Bloodline

A characters bloodline represents his standing in society. This bloodline is not just an accident of birth (although a characters starting bloodline does determine the circumstances of his early life), but also a product of destiny and divine providence. Commoners can rise from the rice paddies to the Shogunate and mighty samurai may become desperate ronin wandering the countryside like wild men.

 

Social Promotion and Demotion

Contrary to popular opinion, Japan had a very fluid class system until the military hegemony of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (ca. 1590 CE). Indeed, Hideyoshi himself had risen from the peasantry to the highest post in the land. Therefore, a campaign that occurs before 1590 should allow PCs to rise from humble beginnings as far as their deeds and honor take them.

Social Promotion: To be promoted to a higher social class, a character must have an Honor score higher than the minimum Honor score of a character born into that bloodline. He must also be raised to that social caste by a character that currently belongs to the samurai or kuge bloodline. In return, such a character will typically demand that the character being promoted swear an oath of allegiance to him.

Social Demotion: It is possible for a character to move down in social rank, but demotions like this are much less common than promotions. Most nobles would rather die than lose their status in society. Nevertheless, tales persist of ronin moving to the large cities, giving up their swords, and joining the merchant class.

If a characters Honor ever falls below the minimum Honor for his bloodline for thirty days or more, any superior in the social hierarchy (of higher ranking bloodline) may strip the character of his rank. The unfortunate character must then choose between accepting the demotion or committing ritual suicide and dying as a member of his current bloodline.

Effects of Social Promotion & Demotion: A character promoted to or demoted from a bloodline gains or loses all the social benefits of that bloodline (such as wearing the daisho, or the privilege of riding on horseback). A character gains no other bloodline traits (such as ability modifiers or starting money).

Effects on starting wealth: In Legends of the Samurai, starting wealth is determined by bloodline, not character class. Each bloodline lists a set of dice to roll for starting wealth, the result of which is multiplied by the characters starting Honor score. Since both Honor and wealth are determined randomly, this leads to large variations in starting wealth representative of the unsettled nature of medieval Japan. A samurai might be impoverished, his family decimated in a previous civil war, while a farmer might be quite wealthy, the son of a village headman.

 

Bloodline Honor Abilities Favored Class

Outcast 1-10 +2 Dex, -2 Cha Touzoku or Ninja

Merchant 21-30 +2 Cha, -2 Int Souzoku

Artisan 21-30 +2 Int, -2 Cha Shokunin

Farmer 31-40 +2 Con, -2 Int Ashigaru

Monastic 41-50 +2 Wis, -2 Cha Yamabushi or Shukke

Noble 41-50 +2 Int/Cha, -2 Str/Con Kuge

Warrior 51-60 None Samurai

 

Outcast (Eta)

In accordance with Buddhist concepts of cleanliness, only the lowest of the low can come into contact with a dead body or the blood of an animal. The eta the lowliest people in society handle the tasks that no one else wants to do. They serve as butchers, gravediggers, and executioners of commoners (only a samurai may execute a member of the upper classes).

Personality: Eta are well aware of their place at the bottom of the social ladder, and many refrain from even speaking to their betters (which is everyone except their fellow eta). An eta would be wise never to speak to a samurai unless directly addressed, sine even this might be seen as an affront to the samurais honor and addressed with deadly force.

Physical Description: Most eta are smelly, bedraggled, hungry, and unkempt. A lucky few especially those skilled in the arts of the butcher, tanner, or executioner are much better off and can support themselves and their families in relative comfort.

Relations: Eta lie at the bottom of the social strata. Many resort to crime as a means of eking out their next meal; as such they are often the targets of police and samurai brutality on the assumption that they are dishonorable scum. Eta employed as executioners are often called in to hunt down their own, or to apprehend criminals who might be killed in the course of being arrested. In short, if its a job no one else wants to do, it often falls to the eta.

Lands: Each city has a special quarter set aside for the eta. When not obviously engaged in work )ferrying meats or tanned hides, or in the company of one of his betters) an eta is expected to stay in these quarters and be as unobtrusive as possible. An unescorted eta, especially at night, can be expected to be stopped and returned to the eta quarter by the first guardsman he meets.

Religion: Despite their position in society and their performance of unclean tasks, many eta are religious. Because Buddhism has no regard for their professions and considers them unclean, the vast majority of eta are practitioners of Shinto if they have any concept of a reality beyond the everyday struggle for survival.

