non-cliche rogue & trap making?

[PaigeXenon]

One of our party members wants to be a rogue but not the cliche thief in it for loot flavor of rogue so I am trying to figure out how to make their character interesting. The said the would like some king of fire explosion obsessed person. My idea would be to have them make traps useing alchemist fire and get fire oriented magical items. How ever I do not know much about player made traps and how to even make them viable in combat.

Do any of you guys have any idea how to pull this off or a better idea for a non-cliche rogue? Or even advice on the use of Craft(trap)?

we are limited to 3.5 core books.

[javijuji]

Try Trapsmith from Dungeonscape. And im pretty sure there is another trapsmith somewhere else.

[Friv]

Try Trapsmith from Dungeonscape. And im pretty sure there is another trapsmith somewhere else.


we are limited to 3.5 core books.

Trapmaking characters as a default combat style are tricky in a traditional dungeon crawl, because in a traditional dungeon crawl you don't have the time to set traps and draw enemies into them. That said, if your DM is cool with it, you can have a lot of fun (especially at lower levels).

Make heavy use of Use Magic Device to cast various quick low-level spells to enhance your traps, and then make heavy use of your broad array of skills to act as bait. Bluff, Survival, and of course Disable Device are all really important for this sort of thing.

Still, it's going to be pretty reliant on DM discussion. There isn't a lot in core that directly supports a trap-setter.

[awa]

craft trap is wonky its going to require a lot of dm adjudication becuase by raw im not certain there is anything preventing you from making a trap on a stick.
The craft trap was never intended for use in combat

any kind of fire based trapping is going to get expensive fast you can sneak attack with alchemist fire so thats useful but if your planning on killing level appropriate foes with alchemist fire and no sneak attack (say by making a trap) your going to need to use a lot and that will get costly fast.

[Zanthy1]

You could just set traps, but after they are tripped, they probably won't do much for that encounter. they are a good encounter starter, knocking off a bunch of hit points before initiative is rolled. I would recommend getting the Flaming enchantment, just for the sake of always having a source of fire to fit this characters persona.

I always enjoy digging a large trench, about 2 feet wide, 1 foot deep, and however long is necessary. They coat the bottom with oil, and through an alchemist fire in. Instant Wall of Fire, but not as powerful as the spell, but a lot cooler since you made it.

Also a giant pitfall with spikes on the bottom is always nice. Add oil and wait for baddies to fall in. They take fall damage, spike damage, and then you throw alchemist fire into the hole, and burn em up.

Another, coat an area with oil, (or the Grease spell) and have a line of it going to in front of this rogue. Light up your Flaming weapon, and light the fuse. BOOM.

I hope these cool ideas helped :)

[PaigeXenon]

I really enjoy all of your ideas but the player has decided to go the route of the diplomatic assassin. I will probably make use of some of these ideas at some point.

[TonyTron]

...the player has decided to go the route of the diplomatic assassin.

I'm preparing to join a game as a rogue soon, but like your player am not interested in the standard thief angle. It would amazing if you could elaborate on the diplomatic assassin route they're following. Skills, feats, ect?

[PaigeXenon]

We are still planning the assissin but it will focus on the bluff and diplomacy skills. As well as feats to improve them. They will make use of bulff in combat alot.

[Talionis]

Combat Trapsmith is in Complete Scoundrel. At some point, it gets an ability to improvise the materials for the traps.

Magic of Eberron has an Alchemist Savant, it progresses casting. Prestige Class.

Mad Alchemist feat in PH2 -- this is pretty cool and gives three different options to better use Alchemist items tactically.