[Character] The American Samurai

[OctoberRaven]

Ryan Bryant went to Japan when he was 12 with his father, who was there on business, and his mother. He didn't want to go, but they had no choice because no sitter was available.

 

However to everyone's suprise (including his own), Ryan would embace Japanese culture, and become immersed in the legends of the samurai. While most people in his high school got cars for graduation presents, he asked for (and received) an authentic katana.

 

It wasn't long until his father was found guilty for insider stock trading, and his family was all but bankrupt. Ryan parted with most of his possesions, save his treasured sword. He practiced with it and became an amazing swordsman with blinding speed.

 

Making his living with odd jobs, he one day managed to stop a man from kidnapping a woman in an alley in New York. He then became known as the American Samurai.

 

While he's a respected crimefighter, albeit one with a bloody and violent track record due to his weapon of choice, his wanderlust keeps him from staying in one town for more than a few months (a year at most) at a time, before hitch-hiking his way to the next major city.

 

"You will put down her purse, and you will do it now, or I shall strike you down. It's your choice."

 

Powers/Tactics: Years of training and a natural gift of superenhanced reflexes allow him to attack at a blinding speed, and he uses this to his advantage, overwhelming his opponents with as many Katana strikes as possible.

 

STR 15

DEX 26

CON 18

BODY 15

INT 15

EGO 15

PRE 18

COM 8

PD 10 (25/15r with sword. See powers)

ED 10 (see above)

SPD 4/6 (see powers)

REC 10

END 40

STUN 36

Running 6

Swimming 2

Leaping 3

 

Skills

10 +2 with HTH Combat

4 CuK: Bushido 13-

4 Language: Japanese (English Native), (completely fluent, literate)

3 Fast Draw 14-

3 Breakfall 14-

7 Concealment 14-

8 Survival (Temperate, Desert, Mountain, Urban) 12-

2 AK: The United States 11-

3 KS: Kendo 12-

6 Navigation (Land) 14-

 

Perk:

4 Reputation: Incredible Swordsman (The US) 11-, +2/+2d6

 

Talent:

15 Combat Sense 12-

 

Martial Arts: Kenjutsu (all manuevers with Katana)

4 Martial Disarm

4 Killing Strike

4 Martial Block

4 Counterstrike

3 Legsweep

 

Powers:

12 Katana: 52-Point Multipower, Independant, OAF, Real Weapon

4u 1) Lethal Strike: HKA 2d6 (2 1/2 w/ STR), 1/2 END, AP, No KB END = 2

2u 2) Flat Side Strike: HTH +6d6 END = 3

10 Faster Than The Eye: +2 SPD, Power Loses half effectiveness (Only to use Katana)

7 Warrior's Willpower: Mental Defense (10 Total)

18 Defense Mastery: Armor 15/15, OAF (Katana), Two-Handed

10 Fortune Found In Zen: Luck 2d6 (Only As Long As He Spends An Hour Each Day In Meditation, -0)

 

Disads:

20 PL: Follows the code of Bushido (Common, Total)

5 Money: Poor

10 SL: Nomad (Frequently, Minor)

10 SL: Public ID Ryan "Ryu" Bryant (Frequently, Major)

15 Hunted: UNTIL 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

15 Hunted: PRIMUS 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)

5 Hunted: 8- Rival Swordsman (As Pow, Defeat In Combat)

 

Note: American Samurai does not get the extra five points to his Hunteds for having a public ID because while his name is easily known, his wanderlust makes it easy for him to keep a low profile if needed. He also has no points to a Psychological Limitation: Wanderlust for this reason.

[Balabanto]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

You know, it's not really necessary to make him Invincible Man. He gets six attacks (which he can use on all the odd phases), and then dodge at the top of all the even numbered ones. This character is actually brutally twinky, because his DCV tops out at...14, with 25 points of defenses. Since no one goes on 1, he can pretty much generate DCV 14 whenever he wants, soak every single attack until the next phase where his opponent doesn't go (Average SPD in the game is still 5, so he attacks again on 2, he dodges on 3, loses his 4, attacks on 5 (Probably downing his opponent if the 3 shots, you're down rule averages out), if not, he takes a single shot, attacks again on 6, opponent is definitely dropped. If for some reason his opponent is faster than he is, he just generates DCV 14 until a phase where the guy doesn't go, attacks, and dodges again.

