How would you build a wandering swordsman?

[H_H_F_F]

This isn't for any particular game, just curiosity - though I'd probably use some of the elements suggested for NPCs in one point or another.

Imagine a classic master swordsman and wanderer. Light armour or no armour, one weapon - preferably a longsword or a bastard sword, but other swords can fly too.

Doesn't have to be super optimised or anything, just competent. Everything is allowed, but I'd be glad to see at least some ideas without ToB and without prominent spellcasting. Elaborate as much or as little as you want.

Any ideas?

[DeTess]

Straight warblade would get you exactly what you're looking for, so let's get that trivial answer out of the way.

Now, for a non-trivial answer, we'll need to look at what exactly a wandering swordsman is. The way I see them they're fairly similar to the 'man with no name' archetypes from westerns, just moved to medieval times (or probably more accurately, 'the man with no name' is a wandering swordsman moved to the wilde west). These characters are generally recognizable both by being supremely skilled with their weapons, but also because they're generally quite skilled in other areas too. Most notably, the survival, bluff, intimidate and sense motive skills come to mind, as well as some perception-based skills. Because of this, the fighter class becomes pretty impractical because they just don't have the skill support you're looking for.

Instead, I'd probably go either ranger or barbarian as the base class. One way I could build it was to go human barbarian with a single level of human paragon and the able learner feat to get all the relevant skills as class skills. I'd then grab the 'ferocity' ACF to replace rage with something that feels more in place for a supremely skilled fighter (ferocity gives +4 Strength and Dex, -2 to ranged attacks beyond 30 feet and makes you sickened after it ends). I'd obviously sprinkle in martial prestige classes to taste at higher levels, but if it was for an NPC I might even just go with straight barbarian.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

This isn't for any particular game, just curiosity - though I'd probably use some of the elements suggested for NPCs in one point or another.

Imagine a classic master swordsman and wanderer. Light armour or no armour, one weapon - preferably a longsword or a bastard sword, but other swords can fly too.

Doesn't have to be super optimised or anything, just competent. Everything is allowed, but I'd be glad to see at least some ideas without ToB and without prominent spellcasting. Elaborate as much or as little as you want.

Any ideas?Well, "competent" pretty much kills all the low-tier classes, and your restrictions kill most of the other martials, so we're talking a spellcaster, skill-user, or a splatbook character. Maybe a barbarian with good all-around ability scores (including Int).

ToB, of course, is easily the go-to for this. Do you have any limits on what books are allowed, or what you want them to do?

[Vizzerdrix]

Hmm... Generic warrior human would be my go to. Grab 2 flaws to get 5 feats total starting. Magical Training (to get mending, light, and prestadigitation to ease travel). Ewp-Jovar. Wild Cohort (for a dog to start). Sneak Attack (generic class option). Improved Initiative. Put a little bit of skill points into survival, and keep Ijutsu Focus topped off. Get Ancestral Relic at 3rd.

[Silly Name]

As far as Barbarian variants go, I'd pick Whirling Frenzy (+4 to Strength, +2 to AC and Reflex saves) as a substitute to Rage if I wanted to build them as a master swordsman rather than a raging berserk.

The idea is a bit vague, because if the character would be a dirty fighter then I could see using levels of rogue and swashbuckler with Daring Outlaw to build them (however, he'd be limited to using rapiers and shortswords as far as swords go). Eventually kensai would be a fitting PrC for such a character, but the RP requirements may clash with the whole "wandering" part.

But since you mentioned that this character should be lightly armored, or not armored at all, we should perhaps focus on classes that gain benefits from wearing little or no armor: off the top of my head we have Scout, the aforementioned Swashbuckler, Ranger and Monk (Ranger and Monk aren't a good pick for this concept except as dips, imho).

The Scout could be an interesting pick if you're ok with not having full BaB, and you could throw in a couple Ranger levels for martial weapon proficiency and take Swift Hunter. I guess having favored enemies may fit with the character's background, it's a rather common trope. High-mobility fighter kinda fits what you want, I think, you have enough skill points to simulate someone having travelled over the world/country and picking various odd skills and knowledge, and you're good at killing stuff.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

As far as Barbarian variants go, I'd pick Whirling Frenzy (+4 to Strength, +2 to AC and Reflex saves) as a substitute to Rage if I wanted to build them as a master swordsman rather than a raging berserk.

