Strongest 7th level Swashbuckler

[Regitnui]

Alright, playground optimizers, I have need of your services. The main patron for my party is a 7th level human female rogue (swashbuckler). She has been trained for leadership by a dragon and has now taken leadership of a port city and a fleet. All of that is sorted. But, I'm crap at stats. Assuming an average array, what's the most optimized possible single-classed swashbuckler I can get for 7 levels?

Please and thanking you for your advices.

[Specter]

Optimized for damage, you mean? If that's the case, Fighter is worth 2 levels for Fighting Style (TWF or Dueling), Second Wind and Action Surge. You give up Evasion and two Expertised skills for that. As for stats, DX>CO>CH>WI>IN=ST.

[RulesJD]

Alright, playground optimizers, I have need of your services. The main patron for my party is a 7th level human female rogue (swashbuckler). She has been trained for leadership by a dragon and has now taken leadership of a port city and a fleet. All of that is sorted. But, I'm crap at stats. Assuming an average array, what's the most optimized possible single-classed swashbuckler I can get for 7 levels?

Please and thanking you for your advices.

Things you need:

1. Access to Sentinel Feat
2. Access to Booming Blade

Things you want:
1. Access to Riposte


At level 7 that's a bit low. I'd go Rogue 4 (2d6 Sneak) + 3 Fighter. Action Surge = off-turn attack (more sneak), Riposte = off turn attack (more sneak), and Sentinel = off turn attack (more sneak).

Variant Human would be the best to get both Sentinel feat + Magic Initiate (Sorc for Booming Blade + Shield).

Alternatively, Half-elf High Elf variant for 1 cantrip (booming blade) and take Sentinel for level 4 Rogue ASI.

[Biggstick]

Things you need:

1. Access to Sentinel Feat
2. Access to Booming Blade

Things you want:
1. Access to Riposte


At level 7 that's a bit low. I'd go Rogue 4 (2d6 Sneak) + 3 Fighter. Action Surge = off-turn attack (more sneak), Riposte = off turn attack (more sneak), and Sentinel = off turn attack (more sneak).

Variant Human would be the best to get both Sentinel feat + Magic Initiate (Sorc for Booming Blade + Shield).

Alternatively, Half-elf High Elf variant for 1 cantrip (booming blade) and take Sentinel for level 4 Rogue ASI.

OP specifically said single classed Human, though Sentinel and Booming Blade are both great assets for any Rogue.

To OP, when you say patron, what do you actually mean? Is the party working for her? Against her? Do you want her built in a way to fight solo or with a group? Rogues have plenty of ways that they can be optimized, they just need a direction or a focus. What is she being built to primarily focus on?

[RulesJD]

Sorry I missed that.

Then Variant Human (Sentinel) and Rogue 4 get Magic Initiate (Shield or Mage Armor + Booming Blade).

However, ONLY get Sentinel if your character will have allies around to be hit. If not, something like Defensive Duelist (+3 to AC as a reaction is super nice) or honestly just +2 Dex.

[JakOfAllTirades]

If Booming Blade is the only cantrip you care about, take the Spell Sniper feat instead and double its range to 10 feet so you can use it with Reach weapons.

Yes, the Whip is a Finesse Reach weapon, and a Rogue can Sneak Attack with it.

[Regitnui]

OP specifically said single classed Human, though Sentinel and Booming Blade are both great assets for any Rogue.

To OP, when you say patron, what do you actually mean? Is the party working for her? Against her? Do you want her built in a way to fight solo or with a group? Rogues have plenty of ways that they can be optimized, they just need a direction or a focus. What is she being built to primarily focus on?

She would usually be in command of a ship; specifically an airship, but she's more likely to walk around without bodyguards, as showing off her personal might (Eberron, so lvl7 is nigh-infamous). If there's a build that encourages working alone but can work with allies, that'll be the best.

[Corran]

She would usually be in command of a ship; specifically an airship, but she's more likely to walk around without bodyguards, as showing off her personal might (Eberron, so lvl7 is nigh-infamous). If there's a build that encourages working alone but can work with allies, that'll be the best.
I would recommend magic initiate for booming blade as was already suggested, but also for feather fall. Working on an airship can be tricky.

