For those of you wondering, as I feared the Spirited Away video was taken down and I was given my first copyright strike in 8 years from Studio Ghibli. I don't know if I can get the video back, but please understand I will not even be mentioning Studio Ghibli on this channel from here-on in. If you want to make sure you can see my videos even if they've been taken down on UA-cam, please consider joining up on my Patreon where I can upload them without worry of UA-cam's wrath. www.patreon.com/gaijingoombah
I'd say I'm shocked but that would be a lie. Glad I was able to see it when I did now thanks to you I actually know something about Kintaro. Until then my only knowledge of Kintaro was limited to Mortal Kombat, the Yusagi episodes of TMNT 2012, and the Nioh games.
I'm so glad I was able to watch it before it was. It was a great video that explained a lot of what I missed. I still remember seeing it for the first time at like midnight when I was like 8. Also I've become a HUGE fan of the Unexpectables, Greckles is fucking awesome. I hope that I can be in a DnD session as fun as that. I'm WAAAAAAAAY behind, but I hope to catch up at some point. I'm really glad that I have found your channel because I have the same fascination with Japanese culture as you do, but I'm still kinda lacking in actual knowledge. So all of this is super awesome to me, especially realizing all the references that are actually in pop/modern culture after watching so many of your videos. They also help my day get better whenever I see them. Your humor is top notch my dude, keep it up.
Personally, no. I don't think the archetype in itself makes a samurai in D&D. As you pointed out there are several aspects of the samurai that transcend time and space and are reflected in the archetype. But something I feel is just as equally important if we're talking about making anything in D&D is how you use those aspects. If combined with a dedicated character, I think a lawful neutral morality and a noble background yes, I think you could make an accurate samurai then. But going back to that point about transcending space in time, enough tweaks to a full character using this archetype could be anything. I myself am using it to play a semi-historic viking with Saxon upbringings. For those who know of them, Uhtred in the Saxon tales is the main inspiration. But to compare, the ideas of fighting a battle to the end, coming out victorious and never ending until you've won are ideas mirrored in several sagas of viking lore or in the Volsunga. And other proverbs from these epics also talk about being wise out of combat in how you deal with others and knowing a fool when you see one, much like an insightful person would. Furthermore the real Norsemen were extremely cautious with battle, usually only choosing to fight when they had they had better odds. And as for the extra hit points and fighting spirit, need I talk about the numerous stories or sagas of epic warriors fighting against impossible odds and finding a joy in battle? Or the infamous berserker that terrified early England and France? My main point is that do I think the archetype is enough to make a real samurai in D&D? Absolutely not. But its a fantastic start with several good aspects as you've pointed out for a dedicated player to use in pursuit of that end goal. Still just glad you're loving D&D... and awaiting anxiously the Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow episode(s) of Which Ninja.... More serious note, wish I could've seen the Spirited Away video as well. I added it to my watch later list and it ended up being one of the "private or removed" videos. Wish UA-cam would cut this crap and let the creators create. Hope you win if you choose to pursue any counter action GG. Love the video and can't wait for more.
Exactly what I was thinking. Ultimately, the abilities are focused on the skills and techniques needed to be a Samurai. It's up to the player whether or not they want to go all in and roleplay a historically accurate representation.
Agreed. Most players will play as Ronan. However if someone wants to play as a true samurai they would take a more historically accurate approach and the opportunity is there for those who want to take it.
I think "Samurai" that D&D made is likely closer to a Ronin than a Samurai. And as you said in your vid on Samurai Jack, that allows for a much more interesting character.
It makes sense. Ronin, being jobless, do tend to go from place to place to find meaningful employment, so it's not unthinkable they'd be adventurers too.
@@BetaGunslinger That all comes down to the players in a campaign. With the wrong group a true Samurai, or Ronin character can be as dull as a standard murderhobo. With the right group either can be truly beautiful to watch how it plays out.
Hey can you please do a which ninja on Konoe Kikyo from Bravely Default and a Yokai Hunters video on Yoko from Bravely Second as Bravely Default 2 is coming out soon.
The Samurai has some help you failed to mention. You've convinced me it is fine for a Samurai achetype, because you CAN build a Samurai out of it. When you make a character in D&D, you pick a race, class, AND background! Pick the Noble background or whatever background would be more appropriate, and you can fill the gap. Classes and subclasses in D&D mostly represent your combat abilities, but it's up to you to make the character act the way you want them to.
the noble variant: knight might be so even more, and you can have attendants who fallow you around as a throwback to the earlier years of warfare in Japan.
2:10 - "That's kind of a problem if one of your party members is hyper-focused not only on a personal code but ultimate loyalty to a specific lord." I don't know, Little G, paladins and warlocks seem to do just fine. 2:18 - "In fact, unless it was their lord's bidding to do so, there's really no reason for a samurai to be traveling at all." That sounds like a job for CHARACTER BACKSTORY! Your character may not necessarily even know _why_ their lord ordered them to go adventuring with the party, but he told you to do it and that's good enough for you. Classes don't have a background built into them for a reason: that's what the Background is for. Really, the only requirement for your D&D character to be of noble blood is for your backstory to say so. You don't even strictly NEED the Noble background to be a member of the nobility; perhaps your noble-born character became an officer in the army or navy (taking the Soldier or Sailor background), or holds a high-level position in the family business (Guild Artisan), or entered the clergy (Acolyte), or became a scholar (Sage), is particularly well-loved by the populace (Folk Hero), or maybe their family is part of some shady crime family or organization (Criminal or Charlatan). Hell, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings is literal royalty, and he probably has the Outlander background. Note: the picture for the entry of the Soldier background is a samurai. The majority of what makes samurai specifically "samurai" will come more from how you roleplay your character than from any in-game rules or class features. Personally, I find the Samurai archetype to be a decent way to play as a samurai, but there are a number of other, arguably mechanically better, ways. Battlemaster is a common choice, as well as Kensei monk. Cavalier is pretty good too (the class doesn't even _require_ you to be a mounted fighter, but historical samurai _were_ primarily cavalry). You can even use Barbarian, and reflavor Rage as a sort of focused battle trance instead of "Hulk smash". If you like the imagery of the more dexterous swordsman who wears a kimono instead of heavy armor, the Swashbuckler rogue works well. Even Paladin and Warlock can work, if you prefer a more mystical-flavored magical samurai like you might see in anime.
"historical samurai were primarily cavalry" I disagree with that statement. According to A Brief History of the Samurai, the word 'samurai' come from the Chinese word 'samui' which means 'to serve'. They started out as servants and later became trained bodyguards. This is where their sense of noble eloquence comes from while also their fighting spirit. A knight started out as a mounted warrior first and later on got more trained and got an official code by the church in order to keep them in line. This is why the Samurai does not get any mount-specific features while the Cavalier (from the French 'chevalier' meaning horseman) does.
@@ReinoudvanReekumナウト Actual Japanese person here. The samurai did function primarily as mounted cavalry, from the 12th century up until the eventual end of the samurai caste, and would function as mounted archers until closing with the enemy. To the samurai, your horse was only just slightly less important than your katana, and was considered a noble warrior in its own right; a warhorse killed in battle would even be given proper funeral rites, though not an actual full funeral (although the mental image of servants trying to dress a horse in funerary attire is kind of hilarious). . As Arctic Banana points out, the Cavalier subclass doesn't actually _require_ the character to be a mounted fighter. Their first class ability "Born to the Saddle" gives you a number of bonuses to your riding ability, but none of the rest of their abilities make mention of needing to be mounted. Mounted or not, Cavalier does look to be a suitable option for a slightly more defensive-focused samurai character. . As an important side note, the katana and wakizashi (collectively called the daishō) were _not_ the samurai's primary weapons in battle, despite their prevalence and near-mythical status in pop culture; rather, the daishō was a badge of honor, a symbol of the bearer's authority as a samurai, and was almost never used in actual combat, the exception being honor duels between samurai (which were commonly (but not always) fought without armor, as it could damage the katana), or in seppuku. The samurai's primary weapon was actually the yumi (longbow), to such an extent that at one point in history you couldn't even legally call yourself a samurai until you reached a certain required level of skill as an archer (skill in kyūdō was even more important than skill in kenjutsu). Once closing with the enemy, the samurai would switch to the yari (spear), naginata, or masakari (axe) to fight from horseback. Even when dismounted most samurai would still stick to those three as their primary weapons, but they would also commonly wield a wide variety of weaponry, such as the etsi (large battle axe), kanabo (spiked iron club), ōtsuchi (warhammer), ōdachi (large two-handed sword), and even rifles and cannons, and individual samurai had their own preferences. The katana was reserved as a weapon of last resort because it was so easy to damage it in battle. But all of that just isn't as _glamorous_ as the image of a fully-armored samurai proudly wielding his katana, now is it?
My first instinct for a more mystical samurai was a swords college bard. You get the weapon mastery represented by the flourishes, the artistic aspect represented by musical proficiency, and the mystical aspect with magic (which comes from either the inner spirit or from the spirits of the samurai's ancestors). And if you want to really be a master swordsman/bowman, then multiclass into battle master, and take the martial adept feat, for a ridiculous amount of special moves
@@MahouShoujoNobue Turns out the Samurai have a surprisingly varied range of weapons, and presumably the Ronin, who differ from samurai only in that they haven't been hired yet, do as well. The archery is also an interresting angle, and lends a fighter a good bit of range, both literally and lorewise.
Since you've covered building a Ninja and a Samurai through D&D, I'm curious if you might end up finishing the trifecta and do a video on building an Onmyouji.
I would be surprised if he didn't... though Onmyo is basically own school of magic and it would be hard to replicate it without homebrewing own subclass of Warlock.
TheRezro Honestly, I do agree that Pact of the Chain Warlock would be a requirement, but if we’re going off the stories where Onmyouji could summon spirits and Yokai to do their bidding, possibly a Conjuration Wizard multiclass would be added, or maybe even a bit of sorcerer since I have heard “Onmyouji” be translated as “Sorcerer” in some older material (I think the Nurarihyon anime? I don’t quite remember). I’m just curious what GG would consider the closest representation of an Onmyouji in D&D would be.
@@TheAzureGuardian Well, Oni were translated as demons until they retranslated them as more appropriate ogres. Though you are actually correct that some could be considered also as sorcerers (as descendants of some spirits, look Abe no Seimei), but that would be more a multi-class with descendants of Yo-Kai, being separate from actual Onmyo.
@@TheRezro That's true, since the Sorcerer class in D&D gets their power from inheritance (special bloodline). Warlock and Wizard would both make a bit more sense since not only do Onmyouji study their magic but generally form a pact with a spirit or Yokai (or bind them into service, hence Pact of the Chain). SO again, Pact of the Chain Warlock with Conjuration Wizard would probably be the best multiclass representative since then you can get really good Find Familiar options and then you can basically summon creatures to do your bidding all the live long day. I just suggested Sorcerer for some more magic options when not relying on your summon creatures (such as withholding them until fighting something really strong).
I mean in all honesty I would say this is fairly accurate to what the spirit of the samurai is even if it's not entirely accurate to facts. I don't know the entire Bushido code but I know that there is one line about dying when it is fit for you to die and everything about this class is perseverance. Now that said if you want to go entirely 100% accurate give them a noble background and you're pretty much set.
As I said myself. IF you want to play to the Letter of what a samurai is, play a Paladin of the Crown. If you want to play the Spirit of a samurai, pick the archetype.
I would argue that not asking for it was not the same as not wanting it. Or who knows maybe all this samurai talk has got me feeling deeply philosophical
I feel it's important to also mention that the parts Little G had a problem with wouldn't be found in the class, but rather they would be chosen when picking your background. For a Samurai I would personally pick the Noble or Soldier background. Noble pushing more towards the family background, and Solider aligning the character more towards the Military aspect. It's important to remember while you pick the background, that isn't all there is too. Your character can be a Noble that joined the Military, picking one over the other just means that's where more of your characters skills are. I would also recommend talking to your DM about making use of the optional rules for the Honor stats, or was it the Nobility stat.... It's been awhile since I've looked into it, but basically it's a separate stat that determines court standings and connections. A high roll in this stat means you were born into a Higher position of Nobility (sound familiar), and if played out properly can be used in court room drama. Making back room deals with other nobles, convincing troops to follow you into battle, things that have to do with being a Noble, and playing in a Noble Court.
