As with all atributes, these abilities should be carefully considered by the GM
before they are allowed into the campaign.  Ideally, these abilities should be
used with the advanced combat system.

Delayed Strike
The kensei has learned the art of making damage wait its turn.  The kensei may
choose to apply up to five rounds of delay to any given strike that he makes
with his chosen weapon.  The strike appears to do no damage until the allotted
time has elapsed, when the damage suddenly seems to appear as if from nowhere.
For coolness purposes, many kensei choose to snap their fingers to make it
appear as if the snap causes the damage to happen.  This ability may be taken
multiple times.  For each time taken, the Kensei may delay his strikes one extra
round, and may have one more strike delayed at a time.  Thus, if a kensei has
taken this attribute once, he may have a single strike delayed for up to five
rounds, while if he has taken it four times, he may have four strikes delayed at
a time, with each delayed up to nine rounds.

Atemi Strike (contributor: blackstan@hotmail.com)
By making an attack roll at a +2 penalty, the character can cause an automatic
damage which goes through armor (but not Force Field). This damage  is always
(OCV/2) value, and can only be used against living things.

Block Bullets (contributor: blackstan@hotmail.com)
The character can parry bullets.  On a successful Defense Combat Value roll with
hand to hand weapon against a gun, instead of just dodging the attack, it can be
blocked with the weapon.  This can be used against Auto-fire weapons.

Hail Mary (contributor: OVA)
With this Ability, a weapon that normally can't be thrown can be used as a
ranged weapon against a single target.  With a +2 penalty, a character may
mightily hurl any sort of hand to hand weapon.  If the attack is successful, the
target takes double damage, and is stopped in their tracks (if they were
fleeing).  If the attack misses, the weapon is far out of range, and will take
at least a few rounds to run and pick up.

Perfect Stroke (contributor: Travis Johnson, StarCros7@aol.com)
This allows the kensei to make impossible manuevers with his/her weapon, like
cutting off a tight fitting headband without hurting the wearer, or slicing an
airborne orange into perfect halves.  This manuever cannot cause damage to any
other characters in anyway (except possibly to a unfortunate subject on a
botched roll), and really turns the weapon into a pocket knife or similar tool.

The Air Pressure Thing (contributor: Travis Johnson, StarCros7@aol.com)
The kensei may make an attack at a distance equal to his Combat Value times 2 in
yards.  Damage is divided by 5, rounded up, to characters, but a GM may rule
that objects or terrain take full damage.

The Wall (contributor: Travis Johnson, StarCros7@aol.com)
The kensei can stop any attack, no matter how powerful, by interposing herself
between the attacker and defender (or just being in front of the attacker, if
kensei is the target), and rolling an opposed [body+soul]/2. This only works in
moments of very high drama, and requires that the kensei be holding his weapon
in an offensive posture  The Wall should be used sparingly by the GM.  Don't
hesistate to let the character have it ("Well, the Wall doesn't seem to work.
Take, uh...155 points of damage”).

"This 'll do..." (contributor: Travis Johnson, StarCros7@aol.com)
The character can pick up any object that somewhat resembles his/her weapon (a
rusty pipe for a sword, a spoon for a knife, etc., within reason, GM’s decision)
and use it as the weapon she has kensei under.  Counts as 2 kensei abilities.

Strike With No Thought
The kensei has learned the art of striking without thinking of where he will
strike.  He gains -1 to hit on all strikes, so long as the strike is not aimed.
The kensei takes a +2 penalty on all called shots, negating the -1 from this
ability and adding a further +1 penalty.

Defensive Screen
The Kensei is skilled in the arts of defense.  Rather than taking a full attack
or full defense action, the Kensei may take a penalty on his attack roll to get
a corresponding bonus to his defense rolls for the next round.  This penalty may
not exceed his skill bonus for the weapon this ability is applied to.

Power Attack
The Kensei's attacks sacrifice accuracy for incredible power.  The Kensei may
take a penalty to hit to gain a +5 bonus to damage for each +1 applied to the
attack roll. This penalty may not exceed his skill bonus for the weapon this
ability is applied to. This counts as two Kensei abilities.

Cleave
The Kensei strikes with such skill that he may kill one enemy and continue on to
the next with phenomenal speed.  Once per turn, if the Kensei's attack kills an
opponent, that attack does not count as one of the Kensei's attacks that round.
The Kensei's following strike must be at an opponent within reach of his weapon,
he may not move between strikes.

Great Cleave
Prerequisite: Cleave
As Cleave, but may be used more than once per turn, with an upper limit of the
number of enemies the Kensei has within his reach.

Supreme Cleave
Prerequisite: Great Cleave
As Great Cleave, but you may move between your attacks.

Whirlwind of Death
The Kensei may give up all of his attacks for one turn to take one attack on
every opponent within the immediate reach of his weapon.  This counts as two
Kensei abilities.

Berserker
The Kensei's rage is such that he damages himself in his frenzy to damage his
opponent.  He may do damage to himself after a successful hit to do twice that
amount of damage to his opponent. The Berserker may not spend more than half his
maximum health in this manner per strike.  This counts as two Kensei abilities.

