Swashbucklers and Guns & Gears

[BaronOfBread]

A classic image of a swashbuckler is the swashbuckler balancing on a mast spar with a rapier in one hand and a pistol in the other. When we get guns, we should get the options necessary to make this a viable character moment.

A couple of options that I think could do this are:
A swashbuckler finisher that lets you draw a weapon and strike with it, explicitly allowing one-handed ranged weapons to benefit from precise strike damage with this finisher.
A swashbuckler feat that makes weapons with Reload 1 or higher apply precise strike damage and lets them be used for finishers.
A swashbuckler style that lets a swashbuckler use reload weapons with finishers and has a way to build reloading into the standard swashbuckler action rotation, through the style's bonus feat (perhaps a Craft feat to reload with benefits) or just give them an action to reload while doing something else.

The other thing that I would like to see is a swashbuckler style that works with Intelligence. A gear-centric swashbuckler with Crafting as the style skill would be exciting and this looks like the place where it could come out.

I know this is a while after the playtest, but I just thought about it recently and better late than never.

[Squiggit]

It would be pretty cool, but the Swashbuckler right now doesn't seem very TWF friendly and at least in the playtest the sword and pistol combat style was kind of cannibalized by the Drifter.

Still would like to see something like that happen though.

[BaronOfBread]

I listed the options in order of my preference. Part of the reason I want the quick draw finisher the most is because it enables a draw-and-toss combat pattern, letting you once or twice per fight pull out your gun/crossbow and make use of it. It lets the swashbuckler play with some gun use while leaving "I use a gun" to the gunslinger. Also, I think the swashbuckler really should have a quick draw styled feat even if it doesn't let them use guns.

At the end of the day, the swashbuckler can't use guns usefully unless it gets something of the like in this book (or waits for a later book to do something), and the swashbuckler definitely deserves to have some gun use.

[The Raven Black]

I sincerely hope the Gunslinger dedication will be enough to make all kind of gun-toting classes, including Swashbuckler. The Swashbuckler dedication was definitely not compatible with the Gunslinger playtest material, because of the former's lack of support for ranged combat.

[Arachnofiend]

It's actually pretty easy to use the Swashbuckler archetype with a full ranged build. Panache doesn't care about what weapon you're holding, so you can get the status bonus to speed and your skills just fine. So long as you pick a style that can be used at a distance like Braggart or Wit then you'd be just fine incorporating it into a build.

[The Raven Black]

Precise Strike and many finishers do not work with a ranged non-thrown weapon.

[Arachnofiend]

You have to opt into Precise Strike with the swashbuckler archetype and it's probably a bad idea anyways. Likely better off using the feats on something like Buckler Expertise or One For All if you wanted to invest further into the archetype.

[PossibleCabbage]

The playtest gunslinger worked to carve out space for the "sword and pistol character" but because of how gunsliger proficiencies work, you're better off "more pistol than sword" so there's definitely room here for a "primarily sword, backup pistol" character niche.