Rogue survival in the land of the unliving. Looking for advice...

[pawsplay]

Considering your bleak circumstances, I have a new suggestion. Take a couple of levels of cleric and go Hunter of the Dead.

 

[Quartz]

Note that he said that they're looking for a way off the plane. So stuff which kicks in after a couple more levels isn't going to be worth it. One level of fighter will allow you to take two feats (character L9, class L1) for Dodge and Mobility and 3 ranks of Perform. This will then allow the character to take the Duelist Prestige Class, which will allow him to add that high INT to AC, though I'd take a second level of Fighter for the extra feat of Combat Reflexes. Or mix and match.

L09: F1 Dodge, Mobility
L10: F2 Combat Reflexes
L11: D1

This gives the character immediate and longer term benefit.

 

[moritheil]

Since you seem determined to mix it up with a spiked chain, taking Hold the Line and Stand Still after Combat Reflexes will make you better able to buy time for the party blasters.

Admittedly, this would work a LOT better if you had the UA rogue (exchanging SA for fighter feats.)

 

[Wolfwood2]

That does seem to be a recurring theme in 90% of these responses. That's somewhat unfortunate because as escaped slaves we don't have a lot of gold to work with, and the ability to buy magic items is somewhat problematic as well.

Okay, you don't have a lot of equipment flexibility, you don't want to take an xp penalty (quite reasonable) so no multi-classing, and you don't want a solution that's gong to take more than a couple of levels to kick in.

It sounds like tactics is the area where there's the most possibility of helping you. Tell us:

1. What kind of undead you're facing.

2. The terrain you're facing them in.

3. The classes and focuses (types of spells prefered, favored weapons, etc.) of the other PCs.

Perhaps we can suggest some interesting tactics that you haven't yet considered. D&D is all about teamwork, and a group that works together like a well-oiled machine can have far more success than a group that isn't backing each other up.

 

[nittanytbone]

1) You have the feats to be a trip-monkey, but you're small size, which means you will always suck at tripping and disarming. You need to get rid of these feats. Convince your GM to let you ditch Combat Expertise using the PHB2 retraining rules -- Imp Trip and Imp Disarm will always be useless to you and they'll only get more useless as you go up in level, so combat expertise is a WASTED feat.

2) You have a lot invested in the Spiked Chain. It is a sucky weapon for you IMHO but since you have the EWP, I'd go with something to make it useful. Options: Combat Reflexes-->Hold the Line (CW) OR Exotic Weapon Master (CW) with the feat that lets you strike twice -- your SA damage will add up (not vs undead, but vs anything else).

3) You need a PrC with good Fort/Will saves, and maybe some anti-undead abilities. Hunter of the Dead (CW) leaps to mind if you can somehow get five ranks of knowledge (religion). Occult Slayer is another excellent choice (good will saves) if you can get the skill ranks in Arcana and Spellcraft -- taking WF (Spiked Chain) and swapping Combat Expertise for Improved Initiative is really easy, and sets you up nicely for Exotic Weapon Master.

I would suggest the following:

*Retrain under PHB2
*Swap Combat Expertise for Improved Initiative and Take Weapon Focus (Spiked Chain). Shuffle a few ranks into Know (Arcana) and Spellcraft, and take your next level in Occult Slayer (fixes your will save)
*Next take a level of Exotic Weapon Master (fixes your fort save) with the Flurry of Strikes special ability.

At that point you can take more Rogue (for the high level special ability fun) or more Occult Slayer (to kill spell using undead -- they're the worst anyways).

 

[nittanytbone]

Note that he said that they're looking for a way off the plane. So stuff which kicks in after a couple more levels isn't going to be worth it. One level of fighter will allow you to take two feats (character L9, class L1) for Dodge and Mobility and 3 ranks of Perform. This will then allow the character to take the Duelist Prestige Class, which will allow him to add that high INT to AC, though I'd take a second level of Fighter for the extra feat of Combat Reflexes. Or mix and match.

L09: F1 Dodge, Mobility
L10: F2 Combat Reflexes
L11: D1

This gives the character immediate and longer term benefit.

It also gives the character immediate and long term EXP penalties, which will immediately put him behind the power curve for the long time. Also, Duelist is a terrible PrC. Note that the bonus to AC from Int is (A) only when unarmored and (B) capped by your duelist level. That means you'd need to be a level 5 duelist with 20 int to get the equivalent of +1 leather and a +1 buckler. Awesome!

 

[nittanytbone]

Easy six levels of cleric. You will suck on the XP penalty for a while, but it's not that bad once you get used to it.

I disagree strongly. With wis 11, you're only casting level 1 spells, and you don't even get a bonus spell slot. Even if you waste your stat bump at level 12 on Wisdom, you'll still be behind the curve and unable to cast level 3 spells on time.

Normally I'd agree that a cleric reigns supreme, but you can't just turn a rogue into a cleric powerhouse at level 9. Also, EXP penalty is terrible.

The "clerical" option for a high level character who finds god would often be Divine Crusader, but this character (A) lacks the BAB to qualify easily and (B) lacks the charisma for spells.

 

[nittanytbone]

And a quick solution: Make your cleric/druid cast Magic Stone for you. Several times a day. 2d6+2 damage is MUCH better than your pathetic 1d3 normal sling damage and it lets you put your high dex to work.

Undead Bane ammo should also be relatively cheap and effective.

 

[Quartz]

It also gives the character immediate and long term EXP penalties, which will immediately put him behind the power curve for the long time.

Good heavens, does anyone still use that dreadful rule?

Also, Duelist is a terrible PrC. Note that the bonus to AC from Int is (A) only when unarmored and (B) capped by your duelist level. That means you'd need to be a level 5 duelist with 20 int to get the equivalent of +1 leather and a +1 buckler. Awesome!

The AC bonus is indeed awesome when you get caught short (attacked at night?). And the other abilities don't rely on not being in armour.

And the OP didn't note any armour at all.

 

[pawsplay]

It also gives the character immediate and long term EXP penalties, which will immediately put him behind the power curve for the long time. Also, Duelist is a terrible PrC. Note that the bonus to AC from Int is (A) only when unarmored and (B) capped by your duelist level. That means you'd need to be a level 5 duelist with 20 int to get the equivalent of +1 leather and a +1 buckler. Awesome!

Um, you left out the part where duelists use mage armor or wear bracers of armor.