Kagami Saya, Oni-blooded Samurai

[ResidualRose]

Kagami "The Oni" Saya, 29, Ronin/Sellsword/Scout/“Professional Problem”

Oni-Blood (Tiefling) Ronin (Barbarian)
[ Character Sheet ]

Saya stands tall with a lean yet statuesque build at around 6 feet. Unnaturally pale ivory skin, marred only by dark freckles, elaborate grand scenic and animalistic tattoos, as well as numerous scars from old battle wounds. Her hair is a dark blood red, almost black under most lighting, and is kept in short braided styles with shaved sides and back. Her charcoal stained lips barely conceal the fiendish rows of razor like teeth…her other supernatural features however, require more finesse to conceal: From her forehead sprout a pair of short up-turned horns, that kept short through meticulous grinding…and these are often hidden in plain sight by an armoured headband that fits around the pair of protrusions, turning signs of Oni-heritage into mere battle-field accessories common to her homeland…when not in combat, sometimes a spirit-mask is worn, which also helps conceal her fiery inhuman eyes. Where a mask is too much, large spectacles with obsidian lenses are used in conjunction with the headband. 

Outside of arm guards, greaves, and the above mentioned disguise items, Saya doesn’t actually favour all that much armour, preferring the maneuverability afforded by leather or silk. Bindings of silk rope or cloth are used to bind down the otherwise flowing fabrics of her layed tunics, robes, and pants. This prevents them from getting in the way of fighting, as well as creates a physical tension, false weight, and deep pressure over parts of her body that Saya finds calming and comforting.

Saya is rarely unarmed, with at least the wakisachi or tanto of her Daisho set, kept within arms reach.

 

Personality: 

Saya is quiet and introspective by nature. Her need to keep the truth of heritage a secret in her homeland whenever possible has caused her to internalize a lot of her thoughts and feelings, even when it would be more prudent to speak up. This can be mistaken for her having a demure and even servile nature, which is a mistake as Saya is fiercely independent and is easily incensed by those who wrong her.

Her concealed emotions manifest as a cold rage in battle, focused and sharpened as a razor edge and directed towards seeking out singular targets on the field and cutting through anyone in her way. Previous commanders who have picked up on this have made use of this rage by picking a specific target in the enemy lines, like officers, mages, or priests, and aiming Saya in that direction before her emotions and instincts take over.

This dichotomy and tension between quiet introspection and brutally savage fury is at the core of Saya’s internal struggle, which she sees as a war between her mixed civilized noble human and savagely destructive oni heritage.

Another aspect is Saya’s hungers and hobbies. She enjoys good music and fine art, but often feels compelled to sate hedonistic desires of nearly inhuman magnitude. Much of the money she would’ve otherwise saved by not investing in heavy armour, is often spent in her downtime in restaurants, taverns, and brothels…this often leads to more trouble however, since her guard and self-control are usually down while engaging in such debauchery, and a common reason for her nomadic roaming is to escape the consequences of duels, debts, or (in one notable occasion) engagement.

Saya was unfamiliar with the term “tiefling” before leaving her homeland, and has only recently just started to open up more as she begins to associate more with this term and it’s wider “acceptance” by her fellows in comparison.

 

Background (Knives Approach):

Family and Clan, Samurai and Exile
Saya’s father, Kagami-daimyo Masamichi. Saya had other siblings, all of whom were born human, but Masamachi seemed to treasure Saya above all others, almost because of her “cursed” heritage instead of inspite of it. It was suspected this is either because Saya’s mother, a concubine in the Kagami court was Masamichi’s favourite, or because Masamichi’s favourite ancestor/mentor perhaps also manifested Oni-blood. He kept Saya close during her upbringing, which is one reason Saya learned how to become a proficient warrior, though he also kept her away from the outside world whenever possible, afraid of what it would do to her for her appearance. Saya first accompanied her father on campaign at the age of 13, doing so covertly in disguise (her first field use of the “demon regalia” guise) as a scout in his army, unbeknownst to even her father at the time….three campaigns later, she was wounded in battle and her secret uncovered by her father’s sandalbearer…and after an argument and a chastisement that lasted weeks, Masamichi finally agreed to let his daughter participate, especially after she made it clear that battle was one of the few moments she felt at peace with herself (Masamichi believed it may have been because physical conflict let the “Oni out” in a productive way). Saya left Masamichi and her family behind after a political maneuver by Clan Kagami’s rivals outed the nature of her existence, forcing Masamichi to banish her or accept Imperial reprimand (at the very least)…Saya left to make the decision for her father, as she was certain the old man would have rather taken those consequences, no matter how severe, rather than turn on his own flesh and blood.

