[DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

See Post #15 and beyond for discussion of the second draft of this character.

Part 1

I do not think the forum has explored much regarding whip-wielding heroes or heroines, and I needed a break from the stress of cramming for college finals so here is this thing! Protagonists in fiction are often capable of great feats with the whip, either through sheer extreme skill or because the weapon is made of magic and/or alchemy, or its some ultra/super-tech gear. Here is one interpretation mostly suitable for a DF game.

Adeline Beauchêne


Adeline comes from a long line of successful highwaywomen who robbed the nobility and did what they pleased with what wealth they did not share with the peasantry… some time ago, one of her female ancestors wielded the Fiend Slayer, a whip made with legendary craftsmanship and magic, to fight evil in its many forms. Now the weapon has been passed from mother to daughter to keep with their traditions. Inspired by the tales told to her by her mother of the heroism of her ancestors she seeks to travel the lands in search of evil to vanquish with her ancestral weapon.

Attributes: ST 11 [10]; DX 15 [100]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 13 [30].

Secondary Characteristics:
Damage 1d-1/1d+1
BL 24 lbs.
HP 11 [0]
Will 10 [0]
Per 10 [0]
FP 13 [0]
Basic Speed 7.00 [0]
Basic Move 7 [0]

Advantages:
Appearance (Beautiful) [12]
Blinding Strike 2 [2]
Sharp-Dressed 2 [2]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Enhanced Parry 1 (Whip) [5]
Extra Option (Sexy Clothing compatible w/ Sharp-Dressed) [1]
Luck [15]
Rapier Wit [5]
Rules Exemption (Combat Perky!) [1]
Signature Gear (Fiend Slayer) [25]
Weapon Bond (Fiend Slayer) [1]
Weapon Master (Whip) [20]

Disadvantages:
Chummy [-5]
Code of Honor (Highwaywoman’s) [-5]
Compulsive Carousing (12) [-5]
Impulsiveness (12) [-10]
Overconfidence (12) [-5]
Selfish (12) [-5]
Sense of Duty (Adventuring companions) [-5]
Short Attention Span (12) [-10]

Quirks:
Broad-Minded [-1]
Determined [-1]
Forgetful [-1]
Inquisitive [-1]
Insensitive [-1]

Skills:
Acrobatics-15 [4]
Brawling-15 [1]
Carousing-13 [1]
Climbing-14 [1]
Fast-Draw (Flexible)-16 [1]
Fast-Talk-10 [2]
First Aid-10 [1]
Gesture-10 [1]
Hiking-12 [1]
Intimidation-10 [2]
Jumping-15 [1]
Public Speaking (Repartee)-12 [4]
Search-10 [2]
Sex Appeal-18 [1]
Stealth-15 [2]
Streetwise-10 [2]
Whip-24 [32]
Wrestling-15 [2]

Skill levels as written represent effective Skill levels with all modifiers from traits and equipment.

Equipment:
• Fiend Slayer [Belt] Dmg sw-2 cr; Reach 1-4; Parry -2; ST 9; $12,500; 8 lbs. Enchanted w/ Shatterproof. See Designer’s Notes.
• Blanket [Torso] $20, 4 lbs.
• Bandages [Haversack] $10, 1 lb.
• Elven Rations (1 week) [Haversack] $105, 3.5 lbs.
• Haversack [Shoulder, Left] Holds 10 lbs. $30, 1 lb.
• Personal Basics [Haversack] $5, 1 lb.
• Rope, 3/8” (10 yards) [Torso] $5, 1.5 lbs.
• Sexy Clothing [Torso] +2 to Sex Appeal. $460, 1 lb.
• Small Belt Knife [Belt] $15, 0.25 lb.
• Light Thigh-High Boots of Solidity [Legs] DR 3* for feet and legs. $290, 5.25 lbs.
• Whetstone [Haversack] $5, 1 lb.
• Wineskin [Over Shoulder] $10, 0.25 lb. (8.25 lbs. full of water)
• Money [Haversack] $45; Silver, 10 coins. Copper, 5 coins.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Part 2

Designer’s Notes

Adeline’s character build is based off the Swashbuckler template but does not deviate too far from it, although I would admit this build does lean more towards “built to concept”. Certain aspects of her character wander outside the accepted boundaries of DF char gen but for the most part the points are paid for the privilege of coloring outside the lines. I actually wrote the majority of this character sheet and design notes months ago, but I dredged it up to polish it off with some finishing touches to showcase.