[Sir cryosin]

Your second cantrip should be prestidigitation. To keep your self clean on the ship and to add some flavor to the food. I love prestidigitation it's is one of my favorite cantrips. It great for roleplaying.

[Biggstick]

I'm a huge fan of the Alert feat myself. Swashbuckler actually plays into higher initiative already, so adding more on top of it can really help. Here is a suggested build.

10
15 (+1)
13 (+1)
10
10
14

Level 1 take Alert. Level 4 take Magic Initiate for Booming Blade/any other cantrip + Featherfall (Can always escape her ship if needed).
Expertise: Perception, Acrobatics, Stealth, (face flavor, but really anything works for the 4th, Insight/Persuasion/Deception)

Instead of Magic Initiate at level 4, you could go just for a plain +2 Dex as well.

Overall though, she'll have a solid initiative (+10 at this level). She's never surprised nor able to be taken advantage of because of not seeing her opponents. She can dance in and out of combat. She works great with a crew being able to hide behind them inbetween rounds. She can pick and choose her fights with high initiative and Cunning Action.

This is no means the strongest Swashbuckler build, but would definitely prove decent.

[Regitnui]

Thanks! I'll run that through the character sheet and see how it looks.

[Laserlight]

It was pointed out to me recently that Booming Blade is not an Attack Action even though you make a weapon attack as part of it; and TWF requires an Attack Action in order for you to make your Bonus second attack; therefore Booming doesn't work with TWF. I'm not up to calculating the probabilities but I'd think TWF does more damage than a single attack with Booming...particularly since the target can choose whether or not to incur Booming damage. YMMV.

As for me, I'm doing Swashbuckler/BattleMaster

[Biggstick]

It was pointed out to me recently that Booming Blade is not an Attack Action even though you make a weapon attack as part of it; and TWF requires an Attack Action in order for you to make your Bonus second attack; therefore Booming doesn't work with TWF. I'm not up to calculating the probabilities but I'd think TWF does more damage than a single attack with Booming...particularly since the target can choose whether or not to incur Booming damage. YMMV.

As for me, I'm doing Swashbuckler/BattleMaster

You are absolutely right in BB not being able to trigger the bonus action attack from TWF. The main benefit of TWF is a second chance to trigger your sneak attack damage. Other then that though, the damage is going to be close to equal from level 5-10, and then BB's damage output will be higher then TWF (+2d8 on the attack instead of +1d8, as well as an increase to 3d8 on the trigger instead of 2d8). Here are examples of a round for both styles and at various levels.


Level 4: TWF

Action: Attack
(1d8+4) + 2d6 = 15.5 average
Bonus action: Attack
1d6 = 3.5 average

Average overall damage = 19

Level 4: BB

Action: BB
(1d8+4) + 2d6 = 15.5 average

Average overall damage = 15.5

Level 7: TWF

Action: Attack
(1d8+4) + 4d6 = 22.5 average
Bonus action: Attack
1d6 = 3.5 average

Average overall damage = 26

Level 7: BB

Action: BB
(2d8+4) + 4d6 = 27 average

Average overall damage = 27

Level 11: TWF

Action: Attack
(1d8 + 5) + 6d6 = 30.5 average
Bonus action: Attack
1d6 = 3.5 average

Average overall damage = 34

Level 11: BB

Action: BB
(3d8 + 5) + 6d6 = 39.5

Average overall damage = 39.5


I didn't include the rider damage from BB as it won't consistently trigger every round, even though it would up the average damage by quite a bit per round. The nice part about TWF is the second chance to trigger the sneak attack. The unfortunate part is that to equal the post level 5 Rogues with BB, TWF Rogues have to give up their bonus action every round to do so. I didn't include math for probability to hit, which is another huge factor. But overall you're going to get more mileage out of BB then TWF.

[RickAllison]

It was pointed out to me recently that Booming Blade is not an Attack Action even though you make a weapon attack as part of it; and TWF requires an Attack Action in order for you to make your Bonus second attack; therefore Booming doesn't work with TWF. I'm not up to calculating the probabilities but I'd think TWF does more damage than a single attack with Booming...particularly since the target can choose whether or not to incur Booming damage. YMMV.

As for me, I'm doing Swashbuckler/BattleMaster

If he is doing single-class, then a bonus action attack is only worth 1d6 damage. It is a trade off between a second chance to deal Sneak Attack damage and the chance to do even more damage! And also, BB functions so perfectly with Swashbuckler's auto-Disengage.

