Kensai

Arelith Requirements

• Base Class: Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue, or Monk
• The kensai path can only be selected at character creation.

General Information

The kensai masters body, mind, weapon, and will. He devotes his strength and his life to the service of a master or an ideal he accepts as greater than himself. Some kensai become masters in their own right, but even one who becomes an emperor sees himself as a servant of some higher power.

Most characters who become kensai aspire to the class from the beginning of their careers. Often, other kensai or elite military organizations train likely young men and women in the principles of service, the arts of war, and the purity of mind and body necessary to become a kensai. Even those who do not qualify at the end often become powerful adventurers.

A kensai can be a lone adventurer, serving an ideal or attempting to fulfill a lifetime goal. Some kensai swear fealty to great lords and rise to become trusted bodyguards, warlords, or leaders in the lord's service. Monks and paladins know the strenuous road a kensai must travel, and some tread that path. Fighters value the might of the kensai, and some clerics have been known to join their ranks. Few wizards or sorcerers ever achieve kensai status, and bards and barbarians find themselves particularly unsuited to service as a kensai. While it might be thought that a rogue would make a poor kensai, such characters are not unheard of and can be deadly adversaries.

The Warning

The kensai is generally regarded as a weak class. While its perma-haste allure may be great, Arelith is an island where magic abounds, and being unable to use magic in any form will limit your character greatly.

Consider this:

• You won't be able to use Raise Dead scrolls to revive party members.
• You won't be able to use Antidotes to remove poisons, or Remove Curse scrolls, or healing potions, or restorations, or wands of any sort.

This is something that may crippe you, and may as cripple your party members as well. This is a class best suited for people that is experienced with Arelith's specific balance and mechanics. Which does not mean that you cannot play it being unexperienced in the server, but simply that it may be... challenging.

You have been warned.

Mechanical Information

• A kensai has permanent Haste, meaning they have +4 AC, 50% bonus movement speed and one extra attack per round.
• Kensai have permanent Freedom of Movement - they are immune to movement-impairing effects.
• They are prevented from equipping any ranged weapons; however, they can use throwing weapons (darts, shurikens, throwing axes).
• They receive +1 saves against spells each 5 levels.
  • Levels means total character level, not just the class that qualifies as Kensai.
• The kensai receives +10 discipline. (likely counting towards the +50 skill cap)
• They cannot use spells from any source. Potions, scrolls, even feats that replicate spells are all unavailable for the kensai.
  • They can, however, be affected by other character's magic. So be it positively or negatively.
  • They may use items flagged as "mundane". Some of these items are the Guaji Roots and the Powderkegs.
  • They may use freely Raise Dead and Resurrection scrolls. Note that this is the only exception to magic.
• The assassin and blackguard prestige classes can be selected by a kensai, but their spell-like abilities may not function.
• The kensai may use supernatural abilities freely, as they are non-magical. These include, for example, all the abilities from the barbarian, the monk and the shadowdancer.