Under the hood for Fiend Slayer, Adeline’s signature cool whip, in four parts. Using a combination of Low-Tech Companion 2, Metatronic Generators from Pyramid 3/46, the “Extra Ready” trait from the Monster Hunters line, and some Perks crafted from options in Power-Ups 2…

1) Extra Ready 4 (Fiend Slayer only, -80%; Melee Weapon (Reach 1-4), -15%) [20]
No real Power Modifier was used here as these abilities of the weapon are achieved purely through what amounts to “legendary craftsmanship”, or about +0%. Maybe magic or alchemy really was utilized in the process, but the qualities are so engrained in the essence of the weapon that it transcends the limits of its own origins. We are invoking the Rule of Cool here!

2) Standard Operating Procedure (Ready maneuvers while Fiend Slayer is held are always taken) [1]
Ready maneuvers are always assumed to have been performed, when possible, by the player character to ensure the weapon is available for both attacking and parrying; this is here to speed up play rather than require the player to declare the actions. Quality of Life improvement!

3) Combat Shtick (Menacing Whipcrack) [1]
After a successful use of the Crack technique, you may make an immediate attempt at Intimidation as a free action. Whips, in fiction at least, have a common trope of being cracked to psyche out targets. This whip was made to be especially intimidating. It strikes fear into the hearts of the wicked!

4) To the base cost of the whip, +10 CF to remove Armor Divisor and the additional damage penalty that comes with that. Another +4 CF for Dwarven to make it balanced. Finally, we arrive at the final price of $12,500 by adding $8,000 for the benefit of having a Shatterproof enchantment.

It is wholly possible to emulate some of these features of the whip as Techniques (“Coup de Jarnac” could be refluffed for use with a whip, and the Dwarven modifier could be substituted by a Technique as well), but I decided it would be more fun if they were features of the whip rather than the product of mastering cinematic techniques. Technically it is not RAW kosher to put the Dwarven modifier on any weapon not specifically marked “0U” with their parry. The modifier is based on the nonsense-logic of fantasy masterful craftsmanship anyways, so it seems OK here.

Public Speaking (Repartee) provides the most game mechanical relevant part of Public Speaking for Rapier Wit while also not having the greater utility of plain unspecialized Public Speaking; it is just the skill of making quick, clever insults. If more utility is wanted, I would say it would be fair to allow it as a Complimentary Skill Roll to Intimidation attempts. If anything, this is an option to permit Rapier Wit on more character types and yet still gatekeep them for the sake of niche protection (for the Bards) because they lack full access to the full utility of Public Speaking.

Contrary to the rules, there is more Combat Perks than what might be permitted with the number of points already invested in combat skills. Most of which is not giving any more leg up than what would be available to other delvers really (any delver worth their salt is going to have at least some amount of DR 2… she might have DR from her clothes, but it is still only as lasting as skimpy attire is), but the levels in Blinding Strike might seem sus. A Rules Exemption Perk seems fine here as it is in the context of better conforming to the concept… we were already going against the spirit of the rules by including yet more combat relevant Perks built into Fiend Slayer. Oh well! Rule of Cool takes priority here. She’s a cool whip-wielding anti-heroine! You could say she’s… Combat Perky! *badum-tish!... insert laugh track here*

The Extra Option perk included here is fitting for the genre. Honestly, I am surprised it was not an option by default. Everyone knows that the more exposed you are by your “armor” the more protective it is! It is a trope of the genre, and an obnoxious one at that. My favorite kind of DF takes all the obnoxious tropes and goes full ham with them… like scantily-clad Barbarians (“Beefcake Protection”, heh-heh), which DF by default already fully embraces.

Her equipment loadout seems fine. Some torches might be called for, but I imagine the standard DF party to always have a Wizard, and every Wizard ought to have the ubiquitous Light spells to render said torches moot. Or maybe there is a dedicated hireling who always has a steady supply and good grip on his torches. Who knows! This list ought to be subject to change as necessary for whatever campaign she might end up in.

That's it for now for design notes.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

I like it! Yeah, you need to do a lot of work to make a whip a decent weapon; personally, I'm fond of just forgetting about making it as equipment and building it as a Natural Weapon, but this works too.

