[PF] Thrown Weapon Rogue

[Konig-Wolf]

Hello everyone,

My regular gaming group will be starting a new Pathfinder game soon, and I needed to act some optimization experts out there how to make this new character.

What I would like to make is a rogue that uses thrown weapons. I've already done some initial research, and while it seems like this might be a difficult path, I really want to go for it. I don't need to be the uber-top tier damage dealer, but I would like to be able to contribute in combat as much as out of combat.

Here's the information on the campaign:

Adventure Path - Kingmaker
Build Points - 38pts. (yes, 38pts. is not a typo)
Character Traits - One Campaign, One General, One from any other category.
Books Approved for Use - All, except for books related to other Adventure Paths (so no traits from Council of Thieves, for example)
Character Race - Half Elf
Character Role - Master of thrown weapons, skill monkey. Eventually, I want the character be part of the kingdom's upper echelons, if not taking the the King spot entirely. As such, should be very well rounded, with no deficit areas.
Magical Gear/Money - We should have access to a leveling weapon early on (weapon scales up with you as you level up), so I should be able to direct the focus of that weapon (IE, the type of weapon and the nature of it's bonuses as it grows). Decent access to mundane gear and/or money.

I think that's everything a build expert would need to know in order to help me plan this out, and make an awesome character. Any help you Pathfinder geniuses can provide would be greatly appreciated, as my specialization in gaming is not fantasy settings or rules-sets.

Thanks

[ericgrau]

The basics are javelins, point blank shot, rapid shot, quick draw, precise shot. It's feat heavy so one of your rogue talents should go to a combat feat. Another might go to bleed. Anything that hasn't acted yet in round 1 is flat footed so you can sneak attack it. That's going to be your main damage early on. With a decent attack bonus and strength you can still do ok damage in other rounds. At higher levels look into options like greater invisibility, a ring of blinking or the false opening feat (has 3 pre-req feats so plan ahead).

Other feats to consider are charging hurler (UC), clustered shots (UC), weapon focus, improved precise shot, close quarters thrower (UC), false opening (UC). Hmm, wow, you might want to pick up a copy of Ultimate Combat. You might want to dip fighter and/or an APG alternate version of another class for feats. Half-elves are great for a build with 2 classes since they can make them both favored classes.

You should have an 18+2 dex and if possible an 18 in strength too. Even con isn't as essential since you fight at ranged, though it's still nice. I might do 18+2 dex, 16 str, 16 con, 12 wis, 13 int, 7 cha. Depending on your skill set you might get 12 cha instead. You might get 17 str instead and boost it to 18 at level 4, then go back to dex from there. You might drop con to 14 to give more points for these. Etc. I'm only giving a rough idea.

The other way that works well but I don't like is an alchemical weapon sneak attacker with far shot. They're touch attacks so they hit more often which is exactly what a high damage low attack bonus rogue needs. But I always thought splashing someone's vitals was nonsensical. At high levels a far shot shuriken build works better since shurikens are easier to enchant, come with free quick draw, and if you dip monk for it then you get flurry. But I dunno how well that combines with your growing weapon and javelins are a little better at low levels.

As for half-elf you may as well put your skill focus into perception for a total of +5. It's extra important for you so you can get your round 1. Getting stealth skills so you can get a surprise round gives another sneak attack too.

For high level gear go for boots of speed ASAP for the extra attack and +1 to hit. +2 dex and +2 str items are good too of course. Returning is pretty much essential as the first property on the weapon that grows with you, so tell the DM. With 4+ attacks at high levels you'll still need 3 more weapons which probably means an efficient quiver full of cheap javelins. Even so your growing weapon will be great when you need to move and attack.

[Larpus]

Not sure on the limitations of Kingmaker nor your specific intentions, but it might be worthy to mix in some levels of Alchemist (Vivisectionist), as it's considered a more robust class chassis with more abilities and options on the overall.

From the top of my head, ability to fly for mins/level at level 6, a familiar, poison use tree, Throw Anything feat, +Int to splash weapons, +4 to a physical score for 10 mins/level and others.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, yes, Vivisectionists have Sneak Attack (same progression, stacks with Rogue) and half-caster spellcasting progression (prepared and Int-based), 4+Int skill points per level.