The Dashing Swordsman (PEACH) [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Dashing Swordsman (PEACH) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aleolus
12-22-07, 12:55 PM OK, I got this idea from a comic called the Order of the Stick. It may have already been done, but here's how I see it. Works wonders for Bards!

The Dashing Swordsman

Prerequisites:
Charisma 15+
BAB: +3
Skills: Any Perform at 8 ranks, Bluff 4 ranks, Balance 4 ranks, Jump 4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks
Feats: Quick-draw
Special: Proficient with the raipier
Special: Must know at least one non-native language.

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 0 2 0 Charismatic Opponent (attacks)
2 +2 0 3 0 Sharp Wit
3 +3 1 3 1 Acrobatic Charge
4 +4 1 4 1 Bonus Feat
5 +5 1 4 1 Combat Expertise
6 +6 2 5 2 Dramatic Entrance
7 +7 2 5 2 Bonus Feat
8 +8 2 6 2 Charismatic Opponent (critical)
9 +9 3 6 3 Uncanny Dodge
10 +10 3 7 3 Bonus Feat, Charismatic Opponent (AC)
Skill points: 6+int
Class skills: Balance, Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Local), Perform (all skills taken individually), Ride, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language, Spot, Tumble

Class Features:
Charismatic Opponent (Ex): At first level, once per round, you may add your Charisma modifier to any one attack roll, instead of your strength. At 8th level, you may add your Charisma bonus to critical confirmation rolls. At 10th level, you may add your Charisma bonus to your Dexterity bonus when determining your armor class, provided that you are wearing light or no armor.

Sharp Wit (Ex)[/b]: Beginning at second level, whenever you make a successful melee attack against a foe with a raipier or similar weapon, you may make a fitting quip or pun to add 1 point of your Charisma modifier to your damage dealt per class level. In order to make use of this ability, you and the targeted foe must share a language, and they must be vulnerable to precision-based damage.

Combat Expertise: At second level, you gain Combat Expertise as a bonus feat. If you already have Combat Expertise, you may select any other feat for which you qualify, so long as it has Combat Expertise as a prerequisite.

Acrobatic Charge (Ex):At third level, you gain the ability to charge in situations where others cannot. You may charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement. Depending on the circumstance, you may still need to make appropriate checks to successfully move over the terrain.

Bonus Feat: At fourth, seventh and tenth level, you gain a bonus feat from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile, Improved Critical, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Spring Attack, Quick Draw, Weapon Finesse

Dramatic Entrance (Ex): At 6th level, when a Dashing Swordsman enters a scene in a dramatic fashion, such as through a window or by bashing down the door, he adds his Charisma modifier to any rolls required to enter, and ignores up to his Charisma modifier in damage that would normally result from such an entrance.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 9th level, a dashing swordsman retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (She still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.) If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge
Aleolus
12-24-07, 12:29 PM Bump? Does anyone have opinions on them? I've gotten a couple critiques so far on a different site, but how about here?
Talisman
12-24-07, 01:11 PM Suggestions:

Drop the Cha prereq to 15. Abilty prereq's should always be odd numbers, and 18's a little insane. Better yet, add another Cha-based skill as a prereq (Bluff?), since raw ability scores are not a very balanced prereq for PrC's. Any character that takes this is going to have a good Cha already.

Raise the general prereq's, maybe bumping the Perform ranks to 8. As-is, a 4th-level bard can qualify for this...a full-BAB class can qualify at 3rd level if they can get Perform as a class skill somehow (I'm sure there's a way).

I also recommend including one or two feats as prereq's...Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative and Weapon Finesse are all appropriate.

Charismatic Opponent: Is this intended to be a standard action or an attack action? The phrase "single melee attack" is rather nebulous.

Is this a 3-level PrC? I'd like to see it fleshed out a little more, maybe made into a 5-leveler. You could fill in the gaps with a bonus feat or two, a couple of dice of Sudden Strike, maybe some feint-as-a-swift-action ability
Devigod
12-24-07, 04:10 PM He needs immunity to broken glass. Not just for entrances, for smashing through a window to snag something too.

A graph for the class would be nice, this is somewhat unproffessionally done here.

This has been done before, but the other one I saw posted was kinda dumb.
Aleolus
12-24-07, 05:00 PM Updated with a graph.

As for the immunity to glass thing, it's whenever the DM deems it dramatically appropriate, basically.

Now imagine a Bard who took five levels of Bard, then this class. That would be somewhat painful! And I intended for this to be a class that's not exceptionally tough to get into, but only classes that are based heavily off Cha would benefit from, like Cleric or Bard.
Jprostovich
12-27-07, 10:56 PM I like this idea. I have a 9th level Swashbuckler who uses disarm religiously. I don't do a hell of a lot of damage but my goal is to gallantly disarm my enemies so the rest of our party can level them.
This PrC fits my Swashbuckler to a T.