I kind of assumed the areas she went would be fairly well-lit - indeed, well-lit enough that she could safely use her whip to snuff out a lot of the torches and candles and pick up whatever they dropped.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Looks very nice. As an aside, the "diabolical whips" from Fantasy Tech 2 may be of interest to you; they eschew most of the traditional disadvantages whips have when being used as weapons.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Eight pounds? with a required Strength of 9? Am I missing something?

A quick glance at the weapons tables in Characters shows that a one-hand morningstar is 6 lb but requires ST 12. There are 8-lb weapons but even with two hands the minimum is ST 11 (and two-handed doesn't seem to fit the image).

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Thanks for the replies! I'll respond to them individually when I can. I'm totally bushed with exams.

thrash, the weight might have been modified due to the "Metatronic Generators" rules I utilized for designing it... although I can't recall if that's true or not. Must be the brain fog! If its true I might want to I'll have to refresh my memory by rereading the article when I've got time. Or maybe it was a typo! I thought I'd at least comment on this since I usually try to be meticulous with my notes....

.... and upon further inspection it appears I came to a weight of 8 lbs. as Characters states that it's 2 lbs. per yard, so yes, it is in fact a 8 lb. whip. Required minimum ST is 5, +1 per yard. So Min ST 9. Maybe it is odd, but that's what is written in the book. *shrug*

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Ah, so it does. That's ... not surprising, actually. I seem to recall that there are a lot of odd values in the weapons tables, but it's not productive for SJ Games to try to errata them all.

For what it's worth, an unscientific sampling of bullwhips offered for sale on Amazon yields weights of 0.36 + 0.305x lb, where x is length in yards. Length only accounted for about half of the variation in weight (R^2 = 0.49), with materials and construction (12- vs. 16-plait, etc.) apparently accounting for much of the rest. If I take just the heaviest example at each length, the formula becomes 0.19 + 0.387x lb, and the R^2 goes up to 0.75. The heaviest example I saw was 2.4 lb, which seems reasonable for a one-handed weapon with a relatively low strength requirement.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

I support any role playing game content that can:

Sneakily give an S & M subtext.

Make me hum Devo songs to myself.

Remind me of a George Hamilton movie.

So this wins on all three!

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

It's a little munchkinny, but this is for DF, so I will suggest: Technique Mastery (Crack) with Crack maxed out to Whip+4.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Zorro uses whips, and he very much fits the swashbuckler mold, so we have a ready example of what the character may look like in combat. Whip-cracking is used in the real world for herding livestock. There's also cracking competitions. As far as scaring people, I suppose it could be intimidating enough warrant a bonus to Intimidation rolls. I'm not sure how parrying would work with a whip, but you can, at least cinematically, use the whip to pull weapons right out of a foe's hand. This is a good concept, although you might want a few points in a secondary weapon.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

I recall watching Antonio Banderas' Zorro with fondness. Another classic example of a whip user would be DC's Catwoman. Indiana Jones does some cool stuff with his whip. There's also the members of the Belmont Clan from the Castlevania video game series. I've sprinkled in a fair amount of pop culture inspiration in Adeline's concept. She's just as much as a tribute to what she's derived from as she is a original character.

The Campaigns book outlines the special gimmicks of the whip; improved skill at disarming foes and entangling them. At some point she'll want to buy up ST for those Quick Contests to ensnare foes better. She should also make good use of targeted attacks to the hand to force foes to either win a Will check or drop their weapon. Other characters should be quick to realize that they should capitalize on her ability to hinder or even incapacitate foes to their advantage. Choke them, bring them to their knees... with enough improvement she'll be pretty useful in combat.

With improved damage and more accessible attacks and parrying, it makes it more appealing to go all in with the whip (at the metagame level, for better or for worse GURPS rewards you for committing to a single weapon; it is forgivable here as it is her entire schtick). It somewhat even warrants going without a legitimate long ranged option... almost. Up to Reach 4 is fantastic for a melee weapon at least. That Shatterproof enchantment comes in handy here, giving it indestructability (and the GM ought to adhere to the spirit of Signature Gear). It won't get cut to pieces any time soon, at least until the magic fails (unlike the other qualities of the gear this ought to unquestionably remain susceptible to no-mana zones and anti-enchantment magic). So parrying becomes a legitimate option.

