Zoran's page

Hi All,

I'm playing a human (Varisian) Swashbuckler in Gallo's RotRL game. I rebuilt Zoran from a rogue when the beta came out - thanks also to Hero Lab for supporting it.

So my testing starts from level 4, and I have just gone up to level 5. Here's the stat block for level 4, on which this feedback is based. Also, this is my first post, so be kind!

Okay, so a kind a of Gypsy show-off was the aim, and I leapt at the chance to try him as a Swashbuckler. We've had three sessions since I converted him and although he's had his ups and downs, I'm having fun playing this class.

I should mention the party make-up: I'm joined on the front line by a Dwarven Paladin, and we have a Dwarven archer Ranger and two half-human spell-casters. We play what we like, so it's not necessarily the most optimised party.

Things I liked:

Panache is fun. We always want more of things we like, and this is no exception. I used Opportune Parry and Riposte against some (puny) human thugs. I felt more carefree with the Panache when the stakes were low. Luckily I rolled well, and those points were not wasted.

Delivering the killing blow restored one point of Panache (which we may start calling Mojo - it was late...).

Having Panache allowed the initiative bonus and helps with the Dodge AC, which was fun.

I think I used the swift Intimidate once, which is a nice bonus.

Thank heavens at least Precise Strike works against undead...

Things I disliked:

Naturally, I didn't want to go below one point of Panache, so I didn't want to spend more than two points in a battle (or day) unless it got refreshed.

I found that, due to the luck of the dice, early confirmed criticals in a battle could not be saved up until I had the opportunity to use the Swashbuckler deeds, as I was already at my maximum Panache.

And I didn't get the chance to use any Swashbuckling deeds against the ghouls that beset us over the last session, apart from Precise Strike.

Last night I learned the hard way that Swashbucklers have very bad fort saves. Got paralysed by a ghoul. Twice. When I was holding off three of them, they had 9 attacks per round in total - even Combat Expertise and fighting defensively let one hit through in the first round on a natural 20, and of course I failed the save most times. This was when I wished I could have used Opportune Parry in retrospect - but having to declare it before the die is rolled means you are just guessing when to use it, rather than it being of real defensive value.

The ghoul experience probably means I will have to take Great Fortitude feat at 5th level just to stay alive, when I'd rather be choosing something more fun like Improved Trip or Disarm.

Before I converted the character, I had Two Weapon Fighting, which I had to ditch. I think it's a shame one loses Precise Strike when holding a weapon in the off-hand, as that seems a Swashbuckling kind of thing to do.

I also realised that having Swashbuckler Finesse rather than a bonus Weapon Finesse feat takes away the Dex bonus to the Bladed Scarf, which is disappointing because the character is a Varisian Tattooed Gypsy guy. I just don't have enough feats to spend of Weapon Finesse again, considering that I got Combat Reflexes just to allow the main Parry/Riposte feature.

Overall:

Despite the focus here on what didn't quite feel right, the overall experience is going ok. Hopefully the character survives the middle levels on the low saves! We'd probably feel like implementing house rules to correct some of these things, but for the moment as a beta play test, we'll stick with what's on the page.