Comments from the Finger: Surprising we haven't done this one yet, right?
Just an early heads up: We'll be taking a much-needed holiday vacation from December 15th to January 3rd.
Fencer
Prerequisite: Dueling Fighting Style
Postured, graceful, and utterly deadly, archetypal fencers favor precise one-handed parries and thrusts to conventional shielded combat. Preferring to remain mobile and evasive, fencers react like clockwork to their opponent's movements, striking at their foe's weakest moment with a barrage of pinpoint strikes.
Fencing
Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you've developed a deft and relentless fighting style. You gain the following benefits while you are wielding a single finesse weapon, and you aren't wearing heavy armor or wielding a shield.
- Lunge. You can use your bonus action to increase the reach of your weapon by 5 feet until the start of your next turn.
- Parry. You can adopt a defensive stance as a bonus action, granting yourself +2 AC until the start of your next turn.
- Remise. When you take the Attack action with a finesse weapon on your turn, you can make one attack with that weapon as a bonus action. You do not add your ability score modifier to the damage of this attack.
Fencer’s Footwork
Starting at 7th level, you learn to move your feet as quickly and as easily as you move your blade. Your movement speed increases by 10 feet, and moving through difficult terrain doesn’t cost you extra movement.
Riposte
Starting at 10th level, when a creature attacks you with a melee attack and misses, you can use your reaction to gain advantage on the next melee attack you make against that creature until the end of your next turn.
Peerless Reflexes
Starting at 15th level, each round, the first time you use Riposte or make an opportunity attack doesn't cost your reaction.
Master’s Remise
At 18th level, when you use the Remise ability, you can make two melee attacks instead of one.
This seems like a really fun subclass, it's on my list now for sure
ReplyDeletePretty nice. Sacrificing some power for versatility makes for useful, yet not overpowered classes- like this one.
ReplyDeleteWoot! We need to get a stamp that says "Idan Approved" that we can put in the corners of these things
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLOL.
DeleteI guess this was in good humour, though now that I'm thinking about it maybe I'm going a bit to far in criticizing most posts. Probably comes from too many years with 2 minmaxers at the table.
No, we value your criticism! Like, a /lot/. It's great having you around to bounce ideas off of, and as someone to sanity check us when we mess up (which it sometimes feels that we do more often than not.)
DeleteYay!
DeleteI wouldn't say you often 'mess up', but crunching numbers is definitely required sometimes :)
For example, if WoTC would crunch more numbers on Xanathar's, I wouldn't be able to create a 16th lvl build that deals 415 damage (on average) on the first turn of combat.
415 avg?
DeleteColor me intrigued.
Does this happen to be the fabled Hexblade 6/Pally 2/Bard CoW 8 (College of Whispers) build or is this another build? because that build also can put out damage like nobody's business
DeleteWhat I built was Ranger (gloom) 5/Rogue (assassin) 3/Fighter (battle master) 3/Sorcerer 3/Paladin 2. You need to surprise you opponent, otherwise the damage is only around 250 or so.
DeleteYou have 3rd level spell slots, with which you cast Shadow Blade as a bonus action.
With gloom stalker, an attack action on you first turn does another attack (3 total). With action surge that's 6 attacks of the shadow blade. Add sneak attack once, smite (1*3rd level, 3*2nd, 2*1st), 4d8 from maneuvers.
And all of that is critical because of the Assassin.
Shadow blade is 3d8, so with 6 attacks that's 18d8 +42 (assuming 20 dex and Dueling).
Deletesmites are total of 17d8, total 35d8 +42.
maneuvers are 4d8, total 41d8 +42.
add 2d6 sneak attack, that's 41d8+2d6+42.
All is critical, so 82d8+4d6+42, for a total of 425.
Without crit it's 233.5 on avg.
I'm assuming you fill the rest of the levels with Sorcerer, because that level spread you out there only has 2nd level slots.
DeleteFor some reason i think a Charisma-based Unarmored Defense could work on this subclass. Is it too much?
ReplyDeleteI think so. It already has the AC bonus from parry, after all.
DeleteAs I see it, this is more of a fencing purist rather than a *dashing swordsman* or *swashbuckler* type. Less flashy, but more effective when push comes to shove. Or should that be 'when parry comes to riposte'?
Yeah, that's a big part of it. We had A "feint" maneuver in there, but both the Finger and I felt that it might have been too much. This is a Dex fighter through and through, and with the additions of both the Mobile and Defensive Duelist feats you have the makings of a rather powerful skirmisher/dex tank.
DeleteMulti Class this with a bard, and you have a powerful combo
ReplyDeleteOr even a Rogue
DeletePowerful and thematic! It's a good synergy -- I like the character opportunities.
DeleteWill you have high seas done before you take a break? Of not can you post what ever you have ready?
ReplyDeleteActually, you're on Patreon, right? I'll have a post about that today. It's _finally_ finished, but I'd like to do a proper round of of proofreading.
DeleteFinally something in 5th edition that has even some resemblance to the Combat Reflexes feat of 3.5! You have no idea how long I've been wanting something similar.
ReplyDelete