Uncertain Taint
Saya is unsure exactly where her Oni heritage comes from, and if it was from her Clan Kagami ancestors or the concubine who birthed her. The theories about which one, were typically told depending on whom one wanted to assign “blame” too or “exonerate”. Her siblings were a mixed bag, with some accepting Saya and the possibility that their bloodline did have some trace of Oni taint in it (…after all, that would mean they were even more pure by birth as they were free of Saya’s manifestations!…or her one older and eccentric brother, the towering Gege the Tetsubo, who believed that shared Oni heritage with Saya could be responsible for his sheer size and overwhelming strength)….others (especially a number of her sisters) placed the blame firmly at the feet of Saya’s mother, believing themselves free of the possibility of taint as their own mothers were not Saya’s. 

Family Troubles, Court Conspiracies
It should be noted that Saya was tolerated over all much less by her sisters than her brothers in general, possibly because the sisters envied the apparent freedom from expectations and duties that Saya had in comparison, as well as the attention she received from their father. In addition to being his favourite, Masamichi believed that her “condition” would prevent Saya from ever being able to marry or engage in functions outside the Clan…so the restrictive and somewhat depressing life of a noble woman was never seriously enforced on her. In short, while she recieved the same education as her sisters, it was apparent from an early age that she would never have to pay for that education with the same sacrifices and duties that her sisters would be expected to make. Arranged marriages, etc. It’s not beyond possibility that it was one or more of her sisters that actually orchestrated the event that would lead to Saya’s wider unmasking and the Imperial Court attention it bring down on her…though Saya never was able to determine this.

A Grudge That Refuses to Die
Early on in her “career” as a Ronin, Saya duelled a swordsman and Oni-hunter by the name of Oda Masahide who had tracked her down to a low brothel she was staying in (her nature often meant that Saya had to shelter in the more…seedier but also more accepting…ends of society). Saya left him for dead in the street after a brief clash of blades, but he recovered and tracked her down three towns later, this time declaring an official challenge, hoping to rope her into the fight by exploiting her noble upbringing…he needn’t had bothered with the pretext, as Saya’s blood had started to boil up again and part of her had just being waiting for an excuse to spill someone else’s. Saya lopped off an eye and took out an eye this time, receiving a slash across the bridge of her nose in the process…she left him for dead again.

Friends In Low Places
Oda’s third attack happened the next year, after Oda had recovered and had an artisan fit him with a functional prosthetic (and possibly minor enchanted) arm. This time, he came at her with a small team, used an ambush in a ghost town, from which Saya barely escaped with her life. It was this battle that pressed upon Saya the importance of travelling in groups, and she began to join up with any mercenary outfit that would accept her…which wasn’t many, admittedly, and it led to some rather unsavoury work history: assassins, river pirates, smugglers, enforcers.

Survival At Any Cost
This also meant that a lot of the blood on Saya’s hands has since come from sullied action. While she tried to keep herself from falling too hard into the depths while still within the Imperial Court’s spheres of influence (to keep her actions from further sullying her Clan and Father’s honour), Saya has since entered illegal fightclubs, operated as a bandit and pirate, smuggled slaves, hunted bounties, worked as a bodyguard for a petty loan shark, and assassinated or otherwise straight up killed several figures in various local politics.

A Conscious Yet Still Lives
She’s also worked with reputable outfits, the most recent being the Silver Hawks…and these generally sit better with what’s left of her conscious, though she does admit that they tend to lack some of the perks of seedier work, like brothel discounts or credit at restaurants under the “protection” of whatever boss she had been working for.

An Armoury Inherited
Saya is a master of many weapons and more likely to use a polearm (like a naginata/glaive) or a longbow when on the field, but her favourite parts of her panoply are her three-piece matching “Daisho” set: a Katana, a Wakisaschi, and a Tanto. Gifts commissioned by her father after a successful series of skirmishes against the rival Clan Fushiguro. Of these, the Katana has seen the most use as it is Saya’s go-to in duelling or when loosing a polearm or closing from archery range. The Tanto meanwhile, which is often concealed as a large ping to keep her hair wrapped back, sees mostly use as a shaving implement and is the secret behind the shaved back and sides Saya’s head. A devotee of the animistic practices of her homeland, Saya treats her weapons as spiritual vessels worthy of respect and by extension, she also has deep respect for artisans and artificers capable of producing weapons of masterwork and/or magical quality.

