Warning: this is much longer then I thought it would be upon starting it. If you find yourself prone to TL:DR go ahead and move on, I won't be offended. With that said I think I've come up with a strong build for a small halfling duelist. I'd really appreciate any advice the forum has to improve upon it.
Halfling duelist:
So it won’t be for quite some time before I can place this character, but all this talk of making a duelist has inspired me. My goal is to make a competent duelist who uses no armor, and instead relies on his cunning and wits to take his opponent down. My next GM will most likely start us off at level 11, with a 20 point buy and the equivalent amount of wealth of that level character. With that in mind I’m curious to see what people think of this build. This character is intended to replace the Big Stupid Fighter, so his protection is key, but his damage potential also needed to remain viable. I’ll be using a rapier and my offhand as my main weapons.
Lvl 3 Monk/ lvl 5 fighter/ lvl 3 duelist
Why Monk?
Now the monk will have the Master of Many styles (MoMS), Monk of the Sacred Mountain (MotSM), and Hungry Ghost (HG) archetype. The reasons these archetypes are for a few reasons. First, Flurry of Blows will be useless to this character, since I won’t be further leveling as a Monk. Punishing Kick is better than Stunning fist for this same reason. Finally the MotSM gives me toughness and a +1 Natural armor bonus. With this in mind the Monk will allow my off hand to remain a viable source of damage, give my wisdom bonus to AC, and allow me to better utilize the Monks robes I’ll pick up later. Staying in this class till level 3 will give me a 30ft movement speed, and allow me to have an effective Full BAB on my combat maneuver rolls.
Why Fighter?
Ok, so this one’s more obvious then the monk. The Full BAB, and ton of feats will help flesh out this build, while I wait to get to the duelist prestige class. The One handed fighter archetype will give me a small bonus’s to my damage, disarm and AC.
Why Duelist?
Well this one should also be obvious. The Full BAB, getting my intelligence to increase my AC, precise strike and the ability to negate an attack (or two when I combine it with the Crane style feats).
Ok so what would my buy look like (20 pt buy):
Strength- 7 (5 racial)
Dex- 18 (20 racial) +2 (lvl 4 and 8) = 22 total
Con- 12
Int- 14
Wis- 12
Char-8 (10 racial)
Ok, so I know many of you are looking at the strength and just cringing (especially since this is supposed to be a front line fighter). There are a few reasons why this will work ok. First, since I’m starting at level 11, I’ll already have both weapon finesse and agile maneuvers, meaning that strength will be mostly irrelevant, and muleback cords and the haversack will take care of my encumbrance issues. I’ll be putting everything level bonus I get into Dex to maximize my damage, reflex, and AC.
Feats:
Ok at level 11 I’ll have 6 feats normally, 3 fighter feats, 2 bonus style feats (MoMS)
So the feats I’ll have by then are.
- Weapon finesse
- Crane Style (1st level)
- Crane Wing (Monk bonus feat 1)
- Crane Riposte (Monk Bonus feat 2)
- Improved Disarm
- Agile Manuevers
- Piranha strike
- Dodge
- Mobility
- Improved Critical
- Combat Expertise
Skills: these I’ll use to maximize my Intimidate, Bluff, sense motive, perception, and of course acrobatics ton increase my AC on defensive stance. I’ll probably also flush out a few other skills here and there for RP reasons like stealth (why not I'll be great at it).
Gear:
I’ll have 82,000, here’s what I’d buy:
+3- bracers of armor- 9,000
+2 agile- rapier -18,000
+2 cloak of resistance - 4,000
Monk robes- 13,000
+2 headband of mental prowess (intelligence, wisdom)-10,000
+2 belt of dex- 4,000
+2 ring of protection- 8,000
+2 amulet of natural armor-8,000
Muleback Cords- 1,000
handy haversack- 2,000
Ok, so there you have it. So what does all this add up to you might ask. Well first lets look at my Defense. I’ll be fighting defensively almost always and using Combat expertise.
