new class

[shaman74]

One of my fellow player wanted to play the famous swashbuckling dueliste zorro style, but taking into account that we are playing in Dnd, he was able to put some water in his wine.

However, I was wondering if by modifiying the actual rogue, I would not be able to create that...

I don't even know if I post this in the right section, but bascicaly, here is the change I made to the basic rogue.

Same armors, and weapon proficiency.
Same Hp, healing surge and stuff.

Force the class to be an artful dodger (Rogue tactics).

His trained skills are Acrobatic and diplomacy. He must then choose 3 other trained skills wich is different form the usual rogue.

He loose the first strike ability. He gain Deadly grace wich is exactly similar to the barbrian dodge ability while wearing light armor, but apply only to AC.

He loose rogue weapon talent, but gain Swashbuckler weapon talent wich is basically +1 to attack with any light blade, and +1 to damage with choosen light blade (He must choose 1).

He loose sneak attack, but gain duelist strike. Imagine the fighter mark, but instead of doing what a mark does, it gives him the ability to deliver sneak attack damage, only with his choosen light blade, and he must be adjacent to the target. However, the target does not need to grant combat advantage.

Someone told me about Flash of the blade... and that should be enough... but I still don't know...

That's about it... What do you guys think. Too powerful... not well balanced ? Should I get some exorcise ritual made on myself for messing with the rules ? Any advices, provided they are constructives, will be helpful.

 

[Mengu]

I'm not sure why you need to change the class around all that much. What you're looking for is already mostly doable within the rules.

His trained skills are Acrobatic and diplomacy. He must then choose 3 other trained skills wich is different form the usual rogue.

Not sure what skills he is looking for that a rogue doesn't have, but he could just pick a background to grant him access to one of the skills he wants, and multiclass into something else like fighter or bard for another skill.

He loose the first strike ability. He gain Deadly grace wich is exactly similar to the barbrian dodge ability while wearing light armor, but apply only to AC.

There are ways to boost AC if that's what he's looking for. TWF and TWD is one way, or he could go for an item like boots of the fencing master. Besides I don't really think AC is needed to define a character.

He loose rogue weapon talent, but gain Swashbuckler weapon talent wich is basically +1 to attack with any light blade, and +1 to damage with choosen light blade (He must choose 1).

Again, not something that's really needed. Light Blade Expertise gives both. Those +1's here or there don't make the character.

He loose sneak attack, but gain duelist strike. Imagine the fighter mark, but instead of doing what a mark does, it gives him the ability to deliver sneak attack damage, only with his choosen light blade, and he must be adjacent to the target. However, the target does not need to grant combat advantage.

Indeed Flash of the Blade covers that ability if it's something he feels he needs, but D&D combat is not typically mano-a-mano. He will have allies around, and it is likely he will feel the feat is somewhat wasted since he will have a lot of other ways to gain combat advantage.

A character like Zorro is not in so much about what he can do, but it is in the background, spirit, and personality. I'd say he can just take a regular rapier rogue (or thief), write up a secret identity background, and play him like Zorro, done.

 

[Quickleaf]

Not sure about your player but I always associated Zorro with amazing stunts, good use of terrain, superior mobility and being very hard to hit, and great against large numbers of mooks. Since you're mainly in control of terrain make sure to include terrain powers for the swashbuckler to exploit. I understand the desire to homebrew, and in my mind you really need a controller to do the concept justice, but I have 2 suggestions before you commit to that route: either an essentials Thief or a duelist/brawler Fighter.

An essentials thief has him covered for the stunts and mobility, and I'd pump Dex and defensive feats, maybe invest in the skill power feat for an acrobatics power. Since rapier is not superior anymore that would be his main weapon. The place where thief is weak is with facing mooks, maybe pick up an Against All Odds type feat to help but still it's a notable conceptual flaw.

A duelist or brawler fighter is a good fit if you're willing to reskin armor (heavy armor agility feat can help here), and describe most "damage" as wearing him down rather than serious wounds. Multiclassing for mobility (and extra skill) is a good idea as are skill powers (you will have to fudge some class skills). This concept has facing multiple mooks covered but takes a bit of bending to fit the swashbuckler mold.

If he's up for playing a 2 weapon swashbuckler you could even go with an essentials Scout...In this case you'd swap out wilderness knacks for social knacks like seduction, worldly travels, whatever you want. Of course Nature would get replaced, and you would want to rename the stances as fencing styles.

And remember the "DM's best friend", +2 for corny one-liners and Princess Bride references of course.

 

[Mengu]

Good point about facing mooks. I'd say don't be stuck on human as the race, most anything can be reskinned as human. You could perhaps go with thri-kreen skinned as human. That would give you a way to deal with the occasional minion bunch. The +2 athletics, running jump feature, and quickdraw abilities all make good sense. +2 Str and Dex are also a decent fit.

 

[the Jester]

Honestly, I would just use a rogue.