Julio Scoundrél proposes a prestige class.
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
The Mechane zooms through the panel, "whzzzzzzz whzzzzzzz whzzzzzzzzzzzz".
- Panel 2
Elan: ...and then the cops dragged me off to prison, and I haven't seen any of them since.
Julio Scoundrél: Distressing.
- Panel 3
Julio: Let me ask you this, though: What do you intend to do when you finally catch up to your brother?
Elan: Save Haley! And the rest of my friends!
Julio: How? Exactly?
- Panel 4
Julio: You've admitted that even with all of his unfavorable multiclassing, Nale is at least your equal (if not your better) in a duel...
Julio: ...and that some or all of your friends might be incapacitated or, gods forbid, dead when you arrive.
Julio: How do you expect to triumph over him?
- Panel 5
Elan: I don't know. I just figured it would work out somehow.
Julio: A true hero makes his own luck, Elan. Here, let me show you something.
- Panel 6
Elan: Oooooo... is that a lost tome of ancient forgotten knowledge?
Julio: Sort of. It's an old third-party sourcebook I found gathering dust in the discount bin.
- Panel 7
Julio: This book changed my life, Elan. Not many know this, but I have only average Strength and Dexterity scores.
Elan: Get out! You made the list of the Top 100 Swordmen of the Century!
- Panel 8
Julio: True. I was #32, in fact. Not that I ever concern myself with such trivialities.
Julio: At any rate, I have only this book to thank for it, not any surplus of physical prowess on my part.
Julio: Open it to Page 94.
- Panel 9
Elan: "The Dashing Swordsman." I don't understand.
Julio: It's a prestige class, Elan, the one in which I have ten levels. The perfect fighting class for someone like me, who has more Charisma than strength. Perfect for me—
- Panel 10
Julio: —and perfect for you!
Elan: Me? take a prestige class? But I thought they were only for munchkins!
Elan: Or maybe clerics!
- Panel 11
Julio: Rubbish! The Dashing Swordsman class will teach you to harness your natural charm to turn you into a real bonafide wisecracking, swashbuckling, damsel-saving action hero!
Julio: Among other abilities, it will allow you to substitute your Charisma bonus for your Strength bonus to damage when you wield a rapier—as long as you can make a witty pun or spout a catch-phrase when you attack.
- Panel 12
Elan: Whoa... with this class, I could actually defeat Nale!
Julio: Exactly, my young padawan.
Elan: What's a "padawan"?
Julio: You're better off not knowing.
D&D Context
- Strength and Dexterity govern attack and damage bonuses in combat. So a bard like Elan with high Charisma but only middling Strength is less effective hand-to-hand.
- A prestige class is a feature of the 3.5 Edition of D&D intended to allow players to more fully customize the abilities of their character. In this case the Dashing Swordsman class allows Elan to use his high Charisma as a modifier to combat rolls, increasing his effectiveness.
- Dashing Swordsman is not a published D&D 3.5e prestige class. Julio notes that he found it in a "third party sourcebook".
- A Munchkin is a term for a player who tries to maximize their power, treasure, kills, etc. It is generally used in a pejorative sense. Clerics and Druids are often considered overpowered, and thus get lumped in with munchkin players.
Trivia
- Padawan are what apprentice Jedi are called in the Star Wars prequels (Episodes I-III). Julio doesn't care for the prequels.