Full ReBuild Friday - Jester [Human Swashbuckler] (Patreon)

Per the votes you all cast, here's the latest Full ReBuild Friday! I took the opportunity to build something a good bit different this time around. I'll get the next rebuild vote up, so be sure to keep an eye out for that if you want to weigh in.

As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choices may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

Let's delve into the Darkest Dungeon and share a laugh or two with the Jester!

THE JESTER

CHARACTER Sarmenti

SOURCE Darkest Dungeon

BUILD GOALS

o    Once a jester in a noble’s court, he turned on the tyrant after many mistreatments and used an eldritch song to slaughter the liege and his entourage

o    He mainly operates as a support unit in Darkest Dungeons, but is very handy with his sickle and dagger

o    For example, his Dirk Stab has him lunge forward with his dagger while Harvest and Slice Off both use his sickle to inflict bleed though the former hits a pair of foes

o    For his more musical abilities, Solo has him move to the front and mark himself but enhance his defenses

o    His Battle Ballad buffs the accuracy and speed of his allies while the Inspiring Tune reduces their Stress

o    Fittingly finishing off his skills is Finale, which unleashes an immensely powerful attack that is buffed by the other skills used before it. He then moves to the back and is left weakened

o    When it comes to his camping skills, they have a heavy focus on reducing stress, sometimes at the expense of others, but he can also use Tiger’s Eye to hype up an ally to increase their accuracy

Summary of Goals: This is another versatile build coming to us from the Darkest Dungeon. I’m looking to make a highly mobile combatant that can dance across the battlefield while bolstering his allies and leaving foes bleeding. He dual wields his weapons and also has some powerful music magic. His Finale is meant to follow up his other moves, and should be a big attack that he builds up to and can empower through other means, so we’ll have to see what we can do.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Cataclyst Human

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma

o    Ancestry Feat: Gloomseer

Background: Clown

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Charisma

o    Skill Increase: Performance (T), Clown Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Virtuosic Performance – Comedy

Class & Subclass: Battledancer Swashbuckler

o    Class Ability Boost: +Dexterity

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (T), Deception (T), Diplomacy (T), Occultism (T), Society (T), Stealth (T)

o    Class Feat: Focused Fascination

o    Skill Feat: Fascinating Performance

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +1, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +3)

I am going for something very different this time around when it comes to building the Jester, but I think it still fits the character quite well. There are some human feats that I really like, but I’m going to start with something a bit more functional rather than flavorful. The Gloomseer will help him operate within the eponymous Darkest Dungeon whereas Cataclyst feels incredibly appropriate for what the hamlet experienced, even if the Jester wasn’t present for its downfall. I did end up leaning into the ‘Jester’ epithet with the clown background. I was originally considering the entertainer background, but that ends up being a little redundant with some of the other options that I’m looking at. And that does bring us to the Jester’s class, which is undoubtedly the biggest change of this entire build. Rather than a bard, I will be doing this build as a swashbuckler. It allows me to truly try something new while still playing into its kit. It has and encourages the mobility in the Jester’s kit, which does admittedly feature a decent focus on weapon attacks, and it even features Finishers as a means of potentially resembling his Finale since he has to set them up. There’s even a battledancer style to put the focus on Performance! Focused Fascination can make the Jester the center of the scene.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Bard Dedication – Maestro Muse

o    Skill Feat: No Cause for Alarm

o    Skill Increase: Intimidation (T), Thievery (T)

o    Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – guidance

o    Gear: ring of discretion

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Feather Step

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (E), Performance (E)

o    Stylish Trick: Impressive Performance

o    Gear: +1 sickle, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Leading Dance

o    Skill Feat: Fascinating Performance

o    Gear: doubling rings, +1 sickle, necklace of knives, ring of discretion

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +4.5, Con +0, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +4)

o    Ancestry Feat: Confident Actualization

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (E)

o    Gear: +1 striking sickle, doubling rings, lesser maestro’s instrument, necklace of knives, psychopomp mask, ring of discretion

