Torn

I started to make my Character today and I thought Id combine the two greatest things on earth which are of course Drinking and Sword play! But your rules work against dwarvin samurai, and those to me seem like a pretty good match, so can anyone tell me why this was decided? im just curious.

It was done as a way to balance the races.

Keep in mind that you can't start as a Dwarf Ronin, but you can learn it as a secondary profession, albeit at a 5 build detriment.

--Sean

If you like the idea of drinking IG, a Celt or Barbarian wouldn't be a bad choice either, although you're left with the same predicament as far as Ronin goes.

my biggest thing is i already have the samurai garb, beard, and surly disposition

From my expirience playing a non-khitanese ronin, I've rarely had my racial comes into play for my profession.  Of course, everyone assumes I'm a Human Khitanese (duuno why  ) anyways.

If you really want the Asian theme for your character, the rulebook talks about the Khitanese.  If you really don't wanna play a human, that's something else entirely.  Drinking and Swordplay can be covered by a huge bunch of different races and professions.

If you're looking to play a Zatoichi/Sanjuro Kuwabatake type of ronin (ie, the irreverant ronin who drinks, carouses, and generally talks gruff), that can be handled by human.  I've had trouble trying to be relaxed, loosed, and not so self-possessed when playing a ronin because the entire Code of Bushido thing that is supposed to drive the profession.  I haven't figured how to do it yet.

Why don't you try playing a dwarf warrior who strives to be a ronin, but needs help grasping the ideaology and fighting style because of cultural restrictions. The "IG" reasoning that dwarves can't be ronin is because of their culture and way of life. The extra build cost means that it's harder for a dwarf to learn to be a ronin, atleast more so than a race where the way of the ronin may be more common. Why not use that as fuel for your roleplay? Your character might be a warrior who wants to be a ronin, but due to his mindset he can't learn to be a ronin. He thinks the fighting style will help him in combat, but refuses to acknowlege that mentally he may need to make changes and commitments to training to become a ronin. Just food for thought.