The idea is a bit vague, because if the character would be a dirty fighter then I could see using levels of rogue and swashbuckler with Daring Outlaw to build them (however, he'd be limited to using rapiers and shortswords as far as swords go). Eventually kensai would be a fitting PrC for such a character, but the RP requirements may clash with the whole "wandering" part.

But since you mentioned that this character should be lightly armored, or not armored at all, we should perhaps focus on classes that gain benefits from wearing little or no armor: off the top of my head we have Scout, the aforementioned Swashbuckler, Ranger and Monk (Ranger and Monk aren't a good pick for this concept except as dips, imho).

The Scout could be an interesting pick if you're ok with not having full BaB, and you could throw in a couple Ranger levels for martial weapon proficiency and take Swift Hunter. I guess having favored enemies may fit with the character's background, it's a rather common trope. High-mobility fighter kinda fits what you want, I think, you have enough skill points to simulate someone having travelled over the world/country and picking various odd skills and knowledge, and you're good at killing stuff.At least one level in a spellcasting class and ranks in Craft (Alchemy) would give a dirty fighter a large edge in combat, assuming s/he could craft such items. Throwing tanglefoot bags, thunderstones, and alchemist's fire would be good ways to screw over enemies and hit above your level. That, and cantrips can make life on the road a lot easier.

[vasilidor]

I mostly play pathfinder these days, and have most recently fallen in love with spheres of might (it is better, in my opinion, to ToB).
so, as a traveling swordsman I would do a conscript with a shortsword or longsword and the dedicated duelist martial tradition as a starting point. now the special thing about conscripts is that they get so many combat talents, 30 +MT, before you take into consideration for those you can get with feats, which can get it up to 50 +MT. I would use both the Duelist Sphere and the Fencing Sphere. from the equipment sphere i would take unarmored training (essentially a dodge bonus in literally everything but name, would have been simpler and just as effective as a dodge bonus) as it gives a scaling increase to ac as long as you do not wear armor. now by level 20, you should have about 5-10 talents in a single sphere to get the best utility out of it, not counting the equipment sphere. given this I would go with either the Athletics Sphere or the Scout Sphere as my third choice as to where to pull my talents from, as they give methods of increasing mobility (athletics sphere) and increasing your ability to deal with difficult monster types (with the exceptions of incorperal or swarms, now that i think of it, but the alchemy sphere has solutions for those). in the end i would probably have about 35 talents from up to 5 different spheres. Is this an exact build? no. no it is not. but it is something that i would have fun with.
alternatively there is a pair of compatible class archetypes for the fighter that can be taken at the same time to combine path of war (the pathfinder equivalent to ToB) and Spheres of Might, that might be fun.
thinking about my first idea of the conscript some more, i would probably start out as half orc or hobgoblin (i like dark vision, but not being small or slow). with the dedicated duelist martial tradition i would be proficient with all simple weapons and light armors with a selection of swords ( bastard sword, butterfly knife, double chicken saber, dual blade, duelist sword, estoc, greatsword, longsword, pistol, rapier, shortsword and swordbreaker dagger). now next i have the option of either gauntlet shield or unarmored training (If you do not intend to use more than light armor, go with unarmored training and later buy a +1 shirt of various stuff adding to +9) I automatically get finesse training (effectively weapon finesse for anything that qualifies for it) with this martial tradition and can pick either the duelist sphere or the fencing sphere, I pick the duelist sphere. then as a level 1 conscript i then get to pick two more combat talents (one at each level plus another at each odd level). with those two talents i will start in on athletics sphere for increased mobility. now at level one i become the guy that nicks his opponents and then they need to choose between chasing me or stopping themselves from bleeding to death as I move out of their reach. now i have to chose whether or not i trade out my bonus feats for optional class features. some of those optional class features are quite nice, like evasion (1pt) or martial flexibility (2pt) but that means i trade out my first level bonus feat, plus two more feats per point of customization. now here is a fun bit, i can get sneak attack(2pt for a downgraded version from the rogues), which the damage from that stacks with what you get from the fencing sphere and the damage increases proc from the same circumstances. to be honest, any bonus feats i did not spend on customization points would become combat talents, with the exceptions of improved initiative and power attack, which i would take as soon as possible.