While I ended up going for the swashbuckler class, I still have the Jester using the Bard Dedication for the maestro muse. It comes with a few skills and nets him a pair of cantrips, which I would use to take the likes of guidance for support or summon instrument so that he always has one on hand. But after that, he’s going to leave the lie for a bit. The third level of his swashbuckler cast gives him vivacious speed so that he has the greater mobility seen with all of the Jester abilities that involve movement. To further play into that mobility, I had him take Leading Dance, which is at least a fun use of his Performance skill. He does get some extra skill feats, which are handy and lead to him expanding on his central skill with both Impressive and Fascinating Performance. He can also fit in No Cause for Alarm, which is pulling at least triple duty. But a number of Jester abilities reduce Stress – a mechanic that doesn’t quite exist in Pathfinder. However, this skill feat allows the Jester to reduce the frightened condition of his allies, which I think works nicely with that idea. This block also features Feather Step to make it easier for the Jester to shift his position in the line-up and then Confident Actualization because going into a dungeon in that get-up is definitely the definition of brave.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Combination Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Distracting Performance

o    Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking sickle, cloak of repute, doubling rings, boots of the secret blade, necklace of knives

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Cooperative Nature

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (M), Performance (M)

o    Stylish Trick: Kip Up

o    Gear: clandestine cloak, +1 leather, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking sickle, doubling rings, lesser maestro’s instrument

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Anthemic Performance

o    Skill Feat: Just Kidding

o    Gear: resolute mind wrap, clandestine cloak, choker of elocution, +1 leather, +1 striking sickle, cloak of repute

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Cooperative Soul

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (M)

o    Gear: +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, resolute mind wrap, clandestine cloak, bravery baldric (fleet), +1 striking sickle

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +2, Dex +5, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +4.5)

o    Class Feat: Bleeding Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Bon Mot

o    Gear: cape of grand entrances, +1 resilient leather, astral weapon rune, resolute mind wrap, clandestine cloak, +1 striking sickle

While the Jester only has Confident Finisher by the start of this block, I still like Combination Finisher to make it easier for him to finish off a round of attacks with one such Finisher. He does take a break from swashbuckler for the bard’s Anthemic Performance, which gives him a way to bolster the attacks of his allies along the lines of his Battle Ballad or even his Tiger’s Eye. He then finally gets another proper Finisher with the Bleeding Finisher, inspired of course by his Slice Off and the bleed it inflicts. He adds the Distracting Performance skill feat to his repertoire, which gives him a way of aiding his allies once again, allowing him to make others hidden. Kip Up is always useful, Bon Mot lets him make enemies more susceptible to mental effects which even he can take advantage of, and then Just Kidding is a great fit for a character presenting himself as a clown. This block has a bit of a theme about aiding and enabling his allies, and that actually continues with his ancestry feats as he gets Cooperative Nature through Ancestral Paragon and can then follow that with Cooperative Soul.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Deception (E)

o    Gear: +2 striking sickle, bravery baldric (haste), cape of grand entrances, +1 resilient leather, boots of bounding, resolute mind wrap

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Dual Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Tumbling Teamwork

o    Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking sickle, ring of lies, cape of grand entrances, astral weapon rune, greater boots of the secret blade

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Shiny

o    Skill Increase: Deception (M), Medicine (T)

o    Gear: +2 greater striking sickle, +2 resilient leather, greater doubling rings, ring of lies, thunderblast boots, cape of grand entrances

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Mobile Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Juggle

o    Gear: keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking sickle, greater quick runner’s shirt, +2 resilient leather, ring of lies, moderate maestro’s instrument

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +3, Dex +5.5, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +5)

o    General Feat: Robust Health

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (L), Performance (L), Survival (T)

o    Stylish Trick: Legendary Performer

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, major retrieval belt, +2 greater striking sickle, talented tap shoes, greater doubling rings