Fiend Slayer can be a deadly weapon, you just have to play to the strengths of the whip's gimmicks and be mindful of what character advancement options to take to ensure Adeline's one-trick pony schtick continues to stay relevant for the dungeon crawling experience. Cinematically, whips have a great deal of utility for the Swashbuckler in the DF's class profession template sense. If I were the GM, I'd permit use of the whip to grab onto convenient points to swing from (utilizing the rules outlined in DF's Dungeons book); Adeline might want to invest into levels of Serendipity to have those at-will. It could cleverly be used to snatch items from afar... in some sense, it doubles as a (better?) ten-foot pole which makes that Shatterproof enchantment such a future-proofing investment. Whatever cinematic cool whip tricks the GM finds plausible for DF's cinematic faux-realism should likely be allowed (Varyon even gave some stellar examples of clever whip implementation!).

Couldn't hurt to invest one or two points in Knife. Ideally they don't even get close enough for that to come into play though. She'll have the initiative won often enough if the GM wants those points in Blinding Strike to matter, so she'll crack that whip at you from four yards away and hopefully have you disarmed and defenseless for another swift comrade to come swinging in with a big axe!

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Also consider the Entangle technique, although her Whip skill is high enough she may not need to specialize.

Since she is carrying a length of leather rope around, you might consider adding the Garrote skill for close combat.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Since this character is made outside the context of any specific campaign (I keep a archive of pre-generated characters for DF, to expedite the process of starting play as a PC or to possibly use as cool NPCs in my own campaigns), I, as a player at least, would advise the GM to disallow point investment in Techniques. Part of the issue of the high skill character problem is that allowing point investment in Techniques only greatly worsens the issue. As a compromise, it'd be best to still let them attempt Techniques at the full penalty. Cinematic Techniques should unquestionably require the full point investment to even use.

However, if the GM is A-OK with putting points in Techniques there's no reason why that couldn't be something available as an option for character advancement as she gets rewarded Character Points in play. I dislike entirely front-loading characters with as much min-max'ing at the beginning of the campaign as possible. I know DF's 250 points characters are supposed to be "accomplished adventurers", but it is more vital from a meta-balance stand point to leave some room for real improvement. Suits the concept of the character too; She's supposed to be a young woman who's aspiring to become as renowned as her heroic ancestors.

I think it might be good to address the weight issue in the context of DF's flavor of realism. Barbarians, as DF understands them, have mass disproportionate to their HP (there's a unspoken +0% "Massless" modifier being applied to that bought up HP). Rather than looking like massive mountains of muscle, they look more like Arnold's Conan, small but strong (at least for SM +1). It wouldn't be out of place to apply similar logic to other things as well, such as whips. This makes for a convenient excuse for GURPS's odd weapon stats. Just like how Barbarians are more hardy than what their mass would permit, the whip is somehow heavier than it looks.

Garrote could be useful, and I do think she should have one or two points invested in a close combat option (Knife would be good, but it would mean getting something besides the small belt knife[which is inappropriate for combat use] for it). I'm going to try to look and see where I can squeeze those in.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Looked at it and it's brilliant, I wish this was on my radar sooner. Scratch that fluff and insert Fiend Slayer's fluff, and just have it not detect as Evil (that would be a 0 point Feature on a character anyways so removing that is a nonissue), and slap on that Shatterproof enchantment. As Signature Gear, that would save 5 points for a Reach 1-4 whip, with far more functionality to boot. Talk about a point crock!

However, this means I'll need to shuffle points for ST 13 so she can wield it. I'll see what I can do about that... which means I'll be needing to write up a second draft of the character sheet. :)

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Part 1

Adeline Beauchêne


Attributes: ST 13 [30]; DX 15 [100]; IQ 10 [0]; HT 13 [30].

Secondary Characteristics:
Damage 1d/2d-1
BL 34 lbs.
HP 13 [0]
Will 10 [0]
Per 10 [0]
FP 13 [0]
Basic Speed 7.00 [0]
Basic Move 7 [0]

Advantages:
Appearance (Beautiful) [12]
Sharp-Dressed 2 [2]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Extra Option (Sexy Clothing compatible w/ Sharp-Dressed) [1]
Luck [15]
Rules Exemption (Combat Perky!) [1]
Signature Gear (Fiend Slayer) [20]
Weapon Bond (Fiend Slayer) [1]
Weapon Master (Whip) [20]

Disadvantages:
Chummy [-5]
Code of Honor (Highwaywoman’s) [-5]
Compulsive Carousing (12) [-5]
Impulsiveness (12) [-10]
Overconfidence (12) [-5]
Selfish (12) [-5]
Sense of Duty (Adventuring companions) [-5]
Short Attention Span (12) [-10]