The Mountain Does Not Fall
The Kensei's will is such that even when dead or dying, he does not fall.  When
at 0 or negative health, the Kensei may spend ten energy to take a single
action.  Only one action may be taken per turn.  If the Kensei is reduced beyond
the threshold of death, he may keep taking actions as long as his energy holds
out, but he is beyond saving.  His will has exhausted his body, and it cannot
keep going.  This ability counts as two Kensei abilities.

Fear is a Gift
The Kensei induces such fear in his opponents that if his opponent fails a
contested Soul roll, that opponent suffers a +1 penalty to defense rolls against
the Kensei.

Taking the Gift
The Kensei has mastered his pain, and the art of giving that pain back to his
enemy.  The Kensei may activate this ability on his turn, and he may not
perform any other action while using it.  While active, any opponent that hits
the Kensei with an attack is immediately targeted by the Kensei's own attack.
This ability only applies to melee range attacks. This counts as two Kensei
abilities.

Sharp Like A Bokken
The Kensei's weapon may cut through inanimate objects as though they were not
there.  If an object is considered to have Armor, the Kensei's attack ignores
it.  This counts as two Kensei abilities.

One Strike, Two Cuts
Prerequisite: Lightning Draw
As his first action in the first round of combat, the Kensei strikes with such
speed that he cuts twice in a single strike.  He may attack twice against one
opponent as a single action.  If he must move in order to make his first attack,
he may not make any defense rolls until his next turn, nor may he make any other
non-attack actions in that round.  The Kensei must be using only a single weapon
to use this ability.

Momentum
This functions as the Gun Bunny ability of the same name.

Let Him Go By
While using the Full Defense action, the Kensei may spend 20 energy to make a
single attack against any opponent who attacks him and misses.  He may not use
this ability more than once per missed attack.

Prepared
The Kensei is a master of defense.  He gains an additional -2 bonus to defense
rolls when on Full Defense, and if he possesses the Defensive Screen ability, he
gains an additional -1 bonus whenever using it to gain at least a -1 bonus.

Soul of the Wind
The Kensei percieves danger instantly and can react with unnatural speed.  He
may spend 20 energy to add his Soul to his DCV for one defense roll.

Speed of Spirits
The Kensei initiates combat with unnatural speed.  He may spend 20 energy when
rolling initiative to add the number of Kensei abilities he knows to his
initiative.

Strike at the Tail
Whenever the Kensei successfully disarms an opponent, he recieves an immediate
free attack against that opponent.  Instead of taking the attack, the Kensei may
choose to have the opponent's disarmed weapon land in his off hand.

The Sudden Strike
The Kensei gains -2 to hit and +5 damage against any opponent who has not yet
acted in this combat.

Tread on the Blade
If the Kensei's initiative check is higher than his opponent's by ten or more,
he may spend 20 energy to gain an extra attack against that opponent.  He may
not use this ability more than once per round.

Strike First, Strike Last
The Kensei adds his Mind-4 to his Initiative roll while using his chosen weapon.
This applies even if the Kensei does not have his chosen weapon drawn when
Initiative is rolled, so long as his first action is to draw the chosen weapon.

Furious Assault
The Kensei may sacrifice defense to attack with greater speed and ferocity.
When making a Full Attack, the Kensei gains an extra attack.  During the round
that you use Furious Assault, you may not make any called shots.  This counts as
two Kensei abilities.

**WARNING**
Be warned, the following two abilities have been called twinkish, munchkiny, and
many other nasty words.  These abilities are amazingly powerful, and the
prerequisites are intended to reflect that.  Also, a clarification.  For the
purposes of meeting the prerequisites of these two abilities, abilities such as
Furious Assault and "This'll do..." which count as two Kensei abilities count
that way only for price.  You cannot meet the prerequisites for The Final Lesson
with five abilities that each count as two.

The Final Lesson
Prerequisite: Any Ten (10) Kensei abilities.
The Kensei has learned the Final Lesson, "There is no failure."  On any roll
where the Kensei made non-skill modifications to his die roll, if the roll
fails, he may choose to forego all non-skill bonuses and penalties to that roll,
if the roll would then succeed.  The Kensei also forgoes all bonuses that were
gained by making the modifications to his die roll.  This counts as two Kensei
abilities.  This ability is not available to starting characters.  Once learned,
this character may no longer gain Kensei abilities, as it is, indeed, The Final
Lesson.

The Final Revelation
Prerequisite: Any fifteen (15) Kensei abilities, including The Final Lesson.
The Kensei has learned the final lesson, and has surpassed it to learn the
universal truth.  There is no end to learning.  The Kensei may now declare all
modifiers to his roll after he rolls the dice, but in the event of a critical,
may not modify his roll.  This counts as four Kensei abilities.  GM Note: This
ability is incredibly powerful, and should not be allowed lightly.  If you _do_
allow it, it should only be to the most dedicated of Kensei characters.