[RulesJD]

It was pointed out to me recently that Booming Blade is not an Attack Action even though you make a weapon attack as part of it; and TWF requires an Attack Action in order for you to make your Bonus second attack; therefore Booming doesn't work with TWF. I'm not up to calculating the probabilities but I'd think TWF does more damage than a single attack with Booming...particularly since the target can choose whether or not to incur Booming damage. YMMV.

As for me, I'm doing Swashbuckler/BattleMaster

1. You won't add your ability score modifier to that 2nd attack without a Fighter dip. That makes your second strike do, at most, 1d6 (possible sneak attack) for a total of 3.5 average damage.

2. Booming Blade primary damage past level 5 adds 1d8, more than your second attack. However, you are a Rogue, you should be generating advantage for yourself (stealth, Find Familiar, etc.) Your first strike should be hitting more reliably than your second.

3. Booming Blade secondary damage, if triggers, does 1d8 at level 1. At level 5, you're doing 2d8 (9 average), etc. Booming Blade is more damage because Swashbuckler lets you move in and out at will, thus forcing damage or target sits still and does ranged damage if it even has that option.


The only scenario where TWF for a Rogue does more damage than Booming Blade is if you miss your first attack and need the 2nd attack to trigger Sneak Attack. A BB Rogue can use their Bonus Action for Cunning Action which is a huge movement/utility benefit, whereas a TWF Rogue is stuck using theirs to generate 1d8 more damage. BB Rogue 4 life.

[Lollerabe]

That's a very strange way to phrase it, if the first attack hits the TWF rogue isn't forced to make a second attack, they can cunning action however they see fit. If BB misses you deal 0 damg and got no second chance of landing that sneak. TWF rogue 4 life.

[RulesJD]

That's a very strange way to phrase it, if the first attack hits the TWF rogue isn't forced to make a second attack, they can cunning action however they see fit. If BB misses you deal 0 damg and got no second chance of landing that sneak. TWF rogue 4 life.

No, it doesn't have to use the 2nd attack. But it's basically pointless to have TWF then, outside of wasting an ASI on the Dual Wielding Feat. Depending on how you get Booming Blade you should also pick up Find Familiar to generate advantage. Your miss chance will be so low that BB average damage will way, way outpace TWF.

*edit*

Remember, especially if you're only attacking once, BB by default will do more damage past character level 5 because of its scaling damage.

[Lollerabe]

To have TWF ? What are you talking about here ? The rogue can TWF free of charge, why the rogue who dosent have acces to the subpar fightstyle would ever consider the even more subpar feat is beyond me. That's the point - the rogue that utilizes TWF invests nothing in doing so, and has the option to trigger sneak through the offhand attack. The BB rogue invested in magic initiate (in this case) and might end up dealing 0 damage. Does BB have the higher DPR potential? Yes. Is said rogue in risk of not having any DPR ? Yes.
While you invest in magic initiate I could fx invest in a straight dex bump, thus improving hit chance, damg, initiative, ac, saves and a number of useful skills. Your representation of the BB rogue is misleading.

[Biggstick]

To have TWF ? What are you talking about here ? The rogue can TWF free of charge, why the rogue who dosent have acces to the subpar fightstyle would ever consider the even more subpar feat is beyond me. That's the point - the rogue that utilizes TWF invests nothing in doing so, and has the option to trigger sneak through the offhand attack. The BB rogue invested in magic initiate (in this case) and might end up dealing 0 damage. Does BB have the higher DPR potential? Yes. Is said rogue in risk of not having any DPR ? Yes.
While you invest in magic initiate I could fx invest in a straight dex bump, thus improving hit chance, damg, initiative, ac, saves and a number of useful skills. Your representation of the BB rogue is misleading.

The Rogue who's utilizing a bonus action to attack is also at risk of not having any DPR as well. Obviously you missed because whatever you're fighting has a decent AC and you're going to have to roll well to actually hit on a second attack. To risk standing next to whatever bad you're against when you missed on the first attack is a big risk, especially with the lower hit chance.

Just putting it out there as well, Swashbucklers are the only type of Rogue who can pull this off without taking an opportunity attack. This is also only true if you're wading in against one target (unless you split your attacks and hit two targets with your main attack and offhand attack, and this is only workable if there are no more then two targets).