However, the Charisma bonus to damage should be limited. Effectively I see this a game reflection of the character's ability to belittle and intimidate an opponent with sheer force of personality. However, if the opponent was immune to fear then perhaps this bonus would not apply. Perhaps a limitation of that kind would add a little more plausibility to the special ability.

I do like the requirement of having to make a quip during the attack. Kudos on a clever way to encourage character and role playing with a game mechanic.

Nice work.
Aleolus
12-28-07, 02:57 AM I got the idea from this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0390.html) comic of Order of the Stick. Elan takes this very PrC, and that's one of the requirements they mention at one point.

EDIT: I just noticed, that's a 10-level PrC! I'll have to come up with other stuff for the other five levels, they can't all be bonus feats!
Aleolus
12-30-07, 03:11 AM Updated to ten levels, thanks to the guys at EN World for finishing it up! Here's what they came up with here (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3956449)!
TheDragonmaster
12-30-07, 04:39 AM Two things...

1. Drop the Cha requirement for entry, ability scores are usually bad ideas for prerequisities for PrC's, allthough if you really want to keep it, 15 is perfect. Change the Bluff requirement to either 4 or 8, and maybe add one or two more skill requirement (balance, diplomacy, intimidate, jump and especially tumble may be good ideas, set them to 4 or maybe (after careful consideration) to 8), take make this class a bit more exclusive.

2. Sharp Wit shoud include a part that requires the foe to understand the quip (remember how Elan tries to actually worsen his wits for stupid foes)... steal this clause from PHII Knight: "The target of this ability must have an Intelligence of 5 or higher, have a language of some sort..." but maybe change it to Int 3. Shared languages are also not required, as long as the affected creature has some kind of language. Also consider making it precision damage (thus making it nonfunctional against foes who are immune to critical hits).

Otherwise, it seems clear... allthough Elan does not really seem to have Int 13, so Combat Expertise seems a bit weird... but that's just me... I never understood why it had that as a requirement in the first place.
Aleolus
12-30-07, 03:11 PM Really? If I took the time to look, I'm pretty sure I could find a number of PrC's in the various Wiz books that have ability score requirements. I don't have time to do it now, but I'm pretty sure I could.