[Telonius]

If Tome of Battle isn't an option, a Horizon Walker build of some kind would be how I'd build it. (Not necessarily a Horizon Tripper, though that's a famous and effective build).

[Saintheart]

You'll find at least three build stubs for this concept at the end of my handbook on the bastard sword (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?598167-A-Bar-Sinister-Options-for-Players-and-DMs-using-the-Bastard-Sword-or-Katana).

[Gavinfoxx]

If I wanted to make a Wuxia, I'd be a Warblade. Other than that, I'd pick an absurdly acf'ed (seriously, freaking all the acf's! From everywhere!) Ranger. That Dreamscarred Press psychic ranger might work well, it gets psychic warrior powers.

[MultitudeMan]

There's always Jack B. Quick (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?329040-Famous-Optimized-Character-Builds-Archive&p=17031211#post17031211), unless the off-hand handaxe is outside the image you had in your mind.

[Psyren]

If ToB/PoW, Spheres, and spellcasting aren't on the table - I would probably go with an Unchained Monk with a Temple Sword and some useful ki powers and style feats.

Alternatively - Martial Master Lore Warden Fighter with Combat Stamina and Advanced Weapon/Armor Training.

[Unavenger]

For Pathfinder, vigilante seems relatively obvious, since one of the things I see the wandering swordsman concept as doing is just showing up occasionally and then disappearing without a trace.

If you want the "I'm so skilled with a sword that I can teleport around the battlefield!" or "I throw my sword, it goes spinny-spinny through several people, and returns to my hand because I'm just that good" kind of style, then ToB and PoW are your friends.

If you don't want hilariously obvious magic that everyone will insist isn't magic, and you don't want to play Pathfinder either, I would almost say rogue (or sneak attack fighter, probably with thug for good measure if you don't want the heavy armour) just so you can show up out of nowhere and cut your enemy up.

Exotic Weapon Master is decent for bastard swords, as you can get twice your strength instead of one and a half times, and also trip with the bastard sword or even throw it if you want to (although throwing it isn't ideal). If you decide that doublesword is your jam, it also allows you to make a weird flurry attack with it, and doublesword also has the benefit that more attacks means more sneak attacks because, like, TWF. Not sure if that meshes with your only-one-weapon plan, though.

[Rebel7284]

Swiftblade allows you to both wander and sword more effectively, so I would probably aim for something like that.

[el minster]

Swashbuckler with Daring Outlaw and shadow blade and trade out trapfinding in your rogue dip

[Wildstag]

If you’re looking for light armor and a single weapon, I’d point you towards the alternate fighter from Dragon 310, the Kensai. You get specialization with a specific weapon, special abilities to get more attacks per round (in exchange for a feat), and static bonuses to attack and damage rolls.

It’s not great (it is a Fighter), but you look kinda cool. It works well with TWF too if you want to wield two of the same sword. I used Oversized TWF to use longswords before I could specialize with whips.

[Sinner's Garden]

Honestly, I think Bard could be fine. They have lots of gishy options and are one of the only classes that can actually pull it off without suffering massive regret. With Snowflake Wardance, Swiftblade, and well-chosen spells, as the bard has many subtle but powerful selections, he can stroll into town, cut down some monsters, leave a strong impression on everyone he passes, and be on his way without having to stop for all kinds of petty maintenance that befalls mere mortals. I also seem to recall the bard having fairly surprising options for dimensional travel, if you really wanted to play it to the hilt and have him walking from world to world, seeking to elevate his swordsmanship to ever greater heights. The part where he's very skilled and trained in the arts lets you go full warrior-poet instead of just random murderhobo.

[Demidos]

I saw going to add to bard, maybe with a VOW to never cast a spell (since you wanted it to be mundane). Just strip the spellcasting from the class, and it's still quite strong. Add a level dip in monk to get 10 ft steps via Sparring Dummy, and as many levels as desired into crusader to get Song of the white raven, white raven tactics, or anything else. It'll look something like this

Classes: Bard 1/Monk (Overwhelming attack variant for Power attack) 1/Bard +/Crusader +

Feats: Snowflake Wardance, Dragonfire Inspiration, Swift Concentration (skill trick), Song of the White Raven, Knowledge Devotion, Collector of Stories Skill Trick, Law Devotion (which does not require you to be lawful), Power Attack (Bonus feat)

Items: Slippers of battle dancing, Training/Sparring Dummy (can't remember the exact name), Shadow Cloak (*2?), Harmonizing/Echoing Sudden Stunning Blade


--------------------------------
I would include a note of warning -- EVEN WITHOUT THE CASTING this is likely to overshadow a lot of other melee builds, even at mid to high op. My table tends to run very high optimization, so I would MAKE SURE this won't throw your table out of whack before bringing it.

