TSR-East Classes: Yakuza

I had intended to post this yesterday, to get each class out a day at a time. But I posted about character death and then was busy mucking around with the spell descriptions (doing a few updates, organizing, making sure I had all the spells on the lists...and I only got the 1st level spells completed).

So I mentioned this in the comments of my post giving an overview of the classes. The term 'yakuza' is only about 130-150 years old. And modern video games and film give many people the impression of yakuza as a modern thing. But the roots of the yakuza go back to two marginalized groups in feudal Japan, the tekiya (wandering tinkerers, carnies, merchants of shoddy goods) and the bakuto (gamblers). Tekiya were mostly burakumin (部落民 "the outcasts"), or eta. Because they were at the bottom of the social ladder and had few rights, they banded together for mutual protection. That later led to "protection" in the gangster sense, extortion, all that stuff. But they also were protectors of the commoners against excesses of the samurai. The oyabun-kobun social structure of the modern yakuza comes from the tekiya (and many modern yakuza still manage the festivals).

Gambling was illegal, so bakuto were criminals. The bakuto also found it useful to band together to prevent persecution. The tattoo culture, including the iconic slipping off of one sleeve to show them off, comes from the bakuto.

So, on to my class. The base is obviously the Thief class, just as in 1E OA. I'm not using the percentile thief skills, though, just x in 6 chances for simplicity (my TSR-West does at the moment still use percentiles). My Yakuza, however, don't get the full complement. Just the traps/locks skills. What they get in compensation is magical tattoos at every even level. Yes, I borrowed the idea from the 3E OA Tattooed Monk PrC. And the tattoos give them access to all kinds of fun abilities, including more thief skills if they want.

Here's the class:

Yakuza (Gangster) AKA Fěitú, Ggangpei

Prime Requisite: Dex [13 +5%, 16 +10%]

Hit Die: d4 to 9^th level, +2/level after

Arms: all weapons, light armor

Special Abilities: disarm traps, backstab, tattoos

Ninja Advancement
Level	XP	BAB	Abilities
1	0	+1	Disarm Traps, Backstab
2	1200	+1	Tattoo
3	2400	+1
4	5000	+1	Tattoo
5	10,000	+3	Backstab x3
6	20,000	+3	Tattoo
7	40,000	+3
8	80,000	+3	Tattoo
9	150,000	+5
10	300,000	+5	Backstab x4, Tattoo
11	450,000	+5
12	600,000	+5	Tattoo
13	750,000	+7
14	900,000	+7	Tattoo
15	1,050,000	+7	Backstab x5

Disarm Traps: A yakuza can locate traps 1-4/d6, and disarm traps or pick locks 1-2/d6.

Backstab: A yakuza that surprises an opponent or attacks from hiding gets a +4 bonus to the attack, and deals double damage if successful. The damage increases at 5^th, 10^th, and 15^th level as shown on the Yakuza Advancement chart.

Tattoo: At every even level, the yakuza gets a tattoo which grants a magical ability. The yakuza must pick a tattoo from the list of yakuza tattoos below.

Bat: Gain infravision 60’ range.

Cherry Blossom: Disease immunity.

Chrysanthemum: Save vs petrification at +2

Dragon: Save vs spells at +2.

Island: Save vs wand or staff at +2.

Koi Fish: Breathe water 1 hour per day.

Lotus: Protection from evil spell, 1/day.

Monkey: Jump 20’ (long or high).

Moon: Hide (as ninja, indoors or outdoors) 1-3/d6.

Owl: Hear noise 1-3/d6.

Orchid: Detect magic spell 1/day.

Ox: Save vs petrification at +2.

Phoenix: Fire resistance (+1 to saves, -1 damage per die).

Pine Tree: Cold resistance (+1 to saves, -1 damage per die).

Skull: Save vs death ray at +2.

Snake: Escape shackles or bonds 1-2/d6.

Spider: Climb sheer surfaces 1-9/d10.

Sun: Heal double from resting.

Tiger: Immunity to fear effects.

Toad: Save vs poison at +2.

Turtle: AC +1

Wisteria: Save vs paralysis at +2.

	Yakuza
Save Level:	1-4	5-8	9-12	13-15
Death Ray/Poison	13	11	9	7
Magic Wand	14	12	10	8
Paralysis/Turn to Stone	13	11	9	7
Dragon Breath	16	14	12	10
Rod/Staff/Spell	15	13	11	9