Quirks:
Broad-Minded [-1]
Determined [-1]
Forgetful [-1]
Inquisitive [-1]
Insensitive [-1]

Skills:
Acrobatics-15 [4]
Brawling-16 [2]
Carousing-13 [1]
Climbing-14 [1]
Fast-Draw (Flexible)-16 [1]
Fast-Talk-10 [2]
First Aid-10 [1]
Gesture-10 [1]
Hiking-12 [1]
Intimidation-10 [2]
Jumping-15 [1]
Search-10 [2]
Sex Appeal-18 [1]
Stealth-15 [2]
Streetwise-10 [2]
Whip-24 [32]
Wrestling-15 [2]

Skill levels as written represent effective Skill levels with all modifiers from traits and equipment.

Equipment:
• Fiend Slayer [Belt] Dmg sw+2 cr; Reach 1-4; Parry 0; $10,000; 8 lbs.; Enchanted w/ Shatterproof. ***
• Blanket [Torso] $20, 4 lbs.
• Bandages [Haversack] $10, 1 lb.
• Elven Rations (1 week) [Haversack] $105, 3.5 lbs.
• Haversack [Shoulder, Left] Holds 10 lbs. $30, 1 lb.
• Personal Basics [Haversack] $5, 1 lb.
• Rope, 3/8” (10 yards) [Torso] $5, 1.5 lbs.
• Sexy Clothing [Torso] +2 to Sex Appeal. $460, 1 lb.
• Small Belt Knife [Belt] $15, 0.25 lb.
• Light Thigh-High Boots of Solidity [Legs] DR 3* for feet and legs. $290, 5.25 lbs.
• Whetstone [Haversack] $5, 1 lb.
• Wineskin [Over Shoulder] $10, 0.25 lb. (8.25 lbs. full of water)
• Money [Haversack] $45; Silver, 10 coins. Copper, 5 coins.

*** See Fantasy-Tech 2 for Diabolical Whip stats; Fiend Slayer does not detect as Evil (or Good).

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Part 2

Designer’s Notes

Here is the second draft! This build has shifted to using a new variation of her signature weapon the Fiend Slayer.

Here’s the patch notes:

• From switching to the new variant of Fiend Slayer, we’ve shaved off 5 points from it as Signature Gear. Functionally, the most major improvements are: 1) that it simply never becomes Unready, removing the need for the built in Extra Ready levels altogether, 2) as well as there being no need to take Ready maneuvers to alter the Reach. This all means it now can effectively make Rapid Strikes and multiple parries that it couldn’t perform before. Nice!
• With Fiend Slayer’s improved parrying ability, Enhanced Parry (Whip) is somewhat redundant. We can afford to shave this off for another 5 points to spend.
• Rapier Wit, along with the nifty Public Speaking (Repartee), have been cut for 9 more points. As written in the RAW it is busted stun-locking, and the intent behind the Optional Specialty was to incorporate a tiny bit more game balance to the package. Oh well!
• A single level of Blinding Strike was cut for the last point needed. “Initiative 8” is still pretty good though.

This gives us the extra 20 points to buy up her ST to 13 for her to wield the updated Fiend Slayer. She’ll also fair better in the Quick Contests for entanglement, and better swinging damage certainly helps make those whiplashes plenty more painful for steeper Shock Penalties on their Will save to force them to drop weapons.

Naturally, it doesn’t have the fluff text as described in Fantasy-Tech 2, but instead the fluff as previously described in this thread for Fiend Slayer. It does not detect as Evil, but it certainly does not detect as Good either. Despite the ultimately wholesome intentions for its intended purpose, the line of women who wielded the whip never had the purest of hearts… corruption intermingling with the righteous power within its craftsmanship has left the weapon sterile from being truly Evil or Good. A cool anti-heroic weapon for a cool anti-heroine!

EDIT 6/21/2021: I've made the additional change of swapping out that last level of Blinding Strike to raise Brawling to 16.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

You don't Parry with the whippy part, you Parry with the handle. Part of me wonders if one could effectively install a hilt on a whip's handle...

