Advice on "Arcane Rogue"

[Dordledum]

I think for what you want a dual-class rogue/warmage would work nice too.

 

[Wyvernhand]

Couple of tricks. Be Human. Thats not only an extra skill point per level, but it opens up the feat Able Learner from Races of Destiny. What Able Learner does is allow you to spend skill points 1:1 for any skill, class or otherwise. That means that basically, once a skill is a class skill, it is forever a class skill.

Second, make Int your highest stat. That means MOAR skill points. Dex and Con and all that can come after Int. Int first! Plus, it fuels your casting, so more spells/day and stronger spells.

Third, look for spells to make up the losses. As I mentioned, Divine Insight is amazing for those skill checks you REALLY need to make. Moment of Prescience is also good, albeit high level. You can also use spells to augment your skills. Why just hide when you can hide AND be invisible as well? Need to create a distraction? Illusions do it bigger and better than anything. Sneak in and cast a Silent Greater Image and pretend that the town is on fire. Most people won't even get a save until its too late.

As far as the negative CL penalty for USS, that's where either Master Spellthief or Practiced Spellcaster come in. They both raise your CL, for the most part. MS sets your CL equal to the sum of your ST and caster levels. Since you can apply effects and abilities in the order that is most beneficial, you take your normal CL, then you put the penalty on it, then you apply MS which changes your CL to a set value. On the other side, you take your CL, you apply MS to set your CL equal to your ST + caster levels, then you apply the Divination bonus. With Practiced Spellcaster, you simply apply PS first. You'll generally have 1 rogue level and 3 CLs lost from Unseen Seer. Thats -4 CLs, effectively. Practiced Spellcaster gives you +4 CLs. If you build with Rogue1/Wiz4/USS10, you'll cast spells as a 14th level wizard with a CL of 15 for non-divinations and 18 for divinations. Simple as that.

Thats one of the main reasons you don't want to lose that many CLs. You get weaker spells (which means less SA dice from Hunter's Eye, or less bonus from Divine Insight, or fewer dice on a SA delivery spell like Orb of Fire or something), and you get fewer spells.

Trust me, if you take Able Learner and focus on Int as a human, you won't have a problem with skill points, especially when you get into Unseen Seer. Sure, you might not have EVERY skill maxed, but you'll have plenty of ranks to go around with your core skills like Hide/Move Silent/Tumble maxed.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Ok, completely not an "Arcane Rogue" suggestion but...

Could you build (and would your DM suport) an Archivist (Heroes of Horror)? Go the Human + Able Learner route @Wyvernhand recommended and play an INT based Divine caster. Cleric spells as your base, gain the ability to learn Druid and other Divine spells from scrolls and such.

It's 4+INT with a limited class skill list, but if your INT is solid you've got the points. They are designed to do incredible things with Knowledge skills. Throw in Knowledge Devotion and cast Divine Favor and later Divine Power and Rightous Might as a Cleric would to pull off Melee.

I ask regarding DM support because the availability of scrolls to sribe into your prayerbook (spellbook) is up to your DM and a big part of what makes Archivist strong.

Archivist Handbook.

 

[Grogg of the North]

What about Swashbuckler/Wizard/Bladesinger? You can put that high int to use for more than skill points!

Otherwise I'd go Rogue/Wizard/Daggerspell Mage.

 

[xigbar]

Unseen Seer has 6+int skill points per level on top of its already awesome class features. That's about the most you are going to get while still keeping full casting and 3/4 BAB. Thats more than Arcane Trickster, more than Spellwarped Sniper, and more than Daggerspell Mage. Its the clear winner as far as a truely skilled arcane rogue would go. You can also use the Advanced Learning feature to pick up some really awesome divinations. My highest recommendation is Divine Insight from Complete Divine. Its a Clr2 divination that lasts for CL/lvl HOURS. It can be discharged at will for a 5+CL (max 15) INSIGHT bonus on any skill check. That is the ultimate boost, if you ask me. Need to make that REALLY critical Disable Device roll vs the UBER TRAP OF DOOM ^TM? Pop this. Critical bluff? Done deal. Tricky UMD for strange artifact? BONUS. Diplomancy the pants off the bad guy? In the bag. Its so universally useful, you'd be foolish not to get it. Other great Divinations to pick up with Unseen Seer are Hunter's Eye (PBHII) which is a Ranger2 divination that gives you CL/3 bonus Sneak Attack dice. Oh, and its Persistable. If your game is undead heavy, Gravestrike (CDivine/SpC) is a Clr1 divination that lets you Sneak Attack undead for 1 round as if they were not.

Lots to love with this class. Its probably the biggest rogue bang for your buck. The other class features are awesome. The CL boost is really helpful for squeezing an extra SA die out of Hunter's Eye, while the CL penalty is offset by either Practiced Spellcaster or Master Spellthief, depending on which base you go with.

Everything here, though a neat and simple trick with Spellwarp is the "no reflex save" effect of spellwarping, meaning grease knocks people prone automatically.