In summary, this will let you take 10 ft steps and MULTIPLE TURNS at once, dodge most attacks, have truly insane bonuses to hit. You should be able to power attack almost to full and still hit reliably, inflicting very high DC save or lose on those you hit. You also deal fairly high damage. Depending on your DM's allowance of cheese the wording of law devotion implies by speaking (free action) you can reset your bonus to AC, giving you a large bonus to AC AND to hit.

[H_H_F_F]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

[H_H_F_F]

I saw going to add to bard, maybe with a VOW to never cast a spell (since you wanted it to be mundane). Just strip the spellcasting from the class, and it's still quite strong. Add a level dip in monk to get 10 ft steps via Sparring Dummy, and as many levels as desired into crusader to get Song of the white raven, white raven tactics, or anything else. It'll look something like this

Classes: Bard 1/Monk (Overwhelming attack variant for Power attack) 1/Bard +/Crusader +

Feats: Snowflake Wardance, Dragonfire Inspiration, Swift Concentration (skill trick), Song of the White Raven, Knowledge Devotion, Collector of Stories Skill Trick, Law Devotion (which does not require you to be lawful), Power Attack (Bonus feat)

Items: Slippers of battle dancing, Training/Sparring Dummy (can't remember the exact name), Shadow Cloak (*2?), Harmonizing/Echoing Sudden Stunning Blade


--------------------------------
I would include a note of warning -- EVEN WITHOUT THE CASTING this is likely to overshadow a lot of other melee builds, even at mid to high op. My table tends to run very high optimization, so I would MAKE SURE this won't throw your table out of whack before bringing it.

In summary, this will let you take 10 ft steps and MULTIPLE TURNS at once, dodge most attacks, have truly insane bonuses to hit. You should be able to power attack almost to full and still hit reliably, inflicting very high DC save or lose on those you hit. You also deal fairly high damage. Depending on your DM's allowance of cheese the wording of law devotion implies by speaking (free action) you can reset your bonus to AC, giving you a large bonus to AC AND to hit.

How do you get around the monk alignment issue?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

How do you get around the monk alignment issue?Chaos monk (http://srd.dndtools.org/srd/classes/baseCore/monk.html#chaos-monk)?

[Thurbane]

As others have said, Warblade (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2) fits very well.

Flavour wise, I really like the Ghostwalker PrC (Sword and Fist 3.0, p.20) for this role. Mechanically, its a bit sub-par though, and the reqs feats are pretty bad. Still, people made some interesting dishes with it back in Iron Chef XXI (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?198921).

[Calthropstu]

I'd go mostly fighter with a smidgeon of rogue.

Several ranks in survival so he can live off the land if needed. Strength would not be his best stat, but rather dex. I'd take the improved feats of several combat maneuvers, especially disarm and take feats to use dex instead of strength for combat maneuvers. I'd then work on crit fishing abilities. Most of my money would go into my weapon.

[Gavinfoxx]

For reference, here's how I'd stat Conan. I think this might be relevant.

Spirit Lion Totem, Bear Totem, Whirling Frenzy Barbarian 2 / Wilderness, Penetrating Strike Rogue 3 / Strong-Arm, Skilled City Dweller (trade Ride for Tumble) Ranger 3 / Zhentarim Soldier, Thug, Dungeon Crusher, Hit and Run, Physical Prowess, Skilled City Dweller (trade Ride for Tumble) Fighter 3 / Warblade 2

[gorfnab]

Here is a unarmored swordsman build I have used before.

