StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
Finally I have time to reply properly!
I hate all these holidays, I always have to go visit people I don't really care about just because they're family.
Yeah, family sucks. Especially when you and your sig other are unemployed and relying on their kindness in order to exist... You know they don't like you for it and can see it in their eyes that they wish they had the guts to leave you to starve to death, while on your end you grow to loathe them for the power they hold over you like an executioner's axe and how you're forced to hide what you truly feel about them because the positive feedback loop of life turning out badly has left you dependent on the people you despise just to survive. But I digress...
I got Noncombatant (-2 on all melee attack rolls) and Vulnerable (-1 to AC) as random flaws, and I chose Vulnerable because I don't think that a two-weapons fighting gnome that also gets a -2 on melee rolls would work.
I thought about not taking a flaw, but the extra feat was worth it in my opinion.
You chose wisely, then.
I'm thinking about getting the feats in this order:
Level:
5. Craven (5th level feat), MISSING ROGUE FEAT
7. Darkstalker (7th level feat), Fast Stealth* (Rogue Feat)
9. Staggering Strike (9th level feat), Improved TWF (Combat Trick rogue feat), Acrobatic Backstab (Skill Trick)
10. Back On Your Feet (Skill Trick)
11. MISSING 11TH FEAT, MISSING ROGUE FEAT
13. Savvy Rogue (13rd level feat), Opportunist (rogue feat)
15. MISSING 15TH LEVEL FEAT, Crippling Strike (Rogue Feat)
*Fast stealth makes me move at full speed while hiding.
Are you taking the Daring Outlaw feat to recompense the lost sneak attack from those Swashbuckler levels?
Is there a feat that lets me use bigger weapons? Using small short swords just isn't great at all...
1.) Enlarge Person is a great spell and a cheap potion. The weapons enlarge with you.
2.) Don't invest too much into your current weapons, you'll be ditching them. Save up for Strongarm Bracers (6000 gp) from Magic Item Compendium. They let you use weapons one size larger at no attack penalty at all. So naturally, you'll want to sell off those small short swords for medium ones afterwards.
3.) Your damage is mostly coming from sneak attack. Even with 1 and 2, you're going from a d4 to a d8. That's an average of +2 damage. Really not much to get worked up about. Get Shadow Blade feat later on if you can fit it in to your build and your dex climbs extremely high (short swords are a Shadow Hand weapon, may as well make use of that). Alternatively, blow a feat on Oversized Two Weapon Fighting (C.Warrior or C.Adv, I forget) and just use dual longswords instead. Then at least with Enlarge Person and Strongarm Bracers you've got a respectable 2d6 base weapon damage.
What do you suggest I should take, if not Weapon Focus and Improved Initiative?
Remember I can get fighters feat and weapon focus as rogue feats.
Martial Study (anything SH, best to wait for Cloak of Deception), Martial Stance (anything SH, best to wait for Assassin's Stance), Shadow Blade. I need to check crystalkeep, there's some obscure feat out there to swap sneak attack dice for +2 to hit per dice. From the crystalkeep blurb, I got the impression you can use it whenever you have sneak attack conditions (enemy flanked or lost dex to AC), regardless of whether or not you actually can deal SA damage. If the DM interprets it that way, it's a nice fallback plan for SA-immune critters. Or just anytime you're having trouble hitting a high AC foe. Silencing Strike and Extra Silence always seemed like a fun combo to me, but I never had the feats to spare on them.
I was thinking about going the Minor Magic / Major Magic route, but I don't know.
Minor Magic makes me choose a 0-level wizard / sorcerer spell to cast three times per day as a spell-like ability.
Major Magic is similar: I can choose a 1st-level spell and I could cast it two times per day...and it requires Minor Magic first.
Useful, but I think it's just a waste spending two feat for a 0-level spell and a 1-level spell. Unless there's a really, really useful spell I'd want to absolutely learn.
I also already have some spells I can use (Message, Silence, Ghost Sound and Mage Hand) for being a Whisper Gnome.
Depends...are all sourcebooks open for spells? Spell Compendium has some very handy spells for a Rogue at level 1. Basically the entire divination school's section, and many others (short list of ones you might like: Critical Strike, Persistent Blade, Golem Strike*, Insightful Feint, Nerveskitter, Shock and Awe). As for cantrips...Prestidigitation is a really awesome thing to have. Acid Splash would basically be a 3/day attack against flatfooted touch AC for sneak attack damage turned into acid damage, bypassing DR. And because it's acid, no roll to overcome SR, either. If you can spare the feats, there's good spells to take, but if you have no room for it, you can get by without them.
I was also thinking about getting proficencies in the Bladed Gauntlet (Sword and Fist), which is small, light, uses a d6 for damage and has a critical range of 17-20x2 (if my DM doesn't take the errata that makes it go 19-20x2 into account, of course).
If he doesn't take the errata into account, I could even pursue the improved critical / telling blow route.
If he allows it in as 17-20, I'd be afraid of what else he'll allow in for spellcasters and other players that can break the game far more than a fighter-rogue hybrid ever could. Alternative cheesy exotic weapon: Kusari-gama from the DMG section on asian-themed weapons. Can use one in each hand, and they have the ability to strike at reach and adjacent (like the spiked chain).
*Unless in PF you can SA golems, which I've heard you can.
EDIT: The crystalkeep feat is Precise Strike from dragon mag #310, or on crystalkeep's feat index p. 88.
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