[OA] Suggestions for a 1st level rogue

[Nareau]

I'm going to start playing in an Oriental Adventures campaign soon, and I'd like some suggestions for creating a 1st level rogue. I know very little about the campaign setting right now, but I'll be doing my homework this weekend. I just wanted some preliminary ideas. Specifically, do you recommend any particular race/feat/etc. that's new to OA?

I'm interested in playing a high Charisma character (I enjoy role-playing likeable people) . Probably human male, but I'm not terribly attached to that. It's a 28 point buy system. Early draft of stats are as follows.

S 10
D 18
C 10
I 10
W 8
Ch 14

I'm thinking of starting off pursuing a missile-weapon feat chain (precise shot, and probably rapid shot). I might consider going the dodge/mobility chain also.

I'll probably pick up a couple of levels of fighter or barbarian at some point, but doubtfully before 5th level.

Skills will be mostly standard (Hide, MS, Tumble, Bluff). I'm thinking about taking a single rank in Open Locks and Disable Device (since I'm likely going to be taking 20 on these anyways.)

I might make my Con 9 and my Str 11. That way, I can boost my Str to 12 at 4th level (by which time I'll likely be able to afford a Mighty bow, or at least be able to survive a little bit of melee combat). I can boost my Con at 8th level if I decide to get more involved in melee. Hopefully my Dex and high Ref saves will keep me out of trouble.

Thanks for all your advice.

 

[eXodus]

it is great to think about con and str boosts but give some thoughts to running with a higher wisdom score. your 8 is going to have a -1 on will saves, and a lot of very useful rogue skills.

here is what i would do,

go with missle weapon feats or go with dodge, mobility, spring attack. and do it with a weapon that is finessable, say a short sword. or two even.

statwise: do not neglect that wisdom score. also try for a decent intelligence for bonus skill points, and of course a good dex. rogues need the dex score.

as far as multiclassing: i say put a little into fighter. that will up your hp, bab, and give you some more feats. that will help accomplish those tougher feat chains.

hope this helps......

 

[Umbran]

Skills will be mostly standard (Hide, MS, Tumble, Bluff). I'm thinking about taking a single rank in Open Locks and Disable Device (since I'm likely going to be taking 20 on these anyways.)

This is something you might want to discuss with the DM. KNow for sure how he's going to rule before you say you'll be Taking 20 on these checks.

You see, many DMs don't allow Taking 20 on Disable Device checks. The skill descriptions says that if you fail by 5 or more, the trap will usually go off. And you cannot Take 20 is there is a "penalty for failure". Many DMs think having the trap go off in your face is such a penalty. Similar logic applies to Open Locks if there is a trap involved.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Open Lock is OK, but DD isn't.

 

[Akunin]

You may want to plan on picking up a Will Save-enhancing Feat, as well. There are a lot of monster special abilities and many spells that, if you fail a Will save, will put you out of a fight. At 10th level of Rogue, Slippery Mind would be a good choice. It's one of the better Rogue "elective" abilities.

Once you get into Fighter or Bararian, your Fort saves will start catching up - just be careful of poison until then.

If you go the Figher route, consider taking at least four levels for Specialization. The Bonus Feats gained will help you out a lot in picking up a second Feat Chain, as well.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

When doing a point buy, I would strongly reccomend avoiding a natural 18. Instead, go with a 17 and boost up to 18 at fourth level (assuming you will hit fourth level fairly quickly). This will give you THREE more points to spread around, which could turn an 11 into a 14 on another score!

If you really just must have an 18 for those first few levels, then pick a non-human race that excels in dexterity. This way you only need to spend stat points up to a 16, which is much much cheaper than a natural 18. Usually, you save 6 points on your high-end stat and then only have to spend 2 on your penalty stat to get it back to normal. That's a pretty good profit!

 

[mzsylver]

i recommend only buying a 16 or 17 Dex since you plan on increasing your Strength & possibly Constitution.

think of it this way. make up your character's stats at 8th level & work backwards. so if you buy a 12 str & 12 con now, you can put your 2 level points into Dex and get an 18. make sense?

in your campaign since you like a high charisma, i recommend putting skill points into hide, move silent, search, open lock, disable device (if you're putting ANY points into it, might as well max it out unless you plan on assisting), diplomacy, bluff or intimidate.

good luck! =)

 

[Umbran]

Open Lock is OK, but DD isn't.

Note the qualifier in my original statement - Open Locks is okay, so long as there is no trap involved. If there is also a trap that will trigger when someone fails to pick the lock, then the DM is in his rights to say the character cannot Take 20.

 

[Bastoche]

On my honor

Check out with your DM if he wishes to run a high honor campaign. If that is the case, you may prefer diplomatic skills and the like. Especialy if you want to play a high cha character... MS, Hide, Bluff are highly dishonorable. And depending on the DM, he may allow the skill craft(exlposive), hehehe.

I tend to prefer OA when they involves a lot of politics. Else it's just an ordinary campaign with weird looking suits and weapons

Multiclassing in monk instead of fighter may add flavor too. If you're playing in Rokugan, your human bonus feat will require to be taken from the "ancestor feats" list. It's not exactly a "wasted" feat, because many ancestor feats are pretty good, but you won't have point blank shot at first level... [edit Unless you play a non-noble, a commoner or a slave.

 

[Nareau]

Loads of good ideas to sort through...

Thanks guys.

I didn't know that the bonus human feat was limited so. I plan on playing a pretty poor commoner (think Oliver Twist meets the hero of Princess Mononoke). So hopefully this won't be an issue.

The more I think about it, the more I want to go the Point Blank/Rapid Shot chain. I figure that I'll stand a pretty good chance at getting 2 sneak attacks in on the first round of combat (+4 to init from Dex means I'll often win initiative. If I have my bow ready, I can do a full attack action and pick off two shots (each one doing 1d8 + 1 + 1d6, with +3 to hit)) That'll make me useful for the rest of combat as well.

Thanks for the info on DD and taking 20. That makes sense (that it can't be done). I might hold off on putting any ranks in it for a while. If we come across traps, we'll just have to break out our trust 10' poles.

That's a really good point about the will saves. I'd forgotten about nasty low-level spells like Sleep. I might just swap the Wis (8) for the Con (10). It'll suck to have so few HP's, but if I manage to stay out of melee, hopefully it won't be too much of an issue.

I don't think I'm going to boost my Int. I've got so many skill points as it is, 4 more just won't be worth the cost to me.

As for just going for a 16 or 17 Dex...I guess that would be the smart thing to do. I just think that the +1 to hit (ranged) and +1 AC is really hard to pass up (not to mention all the skills that are based on Dex...) Gah. I'll have to wring my hands some over that one. AFAIK, there aren't any OA races that get a bonus to Dex.