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Going from Brawling-15 [1] to Brawling-16 [2] would arguably be the best point this character ever spent.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

I'm not sure if GURPS cares to distinguish between the effectiveness between parrying with the whippy part and the handle; presumably, the -2 on the parry was to simulate the difficulty of parrying with said whippy part, but no part of the weapon's text suggests that. *shrug*

The now not-Diabolical Whip Fiend Slayer still has 8 lbs. of weight (although with now with increased required minimum ST of 13), so I could at least imagine it swatting aside comparatively heavy weapons.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

The lack of transparency in your reply leaves something to be desired. Care to elaborate?

That's still shy of the damage bonus for DX+2... so I'm guessing this is for accuracy of a punch or kick/soaking penalties/soaking penalties for attempting Techniques.

I am aware she probably ought to have better close combat options... squeezing an extra point into Brawling certainly could also be considered, besides Knife and Garrote. I just haven't made up my mind yet as to what points need to be redistributed for them. Of course, if we're going with "oughts", she ought to have a real ranged option too. A small crossbow would be flavorful.

If you're speaking to the impracticality of the character, that's heavily baked into the concept of her. I'm very blatantly mocking the silliness of old dungeon crawling and fantasy tropes, but the catch is that we're taking the tropes and making them (at least mostly more) practical. My personal taste in DF is to make fun of the absurdity that makes others shy away from the genre. I thought this was made quite clear in my use of humor, but maybe I too could stand to be a little more transparent.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

The -2 is for Parrying with the handle, just like the -2 on flails is for Parrying with the handle there. It's not a good Parrying surface, and the whippy/flaily bit hanging around doesn't help matters, but at least it's capable of Parrying without some crazy technique that should probably require a dedicated Ready.

And the full 8 lb shouldn't be counted when figuring out what it can Parry without breaking, but your weapon is unbreakable anyway, so you're good there. It also shouldn't count when determining if a weapon Parrying it risks breakage; I don't recall if there are any rules covering that issue, but then again her super-special-awesome whip breaking lesser weapons is probably perfectly fine.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Now, I think I should go more into detail behind the design intentions of the character. It is in fact meant to seem superficial at the surface, but there's a lot of smart commentary on pop culture, the history of fantasy gaming, and feminism put into Adeline's characterization.

The "Pop Feminism" (Popular, viral feminism that's so shallow in its reasoning and logic that it ultimately detracts from the goals of truly meaningful feminism) of today says that the sexualization of women is inherently objectifying them, that sexy women depicted in fiction only serve to please the patriarchy. The glaring problem with this is that it completely disregards the women in our society that appreciate women's bodies, the people who are non-binary who appreciate women, or even the people who simply have unconventional gender expression for their binary gender. Taking pleasure from female sexuality is not exclusive to toxic masculinity. Beauty-shaming feminine icons within fiction is not conducive to the empowerment of women, and to suggest otherwise like today's Pop Feminism is to unwittingly feed into the toxic narrative.

This does in fact tie directly into Adeline's character design. On the meta level, she's a rebel against destructive contemporary trends within feminism in gaming, a anti-heroine who says "I can be sexy, and empowered by it!", while simultaneously taking the very tropes within fiction that supposedly objectify women (one could argue that the tropes are used in fiction with ignorance to realism, but why not have them be as effective as they believe themselves to be? Run with the gonzo!) and go full ham with them to humorous effect, taking what was just benign fan-service and making it even more entertaining.

Part of the conceit of the Dungeon Fantasy genre is the multitude of tropes within it that, in any other context, would at least be distasteful to the prudish or reason to not touch the genre to begin with because of their nonsensical logic. DF, at least as I understand it, assumes this absurdity to be the default realism expected to be played out in the typical campaign. Adeline just takes these expectations to their natural conclusion. Heck, we've got homoerotic half-naked Barbarians with Rage Powers running around, so why question it?

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

As in a whip handle which looks like a sword hilt with quillons or tsuba?

It would be a bit unusual, but there's no reason why you couldn't, particularly if you used a tsuba-type guard. The base of a whip is sufficiently rigid that the "tail" seldom doubles back in a way that it would interfere with the guard. The only time it is likely is if you're fast-drawing a coiled whip. In that case, the coils might get tangled in the guard.

"Drover" type whips have handles which are long enough that they could conceivably used to parry like a baton if properly reinforced.

The only drawback is that a parry attempt might damage or break the whip , since the braids which make up the thong or falls must be firmly attached to the handle.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Why have a skill at all? For when you need to roll against it. When will you need to roll vs. Brawling? In close combat (whip has Reach 1+), when you're without your weapon of choice, and when you're fighting. So Brawling will be rolled as a last ditch effort to defeat an opponent when other options don't work - or simply to use the pummeling rules from Martial Arts with that whip handle when an opponent gets too close. In other words, it's a skill worth having and could potentially be the difference between life and death for your PC.