Instead of calling it the "Samurai" Archetype, it should have been called the "Bushido" Archetype, because its about how a Samurai *fights*, not the whole thing. A Samurai in D&D would be this Martial Archetype + a Noble/Knight (or similar) Background, where you flavor it to reflect the culture of Samurai.
to be fair i don't think japan exists in dnd. It's parallel country representation in dnd can have a bit looser of regulations. You can be a DND samurai.
Well, there is Kara Tur as Asia-Kozakura as Japan and Shou Leng as China-in DND’s Forgotten Realms and Faerun has substantial Asian minorities in Thesk and Waterdeep. Though they haven’t released any campaigns yet.
The only issue with that I see is it wouldn’t fit the naming convention of other archetypes. All the fighter archetypes are what a person of that subclass is called (Champion, Eldritch Knight, Cavalier, etc) so a Bushido isn’t what a person is called
While all of this is great, I love how you translate small passages of text and a few little numbers into massive expansive analysis on cultural draws, a lot of tissues you mentioned about the lack of nobility that makes samurai who they truly were, can easily fixed in creating your character by making them have the noble background, which features most, if not all of those traits. You gain extra languages from your higher education, your personality traits can be focused on your devotion to your king (or lord in this case), you can even have a group of retainers. In fact even above all of this, you can choose the variant of the noble, becoming a knight, and again simply tweaking the personality traits around to make it exactly as a samurai was. All in all I think this was an incredible analysis and I love your videos (especially tase DND videos cut I love the game so much), all I'm saying is that they do put options in the game to make up for what you mentioned were lacking.
@@KageRyuu6 there is an honor system in DND 5e found in the DMG option rules. its a state that indicate how credible are you. but I think they were talking in honor in general
I feel like this comes down to how the players role-play because I imagine if someone really wanted to make a samurai they would use this class and archetype but I just filled in all the blanks with the needed traits.
I love your D&D videos! i think that they left things out that are included in the noble background or the knight variant of the noble background. If you take those backgrounds with the samurai archetype then its more realistic
Or just play a Samurai serving his lord. Being given orders from your lord makes a MUCH stronger buy-in for players than 'hey, they're offering money if you do X'
i think that a lot of the aspects mentioned that the class is "missing", servitude, nobility, etc, are perfect for roleplaying opportunities, and DM collaboration, instead of a mechanic. because then, choices regarding honor, and loyalty to one's lord impact your character, not just your character sheet. it's up to the player to hold true to the code because they want to, not because they'll roll less dice if they don't. this video got me thinking about how i would play a samurai, or how i would work with a samurai player, and i'm very inspired! keep up the good work
I think Pathfinder has the best samurai class for accuracy and mechanics. In it is an alternative to the cavalier which has a strict code belong to a faction or lord although their is an option to be a lone ronin with their own defined code. Are trained in horsemanship and mounted combat. Carry a banner of thir faction to fortify the will of their allies. All the while keeping the whole bushido fighting spirit theme. The also have archtypes for polearm and swordsaint samurai.
@@RealJohnnyAngel Very similar, but the diference between the Paladin and Cavalier/Samurai in Pathfinder is mainly that the latter has way more flexibility in what the code is and it doesn't have to be Lawfull Good (although certain Paladin arquetypes do relax this) neither does it gain magical abilities like their auras, spells, celestial aidance (either as an angelic mount or enchant weapons on the fly) or to smite evil. Mainly, the Cavalier/Samurai are non-magical in nature (although I think the Samurai, like the Ninja, have ki pools which is the key diference between them and their occidental versions).
In a friend of mine's next campaign i want to do an old Samurai who only travels to train his blade and sword techniques. Pretty cool i guess? I don't want to do the Loyal Samurai thing.
I think as a player if you wanted to build a historically accurate samurai, you can't just look at class alone. That's why we have the Noble/Knight background from the PHB or even the Courtier background from Sword Coast Adventurers Guide. The fighter's archetype is the specific training a fighter goes through, which the training ,like Gaijin said, can be applied to just about anything in life. The class/subclass gives you the mechanics, while the background, unsurprisingly, gives you your characters background and upbringing.
Hey Goomba! Since you've taken the time to dissect DnD's archetypes and how they might parrallel Japanese culture, I was wondering if you might do the same with another roleplay system that was specifically built around the mythos and culture of ancient asia. Legend of the Five Rings is both a TTRPG and living card game that is set in the land of Rokugan, and takes heavy inspiration from Japanese myth and history but also dabbles with Chinese and even Mongolian cultures as well. There is a wealth of lore to dig into and I would be thrilled to see your take on the land of Rokugan and the systems that L5R uses to reflect the mindset and values of its people. The main theme of Rokugan is the phrase "Honor is Stronger than Steel", and if you dig into L5R even a little bit I think you'll see that this phrase sums up the entire series beautifully.
I've played that one before with my character being from the Scorpion Clan aka the great clan known as the Empire's underhand the clan willing to forsake honor and do whatever tactics is needed in order to protect the Empire and the innocents within it. And yes my character was a Suburo Shinobi.
Yeah. You can easily simulate samurai code of service by multiclassing (or hybridizing) with the Oath of the Crown. It even comes with a nifty "fight me, bro" taunt early on.
love this! my buddies and i have a 5 rings campaign we run and we have a samurai framed for his familys death. and the character is about as bullheaded as they come when it comes to his code and restoring his honor. the party also consists of a tanuki monk aspiring to be a drunken master, a wandering priest looking for a monastary to call home, and a large barbarian who tries to grasp poetry with his charisma stat in the negative. its a bit goofy at times but we focus alot on the politics and culture of the land as it affects soooooo many of our decisions. would love to see more of these vids in the future, and maybe you could touch on the 5 rings campaign!
L5r? Another man of culture, I see. I really can't wait for The Great Goomba to say anything about that game and setting, precisely because it would be so on brand for him. So what's your clan of choice?
Personally, I believe the class is still has a bit functionality as a culturally accurate class *IF* you take into account the *background* and the other stats. using the background you can add titles such as *Noble or Soldier* and then just "flavor text" it so that they were supposedly "sent out on a mission on the behalf of their Daimyo or Lord, cuz some Orcs or Hobgoblins were causing trouble nearby the Rice Crops" ... *Just a thought*
Kensei Monks also work. They also gain proficiency in either calligraphy or painters tools. Although it's mostly just a subclass made for weapon using Monks and is centered around Kenjutsu and Bows.
I LOVE that you brought up Kurosawa when describing the romantasized samuruai in pop culture, and love even more the fact that you chose Seven Samurai as the backdrop for it. Lovely nod to what has become my favorite movie of all time, and an excellent choice considering the influence kurosawa's work had on the portrayal of samurai in modern media
I feel like the subclass is actually pretty ideal, based on how 5th Edition D&D handles character creation. The class itself would more accurately embody Ronin, but with the proper selection of your Background you can make a pretty accurate Samurai character. The duty to a lord is purely a matter of roleplay, and is something to be discussed with your DM so they know how you're running your character. And honestly, I like that. The fact you have the tools at your disposal to really play it either way is a plus, IMO.
Personally, i think the Samurai subclass does a very good job. The caste thing cannot be included in a class, that's what backgrounds are for, and Noble is a standard availble background, so slot it in! The martial ability is covered by the fact you're a third level Fighter by the time you're a Samurai, meaning no Samurai can be a martial sloutch. I also like how they avoided the katana-only stereotype and made the Samurai subclass perfectly viable with any kind of weapon, as they were in history. Heck, an archery Samurai would probably be more advantagous! And weren't Samurai mainly archers for a long time? Finally, the loyalty and devotion. That is where the history runs smack dab against the basiv design princliples of D&D 5e. The flexibility to allow tables to tell their own stories, to not pidgeonhole classes (where possible, looking at you druid&ranger) and importantly for any rpg, not clash with good table ettiquette, are all in direct opposition of that kind of loyal bond. Heck, that loyalty is in opposition to many forms of storytelling, might that be why the popular Samurai doesn't have it? The rest of the Samurai you covered yourself as to how it is present. So yeah, i personally think that given that they had half a dozen class features to work with, they captured an impressive amount of flavor and character of the real world Samurai in this Subclass, and i'm still looking for a good place to play one.
Of note, seeing as you Are using 5th edition. Your role play rules: Noble birth Sworn loyalty Class status Are literally all covered during character creation, through originz, bonds,and flaws. And you can have multiple. Origin. Nobility Bond. Sworn allegiance to a lord. Bond/Flaw. Your actions will reflect upon said lord, and shaming him is a terrible price. The class is your abilities and skills. Character creation is who you are as a person in society.
Meh, i don't care. I'm gonna play my vagabond samurai who travels only to affine his blade and train his technique to fight stronger opponents. Lord? Loyalty? Nobilty? Get that bullshit of my view.
the expression Musha shugyō described a Samurai who, wanting to test his abilities in real life conditions, would travel the land and engage in duels along the way. Great concept for a dnd Samurai, about to play one myself, super excited
D&D is about creating the feeling of a class, not being historically similar. If they made the samuri have ties to a lord or a noble requirement it would limit the class from being played in interesting ways. As it currently is you could still be a historical samuri with noble background and a paladin oath but you could also be a Ronin. You could use the archtype to play a Knight but using the subclass with different flavor added to it.
I played as a samurai in 4e. All I needed to do is create a back story where my characters master( Shogun) was killed and thus my once noble character (Nobunaga)became a ronin. Nobunaga killed his tyrannis and broke the most sacred vowel of a samurai to save his country and its people. Banished after being saved by a Kami after committing seppuku he wondered the the lands of another continent to and found a new family and a new purpose in life. Class: Kensai Monk
Hey Gaijin, I don't know if you will do a video on this, but can you do a video talking about the characters, the spirit and the oni from Dead by Daylight?
I kind of feel like the class has everything a character needs to be a samurai, but it's still up to the player to make sure they either have a background that at least parallels historical samurai or a reason to adopt a bushido like code.
As mentioned, Take the Noble Background (History and Persuasion), a number of races can snag either insight or performance, although insight can be snagged with the base class features fairly easily. As it is, some of the ideas I came up with, which meet the requirements, are funny. Changeling, Custom Lineage, Githyanki, Human (Variant), Minotaur, Orc, Satyr, Verdan, and Warforged. Funny enough, Githyanki might fit more closely to Samurai, as they tend to follow the orders of their Queen.
I recently made a Incubus (DM cleared consent for that race) Kensei Monk that fought in the vain of Iaijutsu and I didn’t want him to be focused on bushido, as this wouldn’t fit his Chaotic Neutral alinement, I just couldn’t see a former acolyte that corrupted people’s hearts with desire being able to find noble resolve deep down inside, that being said. I totally love this video and just wanted to share, great content!
Hmm, I feel as is, without taking into consideration the player's background, this is a Ronin at best. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing. I don't know if every Ronin was a "jerk" (and i'm using that term loosly) back then, but it could be possible that for whatever reason, a samurai outlived his lord or outlived his lord and his lord had no successor, or that his lord's last will was for his samurai to live on with their values to try and do some good. Historically speaking i can't say if this has ever happened. I'm not a major in Japanese history with a focus on the Waring states period. That being said, If the character has the Noble background, then yes, it could technically be considered a Samurai, and even then, an interesting story hook for open minded and intelligent DMs to use. at that point, one must Consider, is the Samurai traveling with their lord? is the lord another player character? or has the lord dome something and sent the samurai out, with specific orders to work with "these people" (the party) in order to achieve a goal? A Samurai is a militaristic servant in a sense. the core of their being is the drive and duty to serve. however i can't help but feel a Ronin who has chosen or been ordered to live on after their lord, may choose to rebond themselves to something else in a sense to serve. perhaps "to serve the community" or "to serve the town", making them protectors of an area which many player characters may want to take on, and give them real motivation to strike down any threat that would otherwise endanger the town. But i'll say this, I don't personally see samurai as a viable archetype unless your game is starting at level 3 and above, you know, past the tutorial levels, unless that is, your DM is monty or another in depths DM willing to work with you and show your building up to what it is to be a samurai, but that may be difficult even for Monty grade DMs. Yes, Monty makes mistakes, but lets face it, who doesn't? the main thing is her games from what i can tell are in depth and have a lot of thought behind them and their culture. that or i'm overthinking things.
