In the Dragon Magazine #073, these is an article on the NPC class, Duelist. A quick read showed me it was not a swashbuckler style duelist; at lest, not necessarily. In that article, they were more of hired 'seconds', stand-in swordsmen who fought, killed, and died instead of their noble employers and masters.
A long time ago, I read the introduction to the Pistoleer prestige class in the Iron Kingdoms d20 class, and it was awesome, which is my inspiration for this work.
Now, a buddy asked me to convert this idea to Pathfinder, so he can play it in my game. I choose to make it a archetype of the fighter, and try as I might, I couldn't help but add a bit of 'swash' to it.
It does not look over the top, but I worry about it being too much weaker than than the base fighter. Anyhow, let me know- any and all advice is appreciated.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Militant Duelist is not proficient with medium armor, heavy armor, or any shield except bucklers. Militant Duelist is proficient in all simple weapons, and all light and one-handed martial weapons (a Militant Duelist is not proficient in two-handed martial weapons). A Militant Duelist is also proficient in a single exotic light or one-handed weapon.
Duelist: At 1st level, a Militant Duelist adds Acrobatics and Diplomacy to his list of class skills and removes Handle Animal and Knowledge (dungeoneering) from his list of class skills.
Grace (Ex) Starting a 2nd level, a Militant Duelist gains a +1 bonus on Reflex Saves and on acrobatics skill checks. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd.
This ability replaces Bravery.
Canny Defense (Ex) As Duelist, except the bonus is +1 dodge bonus to his armor class per two levels, round down, to the maximum of the character's intelligence modifier.
This ability replaces the second level fighter feat.
Evade (Ex: At 3rd level, when wearing no or light armor, the swashbuckler adds his Evade bonus to his armor class. This is considered a dodge bonus and whenever the swashbuckler is denied his Dexterity bonus to armor class he also loses his Evade bonus. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), theses bonus increase by +1 each time, for a maximum of +4 at 15th level.
This ability is gains alongside of, but does not replace, Armor Training.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 4th level, a Militant Duelist gains Uncanny Dodge, as a Barbarian.
This ability replaces the bonus feat gained at 4th level.
Parry (Ex): At 6th level, a Militant Duelist gains Parry, Duelist.
This ability replaces the bonus feat normally gained at 6th level.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 8th level and higher, a Militant Duelist gains Improved Uncanny Dodge, as a Barbarian.
This ability replaces the bonus feat normally gained at 8th level.
In the Dragon Magazine #073, these is an article on the NPC class, Duelist. A quick read showed me it was not a swashbuckler style duelist; at lest, not necessarily. In that article, they were more of hired 'seconds', stand-in swordsmen who fought, killed, and died instead of their noble employers and masters.
That's not really a question of class design, but is entirely setting-dependent.
It does not look over the top, but I worry about it being too much weaker than than the base fighter. Anyhow, let me know- any and all advice is appreciated.
As for the class:
*Weapon proficiency is an upgrade over basic Fighter. Armor is not a real downgrade.*Getting two good skills in return for 2 bad ones is an upgrade.
*Grace is fine.
*Canny Defense is a whole lot better than a feat
*Evade - more AC bonus
*Uncanny Dodge - better than a feat.
*Parry - you're getting one of the signature abilities of the Duelist PrC before a Duelist could. Not necessarily bad, but still, I'd consider making it a level 8 ability.
All in all, you'll be making a character with incredible defenses, but even with free Falcata proficiency, a sword in one hand and dick in the other is a bad fighting style that means you're dealing half the damage you're expected to.
As for the class:
*Weapon proficiency is an upgrade over basic Fighter. Armor is not a real downgrade.
Right. So, remove the exotic weapon proficiency and it drops to a rung slightly lower than a typical Fighter. I don't see this as a real problem, because no one would take this archetype if they wanted to swing big heavy weapons.
