can use
reason are known as Ronin. These “fallen samurai”
this ability once per day at 1st level, plus one
are treated as regular fighters in most respects, until
additional time per day for every three levels
they are able to redeem themselves in some way.
beyond 1st, to a maximum of five times per day at
Ronin lose their immunity to fear but retain any Jutsu
13th level.
Stance abilities already learned. They may not learn
new abilities until they are redeemed and they may Challenging a foe requires much of the samurai’s
not take Weapon Specialization. concentration. The samurai takes a+2 penalty to his
If the Samurai’s original lord is still alive, the Armor Class, except against attacks made by the
Samurai may only be redeemed by being target of his challenge.
accepted back into that lord’s service. If the The challenge remains in effect until the target is
Samurai’s original lord has died, the Samurai can dead or unconscious, or until the combat ends.
regain his lost abilities by finding a new lord to serve.
Immune to Fear: Samurai are trained almost from
In addition to the requirement that he serve a
Daimyo the Samurai’s code of honor requires him to birth to fear nothing, not even death. Samurai are
obey the following restrictions: immune to all forms of fear both magical and
mundane.
The Samurai may never refuse a command from his
lord, even if that command means certain death. Character Birth: Human or spirit folk samurai belong
Indeed, a Samurai is expected to obey any to the highest caste and are commonly of noble
command from his lord, even one demanding him birth. As such they gain a + 10 bonus to their die roll
to commit suicide. on the Character Birth Table when determining their
social position. Korobokuru who wish to become
The Samurai may never refuse single combat, even samurai must first find a daimyo who will act as their
if that means his death. sponsor and obtain his permission to become part
of his household. Accordingly, korobokuru samurai
Finally, the Samurai must donate at least 10% of any do not use the Character Birth Table but
wealth he gains to his lord. automatically begin at Upper Class.

Jutsu Stance: Samurai train in specific styles of

The Samurai Character combat for different purposes. A Samurai chooses
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Minimum Scores: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 9, Int his Primary Jutsu Stance at 1st level, and may not
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9, Wis 3, Cha 9 choose a different Primary Stance afterwards. There

