#gray goo

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 A common thread of most swashbuckling heroes is that they are irrepressible, never taking a foe seriously, no matter how dire (or at least, never letting them see how serious they really are). They are daring and dashing and meeting danger with a smile on their face.

It’s no wonder that many of them, even those who are not chaotic good, to find inspiration in the outsiders known as azatas, those freedom-loving fey-like beings well-known for fighting even the most tyrannical of devils with a smile on their face.

Today’s subject takes this to a whole new level, swashbucklers that emulate azatas not only in thought and deed, but also in fighting style, learning all sorts of deceptive tricks to turn the tables on the wicked.

Admittedly, not all of their abilities directly correlate to those the azata they are named for, but their fighting style emulates them in their own way. This results in a style where the azatariel turns the advantage of numbers against the evils they face, and put themselves at risk to strike with greater vigor.

 As one might expect, these swashbucklers must maintain their chaotic good love of freedom, lest their different techniques slip from their grasp.

They also gain a selection of deeds, the first of which being a technique they call Bralani’s Swiftness, which lets them expend some panache to ignore rough terrain, leaping from point to point with ease.

In combat, these combatants prove outright playful, striking with lethal accuracy when parrying and riposting foes, and even able to completely redirect an oncoming attack to hit one of the foe’s own allies, should one be within reach.

This technique is enhanced further with the Lillend’s Misdirection technique, zipping around a flanking foe as they attack, causing them to stumble forward, their weapon aimed right for their unfortunate flanking ally, though this technique requires more panache to use.

Fearing no danger, a charging azatariel can forgo all defense and spend panache to rush in and strike repeatedly against their foe, at the cost of being very open to attack.

Rather than occasionally having bursts of great luck against all manner of threats, the willful minds of these swashbucklers makes them hard to pin down with mental effects.

They also become incredibly swift, bounding and leaping about the battlefield with uncanny grace.

In addition to all of this, these swashbucklers are blessed with the infectious enthusiasm of their celestial patrons, a demeanor so supernaturally cheery that they can use it to help an ally push past a harmful condition from the list of those they have chosen, assuring their ally that everything really will be alright.

This archetype drops a lot of the swashbuckler’s damage and debuff-dealing kit, as well as some of the normal AC protections associated with it. The result is a swashbuckler that deals less damage and is a bit more fragile, but is extremely mobile, and able to turn an enemy’s tactics against them, not to mention heal debilitating conditions somewhat like a paladin or mesmerist. I highly recommend picking up some AC-boosting items, as well as ways to increase the regularity of critical hits and killing blows so that you keep your panache at acceptable levels.

 If you’ve ever wanted to play a character where being the brightest ray of sunshine in the room is not just a character trait, but a feature, this archetype might be what you’re looking for. Just keep in mind that there is such a thing as too saccharine.

Additionally, I could see this archetype being used as a template to create similar ones for the other two major chaotic outsider types, with mischievous or outright malicious types invoking techniques drawn from proteans or demons, respectively.

  They say that the Elysium-blessed hero Manisa was slain when she charged straight into a room filled with an alien construct called gray goo. While she is long dead, it is said her holy rapier still remains in that chamber, waiting for someone to take up her legacy and brave the technological horror she failed to recognize in time.

 Having been vexed by a Rougarou azatariel named Bisha, the orc chieftain Ulgox is furious. The warlike leader now musters a much larger force, seeking to slay the swashbuckler and raze the towns under her protection to the ground, to remind them what he calls “the proper order of things”.