Hungers Insatiable (Nearly)
Either because she was born part-Oni or may just born into the decadence of an aristocracy (or both), but Saya tends to find herself with hungering desires for wine, women, and song (and food). Her habit of frequenting brothels started off utilitarian enough: the places that would house an exiled ronin and keep her Oni-blood on the downlow for a night, as long as the coin was right, were few and far between (see: Friends in Low Places), but now Saya now tends to frequent such establishments even though the Sword Coast is much more accepting, almost like an addiction. Oni are known as demons with great hungers, typically for food, wine, and violence...and Saya finds herself drawn to the hedonistic pursuits in some form or another. Her jobs with the Silver Hawks provides her with amble opportunites to find violence, so those dark urges have been much less of issue these days, but the pay from such jobs tends to only fuel the intensity of want of the others. Since coming to Keri's Crossing, Saya's been a guest of the Sharessian "temple" on multiple occassions and with several different "attending priests"...and her tab for food and drink at the local tavern would threaten to put even an actual ogre's to shame.

 

Edited February 6 by ResidualRose (see edit history)

[Aspekt]

Oh yeah, more than enough! I really like this character concept.

Now I just want to go binge Samurai Champloo over again, I can’t believe you’ve done this. I also thought of the Kubo and the Two strings opening while reading this, “If you must blink, do so now…”

This may encourage me to look at mixing some east-Asian influences into the setting.

[ResidualRose]

1 hour ago, Aspekt said:

Oh yeah, more than enough! I really like this character concept.

Now I just want to go binge Samurai Champloo over again, I can’t believe you’ve done this. I also thought of the Kubo and the Two strings opening while reading this, “If you must blink, do so now…”

This may encourage me to look at mixing some east-Asian influences into the setting.

Honestly, I had a lot of episodes of Netflix’s Blue Eyed Samurai and the original Seven Samurai movie running through my brain on repeat when I started doing this character XD

[ResidualRose]

Had a bit nothing to do, so I spent it editing the above HeroForge model into how Saya might look when she lets her hair down and lives a little.

…and she’s got a tetsubo because I wanted to use the tetsubo model…and also because it’s a metaphor for her Oni-driven hungers or something, I guess? Yeah…yeah…let’s go with that…

[PureChance]

Just a quick mechanical note (to check you're aware), overlap between sneak attack and rage damage is nuanced. You may be all over this, in which case no offence intended.

 

Sneak Attack 

The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.

Rage

When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.

 

So nothing in the rogue block means you need to use the effect of finesse (attacking with dexterity), but it needs to have the property, as you need to use strength to attack to trigger barbarian damage. Best finesse weapon tops out at 1d8, or you can dual wield and have a second finesse weapon to trigger sneak attack since sneak attack can only trigger 1/turn but barbarian would happen on both.

If you're dual wielding both weapons need the light property though, till you get the Dual Wielder feat.

Edited January 31 by PureChance (see edit history)

[ResidualRose]

6 hours ago, PureChance said:

Just a quick mechanical note (to check you're aware), overlap between sneak attack and rage damage is nuanced. You may be all over this, in which case no offence intended.

 

Sneak Attack 

The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.

Rage

When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.

 

So nothing in the rogue block means you need to use the effect of finesse (attacking with dexterity), but it needs to have the property, as you need to use strength to attack to trigger barbarian damage. Best finesse weapon tops out at 1d8, or you can dual wield and have a second finesse weapon to trigger sneak attack since sneak attack can only trigger 1/turn but barbarian would happen on both.

If you're dual wielding both weapons need the light property though, till you get the Dual Wielder feat.

Yeah, I know about 5E’s silly SA restrictions…the sneak attack will however will keep up the damage potential of the wakizashi and tanto, or bow. The SA from Rogue is less important though then the skills, expertise and later, cunning actions. The focus, mechanically will overall be on the barbarian levels.

Honestly, I am still unsure of this build…usually in games that have access to more than just PHB options, so Ive been trying to compensate where ever have to.