Well I think the lack of background can be worked around by creating your own. You could make a literal samurai, noble background and all if you wanted too. The archtype was simply supposed to give you the unique combat abilities
I actually have a new player in my DND game that's gonna play this subclass at Lvl 5, and he's going to have a weapon with a spirit within the blade that'll grow with his characters level progression. Concerning this videos end question? Yes it's definitely more of a Ronin when you don't have a Master to serve. But leaving the Backstory open to the players to make whatever they wish is kinda the big appeal of DnD , it's Your roleplay game to tell Your characters story. I really loved this video and shared it with my player and hope he'll enjoy it as much as I did. Keep up the awesome love for the culture!
You can run a fighter samurai with this in mind, but you can also go with the noble background to fill the holes. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but here you go
As someone who is currently playing a samurai subclass fighter, I wanted to raise a few points based on my experiences in game. Firstly, in response to the question of footwork. While it's true that fighter as a class and samurai as a subclass have almost no movement options (the only movement ability you have access to beyond your basic walking speed is using your regular action or even your action surge to dash) that lack of mobility actually forces you as a player to pay very close attention to your positioning, the movement options available to your enemies, which allies those enemies are targeting, and what direction every player on the field is likely to want to move, because otherwise it's very easy for faster enemies to evade you entirely, essentially removing you from the fight without ever dealing damage from you. Unlike classes such as the rogue, monk, or ranger, you have neither the mobility nor the attack range to recover from a lapse of judgement, and it can take entire rounds of combat to close a gap if you misjudge how the battle is going to unfold. In short, the samurai's lack of enhanced mobility places increased importance on the decisions they make with that limited mobility, somewhat mirroring the emphasis you described 'soku' placing upon footwork in kendo, wherein a single wrong step can ruin your battle. There is an additional aspect to a samurai's positioning and/or footwork in D&D combat that only becomes apparent once you've played with the class for several levels: it is often a sound tactical play to move out of your opponent's reach, intentionally provoking opportunity attacks. As a highly-armored fighter from a subclass that gives you extra hit points on top of your already above average total, you can afford to risk taking additional damage in order to waste an enemies reaction. This is something i first started doing when opponents ambushed our bard in the back line, so that he could then get away from his attackers without worrying about those same opportunity attacks being directed at him, but I've also used this strategy when i know an enemy has a potent reaction spell such as counterspell, and I want to bait them into attacking me so that they can't use that spell against someone else. This technique can also be combined with the lv 18 'strength before death' feature to intentionally drop to 0 hp on your own turn, immediately triggering a second full turn after you spent all of your attacks on your regular turn. I won't get too far into the weeds with combat math here, but depending on a number of factors it's possible to make anywhere from 6 to 22 attacks back-to-back this way. Secondly, while you rather understandably focus on the samurai subclass here, i feel it's worth noting to draw attention to a particular aspect of the fighter class itself. That being the fact that fighter gets access to two more ability score improvements/feats than any other class. I bring this up specifically because, while you can use feats to do almost anything, it is possible to use them to lean harder into the fighting styles of the samurai. options like athlete and mobile shore up the classes weaknesses with mobility, sentinel allows you to manipulate your opponent's footwork and prevent them from fleeing or attacking your allies, great weapon master, polearm master and two-weapon fighting let you further specialize with your weapon of choice. And with a total of 7 chances to choose different feats, you can shore up most of the weaknesses with the subclass. Finally, to your point that samurai make for unlikely adventurers because they would only go on adventures at the behest of their lord. While it's true that the samurai subclass has no mechanical tie to a lord or higher power, it is possible to play an adventurer who is defined by that very relationship. To be specific, the samurai i play is the servant of a lord who befell a terrible curse and is currently comatose. The entire reason I set out and joined the rest of my party is in service of an extended quest to research the curse and eventually cure my lord, and everything my character does is in service to that goal. Either directly, such as looking for treasures that might be able to break the curse, or indirectly, such as helping the rest of the team with their personal missions so that when the time comes that i'll need to do something truly stupid for complete my quest, they'll have my back too. (this is a deal i explicitly spelled out in-character when we first joined together, that i would do basically anything for them, as long as they'd be there for me once I've figured out what it is I need to do.) Once the curse is broken my samurai probably won't be an adventurer anymore, but since the curse came from a Deck of Many Things we're almost level 20.
I DMed a 3.5 game with a Samurai PC who’d fled Rokugan in disgrace, after killing her lord for consorting with demons. At one point she was killed in battle, and it became a race to find a powerful cleric and ressurect her before her kin shredded her soul in the afterlife. Just sprinting through the Divine Crane Clan gardens screaming “I’M SORRRRYYYYYY!” 😭 After her resurrection, she re-dedicated her soul directly to Ameterasu, whose attitude was more “You are actively preventing the apocalypse, so that trumps the dishonor thing.”
I think Xanathar's Guide to Everything's Samurai Archetype is the equivalent of modern Kendo. In our world, the samurai are no more, but their priciples live on in kendo (at least, that's what they were going for). It is a perfect adaptation for DnD where there may not even be a Japan to begin with.
Im seriously loving your D&D related content, I really hope theres at least a little more to talk about from the game! An interesting thing about what's said in 11:00 is how the Samurai's Fighting Spirit is very similar to the Barbarian's Reckless Attack, but the Samurai's feature doesn't leave him open for attack like the barbarian does. I also love that since Samurai is a Fighter Archetype, then it grabs the Fighter's proficiency with all weapons, meaning that you're not bound to a katana, and your features perfectly could work if you use archery. I actually kinda wanted to know what would be good feats for historically accurate samurai, as well as what races make a good fit
As a few others have said, the "missing" elements are largely covered through Backgrounds, such as the Noble (and Knight variant) in the PHB and the Courtier from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Or if those aren't enough, the DM and player can work together to create a custom background to reflect a PC that is of the nobility and trained in both war and arts (skill proficiency in Performance and Insight, tool proficiency in either two sets of artisan's tools or gaming set, background feature akin to either Noble or Courtier), which combined with the Fighter's starting proficiency list to cover the martial stuff (weapons & armor) gives you a pretty solid historical samurai right out the gate.
So character idea: You make a fighter with a longsword (katana). Each attack consists of you quickly unsheathing and re-sheathing your blade. You go Samurai and take the mobile feat, which grants +10 movement speed and allows you to move after an attack without provoking opertunity attacks. This means you can measure out your opponent's speed and strike outside of their range way more often. Now, take the Charger feat. You are now able to rush up to a guy, quick-draw cut, get a +5 bonus off of it, and then keep moving to get out of their range with 80 feet of movement, total. And then, if they can pin you down or if they're a problem for the rest of the party, you can still get in easily, do good damage, and then reasonably slip away.
I'm actually playing a samurai in our current D&D campaign. I invoked the ancient practice of musha shugyo as the reason he's off adventuring, which admittedly does effectively make him a ronin, but without any dishonor at least. I also solved the Soku problem by giving him a few levels of monk, specifically kensei monk so he can use his katana (a re-flavored longsword) as a monk weapon. The only downside though is that he'll never get the Strength before Death ability because of it, but I still like the way he's been turning out so far. Also, I'm sharing this video with all the other guys in my gaming group, if only so they understand the significance of his class abilities... and to better educate them on samurai in general of course. lol
I’m currently playing as a samurai (Ronin) in a campaign who’d lost their entire identity and lord to a war that he caused, he had first protected the surviving noble lady and her children to safety in a unknown western land with her brother in law, then travelling further into the country which caused him to discover that he barely new the world that he was living in. It’s been a rather fun character to play!
Something to remember about D&D: your class only represents a MAJORITY of your abilities as that is what progresses the most with levels more than anything else. You should never expect a class, let alone an archetype, to fill in all the blanks to accurately represent what you wanna play. That's why things like races, backgrounds, and even feats are also important to fill in those blanks. Considering Samurai were of noble blood and the like, the Noble background and its variants really help tie everything else together.
I think it depends on how you play. There is a "Noble" background, and you could make "following an order from your master" the reason you are traveling.
In talking about whether the archetype is accurate to actual samurai or not, this video mention that the *background* is the thing that was taken out. Seeing as in D&D a characters background and ideals (the thing that's missing in the archetype) is a separate thing from the class (at least mechanically) it stands to reason, that it's actually fairly accurate and that; with the noble background and a little story crafting; it'd be quite easy to build a historically accurate samurai in every way with this archetype.
As a player of DnD myself, I would say that the "Samurai" archetype is largely fine as it is, simply because DnD is built for roleplay, and therefore the player "filling in" the missing parts of an authentic samurai on their own is part of the game. They can choose to have their samurai have the Noble/Knight Background and have their backstory be that their Lord's holdings were threatened by (big bad's name here), and the samurai was ordered to travel with the (Party's name here) until the threat was stopped. Or if they want to be more creative, have another character of Noble Background be a member of the Party and have them be the Samurai's Lord. Then the samurai is just following his Lord on their journey. All DnD archetypes are meant to be flexible, so that the player can make the character they want and play them as they want. The Samurai archetype succeeds at that. Though I would agree that it would be a little more accurate to name the archetype the Bushido archetype instead. Separately, since we already have the "Fighter" and "Thief" covered in your "Samurai" and "Ninja" videos, will we round out the trifecta by filling in an "Onmyouji" in place of a "Mage". That would definitely be a bit of a stretch, but I'd like to see your thoughts.
If you're going for someone of noble lineage fighting for a lord, I guess a better option would be a Purple Dragon Knight Fighter or an Oath of the Crown Paladin
honestly, the way they built the archetype is honestly very flexible with the way D&D often is a very flexible game. yes as the mike said the type of "Samurai" players DO tend to want to play which is MORE around the style of a "Ronin" that is very correct of you guys. BUT D&D is a VERY adaptable and flexible game, and as such players have the ability to play as BOTH a Ronin style "Samurai" and a TRADITIONAL Noble Warrior that IS a Samurai. D&D has so much customization, that IS entirely possible to make the character either way. Many other classes such as warlock, paladin, cleric and many others, have their warrior codes, and their higher ups that they worship or work for, the ones they have their Duties that bound them to their patron or deity of choice, in all honesty it would be the same for the traditional Samurai and their Lord. just on a mortal level. HELL the fact that in Japanese Culture, Kami are often said to be able to appear on the mortal plane, Technically Speaking the Kami COULD be the Lord of the Samurai. but my main point is. because D&D is super flexible and has deep customization. to where you could play a Samurai in the way of a Traditional Samurai, or a Ronin which they are leaning more towards. it all depends on what YOU the player wishes to do, and honestly Gaijin, i would LOVE to see YOU play a proper Samurai in D&D. you would be able to make it work.
Honestly all those abilites that provide extra action seem like agility, speed, and fancy food work to me. Seeing as you've gotta be fast and graceful to keep doing so many things without bumbling over yourself. So i think this case is even stronger then orginally believed. Covering all four catgories extreamly well.
Pathfinder 1st Edition Samurai Class everybody!!! Baked-In service to a specific Order as a Mechanical Class Feature, abilities that cover both melee weaponry AND archery, and the Resolve Class Feature letting you pull off that Samurai Fighting Spirit.
Also the mounted combat and mounted archery the archtypes for polearm, and sword saints. The ronin bonuses focus on being self determining and a masterless wanderer.
This is (for now) as close as we might be able to get to reaching the Samurai archetype through D&D. As for the missions for adventurers, you could simply play it out as your local lord commissioning you into carrying out missions or tasks and the Samurai hiring the rest of the party or have his own band of specialized retainers to come along. This might actually work pretty interesting for roleplay. Like in the Hagakure, a Samurai should only value land and may not (or never if I remember it correctly.) handle money. Which means one of the retainers or servants have to deal with party finances.
