Elven Fighter-Mage... what do I do???

Need advice. I haven't multi-classed since 2e. My only characters in 3e have been iconic.

I get to make a level 4 Elven fighter-mage for a new campaign. I get 5,400 gp and the following stats: 15, 14, 14, 14, 13, 10, plus the level 4 bonus. That's before racial modifiers. There's another tank in the group, but that's all I know so far.

So far, I have never played a multi-class of two such disparate classes before. I usually go iconic, unless I dip into a prestige class. What would you do? What feats would you get?

So far I'm leaning towards no arms or armor but a longsword. Put the 15 in Int, +1 for lvl 4, with 14's in Dex, Con, and Cha. I wanna go heavy on diplomacy, bluff and sense motive, since he's supposed to be a politician. He leads a rebel insurrection group, so I was thinking perhaps the Leadership feat. What do you guys think? How would you build him?

You can't do Leadership yet, only 4th level...

If there's another fighter in the group, I myself would go rogue/wizard rather than fighter/wizard. Fewer hit points, sure, but it will give you access to those skills you're considering. If you still want to go with a fighter concept, I'd suggest still going rogue/wizard, then multiclassing into duelist (PrC from Sword & Fist) at the earliest opportunity.

If you want a fighter-mage, you may as well play a bard. Even if you couldn't care less about bardic music, you will end up being a more powerful spellcaster and have a higher base attack bonus than you would if you multiclass. The only disadvantage is that you will not have all the extra fighter feats. On the other hand, you would get twice as many skill points, and it sounds like you care more about the skills anyway: bluff, diplomacy, sense motive--none of which are class skills for fighter or wizard.

So, I'd put the stats like this:
STR 14
DEX 16
CON 11
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 16

Then I'd suggest picking some combat feats to buff up your fighting prowess. Combat Relfexes would be cool since you have that high DEX, and Power Attack and Cleave are pretty standard choices for a fighter.

First, I like your character concept. Its good to see people playing smart fighters that can talk as well as fight.

If you want to go fighter-mage with a longsword as you said then I assume you want to be an effective melee fighter that uses magic as an ace-in-the-hole sometimes. Then here's what I would do:

Start off as F3/Diviner 1 with necromancy as your opposition school.

You'll get 5 first level spells in your spellbook (I think). Take True Strike, Shield, Sleep, Charm Person and Change Self. This is a good combination of spells that are effective for both combat and roleplay. True Strike and Shield are spells you cast on yourself so you'll never have to beat SR and they don't lose a lot of usefulness as you level. Sleep is nice for taking out masses of goblins, kobolds, orcs and the like.

Take advantage of the fact that you get the scribe scroll feat for free. Scribe at least one scroll of each of the above spells as soon as you have the spare XP (you'll only need 5 XP or so).

Feats: Consider the following:

Power attack: If you have a 13 in Str you can take this. Combine it with True Strike and mow down the bad guys.

Improved Inititive: always good no matter the character

Dodge: No armor is going to hurt you sometimes - a +1 to AC can't hurt and I think they're going to make this feat better in 3.5

Weapon Focus Longsword

From other sources besides the PHB:

Smooth Talk [Forgotten Realms Campagin Setting] a +2 bonus to Diplomacy and sense motive

Trustworthy [from Song and Silence] - You'll get a +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information Checks.

Hit points and skills: you'll need to decide if your character was a wizard at first level or a fighter. If he was a fighter then you get the wonderful automatic 10 hp for first level. If he was a wizard then you'll get more skill points at first level but fewer hit points.

Aim at fulfilling the prereqs for the Bladesinger class from Tome and Blood. If my math is correct then you can take your first level of Bladesinger as your 6th character level but if you do this then you're going to have to reconsider your skill selection. So let's not get in a hurry to become a Bladesinger, okay? Let's stick to your character concept. So, consider doing the following:

Begin as a fighter/rogue/diviner, say F2/R1/Div1. If you did this then you'd have your desired skills as class skills. Plus if you take rogue as your first character level then you'd have A LOT of skill points to throw around in additon to having decent first level hp. Consider something along the lines of the following advancement schedule:

F2/R1/Div1.
F2/R2/Div1
F3/R2/Div1
F3/R3/Div1
F3/R3/Div1/Bladesinger 1

Then take Bladesinger from there on out. You'll have to carefully tailor your feats to meet the PRC's prereqs but you should be able to get a lot of ranks in sense motive and the like while also meeting the skill prereqs for the PRC.

