The sea is my one true love. Well, despite the sea nymph that begs me to stay every time I pass near the sea she calls home. That was a wild week, let me tell you.
Ahem.
Name’s Sharn. If you need a mate on your boat, I’m your man. It doesn’t matter where you’re sailing or what you’re hauling, I’m happy to join up and earn my keep just to stay on the sea. I’m as good in the rigging as I am with these blades. And I’m damn good with these blades.
Running? What makes you think I’m running from something? It’s someone. It’s not my fault that the high priest’s daughter couldn’t resist my stories and turned up at my room in the inn missing some of her clothes. And it’s certainly not my fault that her old man couldn’t just leave her be to live her own life. I’m good, but I don’t relish the thought of taking on the entirety of the city guard or any crusaders that get uppity about what transpired.
Now… where do I sign and when do we ship out?
This character was actually inspired by a conversation with an old roommate and gaming buddy of mine at work a few weeks ago when we were throwing around character ideas for him to play in a 4th Edition game his wife was starting for their family. He had the concept of a pirate bard after discovering the band Alestorm and I liked the idea enough to run with it with some slight tweaks, turning him more into a swashbuckler than your “typical pirate.” We’re exploring the combination of the College of Swords Bard and Swashbuckler Rogue which provides some interesting synergy. The Dual Wielder feat is important because it lets you get a bigger damage die out of wielding a rapier in your main hand instead of a second short sword or scimitar while still maintaining your ability to finesse and deal sneak attack damage. You’re also incredibly skilled with this build with multiple picks of Expertise, getting double your proficiency bonus on four skills at level 6 as this build shows. How you advance from here is really up to you, but I would recommend getting your Bard levels up to at least 6 for the Extra Attack class feature your College gets you. The higher level Swashbuckler abilities are alright, but the benefit to more Rogue levels is of course in increasing your sneak attack damage bonus.
Ben Erickson
