Hello forums I'm planing on building a gestalt character for a coming campaign I'm thinking swashbuckler and magus but I'm not 100%sure how to mix them, I'm think of going the eldritch scion archtype and droping int all together but I'm not sure, I'm also looking for advice on feats and wonderous items
25 point buy, 2 traits
I'm personally not a fan of kensai it has a lot of cool things, but I like and prefer wearing some armor
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Eldritch Scion is a fun choice if you see a good bloodline that you like, for example giving you a free enlarge or free rerolls every combat. Magus guide, at your service.
I'm personally not a fan of kensai it has a lot of cool things, but I like and prefer wearing some armor
Kensai tends to be higher AC than standard magus.
Depending on the game totally dumping skills - and in a gestalt game 4+int skills without int is totally dumping skills - may be an issue. There's more magus archetypes out there than kensai and eldritch scion though, and the basic magus isn't a bad choice either.
e.g. A hexcrafter may be useful to be able to spam slumber when you don't want either to get into melee or waste spells, and/or for flying & feather fall early and without using spell slots or other resources. Or a spire defender to get skill boosts and extra feats. Or the basic magus to have effectively the most spells courtesy of the spell recall feature.
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Depending on the game totally dumping skills - and in a gestalt game 4+int skills without int is totally dumping skills - may be an issue. There's more magus archetypes out there than kensai and eldritch scion though, and the basic magus isn't a bad choice either.
A kensai especially will have a solid INT - probably at least a 16 at 1, so he should be okay on skills. One reason not to go Eldritch Scion.
How is your GM ruling on mixing Spell Combat and Precise Strike regarding no use of an off hand?
In addition, for a DEX build he would need to eventually grab both Slashing Grace AND Dervish Dance to use both Spell Combat & Precise Strike in the same turn. (Slashing Grace just to use slashing weapons with Precise Strike & Swash's Finesse.)
My dm is lax and doesn't care about mixing spell combat and precise strike
I might dump cha entirely with this.
It mostly has two uses for a swashbuckler: charmed life and panache.
Charmed life is relatively easy to give up, since you are a near perfect gestalt- you have perfect saves (fort and will, plus reflex), so you aren't in a desperate need for cha to will saves.
Panache hurts more, but you can work around it. With flamboyant arcana, you can shift parry/riposte over to your arcane pool. And since pools always have a minimum of one, you could turn panache into 'that thing that turns on precise strike'.
Inspired blade swashbuckler also removes the problem with panache, allowing the same stat for two pools. Really, the only reason normal IBs don't go int is because of the need for charmed life... and we have established that is more of a 'nice to have, but not vital' thing for this gestalt.
Generally, the cost of eldritch scion to go cha only is higher than dumping or trading swashbuckler stuff to go int only.
So the DM ruled that casting a spell with your off hand doesn't mean it's occupied?
Very nice. Go forth and rule!
The one thing I dislike about eldritch scion is that you can only use spell combat after you use a point to start your 2 rounds of "bloodrage"
It's gestalt which means I get full progression of both classes, you take the better of the 2 classes so with swashbuckler/magus I'd get the D10 health full BaB the good saves from both classes and all the class features from both classes
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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As it is, I'm thinking you're going to be too MAD. The Eldritch Scion does not make a good Magus archetype. They just loose too much for what they gain.
On the contrary, just look at what those bloodlines do! People tend to forget that the scion gains a full bloodrager bloodline, including free enlarges, multiple free spells on the same turn, or a reroll every other round. It's pretty impressive, actually.
Their main downside is low skil points, so they're best gestalt'ed with a class that has 4 or more skill points per level.
So I think I've found a happy middle ground,
First off I'm just gonna go with a standard magus, and the inspired blade swashbuckler
Second I'm gonna be a muse touched aasimar for my race so my final stats will look like this
8
18
14
16
10
14
I feel it's a good mix with enough cha to help with charmed life, and the skills I care about (diplomancy)
Gonna need to patch my will a little, not worried about perception cuz I play with a group that everyone gets and Max's it so I don't mind my own being on the low side
Not sure if I should take intensified spells with magic lineage trait though and if so what spell to pick (I know shocking grasp is the bread and butter of the class but idk)
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Depending on the game totally dumping skills - and in a gestalt game 4+int skills without int is totally dumping skills - may be an issue. There's more magus archetypes out there than kensai and eldritch scion though, and the basic magus isn't a bad choice either.A kensai especially will have a solid INT - probably at least a 16 at 1, so he should be okay on skills. One reason not to go Eldritch Scion.
How is your GM ruling on mixing Spell Combat and Precise Strike regarding no use of an off hand?In addition, for a DEX build he would need to eventually grab both Slashing Grace AND Dervish Dance to use both Spell Combat & Precise Strike in the same turn. (Slashing Grace just to use slashing weapons with Precise Strike & Swash's Finesse.)
You actually don't need both as Dervish Dance makes the weapon count as a one handed piercing weapon for all feats and class abilities that require one. It was written for duelist, but it works for swashbuckler.
I plan on using a rapier with fencing grace, yea I've thought about that my issue is I'm worried about runing into resistance of 1 element and be screwed out of my best spell
I could do the magic lineage with shocking grasp and take elemental spell that could work
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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you basically cant bear the weight of armor now...
It's not a problem. Hide shirt is 18 lbs, light load capacity with a Masterwork Backpack is 30 lbs. It's easy enough to keep your gear below the limit, until you can afford a handy haversack (for 2000 gold).
Kensais are very problematic at low level because of diminished spellcasting, and because all of their bonuses are easily duplicated by feats until you get to level 10 or so. I know many people like the flavor but it's just not that great an archetype.
We are using an updated feat system so I will basically have both weapon finesse and piranha strike for free and usable
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Definitely drop charisma for strength. You may want 13 strength for power attack since a rapier isn't light and therefore can't piranha strike.
Power attack is not a smart choice here. A higher dexterity (+1 to hit and damage) will boost your overall damage more than dumping points into strength to take -2 to hit to deal +4 more damage (overall that's -3 to hit for +3 damage, not a good trade!)
A circlet of persuasion boosts "charisma based checks." That should mean any d20 roll you make that has charisma added to it before you roll, which when you use charmed life includes saves.
That doesn't work. A a dexterity-based save with a charisma bonus is not a charisma-based check.
For my group piranhas strike and power attack are the same just different flavoring so I'll be able to use power attack but flavor it as piranah strike