I find it funny as I was just about to make a kalashtar samurai and then there's this vid being like, "here! have a checklist and where to find where else you can make an authentic samurai." I've already given him the background of knight which besides noble is the closest to having a noble birth. I even the reason he's in the game is very close to what a samurai would be doing in the same situation. the game is of a war between the elves and humans and since my race (kalashtar) is apparently allies with the humans so my characters lord would've sent me to fight in the war against his fellow enemy.
it's definitely got a ronin feel, but i can easily see how with a simple back story and the right setting you could easily fix the issue of what was removed. as some have mentioned you can take noble background, and just have it written in your back story that your lord has sent you on a mission. maybe it's to find something/someone, maybe it's to further your training, maybe it's to simply deliver something and the player stumbles upon a plot that threatens their lord/home. hell his lord might be the person giving the group the starting mission. i look forward to playing around with this subclass and see how it rolls
Pathfinder has samurai as well, which functions a lot like a variant of the cavalier. Like the cavalier, PF baseline samurai have mounts, an Order that defines their code of honor, a banner to inspire allies, and the "challenge" ability which makes them much more deadly when fighting their challenged opponent. Where it differs is in the Mounted Archer, Resolve, Honorable Stand and Last Stand class abilities, which (aside from Mounted Archer) seem to be in the same spirit as the DND5e archetype. Representing the stoic determination and fighting spirit associated with bushido.
I could honestly see it being up to how the player chooses the background. If they pick the Noble background, then they would be more in line with traditional Samurai. However if they pick Far Traveler or another background, it can just as easily be said that you are a ronin. Kinda the fun way on how you can make your character be if you want to be a samurai and how you can work your backstory to be close to the original concept of that archtype.
I feel they did it right, a Samurai historically was a combination of two factors, their position in society and their way, the position isn’t really within the purview of a class, it’s part of background, the class covers the way. To get a full samurai you would use the Noble or Soldier background tailored to mirror feudal Japan, and ALSO the subclass. I think they did this exactly right
truly i think it is historically accurate, or more likely as accurate as it can be given the nature of D&D. cause not all Samurai are of noble birth but are supposed to be. as well as the requirements and training that those of noble birth would have to go through once you take out the man(or person. please no hate comments i won't read them) and focus on the process that is where the classes come in. cause the class itself isn't the person its just the training that they went though in life. its the rest of it that turns that samurai into a humble Ronin (Kenshin HimuraRonin Kenshin), talented bandit (9 red scabbards from one piece), or Loyal ninja (protagonist of sekiro).
I think that the samurai DnD class is a good representation of the samurai fighting style, and you are able to build either a ronin who uses the spirit of the bushido teaching to fight, or incorporate the noble birth and learning in the background of your character to build a true samurai.
I feel like it's long overdue for you to make a Which Ninja, but for samurai. A show where you look at pop culture's most famous samurai to see which are good and which are bad.
So I have this idea for a Vampire Samurai. He was brought back by a powerful vampire and essentially trained under him. One day, some event causes him to leave his master and go his own way. I think it works as he trained under a powerful vampire, learning various arts, and while he might or might not be loyal, the time he spent with his master has become a big part of him.
An easy way to deal with the nobility issue of the Samurai archetype is to give them either the Knight or Noble backgrounds. Usually backgrounds give ideas as to why you left your previous life, and one for both of them (since they’re tied closely together) is that something bad happened either to you or from what you’ve done. Whenever I think of the Samurai archetype, I think of it more as a Ronin; they still have all the training they had as Samurai, but they must travel now. Having the Knight or Noble background could help with this idea, as they had to leave their previous, lavish lifestyle for the adventuring lifestyle. Just some food for thought.
This is when we come to flesh out the character's Background. You could always be a Noble, from PHB, and be adventuring because it was ordered by the lord. You could be from a fallen house and be an Urchin, from PHB, who's only heirloom is his father's blade, all the while trying to find your place in the world while either following your family's honor or not. Or you could be a Mercenary Veteran, from SCAG, and be a blade for hire, but always being true to your's and your band's beliefs. The class and subclass are just the start of how your character works.
The nobility and honor-bound way that samurai are so distinct for are meant for backgrounds, rather than classes for the most part. The only exception would be paladins, who have an oath they live by. The most samurai-like character could be played through roleplaying a Noble background as either a paladin for the oath, or a fighter who has an oath. Just because the class doesn't say it has an oath like the paladin doesn't mean that it can't live by one. Based on features, paladin could actually be an interesting thing to look into, with smites acting as cutting rather than slashing and other such flavor being added to how the features apply.
The thing that I love most about 5e is that flavor is King. Even if you didn't have this archetype, it's still possible to use the unique features of a class, subclass, feats, backgrounds, and equipment to create something approximating something akin to samurai. Would it be perfect? no, but neither is this subclass. I can just as easily think of an Oath of Devotion (to a lord) paladin with a noble background and feats to gain various proficiencies. Or a Warlock Pact of Blade Celestial Patron (with your emperor being divine). Or Heck! A swashbuckler rogue has tons of abilities that would fit well with samurai teachings
Well, if you want to build a proper Noble-born Samurai, you take a Fighter with the Samurai Archetype AND the Noble (or variant Knight) Background. That way, you get proficiencies in History and Persuasion, and either the Position of Privilege feature, which means other Nobles acknowledge you as a peer and commoners try to accomodate you, or you get three Retainers to perform mundane tasks for you. Then, if you want more fancy skills, you get the Skilled Feat on your first Ability Score bonus.
I will probably never use the Samurai archetype. However, the ways of Bushido and the various points you refer to have given me a potentially powerful RP moment with one of my fellow players. Thank you.
The three main objections, about Caste, Servitude, and setting can be fixed relatively easy in games like D&D. First Caste, a players position in a Caste system is always present even if it isn't specifically explained. "Nobles" can be seen in many forms and there is almost always a social structure that mirrors a caste system in the big picture of the world and even if a character isn't "born noble" there are many ways in most settings to become a noble. Even in Feudal Japan where their Caste system seemed unbreakingly rigid there were still ways for someone born a commoner to be recognized as a noble though those were usually a multiple generation process. Second Servitude, a player that wants to be a Samurai could easily be in the service of the main lord for the campaign, or to a degree could reflect Clerics and Warlocks who serve a "divine" lord instead of a mortal one and with that if a player multi-classes between a Cleric or Warlock as their main class with a fighter as their second Samurai is a fitting perspective for refining their Martial skills instead of going Paladin to gain some magical ones. With those two arguments made it is easier to see how the Setting can be made to reflect something for fitting for a proper Samurai instead of just ending up with a Ronin.
I think that the subclass gives you the abilites and code of a samurai while giving the opportunity to role play your character how you want to. It lets you be a samurai or a Ronan or whatever you want to use it for
Let me just say that you opened my eyes about the Samurai martial archetype. I have up to this point disallowed it to anyone who was not a noble from my games quote/unquote “samurai land” (it’s Closer to the scarlet empire from exalted). After seeing this, I get the idea that was represented by the archetype and definitely see the whole fighting spirit idea: I am excited to see if any of my players want to portray that. As to the answer, I feel that the archetype presented gives us an idea of honor and bushido as presented by the romanticized samurai that so many media present for us. And really, if you wanted to relegate the role of samurai to just the historical definition, you wouldn’t be allowing the class into your D&D game in the first place.
Came back to this video again and thought I'd also note that this is a VAST improvement over previous editions' Samurais, which had the issue of focusing WAY too much on the wrong things. 3.5's Samurai is seen as one of if not the worst class in D&D history. Since it basically got... - Bastard Sword Proficiency - Two Weapon Fighting Feat Chain, but only when they're using a Katana and Wakizashi (using the stats of a bastard sword and shortsword) - A "Kiai Smite" ability which gave them +Cha to a single attack roll each round they used it, with only 4 uses per day. - Some actually really cool Intimidation based features, but that would become completely useless when facing the vast multitude of fear immune foes. And they lose access to their 2 unique abilities if they break a specific Code of Honor. Which while flavorful doesn't even really mean much. Pathfinder managed to get the whole "Samurai With a Lord As Class" thing down much better, but only by basically making it a variant on the Cavalier class which ALREADY went for the "sworn fealty to a knightly order" thing.
After watching this to the end, I’d say it’s both. Players and even Dungeon Masters can make samurai and ronin. It helps if both the dm and player work together to make a historical samurai in their dnd setting than what is stated in Xanathars’. I’m just happy you spoke about it since most of my friends and former players say the Samurai Archetype lacks substance. I see this as a roleplaying class more than anything and I love it.
I have actually created a 5e class-based adaptation of Legend of the Five Rings, and the Samurai was a vast piece of the inspiration for this, in its form as a Fighter Subclass. I find the subclass to also be really good for a "Noble Swordsman" such as those that would be found in classical Spain, or a Renaissance-literature duelist.
I think the vagueness and gray area of the archetype is leaving things open for you, the player to craft your own samurai. Choose a noble background and be an atypical, classic style samurai. Or choose a nomadic background and embody a ronin, perhaps being a deserter or outlaw of his former master. To me the options are there, and the archetype is just a partly etched slate for you to add on to and complete with your choices at character creation.
I'd say ronin at best for the 5E samurai. Sadly most people's view of what a samurai is doesn't match up to history; much like with the ninja. However, more people are familiar with the word samuri than ronin and that's probably why they chose that word to represent the warrior archetype. In the end, D&D is an abstraction in many ways. Several things throughout the various editions exchange accuracy for playability, like pretty much all games do. Monopoly isn't a hyper realistic simulation of property management, but it's fun to play.
The great thing about DnD is that it gives you the choice. Class and Background in DnD is not the same, so one could very well pick the Noble Background and play a Samurai as it was intended to be played. All it would take is time and preparation with a good DM to make it come to life. If people want to play a true samurai they can, if people want to play the more fantasized Ronin from media, they can~ Much like how Gaijin made his Ninja, it all comes down to the player to make it as accurate as they want using the limitations they have. So yeah, I'd say the Samurai class in DnD is a purrfect representation.
For those of you wondering, as I feared the Spirited Away video was taken down and I was given my first copyright strike in 8 years from Studio Ghibli. I don't know if I can get the video back, but please understand I will not even be mentioning Studio Ghibli on this channel from here-on in. If you want to make sure you can see my videos even if they've been taken down on UA-cam, please consider joining up on my Patreon where I can upload them without worry of UA-cam's wrath. www.patreon.com/gaijingoombah
I'd say I'm shocked but that would be a lie. Glad I was able to see it when I did now thanks to you I actually know something about Kintaro. Until then my only knowledge of Kintaro was limited to Mortal Kombat, the Yusagi episodes of TMNT 2012, and the Nioh games.
I'm so glad I was able to watch it before it was. It was a great video that explained a lot of what I missed. I still remember seeing it for the first time at like midnight when I was like 8. Also I've become a HUGE fan of the Unexpectables, Greckles is fucking awesome. I hope that I can be in a DnD session as fun as that. I'm WAAAAAAAAY behind, but I hope to catch up at some point. I'm really glad that I have found your channel because I have the same fascination with Japanese culture as you do, but I'm still kinda lacking in actual knowledge. So all of this is super awesome to me, especially realizing all the references that are actually in pop/modern culture after watching so many of your videos. They also help my day get better whenever I see them. Your humor is top notch my dude, keep it up.
Fair enough.
Personally, no. I don't think the archetype in itself makes a samurai in D&D. As you pointed out there are several aspects of the samurai that transcend time and space and are reflected in the archetype. But something I feel is just as equally important if we're talking about making anything in D&D is how you use those aspects. If combined with a dedicated character, I think a lawful neutral morality and a noble background yes, I think you could make an accurate samurai then. But going back to that point about transcending space in time, enough tweaks to a full character using this archetype could be anything. I myself am using it to play a semi-historic viking with Saxon upbringings. For those who know of them, Uhtred in the Saxon tales is the main inspiration. But to compare, the ideas of fighting a battle to the end, coming out victorious and never ending until you've won are ideas mirrored in several sagas of viking lore or in the Volsunga. And other proverbs from these epics also talk about being wise out of combat in how you deal with others and knowing a fool when you see one, much like an insightful person would. Furthermore the real Norsemen were extremely cautious with battle, usually only choosing to fight when they had they had better odds. And as for the extra hit points and fighting spirit, need I talk about the numerous stories or sagas of epic warriors fighting against impossible odds and finding a joy in battle? Or the infamous berserker that terrified early England and France?
