I would suggest removing the Wakizashi as even as "faked" secondary weapon from most samurai troops completely, because
- they simply weren't able to use both swords at once, and fought 1,5-handed using the Katana
- therefore they didn't use the W. as some kind of "shield-substitute" to block or deflect incoming blows.
By the way -did you make it some kind
armor or
shield. Making it a shield would result in a ridiculous arrow blocking ability (hey, we don't do Hongkong films here

), making it a piece of armor would have other consequences I'm not shure about (=> armor piercing, items/spells that destroy armor etc.).
What stats are you using for the Wakizashi?
Edited: Really cute idea for elite hero samurai .. or ninja turtles
Make the Wakizashi a shield. Give it non-poisonous thorns, if there's something like this possible within the limit of the current game engine.
This way the hero would be able to deflect incoming arrows (Everyone knows they could cut them out of the air!) AND counter-attack (kind off) attacks with short weapons with the off-hand. (Dunno if this would be auto-hit, so maybe damage should be rather small).
yours,
Arralen
[ January 08, 2004, 08:04: Message edited by: Arralen ]