Just last night I was looking at the swashbuckler and trying to decide whether it was a good choice for the character I had in mind. Planning out a full development progression, class abilities only (not counting personal feats every three levels), the comparison proved interesting.
Rather than just juggle the details side-by-side in your head, I suggest actually writing out a list, Swashbuckler abilities vs. Fighter feats, out to X level (12th for me, because that's when my PC would likely become a duelist). Plan it out. As a fighter, what feats would he take at 1, 2, 4, 6, etc. levels? After you're done, take your pencil and draw lines between equivalencies between the classes.
A swashbuckler-like fighter is very likely to take the finesse feat, for example, so that's a perfect match-up with the swashbuckler's ability at first level. An even trade. ... And the swashbuckler's use of intelligence for better damage with light weapons (I forget the name of the ability) is the eqivalent of the fighter's two weapon specialization feats, assuming you've got a smart character.
Anyway, when it comes right down to the one-to-one trade-offs, the smart dextrous fighter is a little better off for the feats he gets to pick. The swashbuckler, however, does have that extra 2 skill points and better skills list.
In the end, it's a nearly equal balance, only tilting in favor of one depending on the PC's attributes and the player's level of concept focus.
Rather than just juggle the details side-by-side in your head, I suggest actually writing out a list, Swashbuckler abilities vs. Fighter feats, out to X level (12th for me, because that's when my PC would likely become a duelist). Plan it out. As a fighter, what feats would he take at 1, 2, 4, 6, etc. levels? After you're done, take your pencil and draw lines between equivalencies between the classes.
A swashbuckler-like fighter is very likely to take the finesse feat, for example, so that's a perfect match-up with the swashbuckler's ability at first level. An even trade. ... And the swashbuckler's use of intelligence for better damage with light weapons (I forget the name of the ability) is the eqivalent of the fighter's two weapon specialization feats, assuming you've got a smart character.
Anyway, when it comes right down to the one-to-one trade-offs, the smart dextrous fighter is a little better off for the feats he gets to pick. The swashbuckler, however, does have that extra 2 skill points and better skills list.
In the end, it's a nearly equal balance, only tilting in favor of one depending on the PC's attributes and the player's level of concept focus.
