So here's a query for you all of you! I'm playing in a D&D 3.5 game at the moment. This character started off as a knife-fighting Rogue/Swashbuckler headed in the direction of an Invisible Blade style melee sneak attacker. He changed quickly into the party face, focusing more on being a social skill monkey. The thing is, I really like having at least some casting ability, so I started looking at classes with their own small spell progessions. I gave up on this and finally ended up wondering how well I could just put together a melee-capable faceman with some moderate arcane casting as a backup/utility caster.
The rest of the party consists of a Wu Jen blaster, a Druid archer that also takes care of heals and her pet, and a Barbarian/Scout starring as the resident BSF.
Since the game is in progress, my first 5 levels are locked down as is my race. Level 3 feat is somewhat negotiable (as I haven't really "used" the feat I selected yet) and I only initially took one flaw out of a DM allowed limit of two. If any suggestions call for the extra feat I could probably still purchase one with a flaw trade-off.
I used the Changeling Rogue racial substitution levels for Rogue levels 1 and 3, and used the martial wizard class variant to take Combat Expertise at level 7 instead of Scribe Scroll.
Race: Changeling
CL = Caster Level, ACL = Adjusted Caster Level, DCL = Divination Caster Level, SA = Sneak Attack Dice
* = Feats obtained as bonus feats from class levels
Lvl Class BAB For Ref Wil Feats CL ACL DCL SA
01 Rogue 01 00 00 02 00 Two-Weapon Fighting, Persuasive 00 00 00 01
02 Swashbuckler 01 01 02 02 00 Weapon Finesse* 00 00 00 01
03 Rogue 02 02 02 03 00 Perfect Reflection 00 00 00 01
04 Swashbuckler 02 03 03 03 00 00 00 00 02
05 Rogue 03 04 04 03 01 00 00 00 02
06 Swashbuckler 03 05 04 04 02 Combat Casting 00 00 00 02
07 Wizard 01 05 04 04 04 Combat Expertise* 01 01 01 02
08 Abjurant Champion 01 06 04 04 06 02 02 02 02
09 Abjurant Champion 02 07 04 04 07 Practiced Spellcaster 03 07 07 02
10 Abjurant Champion 03 08 05 05 07 04 08 08 02
11 Abjurant Champion 04 09 05 05 08 05 09 09 02
12 Abjurant Champion 05 10 05 05 08 Daring Outlaw 10 12 12 03
13 Unseen Seer 01 10 05 05 10 10 13 13 04
14 Unseen Seer 02 11 05 05 11 Silent Spell* 11 14 14 04
15 Unseen Seer 03 12 06 06 11 Staggering Strike 12 15 16 04
16 Unseen Seer 04 13 06 06 12 13 16 17 05
17 Rogue 04 14 06 07 12 14 17 18 06
18 Ranger 01 15 08 09 12 Craven 15 18 19 06
19 Fighter 01 16 10 09 12 Bonus Feat* 16 19 20 06
20 Spellsword 01 17 12 09 14 17 20 21 06
This build leaves me with a decent BAB, caster level of 20 for all spells except divination spells which cast at level 21 (thanks to Martial Arcanist and Practiced Spellcaster). I end up with 6th level spells, giving access to most of the good scouting and spying divinations, which is in line with the character concept of being a general grifter/spy/information broker. If I go with a Focused Diviner I would only end up with 6th level non-Divination spells if I hit bonus spells at that level but would be well-stocked on Divinations.
It really seems like I can do something better with my last four levels. I basically just piled on classes for saves and the one level of spell progression from Spellsword is what hits 6th level spells for me. This means that half my Fort bonus comes from my last three character levels.
It also only leaves me with 6d6 Sneak Attack (most of which accumulates post-level 11), although I will have access to Hunter's Eye from my Unseen Seer levels.
Anyway, I would like to keep the BAB at 17, because dropping it any lower than that reduces my caster level below 20 for non-Divination spells. I am leaning towards Improved Feint for the level 19 Fighter bonus feat, but hate taking that and Craven so late in the game. Any good ways to tweak this?
Thanks!
NW