Need Tips on Swashbuckling Campaigns!

[barsoomcore]

Barsoom achieved some degree of swashbuckliness with the following rules changes:

1. Plenty of feats that increase AC in a variety of ways: Resolute Defence (add your Wis bonus), Reckless Abandon (use your Cha bonus), Canny Defence (use your Int bonus), Step Aside (use your base Ref save bonus).

2. Decrease the Max Dex bonus by one for all armour types across the board.

3. Restrict armour proficiency feats for classes -- fighters only get MEDIUM armour proficiency for free (if that). Rogues and others get only LIGHT (if that).

Those three changes give smart, nimble types a leg up on the tanks. They become harder to hit and their enemies become easier to hit. It's just not worth it for a rogue to take an armour proficiency feat. Even for a fighter, it's almost certainly worthwhile to take one of the AC feats rather than an armour proficiency. Step Aside for a rogue is a no-brainer, and people without armour or magic consistently have a 20+ AC on Barsoom.

Of course it means almost everyone has four levels in rogue, since uncanny dodge is super-important. But that seems appropriate for swashbuckling, too -- everyone has a few ranks in Tumble, some sneak attack damage and evasion.

I ran a d20 Modern/Skull & Bones hybrid game that featured quality swashbuckling, as well. Smart heroes make great swashbucklers.

Of course you aren't really swashbuckling if you aren't using Swashbuckling Cards. Which I would link to if my website were up but it's not so I won't.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Don't forget good old fashioned "Combat Expertise"

COMBAT EXPERTISE [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Int 13.

Benefit: When you use the attack action or the full attack action in melee, you can take a penalty of as much as –5 on your attack roll and add the same number (+5 or less) as a dodge bonus to your Armor Class. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The changes to attack rolls and Armor Class last until your next action.

Normal: A character without the Combat Expertise feat can fight defensively while using the attack or full attack action to take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and gain a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class.

 

[Wombat]

If you can get ahold of Monte Cook's AU/AE, the Unfettered class makes a great addition to any swashbuckler D20 game.

Other points:

* Make sure there is furniture to jump on
* And ropes and chandeliers to swing from
* In other words, have an interactive combat environment -- slippery, sandy, angled...
* Give a few extra points here and there for acting/fighting with flair
* Sailing ships are always a bonus
* And colourful ports-of-call, with their attedant dockside taverns
* You just can't go wrong with monkeys and parrots
* Make a lot of your opponents NPCs, rather than monsters -- and give them a way to escape! Nothing makes good swashbuckling like a recurring villain!

Just a few ideas there

saHA!

Oh, and play some Korngold music in the background!

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

1. Plenty of feats that increase AC in a variety of ways: Resolute Defence (add your Wis bonus), Reckless Abandon (use your Cha bonus), Canny Defence (use your Int bonus), Step Aside (use your base Ref save bonus).

What are the prerequisites for these feats? And for munchkiny players, can you take more than one..say Resolute Defence and Canny Defence together?

 

[BadMojo]

I'll echo the defense bonuse instead of heavy armor option. I'm going to use Action Points and the Wound Point/Vitality Point rule, as well. The parrying feats from an issue of Dragon about 3 years ago would be great to look at, as well (Issue #301, I believe). If you can lay hands on either a pdf or hardcopy of Malhavoc Press' "Book of Iron Might", do so. There are great rules for using skills in combat and how to make combat more cinematic in it.

I'm not sure if I'd use WP/VP, but that's just me. Personally, I think plain old HP fit the swashbuckling genre just fine.

I'd definitely use action points as per Eberron, I'd definitely use defense bonus with Armor as damage reduction only. Also, as someone else mentioned make the encounters advantageous for lighter armored, more mobile characters. Lots of stuff to jump over, on, ropes to swing on, chandeliers, improvised weapons, etc. Encourage players to try funky swashbuckler-y moves.

If a player says "Are there any chandeliers hanging about?" say "yes" if at all feasible. If they say "Any big stacks of heavy wine casks?"....sure! Again, encourage and reward (ie. XP bonuses for style) creative combat maneuvers that fit the genre.

Consider using some form of "mook rules" for when your intrepid heroes are facing hordes of nameless foes. Nothing's cooler than a few swashbuckers with rapier and main gauche in hand face off again a dozen or so opponents, but you want to keep the combat fast and easy to GM.

Ummmm...depending on your idea for this game, you may want to really limit the use of magic. If it were me, I'd make magic something very rare and dangerous that's just as likely to drive you insane or blow you up as it is to be an asset.

BTW, I recommend reading some Dumas and Steven Brust's Dumas-esque "Khaavren Romances", starting with the Phoenix Guards.

Oh, and duals. You'll want plenty of duals. There's honor and stuff at stake, after all.

 

[BadMojo]

* You just can't go wrong with monkeys and parrots

I think that's a good rule for both RPGs and life in general.

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Combat description!

Understand at least the basics of how a cutlass might work against a rapier. It's short, fast, and won't cut a head off. It might cut a throat.

Understand a rapier is long, sharp and used for pointy thrust stuff. Combat isn't dainty, either.

Let tumble be a class skill; in fact, let all skills be class skills barring Spellcraft.

Get used to TWF. Encourage TWF.

Feats for AC, as recommended.

Let musket pistols be used and then 5 full rounds to reload.

Attractive women/men. Let all PC's be as sexually promiscuous as they desire. Then take the paramour away.

Voodoo.

Quips. Recommend all PC's to have a list of quips.

If you want fantasy, don't be afraid to do fantasy on top of the swashbuckling. If you want real, German/French longsword-wielding plate-and-mail lords should be out, musket pistols and cannons in.

Exotic. Don't be afraid of putting exotic and frightening races in. Like chinese.

Not Exotic. Don't let PC's be out there when choosing races. Otherwise, statement above has no meaning. (Eh, another katana wielding samurai in 16th century France? What luck to meet another!)

General RPG advice: Religion can be both the most interesting and most dangerous to role-play issues with. Know this.

Ships. Treasure. Coloured beards.

Rum.

 

[Hussar]

To keep a cinematic feel, ignore ship to ship and crew to crew combat. If you try to play it out, be ready to see your game come to a grinding halt and turn into a tactical wargame for two or three sessions. Trying to deal with a couple of hundred mooks and a battle that can conceivably last for a few days. MUCH simpler to plageurize some decent battle scenes from various sources and go from there.

Pirates and Bokor is a good start. Dunno if Stormwrack is or not. 7th Sea gets pretty good reviews.

Oh, and pitch the first armor monkey into the water at the first chance you get. Let him die. The players will get the hint if outright stating things doesn'T work.