Human or Strongheart Halfling
1. Swashbuckler - Deadly Defense (CS), Combat Expertise, B: Weapon Finesse
2. Cobra Strike (UA) Decisive Strike (PHBII) Monk - B: Dodge
3. Cobra Strike (UA) Monk - Carmendine Monk (CoV), B: Mobility
4. Swashbuckler
5. Swashbuckler
6. Thief Acrobat - Combat Reflexes
7. Thief Acrobat
8. Thief Acrobat
9. Thief Acrobat - Einhander (PHBII)
10. Thief Acrobat or Warblade
11. Warblade or Duelist
12. Warblade or Duelist - Ironheart Aura (ToB)
13. Duelist
14. Duelist
15. Duelist - Robilar's Gambit (PHBII)
16. Duelist
17. Duelist
18. Duelist - Stormgaurd Warrior (ToB)
19. Duelist
20. Duelist

This build uses a number of the options mentioned in this handbook: A short guide to defensive fighting (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?178445-A-short-guide-to-defensive-fighting)

Levels 10 through 12 can be rearranged depending on your needs. The current setup gives you Improved Evasion and Uncanny Dodge at these levels. However if you don't need Improved Evasion take one less level of Thief Acrobat and move the first level of Warblade to level 10. If you don't need Uncanny Dodge don't take the 2nd level of Warblade and instead go into Duelist a level early. If you don't need either abilities take Warblade at level 10 and enter Duelist at level 11.

If flaws are available, choose two and then grab the feats EWP: Broadblade Shortsword (CAdv, pre-errata version if possible) and Versatile Unarmed Strike (PHBII). If traits are available pick up Cautious (UA).

Items:
Vest of Defense (MIC)
Bracers of Blocking (Dragon 322)
Broadblade Shortsword (CAdv) (pre-errata version if possible) or Rapier with the Defensive Surge (MIC) enhancement.

[Maat Mons]

I tend to imagine such characters are Dexterity-based. But I've never been happy with the support for Dex-based melee in 3.5. I took a look at Pathfinder, and ... it's still not great.



For 3.5:

The class is pretty painful to get into, but you could dip 2 levels of Champion of Corellon Larethian to add both Str and Dex to damage. Though you'd be wielding an elven thinblade or elven courtblade instead of a longsword or bastard sword.



For Pathfinder:

A Warrior Poet Samurai with the Slashing Grace feat could apply Dex to attack and damage with a bastard sword at 1st level. Though he'd need to be human to get all the feats that early, and he'd need to wield it 1-handed to apply Dex to damage. He'd also get Cha to AC while unarmored.

A Virtuous Bravo Paladin with the Slashing Grace feat could apply Dex to attack and damage with a longsword at 1st level. Doing the same thing with a bastard sword would come online later. The same holds for a Swashbuckler. And this still doesn't let you wield the longsword/katana 2-handed.

The Devish Dance feat lets (almost) anyone apply Dex to attack and damage with a scimitar at 1st level. This one forces you to go 1-handed too.

[Piggy Knowles]

If you want to stick to one weapon, lightly armored, no ToB or spells and no standard ubercharging silliness... might I recommend a kalashtar a kalashtar who focuses on the Dancing with Shadows feat?

This one which is fun because it makes Combat Expertise actually pretty decent, and it gives you a flavorful fighting style that isn't just "charge, leap attack, shock trooper, next." The most basic combo is Improved Combat Expertise + Power Attack + Dancing with Shadows. Attack using Improved Combat Expertise to the max (I recommend making this first attack a trip attack, since that's a touch attack and the penalty won't matter much), giving you a huge AC. On your next turn you get a bonus to your attack equal to the penalty you took with Improved Combat Expertise, thanks to graceful lunge from Dancing with Shadows. Go ahead and feed that bonus right back into Power Attack for a sizable damage boost.

You'll need ranks in Perform (dance), which means straight fighter will be a pain, but the Darksong Knight ACF from Champions of Valor or a quick dip into rogue or monk can fix that right up. Try this on for size:

Kalashtar, Darksong Knight Fighter 6+
1 Fighter1- Combat Expertise, Improved Trip
2 Fighter2- Power Attack
3 Fighter3- Path of Shadows
4 Fighter4- Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword/other sword of choice)*
5 Fighter5-
6 Fighter6- Improved Combat Expertise, Dancing with Shadows

*Can be replaced with a feat to build toward another combat maneuver or style, such as Dodge for Karmic Strike, Elusive Target, etc.

Your fighting style is fully online at that point, so from there... do whatever you want, really. You'll be a defensive dancing swordsman, darting in to trip foes while dancing away from opposing blows, then following up with a powerful but graceful lunge attack to finish them off. No magic or ToB required. (Though as always, if you ARE willing to add in some ToB, you can make this even better!)