The same is sorta true about armor. Yes, missing out on full-plate hurts, but, again, this archetype isn't for walking slabs of steel. I will say that taking medium and heavy armor away hurts, but the bonuses to AC more than make up for it.
*Getting two good skills in return for 2 bad ones is an upgrade.
I give you that Knowledge skills aren't top tier, but Handle Animal is a decent skill. Though, admittedly, not that popular with the Fighter crowd. I'm not sure if Acrobatic or Diplomacy are necessary for the archetype. especially considering the way Pathfinder treats skills. So, should I drop the skill replacement, limit it only to a single skill, or replace different skills?
*Grace is fine.
Score one for shameless theft from other folk's good ideas.
*Canny Defense is a whole lot better than a feat
Yes. One of the reason I spread it out (+1 to AC every other level, with the max being the Int modifier). With fighters already focused on Strength, Dexterity, & Constitution, I figure basing another bonus off a normally unattractive attribute wouldn't hurt.
But, perhaps I should have it replace a bonus feat and a level of armor training? Keep in mind that Armor Training 3 and 4 are much less important because the AC penalty for light armor stops at -2.
*Evade - more AC bonus
They are missing out on heavy armor. Dodge is better than Armor, since it works against touch attacks, though. A chain shirt is +4, and Evade grants +4 (eventually), bringing the total AC slightly behind plate. Enhancement bonus shouldn't factor in (the +5 is the same for light armor and heavy), and bracers of armor also only reach +8...so that about equals.
Canny defense pushes it up, though. Have to think on that.
*Uncanny Dodge - better than a feat.
I was thinking about replacing Weapon Training 1 with it, but like you said, this archetype will be hurting for damage. Maybe a more defense focus is better. I did want this archetype to get the Uncanny Dodge after the barbarian and the rogue, so maybe replacing Armor Training 1 would work. What do you think?
I could replace Armor Training 1 with Uncanny Dodge, and replace Armor Training 3 with the improved version (chaing Armor Training 2 into 1, and Armor Training 4 into 2). Since lihgt armor only has an armor check penalty of 2 at most...wait, by that time, most characters would already have masterwork and magical armor. The only reason to have Armor Training for light armor after the first level would be to raise the dexterity.
Right. Need to think on that.
*Parry - you're getting one of the signature abilities of the Duelist PrC before a Duelist could. Not necessarily bad, but still, I'd consider making it a level 8 ability.
I agree with you, now that I think about it. I will have to kick this idea around.
All in all, you'll be making a character with incredible defenses, but even with free Falcata proficiency, a sword in one hand and dick in the other is a bad fighting style that means you're dealing half the damage you're expected to.
So, I think I should cut back on the defenses a little, and up the damage, a little. The last fighter in my games was versatile, and a viable threat to the villains at 12th level, so I feel no need to vastly increase a fighter's damage output.
...now that I think out it, the fighter I was thinking of used a lot of two-handed weapons, while this archetype doesn't. So, this does need a minor boost, in he damage area. Hrm.
Thanks for your input. My end goal is to to have a solid warrior fitting into the theme, who is a viable threat to the bad guys. You helped a bunch.
Also, you keep replacing the feats, when you give your armor prof away anyway. I think replacing Armor trainings would be better. Not even having feats on top of having to use one handed piercing weapons would really make this char lag behind.
Right. Forgot to remove the piercing weapon requirement from Parry and other class features.
Duelist: At 1st level, a Militant Duelist adds Acrobatics and Knowledge (nobility) to his list of class skills and removes Handle Animal and Knowledge (dungeoneering) from his list of class skills.
Grace (Ex): Starting a 2nd level, a Militant Duelist gains a +1 bonus on Reflex Saves and on acrobatics skill checks. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd.
This ability replaces Bravery.
Canny Defense (Ex): At 2nd level, when wearing light or no armor and not using a shield larger than a buckler, a Militant Duelist adds 1 point of Intelligence bonus (if any) per two Militant Duelist class level to her Dexterity bonus to modify Armor Class while wielding a melee weapon. If a Militant Duelist is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus, she also loses this bonus.