Why is 16 so much more valuable than 15?*

For starters, it brings your unarmed parry up to 11 from 10 - in other words, an increase to nearly 2/3 chance success from 1/2 chance success. This is the greatest benefit.

Second, rolling against 16 rather than 15, you are going to roll a success 49 out of 50 times rather than 19 out of 20 times. You'll roll a critical success more than twice as often (9.3% of the time rather than 4.6% of the time) and - more importantly - roll a critical failure 66% less often: only on an 18 (1 out of 216 possibilities, or less than .5% of the time) instead of on a 17 or 18 (3 possibilities out of 216).

So for 1 CP to bring Brawling from 15 to 16, your character becomes a LOT more reliable in close combat - a situation where you probably want the best possible odds. That 1 CP to bring Brawling up to 16 is the first point I'd spend on this character.

*I'm not a mathematician, just somewhat familiar with the breakpoints with 3d6.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Do you mind providing a page reference or rules text quote? Or is this simply logic inferred from the rules? I apologize for my lack of clarity on this. Perhaps this is besides the point though, as the whip is not operating on rational realism anyways. Since this new version Fiend Slayer is mostly the Diabolical Whip with the serial numbers filed off, I too perhaps inferred from its rules and perceived intended realism that it straight up parries weapons effortlessly but I think my understanding of the RAW for the stats is in line with what was intended by the book. It is much less the hyperrealistic whip you appear to be envisioning and much more like the incredibly fantastic whip that the Balrog in LOTR wields (sans the flames, but as written they strongly suggest putting the Flaming Weapon enchantment on it). Its nonsense fantasy physics enable it to perform far more better than what a ordinary whip can do... which was my intent from the beginning with how I designed it, but Kromm coincidently had a more eloquent approach that I've opted to use instead. All I had to change was the morality detection bit really, as it coincidently had the enhanced intimidation factor that I was trying to achieve with the built in Combat Schtick Perk I tried to implement before. The coincidence in similarity of design intent is so coincidental that it almost feels like fate led me to this! :)

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

All good points that I probably could've noticed if my brain wasn't so ADHD-addled. Can't argue with the math! :^P

I could argue that she might want to still only Brawling-15... applying my previous discussion on the meta-balance of not wanting to front-load characters. I won't rehash that here though. There's also the meta consideration of the expectancy as a player to design a character that doesn't let down the other characters. What if they're similarly suboptimal, then it's not out of place? Or is there an emphasis on the characters covering each others backs when it comes to competency? These are all questions to be asked during whatever the "Session Zero" happens to be. Of course, we don't have that luxury as this is just a character pre-generated and expected to be modified as necessary for the GM's particular specifications for their campaign. That's probably way more analysis needed for why I may or may not want to throw just one more point into Brawling though.

Hmm... that last level of Blinding Strike could get cut perhaps. Getting that extra reaction time for initiative also makes for better survivability, but it appears that the extra point in Brawling is more crucial.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Inferred from reality, with a touch of the rules involved. Something that's just a flexible weapon with no real parrying surface, would likely be Parry No. For your character and weapon, of course, stating the Parries are actually the character knocking attacks aside with the whippy part is perfectly acceptable - I was responding to how a less-cinematic character would Parry with a normal whip.

Re: [DF] Swashbucklers... but with whips!
 

Hmm, flew right over my head! I assumed it was mentioned in the context of the character and her weapon, and from scrutinizing the rules text for the Diabolical Whip stats that I've based the current version of Fiend Slayer off of makes it pretty unambiguous that it has none of the faults of a regular whip when it comes to parrying. Since it doesn't require to Ready maneuvers because it simply never becomes Unready after being used, and doesn't require Ready maneuvers for adjusting Reach, it very nearly moves as the wielder wills it to to some significant degree. And since it seems to move in mysterious ways, perhaps it also just selectively goes rigid to better Parry attacks. That's how I understand the reasoning for the crunch it has in Fantasy-Tech 2 anyways, and that seems to support the very blatant Balrog whip inspiration for the Diabolical Whip. It's been a bit since I've watched LOTR movies but I remember that whip seemingly working much like how Kromm statted out the whip.