When I started high school in the Fall of 1983, I began to study French for the first time. Some months prior to this, I recall reading an article in
Dragon mentioning that the Moldvay-edited
Basic Rulebook had been translated into
la belle langue. I must have mentioned this to my father, because, one day, he put a telephone into my hand, telling me that he had "someone from 'that game company in Wisconsin' on the line."
It seems he'd called directory assistance and managed to get through to TSR, where he began to ask people about how he could obtain a copy of the French translation of
D&D for me. He was apparently shuffled around the company from person to person until finally he'd gotten hold of someone who could help. Since he didn't know anything about
D&D, he passed the phone to me to talk to the knowledgeable TSR employee to whom he'd finally been transferred.
The person to whom I spoke turned out to be none other than François Marcela-Froideval, whom Gary Gygax had brought over from France to assist him on various projects as TSR expanded into the European market
. I spoke to M. Marcela-Froideval for some time, who, so far as I can remember, was a very affable fellow. He took -- or at least feigned -- interest in hearing about my
D&D campaign and my high regard for Gary Gygax. He also commended me for my desire to learn French and said he would make arrangements for a copy of the French-language Basic Set to be sent to me.
As it turned out, I wound up receiving
two copies of the French boxed set. The first was one purchased by my father (who spoke to someone in the Dungeon Hobby Shop, I believe, after my conversation ended) and I was very happy to receive it. The second copy arrived a few days later, sent directly from TSR. This second copy wasn't shrinkwrapped, because Marcela-Froideval had had it autographed -- "May the Dice Be with You! -- Gary Gygax" -- making it one of my most prized possessions as a teenager.
I mention this story because recently, thanks to
Matthew James Stanham, I was made aware of the existence of an issue of the French fanzine,
Casus Belli,
available online at Nicolas Dessaux's website, that contains an original
AD&D character class written by François Marcela-Froideval -- the samurai. This immediately piqued my interest, because the original responsibility for the writing of
Oriental Adventures had been entrusted to Marcela-Froideval. However, the book that was eventually published under that title, though bearing Gary Gygax's byline, was in fact entirely the work of David Cook. For that reason, many old schoolers have wondered what
Oriental Adventures might have been like had Marcela-Froideval written it. We'll never know the answer to that question, but perhaps the samurai class he published in the pages of
Casus Belli give some indication.
What follows, then, is my translation of the article into English. I hope its roughness can be forgiven: some of the terminology used in it is odd and the original article is written almost in shorthand, with certain words and phrases being omitted. I've tried to make the translation as intelligible as possible by filling in some of those blanks, but I have also retained its ambiguities and even errors. Since I didn't write it, what follows isn't Open Game Content and remains the property of its author. I present it here solely for discussion.
The SamuraiThis legendary figure has not yet been recognized as a specific type of character in
Dungeons & Dragons. The class that is closest is the monk. Here is a proposal that will give this kind of fighter a fully-realized existence.
He does not have very good strength characteristics -- Strength: 12 or more, Wisdom: at least 15, Constitution: at least 14, Dexterity: at least 16, Alignment: Necessarily Lawful, with a slight tendency towards Neutral.
Power
Danger Detection: There is no real range for this power. Even so, it is a feeling that has a limit of 100 meters.
| Level | Detection Chance |
| 1st-3rd | 50% |
| 4th-6th | 60% |
| 7th-8th | 70% |
| 8th-9th | 80% |
| 10th-11th | 90% |
| 11th-12th | 100% |
(This chart is a good example of where the original article has errors -- JDM)
Detection of Good and EvilWhen concentrating, the samurai can detect good or evil in a person or in a place. The range of this power is 20 meters and can not pass through doors. The percentage chance of detecting good and evil increases in the same way as the power of danger detection. When the samurai does not focus, the percentage is reduced by 40%.
KiaiWhen concentrating and fighting, the samurai can launch the Kiai to cripple his opponents, who are entitled to a saving throw against petrification. If this roll is successful, the opponent suffers a -2 penalty to hit, but, if the roll is failed, the opponent does not attack during this round. The higher the samurai's level, the more the saving throw is affected (-1 for every three levels the samurai has attained).
ConcentrationWhen he concentrates, the samurai can raise his Strength to 18/00, with all the ensuing adjustments, for one round every hour. However, in such a state of concentration, the samurai is forced to push his kiai.
Damage ResistanceAt 1st level, because of his endurance and training, the samurai takes only
⅔ the damage he receives.
When he reaches 3rd level, the samurai takes only ½ damage.
At 5th level, he takes only ⅓ the damage he receives.
Number of Attacks per RoundFrom 1st to 2nd level, the samurai strikes once per round. From the 3rd to 4th, twice per round. From 5th to 8th, three times per round. From 9th, four times per round.
The Samurai can fight with all weapons of Japanese tradition but his weapon of choice remains the sword (katana), which causes 1-12 points of damage. If this katana is of remarkable manufacture, it can strike at +2 on armor.
| Level | Armor Class | Experience Points |
| 1 | 5 | 4,000 |
| 2 | 4 | 8,000 |
| 3 | 3 | 15,000 |
| 4 | 2 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 1 | 52,000 |
| 6 | 0 | 104,000 |
| 7 | -1 | 196,000 |
| 8 | -2 | 390,000 |
| 9 | -2 | 780,000 |
| 10 | -3 | 1,170,000 |
| 11 | -3 | 1,500,000 |
| 12 | -4 | 2,000,000 |
There can be no more than one samurai of 12th level, 5 of 11th, 7 of 10th.
However, this very powerful type of character possesses numerous inconveniences: his loud Kiai possesses the faculty of attracting wandering monsters.
He gains levels very slowly and, if he fails in a mission given to him by his lord, he must immediately commit seppuku (hara-kiri).
