I've been playing around with this character concept and I'd like to hear some feedback from anyone who may suggest changes to this character build.
For fluff, he was rescued by my other pfs Character, Aurora Evelyn off a slave-ship when he was a child, however when he was rescued he had already been separated from his family so she brought him up.
On the stats end I've been keeping Str at 12 as any lower and it falls into medium encumbered. Bite is missing as he'll generally stay in human form to fit in during the day and I've been trying to keep a balance with the abilities as Cha is what Panache relies on as well as many of the abilities. I'm curious what anyone might suggest in ability changes of if you guys think this is an ok build?
Felix Fawkes
Male kitsune swashbuckler (inspired blade) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56, 125, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 192)
CG Medium humanoid (kitsune, shapechanger)
Init +6; Senses Perception -1
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will -1
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +2 (1d4+1/19-20) or
. . light mace +2 (1d6+1) or
. . rapier +6 (1d6+1/18-20)
Special Attacks panache (3)
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits reactionary, swamp rebel
Skills Acrobatics +8, Bluff +6, Climb +5, Diplomacy +6, Perform (dance) +6, Stealth +8
Languages Common, Sylvan, Tien
SQ change shape, inspired panache
Other Gear leather armor, dagger, light mace, rapier, bedroll, belt pouch, fishhook (2), flint and steel, masterwork backpack, mug/tankard, sewing needle, shaving kit, signal whistle, string or twine, thread (50 ft.), trail rations (7), waterskin, whetstone, 51 gp, 5 sp
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Special Abilities
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Change Shape (Su) Assume a single human form.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Inspired Panache (Ex) Gain no panache from killing blow, only from rapier crits.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
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Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.
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That 8 Wisdom is going to cause you problems. It is giving you a -1 will save. Expect to spend a lot of time running in fear, staring blankly, asleep, taking a lot of damage from negative channels, and attacking your team mates.
You also need to put some ranks into perception. It is the most important skill in the game. I'd say drop stealth for it. Stealth is usually not going to come into play, as you would need to either split the party to use it, or be detected by the clanking heavy armor users giving you away.
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Given that you get Finesse and Weapon Focus for free from your class, I'd pick Fencing Grace as your first feat. In my eyes, this is the main reason to pick Inspired Blade with a non-Human.
If you're going for Power Attack later, it would be better to raise Str to 13. Otherwise, I'd lower it to 10 or even 8.
Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.
Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.
If that isn't enough for you, the post-ACG errata version of Steadfast Personality now allows you to use your Charisma bonus instead of your Will bonus on all Will saving throws. If you have a Wisdom penalty, however, you take your Wisdom penalty on Will saves as usual.
Given that you get Finesse and Weapon Focus for free from your class, I'd pick Fencing Grace as your first feat. In my eyes, this is the main reason to pick Inspired Blade with a non-Human.Agreed.
I picked those, thinking I'd be going down shadow dancer territory, but the more I think about it the less it'd match the character.
If you're going for Power Attack later, it would be better to raise Str to 13. Otherwise, I'd lower it to 10 or even 8.
I strongly disagree with this idea. You're already at something like 48 pounds of equipment PLUS your clothing. Your light load is (with your Mwk Backpack) 50 lbs. As soon as you hit medium encumbrance, your max Dex-to-AC drops to +3 and Dodging Panache turns off. Granted, you could lose the bedroll or some of the rations, but also consider the weight of your future armor and a buckler. 12 Str is probably about as low as you can go with this guy.
Those are certainly issues I had with the character. The idea being one-handed and I think buckler messes up Inspired Blade on that class.
Plus there's the Dex-based version of Power Attack to use, Piraha Strike.
Piranha Strike is useless for an Inspired Blade. It only works with light weapons, Rapier is one-handed.
Plus there's the Dex-based version of Power Attack to use, Piranha Strike.
hmm..better let a friend know then as he was able to use it with the Scimitar and that's also a one-handed weapon :p
Oh, what if you could get a Mithril version? It'd be many levels later though before getting access to such an weapon...
Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.If that isn't enough for you, the post-ACG errata version of Steadfast Personality now allows you to use your Charisma bonus instead of your Will bonus on all Will saving throws. If you have a Wisdom penalty, however, you take your Wisdom penalty on Will saves as usual.