AC = 40 = 10+3 bracers of armor + 2 ring of protection + 2 Amulet of natural armor + 2 monk AC bonus +2 Wisdom + 3 Canny Defense + 7 Dex + 1 Free hand fighter (FHF) dodge bonus + 3 fighting defensively + 3 combat expertise + 1 size + 1 Dodge (against single foe only). Not bad for a small guy with no armor on.
Touch AC = 35= 10 + 2 ring of protection + 2 Monk AC + 2 Wisdom + 3 Canny defense + 7 Dex + 1 FHF + 3 Fighting defensively + 3 combat expertise + 1 size + 1 dodge
CMD = 40: 10 - 3 strength - 1 size +10 BAB + 7 dex+ 1 FHF + 2 Wisdom + 2 Monk AC bonus + 3 Canny Defense + 2 ring of protection + 3 fighting defensively (I think it counts) + 3 combat expertise + dodge
again, not too shabby
Ok so I got a decent Ac, What about my saves.
Reflex: 16 = 6 base + 7 dex + 2 cloak + 1 racial
Fort: 12 = 8 base + 1 con + 2 cloak + 1 racial
Will: 10 = 5 base + 2 wis + 2 cloak + 1 racial (12 against fear effects)
Now I’ll also have toughness feat and a 12 constitution, so my HP should be fairly decent for when I do take a hit.
Ok, so I think I’ve shown that he’ll make a decent tank at this level. Don’t forget that I'll also gets to ignore the first attack that hits him, and makes a free AOO against that opponent. So maybe now your thinking, well sure no one can hit you but your DPR is gonna be absolutely terrible. Well, it definitely won’t match a pure DPR build that’s for sure, but it should put up some decent numbers. Lets look at it.
I’ll get 2 attacks a round that will be at
attack: 10 BAB + 2 rapier + 7 dex + 1 Singleton + 1 racial - 1 fighting defensively – 3 combat expertise( – 3 piranha strike)= +17/+12 or (14/9 with piranha strike)
Damage: 1d4 + 2 rapier + 7 dex + 1 singleton + 3 precise strike + (6 piranha strike) = 1d4 +13 per hit (1d4 + 19 w/ piranha strike).
I also will have a 25% chance of threatening a critical on every swing which will also up the damage quite a bit. Damage being 2d4 + 26 (2d4 + 38 w/ piranha strike).
So while I won’t be out damaging the rogue, I will be putting out enough DPR that I’m a viable threat.
To wrap it up, this class won’t be the ultimate min-maxed possible, but it does bring to mind a what I feel a duelist should look like. He’ll be dodging anyone who swings at him, and bringing his small weapon to bear in just the right spot.
Ok, so this is my first big post with a ton of material and coordinating bits. Does this build look viable to you? If not what would you suggest I tweek?
Oh, I forgot to add my CMB, which is kinda relevant since I took improved disarm.
CMB(disarm): 16 =11 (BAB)+ 2 (improved disarm) + 7 (dex)+ 1 (singleton) -1 size - 3 combat expertise - 1 fighting defensively
one question. Is your DM ok with you spending the money like that? The rules from the PRD say that it should be 25% on weapon 25% on armor and other protective things, 25% on other magic, 15% on consumables, and 10% on mundane gear and coin.
That is the only thing I have to add, is make sure they are ok with spending it all on magic.
Also Muleback cords take the cloak spot
But i love the build itself
one question. Is your DM ok with you spending the money like that? The rules from the PRD say that it should be 25% on weapon 25% on armor and other protective things, 25% on other magic, 15% on consumables, and 10% on mundane gear and coin.
That is the only thing I have to add, is make sure they are ok with spending it all on magic.
Also Muleback cords take the cloak spot
But i love the build itself
Oh, didn't know that about the muleback cord, oh well, the handy haversack should compensate well enough.
The DM's pretty lenient on how we spend our funds, I just need to make sure I have enough to spend on food/inn/travel/ect.