Building a Character: Help Please

[eXodus]

hey there, kiddies.

one of my palyers has wrestled the reigns of the dm from me and is running an alternate game on our offweeks.

so finally i get the chance to be on the other side of the screen as a player. i am overjoyed.

the game we are going with is one of rogues. everyone is playing a rogue of sorts.

here is the current party makeup: human rogue2/fighter1 (will use ranseur in spring attack combos), dwarf rogue2/fighter1 (will be the trap and lock master), human rogue2/cleric1 (he will be doing all the healing)

i have two free levels as rogue. obviously we are short in the arcane casting department.

here are the stats i have: str9, dex15, con13, int15, wis13, chr17

the dm has nixed sorcs from the mix. so i am looking at wizard or bard.

if anyone has any ideas for the pros or cons of wiz or bard, let me know.

my boy is going to be the leader. come on, he has the 17 charisma!

 

[Darklone]

Go for rogue3/bard and head towards arcane trickster

Seriously, rogue/wiz is lots better than rogue/sorcerer... the spellcaster level loss due to multiclassing hurts a wizard less than a sorcerer.

As a wizard, concentrate first on spiderclimb, invis and all that nifty stuff that helps with sneaky tactics.

With your high CHA, the Monte bard looks promising... he has a lot more firepower at low levels than a sorcerer. (check the monte bard thread)

 

[MarauderX]

Go with Bard. The wizard is pretty weak in the beginning and only gets up to mediocre towards the end if you multiclass. With the Bard song: Having a +1 for attack and damage makes a difference, as well as the +2 for saves in any number of situations. You will also get a few more skills to choose from with Bard, and I would stick with Bluff, Diplomacy and Perform as the bard related ones. Don't worry about taking ranks in concentration, as I would only cast if there is no chance of be interrupted anyway. Perhaps 1 rank in spellcraft is enough for most purposes in games that I am in.

Even the bard spells at first level can help out a lot, like cure light wounds and sleep, and you can cast them spontaneously, so no spell lists to memorize each day.

I think you get a choice of any weapon with Rogue, but if the DM limits you to the Bard weapons, take the whip. You can trip enemies from 15' away as a ranged attack for the prone +4 bonus to attack as well as stopping enemies from getting away. Taking a bow or rapier wouldn't be bad, but not as cool for a more back-line type of character.

 

[Darklone]

I'd say the bard has better weapon and armour proficiency than the rogue.

Whip is fine, but forget trips with your strength, use True Strike and Disarm

If you want more weapon proficiencys, you could think about going elf... but then wizard is better.

Look for elven chainmails or mithral chainshirts if you can put your fingers on some.

Perhaps ask your DM if he lowers the prerequs for Arcane Trickster a little bit ... like 5 levels of bard instead of 3rd level arcane spells...

Max out Use Magic Device.

 

[Gaiden]

Another vote for rogue/bard. Go with halfling.

Take point blank shot and precise shot (to be used with whip but that also can be applied to crossbows - which at low levels are just as good as bows and with your strength will be a benefit) and possibly weapon focus whip or improved iniative. IDHMBWM but if the whip is not usable with the halfling see if you can get a halfling size whip that does less damage.

You will be out of the range of AoO (at least in most cases) so should not have to worry about expertise and improved disarm, although these would be nice especially if you can get snatch weapon later on. Focus on buffing the party along with the cleric but I would recommend against the healing as this to me would be fairly redundant.

 

[Berk]

bah, rog/wiz. Mostly cuz I hate bards and think they were poorly written. Hope the 3.5 one is better, but for some reason I doubt it will be just by giving more skill points and fiddling with the spell list. Anyways, rog/wiz and go for arcane trickster if your dm will allow it. If he won't allow arcane trickster then just stick with rog/wiz mainly going for more rog levels overall. I'd prolly aim for 4th level spells and specialize in illusions or transmutations or something.

 

[bret]

Although I personally favor Rogue/Wizard as well, the Rogue/Bard might be worth considering just to give the group a face man.

The Bard doesn't have as wide a selection of spells. You miss out on a lot of the ones you would really like, such as True Strike.

As everyone else has said, you want to look at Arcane Trickster (from Tome & Blood) or Virtuoso (from Song & Silence) as possible prestige classes.

Note that Virtuoso can easily be gotten by buying the ranks in Perform as a rogue.

 

[WattsHumphrey]

Going for Arcane Trixter would definitely fit the arcane caster/rogue very very well.

I'd personally emphasize maxing out UMD, and therefore taking the Bard route. It's the only way you'll get to really high levels of spells if you're planning on splitting your classes. Plus, it's a horribly useful skill anyways

If you're going Bard, I'd definitely second using the whip to disarm. I'd probably go heavy on combatish spells like True Strike (even if you have to buy an item to provide it) and backup illusion magic.

 

[DreamChaser]

bah, rog/wiz. Mostly cuz I hate bards and think they were poorly written.

grab the Book of Eldritch Might II and use the alternate bard...much better than the PH bard...defilitely go for rogue/bard though.

 

[Samhain California]

a bard wont give you the best of offensive spells but a Bard/Rog is pretty effective with 6 ranks in perform to start with, if you continue you might consider making a "mutt" out of your PC pick up a level in fighter or two so you can qualify for Dragon Disciple in the future and then take "large and in charge) from S&F, DD will help your STR score and lotd of other things