Changes and Additions to Skills in Legends of the Samurai

 

Balance (Dex; Armor Penalty)

  • Resist Trip Attack (New Use): This use of the Balance skill cannot be performed untrained. 
    Just as the Escape Artist skill can be used to resist grapples, a character can use Balance to avoid a trip attack.  As a standard action, the character makes a Balance check; if the check is higher than the attacker’s Strength check, the trip attack fails (this skill check replaces the Strength or Dexterity check used to avoid being tripped).  The defender may still resist a trip attack with his Strength or Dexterity in place of his Balance skill, if desired.

 

Concentration (Con)

  • Meditation (New Use): This use of the Concentration skill cannot be performed untrained.
    With a Concentration (DC 20) check, the character may enter a meditative state.  This allows a character to ignore a fatigued condition and act normally for a period of one hour.  After this effect ends, a character who wishes to continue acting normally without resting may meditate again, but the DC of the Concentration check rises by +2 for each previous meditation attempt (this penalty also applies if the character fails his skill check to enter a meditative state and tries again).  It takes 10 minutes to enter a meditative state.
  • Psychic Duel (New Use): This use of the Concentration skill cannot be performed untrained.
    In a psychic duel, the opponents lock eyes, each searching for mental weakness in the other before attacking.  This is an opposed Concentration check.  If one warrior refuses to engage in the psychic duel initiated by an opponent (i.e. chooses not to roll), he is assumed to have lost the duel.
    The winner gains a +2 bonus to his Initiative check, which is cumulative with all other bonuses, such as from Iaijutsu and Improved Initiative.
  • Zen Concentration (New Use): This use of the Concentration skill cannot be performed untrained.
    On a Concentration (DC 20) check, the character may focus on the task at hand to the exclusion of all else, including his safety.  This always triggers an attack of opportunity (as the character is specifically ignoring all else to focus his concentration) and grants the character one of the following benefits, chosen when the Concentration skill check is made: a +2 bonus to his next skill check, the ability to take 10 in a stressful situation, or perform an action that normally takes one minute or less in a single round.  This use of the Concentration skill is a free action.

 

Craft (Int)

Trained Only

  • Craft (Leatherworking): This is necessary to craft leather or hide armour, as well as more common leather items such as saddles.  This skill is considered socially unclean, and a character loses one point of Honor for each rank he takes in this skill (unless the character is an eta).
  • Reputation: A character gains +1 Reputation for every 2 masterwork items he produces.

 

Diplomacy (Cha)

  • Etiquette (New Use: Social interactions are veritable minefields in a culture where honor is everything.  Anytime a character interacts with an NPC whose Honor is higher than his own, he must make a Diplomacy check to see if proper etiquette is observed.  The DC is 10 + 1/10 of the target’s Honor.
    If the character fails the check, he loses 1 point of Honor.  For each five points he exceeds the DC, he gains +1 Honor.  If a character rolls a modified 25 or higher, he gains a +1 Reputation bonus.

 

Knowledge (Int)

Trained Only

  • The following are the common knowledge fields available in Legends of the Samurai in addition to the fields in the core rules:
  • Astrology – temmon
  • Calligraphy – shodo *
  • Chinese classics – myokyo *
  • Chinese poetry – shigaku *
  • Composition and rhetoric – monjo *
  • Divination – inyo
  • Japanese poetry – kagaku *
  • Law – myoho *
  • Mathematics – san *
  • Medicine – tenyaku
  • Politics – shinshi *
  • Tactics – shusai
  • * A character must be literate to take ranks in any of these skills.
  • Honor: Some skills were especially prized; a character gains +1 Honor for each 2 ranks he possesses in one of the following fields: Calligraphy, Chinese classics, Chinese poetry, and Japanese poetry.