As for the Sharp Wit and other skill prereqs, good ideas, though I think that many is a bit much. I'll have to decide which ones work best. Sharp Wit as precision damage works, and I think I may decide to make it so that you have to have a shared language. That would encourage Dashing Swordsman to pick up as many languages as they can, so no matter what foe they're going up against, they can make puns they can understand. As such, creatures that aren't intelligent enough to have a language are unaffected.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aleolus 12-22-07, 12:55 PM	OK, I got this idea from a comic called the Order of the Stick. It may have already been done, but here's how I see it. Works wonders for Bards! The Dashing Swordsman Prerequisites: Charisma 15+ BAB: +3 Skills: Any Perform at 8 ranks, Bluff 4 ranks, Balance 4 ranks, Jump 4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks Feats: Quick-draw Special: Proficient with the raipier Special: Must know at least one non-native language. Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1 +1 0 2 0 Charismatic Opponent (attacks) 2 +2 0 3 0 Sharp Wit 3 +3 1 3 1 Acrobatic Charge 4 +4 1 4 1 Bonus Feat 5 +5 1 4 1 Combat Expertise 6 +6 2 5 2 Dramatic Entrance 7 +7 2 5 2 Bonus Feat 8 +8 2 6 2 Charismatic Opponent (critical) 9 +9 3 6 3 Uncanny Dodge 10 +10 3 7 3 Bonus Feat, Charismatic Opponent (AC) Skill points: 6+int Class skills: Balance, Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Local), Perform (all skills taken individually), Ride, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language, Spot, Tumble Class Features: Charismatic Opponent (Ex): At first level, once per round, you may add your Charisma modifier to any one attack roll, instead of your strength. At 8th level, you may add your Charisma bonus to critical confirmation rolls. At 10th level, you may add your Charisma bonus to your Dexterity bonus when determining your armor class, provided that you are wearing light or no armor. Sharp Wit (Ex)[/b]: Beginning at second level, whenever you make a successful melee attack against a foe with a raipier or similar weapon, you may make a fitting quip or pun to add 1 point of your Charisma modifier to your damage dealt per class level. In order to make use of this ability, you and the targeted foe must share a language, and they must be vulnerable to precision-based damage. Combat Expertise: At second level, you gain Combat Expertise as a bonus feat. If you already have Combat Expertise, you may select any other feat for which you qualify, so long as it has Combat Expertise as a prerequisite. Acrobatic Charge (Ex):At third level, you gain the ability to charge in situations where others cannot. You may charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement. Depending on the circumstance, you may still need to make appropriate checks to successfully move over the terrain. Bonus Feat: At fourth, seventh and tenth level, you gain a bonus feat from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile, Improved Critical, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Spring Attack, Quick Draw, Weapon Finesse Dramatic Entrance (Ex): At 6th level, when a Dashing Swordsman enters a scene in a dramatic fashion, such as through a window or by bashing down the door, he adds his Charisma modifier to any rolls required to enter, and ignores up to his Charisma modifier in damage that would normally result from such an entrance. Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 9th level, a dashing swordsman retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (She still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.) If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge
Aleolus 12-24-07, 12:29 PM	Bump? Does anyone have opinions on them? I've gotten a couple critiques so far on a different site, but how about here?
Talisman 12-24-07, 01:11 PM	Suggestions: Drop the Cha prereq to 15. Abilty prereq's should always be odd numbers, and 18's a little insane. Better yet, add another Cha-based skill as a prereq (Bluff?), since raw ability scores are not a very balanced prereq for PrC's. Any character that takes this is going to have a good Cha already. Raise the general prereq's, maybe bumping the Perform ranks to 8. As-is, a 4th-level bard can qualify for this...a full-BAB class can qualify at 3rd level if they can get Perform as a class skill somehow (I'm sure there's a way). I also recommend including one or two feats as prereq's...Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative and Weapon Finesse are all appropriate. Charismatic Opponent: Is this intended to be a standard action or an attack action? The phrase "single melee attack" is rather nebulous. Is this a 3-level PrC? I'd like to see it fleshed out a little more, maybe made into a 5-leveler. You could fill in the gaps with a bonus feat or two, a couple of dice of Sudden Strike, maybe some feint-as-a-swift-action ability
Devigod 12-24-07, 04:10 PM	He needs immunity to broken glass. Not just for entrances, for smashing through a window to snag something too. A graph for the class would be nice, this is somewhat unproffessionally done here. This has been done before, but the other one I saw posted was kinda dumb.
Aleolus 12-24-07, 05:00 PM	Updated with a graph. As for the immunity to glass thing, it's whenever the DM deems it dramatically appropriate, basically. Now imagine a Bard who took five levels of Bard, then this class. That would be somewhat painful! And I intended for this to be a class that's not exceptionally tough to get into, but only classes that are based heavily off Cha would benefit from, like Cleric or Bard.
Jprostovich 12-27-07, 10:56 PM	I like this idea. I have a 9th level Swashbuckler who uses disarm religiously. I don't do a hell of a lot of damage but my goal is to gallantly disarm my enemies so the rest of our party can level them. This PrC fits my Swashbuckler to a T. However, the Charisma bonus to damage should be limited. Effectively I see this a game reflection of the character's ability to belittle and intimidate an opponent with sheer force of personality. However, if the opponent was immune to fear then perhaps this bonus would not apply. Perhaps a limitation of that kind would add a little more plausibility to the special ability. I do like the requirement of having to make a quip during the attack. Kudos on a clever way to encourage character and role playing with a game mechanic. Nice work.
Aleolus 12-28-07, 02:57 AM	I got the idea from this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0390.html) comic of Order of the Stick. Elan takes this very PrC, and that's one of the requirements they mention at one point. EDIT: I just noticed, that's a 10-level PrC! I'll have to come up with other stuff for the other five levels, they can't all be bonus feats!
Aleolus 12-30-07, 03:11 AM	Updated to ten levels, thanks to the guys at EN World for finishing it up! Here's what they came up with here (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3956449)!
TheDragonmaster 12-30-07, 04:39 AM	Two things... 1. Drop the Cha requirement for entry, ability scores are usually bad ideas for prerequisities for PrC's, allthough if you really want to keep it, 15 is perfect. Change the Bluff requirement to either 4 or 8, and maybe add one or two more skill requirement (balance, diplomacy, intimidate, jump and especially tumble may be good ideas, set them to 4 or maybe (after careful consideration) to 8), take make this class a bit more exclusive. 2. Sharp Wit shoud include a part that requires the foe to understand the quip (remember how Elan tries to actually worsen his wits for stupid foes)... steal this clause from PHII Knight: "The target of this ability must have an Intelligence of 5 or higher, have a language of some sort..." but maybe change it to Int 3. Shared languages are also not required, as long as the affected creature has some kind of language. Also consider making it precision damage (thus making it nonfunctional against foes who are immune to critical hits). Otherwise, it seems clear... allthough Elan does not really seem to have Int 13, so Combat Expertise seems a bit weird... but that's just me... I never understood why it had that as a requirement in the first place.
Aleolus 12-30-07, 03:11 PM	Really? If I took the time to look, I'm pretty sure I could find a number of PrC's in the various Wiz books that have ability score requirements. I don't have time to do it now, but I'm pretty sure I could. As for the Sharp Wit and other skill prereqs, good ideas, though I think that many is a bit much. I'll have to decide which ones work best. Sharp Wit as precision damage works, and I think I may decide to make it so that you have to have a shared language. That would encourage Dashing Swordsman to pick up as many languages as they can, so no matter what foe they're going up against, they can make puns they can understand. As such, creatures that aren't intelligent enough to have a language are unaffected.