How about some love for the strong, not dextrous rogue?

[Sledge]

After seeing the other "love for" threads it got me thinking about the current rogue I'm playing. He has a 16 int and 15 str at level 2 and I'm wanting to build on these assets. I'm having trouble finding stuff that actually complements his strength. For instance feat choices? Next level he gets his next feat and I need to pick a feat for him. His feats so far have been "I don't see anything better so I guess I'll take improved initiative and skill focus: UMD". Where am I going wrong. Surely a strong rogue fits the genre? Am I really off base?

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

It's hard to say what feats would be good for a character without knowing how you conceive the character's advancement and what his strategies and current feats are. However, based on what you've said:

15 strength
16 int
"not dextrous"
Level 2
Skill Focus: UMD
Improved Initiative

There are several roads you could go down profitably:

1. The raging thug.
Take a level of barbarian. Take Extra Rage as a feat. Later, take Power Attack and Staggering Strike. Wield a weapon two-handed and dish out the damage like there's no tomorrow. You'll be somewhat fragile, but careful play can mitigate this risk.

2. The holy thug.
Take a level of paladin or four. (Since you're focussing on UMD, I assume you have a decent cha and since you made it to 2nd level, I'll assume you have a decent con). Then pick up Shadowbane Inquisitor levels until you run out. You'll want Power Attack at level 3 and Divine Might at level 6. You can still learn all the rogueish trap skills and such, but you fight as much with strength and smites than with sneak attack.

3. The rogue/wizard
Take a level or five of wizard and follow up with a third level of rogue and then Arcane Trickster. You won't make much use of your Strength but you'll get plenty out of your Int.

Or you could just stay a rogue and follow a roughly similar feat progression to 1 or 2. Good feats for a moderate strength, low dex rogue:

Power Attack (a good feat for any melee combatant)
Weapon Focus
Combat Expertise (but only if you multiclass into something that lets you wear heavy armor--AC bonuses aren't that useful if you're wearing light armor with no dex bonus)
Improved Trip
Improved Critical
Staggering Strike (hands down, the best rogue feat out there)

 

[Nifft]

Strong Rogues are great! You want Power Attack for sure. You want proficency with some kind of strong two-handed weapon (like a greatsword), and you want more BAB. You will want some armor (since it won't impact your low Dex as much).

One or two levels of Ranger, Fighter, Barbarian and/or Paladin wouldn't hurt.
- All: martial weapons (greatsword!), medium armor, +1 BAB, +2 Fort
- Barb 1: Fast Movement + Rage
- Fighter 1 or 2: Feats!
- Ranger 1 or 2: skills won't fall behind as much, and you get access to Two-Weapon Fighting without the high Dex requirement
- Paladin 2: Your Charisma is good, right?

You can take more than one (though not Paladin and Barbarian, of course).

What's your Wisdom like?

Cheers, -- N

 

[airwalkrr]

I find these thread humorous. Keep 'em coming.

 

[wedgeski]

One of my wife's PC's has a Rogue cohort optimised purely for combat effectiveness. A real dirty fighter, always looking to get the drop on you, kick you in the knackers, then stab you in the vitals. Lots of ranks in Bluff, lots of feats for getting through armour and doing as much damage as possible. I don't think he's disabled a single trap in his life. Hilarious character, awesomely effective when coupled with the Trip-specialist fighter he's actually serving.

 

[Presto2112]

I've got a concept in the works for such a rogue. Well... he's mostly rogue. A dwarf rogue/fighter, decked out in full plate, maxed out in climb, jump, and bluff, with a lot of his feats invested in being able to move about well in full plate, armed with a dwarven war pike. So mostly he is a warrior type, but the rogue levels make him paerticularly dangerous in combat.

 

[The Cardinal]

take one level barbarian, take Destructive Rage, later take Extra Rage - who needs lockpicks? Just punch through the walls and rip out the doors!

 

[Anti-Sean]

His feats so far have been "I don't see anything better so I guess I'll take improved initiative and skill focus: UMD".

That's because there *is* no feat greater than Improved Initiative. It's practically a requirement for every character I make.

 

[pawsplay]

Considering rogues have good Reflex and plenty of skill points, once you have Improved Initiative, a strong, not so dextrous rogue could be played just about like any other rogue. I guess they would be more melee oriented, and might not use a light weapon. Two-handed longsword backstabber is not a bad way to go.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Weapon Focus will come up faster than Power attack, as rogue BAB will be hurting you.
if you want to go with a level os fighter/paladin then go with heavy armor, quit putting points in Hide/MS immediatly (relay on invis if necessary) and get a scroll of silence. (or WAND - ready action to shut down any spell caster)
with your int might as well keep up with search / disable / knowledge (local)

if you have decent charisma, you can go bluff / CE/ improved feint
(CE or weapon focus might have been better than UMD, improve intitive is always handy for extra attacks vs Flatfooted)