20 pts, Human
level 5
Str:7
Dex:18 +2
Con:14
Int:7
Wis:7
Cha:16 +2
Alternate Racial Traits:
Dual Talent
Traits:
Armor Expert (-1 ACP)
Irrepressible
Feats:
1-Weapon Finesse (free), Dodge
3-Slashing Grace
4-Weapon specialization
5-Steadfast Personality
Gear: 10500 g
Mithral Breastplate
Bastard Sword
Head band of alluring Charisma +2
Ioun Stone, Opalescent White Pyramid (cracked)
Wayfinder (Weapon Focus)
Buckler
Final Stats:
Str:7
Dex:20
Con:16
Int:7
Wis:7
Cha:20
Nice high bonus for free intimidate checks (+5) (Menacing Swordplay)
Breastplate fully effective despite lacking proficiency
Almighty Dex to Dmg from Slashing Grace
AC: 10 + DEX + Nimble + Dodge + Buckler + Breastplate = 24
No, low will save plus 7 wis make you not viable.
How is he even going to not be encumbered with 7 str
Gonna need some muleback cords before long, son.
Your Will Save is -1, and your fort save is +4. The +4 is passable (barely). The Will save is going to make you really viable... for killing your friends and sleeping on the job.
1) aren't pretty much all swashbucklers front-line?
2) take the Irrepressible trait to shore up your Will saves. Unfortunately it doesn't stack with Charmed Life since that FAQ, but if you're dumping Wis it is just better than Charmed Life.
3) take Steadfast Personality instead of Dodge.
4) as was mentioned, how are you gonna deal with encumbrance with that much Str dump? Muleback Cords?
You are dumping to hard. But yes swashbuckler Can be fine in the front. Bad fort save is a isssue but bisides that they are Golden.
Oh, and you need Weapon Focus to qualify for Slashing Grace.
Also, you are going to be seriously hurting for skills with such terrible Int.
You don't need your Dex that high, drop it down and balance your stats a bit. Wis is not important if you take Irrepressible, Str is not important if you buy Muleback Cords, but you want more than 2 skill points per level.
The Ioun Stone + Wayfinder gives me weapon focus. Do I need any other skills besides Perception and Intimidate?
You do know that str dump means you loose a lot of AC right?
Additionaly, with so few Skill points, you are looking at ONLY being a front liner.
Lastly, your will is in the tank. Buy a cloak of resistance and make due with studded leather armor for now.
Lower the Dex and bump the Str a little, then lower the Cha to at least have 8 in wis and int.
Jacob Whiteman 248 wrote: The Ioun Stone + Wayfinder gives me weapon focus. Do I need any other skills besides Perception and Intimidate? Acrobatics is normally a good choice for frontline characters so that they can move across rough terrain more easily.
How does str dump correspond to loss of AC?
I intend to compensate for lack of Will save with Irrepressible, Steadfast Personality, and Charmed Life (swashbuckler special).
I believe you also need Proficiency in the Bastard Sword to use it one-handed.
You can front-line just fine until anything hammers your Will save, especially if you don't have an Immediate for Charmed Life. This is solvable-- there are a couple ways to add your Cha to your Will save for certain effects-- but it does require investment. And probably better than 7 Wis in the first place. 7 Wis is asking to die in the worst kind of way.
Sense Motive or you will be feinted often and HARD.
Stealth is great for well, being sneaky. You do not want to be the guy going CLANK CLANK CLANK as the party tries to sneak up on the troll.
Swim and Climb for the times you need to, unless you like being hoisted up the cliff and sinking to the bottom of the lake.
Social skills, for when you do not want to be the good looking functional mute in the party. You got the Cha for em after all.
I thought cracked stones had no additional effects in wayfinders, could be wrong do not have the source book on hand.
Dayfdd wrote: I thought cracked stones had no additional effects in wayfinders, could be wrong do not have the source book on hand. I would appreciate a source for this, when you have time :)
His Will saves are actually great since he added Irrepressible and Steadfast Personality - a +11 at level 5 against mind-affecting compulsion effects is excellent. And let's face it, all of the most important saves are going to be mind-affecting compulsions. Fear effects (or whatever else) and you can use Charmed Life and still have a +9.
kestral287 wrote: You can front-line just fine until anything hammers your Will save, especially if you don't have an Immediate for Charmed Life. He doesn't need an immediate action for the compulsion saves since he's using Irrepressible, which is better than Charmed Life when you have Wis dumped.
Jacob Whiteman 248 wrote: How does str dump correspond to loss of AC?
Strength 7:
light load of 23LB or less
Medium load of 24-46
Heavy Load of 47-70
You have 28 pounds of gear, meaning medium load.
