Kerrick
First Post
So I was working on a rewrite of the Weaponmaster, and cannibalizing some stuff from an old combat styles ruleset I was working on, and I realized that there was a lot of stuff that would be perfect for the Duelist. I looked over the class - it's decent, could almost be a base class, but could use a little fixing up. Where are the disarm abilities, for one? So I sat down, brought over all the stuff that would fit well, cut out some of the oddball things to make room for them (which wasn't much, really), and reorganized everything to make a nice progression. My the intent was to make it more focused around swashbuckler/duelist abilties - speed, finesse, and cinematic moves. This is the result. I added notes about what got changed and why at the end.
DUELIST
Hit Die: d10.
Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Perform 3 ranks, Tumble 5 ranks.
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse.
The duelist’s class skills are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier
BAB: Fighter.
Good save: Reflex
Bad saves: Fort, Will
1: Improved acrobatics
2: Offhand defense, improved reaction +2
3: Improved Disarm
4: Spring Attack
5: Elaborate parry
6: Greater disarm
7: Acrobatic charge
8: Deflect Arrows, Improved reaction +4
9: Superior disarm
10: Greater acrobatics
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The duelist is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light armor, but not shields.
Improved Acrobatics (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, the Duelist gains a +4 competence bonus to the following skills: Balance, Jump, and Tumble.
Offhand Defense (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a weapon in her offhand that is smaller than her main weapon, the Duelist gains a +2 shield bonus to AC from the second weapon.
Improved Disarm (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, the Duelist is treated as having the Improved Disarm feat, even if she does not fulfill the prerequisites.
Improved Reaction (Ex): At 2nd level, a duelist gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
At 8th level, the bonus increases to +4. This bonus stacks with the benefit provided by the Improved Initiative feat.
Spring Attack (Ex): The Duelist gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat.
Elaborate Parry (Ex): At 5th level and higher, if a Duelist chooses to fight defensively or use total defense in melee combat, she gains an additional +1 dodge bonus to AC per two class levels.
Greater Disarm (Ex): When disarming a foe, the Duelist can choose to make the weapon go in a certain direction – for instance, she can make her opponent's dagger fly through the air to strike someone else (requires an attack roll at –4), or throw a sword up into the air so that she can catch it herself (requires a DC 20 Dex check). Obviously, the size of the weapon being disarmed limits what can be done with it; a good rule of thumb is that Light weapons can be used to make ranged attacks, Medium weapons can be directed in a particular direction up to 10 feet away (but not as a ranged attack), and Large weapons can be directed up to 5 feet away.
Acrobatic Charge (Ex): At 7th level, a Duelist gains the ability to charge in situations where others cannot. She may charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement. Depending on the circumstance, she may still need to make appropriate checks to successfully move over the terrain.
Deflect Arrows (Ex): At 8th level, the Duelist gains the benefit of the Deflect Arrows feat when using a light or one-handed piercing weapon.
Superior Disarm (Ex): The penalties for disarming a weapon of another size are halved, as are any bonuses the opponent receives from holding the weapon with two hands. The DC for catching another weapon is reduced to 17, and the penalty for making ranged attacks with Light weapons is reduced to -2.
Greater Acrobatics (Ex): The character can take 10 on any Balance, Jump, or Tumble check, even under less than ideal conditions (in combat, for example).
Notes
Skills: I added the Climb Skill, since it seemed to fit, and I needed it for the Acrobatics ability.
Armor: It's kind of funny – the class can't use ANY armor, yet the pic shows a woman wearing what looks suspiciously like leather armor. Granted, eventually most Dex-based PCs eschew armor in favor of bracers or whatever, but requiring them to have no armor was just a little too restricive, IMO. Shields, sure – they'll just get in the way. I could see a duelist wearing padded or leather armor, though.
Canny defense: Uses the PC's Int bonus, which would make sense if Combat Expertise were a prereq, but it's not (and I couldn't justify adding it – three feats was enough, IMO). The ability is also poorly worded; I mean, *I* knew what it meant – you can add your Int bonus to AC as long as it doesn't exceed your class level – but other people might not. Not to mention it stacks with Elaborate Parry when fighting defensively.
Grace: Great… so I get a +2 bonus to my high save. Woohoo. And that's only if I'm not wearing armor or using a shield.
Precise Strike: I didn't change this because I'm annoyed with the preponderance of abilities that are identical to sneak attack except for the name. Nope, I cut this one because I just couldn't see any reason for it, for this class. And yes, maybe I'm just a little annoyed.
