Unarmored Dex Fighters

[blargney the second]

Is there a race in your game that gives a Dex +4 or more?

 

[blargney the second]

Here's my recommendation - use another class as the base for high Dex characters. I just had a look through all of the existing fighter archetypes, and they're all lacking in some essential class features. Notably: evasion, decent reflex saves, and uncanny dodge, let alone improved versions of the same. Furthermore, monk makes up for the lack of armour by allowing you to add a second stat to your AC, and also improves it over time.

Fighter levels are like tofu - they'll absorb the flavour of everything else you're cooking with. If the players only want fighter levels for Weapon Specialization, that just takes 4 levels. Heck, as Enkindu said above, you can even get access to it through a monk archetype that gets rid of a lot of the wuxia stuff that you don't want. You'll get a better result making other classes more fighter-like than going in the other direction.
-blarg

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

So is there something wrong with monk for your concept? It really does the unarmored combatant thing very very well...

Not sure if sarcasm...

 

[rgard]

You could take a look at upgrading the Unearthed Arcana variant fighter or variant rogue. Both are in the D20SRD:

Variant Character Classes :: d20srd.org

You are trading fighter feats for sneak attack or sneak attack for fighter feats.

 

[Thalionalfirin]

Someone posted a Swashbuckler conversion here awhile ago.

It looks like a conversion from 3.5e's Complete Warrior. Gave bonus feats like a fighter but limited them to more of a swashbucklery feel.

Also could choose from a list of Swashbuckler tricks, not unlike the Rogue Trick method.

Here's the link.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...hfinder-class-adaptation-comments-please.html

I like it. It's got the right feel that I was looking for. I'm just starting out with it so I don't know how balanced it is.

 

[concerro]

Unearthed Arcana had bonuses you could use in place of wearing armor. It basically replaced full plate for classes that had access to it, and it counted for touch AC, and regular AC.