Swashbuckler

Honor is not the sole domain of ironclad Knights and pious Paladins, nor do all who cling to its virtues find themselves among the law abiding. There is Honor among thieves, and even scoundrels sometimes hold themselves to a Code. Swashbucklers view Honor as a personal matter, derived from ideals of heroism and poetic justice, not dictated by wealthy nobles or Lords for their own self-serving benefit. While most would see stealth as a dishonorable tactic, the Swashbuckler uses it to their advantage, outmaneuvering and confounding their foes as they seek to tip the balance back into the favor of the downtrodden and the underdog.

Many Swashbucklers come from backgrounds of ill-repute and as such are often viewed as outlaws and villains. However, this is only a matter of perspective as a Swashbuckler believes that every person has their own path to redemption. While not afraid to bend or break the rules, Swashbucklers can also be exceptionally loyal to the Kings and Lords of the land they regard as just and true. Ultimately they are guided by their own strict sense of right and wrong.

A defining feature of most Swashbucklers is an uncanny confidence in their own abilities, said to be peerless experts when it comes to bragging or spinning a tale. They are also known far and wide for their puffed up bravado and extravagant styles. Swashbucklers are most comfortable with a quick blade in their hand and live for the thrill of a good duel. They also know the value of keeping a foe at a distance and often employ whips or other ranged weapons to frustrate their foes into making brash decisions.

Class Overview

Typical Roles: Support/Utility, Stealth, Melee Damage, Ranged Damage
Damage Types: Physical
Class Mechanic: Honor and Stealth

Default Stats: During Character Creation you may choose to use the default stat line shown below, before racial modifiers. This can be instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results.

During Character Creation you may choose to use the Default Stat Line, before racial modifiers, instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results

Proficiencies

Natural Armor Proficiency: Cloth, Leather
Trainable Armor Proficiency: None
Natural Weapon Proficiency: Knives, Swords, Whips
Trainable Weapon Proficiency: Bludgeons, Axes, Bows, Crossbows, Firearms

See Equipment section for details. When using a weapon that your class is not proficient with, see Combat Penalties. There is no level or title prerequisite to train in a new proficiency, however you must receive the appropriate Training.

Class Skills

Class Passive Skill: Teller of Tales
Class Secondary Skill: Performer, Sailor, or Haggler (choose one)

Primary Skills

Honor

Codes

A Swashbuckler is driven by their own interpretation of honor, often seeing themselves as a gallant hero even while others see them as merely a fanciful criminal. The Scoundrel’s code is core to the identity of a swashbuckler but they will adopt other codes throughout their adventurous and dangerous lifestyle.

Skills

To question a swashbucklers honor is to invite their blade to be levelled upon you. But it is not simply a Swashbuckler’s blade you must be wary of, for they can also utilize Honor skills, in the form of Oaths, Virtues, and Code skills. Whether dueling an opponent or sneaking about to assert dominance on the battlefield, a Swashbuckler uses these skills to peerless affect. No training is required for Oaths and Virtues, as these are a function of the Swashbuckler’s personal or imagined sense of honor. Training in Code Skills is required and is typically facilitated by other like minded individuals, with veteran Swashbuckler’s acting as Mentor and trainer, often as way of impressing younger swashbucklers with their prowess and tales of their great deeds.

Swashbucklers cannot learn a previously unknown Code or Code Skill (i.e. putting the first code point into Distracting Strike) unless they are taught/instructed by a Mentor (aka Code Trainer) that knows the corresponding skill. If assigning additional code points to an already known code skill, then no trainer is required and the point can be assigned immediately (i.e. increasing the number of code points in Distracting Strike from 1 to 2). This represents an Swashbuckler honing their skills rather than actually learning a new skill.

See Learning New Honor Codes and Skills for details.

Stealth

Swashbucklers use stealth as an effective tool to not only draw close to their unsuspecting foes but also to even the odds when facing a larger or superior force. Swashbucklers follow the standard rules for Stealth classes and Learning New Stealth Skills.

Stealth Costs for Berserkers are as follows:

• All offensive or aggressive Stealth actions reduce Stealth by 2 prior to taking a Stealth Test
• All offensive or aggressive Stealth instants reduce Stealth by 1 prior to taking a Stealth Test
• Increase the Stealth cost by 1 if the offensive or aggressive instant or action is NOT a Stealth skill (i.e. a regular attack action)
• If an action includes both a main hand and off hand portion, only reduce stealth once for the entire action
• All regular movement reduces Stealth by 1 per tabletop inch moved prior to taking a Stealth Test
• Defensive, support, or non-aggressive instants and actions do not carry a stealth cost (i.e. drinking a potion, healing or casting a boon on ally, etc…)

Swashbucklers have the following restrictions for Stealth Disciplines:

• Primary Discipline: Dirty Fighting
• Available Disciplines: Thievery, Sabotage, Suppression, Subterfuge
• Forbidden Disciplines: Survival, Assassination

Upon character creation, Swashbucklers automatically gain the following Stealth skills (prior to applying level ups):

• Low-blow (Rank I)
• Dirt-in-the-Eye (Rank I)

To learn new stealth skills require training unless they are upgrades (i.e. Rank1 Low-Blow -> Rank2 Low-blow). Stealth training for a Swashbucklers is typically accomplished by paying an Expertise trainer or learning from a more experienced Stealth class.

Level Ups

Swashbucklers use the following chart for levelling up:

HP Dice (Regular): Small Race (1d8), Medium Race (1d10), Large Race (1d12)