Dread commando build help

[Lord Il Palazzo]

One of the players in my game joined later than the rest (at about level 9, if memory serves) as a first time player. His character concept was basically "heavilly armed and armored fighter, but stealthy" so I helped him put together a Dread Commando (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20050407b&page=6), specifically a Fighter 2/Rogue 4/Dread Commando 3 using fighter to get the armor and weapon proficiencies he wanted as well as a pair of feats to make up for the dodge and mobility prerequesites. Now he's up to Fighter 2/Rogue 4/Dread Commando 5 and, between the mithril material and his Armored Ease class feature he has 0 armor check penalty in full plate. The problem is that he's used up this 5 level prestige class and we need to figure out where to go from here. The party already includes a swordsage so, while that is a good option, I'd kind of like to steer him toward something different.

Warblade is definitley an option and I've also considered offering him the Avenger (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070401a) (aka good assassin) though the loss of BAB, as always, hurts a little, especially with the one already lost to rogue. (Fractional BAB hasn't come up in our game, though I'd consider it.) Are ther any other classes or prestige classes I should look into for/with him?

[IdleMuse]

What are his stats like? If he wants to continue Sneak Attack progression, Avenger isn't a bad suggestion. This build also puts me in mind of Tactical Soldier, from the Miniatures Handbook.

[Fouredged Sword]

Can't go wrong with warblade. Take martial study (shadow hand strike of choice) to maintain hide as a class skill.

Also, swordsage would not be a bad choice. Just ignore the wis to AC as not needed. Assasins stance would play to his roguelyness.

[Deadline]

Oddly enough, you might want to consider Nightsong Enforcer or Nightsong Infiltrator (both in CompAdv). They continue the stealth theme, and sneak attack progression. Enforcer has a full BAB progression as well.

Alternatively, there is the 5 level Streetfighter prestige class.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

The stats are a bit of a problem, unfortunately. My group opted to roll stats (4d6 drop lowest) rather than point buy when I put both options on the table and he decided to go with them since he was brand new to the game. He's got good physical stats (Str 18, Dex 16, Con 18 before stat boosting items I think) but his mental stats aren't great (Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10). As he put it "I wanted to be D&D Batman, but I think I'm more like the guy in The Dark Knight with the hockey pants." Still, he's got enough gold floating around or coming soon to pick up a mental stat boosting item if he went into a class with a little casting (like Avenger) or features based on a mental stat (like Int for Warblade) so it wouldn't be a total loss.

I hadn't thought about it (this is why I come to you guys for help) but keeping Hide as a class skill would probably be important to him. (My group combines Hide and Move Silently like Pathfinder does so keeping one would give him both.)

I'll take a look at those class suggestions when I'm back to my books. Also, one class that caught my eye in what looking around I did was Ghost-faced Killer (from Complete Adventurer). The per day limits on its abilities are a bit low, but it's got full BAB and continues to advance Sudden Strike (albeit at 1d6/3 levels past the second). Does anyone have any opinions or experience with it? (The alignment requirement isn't an issue; my group tends to ignore alignment as a prerequesite if the class or feature seems to fit the character from a roleplaying perspective.)

[Deadline]

Also, one class that caught my eye in what looking around I did was Ghost-faced Killer (from Complete Adventurer). The per day limits on its abilities are a bit low, but it's got full BAB and continues to advance Sudden Strike (albeit at 1d6/3 levels past the second). Does anyone have any opinions or experience with it? (The alignment requirement isn't an issue; my group tends to ignore alignment as a prerequesite if the class or feature seems to fit the character from a roleplaying perspective.)

The death attack on Ghost Faced killer is worse than the Assassin death attack, because it is a mind-affecting effect, so more things will be immune to it.

[Jallorn]

If you're open to homebrew, and don't mind planning ahead, you could work towards the Ebon Raven General (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5400789) to turn him from a stealthy commando, to a guy who can make the whole team commandos. A single level of Swordsage or Warblade will net you 6 Initiator Levels at this point, since your non-initiator levels count as half a level each. The only hard part would be the feat pre-reqs, since they both have a pre-req of their own. Personally, I'd make up for this by allowing a single feat to be retrained, thus allowing him to start ERG at level 14.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

If you're open to homebrew, and don't mind planning ahead, you could work towards the Ebon Raven General (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5400789) to turn him from a stealthy commando, to a guy who can make the whole team commandos. A single level of Swordsage or Warblade will net you 6 Initiator Levels at this point, since your non-initiator levels count as half a level each. The only hard part would be the feat pre-reqs, since they both have a pre-req of their own. Personally, I'd make up for this by allowing a single feat to be retrained, thus allowing him to start ERG at level 14.An interesting option. I've done a bit of homebrewing for my players (a spell here, an alternate class feature there) but never a whole class so this would take some thought. Still, it looks like a great option and I did recently talk to the player about possible character development, including mayber taking a more leader-like role in combat (it fits the character's background and some abilities).

I'm actually letting my players do a little retraining as we speak. The character recently met a Chameleon who offered to help them retrain some old feats and skill points (up to 2 feats and 2 levels worth of skill points for each character) in preparation for an upcoming mission they're helping him with so swapping out a feat or two won't be a problem if it's the route the player wants to take.

[Talionis]

An interesting idea might be Master of Masks, Gladiator mask will make up for loss of BAB a bit and Assassin Mask progresses Sneak Attack, but the other masks grant neat utility.

Shadow Dancer might be good, first level grants Hide in Plain sight.

Don't forget Darkstalker feat, so you can always really be hidden.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

An interesting idea might be Master of Masks, Gladiator mask will make up for loss of BAB a bit and Assassin Mask progresses Sneak Attack, but the other masks grant neat utility.

Shadow Dancer might be good, first level grants Hide in Plain sight.

Don't forget Darkstalker feat, so you can always really be hidden.
An interesting idea might be Master of Masks, Gladiator mask will make up for loss of BAB a bit and Assassin Mask progresses Sneak Attack, but the other masks grant neat utility.

Shadow Dancer might be good, first level grants Hide in Plain sight.

Don't forget Darkstalker feat, so you can always really be hidden.Those are interesting options (especially with skill retraining on the table) but the perform prerequesites seem a bit out of character for the character in question. I'd actually brought up Shadowdancer before and his reaction was more or less "Maybe for one level, but the dance prereq is weird. Is there any other way to get Hide in Plain Sight?" so I assume acting would get a similar response and the inability to have improved attack bonus and sneak attack with a Master of Masks until level 5 will also likely kill it for him.

Still a cool idea. I might have to borrow it for an NPC if the PC doesn't take it.