Rogues get 6 ASI's, meaning at most it should take you 3 ASI's to max out DEX. You have 3 other ASI's to play around with. At level 13 or 14, Rogues get Wis saves, so for the most part they're going to get to play around with some feats. Magic Initiate for BB is usually a solid choice as it's a pretty direct increase in damage as well as encourages an in-n-out play style that keeps an opponent standing still.



Edited for proficiency bonus correction

[Lollerabe]

Lower chance to hit with the offhand attack? That's just untrue, and again misleading. Also has the risk, sure but that risk is way lower. We aren't talking about a lvl 20 rogue but a lvl 7 one, in which case dex isn't maxed and my comparison still holds true.

[Biggstick]

Lower chance to hit with the offhand attack? That's just untrue, and again misleading. Also has the risk, sure but that risk is way lower. We aren't talking about a lvl 20 rogue but a lvl 7 one, in which case dex isn't maxed and my comparison still holds true.

You are absolutely right on that for the offhand attack, my mistake. Corrected my post.

But returning to how the posts are misleading... I'm unsure how you are interpreting the posts on BB as being misleading. It's a solid increase to your damage when the majority of fights you're going to spending your action attacking and your bonus action on a Cunning Action to disengage, dash, or hide. Even if I miss with a main attack and was playing a Swashbuckler, I'd still typically want to step back out of melee range and take the Hide action to gain advantage on my next attack.

[Lollerabe]

It's misleading to suggest that it's a huge DPR boost, if all things goes right it is. But missing that first hit nullifies your entire DPR for that round, having the extra chance to deliver that precious sneak attack does ALOT for the rogues avg DPR. I don't got the actual numbers atm, but TWF boosts rogues DPR by a fair margin. That's part one. The other one is the opportunity cost. I fx suggested taking a dex bump instead which again not only boosts hit chance and ability mod damg, but fx also boosts said rogues ranged DPR.

I never intended to say that BB wasn't a cool ability or even a valuable DPR ability on a rogue, I just think to state that magic initiate is an optimized build, while so poorly arguing for the benefit of TWF builds (or any other build for that matter) is misleading. Especially so when the comparison to the TWF build is a super poorly optimized one. Fx saying the TWF rogue picked up dual wielder, any dex based char worth their salt would know that a dex bump is always better than dual wielder until dex is maxed. Hope that clears it up a bit
Edit: I think you also might be overestimating how effective re-hiding in the midst of combat is.

[RickAllison]

It's misleading to suggest that it's a huge DPR boost, if all things goes right it is. But missing that first hit nullifies your entire DPR for that round, having the extra chance to deliver that precious sneak attack does ALOT for the rogues avg DPR. I don't got the actual numbers atm, but TWF boosts rogues DPR by a fair margin. That's part one. The other one is the opportunity cost. I fx suggested taking a dex bump instead which again not only boosts hit chance and ability mod damg, but fx also boosts said rogues ranged DPR.

I never intended to say that BB wasn't a cool ability or even a valuable DPR ability on a rogue, I just think to state that magic initiate is an optimized build, while so poorly arguing for the benefit of TWF builds (or any other build for that matter) is misleading. Especially so when the comparison to the TWF build is a super poorly optimized one. Fx saying the TWF rogue picked up dual wielder, any dex based char worth their salt would know that a dex bump is always better than dual wielder until dex is maxed. Hope that clears it up a bit
Edit: I think you also might be overestimating how effective re-hiding in the midst of combat is.

Think of it this way, a TWF rogue rolls two d20s using his bonus action to Attack. A BB rogue rolls two d20s using bonus action to Hide. Alternatively, use the 1st level spell from Magic Initiate to have a familiar that gives you advantage for your attack.

[RulesJD]

Think of it this way, a TWF rogue rolls two d20s using his bonus action to Attack. A BB rogue rolls two d20s using bonus action to Hide. Alternatively, use the 1st level spell from Magic Initiate to have a familiar that gives you advantage for your attack.

^^^ what he said. And the hit from the BB is going to hit harder past level 5 than the TWF Rogue, and significantly harder past level 11.

