barbarins! or pirates...?

[badgerfrank10]

so i'm creating a pirate-like character, but hes from a barbaric community (if you've seen the pirates of the carribean trilogy, think tortuga in mountains with large log buildings) and being the son of the "leader" of his people (whom are being enslaved and oppressed by an orcish species) i want him to have a wide selection of skills, to show that he's been well trained, so oubviously, i'm in a dispute between rogue and barbarian, also, i want him to be very crafty, hidden blades, poison, elaborate schemes and traps etc.

what do you think?

(p.s. i know i have to have a prestige class to use poison)

[Kingreaper]

Ninjas get poison use at third level.

Slightly less skillpoints than rogues, but more than barbarians.

What level are you starting out at?

[Herobizkit]

IDHTBIFOM, but what about the famous Scout class (from Complete Adventurer)? It combines a lot of the best from Rogue and Ranger, although I'm not sure about the Poison Use ability.

[badgerfrank10]

well i want to start at 8 for the castle ravenloft recommended level, and i think cross-classing rogue and barbarian is a crap idea

EDIT: i think its important to say that im using a custom built race "peltast" with the same stats as humans except +2 STR & -2 CON

they're strong, but incredibly reckless, and often cause themselves serious injury, this causes their body to break down over time.

[Wolf72]

sooo ... basically vikings who raid other sea going vessels rather than land settlements (or both).

Go barbarian but add profession sailor as a class skill .. and maybe a few other skills that are associated with sailors.

Edit: wait wait! I just read my sig and had an idea ... REAVERS from firefly!

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd go straight Rog, with a higher than normal emphasis on Str.

If I multiclassed, I'd add either Ftr (for HP & feats), Swashbuckler (for style), or Rgr (HP, Skills, esp. Wilderness skills, TWF, and Animal Companion- Parrot, of course).

[Kingreaper]

Given the whole enslaved people backstory, would you have any use for the ranger's favoured enemy bonus? If so a two-weapon fighting scout-ranger (with the Swift Hunter feat) could be quite potent.

It does however lack any poison-use aspects. (the barbarism, well, you get fast movement and a good set of skills)

The fighting style of such a guy would probably be hit and run, going for the feat which allows two attacks after a charge, or the one for two attacks as a standard action, once he hit ranger 6 (at level 9 probably) and going for Improved Skirmish to boost up damage and AC while moving around the battlefield.
And gaining huge advantages when facing the evil orcs.