 

This build is BROKEN. A little mastery of the combat rules and he's a god of combat, unassailable by all except the mightiest of master villains, who laugh at his KA and shoot him first, having heard about how ridiculous he is.

[Narratio]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

I don't know about 'broken', but that "Faster than the Eye" stuff is nasty. It makes him hugely lopsided. An opponent is going to need some big ranged area attacks on the hex he's in to hit him, but once he does. Splat.

 

Question on the COM 15. Why make him so pretty? Why not dip into the negative just to add some non-combat colour. His PRE is more than high enough to compensate.

[Shoutybloke]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Taking a killing strike to use with a weapon is fairly pointless, since the dc of the bonus is halved. Martial strike, fast strike or offensive strike would be more effective.

[OzMike]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

For a start, the Independent and Real World limitations on the HKA bother me for a character who is obviously for a Superheroic game. Also, if you are taking Independent on the HKA portion, why not just take it on the other stuff the sword gives you too?

 

I'd also swap the Martial Arts Killing Strike for a Fast Strike or Martial Strike - you get more OCV or DCV that way.

 

Seeing as he is most likely to only use his Kenjutsu, his combat levels could be bought as 3pt levels.

 

For someone who is meant to be so good at the sword, he is lacking a KS: Kenjutsu or something made up like KS: The Way Of The Blade. The KS: Bushido is knowledge of a philosophy (just in case you thought otherwise - not trying to patronise).

 

Like many others I'd reconsider the Faster than the Eye power (extra Speed). There are many other ways of doing what this does that are similar (e.g. Rapid Attack, multipower with the sword) that would make him more flexible (and therefore scary) without overpowering.

 

Otherwise an interesting sword dude.

[Alverant]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Including what's been mentioned here, I think you don't have enough martial arts. A few years ago I took a class in kumdo, the Korean version of kendo, during which I made my own American Samauri. Taking the class was a big help in playing him. Not only did I take maneuvers like disarm and block, I knew when to use them in combat. You have three maneuvers. A black belt in kendo knows at least three times as many. You should include Dodge, Takedown, Offensive and Defensive strike, Defense maneuver, Takeaway, Fast strike, Running strike. Watch some old Samauri movies and see what they can do.

[Squall]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

A few more skills (IE, a little more character depth) probably wouldn't kill ya, either.

 

Honestly -- and I'm no pro at making characters, don't get me wrong -- it feels like you just sat down and said "I want to make a guy that can hit people with a sword," and that's 100% all you've got here. He can do one thing, and do it ridiculously well, and that's it. His superhero name could be Sword Hitter Guy.

[Cygnia]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Echoing everyone else, skills-wise you're lacking. So you can survive. What else? You've got no Acrobatics or Breakfall, two skills that practically every martial artist/H-t-H combatant should have. What about Tracking? Or Shadowing? Find Weakness even?

 

It's just not a very well-rounded character. And as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil GMs, I'd nuke you with a mentalist. All that twink armor will be for naught since you have a very average ECV.

 

And why are UNTIL and PRIMUS only watching you? You've admitted to having a "violent track record". I'd want your vigilante butt arrested, not watched! No rival looking to best you in the way of the sword? No villain looking to avenge himself upon you for beating him?

[BNakagawa]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Acrobatics is great for some of the more flashy martial arts styles like capoeira or tae kwon do, but not really appropriate for all styles. Breakfall is a must, though. Unless you're going for one of those wacky ground-fighting styles.

 

KS of the culture behind the martial art is a real must for anyone who is more than a hobbyist.

 

Overall, the build is unbalanced in the extreme. Lethal against most foes, he has significant blind spots. Mentalists will blow him away at long range (or mind control him into doing something very unfortunate) if they're smart. Blasters should have no trouble at all staying away from him as he has no movement powers.

 

Hey, if I mind control him into attacking normals or teammates, will he commit seppuku afterwards?

[OctoberRaven]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Okay, balanced him somewhat. Changed his Katana so now he can fight without killing, drastically lowered his SPD (both powered and otherwise), and gave him more skills and MA abilities.

