Scout's skirmish ability

[wolfen]

I can hardly argue with the reasoning behind a Ranger/Rogue multiclass. Using your Skill points wisely, it's a great combo.

The Luring tactic in a dungeoneering role should not be underestimated, and the Scout's movement bonus is good for that. The rogue does not have Knowledgeungeoneering. It does not have 10' movement rate bonus. It does not have the d8 hd. It does not have the Fortitude and AC bonus. You can practically load your ability points into STR, & DEX and make great use of the scout whereas the ideal Rogue will always be wanting CHA and WIS, too. So your point man in a dungeon is either someone with these benefits or someone without them, as I see it.

So for the dungeon scout, I think the Scout class beats Rogue any day. Most traps can be worked around. The beauty is that the Scout won't TRY to disable a trap...which means he won't fail at it and spray himself and the party with acid, fire, etc.

 

[Mark Chance]

Remember that your mount moving qualifies you for skirmish damage, and does not prevent you from taking a full attack (albeit at a penalty).

But don't forget that mounted movement counts as a character's movement for making full attacks except with ranged attacks. If a character's mount moves more than 5 feet, the character cannot make a full attack in melee.

The Rogue has to USE TACTICS to maneuver into a position to deny the target its dex bonus to AC.

Merely moving into a position will not deny a target its Dex bonus to AC (unless the target was flat-footed to begin with, and then there's not much movement required). Movement for a rogue can be important to get into flanking position, but this does not deny the rogue's target its Dex bonus to AC.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

IME playing a melee Rogue is pretty darn difficult at middling levels or higher. The beasties you are going up against have a decent chance of killing you outright with a single full attack. Swinging around, say, a Fire Giant to get that flank while staying out of full attack range is going to take more than 60' of movement in most cases. You need Spring Attack to even try, of course.

The Scout gives you half the bonus damage dice but makes the tactical movement a breeze. And you get a little extra movement and a few more HPs as a cushion for survivablity. That looks like a fair trade to me.

If you are more interested in ranged fighting, levels of Rogue and Ranger may make more sense. I think Ranger, Rogue, Scout classes blend fabulously.

 

[Shellman]

I can hardly argue with the reasoning behind a Ranger/Rogue multiclass. Using your Skill points wisely, it's a great combo.

The Luring tactic in a dungeoneering role should not be underestimated, and the Scout's movement bonus is good for that. The rogue does not have Knowledgeungeoneering. It does not have 10' movement rate bonus. It does not have the d8 hd. It does not have the Fortitude and AC bonus. You can practically load your ability points into STR, & DEX and make great use of the scout whereas the ideal Rogue will always be wanting CHA and WIS, too. So your point man in a dungeon is either someone with these benefits or someone without them, as I see it.

So for the dungeon scout, I think the Scout class beats Rogue any day. Most traps can be worked around. The beauty is that the Scout won't TRY to disable a trap...which means he won't fail at it and spray himself and the party with acid, fire, etc.

I see your point but view it slightly different. I think the Scout class is better suited for open areas where his mobility can be used to its fullest. Close quarters doesn't seem to be the Scouts ideal setting to maximize his class abilties.

One last thing, I still feel that it makes little to no sense to give the Scout trapfinding without the ability to disable the traps. Just my view.

 

[Shellman]

But don't forget that mounted movement counts as a character's movement for making full attacks except with ranged attacks. If a character's mount moves more than 5 feet, the character cannot make a full attack in melee.



Merely moving into a position will not deny a target its Dex bonus to AC (unless the target was flat-footed to begin with, and then there's not much movement required). Movement for a rogue can be important to get into flanking position, but this does not deny the rogue's target its Dex bonus to AC.

Your missing the point of that last quote of mine. I was referring to the issue that a typical Rogue has to move within the targets melee threat range to get a flank. Meaning that the Rogue has to at least put himself in harms way to try and get the extra sneak attack damage. This is compared to the Scout who mereley has to move 10 ft in any direction to gain the Skirmish damage. It was solely an opinion on the different tactics between the Scout and the Rogue. Otherwise your right, using a move action to flank a target does not in itself cause the target to be denied its dex bonus to AC.