The Swiftblade
While sorcerers and wizards consider haste one of many spells in their repertoire, swiftblades covet haste above all others. As a swiftblade, your arcane-assisted speed combined with melee skill can turn your first strike into a deadly assault. Swiftblades discover unconventional ways to utilize the haste spell, permanently augmenting their speed and fusing complimentary spell effects into each casting. In a very real sense, swiftblades bond to their chosen spell until the two become immutable.
As they advance in level, swiftblades gain increased spellcasting abilities, heightened speed, and unparalleled understanding of the haste spell. They eventually learn how to subsume the haste spell in higher level spell
slots to powerful effect.
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Entry Requirements
- Base Attack Bonus: +3.
- Skills: Concentration 6 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks.
- Spellcasting: Ability to cast haste.
- Feats: Dodge, Mobility.
- Weapon Proficiency: Must be proficient with at least one martial weapon.
- Special: Must have spent the entire previous level using all 3rd level spell slots to exclusively cast haste.
Becoming a Swiftblade
Bards, sorcerers, and wizards are the three most obvious candidates for swiftblades. Bards can easily fulfill the martial weapon proficiency requirement, but sorcerers and wizards do not share their expertise. Elf candidates are naturally proficient with racial martial weapons and human candidates can take Martial Weapon Proficiency with their extra feat to avoid losing a level of spellcasting. A sorcerer or wizard might otherwise multiclass into a warrior class for one level. Besides their spellcasting ability score, Dexterity is the second most important attribute for swiftblades. It allows them to avoid blows and potentially strike first in combat. Strength and Constitution are also important to swiftblades, who are largely melee characters. Not having the resilience of pure warriors, Tumble is an ideal skill choice for swiftblades to avoid attacks of opportunity.
Swiftblades in the world
The swiftblade is an excellent choice for martially-orientated arcane spellcasters. Although the swiftblade requires spellcasting compromises, it does empower the character with the ability to switch between melee and spell combat. When compared to more studious arcane practitioners, swiftblades are better able to survive encounters after all their spells have been used for the day. This allows the members of this prestige class to fill multiple rolls within an adventuring party. While most swiftblades are resolved to lives of danger and excitement, some darker members of this prestige class resort to working as assassins. It's also not uncommon to find swiftblades among rangers and scouts, as they are well suited to skirmish warfare.
"Kaavel stood quietly as the hunting party of orcs stormed past the tree he stood behind. They almost caught the swiftblade by surprise before he was able to call upon the one spell that bore him through every challenge. In an instant, the entire world slowed as if mired in a thick morass. The orcs in front of him moved at a fraction of their normal speed. The swiftblade unsheathed his elegant rapier and steeled himself for the grisly task that followed. In truth, Kaavel enjoyed this part more than he ever admitted. They were orcs, after all, and deserved to be treated like vermin."
Organisations
The wandering nature of swiftblades makes it hard for this prestige class to centralize its teachings. At best, a master and apprentice might be encountered traveling together. On the few occasions when a formal school has been established, devoted arcane spellcasters have gone out of their way to discredit such institutions and discourage students from embracing their teachings. The reason behind such attacks is both edifying and surprising. Powerful spellcasters quickly realize how effective swiftblades could be in combat without ever mastering the higher-level spells. Swiftblades are thus a wildcard that threatens to destroy those standards. Without turning swiftblades into an alluring, forbidden practice, they slander the schools publicly and outlaw their expansion privately.
Resources
Following this prestige class quickly leads one to realize that there are few resources available to help you, as your dedicated focus to one spell is highly irregular among spellcasters. Short of making contact with another swiftblade, you must forge ahead largely alone. Not surprisingly, this revelation has inspired many swiftblades to embrace a nomadic lifestyle in search of obscure, arcane lore. This is one of the main reasons why swiftblades are wanderers at heart, constantly seeking new adventurous challenges against which to measure their emerging abilities. The monetary reward of treasure hunting is often what fuels swiftblades most.