My main point is that do I think the archetype is enough to make a real samurai in D&D? Absolutely not. But its a fantastic start with several good aspects as you've pointed out for a dedicated player to use in pursuit of that end goal. Still just glad you're loving D&D... and awaiting anxiously the Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow episode(s) of Which Ninja....
More serious note, wish I could've seen the Spirited Away video as well. I added it to my watch later list and it ended up being one of the "private or removed" videos. Wish UA-cam would cut this crap and let the creators create. Hope you win if you choose to pursue any counter action GG. Love the video and can't wait for more.
Sorry to hear, Goombah. Glad I got to see it before it went down, it was a fantastic vid. I appreciated finally learning about the Radish Spirit!
There's a very easy fix for the missing parts of Samurai, Noble Background.
Perhaps multiclass into Oath of the Crown Paladin for the rigid oath to a noble lord.
And if the character has the Ability Scores for it, a dip into Kensai monk won’t hurt, right?
There's also a variant Noble called Knight, and a background called Courtier.
Exactly what I was thinking. Ultimately, the abilities are focused on the skills and techniques needed to be a Samurai. It's up to the player whether or not they want to go all in and roleplay a historically accurate representation.
Agreed. Most players will play as Ronan. However if someone wants to play as a true samurai they would take a more historically accurate approach and the opportunity is there for those who want to take it.
I think "Samurai" that D&D made is likely closer to a Ronin than a Samurai. And as you said in your vid on Samurai Jack, that allows for a much more interesting character.
Also, if you truly want to be a Samurai, then it's up to you to role-play your character that way.
It makes sense. Ronin, being jobless, do tend to go from place to place to find meaningful employment, so it's not unthinkable they'd be adventurers too.
I think a character with the limitations of a Samurai would be more compelling, tbh.
Yeah totally agreed.
@@BetaGunslinger That all comes down to the players in a campaign. With the wrong group a true Samurai, or Ronin character can be as dull as a standard murderhobo. With the right group either can be truly beautiful to watch how it plays out.
I didn't realize this went up the same time the Playstation 5 announcement stream went up so I might end up repuloading this. XD
Hey can you please do a which ninja on Konoe Kikyo from Bravely Default and a Yokai Hunters video on Yoko from Bravely Second as Bravely Default 2 is coming out soon.
Ok, thats ok
On that topic what's your thoughts of Ghostwire: Tokyo and the supernatural stuff in there?
If you do, I will rewatch it. Gotta help you make that revenue.
Why would I watch the announcement of that piece of junk when I could watch one of your videos?
Make a character with a noble background who's lord sends them on a mission to take down the BBEG.
Done. Full samurai.
Or have them be the sworn bodyguard of another party member
@@coolgreenbug7551I like this one, as it’s more fluid. Also, interesting party dynamics-reminds me of Minsc and Dynaheir in Baldur’s Gate I.
The Samurai has some help you failed to mention. You've convinced me it is fine for a Samurai achetype, because you CAN build a Samurai out of it. When you make a character in D&D, you pick a race, class, AND background! Pick the Noble background or whatever background would be more appropriate, and you can fill the gap. Classes and subclasses in D&D mostly represent your combat abilities, but it's up to you to make the character act the way you want them to.
the noble variant: knight might be so even more, and you can have attendants who fallow you around as a throwback to the earlier years of warfare in Japan.
2:10 - "That's kind of a problem if one of your party members is hyper-focused not only on a personal code but ultimate loyalty to a specific lord." I don't know, Little G, paladins and warlocks seem to do just fine.
2:18 - "In fact, unless it was their lord's bidding to do so, there's really no reason for a samurai to be traveling at all." That sounds like a job for CHARACTER BACKSTORY! Your character may not necessarily even know _why_ their lord ordered them to go adventuring with the party, but he told you to do it and that's good enough for you.
Classes don't have a background built into them for a reason: that's what the Background is for. Really, the only requirement for your D&D character to be of noble blood is for your backstory to say so. You don't even strictly NEED the Noble background to be a member of the nobility; perhaps your noble-born character became an officer in the army or navy (taking the Soldier or Sailor background), or holds a high-level position in the family business (Guild Artisan), or entered the clergy (Acolyte), or became a scholar (Sage), is particularly well-loved by the populace (Folk Hero), or maybe their family is part of some shady crime family or organization (Criminal or Charlatan). Hell, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings is literal royalty, and he probably has the Outlander background. Note: the picture for the entry of the Soldier background is a samurai.
The majority of what makes samurai specifically "samurai" will come more from how you roleplay your character than from any in-game rules or class features. Personally, I find the Samurai archetype to be a decent way to play as a samurai, but there are a number of other, arguably mechanically better, ways. Battlemaster is a common choice, as well as Kensei monk. Cavalier is pretty good too (the class doesn't even _require_ you to be a mounted fighter, but historical samurai _were_ primarily cavalry). You can even use Barbarian, and reflavor Rage as a sort of focused battle trance instead of "Hulk smash". If you like the imagery of the more dexterous swordsman who wears a kimono instead of heavy armor, the Swashbuckler rogue works well. Even Paladin and Warlock can work, if you prefer a more mystical-flavored magical samurai like you might see in anime.
"historical samurai were primarily cavalry"
I disagree with that statement. According to A Brief History of the Samurai, the word 'samurai' come from the Chinese word 'samui' which means 'to serve'. They started out as servants and later became trained bodyguards. This is where their sense of noble eloquence comes from while also their fighting spirit.
A knight started out as a mounted warrior first and later on got more trained and got an official code by the church in order to keep them in line. This is why the Samurai does not get any mount-specific features while the Cavalier (from the French 'chevalier' meaning horseman) does.
@@ReinoudvanReekumナウト Actual Japanese person here. The samurai did function primarily as mounted cavalry, from the 12th century up until the eventual end of the samurai caste, and would function as mounted archers until closing with the enemy. To the samurai, your horse was only just slightly less important than your katana, and was considered a noble warrior in its own right; a warhorse killed in battle would even be given proper funeral rites, though not an actual full funeral (although the mental image of servants trying to dress a horse in funerary attire is kind of hilarious).
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As Arctic Banana points out, the Cavalier subclass doesn't actually _require_ the character to be a mounted fighter. Their first class ability "Born to the Saddle" gives you a number of bonuses to your riding ability, but none of the rest of their abilities make mention of needing to be mounted. Mounted or not, Cavalier does look to be a suitable option for a slightly more defensive-focused samurai character.
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As an important side note, the katana and wakizashi (collectively called the daishō) were _not_ the samurai's primary weapons in battle, despite their prevalence and near-mythical status in pop culture; rather, the daishō was a badge of honor, a symbol of the bearer's authority as a samurai, and was almost never used in actual combat, the exception being honor duels between samurai (which were commonly (but not always) fought without armor, as it could damage the katana), or in seppuku. The samurai's primary weapon was actually the yumi (longbow), to such an extent that at one point in history you couldn't even legally call yourself a samurai until you reached a certain required level of skill as an archer (skill in kyūdō was even more important than skill in kenjutsu). Once closing with the enemy, the samurai would switch to the yari (spear), naginata, or masakari (axe) to fight from horseback. Even when dismounted most samurai would still stick to those three as their primary weapons, but they would also commonly wield a wide variety of weaponry, such as the etsi (large battle axe), kanabo (spiked iron club), ōtsuchi (warhammer), ōdachi (large two-handed sword), and even rifles and cannons, and individual samurai had their own preferences. The katana was reserved as a weapon of last resort because it was so easy to damage it in battle. But all of that just isn't as _glamorous_ as the image of a fully-armored samurai proudly wielding his katana, now is it?
If you want to get really mystical/magical with your anime "samurai" just go bladesinger
My first instinct for a more mystical samurai was a swords college bard. You get the weapon mastery represented by the flourishes, the artistic aspect represented by musical proficiency, and the mystical aspect with magic (which comes from either the inner spirit or from the spirits of the samurai's ancestors).
And if you want to really be a master swordsman/bowman, then multiclass into battle master, and take the martial adept feat, for a ridiculous amount of special moves
@@MahouShoujoNobue Turns out the Samurai have a surprisingly varied range of weapons, and presumably the Ronin, who differ from samurai only in that they haven't been hired yet, do as well. The archery is also an interresting angle, and lends a fighter a good bit of range, both literally and lorewise.
Since you've covered building a Ninja and a Samurai through D&D, I'm curious if you might end up finishing the trifecta and do a video on building an Onmyouji.
I would be surprised if he didn't... though Onmyo is basically own school of magic and it would be hard to replicate it without homebrewing own subclass of Warlock.
TheRezro Honestly, I do agree that Pact of the Chain Warlock would be a requirement, but if we’re going off the stories where Onmyouji could summon spirits and Yokai to do their bidding, possibly a Conjuration Wizard multiclass would be added, or maybe even a bit of sorcerer since I have heard “Onmyouji” be translated as “Sorcerer” in some older material (I think the Nurarihyon anime? I don’t quite remember). I’m just curious what GG would consider the closest representation of an Onmyouji in D&D would be.
@@TheAzureGuardian Well, Oni were translated as demons until they retranslated them as more appropriate ogres. Though you are actually correct that some could be considered also as sorcerers (as descendants of some spirits, look Abe no Seimei), but that would be more a multi-class with descendants of Yo-Kai, being separate from actual Onmyo.
@@TheRezro Warlock but you might need Yokai as Etherial plane monsters.
@@TheRezro That's true, since the Sorcerer class in D&D gets their power from inheritance (special bloodline). Warlock and Wizard would both make a bit more sense since not only do Onmyouji study their magic but generally form a pact with a spirit or Yokai (or bind them into service, hence Pact of the Chain). SO again, Pact of the Chain Warlock with Conjuration Wizard would probably be the best multiclass representative since then you can get really good Find Familiar options and then you can basically summon creatures to do your bidding all the live long day. I just suggested Sorcerer for some more magic options when not relying on your summon creatures (such as withholding them until fighting something really strong).
Goomba: "I want to build a samurai"
D&D: "I can give you a ronin."
Goomba: "Nnnnnnnnnnngh....."
D&D: "Take, or take not. There is no try."
I left the PlayStation live event for this.
Then I'm SUPER honored!
Hope it was worth it
@@GaijinGoombah You don't know it but videos like this are helping in ways you can't imagine.
@@GaijinGoombah that's why I made my d&d character a ronin
@@GaijinGoombah 69th strike
I mean in all honesty I would say this is fairly accurate to what the spirit of the samurai is even if it's not entirely accurate to facts.
I don't know the entire Bushido code but I know that there is one line about dying when it is fit for you to die and everything about this class is perseverance.
Now that said if you want to go entirely 100% accurate give them a noble background and you're pretty much set.
As I said myself.
IF you want to play to the Letter of what a samurai is, play a Paladin of the Crown. If you want to play the Spirit of a samurai, pick the archetype.
The sequel nobody asked for but the sequel everyone needed
I would argue that not asking for it was not the same as not wanting it. Or who knows maybe all this samurai talk has got me feeling deeply philosophical
@@firestorm165 I never claimed nobody wanted it, I just meant that not too many people seems to have actively asked for it
...I was asking for it.
Especially if you want to play a Samurai Fighter.
I feel it's important to also mention that the parts Little G had a problem with wouldn't be found in the class, but rather they would be chosen when picking your background. For a Samurai I would personally pick the Noble or Soldier background. Noble pushing more towards the family background, and Solider aligning the character more towards the Military aspect. It's important to remember while you pick the background, that isn't all there is too. Your character can be a Noble that joined the Military, picking one over the other just means that's where more of your characters skills are.
I would also recommend talking to your DM about making use of the optional rules for the Honor stats, or was it the Nobility stat.... It's been awhile since I've looked into it, but basically it's a separate stat that determines court standings and connections. A high roll in this stat means you were born into a Higher position of Nobility (sound familiar), and if played out properly can be used in court room drama. Making back room deals with other nobles, convincing troops to follow you into battle, things that have to do with being a Noble, and playing in a Noble Court.
Instead of calling it the "Samurai" Archetype, it should have been called the "Bushido" Archetype, because its about how a Samurai *fights*, not the whole thing. A Samurai in D&D would be this Martial Archetype + a Noble/Knight (or similar) Background, where you flavor it to reflect the culture of Samurai.
