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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Garnfellow" data-source="post: 1245879" data-attributes="member: 1223">One of my players is deeply unsatisfied with how poorly his character build reflects his character concept. The concept is basically a mundane ranger: a brave and hardy woodsman who disdains magic, an expert stalker and hunter who never shies away from a fight. Imagine one of the Delta Force commandos from Black Hawk Down: highly skilled and always cool and collected, even under heavy fire.But mechanically the character doesn’t reflect this image at all. He’s a 12th-level fighter with all his skill points tied up in cross-class skills, resulting in a tracker who can’t track, who never hears or sees anything until it’s on top of him, who can’t walk across an open field without breaking a branch, who never seems to know anything useful about the forest around him. So please help us rework this character to have the mechanics fit the concept.The scout is a common fantasy archetype that isn’t easily modeled with the standard core classes. I remember that when 3e first came out there were many discussions about how to best build one. Given all of the d20 advances made in the last few years, I was wondering if there have been any updates to the debate. Here are some approaches we have considered. So far none of them quite feel right:Single-Classed Fighter with Appropriate Feats and Skills. This is how the PC is currently built. Pros: The base HD, BAB, and saves appropriately reflect the fighting skills and toughness of the character. Cons: The low number of skill points combined with a very weak selection of outdoor class skills make it very difficult to build a scout that is able to do any actual scouting very well.Single-Classed Ranger. The 3.5 ranger class is much closer to a classic scout than the 3.0 version, but the ranger’s spellcasting ability makes this a non-starter in our low-magic setting. Pros: The skill selection and amount of skill points are right on the money, and several class abilities perfectly fit the scout concept: camouflage, endurance, hide in plain sight, swift tracker, track, wild empathy, and woodland stride. Cons: Two signature abilities of this class fit neither our campaign nor this specific character: favored enemies and access to divine spells.Multiclassed Fighter/Rogue. This class combo seems to be the most common way to build a scout character. Pros: Rogue levels certainly provide plenty of skill points, and a few class abilities like evasion and uncanny dodge would work well with the scout concept. Cons: The rogue’s skill selection overly emphasizes urban adventuring, and the crucial Survival is not a class skill. The low number of hit points along with the middling BAB progression don’t reflect the character’s toughness and skill in a fight.Multiclassed Fighter/Barbarian. Pros: Barbarians get more skill points than fighters and Survival is a class skill. Their good BAB and hit points reflect the toughness and fighting skill of the character. Fast movement and uncanny dodge work well with the scout concept. Cons: The barbarian’s signature ability—rage—does not work at all with the character.Alternate Core Classes. I know that at least a couple new classes have been designed to fill the void. The Wheel of Time book actually had a scout class, and there was a vanguard class in d20 weekly. Would anyone recommend these classes, or suggest additional ones? Prestige Classes. Despite the proliferation of these things, I don’t know any that quite fit the bill. Any suggestions?More Radical Solutions. I’m also open to more radical methods to build the character—like using d20 Modern classes, using the d20 Anime point-buy system, or just building my own core class from scratch. Unfortunately, the further you get away from the core rules, the more work is required to ensure balance.</blockquote>

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