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 Samurai
are four styles which the Samurai can choose from:
Iaijutsu which enables lightning fast attacks as one
draws the blade; Kenjutsu, the swordsman’s art of
fencing; Sojutsu, the art of spear-fighting; and,
Kyujutsu, the art of the longbow. Further, his chosen
Jutsu Stance gives him free proficiency with the
following weapons: Iaijutsu (long sword and short
Jutsu Form Table
Level To hit Bonus Damage Bonus
1-7 +1 +2
8-13 +2 +3
14+ +3 +4
Jutsu Stance Abilities
Iajutsu
Iaijutsu is the art of sword-drawing.
If not surprised, you may move up to twice your
movement rate and make a single attack with your
Jutsu Stance weapon before combat begins,
regardless of which side won initiative. If you hit, you
do maximum damage.
Turning Draw (6th): At 6th level, anytime you are the
target of a Back Stab, or anytime your opponent
receives a back attack bonus, you can make one
immediate attack before your opponent’s attack,
even if your blade is sheathed when the attack
comes. If your attack succeeds, your opponent
loses their back attack bonus and/or Back Stab
attack damage, though their attack proceeds as
normal otherwise.
Kenjutsu
Kenjutsu is the swordsman’s art of
fencing.
Once per battle, after you hit your enemy, you
may decree Saidai Sonsho and inflict maximum
damage with your Jutsu Form weapon.
Battojutdsu (6th): At 6th level, you put your weight
into your attacks. You now add half your
Constitution modifier (round down, minimum of 1)
to your Jutsu Stance weapons damage as well as
for Strength.
Sojutsu
Sojutsu is the art of spear-fighting.
When charging with your Jutsu Stance weapon,
you inflict double damage (see Charging, OSRIC
p.127).
sword), Kenjutsu (claymore/bastard sword and two-
handed sword), Sojutsu (pole arm and spear),
Kyujutsu (longbow and shortbow).
For all styles, the progression and bonuses
(applicable only to their chosen Jutsu Stance
weapons are as follows:
Attacks Per Round Attacks Per Round
(melee) (missile)
3/2 3
2 4
5/2 5
Demon Pin (6th): At 6th level, by making a successful
attack with your Jutsu Stance weapon, you pierce
your enemy’s defenses and pin them to a wall or
the ground. The target suffers normal damage from
the attack if it fails a Save vs Paralysis, your target is
considered prone (see OSRIC, p. 128) until freeing
themselves from the spear (a successful save on the
creatures turn). You cannot use your spear so long
as it holds your opponent.
Kyujutsu
Kyujutsu is the art of the longbow.
You suffer no penalties to your second range
increment with Jutsu Stance weapons. Only after
this do you start to suffer incremental range
penalties as usual.
Kanzen Hassha (6th): At 6th level, the Samurai can
make a devastating shot. You make a single attack
with a -4 Penalty to hit, if successful you deal twice
your level in bonus damage with your Jutsu Stance
weapon.
Advanced Abilities
Jito (9th): At 9th level the samurai is offered jito
(stewardship) over one of the properties of his
daimyo. He is not required to accept. If he does,
the character is watched over and directed by the
daimyo's shugo (constable of the province). As jito,
the samurai must watch over the area for his
daimyo, protecting property, settling disputes,
quelling rebellions, and collecting taxes. In return,
he receives one-quarter of all the taxes he collects.
The daimyo also provides the new jito with 10
ashigaru and one to four samurai, all of 1st to 3rd
level.
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These men are ultimately loyal to the daimyo, but
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will faithfully serve the character unless and until the
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 Samurai
daimyo intervenes. The samurai character retains Also at, 13th level the samurai automatically
his position of jito over this land from this point on, attracts 2d10 samurai of 1st level. These samurai will
even if he increases in level and establishes his own be absolutely loyal to the player character samurai,
family and property. He can assign his duties to an as befits his station. In addition, 1d6+1 specialists
underling (in exchange for a portion of the tax) and (armorers, weapon-smiths, etc.) request to be taken
is not required to remain on the property. This grant into the character's service. There is a 10% chance
of land can only be lost if the samurai fails to turn that one of these is a ninja sent to spy on the
over the daimyo's portion of the taxes or if he activities of the character (as a precaution).
blatantly mismanages the property. Even then, it is
the daimyo's responsibility to regain control of the Samurai Level Advancement
property, and it is not unknown for a jito to usurp the
property of his master, claiming it as his own. Level Experience Hit Notes
Points Dice
Although he collects rent from it, the property does Required (d10)
not belong to the player character-it is still held by 1 0 1 Challenge 1x day,
the daimyo. The daimyo (and only the daimyo) has Immune to Fear,
the right to dispose of the property as he wishes. Jutsu Stance
Should the samurai refuse the offer of stewardship, 2 2,500 2
his daimyo offers a fitting homes in the city or 3 5,000 3
bakufu (camp office) where he makes his 4 8,000 4 Challenge 2x day
headquarters. 5 18,000 5
6 40,000 6 Jutsu Stance 6th
Shugo (13th): At 13th level the daimyo offers the Level Ability
samurai the position of shugo (constable of a 7 80,000 7 Challenge 3x day
province). If he accepts, the samurai takes on the 8 150,000 8 Bonus Attacks
duties of arranging for the protection of an entire 9 450,000 9 Jito
province and looking after the daimyo's affairs in 10 750,000 9+3 Challenge 4x day ,
the province. He is expected to administer justice Constitution-based
and supervise the jito in the area. The samurai hp adjustments no
automatically attracts 10d10 ashigaru as followers. longer apply
There is a 20% chance that one of these ashigaru is 11 1,050,000 9+6
also a ninja sent to infiltrate the household. No more 12 1,350,000 9+9
than one ninja will ever operate in any household. 13 1,650,000 9+12 Challenge 5x day,
These ashigaru will be loyal to the samurai so long Shugo, Followers
as they are adequately paid, housed, and fed, and 14+ 1,950,000 9+15 Bonus Attacks
the fortunes of their samurai master do not look too
bleak. Each level gained thereafter requires 300,000
additional experience points and gains 3 hp.

Samurai Saving Throw Table

Level TYPE OF SAVING THROW
Aimed Magic Items Breath Death, Paralysis, Petrification/ Spells for unlisted
(e.g., rod, staff, wand) Weapons Poison Polymorph categories
1-2 16 17 16 14 16
3-4 15 16 15 12 15
5-6 13 13 14 10 13
7-8 11 10 13 8 12
9-10 10 8 12 6 10
11-12 9 6 11 5 9
13-14 7 5 10 4 8
15-16 6 4 9 3 6
17+ 5 3 8 2 6
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 Samurai
Samurai To-Hit Table
ROLL REQUIRED TO HIT ARMOR CLASS
Level -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 --4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1-2 25 24 23 22 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
3-4 23 22 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8
5-6 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
7-8 20 20 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
9-10 20 20 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
11-12 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
13-14 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2
15-16 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4
17+ 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6

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