Or just Bushi, seeing as that's the bushido term for a samurai themselves.
to be fair i don't think japan exists in dnd. It's parallel country representation in dnd can have a bit looser of regulations. You can be a DND samurai.
Do that however and people less educated in Japanese history won't get it.
Well, there is Kara Tur as Asia-Kozakura as Japan and Shou Leng as China-in DND’s Forgotten Realms and Faerun has substantial Asian minorities in Thesk and Waterdeep.
Though they haven’t released any campaigns yet.
The only issue with that I see is it wouldn’t fit the naming convention of other archetypes. All the fighter archetypes are what a person of that subclass is called (Champion, Eldritch Knight, Cavalier, etc) so a Bushido isn’t what a person is called
While all of this is great, I love how you translate small passages of text and a few little numbers into massive expansive analysis on cultural draws, a lot of tissues you mentioned about the lack of nobility that makes samurai who they truly were, can easily fixed in creating your character by making them have the noble background, which features most, if not all of those traits. You gain extra languages from your higher education, your personality traits can be focused on your devotion to your king (or lord in this case), you can even have a group of retainers. In fact even above all of this, you can choose the variant of the noble, becoming a knight, and again simply tweaking the personality traits around to make it exactly as a samurai was. All in all I think this was an incredible analysis and I love your videos (especially tase DND videos cut I love the game so much), all I'm saying is that they do put options in the game to make up for what you mentioned were lacking.
Also Samurai archetype do have Elegant Courtier feature, which might also have his nobleborn status.
It’s time to bring honor to DND Samurai
Are we talking like Pathfinder Honor mechanic here or what?
@@KageRyuu6 there is an honor system in DND 5e found in the DMG option rules. its a state that indicate how credible are you.
but I think they were talking in honor in general
I really like these custom dnd videos I’ve been seeing in my recommended
I feel like this comes down to how the players role-play because I imagine if someone really wanted to make a samurai they would use this class and archetype but I just filled in all the blanks with the needed traits.
Mike Mearls is really honest in saying ''no, this ain't a real samurai''
I love your D&D videos! i think that they left things out that are included in the noble background or the knight variant of the noble background. If you take those backgrounds with the samurai archetype then its more realistic
to put it simply:
if you want to play as a Samurai, play as a Ronin
Most fo the pooular samurai in Western media are actually ronin.
Usagi Yojimbo, Samurai Jack, the Seven Samurai in Kurosawa's film...
Especially the Complete warrior 3rd Ronin. The 3rd edition Samurai is considered a joke.
@@SgtPotShot We speak not of the 3rd Edition Samurai, for it is cursed!
Or just play a Samurai serving his lord. Being given orders from your lord makes a MUCH stronger buy-in for players than 'hey, they're offering money if you do X'
i think that a lot of the aspects mentioned that the class is "missing", servitude, nobility, etc, are perfect for roleplaying opportunities, and DM collaboration, instead of a mechanic. because then, choices regarding honor, and loyalty to one's lord impact your character, not just your character sheet. it's up to the player to hold true to the code because they want to, not because they'll roll less dice if they don't. this video got me thinking about how i would play a samurai, or how i would work with a samurai player, and i'm very inspired! keep up the good work
I think Pathfinder has the best samurai class for accuracy and mechanics. In it is an alternative to the cavalier which has a strict code belong to a faction or lord although their is an option to be a lone ronin with their own defined code. Are trained in horsemanship and mounted combat. Carry a banner of thir faction to fortify the will of their allies. All the while keeping the whole bushido fighting spirit theme. The also have archtypes for polearm and swordsaint samurai.
the ninja class in pathfinder is also very cool! Also the playable tengu race is obviously worth mentioning lol
so like a paladin in 5e?
Ah yes the samurai archetype for the cav, or go full anime with the cockitrice and win with the power of friendship
@@RealJohnnyAngel Very similar, but the diference between the Paladin and Cavalier/Samurai in Pathfinder is mainly that the latter has way more flexibility in what the code is and it doesn't have to be Lawfull Good (although certain Paladin arquetypes do relax this) neither does it gain magical abilities like their auras, spells, celestial aidance (either as an angelic mount or enchant weapons on the fly) or to smite evil. Mainly, the Cavalier/Samurai are non-magical in nature (although I think the Samurai, like the Ninja, have ki pools which is the key diference between them and their occidental versions).
In a friend of mine's next campaign i want to do an old Samurai who only travels to train his blade and sword techniques. Pretty cool i guess? I don't want to do the Loyal Samurai thing.
I think as a player if you wanted to build a historically accurate samurai, you can't just look at class alone. That's why we have the Noble/Knight background from the PHB or even the Courtier background from Sword Coast Adventurers Guide. The fighter's archetype is the specific training a fighter goes through, which the training ,like Gaijin said, can be applied to just about anything in life. The class/subclass gives you the mechanics, while the background, unsurprisingly, gives you your characters background and upbringing.
Hey Goomba! Since you've taken the time to dissect DnD's archetypes and how they might parrallel Japanese culture, I was wondering if you might do the same with another roleplay system that was specifically built around the mythos and culture of ancient asia. Legend of the Five Rings is both a TTRPG and living card game that is set in the land of Rokugan, and takes heavy inspiration from Japanese myth and history but also dabbles with Chinese and even Mongolian cultures as well. There is a wealth of lore to dig into and I would be thrilled to see your take on the land of Rokugan and the systems that L5R uses to reflect the mindset and values of its people.
The main theme of Rokugan is the phrase "Honor is Stronger than Steel", and if you dig into L5R even a little bit I think you'll see that this phrase sums up the entire series beautifully.
I've played that one before with my character being from the Scorpion Clan aka the great clan known as the Empire's underhand the clan willing to forsake honor and do whatever tactics is needed in order to protect the Empire and the innocents within it. And yes my character was a Suburo Shinobi.
Basically just slap a paladin oath onto it.
Yeah. You can easily simulate samurai code of service by multiclassing (or hybridizing) with the Oath of the Crown. It even comes with a nifty "fight me, bro" taunt early on.
Or just take the noble (knight) background.
Oath of the Crown!
@@BudderWizza123 definitely
love this! my buddies and i have a 5 rings campaign we run and we have a samurai framed for his familys death. and the character is about as bullheaded as they come when it comes to his code and restoring his honor. the party also consists of a tanuki monk aspiring to be a drunken master, a wandering priest looking for a monastary to call home, and a large barbarian who tries to grasp poetry with his charisma stat in the negative. its a bit goofy at times but we focus alot on the politics and culture of the land as it affects soooooo many of our decisions. would love to see more of these vids in the future, and maybe you could touch on the 5 rings campaign!
That's absolutely brilliant
Get gaijin to see this.
L5r? Another man of culture, I see. I really can't wait for The Great Goomba to say anything about that game and setting, precisely because it would be so on brand for him.
So what's your clan of choice?
@@lukezondervan8094 Crane Clan my guy :D
@@void-hippie *squints in Mantis*
Okay then, pay me and your coastlines will be nice and safe.
Personally, I believe the class is still has a bit functionality as a culturally accurate class *IF* you take into account the *background* and the other stats. using the background you can add titles such as *Noble or Soldier* and then just "flavor text" it so that they were supposedly "sent out on a mission on the behalf of their Daimyo or Lord, cuz some Orcs or Hobgoblins were causing trouble nearby the Rice Crops" ...
*Just a thought*
Kensei Monks also work. They also gain proficiency in either calligraphy or painters tools. Although it's mostly just a subclass made for weapon using Monks and is centered around Kenjutsu and Bows.
I LOVE that you brought up Kurosawa when describing the romantasized samuruai in pop culture, and love even more the fact that you chose Seven Samurai as the backdrop for it. Lovely nod to what has become my favorite movie of all time, and an excellent choice considering the influence kurosawa's work had on the portrayal of samurai in modern media
I feel like the subclass is actually pretty ideal, based on how 5th Edition D&D handles character creation.
The class itself would more accurately embody Ronin, but with the proper selection of your Background you can make a pretty accurate Samurai character. The duty to a lord is purely a matter of roleplay, and is something to be discussed with your DM so they know how you're running your character.
And honestly, I like that. The fact you have the tools at your disposal to really play it either way is a plus, IMO.
Personally, i think the Samurai subclass does a very good job.
The caste thing cannot be included in a class, that's what backgrounds are for, and Noble is a standard availble background, so slot it in!
The martial ability is covered by the fact you're a third level Fighter by the time you're a Samurai, meaning no Samurai can be a martial sloutch. I also like how they avoided the katana-only stereotype and made the Samurai subclass perfectly viable with any kind of weapon, as they were in history. Heck, an archery Samurai would probably be more advantagous! And weren't Samurai mainly archers for a long time?
Finally, the loyalty and devotion. That is where the history runs smack dab against the basiv design princliples of D&D 5e. The flexibility to allow tables to tell their own stories, to not pidgeonhole classes (where possible, looking at you druid&ranger) and importantly for any rpg, not clash with good table ettiquette, are all in direct opposition of that kind of loyal bond. Heck, that loyalty is in opposition to many forms of storytelling, might that be why the popular Samurai doesn't have it?
The rest of the Samurai you covered yourself as to how it is present. So yeah, i personally think that given that they had half a dozen class features to work with, they captured an impressive amount of flavor and character of the real world Samurai in this Subclass, and i'm still looking for a good place to play one.
Of note, seeing as you Are using 5th edition. Your role play rules:
Noble birth
Sworn loyalty
Class status
Are literally all covered during character creation, through originz, bonds,and flaws. And you can have multiple.
Origin. Nobility
Bond. Sworn allegiance to a lord.
Bond/Flaw. Your actions will reflect upon said lord, and shaming him is a terrible price.
The class is your abilities and skills. Character creation is who you are as a person in society.
Meh, i don't care. I'm gonna play my vagabond samurai who travels only to affine his blade and train his technique to fight stronger opponents. Lord? Loyalty? Nobilty? Get that bullshit of my view.
It'd be interesting to see you're take on the samurai-esque structure used by Soul Reapers/shinigami in Bleach
I guess you can say that when you face and become a Samurai,
know the art, the art of war. Hehe.
the expression Musha shugyō described a Samurai who, wanting to test his abilities in real life conditions, would travel the land and engage in duels along the way. Great concept for a dnd Samurai, about to play one myself, super excited
From musashi’s book, all those terms sound like Shonen hero archetypes
D&D is about creating the feeling of a class, not being historically similar. If they made the samuri have ties to a lord or a noble requirement it would limit the class from being played in interesting ways. As it currently is you could still be a historical samuri with noble background and a paladin oath but you could also be a Ronin. You could use the archtype to play a Knight but using the subclass with different flavor added to it.
A popular saying by the samurai that I follow is, "The Pen and Sword in accord." Literally meaning, "Learning and Fighting are equally important."
I played as a samurai in 4e. All I needed to do is create a back story where my characters master( Shogun) was killed and thus my once noble character (Nobunaga)became a ronin. Nobunaga killed his tyrannis and broke the most sacred vowel of a samurai to save his country and its people. Banished after being saved by a Kami after committing seppuku he wondered the the lands of another continent to and found a new family and a new purpose in life. Class: Kensai Monk
I'm curious how close Pathfinder's Samurai comes to being...well, a samurai.
I am so happy that I got to see that video before it was taken down.
Hey Gaijin, I don't know if you will do a video on this, but can you do a video talking about the characters, the spirit and the oni from Dead by Daylight?
0:58 Who's gonna tell him ninja was a "job" often performed by individuals belonging to the samari "class"...
I kind of feel like the class has everything a character needs to be a samurai, but it's still up to the player to make sure they either have a background that at least parallels historical samurai or a reason to adopt a bushido like code.
As mentioned, Take the Noble Background (History and Persuasion), a number of races can snag either insight or performance, although insight can be snagged with the base class features fairly easily. As it is, some of the ideas I came up with, which meet the requirements, are funny.
Changeling, Custom Lineage, Githyanki, Human (Variant), Minotaur, Orc, Satyr, Verdan, and Warforged.
