Does a PF2 Swashbuckler lose panache if they go down

pathfinder-2eswashbuckler

If a swashbuckler with panache falls to 0 hp, do they lose panache? I can't find anything in the swashbuckler description that directly addresses it, but thematically it sure makes sense — hard to keep your swagger when you're gurgling to death on the ground.

Best Answer

No

The panache rules are silent on this specific concern, yes, but there is no indication that any condition, dying included, causes them to lose Panache. Instead:

Normally, you gain and use panache only in combat encounters; when an encounter ends, you lose panache.

Per the rules, the only ways to lose Panache are spending it on a Finisher or having an encounter end. Dying meets neither of these criteria - neither does being unable to act through a variety of conditions (stunned/slowed 3, confused, etc.), nor does even an "uncool" action like Fleeing cause you to lose Panache.

You may not imagine dying as having a lot of swagger (which is a bit insulting to my overly bold heroic sacrifices to save my squishy comrades), but one of the narrative keys to Panache is that it is gained by a moment of swagger/style/cool, not by the continuous state of doing repeatedly cool things. Indeed, you don't ever need to make checks to maintain your Panache - you do something once and then leverage that moment later on. Even the description lines up with this:

When you perform an action with particular bravado, you can leverage this moment of verve to perform spectacular, deadly maneuvers.

Panache is capitalizing on a past moment, not on a continuous streak of moments. So the Swashbuckler, via RAW and RAI, should keep their Panache.

Also, rewarding cowardly self-defensive behavior instead of unnecessarily risky and reckless behavior would make this Swashbuckler player very sad, and mechanically Swashbucklers are already a little undertuned, so removing Panache from them for any reason is a very unnecessary nerf that prevents me from rising from dying, bleeding out and breathing raggedly, only to grab my sword and stab my foe with a sudden burst of confident vigor accompanied by a witty catchphrase ala "Your turn to die, fiend!". (While it's not exactly the same, if you've seen the Princess Bride, think of Inigo Montoya's sudden burst of vigor against the Six-Fingered Man, or Wesley's sudden burst of energy that intimidates Prince Humperdink into surrender).

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