 

Perform (Cha)

  • The following are common performance fields available in Legends of the Samurai:
  • Flower arranging – ikebana
  • Kabuki (drama)
  • Music
  • Noh (poetry/drama)
  • Tea Ceremony
  • Honor: For every 4 ranks a character possesses in any one of these skills, he gains +1 Honor. 
  • Reputation: A character who rolls a 20 or above on a Perform check gains +1 Reputation for each 5 points by which his skill check exceeds 20.  This is in addition to any other monetary rewards and so forth the character might receive for his work.

 

Pressure Points (Wis)

Trained Only

  • Check: This skill may be performed as a part of a successful attack as a free action.  On a successful skill check (the DC is target’s touch AC), you add +1d6 to your next damage roll.  This skill may be used once per combat, unless the target is flanked, flat-footed, or otherwise helpless, in which case it may be used against the target at will as long as they remain in such an unfortunate position.  This skill may only be used on a target vulnerable to critical hits or with a discernable anatomy (undead, constructs, and so forth tend to be immune to this skill).
  • Action: Use of this skill is a free action that may only be performed in conjunction with a successful attack.
  • Try Again: No.
  • Synergy: This skill also includes knowledge of acupuncture and acupressure techniques.  A character with 5+ ranks in this skill gains a +2 bonus to Heal checks.

 

Profession (Wis)

Trained Only

  • A character adds +1 to his die roll for starting Wealth (the roll multiplied by his Honor) for each 2 points in a Profession skill he takes at 1st level.
  • Certain professions are considered socially unclean, and a character loses 1 point of Honor for every rank he takes in these professions (unless the character is an eta): butcher, executioner, gravedigger.

 

Sense Motive (Wis)

  • Predict Attack (New Use): This use of the Sense Motive skill cannot be performed untrained.
    By watching your opponent’s body language and posture, you may predict the time and direction of an attack.  The DC to predict an attack is the attack roll or (in the case of an attack in combination with a feint) the Bluff skill check of the attacker.  If successful, you may either gain a +2 bonus to AC against the attack or (if you have the appropriate feats) a +2 attack bonus on any counterattack.

 

Survival (Wis)

  • Hunting (New Use): Hunting various types of game with a bow is a very prestigious activity, and is a good way for someone to demonstrate their talent at both horsemanship and the bow – both valuable to military disciplines.  As such, it can allow a character to gain honor and enhance his reputation (which in turn might allow the character to impress a daimyo he wishes to serve or a Sensei with whom he wishes to train.  Several types of competitions are listed below.
  • Modifiers for hunting Survival checks (use each that applies)
    • Possess neither Mounted Combat nor Weapon Proficiency (Bows): -4.
    • Possesses either Mounted Combat or Proficiency (Bows), not both: -2.
    • Possesses both Mounted Combat and Proficiency (Bows): +0.
    • Possesses Weapon Focus (any bow): +2.
    • Possesses Track feat: +2.
    • Possesses Huntsman feat: +2.
    • Possesses Mounted Archery: +4.
  • Inuoumono (dog shooting): A sport in which a number of dogs are released into an arena so that archers on horseback may practice their archery on small moving targets.  This was originally done with regular arrows, but the protests of many devout Buddhists who considered the senseless slaughter of animals abhorrent led to the use of blunted arrows and special leather corselets to prevent the dogs from being harmed.  Dog shooting competitions continued in this manner for centuries.
    • Hunting Check/Honor Gained
    • 20/0
    • 21-25/+1
    • 26-30/+2
    • 31+/+3
  • Oitorigari (bird hunting): Hunting birds in the wild provided both food and practice for the warrior’s skills.
    • Hunting Check/Honor/Reputation
    • >25 / 0 / 0
    • 26-30 / +2 / +1
    • 31-35 / +3 / +1
    • 36+ / +4 / +1
  • Makigari (Great Hunt): The most prestigious hunts, makigari sought larger, more difficult game – typically deer or bear.
    • Hunting Check / Honor / Reputation
    • >30 / 0 / 0
    • 31-35 / +4 / +1
    • 36-40 / +5 / +1
    • 41+ / +6 / +2