Dunjin said:
I'm thinking about building a knife-throwing character based on speed and agility. My problem is that there are tons of things I'd like the character to do, but not enough feat slots to cover it.
Feats I see as essential:
Quick Draw
Point-Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Weapon Finesse (Dagger)
Dodge
Mobility
Weapon Focus (Dagger)
Rapid Shot
Improved Initiative
The perfect build would seem to be some combination of fighter and monk, but you can't really combine monk without taking all those monk levels first. I was thinking rogue levels because of the sneak attack, Evasion, and skills like Escape Artist, Tumble, and Sleight of Hand.
I'm toying with builds, but I'm curious to see if anyone has one that has worked or they think might work. I know about the Master of Throwing or whatever, from Complete Warrior, and clearly that class is a target, but I don't have that here with me.
Definitely go with halfling. The +3 to hit they will get with thrown daggers more than compensates for the -1 dmg, reduced movement, and lack of a bonus feat. From a powergaming perspective your concept already is at a disadvantage because of the decrese in die type (d4's vs. d6s or a better critical range). You might as well take the smaller race that would have that as a penalty anyway.
I'd suggest the following feats:
Point Blank Shot
Rapid Shot
Precise Shot
Far Shot
Quickdraw
Far Shot, as was already mentioned, is critical considering the 10' range increment normal of a dagger. The rest of the feats are the bread and butter of any missile combatant (excluding quickdraw with projectile weapons of course)
I would stay away from Dodge and Mobility. You already have a relatively slow movement rate. Moreover, even if you went for spring attack, it seems kind of a waste considering you can convert between missile and melee fighing forms with daggers.
If you want melee capability with daggers as well, Weapon Finesse is a no brainer. However, the two weapon fighting feats are also going to be important. You are going to have to compensate for daggers having lower damage. The easiest way is to gain more attacks. The next thing to do is to add damage. As was already suggested, you can take Ranger for their favored enemy bonuses. However, I sort of agree with you that in descriptive terms that doesn't really match up to the mental image of the knife thrower. The fighter has weapon specialization. Combined with a greater number of attacks, that can really add up. There are also energy enhancements - the extra d6 damage is a great boost (think Taki in Soul Caliber with one enchanted with fire, and the other ice).
Perhaps the most obvious way to increase damage is with sneak attack. This is truly where knife throwing characters start to become dangerous. There are three ways to get this for your character concept - rogue, invisilbe blade PrC from CW, and the Ninja class in Rokugan. If you are using Rokugan material, also consider the feat in Secrets of the Ninja which increases dagger damage to d6 and improves the crit range by 1 (I forget the name) as well as the Scorpion technique feat which essentially gives you 1d6 SA dmg per time you take the feat (max = 5). The invisible blade is a perfect class because it combines good BAB with good SA progression. If you are getting sneak attack then I would also consider the feats - improved initiative, expert tactician (and combat reflexes), and flick of the wrist.
