To Thanee:
The heal DC is 15 to stop the bleeding, after an arterial strike.
Any creature can try it. But heal is a standard action. An enemy can't staunch the flow of blood and attack both (although it could make a move action.)
A creature who fails it's DC check and is without curatives is dead. It's a simple matter of retreating from the scene and waiting for it to bleed to death.
Even if the being is healed by drinking a potion or from a cure spell, someone (either the target or one of his friends) must waste a standard action to aid him. And in 3rd edition, that means the caregiver is not there for his fellows that round.
Move silently and hide +8 isn't the greatest, no. But Gwyndilyn could not be above +15 in those categories (10th level, +2 racial bonus, +3 dex.)
I could give her more ranks in those two skills, to enable her to better achieve surprise. I think I will (Which is why I like your critical comments, folks: it helps me learn. So keep them coming!
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I meant to say Blind-Fight.
In total darkness there won't be sneak attacks, no.
But she is an elf, with low-light vision. In moonlight, she could see quite well. She could see well enough to make a sneak attack.
Half the time it is dark (by default, because it is nighttime.) The enemy, unless they have darkvision, needs light from somewhere. But if they light a campfire, or they light torches, or they have a lantern, then they are easy targets for a sneak attack.
Yes, concealment negates sneak attacks (to what extent, I'd have to look up.)
The point is, to advance to the point where you can see the targets and they cannot see you. Thus the move silently and hide. And thus, the blind-fight. I had hoped to give Gwyndilyn a stronger feat yet that compliments blind-fight. If she had darkvision, she would be a real killer in the woods at night. (Of course, this is where you need magical help.)
Yes, Gwyndilyn should have improved feint. And some other feats. Thus my article on feats, in RPG General. I'm attempting to find out what the limits are on feats, by the rules. Of course, flaws help (even if flaws can get you killed) by granting you two additional feats!
As for +9 in bluff, Gwyndilyn could have had a maximum bluff of +11 (10 ranks, +1 cha.) What can I say?
I choose the barbarian level on the premise that a speed of 40 is much better than a speed of 30. I could be wrong. It was a guess only. But it seemed to me that tactical movement was crucial (especially when you are trying to sneak attack, then run and hide, then sneak attack again, then run and hide, until your opponent dies of arterial strikes.)
I was considering given Gwyndilyn the dash feat, which would increase her speed to 45, and the run feat, which would quintuple her run and keep her dex modifiers during running.
I hardly claim to be an expert in building characters. I am not an expert. I'm guessing your builds would be far, far better.
But I can only try, and keep trying, until I get something reasonably decent. (And learn more, and memorize things, in the process.)
Juggling which feats to take (and when), which skills to take (and when), which classes to take (and when), and how they all stack together ... is a mind wrenching affair, to be honest.
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I like the ranger 2 levels idea a lot.
It grants you either Rapid Shot or Two-Weapon Fighting. Your choice.
Then, you can take the feats needed to gain the other weapons path.
Based on the number of feats required, I'd say you should take the rapid shot feat for ranger, since you only need one feat to learn two-weapon fighting.
Stacking sneak attack damage with rapid shot is nasty.
A 4th level rogue / 2nd level ranger would have 2 shots. If she gained surprise, she could fire one shot as a sneak attack. Then, if she gained initiative, fire another shot as a sneak attack (but her other shot on round 1 would be normal.)
If she hit with all three shots, damage would be 3d8 (longbow) + 4d6 (2 sneak attacks.) An average of 27 points of damage.
Not bad, for a 6th level character.
I guess the point is to figure out how to stack the rogue and the ranger, and your starting feats, to optimalize the character. That is something I will continue to attempt to do, with Gwyndilyn, until I succeed.
Thanks for the critique, Thanee. The more criticism, the better, I say. (After all, if you build a character poorly, the monsters won't criticize, they'd just kill your character!)
