Knife fighters

[John Q. Mayhem]

Is it workable to have a warrior-tye character who primarily uses daggers? I think that they'd have to be a fighter, because without weapon spec, the damage output would just be pitiful. Probably need TWF, too. Any opinions? Anyone run a knife fighter? Would short swords and Throw Anything work better?

 

[FluidDragon]

I would definitely take TWF, Quick Draw.

Also a few levels of rogue for the sneak attack.

You could go with short swords. After a blade is 12 inches long it is aq matter of debate over some knives if they are short swords or daggers. You could say they are 18" 'daggers' but actually use short sword stats.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Halfling Rogue/Fighter might be a good idea. Two Weapon Fighting is probably a really good idea...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[white sorcerer]

I am DM in a game with a level 14 fighter specialized in daggerfighting. She's got: quickdraw, weapon focus (both basic and greater), specialisation (bot basic and greater), improved critical, two weapon fighting and improved two weapon fighting.
If your DM doesn't expect every charater to be an optimal min/maxed build it works rather nicely. And you can throw daggers too.
The damage output would be pitifull without the specialisation and some strength based damage bonus. Still against a boss monster she sometimes uses the backup greatsword (especially to overcome DR). Against several lesser opponents daggers work out fine.

 

[Darklone]

Halfling Rogue/Fighter might be a good idea. Two Weapon Fighting is probably a really good idea...

Right. Don't care for the low weapon damage, sneak attack is your friend. PBS, Rapid Shot, the full TWF feat chain... four levels of fighter are enough at first. In that case, I'd even start with fighterlevels for the hitpoints.

Carry lots of hidden knives.

Two possibilities:
Ftr1: Two Weapon Fighting & Weapon Finesse. (You'll be ok at melee).
Ftr1/Rog1: sneak attack +1d6
Ftr2/Rog1: Point Blank Shot & Rapid Shot.
Ftr2/Rog2: Evasion.
Ftr2/Rog3: sneak attack +2d6
Ftr3/Rog3: Weapon Focus knife.
Ftr4/Rog3: Weapon Spec knife
...
Level9 feat: Improved Two Weapon fighting (melee) or Quickdraw (ranged combat) and sneak attack +3d6

Rog1: sneak attack, Two Weapon Fighting.
Rog1/Ftr1: Weapon Finesse
Rest see above

Biggest problem I see: it will be difficult to enchant your knives properly. Flame Arrow is nice for shuriken but not for you. You have to rely on your strength, PBS, sneak attack and Weapon Specialisation damage extras. Perhaps ask your DM for a feat like Natural Knifeman (similar to AU feats).
OTOH: you can always have knives made from different materials, they should probably be cheaper than most other weapons.

 

[hong]

Still against a boss monster she sometimes uses the backup greatsword (especially to overcome DR).

Best. Variation on "I'm not left handed!" Evar!

 

[bensei]

Daggers have the nice property that they can also be thrown. So - given your dex is nearly as high as your strength - you can almost always use your full attack effectively (str-bonus applies to thrown weapons), and are altogether extreme adaptive and flexible in combat. For thrown weapons also Rapid Shot applies (not completely sure about 3.5), so with TWF you can have 4 thrown attacks at level 6.

Apart from that, daggers can be perfectly concealed (for SoH, some levels as rogue would also pay off), and some nice magical weapon enhancements (e.g. returning) could give a nice flavor to this type of fighter, too.

 

[Darklone]

Rapid Shot and TWF work together in 3.5 for two additional attacks and a -4 penalty to all attacks.

 

[clark411]

Dagger/shortsword fighters are great in grappling situations (not that all grappling situations are great mind you!)

As the weapon is light, you get to use it while grappling. Humanoid opponent can try to use one of his weapons if light, but more likely will be in the "I Demand d8-2d6 weapons" category so will use your own dagger or one of their backup daggers against you. If they do, you're winning the battle by numbers.. they deal 1d4+str.. you deal 1d4+str+ any weapon specs you have going. If push comes to shove, you're better at poking them with their own weapons in a pin than they are at harming you.

With their low range increment.. throwing daggers are great for point blank shot. It all starts adding up nicely with Point blank, Weapon Specialization, Rapid Shot, and Two Weapon Fighting. Sadly Manyshot specifically states "arrows"...

 

[Ferret]

Or Many shot.