Menu Close

FEAT: PEASENT BUSHI

This is a thematic feat for the fighter class.  It fits in with the 1e Oriental Adventures description of a bushi, and also has historical roots.  However, the original bushi class is not different enough from the fighter martial archetypes to really be its own archetype.  However this will help make your peasant fighter more flavourful. 

PEASENT BUSHI

Bushi are masterless warriors, men without ties to a lord, temple, or monastery.  They are commonly mercenaries, bandits, highwaymen, or wanderers, earning their money however they can. They can be found serving samurai, protecting the court, or swelling the ranks of armies.  A few may be kensai who have fallen by the way.  Most, however, are men of low birth who have chosen the way of the warrior to advance in the world.  You gain the following benefits when you take this feat:

  • You are a master of cobbling together armour from scraps and have master the art of tinkering.  You gain a damage reduction of 1 from all non-magical attacks that are bludgeoning, slashing or piercing.
  • Although bushi are often poor, they are seldom out of work. There is always a need for a stout warrior or at least a strong hand. Just as the nobles have their samurai to protect them, the peasants and merchant folk often look on the bushi for protection. The pay usually is not good, but it provides for a bushi’s basic needs.  Thus, while you are in a friendly or neutral village or town you always find employment, food, and shelter.  The food may be thin rice gruel and the shelter a leaky stable, but something will always be available.
  • Poverty has also made you a master at the art of finding “loose” equipment.  You have a base % chance equal to your level to find any common (non-magical) piece of equipment or generic gear in any village. The larger the population the bigger chance you will find what you need.  This chance is increased to x1.5 in a medium-sized village, x2 in a large village, x2.5 in a small town, x3 in a large town, and x4 in any city.  The item will either be at half-price or free, depending on the nature of the item.
  • Bushi are also known to cut or lift strings of cash off the unwary. You become proficient in Sleight of Hands.
  • The hard life of a bushi gives you little time for self-contemplation and intense mental training, both of which greatly aid in the use of ki.  However, bushi do have an elementary ki power.  When you use your second wind action it is accompanied by a fierce kiai (shout).  You can then choose up to three creatures within 60 feet of you that are allied with you.  Each one regains hit points equal to your fighter level, provided that the creature can see or hear you.

 

Posted in Class, Feats, Oriental Adventures