Alright, time to do my regular thing of documenting my first impressions upon a read-through of the class.
Huh. Seems like GM adjudication for risky actions is a bit easier than adjudicating bravado actions. And the fact that you get it BEFORE rolling is a good choice and avoids the panache issue that was eventually rectified with the bravado trait in the Remaster
I…huh. That…lowered MAP with press actions? That’s…odd, but it definitely makes sense.
Hmm…with how much the Daredevil is about risking damage and regaining it with Daredevil’s Endurance, I find it a bit odd that they’re an 8-HP class
Hmm, maybe replace Daredevil’s Stunt with subclasses that give a risky feat, similar to Oracle mysteries?
Stunt Damage seems to mean that Shove is a lot better than other Athletics actions. Also, it being explicitly keyed to Strength hinders Dex-based daredevils
Stunt Flexibility is…odd
Enduring Adrenaline could maybe be rephrased to have the temp HP last the duration of the adrenaline
Don’t Mess With Me has a lot of overlap with Battle Cry
Pressing Pummel is a weird Vicious Swing, and I kinda like it
Scrambling Retreat is…so weird and I love it
Caroming Charge should probably have something about an enemy only being able to take stunt damage once, otherwise you could go back-and-forth and deal 5d6+20 (no save) in a non-ideal circumstance against an adjacent enemy (8d6+32 with an elf starting next to a prop). And it should probably say something about enemies’ spaces being difficult terrain, since it’s ALREADY a better Tumble Through
Tumbling Tricks is a bit weird, because Reactive Strike with a reach weapon could trigger before the Acrobatics roll even happens
Bouncing Hurl: wait, if it isn’t destroyed then what happens to it?
High-Flying Tumble Stunt is a bit confusing, because it only ever maxes out at 15’, so it will only ever work on a Large creature at maximum
Wall Slam is weird, because at max it would only ever let you Leap up 5 feet
Accompanying Strike is weird when combined with things like Deadly Simplicity
Heightened Awareness is…odd, but fun
Deadly Advantage: Weeeeeiiiiiirrrd. I like it!
Hit or Miss: You’re…REALLY tempting fate by putting something that deals triple damage once a crit
Fortify Self: A bit meh for a once per hour ability
Knee to the Nethers: fun, but I think it’s really bad for a level 12 feat. Maybe level 4.
Freewheeling Strike: Maybe replace “single” with “individual” for clarity
Shattering Breakaway: the amount of bleed damage is not a LOT, since it caps at 8 (10 with mythic). Really, this feat is more for the enfeebled, but the bleed does good chip damage. Maybe better as a lower-level feat, like 10
Risky Overextension: That’s a bit…much. Making a hit to a crit that consistently is a bit much.
Storm of Debris: RANDOM BULLSH*T GO!!!
Lucky Spark: It’s definitely good, but I dunno if it’s “level 18 feat” good
Can’t Catch Me: just let it apply to any daredevil reaction
Reckless Abandon: Uhhhh…why is there no restriction on the quickened action?!?!
Overall, surprisingly fun class that engages with environment in a fun way that we’ve not really seen in PF2 yet. Genuinely (but pleasantly) surprised at how well it differentiates itself from swashbuckler.
I agree. People keep saying “how is this class different than a swashbuckler,”but this class is feeling much more like the swashbuckler I always wanted to play, rather than the old class.
Caroming Charge should probably have something about an enemy only being able to take stunt damage once, otherwise you could go back-and-forth and deal 5d6+20 (no save) in a non-ideal circumstance against an adjacent enemy (8d6+32 with an elf starting next to a prop). And it should probably say something about enemies’ spaces being difficult terrain, since it’s ALREADY a better Tumble Through
You can't reapply the same effect multiple times against the same creature. It's a general rule that everyone forgets or doesn't read and think that the most abilities reminders that you can't apply the damage twice in the same creature is something ability specific when it is already a general rule:
When you're affected by the same thing multiple times, only one instance applies, using the higher level or rank of the effects, or the newer effect if the two are equal. For example, if you were using mystic armor and then cast it again, you'd still benefit from only one casting of that spell. Casting a spell again on the same target might get you a better duration or effect if it were cast at a higher rank the second time, but otherwise doing so gives you no advantage.
I definitely like the idea and flavor of daredevil. The mechanics and numbers aren't quite there yet, I don't think, but I don't think it will take too much tinkering to make it shine.
Proficiencies
Like others have said, I think medium armor prof makes sense. Any class that can have str for a key attribute should be able to wear medium armor, I think. A scaling skill increase would be very welcome, as either acrobatics or athletics feels borderline mandatory for a daredevil. I also feel like there should be an option, somewhere, to give a flat bonus to athletics/acrobatics attack rolls. Right now swash, barbs, and other classes have options to make them stronger with maneuvers.
Class features
Daring stunt is great. Very cool class feature that one could use every turn. Audacious combatant is also cool, even if I'm not really sold on the press focus of the class (more on that later). Propelling strides is cool, but like I've read from a couple suggestions now a flat +5 increasing to +10 near a prop would go a long way.
Stunt damage is nice, but I would love it to be able to crit and proc on more than just a shove. As is, I feel you will get more mileage out of just attacking than you would pushing a target into a wall. Pushing a target into a wall means you have to be next to them and they need to be against a wall (the wall needs to stop their movement, so unless they're 5 ft away from a wall and you crit on a shove or similar) and you have to have adrenaline, so map. Couple that with needing a prop and the size restrictions and it's a little messy. Stunt damage applying to any maneuver and extra damage on interacting with props would be ideal, imo.
Props
I think the idea of props is really cool, and I love how much the class plays around with it. I do think the class needs fun things to be able to do when there are no props around; I know people have said if there's no props around your GM needs to make better maps, etc. but I personally don't think that's fair. I also feel like a prop including a creature larger than you doesn't make sense. It should be a creature larger than your target. If you were a tiny PC and pushed a huge creature (high level Titan wrestler) into a small creature and the huge creature took damage... That's kind of silly.
Risk vs reward
After a read through, I don't feel that many feats give a suitable enough reward. Especially the press feats. They're already a risk, being map, and most carry a negative critical fail option. I suppose to balance that out they also carry failure options, but they're mostly very lukewarm. I can imagine playing a daredevil against a boss is going to feel very bad. The success/Crit success options on press feats should be a lot stronger than they are now, even if it is at the cost of stronger Crit fail options.
Feats
I won't go over all of them, just a few early one. Obligatory daredevil needs an option for Titan wrestler to function with all the size restriction feats.
Breakaway attack featline is a lot of fun. Double breakaway should be buffed, two actions to do a single strike with both hands with a single, non scaling die of damage is pretty weak. The rest are all flavourful and fun.
Pressing pummel is a weird one. Vicious swing just seems better in most ways, in not being a press attack. I realize pressing pummel has a set damage dice, which could be good on an agile weapon, but then your normal damage dice would be lower and you're at map as well. Maybe an extra die of damage to set it apart and make the risk worth it?
Caroming charge is odd in that it has no saves, auto tumbles through enemies, and is two strides for two actions. Might be too good, even if I definitely appreciate stunt damage being on a feat that's not using props.
We could use an option that allows for staves and hafted weapons to be used as a prop so you can go full monkey king.