[3.5] Best classes for a party of hardcore, but still good, PCs?

[overduegalaxy]

I'm working on a group that are hardcore, ass-kicking name-takers, but are still goody two-shoes at heart. They've seen things that would drive lesser men mad, but instead, it's just reaffirmed their belief in the cause of good.

So far, I've got
Paladin -> Grey Guard
Warlock
Wizard (Conjurer) -> Malconvoker
Urban Ranger -> Justicar

The only role I'm really missing is a skill monkey (I'd really like to find an Assassin-like class, besides Wizard's April Fool's Day one), and it'd be nice to have a little more healing than just the Paladin's Lay on Hands, so I'm open to any suggestions for classes, PrCs, and so on that fit the flavor well.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A Beguiler from PHB2 would be a good skillmonkey. For the Warlock make it a Hellbred from Fiendish Codex II and take Enlightened Spirit from Complete Mage. A Cleric/Radiant Servant of Pelor would also help round out the group.

[Myou]

Well, the factotum can heal and is probably a better skillmonkey than the rogue, perhaps that might be a good selection.

[Flickerdart]

The heavy metal Bard homebrew that's been floating about could work nicely for you. A Feat Rogue could also work.

[dspeyer]

Your party isn't all that short on skills. Ranger is 6+int and Wizards usually have knowledge(everything). I'd be more worried about the lack of divine magic (paladins get very little).

If you want to combine the two, cloistered cleric is always viable. You can probably pick up whatever class skills you're missing from domains. It doesn't scream "hardcore ass-kicker", but, played right, it might whisper it in an intimidating sort of way.

A more violent option would be swordsage. It isn't generally thought of as a skill-monkey class, but it's 6+int.

The multiclass decently, with the int and concentration synergies. You can even combine them into a ruby knight vindicator if you don't mind spending two feats.

[Eldariel]

Cleric > Radiant Servant of Pelor buffed to Godzilla-proportions seems to fit the bill perfectly alongside that Malconvoker. I really don't see how Warlock fits the picture as they hardly have any inclinations towards natural goodness or ass-kickery; quite on the contrary.

VoP Ninja 1/Druid could make for a fine skill monkey and most definitely a goody two-shoes. Then again, as that goodness isn't really class-derived, I'm not sure it qualifies.

[Tam_OConnor]

Good assassin types: Slayer of Domiel in Book of Exalted Deeds, Shadowbane Stalker in Complete Adventurer (Cleric/Rogue multiclass). They're both flavorful, but the Slayer's a little underpowered. There's also the Vigilante in Complete Adventurer if you're really desperate for good rogue-types.

[ericgrau]

Your party isn't all that short on skills. Ranger is 6+int and Wizards usually have knowledge(everything). I'd be more worried about the lack of divine magic (paladins get very little).
A dip into rogue could grant trapfinding and a higher maximum disable device for the ranger. Search is already a class skill for him. He also tracks and is the survival expert.

Both the paladin and ranger get minor divine magic, which helps on the healing side. Either or both can carry a wand of CLW for between battle healing. Cure spells give about 3 HP per caster level, though heal breaks this pattern by a wide margin. So a paladin with a decent cha mod can provide at least one decent lay on hands heal during combat. Point is, a full healer like a cleric would be nice but they might be able to get by as-is.

Still, healing is compromised more than skillmonkeying. Access to other spells like ressurection is kinda nice too. So maybe finding a cleric or other healer should be first priority, whereas skillmonkey stuff can be tacked on to that class or existing classes as an afterthought.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

That's a decent "dark but good" group, but I think there are other options. Malconvoker and Grey Guard have the flavor built in, but it's what you do with the class that's important. Frenzied Berserker+Shield Other gets you a noble warrior who goes into a frothing rage whenever his friends are hurt. A Druid is a savage incarnation of Nature's wrath, a Rogue is simply Robin Hood but better, a Ranger is a wilderness version of the Wild West lawman, and a Monk is...well, Monks suck, but you get the idea. If you really want the classes to reflect it for whatever reason, steal a lot of spells/feats from BoVD, and go Cleric/Malconvoker, Grey Guard, Rogue, and Dread Necromancer. You can drop Rogue for something else if you want to, Beguiler makes a good moral conflict, but eh, in my opinion.