[assault]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Personality wise, he's a bit of a cypher. What there is tends to say: Loner. As is: Doesn't play well with others. That tends to set off alarm bells.

 

Loners are a problem. Loners with Katanas are a cliche. Of course, the superheroic genre is full of cliches, so that's not a problem. The loner thing is more of an issue - make sure that your character can and will cooperate with his teammates.

 

It would also be nice if you included a points total. I can't be bothered adding them up myself.

[BNakagawa]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

This version is much better balanced. There are a few things things that I find puzzling...

 

Concealment? you spent 7 points on it, so it must be important to the concept, but exactly why escapes me.

 

Something he could use: weaponsmith. He's poor so he's not going to be able to spend coin to keep his katana in top shape. Also, it's not like every town has a craftsman that is used to dealing with samurai swords... A good investment for someone who lives and dies by his sword.

 

The SPD is a little problematic because it is not clear which phases he can only attack and which ones he can do anything...

 

Still has no movement options. Even a few points of running makes a big difference. Not a problem against muggers. Definitely trouble against Viper agents. A real game-breaker against supers.

 

One trick I used to make characters that I wanted to be mobile but without making them olympic (or better) level track stars is to buy extra running with a small limitation that makes it only count for calculating the half-move. So if you bought 6" of running with this limitation, then your full move would be 6" and your half move would be 6". It effectively doubles your combat range without changing your sprinting speed.

 

You could probably sweep the AK: US under the rug of everyman skills. I doubt anyone would blink at that. (unless you wanted to be particularly knowledgeable about geography)

[Kirby]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Originally when I was reading his background I was thinking, oO(This feels like the samurai version of Seeker. Ninja Seeker is 4-color, Samurai Seeker is Dark Champions. That's funny.)

 

This build is BROKEN. A little mastery of the combat rules and he's a god of combat' date=' unassailable by all except the mightiest of master villains, who laugh at his KA and shoot him first, having heard about how ridiculous he is.[/quote']Blah. The entire critique is in no way constructive. The first paragraph is based on a biased assumption and the above quote is very uninformed.

 

The character made is not bad for someone just beginning or relatively new. The character's strength is in his sword and like many a hero, it's his weakness as well. With a 15 Strength, just about any martial artist he comes up again will be able to disarm him. With the "Independent" limitation, if the opponent gets away with the sword, it's gone until retrieved. He also has no range attacks. He's hardly a "god of combat," much less "unassailable by all...."

 

OctoberRaven, my suggestion is that you lower the HKA to 1d6 and remove the "Independent" as well as the "Real Weapon" limitation. With his current AP advantage, Hero Designer would put him at a 1 1/2d6 damage. If you then lowered his +6d6 HtH attack to +4d6+1 (22 points) his sword would look like this:

 

11 Sword: Multipower, 22-point reserve, (22 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1)

1u 1) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (1 1/2d6 w/STR), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4) 2

1u 2) Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6+1 (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2)

 

The sword now costs you 13 points instead of 18 and you don't have to worry about the Independent limitation.

 

You could also remove the Armor Piercing which would bring the HKA actually up to 2d6 w/Str. If you modify it so the MP is 20 points (OAF -1, 10 real points), the sword being 1d6+1, the HtH +4d6, this will now cost you 12 real points, saving 6 for something else (maybe a Damage Class or something else).

 

While I can see the comic book flashiness of his sword protecting him (deflecting all incoming attacks), I can see your GM ruling against it or halving it versus AoE attacks. An option would be to either buy him armor or spend those points on Combat Luck instead. For 18 points he'd have 9 D/rd and it would be considered hardened and wouldn't be gone when his sword gets taken away.

 

Just something to consider.

[Bloodstone]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

KS: Kendo should probably be Kenjutsu

 

Several of those maneuvers are not Kenjutsu maneuver in UMA, so check with the GM to make sure it is ok to take them.

 

I'd learn some unarmed martial arts while your at it. Your one very easy disarm away from being almost totally useless. At least take Barehand element with Kenjutsu so you can use Dodge, Block and Disarm without your sword.