Oh yes, and for equipment

Masterwork Longsword - 315 gp (?)
Wand of Magic Missile [3rd level] with 50 charges - 2,250 gp
(with that wand, who needs a bow?)
4 Potions of Cure Light Wounds [total cost 200 gp]

Bracers of Armor +1 [1000 gp]

Cloak of Resistance +1 [1000 gp]

Large Steel Shield (for when you're out of spells and just going to be fighting anyway)

This leaves somewhere around 600 gp for stuff like horse, tent, pack, and other mundane gear. Consider picking up a vial of holy water, some alchemist fire and a tanglefoot bag.

3.0 or 3.5?

Either way, I'd place the stats:

Str 14, Dex 15 [+2 race, +1 level=18], Con 14 (-2 race=12), Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 10.

You could also go for a 16 dex and 16 strength by reversing the stat placement and 4th level point.

The logic of my choices, however, is this: You'll never be casting spells with saves so you don't need int for DCs; by the time you get access to 3rd and 4th level bladesinger spells, you should have a +2 or +4 int item--the only reason to go higher is the bladesinger AC bonus.

Con is good but it's hard to get it higher than 12 as an elf with those stats.

Dex helps with AC, initiative (which will be very important for you since you're vulnerable when you don't have defenses running), ranged attacks, and reflex saves. Since AC bonusses are more significant the higher your AC is, dex is better for you in 3.0 than 3.5.

Strength is also very important as it determines your attack and damage ratios--and the more damage you do, the better.

Wisdom is good for spot checks, sense motives and reflex saves and you can do without charisma--at least mechanically. If you'd rather roleplay the rebel leader followed for his personal magnetism than for his cunning plans and wise decisions, switch wisdom and charisma.

In 3.0, I'd recommend Ftr 2/Abjurer 2 (enchantment prohibited); 3.5 Ftr 2; Diviner 2 (necromancy prohibited).

In 3.0, a toad familiar is the obvious choice for the hit points (which you will otherwise be short on, combining elven constitution with d4 hit points) but even in 3e, rat (fort saves), weasel (ref saves), owls (good spot scores and scouting), and ravens (good scouts and communicators) are viable choices. In 3.5e, toads are pretty worthless at +3 hp; I'd go with another one from the list.

For feats, Weapon Focus: Longsword, Dodge, Still Spell, Combat Casting (Talk to your DM about raising the bonus to +5 if this is a 3.5e game; at +4 in very limited situations it compares unfavorably to skill focus's universal +3).

Progression as follows:
Ftr 2/Wiz 2
Ftr 3/Wiz 2
Ftr 4/Wiz 2 (Expertise and Weapon Specialization: Longsword
Ftr 4/Wiz 2/Bladesinger 1 (make sure to use the T&B web enhancement version)
...Bladesinger 2 Combat Reflexes
Ftr 4/Wiz 2/Bladesinger 3 Improved Critical: Longsword
...Bladesinger 4
...Bladesinger 5 Mobility, Quickdraw, or Improved Disarm (better in 3.5 than 3e)
....Bladesinger 6 Expert Tactician (to go with Improved Invisibility)
After that, keep going with bladesinger and either fighter or Weapon Master (which would be an option if you went with Mobility at level 11, Spring Attack at level 14, and Whirlwind Attack at level 15).

Equipment at 4th level: +1 mithral Chain shirt (2100), +1 longsword (2000), +1 cloak of resistance (1000), 2 potions of Cure light wounds, scroll of expeditious retreat, scroll of shield, 2 scrolls of obscuring mist, tanglefoot bag, large wooden shield (at least in 3e), and 35 gp, 50 sp, 30 cp. (If you're in disguise and you have to pay for your drink at the inn with gold, everyone will know you're not a peasant--so always carry copper).

