Design Notes: The Swashbuckler

In Demesnes & Domination, I included a fighter variant called the Swashbuckler which I originally designed and released as a basic fantasy class years ago. In fact, this is the class that got me into thinking about tinkering with game rules or looking under the hood to understand game mechanics more and leading me to dive deep into game design. I've always been interested in the idea of a specialized fighter that fights unarmored and is nimble, mostly due to my own background in fencing. I originally included it in my first release; Fantastic Wizardry; but I have since updated it based on more play testing and for streamlining the mechanics a bit more so it can be more generic for any Basic-adjacent games that float around in OSR circles. I'm highlight it here because I crammed the class into the book in a little more than half of page 133, getting smushed in right after the jester class. due to page count and lay out, I wasn't able to include the illustration I made for the class so I'm going to reproduce the class here! Enjoy!

The Swashbuckler

Swashbucklers are fighters who are extremely talented in the ways of weapon combat. They are individuals who have studied the lethal geometry and tempo of combat to outwit any opponent that comes their way. Swashbucklers seek having their abilities challenged, finding thrill and purpose in dueling while dancing the fine line between life and death. Swashbucklers don’t see a need to be slowed down by armor, for their quick reflexes and instincts are better protection than the finest armor.

 

Class Requirement: Swashbucklers must have a minimum Dexterity of 9 and a Charisma score of 9.

Prime Requisite and Class Progression: A Swashbuckler’s prime requisite is Dexterity and have the same saves and attack progression as a Fighter.

Weapon and Armor Limitations: Swashbucklers cannot use any armor except for a shield, otherwise they lose their class abilities while armored.

Class Abilities
Alertness: Swashbucklers are only surprised on a 1-on-a-d6 roll when they have a weapon drawn.

Duelist: The Swashbuckler adds their unmodified attack bonus in addition to their Dexterity modifier to their armor class. Swashbucklers lose this ability if they wear any armor heavier than a shield or if they aren’t armed. Weapons with an enhancement bonus stacks with this as well. In addition, Swashbucklers reduce any -4 penalty from performing combat maneuvers to -2 as long as they aren’t wearing armor.

Nimble: Swashbucklers aren’t hindered by difficult terrain and are able to move their full speed on any surfaces the referee deems difficult as long as they aren’t wearing armor heavier than a shield.

Tumble: When making a saving throw that deals half damage on a success, the Swashbuckler instead takes no damage at all on a success. If falling from a substantial height, the swashbuckler can make a 1 on a d6 roll to only take 1/2 damage. The success range is modified by the swashbuckler’s positive dexterity modifier, if any.