If you have a suggestion, I’m open to alternative build ideas however ;)

[PureChance]

So I'm not particularly familiar with the variously named Eastern blades, but I guess my only suggestion would be refluffing the rapier as the bigger one (which has the same damage die as a longsword anyway, except piercing Vs slashing - not sure if there's ever any mechanical differences between the two save some nonphb feats) which keta you get both SA and Rage damage on your main attack... I'm assuming the katana is currently a reflavoured longsword being wielded two handed for versatile bonus? Dropping it to 1d8 and getting the extra 1d6 from sneak attack mechanically would be stronger than a d10 damage die. I don't see why having a d8 slashing finesse weapon would be an issue.

Alternatively since reaching your first feat is likely to take so long you could mechanically wield two scimitars for the mainhand/offhand blades two allow double attack with benefits of rage and SA, though your bonus action seems pretty full.

 

Like I say, eastern fantasy isn't really my thing so I'm not quite sure what makes a samurai a samurai for you, whether you imagine them dual or single wielding, or what you imagine them as excelling at. To me fighter might have seemed more appropriate than rogue, but it's not my imagination that's relevant there! I just wanted to make sure you weren't caught out by something not working as you'd imagined.

 

Otherwise just accept you'll often not get sneak attack? If it's just expertise you're after, a feat like skill Expert might be a better option down the line?

Edited January 31 by PureChance (see edit history)

[ResidualRose]

Apologies for the following ramble of thoughts:

In a lot of previous editions, a lot GMs houseruled Katanas to be masterwork bastard-swords (this was suggested in the DMG and basically made mechanical canon in future books) that were finessable (this part was not in the DMG's suggestions and was just a house rule)...which was kinda silly, TBH.

The trick with Expertise vs. Skill Expert, is that it doesn't help me out until level 4-5...and there are combat feats that waaaay more important to emulating a Samurai build (Alert's +5 initiative especially...). Fighter is straightforward...but also boring and misses out on the fantasy/mythology of the Samurai in favour of the more historical (...Samurai is a fighter sub-class in Xanathar's or Tasha's, after all...and it's...it's...something...that exists...sigh...)

I honestly was trying to figure out how to build this because of how mismatched Tiefling and Barbarian are, stat wise, (this was prior to Aspekt allowing us to customize lineages with swappable stat increases), and what background to use to match what I had written so far...I picked up on the bit where I had mentioned Saya's first "job" in her father's army (without his knowledge at the time) was that of a scout...so Rogue got splashed into the previous pure Barbarian build...and hence, she's got a splash of "ninjitsu" in her training...

Rapier doesn't really have a Japanese equivalent...the closest might be a shin-gunto, which were smaller one-handed blades mass issued in the 1800-1900s and basically used as an alternative to the European Officer's sabres/smallswords when Japan came out of isolation and decided to catchup with the Meiji Restoration, aka, copying the other major world powers homework (and then promptly showing the results by trouncing Russia in the Russo-Japanese War)...(shingunto are the "katanas" a lot of US Servicemen start bringing back as war trophies after WWII).

...Though, if we go back far enough, the predecessor to the curved bludes of the tachi and katana, you'd get straighter blades with influences from the Chinese dao and jian...and the jian is basically a rapier..one handed, lightly balanced, tends to be used in a flashy style (...crouching tiger, hidden dragon anyone?) in competitions and media.

...one could argue for the Ninja-to as a rapier equivalent, but in DnD the Ninja-to has been kinda locked to the Scimitar statblock since Baldur's Gate II and before. XD

Longsword honestly fits the sterotype of a Katana the best...not only is it equivalent in historical battlefield role to the longsword (sideweapon you swap to after being dismounted or loosing a polearm and that was easy enough to wear everywhere as a personal defence/duelling weapon), but being a weapon that could be used 1 handed if needed, but was often used with two hands instead to increase control and power...mechanically, how 5e handles the longsword (by mixing it in with the bastard sword of previous editions for that d10 when 2-handing) and the general weight of thing, mirrors a typical katana quite well.

Nah, from the looks of it all, I'm just going to have to accept the mechanical ineffeciencies and jankiness no matter which path I build Saya on....though I do believe there is a magic item out there that could grant "finesse" to a weapon (though I don't remember the source, I doubt it's DMG unfortunately), so maybe, just maybe, there's hope in the future?