We’re finally on the Finisher train with this block presenting us with both Dual Finisher for the double hit of Harvest, and Mobile Finisher for Dirk Stab with the fact that it advances Jester by 1 space whenever he uses it. Based on that mobility and the fact that moving a character in Darkest Dungeon rearranges the entire party, I went for Tumbling Teamwork whereas Juggle is inspired by him being, well, a jester. He also manages to fit in Legendary Performer for this block thanks to his stylish tricks, which feels appropriate for a man that used to perform for a king. Fleet makes him a bit faster, which is always great, and then Robust Health helps him stay in the fight by making it easier to heal him. I had originally planned on skipping the Shiny feat as he is already trained in Performance, but it does improve his ability to Aid when using Charisma-based skills that I think makes for a solid pick-up.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Basic Muse’s Whispers – Uplifting Overture

o    Skill Feat: Kiss It Better

o    Gear: greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking sickle, greater quick runner’s shirt

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence

o    Skill Increase: Deception (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater striking sickle, greater frost weapon rune, greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, propulsive boots

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Lethal Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Reveal Machinations

o    Gear: cloak of swiftness, +3 greater striking sickle, bloodthirsty weapon rune, greater astral weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Diplomacy (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, cloak of swiftness, greater cloak of the bat, +3 greater striking sickle, greater frost weapon rune, greater astral weapon rune

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom (Str +4, Dex +6, Con +1, Int +3, Wis +3, Cha +5)

o    Class Feat: Illimitable Finisher

o    Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation

o    Skill Increase: Religion (T)

o    Gear: +3 major striking sickle, +3 greater resilient leather, mercurial mantle, greater daredevil boots, bloodthirsty weapon rune, quickstrike weapon rune

The bard’s composition cantrip is a bit out of reach for this build, but I did kind of like taking Basic Muse’s Whispers for an uplifting overture, which will allow the Jester to Aid using his Performance. The Lethal Finisher may perhaps be the best fit for Finale with the sheer damage that it deals, and we can finish off class feats with Illimitable Finisher. This allows the Jester to potentially chain Finishers, which could lead to something like Dual Finisher leading into Bleeding Finisher to even better resemble Harvest. Moving onto skill feats, there’s a few options to increase the survivability of Jester’s allies, such as Kiss it Better and Heroic Presence, while Reveal Machinations can debilitate adversaries. Legendary Negotiation doesn’t really fit either of those concepts and the Jester can’t really ever influence the eldritch abominations of the hamlet, but it still makes use of his legendary Diplomacy. There’s also Toughness as a means of enhancing his general survivability.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: With a free archetype game, I think the big thing would be getting Uplifting Overture sooner and then following it up with Rallying Anthem. I don’t think he really needs spells to accomplish things, but that’s certainly an option to explore. I’d also consider the Celebrity and work towards something like Big Debut, which I think actually somewhat resembles his Solo. There’s other options here I feel he could use and Acrobat is one final suggestion I’ll offer to get some more skill increases.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Sarmenti the Jester is a cataclyst human swashbuckler styled as a battledancer with the background of a clown based on him being a fool and jester of a noble. He doesn’t quite have the eldritch song that he used to slaughter the court, but this build has put his blades at the forefront. With the forward motion of his Dirk Stab, I favor his Mobile Finisher while his Dual Finisher can work for his Harvest and Bleeding Finisher can cover both an aspect of that and his Slice Off. His Solo ability puts him center stage, which likely works best for his Focused Fascination though the defensive aspect is better represented through his rallying anthem. He explores the bard further with its courageous anthem to cover his Battle Ballad whereas his Inspiring Tune is reflected through No Cause for Alarm with the reduction of frightened standing in for Darkest Dungeon’s Stress mechanic. The Jester returns to the swashbuckler class to cover his Finale as, while it takes some set-up, the swashbuckler can deliver powerful Finishers. Of particular note is its Lethal Finisher, which is perhaps the most powerful blow that the Jester can deliver and can be used with surprising frequency. As for his camping skills, we’re still looking at No Cause for Alarm when it comes to stress reduction and either courageous anthem or all of his Aiding aspects for his Tiger’s Eye.

Mired in mirth and mischief, this madcap mummer makes mincemeat and mockery of monsters, malcontents, and more with music and masterful mangling.

Have a fantastic Friday!