Backstory is that he is an escaped gladiator slave. This works really well with swashbuckler, due to the combat side and the flashy manoeuvre side, a high charisma pleasing the crowd etc.
However I don't know what gladiator-like weapon I can use that will still have the high crit range and one-handed/light qualities a swashbuckler needs.
Apart from that, any advice on my first Society character? Feats, attributes, anything really!
For stats I thought:
STR 12
DEX 18 (+2 from Human)
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 7
CHA 15
Feat Level One: Weapon Focus (???)
Bonus feat: Slashing Grace
Any suggestions much appreciated!
With that low Wis you definitely want Irrepresible as a trait (assuming it is PFS legal.)
Uh, yeah... with that low wisdom you're going to be dangerous to any group unfortunate enough to have you in their party. You want Wisdom up to at least 14 and you need to pick up Iron Will fairly quickly. Your will save is baaaaaad.
A good gladiator weapon would be the gladius, but currently you can't get dex-to-damage with it with Slashing Grace. This may have been a mistake and could be errata'd in the future.
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You should probably drop Str to 10 to up your Wis to 8 so that your will save isn't quite so bad, and maybe drop Cha to 14 to get your Wis up to 10
If you're taking slashing grace (awesome feat for dex builds - borderline OP) then you don't really need strength.
And you have to take Weapon Focus in order to get slashing grace - so no ??? about it. :P
With a chain shirt and shield, you should be sitting pretty at an AC of 20. If you go studded leather (save 37.5 gold long term) a level 1 AC of 19 isn't shabby.
One possibility would be to go strength-based instead of dexterity. Not as crazy as it sounds; you're fighting one-handed so you can go sword and board and you get in-class bonuses to AC. Your point buy would look like this:
16 (+2 race) STR
14 DEX
12 CON
7 INT
12 WIS
14 CHA
This saves you a couple feats and makes you a bit stronger without sacrificing the bad saves.
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One possibility would be to go strength-based instead of dexterity. Not as crazy as it sounds; you're fighting one-handed so you can go sword and board and you get in-class bonuses to AC. Your point buy would look like this:
16 (+2 race) STR
14 DEX
12 CON
7 INT
12 WIS
14 CHAThis saves you a couple feats and makes you a bit stronger without sacrificing the bad saves.
No.
That defeats the point of making a swashbuckler.
You lowered 2 of 3 saves.
You lowered his HP.
You lowered his accuracy.
You lowered his damage.
You lowered his AC.
All you really did (arguably) beneficial was drop his Int & Cha for higher Wis.
If you want to argue that he should go fighter instead of swashbuckler - go ahead. But don't build a gimpy strength based swashbuckler.
If I was going to argue he go to another class it would be to a Daring Champion Cavalier. My main purpose was to come up with a way where he could use a gladius without having to wait for the agile property, since he expressed interest in a gladiator-type weapon.
Unless you're going for a light weapon (ie not Slashing Grace or Dervish Dance) I'd bump strength up to at least 13 to qualify for power attack - even with 1h fighting it's a good way to pick up some extra damage. I think Arachno's strength idea has some merit, actually. Going dexterity is considered optimal for swashbucklers, but strength 'bucklers are absolutely viable.
I'd strongly advise not going with 7 wis on a swashbuckler, your will save will be atrocious to the point where it makes you a liability.
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Unless you're going for a light weapon (ie not Slashing Grace or Dervish Dance) I'd bump strength up to at least 13 to qualify for power attack - even with 1h fighting it's a good way to pick up some extra damage.
It's really not worth the stat change for power attack. Swashbucklers get enough static bonuses that your risking too much for the reduced accuracy. I ran the numbers in another thread - it's not worth it.
For 2h fighters power attack is great
For 1h strength fighter power attack is okay though a bit situational. (sometimes not worth using, sometimes very good depending upon how hard the target is to hit)
It's not good enough with 1h combat to cost a feat and 3 otherwise almost entirely useless stat points. (especially with the big static damage bonus swashbucker gets at level 3 which scales nicely)
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As to gladiator style weapons which would work well with a swashbuckler - you could try a urumi (though it's exotic - to get slashing grace at 1st level you'd have to burn a trait and never have a special material version) or maybe a Terbutje (mechanically a longsword - so not high crit, but the look would fit your fluff - you could start with a regular one and then upgrade to a steel version to magic up so that you don't have to deal with a fragile weapon forever)
Or you could just go with a cutlass. Mechanically it's a scimitar (except doesn't qualify for scimitar only feats etc) - but it might fit a gladiator a bit better.
Power Attack is situationally quite good - pretty good if you're not making iteratives, very good against anything with DR or anything immune to Precise Strike.
If you are using dex for damage though, there's definitely a case for dumping Str. But then you have to fight encumbrance, and you drop your CMB and CMD. (And for flavor reasons, you might not want to play a wimp.)
Charon showed some nice calculations that when you're full-attacking something with no DR and you get your Precise Strike, then Power Attack isn't a good idea. But there are a lot of other times when you'll want it.
I like power attack for those situations where you either have to penetrate DR, when you're guaranteed to hit (ie when you can't make a full attack or you're fighting something with low AC but lots of HP like giants) or when precision damage isn't a viable option, like when fighting elementals, ooze, amorphous enemies, incorporeal undead or anything with concealment (unless you have shadow strike, which you really should) as well as fortification.
Elementals in particular are very frustrating opponents for swashbucklers, typically combining DR and precision damage immunity.
Another idea would be to use a Scimitar and the Dervish Dance feat. IT turns the Scimitar into a piercing weapon so allows all the Swashbuckler abilities.
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For stats I thought:
STR 12
DEX 18 (+2 from Human)
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 7
CHA 15
...
.
Uh, yeah... with that low wisdom you're going to be dangerous to any group unfortunate enough to have you in their party. You want Wisdom up to at least 14 and you need to pick up Iron Will fairly quickly. Your will save is baaaaaad.
A good gladiator weapon would be the gladius, but currently you can't get dex-to-damage with it with Slashing Grace. This may have been a mistake and could be errata'd in the future.
toxicpie,
If you haven't played PFS before, you may not realize some of the ramifications of the 'pick-up' style of play.You don't know what builds will sit at the table with you, so you can't count on a PC being present that can do something to boost your saves. There might not be a caster at all, let alone one that has something like protection from evil (or whatever to up your saves). You certainly can't count on someone being able to dispel the confusion or dominate before you kill the rest of the party.
In a home game a low will save might be a good strategy based on the makeup of the rest of the group. In PFS, it is taking a huge risk.
Since many of the Bosses in PFS are fighting by themselves (or very nearly) so it seems like a lot of them try to quickly even the odds with a charm person, confusion, or dominate.
Also, many/most of the scenarios in PFS are a bit easier than you might expect to see in a home game. Again because it is designed to have a chance with a very sub-optimal mix of characters. Many of us feel like you can lower your primary stats quite a bit (especially with a MAD build) and still perform effectively.
One trait can allay fears about domination/confusion, though.
Irrepressible
Benefit(s): You can use your Charisma modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier when attempting Will saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.
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One trait can allay fears about domination/confusion, though.
Irrepressible
Benefit(s): You can use your Charisma modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier when attempting Will saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.
No. One trait can just about make up for dumping your WIS. Better for a PFS melee character with high CHA to take Irrepressible AND keep his WIS at 10 or 12. And then take Iron Will around level 5. And Improved Iron Will around level 7 or 9. Plus a Wayfinder w/Resonant Clear Spindle Ioun Stone. And then a Cap of the Free Thinker.
Yes, Will saves are that important.