Funny enough, Githyanki might fit more closely to Samurai, as they tend to follow the orders of their Queen.
What about an onmyoji in dnd
I recently made a Incubus (DM cleared consent for that race) Kensei Monk that fought in the vain of Iaijutsu and I didn’t want him to be focused on bushido, as this wouldn’t fit his Chaotic Neutral alinement, I just couldn’t see a former acolyte that corrupted people’s hearts with desire being able to find noble resolve deep down inside, that being said. I totally love this video and just wanted to share, great content!
Hmm, I feel as is, without taking into consideration the player's background, this is a Ronin at best. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing. I don't know if every Ronin was a "jerk" (and i'm using that term loosly) back then, but it could be possible that for whatever reason, a samurai outlived his lord or outlived his lord and his lord had no successor, or that his lord's last will was for his samurai to live on with their values to try and do some good. Historically speaking i can't say if this has ever happened. I'm not a major in Japanese history with a focus on the Waring states period.
That being said, If the character has the Noble background, then yes, it could technically be considered a Samurai, and even then, an interesting story hook for open minded and intelligent DMs to use. at that point, one must Consider, is the Samurai traveling with their lord? is the lord another player character? or has the lord dome something and sent the samurai out, with specific orders to work with "these people" (the party) in order to achieve a goal? A Samurai is a militaristic servant in a sense. the core of their being is the drive and duty to serve. however i can't help but feel a Ronin who has chosen or been ordered to live on after their lord, may choose to rebond themselves to something else in a sense to serve. perhaps "to serve the community" or "to serve the town", making them protectors of an area which many player characters may want to take on, and give them real motivation to strike down any threat that would otherwise endanger the town.
But i'll say this, I don't personally see samurai as a viable archetype unless your game is starting at level 3 and above, you know, past the tutorial levels, unless that is, your DM is monty or another in depths DM willing to work with you and show your building up to what it is to be a samurai, but that may be difficult even for Monty grade DMs. Yes, Monty makes mistakes, but lets face it, who doesn't? the main thing is her games from what i can tell are in depth and have a lot of thought behind them and their culture. that or i'm overthinking things.
Well I think the lack of background can be worked around by creating your own. You could make a literal samurai, noble background and all if you wanted too. The archtype was simply supposed to give you the unique combat abilities
I actually have a new player in my DND game that's gonna play this subclass at Lvl 5, and he's going to have a weapon with a spirit within the blade that'll grow with his characters level progression.
Concerning this videos end question? Yes it's definitely more of a Ronin when you don't have a Master to serve. But leaving the Backstory open to the players to make whatever they wish is kinda the big appeal of DnD , it's Your roleplay game to tell Your characters story. I really loved this video and shared it with my player and hope he'll enjoy it as much as I did. Keep up the awesome love for the culture!
You can run a fighter samurai with this in mind, but you can also go with the noble background to fill the holes. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but here you go
As someone who is currently playing a samurai subclass fighter, I wanted to raise a few points based on my experiences in game.
Firstly, in response to the question of footwork. While it's true that fighter as a class and samurai as a subclass have almost no movement options (the only movement ability you have access to beyond your basic walking speed is using your regular action or even your action surge to dash) that lack of mobility actually forces you as a player to pay very close attention to your positioning, the movement options available to your enemies, which allies those enemies are targeting, and what direction every player on the field is likely to want to move, because otherwise it's very easy for faster enemies to evade you entirely, essentially removing you from the fight without ever dealing damage from you. Unlike classes such as the rogue, monk, or ranger, you have neither the mobility nor the attack range to recover from a lapse of judgement, and it can take entire rounds of combat to close a gap if you misjudge how the battle is going to unfold. In short, the samurai's lack of enhanced mobility places increased importance on the decisions they make with that limited mobility, somewhat mirroring the emphasis you described 'soku' placing upon footwork in kendo, wherein a single wrong step can ruin your battle.
There is an additional aspect to a samurai's positioning and/or footwork in D&D combat that only becomes apparent once you've played with the class for several levels: it is often a sound tactical play to move out of your opponent's reach, intentionally provoking opportunity attacks. As a highly-armored fighter from a subclass that gives you extra hit points on top of your already above average total, you can afford to risk taking additional damage in order to waste an enemies reaction. This is something i first started doing when opponents ambushed our bard in the back line, so that he could then get away from his attackers without worrying about those same opportunity attacks being directed at him, but I've also used this strategy when i know an enemy has a potent reaction spell such as counterspell, and I want to bait them into attacking me so that they can't use that spell against someone else. This technique can also be combined with the lv 18 'strength before death' feature to intentionally drop to 0 hp on your own turn, immediately triggering a second full turn after you spent all of your attacks on your regular turn. I won't get too far into the weeds with combat math here, but depending on a number of factors it's possible to make anywhere from 6 to 22 attacks back-to-back this way.
Secondly, while you rather understandably focus on the samurai subclass here, i feel it's worth noting to draw attention to a particular aspect of the fighter class itself. That being the fact that fighter gets access to two more ability score improvements/feats than any other class. I bring this up specifically because, while you can use feats to do almost anything, it is possible to use them to lean harder into the fighting styles of the samurai. options like athlete and mobile shore up the classes weaknesses with mobility, sentinel allows you to manipulate your opponent's footwork and prevent them from fleeing or attacking your allies, great weapon master, polearm master and two-weapon fighting let you further specialize with your weapon of choice. And with a total of 7 chances to choose different feats, you can shore up most of the weaknesses with the subclass.
Finally, to your point that samurai make for unlikely adventurers because they would only go on adventures at the behest of their lord. While it's true that the samurai subclass has no mechanical tie to a lord or higher power, it is possible to play an adventurer who is defined by that very relationship. To be specific, the samurai i play is the servant of a lord who befell a terrible curse and is currently comatose. The entire reason I set out and joined the rest of my party is in service of an extended quest to research the curse and eventually cure my lord, and everything my character does is in service to that goal. Either directly, such as looking for treasures that might be able to break the curse, or indirectly, such as helping the rest of the team with their personal missions so that when the time comes that i'll need to do something truly stupid for complete my quest, they'll have my back too. (this is a deal i explicitly spelled out in-character when we first joined together, that i would do basically anything for them, as long as they'd be there for me once I've figured out what it is I need to do.)
Once the curse is broken my samurai probably won't be an adventurer anymore, but since the curse came from a Deck of Many Things we're almost level 20.
I DMed a 3.5 game with a Samurai PC who’d fled Rokugan in disgrace, after killing her lord for consorting with demons. At one point she was killed in battle, and it became a race to find a powerful cleric and ressurect her before her kin shredded her soul in the afterlife.
Just sprinting through the Divine Crane Clan gardens screaming “I’M SORRRRYYYYYY!” 😭
After her resurrection, she re-dedicated her soul directly to Ameterasu, whose attitude was more “You are actively preventing the apocalypse, so that trumps the dishonor thing.”
I think Xanathar's Guide to Everything's Samurai Archetype is the equivalent of modern Kendo. In our world, the samurai are no more, but their priciples live on in kendo (at least, that's what they were going for).
It is a perfect adaptation for DnD where there may not even be a Japan to begin with.
Im seriously loving your D&D related content, I really hope theres at least a little more to talk about from the game! An interesting thing about what's said in 11:00 is how the Samurai's Fighting Spirit is very similar to the Barbarian's Reckless Attack, but the Samurai's feature doesn't leave him open for attack like the barbarian does. I also love that since Samurai is a Fighter Archetype, then it grabs the Fighter's proficiency with all weapons, meaning that you're not bound to a katana, and your features perfectly could work if you use archery.
I actually kinda wanted to know what would be good feats for historically accurate samurai, as well as what races make a good fit
As a few others have said, the "missing" elements are largely covered through Backgrounds, such as the Noble (and Knight variant) in the PHB and the Courtier from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Or if those aren't enough, the DM and player can work together to create a custom background to reflect a PC that is of the nobility and trained in both war and arts (skill proficiency in Performance and Insight, tool proficiency in either two sets of artisan's tools or gaming set, background feature akin to either Noble or Courtier), which combined with the Fighter's starting proficiency list to cover the martial stuff (weapons & armor) gives you a pretty solid historical samurai right out the gate.
So character idea: You make a fighter with a longsword (katana). Each attack consists of you quickly unsheathing and re-sheathing your blade. You go Samurai and take the mobile feat, which grants +10 movement speed and allows you to move after an attack without provoking opertunity attacks. This means you can measure out your opponent's speed and strike outside of their range way more often. Now, take the Charger feat.
You are now able to rush up to a guy, quick-draw cut, get a +5 bonus off of it, and then keep moving to get out of their range with 80 feet of movement, total. And then, if they can pin you down or if they're a problem for the rest of the party, you can still get in easily, do good damage, and then reasonably slip away.
The Noble background in the PHB handles this. It even has a picture of a samurai on it
I'm actually playing a samurai in our current D&D campaign. I invoked the ancient practice of musha shugyo as the reason he's off adventuring, which admittedly does effectively make him a ronin, but without any dishonor at least. I also solved the Soku problem by giving him a few levels of monk, specifically kensei monk so he can use his katana (a re-flavored longsword) as a monk weapon. The only downside though is that he'll never get the Strength before Death ability because of it, but I still like the way he's been turning out so far.
Also, I'm sharing this video with all the other guys in my gaming group, if only so they understand the significance of his class abilities... and to better educate them on samurai in general of course. lol
I’m currently playing as a samurai (Ronin) in a campaign who’d lost their entire identity and lord to a war that he caused, he had first protected the surviving noble lady and her children to safety in a unknown western land with her brother in law, then travelling further into the country which caused him to discover that he barely new the world that he was living in.
It’s been a rather fun character to play!
Something to remember about D&D: your class only represents a MAJORITY of your abilities as that is what progresses the most with levels more than anything else. You should never expect a class, let alone an archetype, to fill in all the blanks to accurately represent what you wanna play. That's why things like races, backgrounds, and even feats are also important to fill in those blanks. Considering Samurai were of noble blood and the like, the Noble background and its variants really help tie everything else together.
I think it depends on how you play. There is a "Noble" background, and you could make "following an order from your master" the reason you are traveling.
In talking about whether the archetype is accurate to actual samurai or not, this video mention that the *background* is the thing that was taken out. Seeing as in D&D a characters background and ideals (the thing that's missing in the archetype) is a separate thing from the class (at least mechanically) it stands to reason, that it's actually fairly accurate and that; with the noble background and a little story crafting; it'd be quite easy to build a historically accurate samurai in every way with this archetype.
welp,your speech about true samurai values has inspired my next paladin.
As a player of DnD myself, I would say that the "Samurai" archetype is largely fine as it is, simply because DnD is built for roleplay, and therefore the player "filling in" the missing parts of an authentic samurai on their own is part of the game. They can choose to have their samurai have the Noble/Knight Background and have their backstory be that their Lord's holdings were threatened by (big bad's name here), and the samurai was ordered to travel with the (Party's name here) until the threat was stopped. Or if they want to be more creative, have another character of Noble Background be a member of the Party and have them be the Samurai's Lord. Then the samurai is just following his Lord on their journey.
All DnD archetypes are meant to be flexible, so that the player can make the character they want and play them as they want. The Samurai archetype succeeds at that. Though I would agree that it would be a little more accurate to name the archetype the Bushido archetype instead.
Separately, since we already have the "Fighter" and "Thief" covered in your "Samurai" and "Ninja" videos, will we round out the trifecta by filling in an "Onmyouji" in place of a "Mage". That would definitely be a bit of a stretch, but I'd like to see your thoughts.