[Edits: Changed Elaborate Parry to be +1/2 levels bonus; put all the abilities in the right order (oops!
); ditched Climb as a class skill, and dropped it from the acrobatic abilities.
Ditched Enhanced Mobility, replaced it with Improved Acrobatics, and put in Spring Attack at 4th level.]
DUELIST
Hit Die: d10.
Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Perform 3 ranks, Tumble 5 ranks.
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse.
The duelist’s class skills are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier
BAB: Fighter.
Good save: Reflex
Bad saves: Fort, Will
1: Improved acrobatics
2: Offhand defense, improved reaction +2
3: Improved Disarm
4: Spring Attack
5: Elaborate parry
6: Greater disarm
7: Acrobatic charge
8: Deflect Arrows, Improved reaction +4
9: Superior disarm
10: Greater acrobatics
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The duelist is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light armor, but not shields.
Improved Acrobatics (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, the Duelist gains a +4 competence bonus to the following skills: Balance, Jump, and Tumble.
Offhand Defense (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and wielding a weapon in her offhand that is smaller than her main weapon, the Duelist gains a +2 shield bonus to AC from the second weapon.
Improved Disarm (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, the Duelist is treated as having the Improved Disarm feat, even if she does not fulfill the prerequisites.
Improved Reaction (Ex): At 2nd level, a duelist gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
At 8th level, the bonus increases to +4. This bonus stacks with the benefit provided by the Improved Initiative feat.
Spring Attack (Ex): The Duelist gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat.
Elaborate Parry (Ex): At 5th level and higher, if a Duelist chooses to fight defensively or use total defense in melee combat, she gains an additional +1 dodge bonus to AC per two class levels.
Greater Disarm (Ex): When disarming a foe, the Duelist can choose to make the weapon go in a certain direction – for instance, she can make her opponent's dagger fly through the air to strike someone else (requires an attack roll at –4), or throw a sword up into the air so that she can catch it herself (requires a DC 20 Dex check). Obviously, the size of the weapon being disarmed limits what can be done with it; a good rule of thumb is that Light weapons can be used to make ranged attacks, Medium weapons can be directed in a particular direction up to 10 feet away (but not as a ranged attack), and Large weapons can be directed up to 5 feet away.
Acrobatic Charge (Ex): At 7th level, a Duelist gains the ability to charge in situations where others cannot. She may charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement. Depending on the circumstance, she may still need to make appropriate checks to successfully move over the terrain.
Deflect Arrows (Ex): At 8th level, the Duelist gains the benefit of the Deflect Arrows feat when using a light or one-handed piercing weapon.
Superior Disarm (Ex): The penalties for disarming a weapon of another size are halved, as are any bonuses the opponent receives from holding the weapon with two hands. The DC for catching another weapon is reduced to 17, and the penalty for making ranged attacks with Light weapons is reduced to -2.
Greater Acrobatics (Ex): The character can take 10 on any Balance, Jump, or Tumble check, even under less than ideal conditions (in combat, for example).
Notes
Skills: I added the Climb Skill, since it seemed to fit, and I needed it for the Acrobatics ability.
Armor: It's kind of funny – the class can't use ANY armor, yet the pic shows a woman wearing what looks suspiciously like leather armor. Granted, eventually most Dex-based PCs eschew armor in favor of bracers or whatever, but requiring them to have no armor was just a little too restricive, IMO. Shields, sure – they'll just get in the way. I could see a duelist wearing padded or leather armor, though.
Canny defense: Uses the PC's Int bonus, which would make sense if Combat Expertise were a prereq, but it's not (and I couldn't justify adding it – three feats was enough, IMO). The ability is also poorly worded; I mean, *I* knew what it meant – you can add your Int bonus to AC as long as it doesn't exceed your class level – but other people might not. Not to mention it stacks with Elaborate Parry when fighting defensively.
Grace: Great… so I get a +2 bonus to my high save. Woohoo. And that's only if I'm not wearing armor or using a shield.
Precise Strike: I didn't change this because I'm annoyed with the preponderance of abilities that are identical to sneak attack except for the name. Nope, I cut this one because I just couldn't see any reason for it, for this class. And yes, maybe I'm just a little annoyed.
[Edits: Changed Elaborate Parry to be +1/2 levels bonus; put all the abilities in the right order (oops!
); ditched Climb as a class skill, and dropped it from the acrobatic abilities.Ditched Enhanced Mobility, replaced it with Improved Acrobatics, and put in Spring Attack at 4th level.]
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