Adventurers: Eta are usually drafted into adventurous life instead of seeking them out. Their day to day life is exciting enough. During a war, eta patrol the battlefields to bury commoners killed in the fighting; in a city they might be called in to perform an execution or help in the apprehension of a dangerous criminal.

Bonus Feat: You receive 1 bonus feat at 1st level. In addition, at 1st level, you receive an additional feat from the following: Agile, Alertness, Deceitful, Nimble Fingers, Stealthy.

Unclean: You can learn Profession (butcher) and Craft (leatherworking) without suffering a lose to your Honor.

Lowest of the Low: Your Reputation is always infamous.

Illiteracy: You must spend 2 skill points before being able to read and write all languages you speak.

Limited Resources: You begin play with 2d6 x Honor toraisen.

Starting Honor: 1-10.

Abilities: +2 Dex, -2 Cha. You are quick, but your status as one of the unclean makes you despised.

Favored Class: Touzoku or Ninja.

 

Merchant (Chonin)

As trade grew throughout Japan, it was inevitable that a class of workers would become specialized in the sale of goods and services. Although a vital part of society, this profession was regarded as a necessary evil in a culture that venerates the warrior above all else. But despite this societal ambivalence, few clans could survive without a thriving merchant class. During turbulent times, when the clans go to war, these hardy folk not only send their sons to serve as footsoldiers, but also provide the logical support (trading for weapons and armor) needed to outfit those soldiers.

Personality: Merchants tend to be concerned with the bottom line. Regardless of the situation and whatever his loyalties, a merchant knows that if his family (and by extension, his clan) is to survive he must make a profit whenever he can. Still, most merchants are honorable and loyal and serve their family when called.

Physical Description: Merchants run the gamut in type and appearance from the hard-working (and smelly) fishmonger to the rich and affluent leader of a large city guild. In some city wards, merchants have gained so much power and influence that its difficult to tell them apart from the samurai.

Relations: Merchants have a strained relationship with most of the other social classes, the merchants being a sort of odd man out trapped between the warrior culture Japan wanted to be and the increasingly modern culture that it is becoming. The farmer is held in higher esteem than the merchant by Confucian tradition, yet the merchants are necessary to bring the farmers crops to market. The noble profits from the merchants trade with foreign markets, yet often restricts that trade out of fear of cultural contamination. The samurai calls on the merchant to finance his wars, then passes laws allowing him to forgive debt at will. Merchants have responded to these dilemmas by forming guilds, which over time have grown into powerful, semi-autonomous corporations. While this helps protect some merchants, it is a potential source of friction that occasionally draws the ire of the ruling warrior class.

Lands: Most merchants make their homes in cities and trade towns such as the ancient capital of Nara. Port cities in particular attract merchants eager to take advantage of foreign trade, when such trade is permitted by the authorities. When its not, many merchants are not above buying stolen and smuggled goods from the wako that were the terror of Japans seas and coastal areas.

Religion: Merchants go from completely atheistic to extremely devour. Most prefer the native Shinto religion to various Buddhist sects, but worshippers of every kind and denomination are found among the merchant class.

Adventurers: A merchant adventurer could be an intrepid seafarer braving the wako to bring foreign goods to market, or a guard for a domestic caravan making sure the familys goods are protected from roving gangs of bandits. A merchant could also find himself conscripted into the army of his lord to fight in a civil war. Many merchants are employed in keeping the peace within city wards and mediating disputes between rival guild members.

Bonus Feat: 1 bonus feat at 1st level.

Silver-tongued: +2 bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks.

Guildsman: You gain a +1 bonus to your starting wealth roll for each rank you take in a Profession skill (normally only +1 per 2 ranks). A merchant who swears allegiance to a guild governing one of his chosen professions gains a +2 bonus to starting Honor.

Professional: +2 bonus on all Profession checks.

Illiteracy: You must spend 2 skill points before being able to read and write all the languages you speak.

Starting Wealth: 6d6 x Honor toraisen. Note that this is frequently more than a samurais starting wealth a fact that does not sit well with most samurai.

Starting Honor: 21-30.

Social Privileges: Merchants are allowed to learn the use of spears and bows in case they are called in to serve in wartime. A merchant is allowed to carry a small weapon (such as a dagger) on his person at all times. A merchant with Honor 35+ may be allowed to carry a single non-katana sword (typically a ken, though those who can afford it may carry a wakizashi). Merchants are permitted to travel unescorted and may employ armed guards to safeguard their wares.

