Roguish Archetype
Fencer
The fencer is a deft combatant, nimbly dancing around the battlefield and frustrating their foes. They often adopt a devil-may-care attitude, aware that their success in combat depends as much on their reputation as on their skill. They are able to dodge and weave, disrupting their foes before striking home with an elegant blade.
Fencers may come from any background; some are noble duelists, others piratical knaves, and still others rags-to-riches adventurers hoping to build a fortune off their skill with a sword. They may be of any alignment; while some may be selfish scoundrels, tending towards evil alignments, others simply prize their freedom above all else.
Fencer Features
| Rogue Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Effortless Charm, Swaggering Step |
| 9th | Deadly Eye |
| 13th | Untouchable Swagger |
| 17th | Drive the Point |
Effortless Charm
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your easy confidence shows itself through all your actions. You gain proficiency in either the Deception or Persuasion skill, or another skill of your choice if you are already proficient in both. In addition, when you roll initiative, you may add your Charisma modifier to the result.
Swaggering Step
Also at 3rd level, you are able to weave around the battlefield, confidently taking advantage of the chaos of combat. Once per round when a creature makes an opportunity attack against you, you can make the attack miss, and grant yourself advantage on your next roll against that creature. You can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after completing a short or long rest.
Additionally, you can use your Sneak Attack against any enemy who has missed an attack against you since the end of your last turn, as long as you don't have disadvantage on the attack.
Deadly Eye
At 9th level, your skill with a blade is exceptional. When you make a melee attack, if you hit with a roll of 19 on the die and the attack isn't already a critical hit, you can apply bonus damage equal to half your Sneak Attack damage.
Untouchable Swagger
At 13th level, your foes are simply unable to match your presence. Your Swaggering Step ability is no longer limited to once per round, and after you have used it, all attacks against you have disadvantage until the start of your next turn.
Drive the Point
At 17th level, you have mastered the art of turning setbacks into success. After you make an attack roll but before you know if it hits, you may choose to add your Charisma modifier to the die roll. Additionally, if the die roll + your Charisma modifier is a 19 or higher, the attack may trigger your Deadly Eye feature.
You can modify an attack roll in this way twice, regaining all uses after completing a short or long rest.
Fencer quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this archetype to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You never let your sword out of your sight, even clutching it in your sleep. |
| 2 | You pride yourself on always wearing the new fashions. |
| 3 | You start every fight with your sword in your non-dominant hand. |
| 4 | You keep a collection of fine feathers to decorate your hats. |
| 5 | Your second-most prized possession is your scabbard, because your sword deserves a luxurious home. |
| 6 | You have a vendetta against a six-fingered man. |
Change Log
v1.0
- Updated art
v0.5
- Buffed Swaggering Step (advantage)
v0.4
- Prevented various means of achieving 2.5x crits
- Rephrased Drive the Point for clarity
- Adjusted Untouchable Swagger
v0.3
- Updated art and license
v0.2
- A few language cleanups
- Rethemed from Buccaneer to Fencer
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Fencer created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art: Human Duelist, by Olga Jaworska
Background Image Stains Jared Ondricek
License
© 2024 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.