Variant Fighter: Swashbuckler

[Jens]

Intention: The idea is to make a "lightly armored fighter"-class. This can be anything between a duelist/musketeer and an oriental monk/ninja.

Swashbuckler (fighter variant)
- This class is as the PH fighter except for the following changes:
- HD reduced to d8.
- Fortitude saves reduced to average (if using average saves, otherwise reduced to poor) and reflex saves improved to good.
- 4 skill points per level instead if 2.
- Balance and tumble as additional class skills.
- Only proficient with light armors and bucklers, not medium and heavy armor or heavier shields.
- Uncanny Dodge: "Dex bonus to AC" at 3rd, "Can’t be flanked"" at 5th, +1/+2/+3/+4 against traps at 11th/14th/17th/20th.
- May choose Sneak Attack +1d6 (up to once per 2 points of BAB), Evasion (requires reflex save +3) and Improved Evasion (requires evasion and reflex save +7) as bonus feats.

...What do you think? Unbalanced? Unnecessary?

- Should the ability to take Sneak Attack as a feat be removed?

- how to incorporate the abilities of the Duelist prestige class? I want it to be incorporated in this class. Skill bonuses are unprescedented in the PH so some of the special abilities are 'off limits'.

Would a handful (or more?) of martial artist feats make this a viable monk-replacement as a general-use martial artist? ... there is a feat every 2 levels to play with. Do anybody have such feats written out?

I have thought about making Move Silently a class skill as well, but that would mostly be to accomodate Ninja-types focusing on stealth... What to remove?

 

[Ran]

Well, it seems a nice idea, but in my opinion it is not necessary, it would make a nice PrC, the problem is that the Duelist, that was supposed to be it, is a zero on the left...

Remaking the duelist would make a good swashbuckler... and if it a PrC the fact of being one would be more expressive...

Anyway, I would start with the fighter, but making it a fighter with more options on feats, which are class abilities wouldn't be a good idea...

Know what, maybe you should think more about making it less based on fighter and more on the duelist, using two weapon, tumble, and so on...

Know why I don't like it? 'Cause everyone would want it the way it is... at least it is much better tha teh fighter if you want to have a nice dex...

 

[Corwin]

...What do you think? Unbalanced? Unnecessary?

I actually did something eeriely similar.

I basically did the following:

Fencer (Core Class)
- HD: d8
- Skill Points: 4/level
- Skill List: add Balance, Bluff and Tumbling
- Speed +10 (similar to barbarian, only when wearing light or no armor)
- Loses: no medium and heavy armor, and can use bucklers only
- Retain Fighter bonus feats

I used this to make a really cool duelist PC...

I started with three levels of Rogue (a bit of a bad seed in his younger days), then a level of Monk (parents sent him to a monestary in an attempt to straighten him out - got kicked out after only a year ), then took 4 levels of Fencer (entered fencing school to finish education, etc.). Then the next ten levels are Duelist.

The monk level works really well for an unarmored duelist. You get a few neat perks:

- Wisdom bonus to AC (which means you are getting three stats to AC: Dex, Int & Wis)
- Saves get a nice little bump across the board
- And for all those tavern brawls, you even have a decent right hook .

 

[comrade raoul]

I'm surprised he hasn't pimped it here already, but Hong's martial artist is a pretty good version of the "light fighter." Here it is:
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/martialartist.htm

Note that it's actually quite close to your swashbuckler.

 

[hong]

Hey, there's only so much pimping I can do in a day. Besides which, I don't have to pimp when I have my lackeys I MEAN appreciative fans to do it for me.

 

[aRogueByAnyOtherName]

I don't think you made a beefed up fighter as much as a rogue that has no draw back aside from losing some skills and skill points to gain a larger hit die, a slew of bonus feats, and an awesome BAB. I think it's too much, If you want to change it make a PrC with a varient from the duelist.