*Translated from Minkaian*
"... so Master Samurai, please help our village! The bandits will return tomorrow! And we will either pay them with our lives or with the food we need to survive the winter!"
I'm no Samurai, just a wandering Ronin, but what are you offering in return for my services?
"...errr ummm...*sigh* Gold and treasure we have none, all we can give is three full meals a d..
SOLD! But make it seven, no point missing second breakfast and afternoon tea!
So I'm taking a break from obsessing about the intricacies of a Monk/Warpriest (Sacred Fist) multiclass and instead turning my glare upon the other combo the ACG has thrown up, the Dashing Champion Cavalier! All of the goodness of the Swashbuckler, none of the weaknesses (or we shall see I suppose).
Paired with a Katana (highest crit there is out there) it is a good combo.
Looking for a good race, I happened upon the halfling, +Dex, + Cha, small sized so good AC, weapon shrinkage is a pain, but most of the damage dealt is going to be static (from precise strike and challenge) so no loss. Str is low, but who needs it!
Hmm, but what is this? Halflings are great at defense (cautious fighter)! Well, you need to fight defensively to get it... but Crane style goes great with that! And you need one hand free for most of the Swashbuckler stuff anyway. And with + Cha, I can stack Cha onto my AC with Osyluth guile!
Now what order to take... Order of the Flame! My AC will start off pretty high anyway, might as well take something that will take some of it off, but translate it into killer damage!
And with bludering defense, my allies can benefit from around +5 to AC and CMD (from my +10 dodge bonus eventually) just from standing around me! Nice.
TL:DR
1. Halfling is a good race for Dashing Champion
2. Fighting defensively very easy for them, and very good with Crane Style/Osyluth guile.
3. Allies benefit from blundering defense (and possibly bodyguard).
4. Quite crazy damage.
Still in the thinking/planning stage, but something should come up.
prototype00
You've already got a large feat list, but don't forget Risky Striker.
I've played this type of character before, though it was with pre-nerf Crane Wing and a dip into Aldori Swordlord for Dex to damage (pre-Slashing Grace).
I'm not sure how you get to share +5 AC though, unless you're going into total defense.
Your personal bonus is +2 Fighting Defensively +1 Acrobatics Ranks + 1 Crane Style + 2 Cautious Fighter = +6, thus sharing +3 to allies. Have I missed something?
You've already got a large feat list, but don't forget Risky Striker.
I've played this type of character before, though it was with pre-nerf Crane Wing and a dip into Aldori Swordlord for Dex to damage (pre-Slashing Grace).
I'm not sure how you get to share +5 AC though, unless you're going into total defense.
Your personal bonus is +2 Fighting Defensively +1 Acrobatics Ranks + 1 Crane Style + 2 Cautious Fighter = +6, thus sharing +3 to allies. Have I missed something?
I am starting to question whether the character gets enough feats to make it work.
Osyluth guile is also adding a dodge bonus when I fight defensively. That is added, isn't it?
Prototype00
I'm not certain, but I think not, as the others mention that they are increasing the fighting defensively bonus, while Guile just gives you dodge vs. one opponent's melee attacks rather than increasing the fighting defensively number.
And yeah I had Fighter and MoMS when I made this character (for feats I mean).