[Lollerabe]

Yeah I'm just repeating myself at this point, if we are gonna pretend that the BB rogue got perma advantage and therefore has the same avg hit chance as TWF rogue with 2 more dex then I honestly got nothing more to add.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Yeah I'm just repeating myself at this point, if we are gonna pretend that the BB rogue got perma advantage and therefore has the same avg hit chance as TWF rogue with 2 more dex then I honestly got nothing more to add.
1) The proposal was vHuman. No ASI used.
2) There will be plenty of times you can't get Advantage; there will also be plenty of times you want your bonus action for something else.
3) No reason you can't do both. Carry an off-hand weapon for high-AC enemies while using BB when you have a good hit chance.

[Lollerabe]

All very fair and valid points Grod. Especially the number 1, I don't know why I'd compare the free feat to a dex bump - brain fart from my part.
As I said earlier, I never meant to say the BB rogue combo isn't legit or downright good. I was merely trying to point out that the comparison to TWFing was misleading, as it ignored quite a few factors.
Wether or not the magic initiate is worth the opportunity cost compared to lucky,sentinel etc depends on the layout of the fights, more so at lvl 7 where the BB scaling hasen't reached its full potential.
But yeah you are absolutely right, nothing prevents the rogue from playing smart and switching between BB attacking and TWFing.

[djreynolds]

Why not just go short sword and hand crossbow, crossbow expert and sharpshooter?

Swashbuckler, aims with sharpshooter and hits then he moves on. That's a possible say +4 for dex +4d6+1d6+10 or misses and moves in for an off hand strike with they short sword, +4d6+1d6

I like booming blade, but the fact that you once you miss you miss out on 4d6 is huge.

[Regitnui]

Confused OP: "So what are we actually recommending here? VHuman with Magic Initiate feat (Prestidigitation,??, Booming Blade) with an offhand weapon?"

[djreynolds]

Confused OP: "So what are we actually recommending here? VHuman with Magic Initiate feat (Prestidigitation,??, Booming Blade) with an offhand weapon?"

They are recommending BB.

But some do not like it, because the use of BB prohibits an off-hand strike as a bonus action. You'll still get cunning action but no off-hand attack.

Some people do not like that, me included, using BB or GFB, because if you miss, you miss out on that sneak attack that turn.

The little damage gained is not worth losing your off and insurance strike.

Go short sword and hand cross bow. Both are light. I like to use my hand crossbow or dagger as I approach, and if I hit move on and dash away. If I miss, then move in and swing and hope uncanny dodge is worth it.

[Laserlight]

Bear in mind that, for all the talk about how much more damage BB does...it doesn't do any at all, unless the target is willing to take the damage. The target has to "move willingly" to trigger it.
If I had a cantrip, I'd certainly take BB, but for control rather than counting on it fir DPR.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Bear in mind that, for all the talk about how much more damage BB does...it doesn't do any at all, unless the target is willing to take the damage. The target has to "move willingly" to trigger it.
If I had a cantrip, I'd certainly take BB, but for control rather than counting on it fir DPR.
At 5th it deals 1d8 to the target on a hit and 2d8 if they move. Both damages continue to scale with level.

Op: Play a variant human and take Magic Initiate for Booming Blade and Find Familiar. Your familiar can take the Help action to give you Advantage, so you get similar sneak attack reliability. Nothing stops you from making off-hand attacks instead if you're having bad die luck. Also try for Sentinel, so you can make more sneak attack laden opportunity attacks.

[Regitnui]

Op: Play a variant human and take Magic Initiate for Booming Blade and Find Familiar. Your familiar can take the Help action to give you Advantage, so you get similar sneak attack reliability. Nothing stops you from making off-hand attacks instead if you're having bad die luck. Also try for Sentinel, so you can make more sneak attack laden opportunity attacks.

What's a good familiar then? I'm leaning towards a raven/crow or a pseudodragon.

[Grod_The_Giant]

What's a good familiar then? I'm leaning towards a raven/crow or a pseudodragon.
I don't think you can get a pseudodragon without Warlock levels, but anything flying is nice. Don't forget you can change it out every time you cast the spell.

[RulesJD]

What's a good familiar then? I'm leaning towards a raven/crow or a pseudodragon.

The best Familiar is the Owl because of it's Fly-by ability. That means it can fly in, take the Help action, and fly out all on its turn without provoking an opportunity attack. Everything else (Darkvision, Adv on perception, etc) is just gravy.

