Combat Rogue... ideas

[Rashak Mani]

7th Level Campaign I will enter soon seems pretty combat oriented or roleplaying light... so I figured I wanted to play a Rogue...

Thing is I want him to be effective in combat... not only thru sneak attack thou. What do you guys suggest for feats and abilities distribution in order to get a Combat Rogue ?

What about magical equipment... anything in the Arms and Equipment you would recommend a so so rich rogue ? 19k gold.

Any prestige classes worthwhile ? From what I saw I dont think so....

- Has to be light armor due to evasion
- No race thought out yet... probably human
- 38 pts. and 7th lvl character gold.
- Can be multiclass if good idea

 

[Voadam]

Go with a high con for hit points. It is more important in hack and slash campaigns.

Tumble is a definite skill to get up to creatures.

You might want all rogue if you want the most smack in your sneak attacks.

Two weapon fighting will soon be one feat and is great for sneak attacking in melee.

Another option is loading up on invisibility and then sniping with missile fire from 30 feet. If so load up on missile feats.

 

[Voadam]

If you want a combat rogue submit to the sneak attack focus temptation, it is their strongest class combat option.

Otherwise perhaps use magic device maxed out for wands and such.

 

[mmu1]

Well... If you really want to make a hard-core combat oriented rogue, I'd reccommend going with a Dwarf with a level or two of Barbarian.

You get Darkvision, which is huge for a stealth-based character, you get a bonus to CON, you have a 30' move, can boost your combat abilities when you really need it, the levels from both classes stack for Uncanny Dodge purposes, and you get a +2 to all saves vs. spells - combined with Iron Will, it'll ensure that you'll have a better chance of actually staying in combat, instead of getting Held or frightened into running away...

Then, for combat effectiveness you can do one of two things: Get a large two-handed weapon and buy gloves of Ogre Strength - you can easily have 18STR that way (start with a 15, boost to 16 at 4th level...), and hit for 2d6+6 and 3d6 of sneak attack when flanking (or when charging in the first round of combat), or take Ambidex and TWF and use dual shortswords to maximize your sneak attack potential. The first option is probably better for your purposes since it's much cheaper in terms of feats and makes you a lot more effective in situations in which you can't sneak attack.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Yep one thing I want to avoid is the "cant sneak = useless Rogue" syndrome.

What about feats... is Expert Tactician of much use after the first round ? Its not that easy to have situations with no dex unless we are talking of invisibility.

 

[mmu1]

I don't have much practical experience with Expert Tactician since I never played in or ran games that allowed it , but you could always use the Bluff skill to feint in combat. You're using a pretty high point-buy, with what you save on CON you can easily have a decent CHA, as long as you don't try to make it more than 12...

 

[Voadam]

Couple options for multiclassing.

Spellcaster for buffs, detects and maybe invsibility or healing.

Bard so you gain the singing then max perform and use that on your allies when you hit elementals, constructs and undead.

Fighter for smack and feats.

Ranger for two weapon smackdown

Barbarian for fighting boost and uncanny stacking.

Monk for light armored powers double evasion is a waste though.

Hong's martial artist good BAB uncanny dodge stacking and warrior bonus feats. No alignment or multiclassing restrictions

Beyond Monk's martial artist. good BAB some neat martial arts abilities but finishing move is similar to sneak attack useless against uncrittable things.

I haven't done much with psionic classes so I have no advice for you there.

 

[Voadam]

Expert tactician usually lets you get in one or two extra sneak attacks before your opponent goes if you have good init. This can be huge damage. It is really good with invis or with the bluff standard attack sequence. If you go this route get improved init as well.

 

[Rashak Mani]

I was thinking of getting a great sword... not your usual short sword and Weapon finesse route thou

 

[Shadeus]

I was thinking of getting a great sword... not your usual short sword and Weapon finesse route thou

Damn straight!

Go human Ftr4/Rog3.

S 18 (+1 at lvl 4)
D 16
C 16
I 10
W 10
Ch 9

Feats: wf (greatsword), power attack, cleave, combat reflexes, ws (greatsword), expert tactician. [or dump cleave for imp. initiative]

Skills: who cares

Equipment: chainshirt +2, greatsword +1, gauntlets of ogre power +2, ring of protection +1, cloak of resistance +2

Attack: +6 (BAB) + 5 (Str) + 1 (sword) + 1 (wf) = +13
Damage = 2d6 + 10

He'll have uncanny dodge, evasion, and everytime he catches someone flat-footed, he'll get +2d6 sneak damage AND an extra attack. His AC will be relatively low (AC 20-ish), but he'll bring down some pain on anyone he beats in initiative (so Imp. Initiatiave may be important).