[Class Fix Request] Scouts needed!

[Lord_Gareth]

Does anyone know of a decent Scout fix? Any 'Brewed ones that don't require me to own non-OGL material? If not, this is an official request that one be made, for one of my players loves Scout dearly but hates the mechanical ineffectiveness that plagues her.

[Temotei]

Tier 4 constitutes mechanical ineffectiveness nowadays?

This (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140278&highlight=Scout) could be one way to build a scout. This (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176518&highlight=Scout) is truer to the scout's flavor.

For everything else, there's the Phoenix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9155389&postcount=2).

[The Antigamer]

Did...did I actually get recommended? Oh joyous day!
That class used to have swift strike (Though a version that only applied to the first attack, not iteratives), but it was deemed too powerful in that implementation, so it was lost when I edited. You can check the changelog.
The class is ok right now, but I plan to do a final round of editing once break starts.

[Eloel]

Swift Hunter is the fix for the Scout. Makes him High T4, which is pretty much where a "balanced" party averages.

[Fail]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9457942

[gkathellar]

I'm fond of this ranger fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6799716&postcount=5) and this ToB class (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=57qd8ntabgsj78hl6448t5uh25&topic=2338) personally. Neither quite fits original flavor of the scout, but I can't really think of a skirmish-using homebrew class that does.

Bear in mind the scout as-is isn't ineffective - it's just not ToB-level and it's a one trick pony. Go with that where you will.

EDIT: Obligatory "play a swordsage" comment.

[Lord_Gareth]

For all future references - screw Ranger.

Thanks for the advice so far, I'm looking it all over and still accepting ideas.

[Temotei]

For all future references - screw Ranger.

That's why I didn't include those ranger homebrew classes. :smallsigh:

[Stycotl]

radical taoist's sublime ranger is pretty cool.

[Chambers]

Does anyone know of a decent Scout fix? Any 'Brewed ones that don't require me to own non-OGL material? If not, this is an official request that one be made, for one of my players loves Scout dearly but hates the mechanical ineffectiveness that plagues her.

What do you want the Scout to do that it doesn't do?

[Lord_Gareth]

What do you want the Scout to do that it doesn't do?

Reliable in-combat damage. Skirmish taxes your action economy like you would not believe, and its damage is low in addition. Fixing that is paramount.

[blackmage]

What do you want the Scout to do that it doesn't do?

Be able to use its core ability. With Core + Completes, I couldn't find a way to get skirmish on a full attack (I'm still a newbie with Charge/Pounce, but I didn't find that in there either). Whether you want an archer or a melee-er, you need to full attack to get multiple skirmish bonuses in...but you can't! All the guides I see basically say to get cheese (Travel Devotion! Monk dip! Random weird item I never found the sourcebook for!) to become effective.

But, here is a question for the OP. Does the player want the flavor of the Scout (stealth, outdoorsman, skilled, etc) or the mechanics (character moves every round to get combat bonuses, nonmagic, etc)?

[IcarusWings]

The d20r hunter is pretty good, but you'd want to swap the psionics out for something else I assume (I believe a trapping system might be in the works).

[Chambers]

Reliable in-combat damage. Skirmish taxes your action economy like you would not believe, and its damage is low in addition. Fixing that is paramount.

Change Skirmish damage to +1d6 every odd-numbered level.

At 6th level give them Spring Attack without needing to meet the prerequisites.
At 12th level give them Bounding Assault without needing to meet the prerequisites.
At 16th level give them Rapid Blitz without needing to meet the prerequisites.

How's that sound?

[Lord_Gareth]

Change Skirmish damage to +1d6 every odd-numbered level.

At 6th level give them Spring Attack without needing to meet the prerequisites.
At 12th level give them Bounding Assault without needing to meet the prerequisites.
At 16th level give them Rapid Blitz without needing to meet the prerequisites.

How's that sound?

Suspicously non-OGL. What are Bounding Assault and Rapid Blitz?

To answer an above question, she likes the idea of a mobile fighter. I'm also rolling Spring Attack and SotR into a single feat for this game.

[Chambers]

Ah. Forgot about the non-OGL part.

They are feats in PHB II. Bounding Assault lets you choose two targets during Spring Attack and attack them both (or 1 target twice). Rapid Blitz lets you choose three targets during Spring Attack and attack all three (or some combination).

Edit:

SotR? Oh, Shot on the Run.

[blackmage]

To answer an above question, she likes the idea of a mobile fighter. I'm also rolling Spring Attack and SotR into a single feat for this game.

I was also thinking of having 'Fight on the Run' or something like that to combine the two as a bonus feat at level 2 or something. A shortcoming at later levels is that this only lets you make one attack as you move...some thoughts on that (mostly stolen):
-jiriku's Swift Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9457942) addresses this with several things. First, making 5-foot steps 10-foot steps with a Tumble check. Second, getting some movement as a swift action at higher levels. Third, it takes a lot of feats like Manyshot and lets precision damage apply to all targets instead of just one. My favorite is Dual Strike, where you can attack with two weapons as a standard action. Really, though this class seems flavored like a ranger, I think the mechanics are very much a fixed Scout.
-BRC's Brawler (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149668) has the 10-foot 5-foot step thing, and also an ability to 5-foot step during AoOs.