Yes it relies on the target moving. But guess what? Almost every enemy you encounter is significantly weaker at range than in melee. So the soft control is significantly more useful.

[Lollerabe]

Or you can spend you Vhuman feat on lucky or sentinel or even inspiring leader if you want her too have a few guards.

At 7th lvl a rogue deals 1d6+3/4 (depending on ASI) +3d6 when it hits with a sneak, for an avg damg of = 17/18 damg.

BB adds 4,5 through the main effect and 9 more points if it triggers, so the BB rogues avg damg is = 21.5/22,5 or 30,5/31,5 if BBs rider is triggered on sneak attacks.

So as you can see BB has the potential to up the damg by a huge margin, but as I've said before has the risk of turning all those numbers into a flat 0.

I would take lucky/sentinel/xbow xpert (not sure how you feel bout the last one) over magic initiate as my free feat and then a dex bump as my 4th lvl ASI.
I think the BB rogue is cute when you can get it with a low opportunity cost such as the highelf/half elf/AT can. Otherwise I personally don't believe the feat is worth it, even less so on a swashbuckler as they can use their BA on offhand attacks and still back off without provoking OAs.
Edit: hell alert could turn her initiative score into something obscene. +5 from alert, +4 from dex and +2 from her char for a total of = + 11 ( this is assuming 18 dex 14 cha).
She would basically always start the fight, and she could never get surprised either, which kinda fits your 'cocky chick strutting about on her lonesome on the harbor' theme. She knows she can't get ambushed, and she knows she almost always gets the drop on her enemies.

[Biggstick]

Or you can spend you Vhuman feat on lucky or sentinel or even inspiring leader if you want her too have a few guards.

At 7th lvl a rogue deals 1d6+3/4 (depending on ASI) +3d6 when it hits with a sneak, for an avg damg of = 17/18 damg.

BB adds 4,5 through the main effect and 9 more points if it triggers, so the BB rogues avg damg is = 21.5/22,5 or 30,5/31,5 if BBs rider is triggered on sneak attacks.

So as you can see BB has the potential to up the damg by a huge margin, but as I've said before has the risk of turning all those numbers into a flat 0.

I would take lucky/sentinel/xbow xpert (not sure how you feel bout the last one) over magic initiate as my free feat and then a dex bump as my 4th lvl ASI.
I think the BB rogue is cute when you can get it with a low opportunity cost such as the highelf/half elf/AT can. Otherwise I personally don't believe the feat is worth it, even less so on a swashbuckler as they can use their BA on offhand attacks and still back off without provoking OAs.
Edit: hell alert could turn her initiative score into something obscene. +5 from alert, +4 from dex and +2 from her char for a total of = + 11 ( this is assuming 18 dex 14 cha).
She would basically always start the fight, and she could never get surprised either, which kinda fits your 'cocky chick strutting about on her lonesome on the harbor' theme. She knows she can't get ambushed, and she knows she almost always gets the drop on her enemies.

And we've circled back to the build I suggested in post 10 with the Alert feat lol.

[Regitnui]

And we've circled back to the build I suggested in post 10 with the Alert feat lol.

I noticed that too. I do like an absurdly high initiative as a side-effect of being trained by a dragon, but Magic Initiate also appeals for that reason. I mean, knowing a few spells makes sense.

[Lollerabe]

It was a good suggestion, never denied that. Still all the other things I listed is still viable but yup, alert and a dex bump is legit

[RickAllison]

I noticed that too. I do like an absurdly high initiative as a side-effect of being trained by a dragon, but Magic Initiate also appeals for that reason. I mean, knowing a few spells makes sense.

If the OP is willing to fudge things a bit, Magic Inititate with the Pseudodragon familiar could be flavorful, effective, and combo well by being an invisible source of advantage through Help.

[Deox]

This was suggested to me previously for a swashbuckler. I've been able to use him in two different games (and RPing two different personality types) and have had great success (read: fun) with it.

Level 4 Soldier, V. Human Rogue (Swashbuckler)
Str: 14
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 9
Wis: 12
Cha: 14

Skills: Athletics (+6); Intimidate was fun, but the rest are all open at your discretion.

