The famed Sumari warriors...

[Bobmalooga]

In the course of the campaign universe I created, I had players create planets and backgrounds for some of the races on those planets. One player suggested Thermyscria (home of the amazons from mythology), someone else did Panatha (based off the greeks), The Helions (based off ancient Egypt) and we kept making jokes about 'The Sumari'

The name originated from a story that a mutual acquaintance told me in that his father-in-law-to-be told him about this history channel special about 'The famed Sumari warriors...' and being into AD&D and medieval fantasy this guy scoured the internet trying to find something out about the Sumari.

When he goes back to the soon to be in-law it comes out that the man was talking (of course...) about the Samurai and had butchered the name. The name though stuck in my head and eventually when it came time to come up with an Asian type culture to transplant into the game, the Sumari were born...

And so here are some stats worked by my Cousin 'Dude' (Not his name)...

Comments are welcome.

Sumari Warriors are practitioners of several dangerous and obscure empty-handed fighting styles. While they are masters of the art of war with weapons, they are most often no less dangerous bearing no arms. It is said that the number of fighting styles they practice are as numerous as the stars in the sky, listed below are just a few:

The Way of Softness: (Jiujutsu)
Developed for combating not only larger, stronger opponents, but those who may also be in armor, the Way of Softness uses a combination of counters, throws, joints locks and chokes to subdue or even kill an enemy. Due to the nature of the incoming attacks, opponents resist damage at -1D to their Strength and may not add any bonuses for wearing armor. This art is difficult for most to learn and is also much harder to apply in a real combat setting. All attacks have a base difficulty of Moderate or higher.

The Way of Harmony: (Aikido)
The Way of Harmony is another fighting art designed to ignore an opponent’s superior strength, however, it is different from the Way of Softness in that it is an entirely defensive method of combat. The practitioner always goes last in the round; waiting for his opponent to attack, and his difficulty is the attacker’s “To Hit” roll. His damage inflicted on his target is the attacker’s own strength roll.

The Way of Empty Hands: (Karate)
A more common and direct fighting art, the Way of Empty Hands focuses primarily on using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes and open-handed techniques. Not only learning how to hit an opponent, but when and where, students of this fighting art receive an additional +1D to inflicting damage in unarmed combat. Training and conditioning for this martial art is tough and strenuous, giving those who have sufficiently trained in this way of fighting +1D to resist non-melee physical attacks.

Typical Sumari Warrior
Type: Feudal Soldier
Dexterity: 3D+1
Dodge: 5D, Bows:4D, (SP) Kyodo Archery: 5D+1, Melee Combat: 4D+2: (SP) Sumari Katana: 6D, Running: 4D+1, Thrown Weapons: 3D+2, Martial Arts: 4D+1
Knowledge: 3D+1
Scholar (SP) Clan Lore: 4D, Survival: 4D, Etiquette: 4D+2
Mechanical: 2D+1
Beast Riding: 4D
Perception: 3D+2
Search: 4D, Sneak: 4D
Strength: 3D+1
Climbing/Jumping: 4D, Stamina: 4D+1, Swimming: 3D+2
Technical: 2D
Archaic Weapon Repair: 2D+2, First Aid: 4D
Force Sensitive? No
Force Points- 2
Darkside Points- 0
Move- 10

Equipment:
Sword- Str +2D damage, Knife- Str +1D damage, Bow and Quiver (12 arrows)- Str +1D damage 3-10 / 25 / 75, Armor and Helmut- +1D to Physical, +1 to Energy

Story Factors:
Honor Code: Sumari have a very strict code of both honor and conduct. They will not strike the defenseless unless that person has been defeated in combat and they prefer to keep their fights one on one. Sumari also do not use unfair advantages in combat, seeking to test their skills against those of theirs opponent.

Perfection of Self: Sumari believe very strongly in mastering anything they undertake and are committed to what they feel like is both perfection of themselves and their particular art. Constantly training and practicing, Sumari are driven to be the best in everything they do.

