So, I recently read through the character archives in the back of Brinewall legacy and stopped to look at Sandru's stat block. Needless to say, I was a little surprised by what I saw. No doubt James Jacobs intended for Sandru to be a less-than-ideal rogue (optimized characters are the domain of PCs after all), but I was still surprised by what I saw, especially armed with the notion of Sandru as a swashbuckler- a term that in modern parlance conjures up images of deft duelists like Inigo Montoya or Jack Sparrow (and to gamers conjures up the Weapon Finesse feat).
For starters, there's his 16 Strength and 14 Dexterity. To me these scores seem odd because, normally, they'd be switched. After all, the rogue places a great emphasis on agility and mobility, and most of his key skills (Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Disable Device, Stealth, etc.) rely on that score. Then there was his intelligence score: 10. Now, I'm not going to say that a swashbuckler should necessarily be bright, but a good swashbuckler should*- especially if he's shooting to be a Duelist (the quintessential swashbuckling prestige class).
Now, from what I read of the Devotion boon, Sandru has "a dance-like fighting style," something elegant and flowing. I was therefore also surprised when I discovered he had no ranks in Perform (dance). The dance skill would also naturally lead in to becoming a Duelist later in his career path, which to me only deepened the mystery.
Noting, however, that Sandru's favored weapon was the Scimitar and he supposedly had a dance-like fighting style, something in my head clicked and I got to thinking.
Now, we all know about the best feat** ever published in the Inner Sea World Guide, sitting smugly on page 286 while it ignites all sorts of Kensai Magus optimized builds across the forums. That feat would be, of course, Dervish Dance, and I thought Sandru would be a perfect candidate for it.
Now, I'm keenly aware that the flavor behind Dervish Dance takes after the Sufi Medlevi Order of 13th century Konya. However, even though Sandru worships Desna and not Sarenrae (whose fanatical warrior-priests are called Dervishes in distant Qadira), I feel that his "dance-like fighting-style" would still make this feat a natural pick. After all, the feat was written so that it was open to all cultures, it just happens to resonate more strongly with some cultures than with others. All you need to do is give him ranks in Perform (dance), which can easily be done by swapping one of his other skills, or reworking his ability scores as such:
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Cha 13.
This gives him 8 extra skill points to work with, and guarantees his attack and damage stay about the same (although his CMB and CMD suffer for it). Then there's just the task of giving him Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance, which can be done by swapping out two of his feats (I picked Toughness and Dodge). Of course, he'll have to take Dodge and Mobility at later levels to qualify for Duelist, but I foresee no complications there.
Of course, with this framework in mind, I'm setting Sandru up to be an actual swashbuckler, rather than allowing him to delude himself into thinking he's a swashbuckler, which could ultimately lead to a deeper character development than what I'm offering. So there's that to consider.
Well, that's my 2 copper pinches, what do you all think of this hair-brained rework?
* This is also true in real life, as fencing (the modern sport of European sword fighting) is often called "physical chess," connoting that some level of thought must be put into the sport. However, Sandru is a sabreur, so I suppose that I shouldn't be too surprised that he's not heavy on the thinking component.
**I don't actually think this is really the best feat ever, but I will concede that it's pretty great.
First, obviously, it is your game, and everything works better if the GM understands the characters. If this makes helps you get into Sandru's head, awesome.
For me, however, the stat switching puts him in a sort of weird place in relation to the other NPCs. Ameiko now has a 50/50 shot of beating him in arm wrestling, but he is more dexterous than her. He is, in fact, as dexterous as the token Elf. He also goes from being of normal intelligence to being the smartest person in the caravan. It just seems like a lot of work for one line at the end of his stat block, and the idea of what a "swashbuckler" should be.
Honestly though, it probably doesn't matter either way. Unless one were to run Sandru as a GM PC, the players likely won't have any idea of his stats or feats. If this makes you better at roleplaying Sandru, that is all that really matters.
EDIT: Also, I think this might actually make him less optimal. He has to use up two feats he didn't before, can't use Power Attack, and can't two-hand his Scimitar for extra damage. Still more optimal than poor Ameiko, but no Dervish Dancing Kensai.
He has to use up two feats he didn't before, can't use Power Attack, and can't two-hand his Scimitar for extra damage.
A fair point, but then you do realize he's a rogue, so Power Attack is far from an optimal feat pick for him. Rogues rely almost exclusively on their Sneak Attacks for extra damage, and since their BAB isn't 1:1 they don't get the biggest "bang" for their buck from Power Attack, especially because they can't afford to take as great a hit to their accuracy as a barbarian/fighter/paladin/ranger can. And Power Attack really seems to lack the "finesse" Sandru is purported to have.
I will concede to the point that Ameiko can beat him in an arm-wrestling contest, but then again why couldn't she? Just because he's older than her? As for higher intelligence, I don't see why not. He's a merchant, after all, so being smart is definitely to his advantage. Honestly now that I think about it, I'd find it more strange that there isn't a member of the caravan with over a 12 intelligence to start, as initially stated (Ameiko: 12, Koya: 12, Sandru: 10, Shelalu: 12).
Power Attack stuff
Funnily enough, even with Sneak Attack, two-handed Power Attacking will almost always add to your average damage. -1 attack is approximately the same as -5% damage, while Power Attack will be giving +3. That means, so long as your average damage per hit (with PA) is less than 60, you are coming out ahead. That is going to be true for most of the game, barring Sap feats and such.
And even as written, I feel that he has plenty of finesse. Good Acrobatics, 14 Dex. I find that enough for a couple of lines in his entry.
I will concede to the point that Ameiko can beat him in an arm-wrestling contest, but then again why couldn't she? Just because he's older than her? As for higher intelligence, I don't see why not. He's a merchant, after all, so being smart is definitely to his advantage. Honestly now that I think about it, I'd find it more strange that there isn't a member of the caravan with over a 12 intelligence to start, as initially stated (Ameiko: 12, Koya: 12, Sandru: 10, Shelalu: 12).
There is nothing wrong with it, it just isn't the character that was written. As written, he is a quite strong fellow but no genius. Switch that around and he is a different person. More "Savvy Merchant Prince" than "Gypsy leader who carries his own cargo." Not wrong, but different. For me, not different in a way I'd personally prefer. But as always, your game, your characters.