Kensai Dedication and Associated Rules

  A kensai, by the book, may be dedicated to any oriental melee or martial arts weapon, or to any martial arts style.  By referee's decision, a character in the MyWorld system may instead be dedicated to certain body parts commonly used in martial arts styles.  These body parts are leg/foot or hand/arm.

  A kensai to a melee weapon gains his plusses in any situation in which that weapon is being used appropriately in melee combat.  A

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kensai to the hand ax, club, dagger, spear, or uchi-ne retain those plusses when the weapon is thrown within its long range if he is involved in melee or in a duel in which it is reasonable to throw the weapon, but not in any other situation in which the use would be regarded as missile fire.  For example, if the kensai fighting in melee with two daggers opts to throw one at a distant opponent to aid a companion he retains his plusses; but if he decides to throw daggers at an approaching rank of orcs who have not yet engaged him in melee he does not, although for purposes of experience he will be deemed to have been fighting with his dedicated weapon.

  A kensai to a martial arts style must master and use that style.  Use of another style violates his dedication.  He gains plusses when using any attack in that style by any means, including any available weapon.  He is expected ultimately to master every weapon used in the style.  Iaijutsu must also be taken for each weapon separately, with one exception:  if he is dedicated to a weapon-oriented style and selects only one martial arts weapon at first level, he gets iaijutsu, in that weapon only, free; he must take iaijutsu in future weapons separately, and is expected to do so as part of his mastery of the style.

  A kensai to a martial arts weapon is expected to seek mastery of every style in which that weapon is used.  He may use any attack form available to the styles, and any weapon in his other hand permitted to the styles without violation to his dedication.  However, his plusses only apply to attacks made with the dedicated weapon, and to no others.

  A kensai to a body part may learn any style which either relies principally on that body part or which incorporates special maneuvers which use that body part.  Mastery of the body part involves learning all such styles at least to the level of the highest maneuver to use that body part if the body part  is not the basis for the style.  Further, any time the kensai has a choice of maneuvers to learn, he must first learn those which use the body part.  He gains his plusses in all attacks or maneuvers which use that body part.  Weapon attacks for this purpose do not use any body part and so are not plussed.

  "Plusses" referred to above are those to hit and to damage due to kensai abilities.  Armor class and initiative bonuses are always in effect, although initiative may be penalized for failure to ready a weapon in the absence of iaijutsu.  (Kensai AC is based largely on the character's ability to block and dodge, for which his standard attack forms are used.  A kensai in a weapon-oriented style uses the weapon for much of this.)

  If a kensai receives his plusses in a particular weapon, he may not use a magical version thereof.  If his kensai plusses do not apply to the weapon, he is free to use a weapon of any magical properties, except that a kensai to a throwable melee weapon may not use a magicked version as a missile weapon even though his plusses do not apply.  Thus a kensai to a weapon-using style receives plusses in any weapon used in the style and so may not use any magicked martial arts weapon useable in the style, while a kensai to a weapon may use another type of weapon of magical properties in his other hand, and a kensai to a body part may use any magic weapon incorporated in any style which he may justify learning.

  Note that kensai to weapons apply bonuses only to attacks and maneuvers which clearly use the weapon, kensai to a body part apply bonuses only to attacks and maneuvers which rely primarily on that body part, and kensai to a style apply the bonuses to all attacks and maneuvers included in the style.  A kensai to a style is limited to mastery of the one style, while kensai to weapons and body parts are expected to expand into any style which uses the weapon or the body part, but into other weapons only as they may be used in the off hand with the primary weapon in the other.

  A weapon of quality has no magical properties, and the use thereof does not violate the restrictions of the kensai dedication.

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