Help for a game tonight please.

[Goldmoon]

I have had tons of crap going on the past few weeks and I am in a game tonight for the first time in a long while. Im playing a swashbuckler and the game I am joining we are 11th level, 66k for magic items and cant spand more than half of that on 1 item. I want to ust that feat from CS that lets my rogue/swashbuckler levels stack for sneak attack. Im thinking a rogue3/swash 8. Can anyone propose a good, solid build for me. there is one only 1 other melee type and I want to be effective but Im dead set on a swashbuckler.

 

[dshai527]

Just for fun go with Scout/Swashbuckler and aim for lots of tumbling and maybe even spring attack. Sorry I am at work and can't help more than that.

 

[Mistwell]

TheHumanDynamo from the WOTC boards posted this interesting build, though you will need to tweak it to likely remove the flaws for example:

Be a whisper gnome (Races of Stone) and use the following build, the items in paranthesis are class features.:

1 Swashbuckler (Weapon Finesse), Combat Expertise, Dodge (from flaw), Weapon Focus Rapier (from flaw)
2 Swashbuckler (Grace +1)
3 Rogue (Sneak Attack +1d6, Trapfinding), Titan Fighting
4 Rogue (Evasion)
5 Rogue (Sneak Attack +2d6, Trap Sense)
6 Swashbuckler (Insightful Strike), Daring Outlaw
7 Blade Bravo (Flourish, Goad)
8 Blade Bravo (Mobile Fighting)
9 Blade Bravo (Two Weapon Fighting), Underfoot Fighting
10 Blade Bravo (Sneak Attack +1d6)
11 Blade Bravo (Size Advantage)
12 Blade Bravo (Improved Two Weapon Fighting), Confound the Big Folk
13 Blade Bravo (Small But Deadly)
14 Blade Bravo (Sneak Attack +2d6)
15 Blade Bravo (Greater Two Weapon Fighting), Martial Study: Cloak of Deception
16 Blade Bravo (Lethal Riposte)
17 Rogue (Uncanny Dodge)
18 Rogue (Sneak Attack +3d6), Martial Stance: Assassin’s Stance
19 Rogue (Trap Sense +2)
20 Rogue (Sneak Attack +4d6),

 

[Mistwell]

This thread has a lot of good ideas for the build you have in mind:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=856505

and this one:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=816872

I think I favor this one from jstorrie:

Human
14 16 14 14 8 8
1 Rogue: Power Attack, Telling Blow, Trapfinding, Sneak Attack +1d6
2 Swashbuckler: Weapon Finesse
3 Fighter: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Courtblade), Weapon Focus (Courtblade)
4 Swashbuckler: Grace +1
5 Rogue: Evasion, Sneak Attack +2d6
6 Rogue: Daring Outlaw, Sneak Attack +3d6, Dodge +1
7 Fighter: Power Critical*
8 Fighter
9 Fighter: Weapon Specialization, Weapon Mastery
10 Swashbuckler
11 Rogue Uncanny Dodge, Sneak Attack +4d6
12 Swashbuckler: Improved Critical (Courtblade)
13 Fighter
14 Fighter: Slashing Flurry
15 Swashbuckler: Staggering Strike, Sneak Attack +5d6

Power Critical's value in the build depends on your equipment access. If you have a great weapon for hitting criticals with (say, a +1 Sacred Keen Elven Courtblade) you might prefer Power Critical. If you don't have access to good shield modifiers, you might prefer to retrain once you can reasonably afford a +3 or +4 buckler, though note that penalties to hit translate through Power Attack into less damage per round. If your weapon is turning out to not be great for criticals you can retrain into Staggering Strike early on as well. And, of course, if you are able to buy keen that frees up the Improved Critical slot, so you can potentially have all three.

