It tickles me to no end that all a swashbuckler does with their sword fighting is stab someone once really hard and run away.
Meanwhile a Battlemaster fighter can riposte, parry, feint, use evasive footwork, trip up opponents, menace them with her sword play, disarm an opponent with sword play, hit them potentially a half dozen times in the space of a second, and actually use a buckler by default.
You are not wrong, but to be honest, the best is a mix. I am currently playing a build that ends as a 13 swashbuckler/7 battlemaster. It is a build with insane versatility in combat, but still loaded with a ton of out of combat perks and layers of role-playability. Every type of action (reaction, bonus, and attack) has multiple ways to use it and allows you to change your tactics on a whim.
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IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
That sounds like it could be fun. The rogue and the later levels of Swashbuckler could be a fun addition.
I got to thinking about this after trying to make a great swordsman character with a lot of tricks. I made him a battlemaster with a 3 lvl dip into sorcerer, and I play spells like shield and absorb elements as sword techniques. Still feels light on the social stats though, but my last campaign character was a rogue, so I might just have my expectations spoiled from having expertise in persuasion for so long.
It also gives you more freedom if you are keen to focus on control and defensive tanking as a melee rogue. I picked up riposte, because you would have to be fool not to, haha. Then went with menacing attack (used with a sap) and studious eye which have the benefit of not eating into the combat action economy. Adding fancy footwork and rakish audacity to really push the flavor for free. This leaves a lot of opportunity to play around with cunning action, plus second wind and action surge to boost you in any situation. I am also planning on picking up trip attack and maybe disarming attack just for more versatility in an encounter to keep up with the ever changing battlefield. You become a Swiss Army knife of adaptation without being tied to spells.
I will admit I caved in and took Magic Initiate (wizard) to pick up a rat familiar, booming blade, and prestidigitation as my first ASI. I just love the idea of a rat familiar in a big city game, also being able to lock-down/punish someone from trying to run or being able to punish them for following when I am trying to escape with booming blade (another free-ish action economy add-on). Prestidigitation is just the best utility cantrip in the game for RP.
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IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
Swashbuckler is more than a swordsman. Fighters are of course better swordsmen... that's they're whole deal, they are premier martial combatants. The Princess Bride gives us great examples of both: Wesley Dread Pirate Roberts is a Swashbuckler. Charming, cunning, quick on his feet and with his wits, multifaceted problem solver. Inigo Montoya is a Battlemaster swordsman. He has trained with the sword, it's an extension of himself. His focus is on athleticism and martial prowess.
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It tickles me to no end that all a swashbuckler does with their sword fighting is stab someone once really hard and run away.
Meanwhile a Battlemaster fighter can riposte, parry, feint, use evasive footwork, trip up opponents, menace them with her sword play, disarm an opponent with sword play, hit them potentially a half dozen times in the space of a second, and actually use a buckler by default.
You are not wrong, but to be honest, the best is a mix. I am currently playing a build that ends as a 13 swashbuckler/7 battlemaster. It is a build with insane versatility in combat, but still loaded with a ton of out of combat perks and layers of role-playability. Every type of action (reaction, bonus, and attack) has multiple ways to use it and allows you to change your tactics on a whim.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
That sounds like it could be fun. The rogue and the later levels of Swashbuckler could be a fun addition.
I got to thinking about this after trying to make a great swordsman character with a lot of tricks. I made him a battlemaster with a 3 lvl dip into sorcerer, and I play spells like shield and absorb elements as sword techniques. Still feels light on the social stats though, but my last campaign character was a rogue, so I might just have my expectations spoiled from having expertise in persuasion for so long.
It also gives you more freedom if you are keen to focus on control and defensive tanking as a melee rogue. I picked up riposte, because you would have to be fool not to, haha. Then went with menacing attack (used with a sap) and studious eye which have the benefit of not eating into the combat action economy. Adding fancy footwork and rakish audacity to really push the flavor for free. This leaves a lot of opportunity to play around with cunning action, plus second wind and action surge to boost you in any situation. I am also planning on picking up trip attack and maybe disarming attack just for more versatility in an encounter to keep up with the ever changing battlefield. You become a Swiss Army knife of adaptation without being tied to spells.
I will admit I caved in and took Magic Initiate (wizard) to pick up a rat familiar, booming blade, and prestidigitation as my first ASI. I just love the idea of a rat familiar in a big city game, also being able to lock-down/punish someone from trying to run or being able to punish them for following when I am trying to escape with booming blade (another free-ish action economy add-on). Prestidigitation is just the best utility cantrip in the game for RP.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
Swashbuckler is more than a swordsman. Fighters are of course better swordsmen... that's they're whole deal, they are premier martial combatants. The Princess Bride gives us great examples of both: Wesley Dread Pirate Roberts is a Swashbuckler. Charming, cunning, quick on his feet and with his wits, multifaceted problem solver. Inigo Montoya is a Battlemaster swordsman. He has trained with the sword, it's an extension of himself. His focus is on athleticism and martial prowess.