I'm sure that someone else has already posted a HD 1 / Fighting 3 custom class, but I couldn't find one with a Weapon Master / Kensai theme. Here's my take on one:
The class trades heavy armour and missile weapons for specialization with a chosen weapon type. I've adapted the Mystic's Meditative Focus, but the Atk and Init bonus only apply the character's favoured weapon.
There's one house rule embedded here - Fighter Trade-Offs for my custom classes are only 125XP instead of 150XP. (If you used the standard rule from ACKS Player's Companion, the base experience for 2nd level would be 2450XP.)
I like it. If you could somehow remove another point from somewhere, I'd probably give them a custom flat +1 to damage/quick draw with their weapon of choice that would stack with weapon style.
[quote="Alex"]
Out of curiosity, did you adjust the other classes that pay the XP penalty for custom powers as fighter-types, or is it just for new classes?
[/quote]
In my campaign, Fighter Trade-Offs for custom classes are only 125XP instead of 150XP.
I've adjusted all the classes which were thus affected. It's pretty fiddly, but my original rationale was as follows:
I didn’t like how the Barbarian (from ACKS Player’s Companion) needed more experience to level than a Mage: 2600XP vs 2500XP base to reach 2nd level. My preference would be to “bound” all the playable human classes between 1250XP (Thief) and 2500XP (Mage).
With a Fighter Trade-Off costing 125XP, the base experience requirement for Barbarians drops to 2500XP – which is the same as the Mage class.
[quote="Tywyll"]
I like it. If you could somehow remove another point from somewhere, I'd probably give them a custom flat +1 to damage/quick draw with their weapon of choice that would stack with weapon style.
[/quote]
One of the (unstated) design goals for the Weapon Master class was to find a good fit for the Mystic's "Medititative Focus" class abilty. With all of the Mystic's special abilities, tracking Meditative Focus became a hassle in play - I got annoyed keeping track of whether the PC was focused or not, and how many times he'd used the ability per day. So I replaced it with (improved) "Unarmed Fighting" and renamed the class "Monk".
I still think it's a cool ability, though, with a lot of flavour. So I renamed it "Battle Focus" and made it the main power of the Weapon Master, and since his other abilities are all static bonuses I don't think it'll be too much to track.
Oh, I didn't mean to take away Battle Focus. I like that ability! I have never found it difficult to track myself, no more so than any spell caster or buff spells.