Duelist (Apath)
Unofficial rules compendium | |
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Duelists represent the pinnacle of elegant swordplay. They move with a grace unmatched by most foes, parrying blows and countering attacks with swift thrusts of their blades. They may wear armor, but generally eschew such bulky protection as their grace allows them to dodge their opponents with ease. While others flounder on treacherous terrain, duelists charge nimbly across the battlefield, leaping and tumbling into the fray. They thrive in melee, where their skill with the blade allows them to make sudden attacks against clumsy foes and to cripple opponents with particularly well-placed thrusts of the blade.
Class Information
This is a merged prestige class.
Prestige Class: Duelist.
Build Classes: Fighter.
A duelists is a fighter that specializes in light armor and weapons.
Role: The abilities of duelists complement those rogues or bards who wish to accentuate their fighting prowess but, because of their lack of heavy armor, are afraid to leap into combat. Duelists fight in the forefront alongside fighters, barbarians, and other melee combatants, deftly avoiding the blades of their opponents while expertly targeting their vulnerabilities.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Class Abilities
This archetype has all normal class abilities, except as noted.
Class Skills
The duelist's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str),
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Armor and Weapon Proficiency
Duelists are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light armor and shields (excluding tower shields).
Canny Defense (Ex)
When wearing light or no armor and not using a large or tower shield, a fencer adds 1 point of Intelligence bonus (if any) per fencer class level as a dodge bonus to CMD and Armor Class while wielding a melee weapon. If a fencer is caught unarmed or is flat-footed or otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus, she also loses this bonus. A fencer with the Improved Unarmed Combat feat is never considered unarmed.
Dodge & Weapon Finesse
A duelist gains Dodge and Weapon Finesse as bonus feats at 1st level. He need not fulfill the prerequisites of these feats.
Precise Strike (Ex)
A duelist gains the ability to strike precisely in melee with a weapon she can use with Weapon Finesse, adding her duelist level to her damage roll.
When making a precise strike, a duelist cannot attack with a weapon in her other hand or use a shield. A duelist's precise strike only works against living creatures with discernible anatomies. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is also immune to a precise strike, and any item or ability that protects a creature from critical hits also protects a creature from a precise strike.
Mobility
A duelist gains Mobility as a bonus feat at 3rdlevel. He need not fulfill the prerequisites of this feat.
Bonus Feats
At level 4, and every 4 levels thereafter, the duelists chooses a combat feat as a bonus feat. He needs to fulfill the prerequisites of these feats as normal.
Parry
When he or an adjacent ally is attacked in melee, a duelist can make a parry.
At 5h level a duelist learns to parry the attacks of other creatures, causing them to miss. To parry the attack, the duelist makes an attack roll at her best attack bonus. If her attack roll is greater than the roll of the attacking creature, the attack automatically misses. For each size category that the attacking creature is larger than the duelist, the duelist takes a –2 penalty on her attack roll. The duelist also takes a –2 penalty when attempting to parry an attack made against an adjacent ally. The duelist declares the use of this ability after the attack is rolled.
At 5th level, the duelist can parry one attack per round. For every 5 levels, the duelist can parry an additional attack each round.
On an turn after the duelist made a parry, she is staggered.
Riposte
When an attack the duelists parried misses, he can make an attack of opportunity on the attacker if he is within reach. It is possible to parry attacks that would otherwise have missed, just to trigger a riposte.
Cunning Opportunist
At 10th level, the duelist may make a number of additional attacks of opportunity per round equal to his Intelligence bonus. This stacks with the benefits of Combat Reflexes.
Acrobatic Charge (Ex)
At 13th level, a duelist gains the ability to charge in situations where others cannot. He may charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement. Depending on the circumstance, she may still need to make appropriate checks to successfully move over the terrain.
Aggressive Defense (Ex)
At 14th level and higher, if a duelist chooses to fight defensively or use total defense in melee combat, she can make an attack of opportunity against any opponent who misses her with a melee attack.
No Retreat (Ex)
At 17th level, enemies adjacent to the duelist that take a withdraw action provoke an attack of opportunity from the duelist.
Deflect Arrows
At 18th level, a duelist gains the benefit of the Deflect Arrows feat when using a weapon she can use with weapon finesse. The duelist does not need a free hand to use this feat.
Duelist Schools
These are the fighting schools available to duelists.
Agrippa
This school has an easy and relaxed style, using a one-handed weapon to attack and parry while keeping one hand free for tricks, feints, and flourishes. The free had is often used to hold a hat, scarf, handkerchief, glove or other accessory that is further used to distract the opponent.
- Level 2, Deceptive strike: At 2nd level, a duelist using agrippa gains a +1 bonus to CMB and CMD on disarm checks and on Bluff checks to feint or create a diversion to hide. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels after 2nd.
- Level 3, Weapon Bind (Ex): At 3rd level, a duelist using agrippa can trap his opponent’s weapon. This functions as a disarm combat maneuver, but the opponent does not actually lose his weapon, he merely cannot use it. This lasts until the beginning of the duelist's next turn or until they two combatants are no longer adjacent, whichever is sooner. Unlike a normal disarm, this does not trigger an attack of opportunity, and the duelist never loses his own weapon.
- Level 6, High Guard: At 6th level, a duelist using agrippa gains a +4 bonus on parries.
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, Reversal (Ex): At 16th level, a duelist using agrippa can make a disarm combat maneuver against his attacker when he is the target of a melee attack. If successful, the attack changes to target another creature in the target's reach. This replaces the normal result of a disarm.
- Level 20, Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th level, a duelist using agrippa improves his critical hits. Any attacks made with a weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (×2 becomes ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed.
Bonetti
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Capo Ferro
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Firentine
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Hard Knocks
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Tibault
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Traditional
- Level 2, :
- Level 3, :
- Level 6, :
- Level 11, :
- Level 16, :
- Level 20, :
Table: Duelist
Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spells per Day | |||||||||
0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | ||||||
1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Nature bond, nature sense, orisons, wild empathy | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Archery style feat, woodland stride | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Trackless step | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Resist nature's lure | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Mystic spellstrike | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Archery style feat | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Duelisty | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | |
9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Venom immunity | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Archery style feat | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Seeker arrow | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | |
13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Imbue arrow | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — |
14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Archery style feat | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Timeless body | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — |
16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | |
17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Hail of arrows | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Archery style feat | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Phase arrow | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Arrow of death | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |