Then I'd rather get some Crusader levels ;)
Ah, Practised Spellcaster is great for a pally too. You get some pearls of power for your level 1 Divine Favor spell, cast them as Swift actions every combat for a huge bonus... and your pally tops the barbarians damage output.
What he said, Scout is lots better than rogue for warlocks. You might even think about 5 levels of scout for evasion and Improved Skirmish, your overall damage will be higher than a singleclass warlock.
Race: Human for the extra feat.
General advice with torture: Let the player decide. Tell him about it and let him/her tell the story about how they torture his char and what happens.
And let him make proposals about mutilations and whether they have semi-permanent or no effects.
Given how many attacks that cat seems to have (look at the multiple SCRATCH attacks while Tsukiko merely manages one free action (screaming for help)) the cat HAS to have class levels ;)
Ah yes and thanks, synchronicity. Yeah, given that a shot at a flanked character doesn't allow you to apply sneak attack damage, that made it rather clear that Distracting Shot doesn't help you to get ranged sneak attacks.
One DM I know wanted to balance the spell by adding a verbal component... the player had to tell a short joke everytime he cast the spell. Brought a lot of laughter to the table but didn't really balance the spell ;)
Hehehe, yeah, I see that a char that will kill most high level undeads (due to their low hitpoints) with one action might be seen as a little bit optimised :D
Yupp, the ability is great... I'm just confused since last time we checked that during play, we found some melee restriction... I'll check my books next time I see them.
If there hasn't been any errata about the Swift Hunter feat, then skirmish damage applies to the ranger/scouts favored enemies.
Edit: The feat allows to add scout and ranger levels for favored enemy progression as well as skirmish damage progression. Additionally, skirmish damage applies to...
If all you want is a bard that pulls his own weight, go bard archer. One level of warblade for the swift singing option, rest bard and get Rapid Shot and boots of speed (or the haste spell later). Get a good str and dex and you'll do fine.
That screams for skirmisher: Go Swift Hunter with scout3/rangerX and pick as your main favored enemy undead. At level 11 given you have Improved Skirmish and Greater Manyshot, you'll do 6+5d6 points of extra damage with each of your three fired arrows per standard action while enjoying a high AC...