Abilities: +2 Cha, -2 Int. Most merchants have been watching stalls, buying, and selling from early childhood (usually while an older relative attended to something else). This means that few have the time (or inclination) for literary or intellectual pursuits.

Favored Class: Touzoku.

 

Artisan (Shokunin)

Artisans are technically a part of the merchant class. However, artisans are highly respects as creators of weapons, armor, and works of art (as opposed to the merchant, who simply buys and sells). The artisan class includes a wide range of craftsmen, from the simplest potter living in the merchant quarter of a large city to the quiet genius working on the grounds of a mighty samurai estate producing devastating weapons that will be carried proudly for generations and admired thereafter as works of art. When the artisans clan goes to war, he is expected to assist in its defense. He might be drafted into the ranks of footsoldiers, but artisans with a militarily important skill (such as a weaponsmith) are almost never drafted. These valuable resources are instead used to equip the clans forces so they will be better prepared than their enemies.

Personality: Artisans tend to be quiet and unassuming. Their works speak for them, and most artisans prefer it that way. Although they are members of guilds like merchants, they have less need to travel; they tend to seek out a patron for their work, then settle down to produce the finest items they can.

Physical Description: Artisans tend to dress simply and in accordance with their craft. A blacksmith will be dirty and sweaty after a long day before the forge, while the potters dirty hands and rough finger swill reveal his trade.

Relations: Artisans are more highly respected than merchants, but the two classes must work together to prosper, since most artisans rely on merchants to sell their wares. Depending on his trade, an artisan might also have to work with eta on a regular basis a weaponsmith, for instance, might need to buy leather and sharkskin for various parts of a sword handle, or the armorer raw leather to reinforce armor. If an artisan serves the warrior class directly (frequently the case of weaponsmiths) he must also be able to show the proper respect to his superiors. The ability (and indeed, necessity) of many artisans to work with a wide range of social classes gives them a unique perspective on the society in which they live.

Lands: Most artisans live in the merchant quarters of the large trade cities. Many weaponsmiths are quartered on a samuirais estate, and the best craftsmen are supported in great luxury in return for their exclusive service to a daimyo and his family.

Religion: Like other commoners, artisans tend more toward Shinto than the more esoteric Buddhist sects favored by the upper classes.

Adventurers: An artisan who adventures usually does so in pursuit of his craft, seeking out new methods and techniques of his craft in distant lands and studying with the most accomplished masters. Many smiths seek to test their creations in battle, and become accomplished warriors as a result.

Bonus feat: 1 bonus feat at 1st level.

Guildsman: You gain a +1 bonus to your starting wealth roll for each rank you take in a Craft skill (most only get the bonus for Profession skills). You may also gain additional wealth from Profession skills taken at 1st level. An artisan who swears allegiance to a guild governing one of his chosen crafts gains a +2 bonus to starting Honor.

Illiteracy: You must spend 2 skill points to be able to read and write all the languages you speak.

Starting Wealth: You begin play with 3d6 x Honor toraisen. In addition, an artisan begins play with a masterwork item that could be made with one of his craft skills. If a character chooses a masterwork weapon, it must be a type that he is proficient in and allowed to carry as a member of his social class (i.e. no katana).

Starting Honor: 21-30.

Social Privileges: Artisans are allowed to learn the use of spears and bows in case they are called in to serve in wartime. An artisan is allowed to carry a small weapon (such as a dagger) on their person at all times. An artisan with Honor 35+ may be allowed to carry a single non-katana sword (typically a ken, though those who can afford it go for the wakizashi). Artisans are allowed to travel unescorted and may employ armed guards to watch their goods.

Abilities: +2 Int, -2 Cha. Artisan s are masters of their crafts, which requires them to have a keen mind and ability to absorb new trends and techniques quickly. However, they are much more comfortable creating their works than marketing them, and tend to be blunt to the point of rudeness.

Favored Class: Shokunin.

 

Farmer

The salt of the earth, farmers are the bedrock of all feudal societies and do the hard work that makes the ruling daimyo wealthy and powerful. Of all the commoners (heimin), they are the most highly respected by Confucian tradition in recognition of their vital contribution to society.

Personality: Farmers tend to be simple and quiet. More than members of any other class they are concerned with respectability, and carry themselves with a quiet dignity even as they perform backbreaking work day after day. This quiet strength also serves their clan during wartime, when farmers form the bedrock of the footsoldiers, serving with distinction in battle. This trait even allows many farmers to rise above their station (at least until 1590, when Hideyoshi froze social movement an ironic action from a man who rose from the peasantry himself).

