Hi all,
So Summoner has been ruled out for an upcoming Pathfinder game where the whole party is drow. Upon inspecting the characters the others wish to create, the only gaps are healer (meh...) and skill monkey (ok, there's a bard... he can be the healer until we can afford, you know, items...)
So, I'll probably play a Rogue. I wanted to go primarily combat rogue, as I recently played a skill rogue (it was great fun, just want something different). We start at LVL 2 and all 3.5 official materials, and the PF books, are allowed.
I'll post the breakdown, then some commentary. Any help you could give me in answering some of my questions would be fantastic. Thanks.
Stats after pointbuy/race:
STR: 14, DEX: 19, CON: 12, INT: 14, WIS: 10, CHA: 9
Progression:
LVL Class Feat Notable abilities SA BAB IL
1 Rogue Craven 1d6 + 1 0 0
2 Rogue Bleeding Attack 1d6 + 2 (+1 bleed) 1 1
3 Swashbuckler W. Finesse (b), ? 1d6 + 3 (+1 bleed) 1 1
4 Rogue Penetrating Strike 2d6 + 4 (+2 bleed) 2 2
5 SwordSage Weapon Foc(b), Shadow Blade 2d6 + 5 (+2 bleed) 3 3
6 Swashbuckler 2d6 + 6 (+2 bleed) 4 3
7 Rogue Daring outlaw ? (rogue talent) 3d6 + 7 (+3 bleed) 5 4
8 SwordSage 5d6 + 8 (+5 bleed) 6 5
9 Swashbuckler ? Int to dmg 6d6 + 9 (+6 bleed) 7 5
Key - (b) = bonus feat, SA = sneak attack damage, BAB = base attack bonus, IL = initiator level
What do I get?
By 9th level - BAB at CL-2, 3rd level maneuvers (assassins stance), int dex and str to damage, 6d6 SA plus a decent boost from Craven and Bleeding Attack
Why have I chosen this progression?
I wanted to be as effective as possible at each level. Some tradeoffs were made overall (starting at level 2 so wanted bleeding attack early as possible for flavor, hence waiting for 3rd level for finesse), but essentially, the idea was to spread out the progression evenly. Swordsage at levels 5 and 9 are the standard breakpoints, giving me level 3IL at level 5 and 5 IL at level
What should I Add/Change?
Well, quick draw/improved initiative would be nice, as would TWF. Ideally, i'd place either TWF or improved initiative at 3rd level. I have a free Rogue Talent unpicked at level 7, which could be any of the above, or something like slow reactions (heck, maybe even power attack). Something like staggering strike or another SA-based feat would be cool.
I was thinking of going Swashbuckler from here, but in hindsight, do you think it might be worthwhile dropping Swashbuckler alltogether and going rogue? It would gain me a feat instead of Daring outlaw (trade for weapon finesse, so it is a net even), lose the int bonus to damage, some bab, and saves. What it gains is access to the better talents (crippling strike, improved evasion, or choice of any feat). I'm leaning more towards the latter now, but I'm interested to see what you think.
Average damage with a short sword, with full sneak attack (minus bleeding attack), with a guess at the level of gaining magic weapons, stat increasers etc goes like this (also, no unholy/flaming etc)
LVL DMG
1 10
2 11
3 12
4 15.5
5 20.5
6 23.5
7 29
8 38
9 44.5
With 10 skill points, I will start with maxing out: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Disable Device, Escape Artist (questionable), Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth, Swim. Will go UMD at some point when I have a chance of succeeding.
Thanks for any and all help.