Inability to use the Force: The Sumari have a dislike of Jedi because of their reliance on using the Force, as such the Sumari do not learn Force abilities or culture Force talent, seeing it as an unfair advantage in combat. While they will be friendly to a Jedi, they do not approve of them using Force talent in their honor duels.

Musashi Metal: The Sumari found an oar on their planet, which when properly forged, can deflect the strikes of a lightsaber. Named after the Sumari’s greatest swordsman, this alloy is both highly coveted and secreted. Also an extremely rare metal; only the most proven of Sumari are ever given a Musashi blade. It should be noted that Musashi Metal is never used for armor, as that would be considered an unfair advantage in combat.

Samansosuke Katsumoto
Sumari Noble Lord
Dexterity: 3D
Dodge: 5D+2, Bows:4D, (SP) Kyodo Archery: 4D+1, Melee Combat: 4D+2: (SP) Sumari Katana: 7D+2, Running: 4D, Martial Arts: 6D+1
Knowledge: 3D+2
Artist: 4D+1, Languages:4D+2, Scholar (SP) Sumari History: 5D+1, Scholar (SP) Clan Lore: 5D+1, Survival: 4D, Etiquette: 5D+2, Tactics: 5D+1, Intimidation: 4D
Mechanical: 2D+1
Beast Riding: 6D
Perception: 3D+2
Command: 6D+2, Search: 4D+1, Sneak: 4D, Willpower: 4D+1
Strength: 3D+1
Climbing/Jumping: 4D, Stamina: 4D, Swimming: 3D+2
Technical: 2D
Archaic Weapon Repair: 3D+2, First Aid: 4D
Force Sensitive? Yes
Force Points- 3
Darkside Points- 0
Move- 10

Equipment:
Musashi Sword- Str +3D damage, Knife- Str +1D damage, Bow and Quiver (12 arrows)- Str +1D damage 3-10 / 25 / 75, Armor and Helmet- +1D+2 to Physical, +1D to Energy
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No matter where you go, there you are...

[Naaman]

Ha! Cool. Im working onn a supporting character who uses a bow, but its a Star Wars-y bow with pullies an builtin range finders and targeting array somewhat like google glass.

Im also working on special types of high tech arrows that explode or punch through shields, etc. Now, are these swords they use high tech (vibro) or just super awesome traditional blades with mystical metallergy (other than the Musashi blades).


What type of animals do they ride? And are the Sumari human?

[Bobmalooga]

I'm sad to say that is as far as the write-up got, we used 'Deali-steeds' which were modeled after the riding elk in Princess Mononoke, we just based stats off of Taun-tauns. As to the Musashi blades, it had been our intention to reveal it was just a variant of Cortosis or even Phrik. I did have a Jedi that used a standard composite bow (Str+1D+2 damage, range 3-10/30/100), and I once did stats for Hawkeye for SWRPG...so here are some trick arrows...

Acid: 10D intensity Speeder scale for 2 minutes. 15x15 ft. area
Cable: 150 ft. long , can hold up to 400 lbs
Electrical: 6D Ion attack Character scale.
Explosive: 6D damage Speeder scale, acts as a grenade.
Flare: Provides light for a 40 diameter radius for D10 rounds.
Net: Entangling attack. Difficult Roll to detangle.
Smoke: Fills 40 ft square area for 4 rounds. All sight based perception rolls are at -2D.
Sonic: 6D intensity Character scale. Must make a Difficult Stamina roll or be stunned for 1-10 rounds.
Tear gas: Must make a Difficult Stamina roll or be stunned for 2-20 rounds.

At the least, there are some ideas.
_________________
No matter where you go, there you are...

[Naaman]

Oh, yeah. The whole point of a bow in SW is the utility that it offers over the blaster. The character who carries it is sort of an Indiana Jones type who runs around the galaxy looking for lost civilizatioñs and ancient artifacts.