That means a max dex of +3, so lose 2 AC from that.
Additionally, your armor check penalty of -3 from the load is not reduced by armor expert.
Sure! Swashbuckler makes a pretty goo BSF! It's great at standing-still and full-attacking! Just don't try to be "dart in and out of combat" as the class description says and you'll be mostly fine...
I wouldn't dump Wis, though... Your saves are horrible enough as it is...
Jacob Whiteman 248 wrote: Dayfdd wrote: I thought cracked stones had no additional effects in wayfinders, could be wrong do not have the source book on hand. I would appreciate a source for this, when you have time :) Something my GM said at one point. I do not have Seeker of Secrets, so I can not confirm that. It was something to do with it not having resonance for the wayfinder?
RumpinRufus wrote: His Will saves are actually great since he added Irrepressible and Steadfast Personality - a +11 at level 5 against mind-affecting compulsion effects is excellent. And let's face it, all of the most important saves are going to be mind-affecting compulsions. Fear effects (or whatever else) and you can use Charmed Life and still have a +9.
kestral287 wrote: You can front-line just fine until anything hammers your Will save, especially if you don't have an Immediate for Charmed Life. He doesn't need an immediate action for the compulsion saves since he's using Irrepressible, which is better than Charmed Life when you have Wis dumped.
He shuffled the build after I started writing my response; at the time it was just Charmed Life for save-boosting, with Dodge at level 5, Combat Reflexes at 1, and the second trait was open. The new setup helps, though I'd mix in Battle Cry at 7th to round out the set and give him some extra use in combat. And he's massively screwed against the random off-the-wall Will save that isn't a compulsion or mind-affecting. Mostly that's Illusions, but hope he doesn't piss off somebody with a Greater Stunning Barrier. Admittedly not nearly as bad as getting nailed by Hold Person, but still something that's very, very exploitable.
Also, Combat Reflexes is massively better than Dodge for a Swash. Just saying.
d20pfsrd Ioun Stones wrote: Resonant Powers: When an ioun stone is set within the special indentation in a wayfinder, a secondary resonant power sometimes manifests to augment the ioun stone's powers, though this suppresses the wayfinder's normal magical abilities. This minor function is in addition to the stone's normal abilities, which continue to affect the wayfinder's bearer as though the stone were orbiting her head. Two resonating wayfinders wielded by the same character suppress one another's abilities, but both return to normal when one wayfinder is set aside. 75% of ioun stones grant resonant powers when placed in a wayfinder. 25% of cracked or flawed ioun stones have resonant powers (see Wayfinders and Ioun Stones) compared to the 75% chance for typical ioun stones; only 10% of scorched ioun stones have resonant powers. It's not a zero chance, just much less. Though apparently normal ioun stones also only work some of the time.
You went out of your way to get an exotic weapon.
Why did you pick up bastard sword instead of a falcata (if you wanted raw damage) or a katana (less damage, more panache)
With the alternate human bonus, without a headband you already have 5panache.
Instead of the circlet make your armor, shield, weapon +1, net profit:-1panache, +2ac, +1att,+1dam
Replace dodge with combat reflexes
You have forgotten to put your 4th lvl stat point I think. Drop dex by 1 which is then bumped up to where it was before with the lvl 4 bonus stat.
Use the 4 extra character creation points to get your str to 10
Even with this, you are still encumbered, but at least less.
I would pick up battle cry, +1att for whole party and party reroll will help with your saves plenty.
You will have to shuffle your feats a bit for battle cry.
Stock up on antitoxin/alchemical remedies
Those stats are making me wince something awful. I guarantee you don't need to dump that hard. I prefer a much more rounded out character myself. As it stands now you have some extremely pronounced weaknesses. I mean you're basically one failed save from poison or spell to seeing a stat drop to 0.
Wasent it a hobgoblin when i looked at it the first time?
Jacob Whiteman 248 wrote: The Ioun Stone + Wayfinder gives me weapon focus. Do I need any other skills besides Perception and Intimidate? Have you considered taking weapon focus normally (dropping dodge), and then taking the money not spent on that set up to upgrade both your armor and shield with a +1? That would result in a net +1 to AC.
Admittedly, with your budget, it doesn't look like you could afford a masterwork bastardsword, but you never indicated whether that was masterwork or not in the first place. Still, it doesn't look like it would be too hard to make that you next purchase.
It can be done, but it is not easy. I would suggest not dumping stats so much as mentioned by others.
Cap. Darling wrote: Wasent it a hobgoblin when i looked at it the first time? It was. Build's been tweaked pretty heavily a few times now.
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