Bard/Swashbuckler multiclass advice?

[Kirook]

My party is getting ready to play the War for the Crown Adventure Path, and I’m trying to figure out how I should build my character. I know I want to be a high-CHA party face type, since it’s a very intrigue-focused campaign. The Bard’s skillmonkey abilities and party buffs appeal to me a lot—but so do the Swashbuckler’s flashy combat powers. Would it be better to multiclass or choose one or the other? And if I do multiclass, what are some good strategies for getting the most “bang for my buck”, so to speak?

[Andry]

I would go Inspired Blade Swashbuckler 1/ Investigator X tons of skills,

[Geddy2112]

Second both dipping swash, and dipping inspired blade. If you are going to use a rapier, inspired blade is a straight upgrade to swashbuckler. Extra if you are using an INT based class or character. Swash is a very front loaded class, so you are fine with a single rank of any swash variety.

If you wanna get really cheeky, other good single charisma dips are Life/Nature/Lunar oracle to replace CHA for dex for AC and CMD or reflex. It will mean you dump dex, making it less attractive for finesse weapons. Desna's divine fighting technique lets you use CHA for to hit and damage with a starknife, and it works with swash fine(not inspired blade). Scaled fist monk is CHA based monk if you don't want to use armor.

I would dip swash and do bard the rest, and if you wanna get even more martial go for skald. Although as suggested, investigator works really well with inspired blade.

[Kirook]

I definitely like some of the ideas that have been pitched here. I’m using a rapier, so dipping Inspired Blade will definitely work. And I didn’t think Investigator would really work for my character in terms of fluff, but reading its class description has convinced me otherwise. I’m also considering dipping into Gunslinger, since Grit stacks with Panache and I can do a “sword and pistol” style character.

My only concern about some of this, especially the Investigator, is that the build has a few too many abilities it depends on—CHA for Bard effects and Panache/Grit, INT for skills and Investigator effects, and DEX for the rapier and potentially a gun.

Note: My DM is using special “feat tax removal” rules, meaning that I don’t have to actually take Weapon Finesse. I can’t post the link because I don’t have permission to do that yet, but I can copy and paste relevant sections if the new rules have any effect on the build. For example:


Weapon Finesse

Gone. The “light weapons” category has been renamed to “finesse weapons.” Characters can choose to use either their dexterity bonus or their strength bonus to hit with these weapons, no feat required. “Finesse” is also now a weapon attribute like “brace” or “trip,” allowing a weapon in another category to be finessed (like the rapier).

Weapon Finesse is the ultimate feat tax. It’s begrudgingly mandatory for most rogues, specifically two-weapon fighting builds. I understand Paizo worries that dexterity might become an uber stat, but weapon finesse still doesn’t grant a damage bonus. It’s really the only thing rogue’s have to compensate for their lackluster BAB.