Characer Build: Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima

©Sucker Punch Productions (the screenshot was taken by me)
 
I'm here, once again, with a build inspired from a videogame character. And again, a japanese character (I swear I do not play only japanese-themed games, but prepare for when I finally play Nioh): Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima.

That's what we are going to work with: Human Variant (again, I love the flexibility), Fighter Samurai, Knight (Noble) background. I'm using the somewhat despised Honor ability score (which this time is an actually story-relevant mechanic), with the point buy method. We will start at 3rd level, choosing the Dueling Fighting Style. Here's the stats:

Strength       15 (+2)
Dexterity      13 (+1)
Constitution 14 (+2)
Intelligence  10 (+0)
Wisdom        10 (+0)
Charisma      13 (+1)
Honor            12 (+1)

For skill proficiencies, we will take Animal Handling and Athletics from the Fighter; History and Persuasion from the Knight background; Performance from the Samurai. As for the initial feat, I would choose Martial Adept, taking Menacing Attack and Riposte as maneuvers.

Now, let's talk about equipment. At the very start of the game, Jin has an ō-yoroi, which in D&D could be represented by a splint heavy armor. Soon enough though, his armor will be a total mess, so consider starting with a leather armor. The first true armor that he acquires will be the one from Masako, which appears to be a dō-maru; for this we could use the breast plate, and you could also use it for the early Sakai armor. If you want to upgrade it, consider taking the half-plate (this would also be the early Gosaku armor) for the middle stage and then splint for the complete armor. As for the Ghost armor, use a Studded Leather armor.
 
©Sucker Punch Productions (the screenshot was taken by me)
 
Weaponry. As the DMG tells you at page 41, the katana is a longsword, the wakizashi is a scimitar and tanto is a dagger. The kunai is not mentioned, but I'd use daggers as well. Then it struck me that Jin never uses a wakizashi and that, in fact, he doesn't seem to have it at all: he has a katana and a tanto. A long, long tanto. Very odd. I guess you should use a shortsword for it, but I'd leave that to your discretion. Then bows: shortbow (hankyu) and longbow (daikyu) are fine but only if you like simple things: the hankyu is actually a halfbow (1 to 1,25 meters long vs. 1,50 of the longbow, while a shortbow is below 1) and the daikyu is even bigger than the longbow (more than 2 meters)... I'm not stopping you from creating a bow that delivers 1d10 piercing damage, I'm not your DM; but if I was, I would make it very pricey (on a side note, the actual shortbow would be called tankyu). In the videogame the daikyu uses only special arrows, for which we have to do a workaround in D&D: +1 ammunitions could work for the heavy arrow, while a modified/reskinned bomb should do for the exploding arrow (just change the range to that of the bow). As for flaming arrows, we'd have to create an arrow that does 1d4 piercing damage and 1d4 fire damage. Sligthly better than a normal arrow (as it should be), but this would also be classified as a Common magic object and so, much more costly.

The path to take from now on will heavily depend on the style of play you would like to choose. You'd like to be a good archer? Well, use some of your seven ASI to take feats like Medium Armor Master to better use half-plate armor, Fighting Initiate (archery), increase your Dexterity at least to 16 and maybe also take the Sharpshooter feat. Or you could specialize in thrown weapons like kunai and bombs (see the DMG at page 267 for bombs and smoking grenades). Well, technically bombs are not a throwing weapons, but you get the idea. Maybe also adopt the blowgun, for poisoning your enemies (look at my previous build the definitive hunter-gatherer for more info on that). Or maybe, you would just like to throw yourself in the thick of battle, so consider using splint armor with feats like Heavy Armor Master, Tough, Savage Attacker, Sentinel and Slasher. I would be afraid of such an enemy.
 
©Sucker Punch Productions (the screenshot was taken by me)
 
But there is one specific build that is faithful to the end: the Ghost. Let's say, level 20 character. You have to take the following feats: Poisoner, Skulker, Prodigy (acquire the Stealth skill and put that sweet expertise on it + take proficiency with the Poisoner's Kit) and Mobile. Ditch medium or heavy armor and use three ASI to bring your strength to 16 and your dexterity to 18. Then, drop your Honor to 8 and never raise it up again.

As you may have noticed, I made an array of ability scores that is not optimized. First of all, one doesn't really have to optimize and second, Jin is a strong samurai but during his story he gets stronger and could also follow certain paths instead of others (while the Ghost's abilities are somewhat mandatory, you are not forced to make it your playstile at all even in the videogame), so making a balanced and "switchable" seemed a better option to me.
 
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I hope this article was interesting to you! I may do another one with quick builds for Lady Masako, Sensei Ishikawa, Norio and Yuna, so stick around.

Stay safe.
Daniele

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