Fighter / Rogue--reclaiming Batman


Homebrew and House Rules


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

It's deeply unfortunate that 'Batman' has become the title for the Wizards and other Tier 1 casters who have an answer for everything. Really, Batman should be what we strive for martials to be--by dint of sheer training, skill, relentless determination, and, yes, some gear and gadgets to make up the difference, becoming a force to be reckoned with, despite having no true superpowers of his own. Now, Paizo has touched on this design space with the Slayer, and they're clearly trying to fairly directly emulate Batman with the Vigilante, especially the Stalker specialization. But the more and more I think about it, the more it occurs to me. Perhaps the simplest Batman is smashing the Fighter and the Rogue together wholesale. Especially if things like Stamina and Skill Unlocks from Unchained are in the mix, a gestalt Fighter/Rogue has a fairly vast array of mundane tricks at his disposal, and could bring the concept of a highly trained and adaptable combat generalist to a higher tier.

Some of my biggest concerns:
* Is it too much? I don't think it's by that much if so, but I can certainly see, for example, that a Fighte R's already solid damage output may not need full sneak attack in the mix.
* Of more concern, while the stealth ability Rogues bring to the table are sensible for the Batman concept, it may not be what everyone wants out of it. On the one hand, one need not take the skills if they're not of interest, but it may be appropriate to make plans for archetypes and alternate class features.
* Might want to move Rogue Dex-to-Damage from an auto-get to a trick or feat?

What does everyone else think? Should one just stick to the Slayer for this sort of concept? For some further context, I've been digging for a while on the idea of a campaign with no arcane or divine magic, but heavily employing Dreamscarred Psionics and Path of War--but I also like the idea of a class with a customizable chassis like feats every level. Hire do you think this would stack up in such an environment?

Sovereign Court

Sorry but i can't help but think that Batman is just a rogue (old chained version) with charlatan archetype and LOTS of money to spend on PR...

... seeing that he seems to become even fearsomerer every generation...


A lot of characters call him detective. I personally think that should not be a rogue archtype.

In any case, vigilante, 2 classes combined, or more are required to simulate superheros. Is charlatan another word for scientist? Because Batman is nothing like a stage magician. Some versions trained as a kung fu fighter, ninja, or assassin.

Scarab Sages

I think the best option for batman is still a single class Stygian slayer with the irori combat style, enforcer, shatter defenses, and the sap adept/sap master feats.

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