Sword Saint

[A.J.O.D.]

Ok I'm trying to make a a martial artist in the vein of Himura Kenshin or Roronoa Zoro. and im thinking of modifying evocation to do most of the hard work for me. So my thoughts are to remove the counter spell ability, and focus items. And to work a feeding requirement of some sort. so if any one has any better thoughts or a much simpler way to do this i would love the help.

[Morgan]

First off where are picturing the character getting his powers from and what sort of things do you want this character to do? A skilled swordmaster could be easily done using a high Weapons skill and some cool Stunts. A magically able swordsman could probably be made using Channeling (Spirit or Chi). Does he have a mystically powerful blade then Item of Power is probably the way to go. Does he have some sort of supernatural heritage then Inhuman or higher Speed would probably be in order.

Also if you're thinking about feeding dependency what are you going to use as the basis for that, is it an internal battery of chi, an vampiric sword?

[A.J.O.D.]

well im thinking he gets most of his powers through hard work and lots of training. as for the feeding dependency i was thinking of a chi battery

[Morgan]

Well then in that case I'd recommend that you pick up something like Channeling (Chi), and a bunch of Stunts. Keep in mind that if you have Evocation you have to use Mental stress to power your spells think of your stress boxes as your Chi battery.

[luminos]

I don't recall Kenshin ever using magic.  He was just really badass with a sword.  Give the character +5 with weapons, and some stunts to boost weapon use and you've got it.

Edit: I feel I should elaborate on my point
There are several advantages to using a pure mortal with high weapons over a channeler.
1.  You get that bonus refresh, which is pretty nifty
2.  You don't have to split your skill points between competing skills.  Channeling requires discipline and conviction, while swordsmanship uses weapons, so having a character who excels at both requires three skills from the get-go, and has much less flexibility outside of combat.
3.  One of the largest combat benefits bestowed by channeling is the ability to get huge to-hit bonuses through focus items, but you've already stated you are wanting to drop those.  This would make channeling barely more effective than using a high weapons skill.  So just go with a high weapons skill with one or two stunts to back it up.
4.  Channeling or any kind of magic use just doesn't feel right for representing someones skill with a sword, a skill which you have stated they have gained through a lot of practice.

[Morgan]

Luminos makes a good point what sort of heavy lifting effects did you want to accomplish with Evocation? You might not even need any magic, just a really good Weapons skill and the right stunts.

[A.J.O.D.]

most of what i wanted fore evo was the abilty to hit more then one zone away form myself. like the why zoro from one piece does with his 36/72/106 pound cannon attacks. since i can already hit all the foes in a single with a stunt

[luminos]

Hmm.  I still wouldn't recommend channeling or evocation for that.  A one point power might let you do long distance effects, and that gives the advantage of letting you use a weapons skill to do so, not requiring you to take two other skills as well.  Or you could have a stunt that lets you ignore the movement penalty for moving a single zone while making an attack, or something similar.  I am not familiar with one piece, so I'm afraid I won't be too helpful giving you the exact effect you are looking for.

[A.J.O.D.]

its basicaly a sho of compresed air of his sword. he swings it really hard and a shockwazve gets sent out of it

[luminos]

If you want to mimic that, you'd definitely need something supernatural.  Perhaps Breath Weapon?  Attach the ki battery feeding dependency to that and you have a decent power for that.

[A.J.O.D.]

now that sounds like some thing i can do ill ask the guy co running it with me if thats ok

[Barodahn]

That is exactly what i did for my martial artist, make Breath weapon based of fists.   The other thing to consider might be something like "Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki" (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash), which is his ultra fast step in technique.

Stunt
Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki
You may move one zone as part of a weapons attack without taking a supplemental action. Take a one stress hit due to the extreme acceleration required.

something like that, though that might not be enough of a cost to do so... not sure.  but you get the idea
Or if you are going powered route anyway, remove the penalty. A -1 power to let you move one zone while attacking does not seem overpowered to me.  And this would be move in keeping with Kenshin type character, HE moves fast, never did anything at range i can remember.

[Sh33p]

I don't recall Kenshin ever using magic.  He was just really badass with a sword.  Give the character +5 with weapons, and some stunts to boost weapon use and you've got it.

Bit late and all, but Kenshin demonstrated at least a few clearly supernatural abilities in addition to his speed. His ultimate technique basically generated a vacuum effect to hold enemies in place for another hit (Air, probably), one of his techniques was a short-ranged shockwave/rockslide-type deal (Air, Spirit, or Earth), and he was clearly empathic (several instances of sensing killing intent and past traumas, even without having line-of-sight to his opponent or conversing with them). Kenshin also demonstrated bursts of what had to be Inhuman Speed at a minimum. Nevermind some of his feats of strength (cleaving a cement lamp post in half at the base for starters).

Might help to point out that the DF system does allow you to use other elemental setups. One of the characters in OW uses a Wood element, and Metal is fairly common as a standalone in asian elements.

Another fun point you may or may not find useful: Chi is both matter and energy. "Heavy Chi" constitutes any tangible element. "Light Chi" is the air, spirit, actual light and so on. This is where the notion of the Yin-Yang comes from. The Five Chinese Elements (Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood, Water) are all formed by varying combinations and balances of Chi.

And a random thought someone else can pick up on: Tai Chi forms as the components for thaumaturgy. No material bits needed beyond clothing, with the use of a weapon or pre-arranged ritual area being optional and convenient. You could use Qigong and Yoga forms as well, since Tai Chi ultimately derives from them both to some extent.

[Lanodantheon]

For my Shinsengumi character, I thought of my personal take on a "Sword Saint".  If you search for it you can find the thread.
The way I did it mechanically was just to give him a bunch of stunts and Supernatural speed. Item of Power for a Masamune is optional.

[Deadmanwalking]

Two ways to do this, the first is a lot less resource intensive, but the second is more powerful:

#1:

Breath Weapon [-2] possibly with a Feeding Dependency attached. Plus maybe Inhuman Speed, definitely True Strike, and a lot of mundane Weapons skill and Stunts. Total: -1 to -6 or 7 Refresh, one skill at Superb.

#2:

A more focused, high powered and mystical build, at Submerged.

Skills:

Superb: Conviction, Weapons,
Great: Discipline,

Stunts:

Riposte (Weapons)
Footwork (as the Fists Stunt, but for Weapons)

Powers:

Evocation [-3] (Air, Earth, Spirit); Power (Spirit +1), Control (Spirit +2)
Refinement [-1]
True Strike [-1]

Feeding Dependency (Chi) [+1] effecting;
Inhuman Speed [-2]


The second requires a lot more explanation, and is for a fairly high-powered game, even for Submerged, but could definitely be fun.