Physical Description: Farmers spend a lot of time outside, exposed to the elements and performing extremely hard work. This shows in their appearance; most farmers are weathered and rough-hewn folk. Farmers tend to dress in simple, utilitarian clothing.

Relations: The farmers position at the top of the commoners social ladder causes their relations with merchants and artisans to be strained. Merchants sell the farmers excess food to profit the clan, but enjoy fewer privileges. The farmer resents the merchants money and relatively easy life, and the artisans chance to live in complete luxury on the estate of a daimyo. Farmers also have an extremely strained relationship with samurai and daimyo, as evidenced by frequent peasant revolts and the fear they instilled in the ruling class. During troubled times of the warring states era, peasants rose up with the help of priests and ruled some areas completely autonomously. During the Tokugawa period, when social advancement was impossible for the farmers and they were kept prisoners on their land, there were more than 1200 peasant revolts in less than 250 years one so bad that the Shogun had to ask Dutch ships to bombard the peasants with cannon fire. In many areas of medieval Japanese society, the frustration of the farmers with a system in which they generate wealth for others from the land is a political time bomb its just a matter of when and how badly it will explode. Not even the prospect of social advancement during the turbulent periods did much to curb this problem, nor did elevating the farmers status above all other commoners.

Lands: Farmers serve as tenant farmers on the land they work and receive very little of he wealth they generate. In the Tokugawa period, the persistent problem of peasant revolts causes farmers to be restricted to the land they work and are unable to travel.

Religion: Like other commoners, farmers are likely to practice Shinto than the more esoteric Shingon and Tendai sects of Buddhism. The Pure Land sect of Buddhism is a notable exception it eventually becomes the more popular and widespread sect of Buddhism, boasting many peasant adherents, some of them radical with strong sentiments to overthrow the ruling warrior class and allow the priests to run things.

Adventurers: Most farmers become adventurers by being drafted to serve in the military during wartime. Many farmers show a great aptitude for combat and use their service as valuable soldiers to rise out of the farmer class and into the warrior class. Hideyoshi was one notable instance of this.

Laborer: Farmers receive the Endurance feat as a bonus feat at 1st level.

Tied to the Land: Farmers receive Weapon Proficiency (agricultural weapons) at 1st level. Farmers also receive a +1 attack bonus with all weapons in the agricultural weapons group (this stacks with all other bonuses, such as Weapon Focus).

Salt of the Earth: Farmers gain a +2 bonus on all Diplomacy checks with other farmers, and a -2 penalty on all Diplomacy checks when dealing with all other social classes.

Illiteracy: You must spend 2 skill points before being able to read and write all the languages you speak.

Starting Wealth: 2d6 x Honor toraisen.

Starting Honor: 31-40.

Social Privileges: Farmers are allowed to learn the use of spears and bows in case they are called in to serve in wartime. A farmer with an Honor of 40+ is allowed to carry a single non-katana sword (typically a ken). A farmer with an Honor of 45+ may receive the post of village headman, which carries an annual salary of 1 koku per 10 Honor and grants a +1 bonus to the characters Reputation. Prior to 1600, farmers are allowed to travel unescorted.

Abilities: +2 Con, -2 Int. Farmers are accustomed to hard labor, which makes them tougher even when compared to other commoners. However, they have no time for intellectual pursuits.

Favored Class: Ashigaru.

 

Monastic (hijiri, nikuni, maiko, etc.)

Monastics occupy a position between the commoners and ruling elite. Although many estates and honors have been heaped on this class by warriors and nobles who value the guidance of priests and monks in their secluded mountain monasteries, this class is also seen by the warrior class as a potential competitor for control of the people.

Personality: Monastics tend to be quiet and contemplative, and many have the air of mystics who are concerned with the spiritual and not the mundane reality of the physical. In contrast to this, many monastics have great political skill and have attempted to seize power indirectly (by influencing ruling elites) or directly (by leading armed peasant revolts).

Physical Description: Monastics wear clothing signifying their function in the religious order. Priests often wear robes, while temple guardians, such as the famous sohei Buddhist warrior-monks wear armour and dangerous weaponry.

Relations: As possible contenders for control of the peasant class, the priest class has a tense relationship with both nobles and the warrior class. At the same time, their ability to influence the lower classes is highly valued by these same classeswhen the monastic class can be controlled. This leads many ambitious daimyo to heap praise and wealth on priests in return for their support. The lower classes have an almost universal respect for the monastic orders.

