The Fencer

So I’ll come right out and say that I’m not thrilled about how finesse fighting in D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder is epitomized by the Duelist prestige class. Considering that swordplay was an art in which any self-respecting young nobleman should receive some training, it just strikes me as odd that fencing should require you to be at least 6th level already. To address this while not invalidating the usefulness of the Duelist, I decided to reprise fencing in a new base class…

FENCER

Fighter Base Class Variant

• Hit Die
  d10
• Base Attack Bonus
  Good
  
• Fort Save
  Poor
• Reflex Save
  Good
  
• Will Save
  Poor
• Skills
  Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), and Sense Motive (Wis).
  
• Skill Ranks per Level
  4 + Int modifier
• Weapon and Armor Proficiency
  A fencer is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Class Abilities by Level

1. Weapon Finesse
2. Two-weapon Fighting, Two-weapon Defense
3. Canny Defense
4. Parry, Riposte
5. Weapon Training: Light Blades, Insightful Strike
6. For levels 6 thru 20, see below.

• Bravery
  +1 bonus on parry attempts.
• Armor Training
  +1 bonus to canny defense
• Weapon Training
  +1 bonus to insightful strike
• Armor Mastery
  Defensive Roll (as per the rogue talent)
• Weapon Mastery
  Unchanged

Fencers & Duelists
Fencer levels stack with Duelist levels for purposes of canny defense. Any time the duelist class grants a class feature that the fencer already has, improve the benefit of that class feature by +1.