This ability replaces the second level fighter feat.
Evade (Ex): At 3rd level, when wearing no or light armor, the Militant Duelist adds his Evade bonus to his armor class. This is considered a dodge bonus and whenever the Militant Duelist is denied his Dexterity bonus to armor class he also loses his Evade bonus. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), theses bonus increase by +1 each time, for a maximum of +4 at 15th level.
This ability is gains alongside of, but does not replace, Armor Training.
Single Weapon Training (Ex): Starting at 6th level, a Militant Duelist can select one group of weapons, as noted below. Whenever he attacks with a light or one-handed weapon (wielded in one hand) from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and +1d6 to damage rolls. This damage is considered precision based damage, and is not applied to creature immune to critical hits, nor is it multiplied upon critical hits.
Every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th), a fighter becomes further trained in another group of weapons. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and +1d6 damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. In addition, the attack bonuses granted by previous weapon groups increase by +1 each, and the damage bonus increased by +1d6 each. For example, when a fighter reaches 9th level, he receives a +1 bonus on attack and +1d6 damage rolls with one weapon group and a +2 bonus on attack and +2d6 damage rolls with the weapon group selected at 5th level. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack. Take the highest bonus granted for a weapon if it resides in two or more groups.
A fighter also adds this bonus to any combat maneuver checks made with weapons from this group. This bonus also applies to the fighter’s Combat Maneuver Defense when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against weapons from this group.
This ability replaces Weapon Training 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 7th level, a Militant Duelist gains the ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does he lose her Dex bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. He still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A Militant Duelist with this ability can still lose his Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against him.
If a Militant Duelist already has uncanny dodge from a different class, she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.
This ability replaces Armor Training 2.
Parry (Ex): At 6th level, a Militant Duelist learns to parry the attacks of other creatures, causing them to miss. Whenever the Militant Duelist takes a full attack action with a light or one-handed weapon he is proficient in, he can elect not to take one of her attacks. At any time before his next turn, she can attempt to parry an attack against him or an adjacent ally as an immediate action. To parry the attack, the Militant Duelist makes an attack roll, using the same bonuses as the attack she chose to forego during his previous action. If his attack roll is greater than the roll of the attacking creature, the attack automatically misses. For each size category that the attacking creature is larger than the Militant Duelist, the Militant Duelist takes a –4 penalty on his attack roll. The Militant Duelist also takes a –4 penalty when attempting to parry an attack made against an adjacent ally. The Militant Duelist must declare the use of this ability after the attack is announced, but before the roll is made.
This ability replaces the bonus feat normally gained at 6th level.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 11th level and higher, a Militant Duelist can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the Militant Duelist by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has Militant Duelist levels.
If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.
This ability replaces the bonus feat Armor Training 3.
-now he exchanges knowledge (dungeoneering) with knowledge (nobility). The skills are a bit more level on the replacement; its not like acrobatics has something equal to it's worth.
-Exotic weapon proficiency removed. They can spend a feat if its important.
-Moved Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge to replace Armor Training 2 and 3 (I really want this archetype to get Uncanny Dodge after the barbarian).
-Adjusted Weapon training to add +1d6 precision damage instead of a flat +1. I am very leery of doing this- its a major damage boost). Honestly, changing the bonuses from +1 attack and +1 damage to +1 attack and +2 (precision or just basic) damage seems like a better choice.
-Armor Training 2 comes very late in the game, and is nearly pointless by the time he gets it. Generally, he would be wearing mithral by that time, and wouldn't have an Armor Check Penalty anyhow.
Still, very good on the defense side (great AC, great Fortitude, good reflex saves), and now does a fair amount of damage. But is it too much?
Its not a major damage boost really. It will negatively effect your critical damage, so I would say its not a terrible trade.