The Steadfast Personality errata was a nerf for Swashbucklers. It's now untyped, so doesn't stack with Charmed Life. With these stats especially, you're better off with Iron Will.
Also note that there's no benefit to having 13 Int vs. 7 for the archetype. The two features that depend on Int have a minimum of 1. If you take Dex down to 17 and Int to 10, you could boost Wis to 10 and Cha to 16 for more Panache and better Will saves.
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Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.If that isn't enough for you, the post-ACG errata version of Steadfast Personality now allows you to use your Charisma bonus instead of your Will bonus on all Will saving throws. If you have a Wisdom penalty, however, you take your Wisdom penalty on Will saves as usual.The Steadfast Personality errata was a nerf for Swashbucklers. It's now untyped, so doesn't stack with Charmed Life. With these stats especially, you're better off with Iron Will.
It's still better than Charmed Life. Yes you are spending a feat that doesn't stack with charmed life, but charmed life is too limited to be relied upon as your main save booster. Besides, you can still use CL on fortitude or reflex saves.
It's still better than Charmed Life. Yes you are spending a feat that doesn't stack with charmed life, but charmed life is too limited to be relied upon as your main save booster. Besides, you can still use CL on fortitude or reflex saves.Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.If that isn't enough for you, the post-ACG errata version of Steadfast Personality now allows you to use your Charisma bonus instead of your Will bonus on all Will saving throws. If you have a Wisdom penalty, however, you take your Wisdom penalty on Will saves as usual.The Steadfast Personality errata was a nerf for Swashbucklers. It's now untyped, so doesn't stack with Charmed Life. With these stats especially, you're better off with Iron Will.
I disagree, but it's probably a matter of playstyle. I retrained out of it on my Swashbuckler/Ninja because I would hoard my Charmed Life uses for key Will saves. I ended up just taking Iron Will.
Getting the irrepressible trait will let you keep your low wisdom and still have good saves most of the time.If that isn't enough for you, the post-ACG errata version of Steadfast Personality now allows you to use your Charisma bonus instead of your Will bonus on all Will saving throws. If you have a Wisdom penalty, however, you take your Wisdom penalty on Will saves as usual.The Steadfast Personality errata was a nerf for Swashbucklers. It's now untyped, so doesn't stack with Charmed Life. With these stats especially, you're better off with Iron Will.
Also note that there's no benefit to having 13 Int vs. 7 for the archetype. The two features that depend on Int have a minimum of 1. If you take Dex down to 17 and Int to 10, you could boost Wis to 10 and Cha to 16 for more Panache and better Will saves.
I had it higher cause of the skill points, but I'm lowering it now. Plus I thought Combat Reflexes needed the 13 int, but I've got that wrong. It's Combat Expertise, oops.
This thread has been interesting and helped me with the Magus class I also have. Especially finding out about the Rapier, which I thought was light. I'm probably thinking of weapon finesse meant the weapon HAD to be light.
Atleast with the Magus he's a elf so he gets better Weapon proficiency.
Updated him as below:
Felix Fawkes
Male kitsune swashbuckler (inspired blade) 1 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56, 125, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide 192)
CG Medium humanoid (kitsune, shapechanger)
Init +6; Senses Perception +0
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +2 (1d4+1/19-20) or
. . light mace +2 (1d6+1) or
. . rapier +6 (1d6+1/18-20)
Special Attacks panache (4)
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Traits reactionary, swamp rebel
Skills Acrobatics +8, Diplomacy +7, Perform (dance) +7, Stealth +8
Languages Common, Sylvan
SQ change shape, inspired panache
Other Gear leather armor, dagger, light mace, rapier, bedroll, belt pouch, fishhook (2), flint and steel, masterwork backpack, mug/tankard, sewing needle, shaving kit, signal whistle, string or twine, thread (50 ft.), trail rations (7), waterskin, whetstone, 51 gp, 5 sp
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Special Abilities
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Change Shape (Su) Assume a single human form.
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Inspired Panache (Ex) Gain no panache from killing blow, only from rapier crits.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc.®, and are used under license.