Until then, Sneak attacking will just have to be a nasty surprise she brings out with her concealed tanto (dagger) or wakizashi (scimitar/shortsword)...or at range with her yumi (bow)....and maybe something she wields both short weapons at once and goes full on reckless attack at a later level like a wounded tiger, mauling her foes with a SA-inflicting shortsword/scimitar strike...not sure. We'll have to see ;)


 

[PureChance]

I think that's reasonable - looking through the characters so far and the game expectations I don't think mechanically optimised damage is required.

As I said, both eastern fantasy tropes and actual eastern history is not in my knowledge, so suggesting rapier was based solely on taking the mechanical chassis and applying it to something described entirely how you wished, rather than trying to suggest weapon parallels.

Certainly the rogue level will provide a broader set of combat options as you've described above.

[ResidualRose]

So, just to further complicate things, I went back and actually built up the three other ideas in my head of how to make Saya work.


[ Character Sheet (Rogue/Barbarian) ] <-The current build, focus on skills and quick actions.
[ Character Sheet (Pure Barbarian) ] <- the less complicated straight Barbarian build...less skills, more HP, reckless attack...miiiiight over lap with RedMajah's Tseren on how they play in combat...
[ Character Sheet (Barbarian/Warlock) ] <- Mixing in the strange! Barbarian for warrior background, Fiend-pact Warlock for slowly awakening Saya's Oni-blood and the powers/temptations there in.

[ Bonus: Theoretical Pure Hexblade Warlock ] <- I know, I know, PHB only...but I thought I'd just leave this here about how Hexblades can be reskinned as Samurai easy, with the pacts made with the Kami residing in their weapons. Hexblade's Curse becomes more of a focused declaration (aka, that look that a Samurai gives to a target, right before the kiyah and deathblow) and mimics the rage damage. Invocations like Armor of Shadows and Fiendish Vigor mimic the Unarmored Combat and tanky HP. With Hex Warrior meaning that Saya would use CHA to attack with her pact Katana, her fighting style would be more about "being one with the blade" and sudden expressive explosive action (Kiyah!)...and look, Eldritch Blast is no were to be seen, with instead Minor Illusion and Poison Spray filling in as some picked up "ninja tricks"...though Eldritch Blast could've been reflavoured as throwing "spiritual shuriken" or doing the whole anime "launching a blade/wave/beam of energy off of a sword swing" thing.


Anyways, I'll admit, I am hit with decision paralysis...I could've added Sorcerer/Barbarian mixes in as well, but I had enough self control to stop myself there. XD

Got any thoughts/advice, @Aspekt?

[Aspekt]

I think the most interesting build is the Barbarian warlock, just because I’ve never seen something like that!

I wouldn’t worry about being mechanically optimized, I would agree with PureChance that I’d rather find a cool character build and worry less about getting every stat maxed out.

[ResidualRose]

2 minutes ago, Aspekt said:

I think the most interesting build is the Barbarian warlock, just because I’ve never seen something like that!

I wouldn’t worry about being mechanically optimized, I would agree with PureChance that I’d rather find a cool character build and worry less about getting every stat maxed out.

I'm not even worried about optimization or maxing stuff out at this point, I'm still just worried about simple viability of concept. XD

[Aspekt]

I think all of your concepts are viable!

As a way to dig into the problem, what does it mean for a character to be “viable”? What are the aspects of the character that you want to stand out? What are things you’re willing to give up?

Edited February 1 by Aspekt (see edit history)

[ResidualRose]

22 hours ago, Aspekt said:

I think all of your concepts are viable!

As a way to dig into the problem, what does it mean for a character to be “viable”? What are the aspects of the character that you want to stand out? What are things you’re willing to give up?

Except the Hexblade one, right? XD

I mean, viability is a complex thing...Survivable, not a drain on the party's action economy or tactical/strategic options, able to actually work with DnD's mechanics and not feel like I constantly straining against them, etc.

The whole idea of "what I'm willing to give up/want to stand out" is why I made 3-4 different sheets, as each one focuses on a different idea of how the character could manifest ludologically.

I think however, what I will do is go straight Barbarian for the first levels at least, giving a firm foundation in survivability and melee combat, and then a once a good levelling milestone is reached (5th level's extra attack is usually the jumping off point for a lot of warrior classes), I'll see where we are character wise and if a jump to Warlock fits at that point...but I'll keep the door open, by swapping the DEX and CHA around, so 14 CHA, 12 DEX.

[Aspekt]

Yep, I'm going to hold firm on the Hexblade thing, I think the barbarian build is cool!

I'll go ahead and mark this as complete since we seem to have this dialed in.