Daring Outlaw is probably actually one of the least important parts of a Daring Outlaw build. It's just that it fits so comfortably into the feat progression of a trapfinding/tumbling dextrous fighter. The real power elements are Power Attack/Finesse on a courtblade and Weapon Spec/Mastery/Insightful Strike for large amounts of bonus damage; really this build is more about being a Fighter/Rogue with a courtblade, and Swashbuckler just tunes that up a little–the aim is to get 2d4+1.5 Str+Int+4 going on a 15-20 weapon, with high mobility and AC and good hit dice. With the focus on Dex and the Swashbuckler Dodge bonus and potentially a shield bonus from your buckler, your AC is decent enough to advertise as a tank despite wearing mithril chain shirts.

 

[mikebr99]

Or...

Male Human(Select an Ethnicity) Rog3/Swb8; CR 11;
Medium Humanoid (Human);
HD 3d6+8d10+22; hp <roll it!!>;
Init +4; Spd 30 ft/x4;
AC 19 (+5 Mithral breastplate, +4 dex), touch 14, flat-footed 15;
Base Atk/Grapple +10/+11;
Full Atk +10/+5 Two-Weapon (primary) (1d6+1;15-20/x2, Rapier), +10/+5
Two-Weapon (secondary) (1d6;15-20/x2, Rapier);
SA&SQ Trap Sense(Ex), Evasion(Ex), Sneak Attack, Trapfinding(Ex), Grace(Ex),
Insightful Strike(Ex), Dodge Bonus(Ex), Acrobatic Charge(Ex), Improved
Flanking(Ex);
AL CG; SV Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +4;
Str 12(+1), Dex 18(+4), Con 14(+2), Int 12(+1), Wis 12(+1), Cha 12(+1);
Skills: Balance¹ +10, Climb¹ +5, Craft (Poker)¹ +13, Diplomacy¹ +17, Jump¹ +13,
Listen¹ +7, Profession (Gambling) +13, Search¹ +7, Sense Motive¹ +6,
Spot¹ +7, Tumble +19.
Feats: Improved Critical (PH 95) (Rapier), Two-Weapon Fighting (PH 102), Improved
Two-Weapon Fighting (PH 96), Weapon Finesse (PH 102)², Telling Blow (PH2
83), Daring Outlaw.



I haven't spent your money yet.

Mike

 

[exempt]

Human
14 16 14 14 8 8
1 Rogue: Power Attack, Telling Blow, Trapfinding, Sneak Attack +1d6
2 Swashbuckler: Weapon Finesse
3 Fighter: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Courtblade), Weapon Focus (Courtblade)
4 Swashbuckler: Grace +1
5 Rogue: Evasion, Sneak Attack +2d6
6 Rogue: Daring Outlaw, Sneak Attack +3d6, Dodge +1
7 Fighter: Power Critical*
8 Fighter
9 Fighter: Weapon Specialization, Weapon Mastery
10 Swashbuckler
11 Rogue Uncanny Dodge, Sneak Attack +4d6
12 Swashbuckler: Improved Critical (Courtblade)
13 Fighter
14 Fighter: Slashing Flurry
15 Swashbuckler: Staggering Strike, Sneak Attack +5d6

Note that the sneak attack damage increments by +1d6 every 2 levels of rogue after the first, not every level.

 

[Cameron]

I know that this is a bit off tangent, but do you need to be a Rogue? I was thinking of a Swashbuckler/Beguiler gish with Arcane Strike, maybe with TWF. The reason for this is that AS is a free action. You sacrifice two slots to power up both weapons, and you'll be rolling a bucketful of dice that round, and it will conveniently negate the TWF penalties and a lower BAB. Being a gish, it will also help you at higher levels where melee types tend to be relegated to speedbump status, and being a Beguiler, you get to keep some of your skill-monkey status. Take Extra Spell at the appropriate level and grab one of the Bite of the series of spells and watch you melee ability go through the roof.

 

[GilaMonster]

Note that the sneak attack damage increments by +1d6 every 2 levels of rogue after the first, not every level.

Daring outlaw allows rogue and swashbuckler to stack for the purposes of sneak attack. There shouldn't be a 2d6 at 5th level, but the rest is right.