Lands: Monastics control numerous estates, usually granted to them by the ruling class. Some, such as the venerable Enryakuji temple on Mt. Hiei overlooking Kyoto, were granted by the Emperor himself.

Religion: As befits their station, monastics are as a whole the most devout of the classes.

Adventurers: A monastic might become involved in adventures for any number of reasons. Perhaps he wanders the land in search of spiritual enlightenment, or perhaps he has been given a mission by a high-ranking member of his church. Should his faith be directly attacked, the monastic could even be called to defend his beliefs and the churchs holdings from rivals.

Believer: Monastics receive the Faith feat as a bonus feat at 1st level.

Religious Training: Monastics receive a +2 bonus on all Knowledge (calligraphy, divination, religion) skill checks.

Man of the Cloth: Monastics receive a +2 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information skill checks when dealing with heimin (farmers, artisans, merchants, outcasts).

Right of Refuge: A monastic and up to one companion per character level will always be taken in by another monastery and granted a meal and a place of rest for a night.

Literacy: Monastics can read and write all languages they speak at 1st level.

Starting Wealth: 1d6 x Honor toraisen. Monastics are exempt from taxation and can never be required to pay a toll on a road or to enter a city (although this exemption never applies to the monastics companions).

Honor: 41-50.

Social Privileges: Monastics are allowed to learn the use of any weapon, since their estates are outside the control of the warrior class (although monastics are never allowed to wear a sword). Temple guards favor the spear and bow and use these weapons with great skill when their monasteries are threatened. Monasteries are so renowned as places to learn armed and unarmed combat that many samurai patronize them to hone their warrior skills.

Abilities: +2 Wis, -2 Cha. Monastics possess great wisdom but are rarely great leaders of men (although there are some notable exceptions, and a charismatic priest is capable of rallying great numbers of peasants to his cause).

Favored Class: Yamabushi or Shukke.

 

Noble (kuge)

The nobles, residing in the capital of Kyoto and serving as the administration of Japan, were once the rulers of the country. Displaced in power by the warrior class, the nobles are constantly hatching schemes to bring themselves greater power and authority and use the courts and bureaucracy to great advantage. So effective are the machinations of the nobles that many of Japans most effective Shoguns avoided the capital whenever possible, ruling from military posts in the field or at their own home castles, leaving the nobles to squabble among themselves. After the Onin War (1467-77), the nobles suffered their greatest blow when the daimyo sacked the capital of Kyoto, killing many of their number and leaving the center of their bureaucracy in ruins. However, the three powerful military lords who would eventually unite all of Japan under their rule Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu recognized the usefulness of the central administration and the chance for imperial legitimacy, and rebuilt the bureaucracy to a level where it could perform its duties (while making sure to keep it under the thumb of the warrior class).

Personality: Nobles tend to be better educated and more adept at machination and intrigue than members of the warrior class. Although there were exceptions, nobles fared poorly when they engaged the warrior class in combat a fact which eventually led to their relegation to ceremonial and administrative duties while the samurai determined the course of the nations history.

Relations: Nobles have a strained relationship with their two primary competitors for control over the masses, the monastics and warriors. These three classes continually attempt to assert their control and constantly maneuver for power over their rivals. Since both the monastic and warrior classes tend to best the nobles when open warfare breaks out, the nobles attempt to do everything in their power to keep the peace while manipulating events to give them more control. Arranged marriages, bureaucratic mazes, and ancient institutions are the nobles best weapons.

Lands: Nobles control lands close to the Imperial Capital (first Nara, then Kyoto). The wealth these lands generate is used to support the nobles, but also to provide for the Emperor, whom the nobles are charged to protect and care for (and a wise Shogun keeps the nobles contact with the Emperor to a minimum).

Religion: Nobles prefer the older, more intellectual and esoteric sects of Buddhism, such as Tendai and Shingon.

Adventurers: Nobles usually become involved in adventures through their machinations and service to the Emperor. An Emperor wishing to rule directly might send a noble out into the land to secure the support of warriors needed to raise an army. Nobles might also engage in adventures designed to give their family more control or access to the Emperor, or in an attempt to arrange a marriage to make their family stronger. Many powerful samurai have married into noble clans to lend a sense of lineage and legitimacy to their conquests.

Court Education: A noble receives a bonus feat from the following list: Deceitful, Diligent, Educated, Mounted Combat, Negotiator, Persuasive, Skill Focus, Weapon Focus (any bow), Weapon Proficiency (bows).

