Swashbucklers!

[Kest]

Now that I think about it, most of the ideas I've had don't come even close to the pirate trope. Swashbucklers bring the roleplaying flexibility of a rogue to the fighter concept.

[hollyfant]

Swashbuckler may be the new Ranger: add one level to every Rogue.

[Brokenbone]

HF speaks the words of true prophecy.

I'd imagine starting Rogue for the skillmonkey factor, concentrate on DEX and INT, and know that when you take your Swashbuckler level (probably at 2nd), you'll get Weapon Finesse and all kinds of other stuff that complements Rogues. You'll then have a light armored flanker type who benefits from sneak attacks plus actually has a good chance of landing them due to enhanced BAB. Also enough hitpoints not to collapse immediately if withdrawing after sneak attacking draws an AoO that your tumble ranks can't bail you out of. There's a lot of synergies to find in a swash-rogue mix, no doubt.

Only so many races though will benefit from either having "favoured class: rogue" or the human exception of "any one other class, can be favored" for the purposes of not having watered down XP awards for a terrible imbalance (like "Swash 7 / Rogue 1").

[Thangorn]

you guys are clearly PGers..

swashbuckler is a PGing class and I hope it never makes its way into ALFA.. in fact you should be banned for mentioning them..

Dex based fighters are just too uber and messes with immersion..

kthx

[Veilan]

Uuuuh!

If I only had known this class would come earlier, my PGing would have known no bounds.

On a more serious note, I'm reasonably sure DMs have little to no qualms of laying the smack down on too cheesy armies of rogue / 'bucklers, like we've seen with ranger / rogues before.

However, the natural synergy cannot be denied and thus, "rp reasons" are often not too far fetched. The fine line will be decided in the eyes of our trusted arbiters.

[Vendrin]

I'd think swashbucklers would be an excellent class for noble pcs. It has the grace and beauty that is bred into a lot of noble lines.

[Mayhem]

Nobles? Grace and Beauty?

The fantasy genre is pretty much synonymous with an era where you got to be a noble by being the most brutal mofo in the area. You don't get knighted for grace and beauty

/If I were to play a noble, I'd do it by taking the first level in paladin to get the combat combined with the diplomacy - and if I wasn't playing a good noble, I'd still do it that way and get a DM to change my alignment immediately after character creation.

[Kest]

Nobles? Grace and Beauty?

The fantasy genre is pretty much synonymous with an era where you got to be a noble by being the most brutal mofo in the area. You don't get knighted for grace and beauty

what a peculiar viewpoint

[Brokenbone]

Each FR nation has its own take on nobility. Still, much like some of the "racial variant" swashbuckler thoughts above, "national variant" swashbucklers could be pretty darned interesting too. What would a Mulhorandi swashbuckler look like, as opposed to one from Sembia? As further opposed to one who hails from the culturally bereft Ten Towns? One of those three may have a shaved head and a lot of kohl/mascara, one may have very poncey clothing which is worth a year's pay to a decent commoner, the last is wearing a ratty hide with some frontiersman quality (i.e., homemade) arms and armor. *shrugs*

[Lazlo]

Rogue/Swashbuckler = Amphibious Smuggler

/generic PC concept copyright infringement clause

[danielmn]

Rogue/swash/monk = navy seal?

[johnlewismcleod]

Swashbuckler/Dwarf = bull walrus?

[Mulu]

The swashbuckler bard is the obvious choice....

[wvincenti]

Zorro, the Gay Blade comes to mind.
Where's Ladellon? He deserves the chance to use this class.

*chuckles*
I might just use it too! I had a good run years back with Glorfindel and he was a finesse Fighter/Cleric.

-Bill

[Lazlo]

Zorro, the Gay Blade comes to mind.
Where's Ladellon? He deserves the chance to use this class.

*chuckles*
I might just use it too! I had a good run years back with Glorfindel and he was a finesse Fighter/Cleric.

-Bill

Don't give Laddy any ideas!