Swashbuckler

[Fedora1]

Think about it this way: in all the time that the TWFer is training his off-hand to be effective, a SWFer has available to simply get better at using his weapon.

Having trained with some weapons in my younger days as a martial arts assistant instructor, I would submit that when I trained with two weapons (nunchucks, sais) I also improved my use of single weapons of the same type.

As far as foot soldiers training with two handed weapons, yes pole arms and spears were common, but they were trained as a unit fighting in formation, not single combat. Thus the expertise necessary to use weapons like great axe or great sword (in DDO martial weapons vs simple weapons).

I just don't see the need or purpose of this whole endeavor. First we are taking what is the common style of fighting and making it "special", secondly it does not fit thematically as a bard, thirdly what the heck is "Swashbuckler" doing as a PrE anyway? To me we could just as easily now make things like Adventurer, Explorer, Bodyguard, Scout, Soldier, and Bandit. It's more of a profession filled by other classes/PrE's rather than a PrE unto itself. Most all other PrE's focus on a fighting style within a class.

I don't know, maybe if the name was something other than swashbuckler, and if it wasn't a bard PrE, it would be okay. I still don't think single weapon fighting should be equal with the other styles though.

Just my opinion, and I see I am in the minority. I guess everyone is excited about something "new". I'd rather they worked on improving some of the cool PrE's that just don't work, like EK. *shrug*

[Chai]

So technically, single weapon training should cost less or be more powerful as it is less time consuming?

It would not be less time consuming. The time it takes for the twf or thf to master their weapon style is the same time it takes for the single weapon fighter to master theirs, all other things being equal. Its an entire combat style, and does not simply mean less weapons held = less time to learn.

[HatsuharuZ]

Why are we talking about how long it would take to master a certain fighting style? lol

Swashbuckling and SWF should both work when there is a buckler, small shield or large shield in the off-hand. However, SWF shouldn't work when a tower shield is equipped in the off-hand. It's kind of silly to force players who want to equip a shield to only be able to equip the smallest one, especially when the best shields (named ones) are all large shields.

[Steiner-Davion]

Single-Weapon Fighting feats need not be identical to Swashbuckling in terms of requirements.

We have some ideas on what we might do with them, but we're happiest to have you guys tell us what you think they should be before putting up one particular idea as the point of comparison.



This is an always-on toggle, as long as you meet the requirements.

Well for Starters, they should Drastically and VERY SIGNIFICANTLY, increased attack speed. It is really the only way to make not fighting with 2 weapons or 2-handed worthwhile.

[Cordovan]

There is a new post, which can be found here, that discusses the newest state of Swashbuckler, including the latest changes. Since we wanted to start with a fresh thread for this fresh look at Swashbuckler, we're closing this thread to prevent confusion. Thank you, everyone, for your feedback and discussion in this thread, it's been great!