Intrigues and Manipulation: The noble gains a +2 bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information skill checks.

Imperial Sage: Nobles gain a +1 bonus to their starting wealth roll for each rank they possess in a Knowledge skill.

Majesty of Learning: Nobles gain +1 Honor for each rank they possess in a Knowledge skill (normally characters only gain +1 Honor per 2 ranks in certain specializations).

Literacy: Nobles can read and write all languages they speak at 1st level.

Starting Wealth: 3d6 x Honor toraisen.

Starting Honor: 41-50.

Social Privileges: Nobles are allowed to learn the use of any weapon and may carry swords freely (though they may not wear the daisho). A noble can gain a post in the capital paying 1 Koku per 5 Honor in yearly salary.

Abilities: +2 Int/Cha, -2 Str/Con. You are educated and trained in the arts of diplomacy, but your sedentary lifestyle puts you at a disadvantage in combat.

Favored Class: Kuge.

 

Warrior (buke)

The warrior class rose to power from the ranks of provincial landholders, who were allowed to maintain troops to combat barbarians and expand the borders of the empire. They ruled Japan from the 7th century to the 19th century, when the last Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, resigned power back to the Emperor. The exact reason for their hold on power has been much debated, but the primary reason is that in a feudal society, land is power and the buke were able to directly control the land and the wealth that flowed from it.

Personality: The ideal warrior has an unwavering devotion to his master and duty. All other thoughts (should they enter his mind at all) are secondary. This singularity of purpose often gives way to arrogance and brutality, but the true warrior kills not for the sake of killing or for the glory it brings, but because the moment he swore his life to another all such choices were removed from him and placed in the hands of his lord and master. Of course, ambition drives many members of this class ambition to gain control over larger and larger estates and armies in an attempt to become a daimyo and even, eventually, Shogun.

Physical Description: Despite his wealth and position at the top of the social order, the ideal warrior dresses simply, in utilitarian clothes that allow him to move freely and defend his honor with deadly force. Since the warrior never knows when danger will strike (especially in the warring states era when surprise assassinations are frighteningly common), he tends to dress simply at all times. It is a rare show of trust for a warrior to leave his blade out of reach.

Relations: Warriors stand at the top of the social ladder in medieval Japan. They thus have strained relationships with most of the other social classes merchants despise the warrior for borrowing money he does not have to return; farmers generate wealth for the warriors land but see little of the benefit; priests and nobles seek to gain the control over the Empire held by the warrior.

Lands: Warriors control the vast majority of the lands in medieval Japan. From the lowliest samurai controlling a small area to the mightiest Shogun (who might have as much as one quarter of Japan as his personal fiefdom), the land is controlled by the warrior class and its steel. This control of the land and the wealth it generates causes much friction between the warrior classes and the classes beneath it in the social order.

Religion: Members of the warrior class overwhelmingly embrace Zen Buddhism, the philosophy of which suits their temperament perfectly.

Adventurers: A warriors adventures revolve around his service to his lord in the never-ending struggle for control. A warrior is frequently involved in combat to defend or expand his holdings. Warriors are also tasked with fighting for their lord as he struggles to gain control over other daimyo.

Education of the Buke: The warrior gains Weapon Proficiency (swords) as a bonus feat at 1st level. Warriors also gain a +1 attack bonus with alls words (this stacks with all other modifiers, such as Weapon Focus).

Steel Gaze: Warriors gain a +2 bonus on Intimidate checks and checks to resist intimidation.

Literacy: Warriors can read and write all languages they can speak at 1st level.

Starting Wealth: 1d6 x Honor toraisen. A warrior always begins play with a katana and wakizashi (this is where the bulk of the warriors starting money is invested).

Starting Honor: 51-60.

Social Privileges: Warriors are the only class permitted to wear the daisho. He is allowed to carry these swords at all times except in the presence of a member of the warrior class with a higher Honor score, or at the request of someone to whom the warrior has pledged allegiance.

Warriors also possess land that grants a salary of 1 Koku per Honor each year. It is possible for the income of a warriors lands to be much higher. For one to have the title of daimyo, one had to possess lands with a productive value of at least 10,000 koku per year; Tokugawa Ieyasu controlled lands producing 2.8 million Koku yearly (25% of Japans total rice production). Of course, as a character ascends to the pinnacle of the warrior class, he would need to commit much more of his Koku to gain the support and allegiance of lower-ranked warriors (and he would certainly need a lot of warriors to defend his holdings).

Favored Class: Samurai.