If you're going for someone of noble lineage fighting for a lord, I guess a better option would be a Purple Dragon Knight Fighter or an Oath of the Crown Paladin
How about a fighter subclass that actually works, unlike the PDK?
honestly, the way they built the archetype is honestly very flexible with the way D&D often is a very flexible game. yes as the mike said the type of "Samurai" players DO tend to want to play which is MORE around the style of a "Ronin" that is very correct of you guys. BUT D&D is a VERY adaptable and flexible game, and as such players have the ability to play as BOTH a Ronin style "Samurai" and a TRADITIONAL Noble Warrior that IS a Samurai. D&D has so much customization, that IS entirely possible to make the character either way. Many other classes such as warlock, paladin, cleric and many others, have their warrior codes, and their higher ups that they worship or work for, the ones they have their Duties that bound them to their patron or deity of choice, in all honesty it would be the same for the traditional Samurai and their Lord. just on a mortal level. HELL the fact that in Japanese Culture, Kami are often said to be able to appear on the mortal plane, Technically Speaking the Kami COULD be the Lord of the Samurai. but my main point is. because D&D is super flexible and has deep customization. to where you could play a Samurai in the way of a Traditional Samurai, or a Ronin which they are leaning more towards. it all depends on what YOU the player wishes to do, and honestly Gaijin, i would LOVE to see YOU play a proper Samurai in D&D. you would be able to make it work.
Honestly all those abilites that provide extra action seem like agility, speed, and fancy food work to me. Seeing as you've gotta be fast and graceful to keep doing so many things without bumbling over yourself. So i think this case is even stronger then orginally believed. Covering all four catgories extreamly well.
Pathfinder 1st Edition Samurai Class everybody!!! Baked-In service to a specific Order as a Mechanical Class Feature, abilities that cover both melee weaponry AND archery, and the Resolve Class Feature letting you pull off that Samurai Fighting Spirit.
Also the mounted combat and mounted archery the archtypes for polearm, and sword saints. The ronin bonuses focus on being self determining and a masterless wanderer.
This is (for now) as close as we might be able to get to reaching the Samurai archetype through D&D. As for the missions for adventurers, you could simply play it out as your local lord commissioning you into carrying out missions or tasks and the Samurai hiring the rest of the party or have his own band of specialized retainers to come along. This might actually work pretty interesting for roleplay. Like in the Hagakure, a Samurai should only value land and may not (or never if I remember it correctly.) handle money. Which means one of the retainers or servants have to deal with party finances.
I love that he is making DnD races, would love to see a kitsune one!
I find it funny as I was just about to make a kalashtar samurai and then there's this vid being like, "here! have a checklist and where to find where else you can make an authentic samurai." I've already given him the background of knight which besides noble is the closest to having a noble birth. I even the reason he's in the game is very close to what a samurai would be doing in the same situation. the game is of a war between the elves and humans and since my race (kalashtar) is apparently allies with the humans so my characters lord would've sent me to fight in the war against his fellow enemy.
it's definitely got a ronin feel, but i can easily see how with a simple back story and the right setting you could easily fix the issue of what was removed. as some have mentioned you can take noble background, and just have it written in your back story that your lord has sent you on a mission. maybe it's to find something/someone, maybe it's to further your training, maybe it's to simply deliver something and the player stumbles upon a plot that threatens their lord/home. hell his lord might be the person giving the group the starting mission. i look forward to playing around with this subclass and see how it rolls
Pathfinder has samurai as well, which functions a lot like a variant of the cavalier. Like the cavalier, PF baseline samurai have mounts, an Order that defines their code of honor, a banner to inspire allies, and the "challenge" ability which makes them much more deadly when fighting their challenged opponent.
Where it differs is in the Mounted Archer, Resolve, Honorable Stand and Last Stand class abilities, which (aside from Mounted Archer) seem to be in the same spirit as the DND5e archetype. Representing the stoic determination and fighting spirit associated with bushido.
I could honestly see it being up to how the player chooses the background. If they pick the Noble background, then they would be more in line with traditional Samurai. However if they pick Far Traveler or another background, it can just as easily be said that you are a ronin. Kinda the fun way on how you can make your character be if you want to be a samurai and how you can work your backstory to be close to the original concept of that archtype.
I feel they did it right, a Samurai historically was a combination of two factors, their position in society and their way, the position isn’t really within the purview of a class, it’s part of background, the class covers the way. To get a full samurai you would use the Noble or Soldier background tailored to mirror feudal Japan, and ALSO the subclass. I think they did this exactly right
truly i think it is historically accurate, or more likely as accurate as it can be given the nature of D&D. cause not all Samurai are of noble birth but are supposed to be. as well as the requirements and training that those of noble birth would have to go through once you take out the man(or person. please no hate comments i won't read them) and focus on the process that is where the classes come in. cause the class itself isn't the person its just the training that they went though in life. its the rest of it that turns that samurai into a humble Ronin (Kenshin HimuraRonin Kenshin), talented bandit (9 red scabbards from one piece), or Loyal ninja (protagonist of sekiro).
I think that the samurai DnD class is a good representation of the samurai fighting style, and you are able to build either a ronin who uses the spirit of the bushido teaching to fight, or incorporate the noble birth and learning in the background of your character to build a true samurai.
I feel like it's long overdue for you to make a Which Ninja, but for samurai. A show where you look at pop culture's most famous samurai to see which are good and which are bad.
So I have this idea for a Vampire Samurai. He was brought back by a powerful vampire and essentially trained under him. One day, some event causes him to leave his master and go his own way. I think it works as he trained under a powerful vampire, learning various arts, and while he might or might not be loyal, the time he spent with his master has become a big part of him.
An easy way to deal with the nobility issue of the Samurai archetype is to give them either the Knight or Noble backgrounds. Usually backgrounds give ideas as to why you left your previous life, and one for both of them (since they’re tied closely together) is that something bad happened either to you or from what you’ve done. Whenever I think of the Samurai archetype, I think of it more as a Ronin; they still have all the training they had as Samurai, but they must travel now. Having the Knight or Noble background could help with this idea, as they had to leave their previous, lavish lifestyle for the adventuring lifestyle. Just some food for thought.
This is when we come to flesh out the character's Background. You could always be a Noble, from PHB, and be adventuring because it was ordered by the lord. You could be from a fallen house and be an Urchin, from PHB, who's only heirloom is his father's blade, all the while trying to find your place in the world while either following your family's honor or not. Or you could be a Mercenary Veteran, from SCAG, and be a blade for hire, but always being true to your's and your band's beliefs. The class and subclass are just the start of how your character works.
The nobility and honor-bound way that samurai are so distinct for are meant for backgrounds, rather than classes for the most part. The only exception would be paladins, who have an oath they live by. The most samurai-like character could be played through roleplaying a Noble background as either a paladin for the oath, or a fighter who has an oath. Just because the class doesn't say it has an oath like the paladin doesn't mean that it can't live by one. Based on features, paladin could actually be an interesting thing to look into, with smites acting as cutting rather than slashing and other such flavor being added to how the features apply.
The thing that I love most about 5e is that flavor is King. Even if you didn't have this archetype, it's still possible to use the unique features of a class, subclass, feats, backgrounds, and equipment to create something approximating something akin to samurai. Would it be perfect? no, but neither is this subclass. I can just as easily think of an Oath of Devotion (to a lord) paladin with a noble background and feats to gain various proficiencies. Or a Warlock Pact of Blade Celestial Patron (with your emperor being divine). Or Heck! A swashbuckler rogue has tons of abilities that would fit well with samurai teachings
Well, if you want to build a proper Noble-born Samurai, you take a Fighter with the Samurai Archetype AND the Noble (or variant Knight) Background. That way, you get proficiencies in History and Persuasion, and either the Position of Privilege feature, which means other Nobles acknowledge you as a peer and commoners try to accomodate you, or you get three Retainers to perform mundane tasks for you. Then, if you want more fancy skills, you get the Skilled Feat on your first Ability Score bonus.
noble background, paladin of the crown, now you're a samurai
I will probably never use the Samurai archetype.
However, the ways of Bushido and the various points you refer to have given me a potentially powerful RP moment with one of my fellow players.
Thank you.
The three main objections, about Caste, Servitude, and setting can be fixed relatively easy in games like D&D. First Caste, a players position in a Caste system is always present even if it isn't specifically explained. "Nobles" can be seen in many forms and there is almost always a social structure that mirrors a caste system in the big picture of the world and even if a character isn't "born noble" there are many ways in most settings to become a noble. Even in Feudal Japan where their Caste system seemed unbreakingly rigid there were still ways for someone born a commoner to be recognized as a noble though those were usually a multiple generation process. Second Servitude, a player that wants to be a Samurai could easily be in the service of the main lord for the campaign, or to a degree could reflect Clerics and Warlocks who serve a "divine" lord instead of a mortal one and with that if a player multi-classes between a Cleric or Warlock as their main class with a fighter as their second Samurai is a fitting perspective for refining their Martial skills instead of going Paladin to gain some magical ones. With those two arguments made it is easier to see how the Setting can be made to reflect something for fitting for a proper Samurai instead of just ending up with a Ronin.
I think that the subclass gives you the abilites and code of a samurai while giving the opportunity to role play your character how you want to. It lets you be a samurai or a Ronan or whatever you want to use it for
Let me just say that you opened my eyes about the Samurai martial archetype. I have up to this point disallowed it to anyone who was not a noble from my games quote/unquote “samurai land” (it’s Closer to the scarlet empire from exalted).
After seeing this, I get the idea that was represented by the archetype and definitely see the whole fighting spirit idea: I am excited to see if any of my players want to portray that.
As to the answer, I feel that the archetype presented gives us an idea of honor and bushido as presented by the romanticized samurai that so many media present for us.
And really, if you wanted to relegate the role of samurai to just the historical definition, you wouldn’t be allowing the class into your D&D game in the first place.
Came back to this video again and thought I'd also note that this is a VAST improvement over previous editions' Samurais, which had the issue of focusing WAY too much on the wrong things.
3.5's Samurai is seen as one of if not the worst class in D&D history. Since it basically got...
- Bastard Sword Proficiency
- Two Weapon Fighting Feat Chain, but only when they're using a Katana and Wakizashi (using the stats of a bastard sword and shortsword)
- A "Kiai Smite" ability which gave them +Cha to a single attack roll each round they used it, with only 4 uses per day.
- Some actually really cool Intimidation based features, but that would become completely useless when facing the vast multitude of fear immune foes.
And they lose access to their 2 unique abilities if they break a specific Code of Honor. Which while flavorful doesn't even really mean much.
Pathfinder managed to get the whole "Samurai With a Lord As Class" thing down much better, but only by basically making it a variant on the Cavalier class which ALREADY went for the "sworn fealty to a knightly order" thing.
After watching this to the end, I’d say it’s both. Players and even Dungeon Masters can make samurai and ronin. It helps if both the dm and player work together to make a historical samurai in their dnd setting than what is stated in Xanathars’. I’m just happy you spoke about it since most of my friends and former players say the Samurai Archetype lacks substance. I see this as a roleplaying class more than anything and I love it.
I have actually created a 5e class-based adaptation of Legend of the Five Rings, and the Samurai was a vast piece of the inspiration for this, in its form as a Fighter Subclass. I find the subclass to also be really good for a "Noble Swordsman" such as those that would be found in classical Spain, or a Renaissance-literature duelist.
2e and 3.5 had pretty good ninja and samurai classes, might be worth looking into
I think the vagueness and gray area of the archetype is leaving things open for you, the player to craft your own samurai.
Choose a noble background and be an atypical, classic style samurai. Or choose a nomadic background and embody a ronin, perhaps being a deserter or outlaw of his former master.
To me the options are there, and the archetype is just a partly etched slate for you to add on to and complete with your choices at character creation.
the noble birth part can be covered with the "Noble" background from the phb
I'd say ronin at best for the 5E samurai. Sadly most people's view of what a samurai is doesn't match up to history; much like with the ninja. However, more people are familiar with the word samuri than ronin and that's probably why they chose that word to represent the warrior archetype. In the end, D&D is an abstraction in many ways. Several things throughout the various editions exchange accuracy for playability, like pretty much all games do. Monopoly isn't a hyper realistic simulation of property management, but it's fun to play.
The great thing about DnD is that it gives you the choice.
Class and Background in DnD is not the same, so one could very well pick the Noble Background and play a Samurai as it was intended to be played.
All it would take is time and preparation with a good DM to make it come to life.
If people want to play a true samurai they can, if people want to play the more fantasized Ronin from media, they can~
Much like how Gaijin made his Ninja, it all comes down to the player to make it as accurate as they want using the limitations they have.
So yeah, I'd say the Samurai class in DnD is a purrfect representation.
In the 3.5 edition complete Warrior there's actually a class called Samurai and it focuses more on the nobility aspect of the class