Human Benefits:
Bonus Skill Proficiency
Bonus Feat (Shield Master)

Soldier Feature:
Influence within your former organization

Putting the chassis together, you can leverage Shield Master and Swashbuckler to make it seem your dex is higher than it is.
If only a single mob is next to you? Sneak Attack (and even Shove, maybe off the ship!)
If an ally is next to the target? Shove, sneak attack.
If two enemies are next to you? Shove, advantage, sneak attack OR shove and sneak attack the other enemy.

Boost strength to where you feel comfortable (I set mine to 16 and was fine).

[Regitnui]

If the OP is willing to fudge things a bit, Magic Inititate with the Pseudodragon familiar could be flavorful, effective, and combo well by being an invisible source of advantage through Help.

NPC: they're 90% delicious fudge, take no substitutes!

Her, and therefore the players', 'faction' for lack of a better word is called the Black Wing Principality. Ravens are a good cover for the real namesake, but a pseudodragon is a great "fantasy pirate" vibe. This pseudodragon would be a little more dark in the scales than most, of course.

[RulesJD]

This was suggested to me previously for a swashbuckler. *snip*

Level 4 Soldier, V. Human Rogue (Swashbuckler)
*snip*

Skills: Athletics (+6); Intimidate was fun, but the rest are all open at your discretion.

Human Benefits:
Bonus Skill Proficiency
Bonus Feat (Shield Master)

*snip*

Where are you getting Proficiency with shields from? The Shield Master feat does not grant proficiency with shields and Rogue's do not get it either.

[Biggstick]

Where are you getting Proficiency with shields from? The Shield Master feat does not grant proficiency with shields and Rogue's do not get it either.

I'm also curious as to how he gets the particular stats. After trying a few different ways of point buy, human variant, and the level 4 ASI, I couldn't see how it was done.

*hand to face*

It makes sense now. He took the Medium Armor feat as his variant feat, which grants +1 stat as well as shield/medium armor proficiency. At level 4, he took Shieldmaster.

That would be an interesting build to play with.

[Lollerabe]

Just spitballing here, but why not just give her magic initiate with the fairy dragon as a free feat? As in besides the Vhuman feat. She dosent need to follow ALL pc rules, she's a bad'ass pirate boss trained by a dragon. She got an extra feat. Otherwise she's mechanically 'identical' to any other lvl 7vhuman rogue.

Human feat : lucky/xbow/alert/sentinel
4th lvl ASI: dex bump

Dragon tutelage: free magic initiate with BB, familiar and flavor cantrip

Done deal ?

[Regitnui]

Just spitballing here, but why not just give her magic initiate with the fairy dragon as a free feat? As in besides the Vhuman feat. She dosent need to follow ALL pc rules, she's a bad'ass pirate boss trained by a dragon. She got an extra feat. Otherwise she's mechanically 'identical' to any other lvl 7vhuman rogue.

Human feat : lucky/xbow/alert/sentinel
4th lvl ASI: dex bump

Dragon tutelage: free magic initiate with BB, familiar and flavor cantrip

Done deal ?

Wouldn't say done, but that does look like the strongest/most popular build.

[Lollerabe]

Hehe fair enough. From my personal experience the coolest npcs in our campaign are cool because our dm made awesome character concepts. I know my dm follows the rule of cool when designing them and not PC char creation rules - for all that's worth.

It sounds like you got a cool backstory and persona for this femme fatale, rather or not she has 20 dex or knows a few spells she shouldn't be able to by pc rules, shouldn't matter that much. I doubt your players are gonna ask for her actual sheet :)

What I'm trying to say is this: to make an omelet you gotta break a few eggs, to make a truely bad'ass npc you might have to 'Break' a few rules.

Anyway good luck man, sounds like a fun campaign

[Regitnui]

I might come back to ask about the other Princes, since thus has been so productive. Thanks, everyone!

[Deox]

I'm also curious as to how he gets the particular stats. After trying a few different ways of point buy, human variant, and the level 4 ASI, I couldn't see how it was done.

*hand to face*

It makes sense now. He took the Medium Armor feat as his variant feat, which grants +1 stat as well as shield/medium armor proficiency. At level 4, he took Shieldmaster.

That would be an interesting build to play with.

Yep, that's correct. Disconnect between my brain and fingers. :smallsigh: