Building an "Obsidian Raven" Mage [3.5 ToB/M]

[Tokuhara]

So I'm planning a back-up PC in-case my Dwarf Crusader gets smeared across the floor of the local dungeon. I decided to look at the styles in ToB and found that, not necessarily for crunch reasons, I sincerely dig the Shadow Hand Discipline. It's sexy and gives the "walker of the shadow" feel. So I looked into more "shadow" classes and found the Shadowcaster (I know, not a great class, but again, flavorful). So I decided to pose a question on the Homebrew forums for a Swordsage/Shadowcaster and Just to Browse kindly gave me the Obsidian Raven Mage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15105612&postcount=588) adaptation for the Jade Phoenix Mage (BTW, you're awesome and you deserve 100 cookies, but I has no money :smallfrown:).

So here's the question I want to pose:

How do I build the Obsidian Raven Mage so it can utilize all of its tricks effectively while still retaining the "I'm walking the fine line between Good and Evil, between Light and Darkness" flavor that drips from the combination.

Now note: we are using the Multiclass rules and have a houserule for Racial Familiarity (any gear associated with your race, you are automatically proficient with).

I'm mostly looking for an "ideal" 1-20 breakdown to get the most toys and the most use out of both halves.

[Tokuhara]

Bumping as to save this post from obscurity

[Just to Browse]

Ermagerd! Someone used my homebrew!

Your core options are either:
Dip as little swordsage as possible, then advance it with the class (this means taking swordsage at level 5-6 because ToB multiclassing rules are borked). This maxes your shadowcasting and makes you more sage and less sword.
Dip only 3 levels of shadowcaster and focus on swordsage (this means taking 3 levels of sc). This makes shadowcasting even less level-appropriate than it already is, but you stab a lot better.

Which of these are you going for? Regardless of the case, your first three levels are going to be shadowcaster and levels 7-16 are going to be ORM. Your hit die is crap, which means you're going to need lots of defensive abilities to not get steamrolled in melee.

[Tokuhara]

Ermagerd! Someone used my homebrew!

Your core options are either:
Dip as little swordsage as possible, then advance it with the class (this means taking swordsage at level 5-6 because ToB multiclassing rules are borked). This maxes your shadowcasting and makes you more sage and less sword.
Dip only 3 levels of shadowcaster and focus on swordsage (this means taking 3 levels of sc). This makes shadowcasting even less level-appropriate than it already is, but you stab a lot better.

Which of these are you going for? Regardless of the case, your first three levels are going to be shadowcaster and levels 7-16 are going to be ORM. Your hit die is crap, which means you're going to need lots of defensive abilities to not get steamrolled in melee.

I was looking at switch-hitting Melee/Ranged, playing off the Swordsage for the "melee pimp slap" and the Shadowcaster for the "pew pew Control," probably going to take slightly more SC than SS, but not to the point that maneuvers are "irrelevant" (say SC 3/SS 4/ORM 10/SC2/SS 1)

[Larkas]

Don't forget to use the creator's fix (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?184955-Shadowcaster-fixes-by-Mouseferatu&p=3273239&viewfull=1#post3273239) for the Shadowcaster!