If you go the dex route, your walking around AC will be 19 (15 flatfooted) but by the end of round 1, it will be 28 (29 against your dodge target) in 3e (standard action; cast shield; MeA ready large shield) and 23 (24 against your dodge target) in 3.5 (Standard action, cast Shield; MeA draw longsword). Subtract one from both if you go the strength route.


Another way to go about it would be:
Fighter 2/Bard 2 Dodge, WF: Longsword, Still Spell, Combat Casting
Fighter 2/Bard 3
Fighter 2/Bard 4 Expertise

(On this build your stats would be: 16 (15+1) str, 16 (14+2) dex, (14-2) 12 con, 13 int (get a headband as soon as you get bladesinger levels), 10 wis, 14 cha)

Your AC won't be as high (lower int and no shield spell), you'll have 4 fewer hit points (on average), and you'll do slightly less damage (since you won't have weapon specialization), but you'd have much better reflex saves, would be better in the social skills department and would be able to cast a second level spell at level 6. In the magic items, take four arcane scrolls of cure light wounds instead of potions.

d12, I think you on what I'm looking for.

While bards and rogue/wizards are very good for numbers, the concept itself is more like this:

An elven wizard-in-training has his whole family killed by a rival political group during a revolution. He joins with a underground rebellion and is trained as a guerilla fighter. He also works the social circles however, as the "political" arm of the rebellion.

This certainly, I feel, justifies the levels of rogue for all those nice skills. Also, the fact that he's a rebel fighter seems to fit well with roguishness. The wizard is in there because my original concept was a fighter-mage, and I'll cling to it no matter how nice a fighter-rogue looks.

As for the bladesinger; I'll admit, it's a very very nice PrC. It just doesn't fit the concept. I mean, my character may very well suck in usefulness without it, but I can't see this character singing and dancing. Very same reason I couldn't make him a bard.

But we'll see... the campaign hasn't started yet, and we'll see how this character develops...

PS: I think I may opt for the gray elf... +2 dex, int, -2 str, con... what do you guys think?

If you're not going bladesinger, I'd recommend:

Ftr 1/Wiz 3
Wiz 4...
Ftr 1/Wiz 8/Duelist 1
Ftr 1/Wiz 9/Duelist 1...Ftr 1/Wiz 18/Duelist 1

Levelling up in any wizard prestige class instead of wizard would be workable.

IME, when multiclassing in 3e--especially with spellcasters--balanced multiclasses are almost always a mistake. Decide the minimum number of non fighter, non-wizard, or non-rogue levels you are willing to take and go with that. And figure out what your role in the group is. It won't be "wizard" if you've taken more than one or two levels of anything else. It might be "Fighter with a little bit of magic for protection" (the bladesinger does this well). It might also be "Fighter, relying on magic to enable hit to attack his enemies." The Ftr/Wiz/Duellist is an example of this. (He probably combines precise strike with blink or improved invisibility and haste and expert tactician for his offense). Or you might be "Rogue who uses magic to scout and protect himself and is proficient in a lot of weapons." A fighter 2/Wiz 4/Rog 16 would be an example of this.

Where D12 was headed is the right idea, but I will throw my 2 cents in as well:

Put your stats as follows:

STR 14
DEX 15
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 10
CHA 13

And go with the grey elf.

You end up with the a STR 12, DEX 17, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 10, CHA 13

Take rapier and composite short bow, or composite longbow as your elven weapons.

Take the weapon finesse feat : rapier

Specialize into divination and lose either necro or conjuring.

Do everything that D12 said about spells.

Do everything you can to make your dexterity bonus work for you in combat through the feats and weapons you choose. If you can easily get magic items that increase your inteligence over ones that increase your dexterity, then I would consider puting that first point at level 4 into Dex and then from there on into Int. I would consider taking Expertise btw. When fighting with your rapier you could potentially double your dex bonus to your AC.

If you ARE going towards bladesinger make sure you download the modified version on the wizards site (probably in errata though I'm not sure) the version in Tome and Blood has abilities and powers left of of it that would make it a much more attractive option.