Complete Scoundrel Here

[Psion]

At least in WotC. I can think of a few good Rogue/Cleric ones off hand in d20.

How many do you need?

There's divine trickster and shadowbane stalker. The ethos for SBS is a bit limited, but the adaptation notes point to how you can make them more general, and their class abilities are pretty generic for a cleric/rogue "mesh" PrC.

 

[Cam Banks]

Complete Mage didn't have any new core classes either so I'm not surprised. I was expecting, however, alternate class features.

It seems as if alternative class features weren't included because the whole tricks system seems to offer something along the same lines - a way to bring the roguish element to any character class via skill point expenditure. You could probably turn any number of those tricks into ACFs without trouble; just figure out how many levels you'd need to meet the skill rank requirement and plug it in.

WotC seems to have dropped sub levels completely; Expedition to Castle Ravenloft seems to have been in development when this decision was made, for instance, since it has a sidebar on sub levels but includes ACFs instead.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Klaus]

I'm sad about that, considering that's my main character! Dang.

Divine Sneak [General]
Prerquisites: Turn Undead, sneak attack or skirmish ability.
Benefit: If you make a turn attempt against an undead denied its Dexterity bonus (regardless of wether or not it has a Dexterity bonus), you add your Dexterity bonus to the turning check (in addition to your Charisma check) and half your sneak attack or skirmish dice to the turning damage.
If you cast Find Traps and have the Trapfinding ability, you automatically detect any trap with a DC of less than 20 within 60 feet of you.
Your cleric level stacks with your levels in the class that grants you sneak attack or skirmish to calculate your sneak attack or skirmish damage.

There. Enjoy!

 

[MKMcArtor]

As with everything I write, there are definitely things I'd like to add or change with Complete Scoundrel, but I hope that what is out there is appealing enough that people like the book overall.

To address some of the concerns and complaints I've seen so far in the thread...

Divine/Rogue: I wrote most of the feats for the book, including all of the multiclass combo feats. I apologize for missing that combination. Now that I play a cleric/rogue in Erik Mona's game, I can see where the support is woefully lacking for the combo. Oopsie!

Variant Class Features: Wes and I wrote this before PHBII came out, and in fact we didn't even know about PHBII until the last few weeks of our work on the book. Had I known about variant class features earlier, I would have written dozens. Dozens, I say! I love variant class features, as anyone who hangs out on the Paizo boards (or reads Class Acts) can attest to. This is one of those areas where I'd love to be able to go back.

Organizations v Affiliations: Ditto above. Affiliations FTW.

Tricks: IIRC, there's a little sidebar in there that talks about the difference between tricks and feats. Tricks are like feats-lite. They aren't as good as feats so they aren't feats. I don't think I'm helping here so I'm going to stop wri

Luck: I only wish characters got more feats, so they could take more luck feats, because luck is fun!

Short Prestige Classes: I don't remember why we decided to go with shorter prestige classes. I also don't recall writing that many. I think some got widdled down in development to tighten the focus. Which, just from my own personal design philosophy, I really like. But YMMV.

I'll be monitoring this thread to answer questions (well, those questions I can answer, anyway). So feel free to toss some at me.

(But if you flame me I'll leave. )

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I don't like the idea of buying tricks with skill points - adding another sub-system into the game annoys me to no end. I might consider allowing them every other level, or something along those lines. In reality, though, I'd prefer to allow many of those kinds of things to anyone who buys the skills up to a certain point, and not make it cost anything extra. Of course, it's also my view that things like Power Attack and Combat Expertise should be tactics that are available to any skilled combatant.

 

[Cam Banks]

I don't like the idea of buying tricks with skill points - adding another sub-system into the game annoys me to no end. I might consider allowing them every other level, or something along those lines. In reality, though, I'd prefer to allow many of those kinds of things to anyone who buys the skills up to a certain point, and not make it cost anything extra. Of course, it's also my view that things like Power Attack and Combat Expertise should be tactics that are available to any skilled combatant.

One option is to group them into pairs or triads of related tricks, and have a feat to access them, much like tactical feats in the Complete books. If the tricks don't have enough muscle all by themselves to work as feats, clusters of them should do the trick.

Alternately, buy a feat for a skill and get all of the tricks when you reach that number of ranks. They unlock as you go up levels, or something along those lines.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

I'm a bit unclear on the skill point cost for Tricks. Do they all cost 2 skill points (which are then used for buying tricks instead of skill ranks.) Would it be unbalanced to allow the skill characters to use the tricks without the skill point cost if they had the skill rank prerequisites?

Because, you know, I never say to myself, "Gee I wish I had more places to spend my skill points."

I suppose these tricks are going to be best used for the Rogues with the more focused skill sets, rather than maxing out as many skills as your skill points and level will allow. They'll probably see more use at the mid to high level range, because after a certain point, not all of your chosen skills need to be maxed out to succeed most of the time.

 

[Shade]

Variant Class Features: Wes and I wrote this before PHBII came out, and in fact we didn't even know about PHBII until the last few weeks of our work on the book. Had I known about variant class features earlier, I would have written dozens. Dozens, I say! I love variant class features, as anyone who hangs out on the Paizo boards (or reads Class Acts) can attest to. This is one of those areas where I'd love to be able to go back.

He does, he really does!

Tricks: IIRC, there's a little sidebar in there that talks about the difference between tricks and feats. Tricks are like feats-lite. They aren't as good as feats so they aren't feats. I don't think I'm helping here so I'm going to stop wri

Tricks alone have sold me on this book. Combine this with Reserve Feats, and I'm completely sold on the latest round of Complete X products.

Luck: I only wish characters got more feats, so they could take more luck feats, because luck is fun!

Ditto. Too many good feats, too little time, er, chances to take one.

 

[Pbartender]

I don't like the idea of buying tricks with skill points - adding another sub-system into the game annoys me to no end. I might consider allowing them every other level, or something along those lines. In reality, though, I'd prefer to allow many of those kinds of things to anyone who buys the skills up to a certain point, and not make it cost anything extra. Of course, it's also my view that things like Power Attack and Combat Expertise should be tactics that are available to any skilled combatant.

You should take a look through stunts and challenges from Iron Heroes... Sounds like they'd be right up your alley.

 

[Particle_Man]

Divine/Rogue: I wrote most of the feats for the book, including all of the multiclass combo feats. I apologize for missing that combination. Now that I play a cleric/rogue in Erik Mona's game, I can see where the support is woefully lacking for the combo. Oopsie!

Variant Class Features: Wes and I wrote this before PHBII came out, and in fact we didn't even know about PHBII until the last few weeks of our work on the book. Had I known about variant class features earlier, I would have written dozens. Dozens, I say! I love variant class features, as anyone who hangs out on the Paizo boards (or reads Class Acts) can attest to. This is one of those areas where I'd love to be able to go back.

Organizations v Affiliations: Ditto above. Affiliations FTW.

Well, if you are looking for ideas for Web Enhancements for Complete Scoundrel...

Personally, I think Tricks might work for my character. I have a Psion that will be increasing intelligence at 4th, 8th, etc. This will result in more skill points, but not a heck of a lot of them. Instead of buying up languages, or starting a new skill (I tend to max out the skills I get), I could see if there are any tricks to fit the bill.

Speaking of which, are there tricks for Psicraft, Autohypnosis, Knowledge (Psionics) and Use Psionic Device?