 

I'd need a good reason why the Katana can reduce the damge from grenades or other AoE/Explosion effects. Since you took real weapon on the katana, I would also expect that it would eventually break under the stress of "deflecting" bullets, ice beams and heat vision.

 

That said, I wouldn't allow several of those limitations or the poor disadvantage in a standard Supers game.

[OctoberRaven]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Concealment? you spent 7 points on it, so it must be important to the concept, but exactly why escapes me.

 

I figured when he has to go incognito, he would need to make sure nobody would notice his katana. With his reputation, I figured seeing that plus his katana would make people at least be suspicious.

 

Also, this is mostly just a build done for possible (not in my current game) future use, so GM limits isn't something I had in mind yet. I also meant him to be usable as an NPC (like most of the builds I post here).

 

Also, Kirby, he was talking about the original build, which had 6 SPD, and his Faster than the Eye was +6 SPD.

 

EDIT to Bloodstone: Actually, it would make sense for him to have a nontraditional sword style as he's self-taught. Guess I didn't make that properly clear in his background, my bad.

[Kirby]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Also' date=' Kirby, he was talking about the original build, which had 6 SPD, and his Faster than the Eye was +6 SPD.[/quote']That's the way he tends to respond to things he doesn't like. Regardless if your charcter is a 12 Speed or a 6 Speed, the critique was done in a poor fashion.

[Lord Fyre]

Re: (Character) The American Samurai

 

Question on the COM 15. Why make him so pretty? Why not dip into the negative just to add some non-combat colour. His PRE is more than high enough to compensate.

 

Actually, and "American Samurai" should have a good comeliness. The archetypal Ronin hero from almost all anime is always very good looking.

[pinecone]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Not to bad, I like the changes, he is still a bit of a one trick pony. I'd guess you'd be happier if he was a dang fine MA who used a sword, instead of an awesome swordsman who is weak when without it.....I definatly recomend your defences be seperate from the sword, so you can live long enough to get it back.....some stuff can wait for EP's to fix though....

[OctoberRaven]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Not to bad' date=' I like the changes, he is still a bit of a one trick pony. I'd guess you'd be happier if he was a dang fine MA who used a sword, instead of an awesome swordsman who is weak when without it.....I definatly recomend your defences be seperate from the sword, so you can live long enough to get it back.....some stuff can wait for EP's to fix though....[/quote']

 

With EXP, he would eventually learn some MA that doesn't involve his sword (especially when after laying low suddenly sprining into action), and possibly buy off the limitations on his defense so that he can defend himself without it.

[pinecone]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Yeah, and of course the character practicly screams "MISSILE DEFLECT!!" so at some point you should buy it...it makes your defences less of an issue, if they close to HTH thats where you want them, at range you 1/2 move and deflect, till you get close....

[Hyper-Man]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Here's a 700+ point version of Samurai Jack you might find some ideas from.

 

Besides what everyone else has covered I would recommend buying some Combat Skill Levels vs. Sweep instead of Limited Speed which gets wonky with movement.

[BNakagawa]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Isn't he technically a ronin?

[pinecone]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Isn't he technically a ronin?

 

Of course not...he's in the sworn service of Elvis...the King!...

[Spidey88]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

One small thing I'd probably do myself, at least operating under the principles of my own campaign:

 

If you do want to stick with the limited SPD (only for using sword), I'd recommend actually bumping it up to 4/8.

 

That might be pushing it a bit in terms of power levels (not knowing what your campaign standards are like, it's totally subjective), but it'll make combat slightly easier to manage, as the phases will all be in a nice pattern.

 

Phase 1, no actions. Phase 2, full action. Phase 3, swordy stuff.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

 

A 4/8 SPD, in any game, will mean that with his swordwork he's blindingly fast (venturing into low-grade speedster territory or the world's absolute finest martial artists who have an edge in speed) - but if your world's Batman has SPD 7 straight-up, it might fit half-decently.

 

My two cents.

[Certified]

Re: [Character] The American Samurai

 

Of course not...he's in the sworn service of Elvis...the King!...

 

"Float away, little butterfly. Just flutter away. I got a gig in Vegas. And the wastelands ain't no place for kids."