Need advice for Rogue/Caster

[Morghen]

So I'm more or less brand new to 3.5. (I'm an old hand at other versions, though, so feel free to use all the acronyms you like.)

Campaign starts at level 1. I'm a Halfling Rogue. Yes, obviously, it would be better to be some other race for the caster stuff, but I'm also not looking for wildly overpowered. We've got five players and only one other guy has any experience at RPGs (and he's playing a Paladin), so I'm not expecting anything crazy.

Rest of the party:
Gnome Bard
Elf Druid
Human Paladin
Human Cleric
Me

So here's what I need from any of you willing to read past "I'm more or less brand new to 3.5":

I like being the skill-monkey and I like playing casters. What do I do with my level 1 Feat and what do I start building toward?

Books the DM is allowing: Core for now. AFTER 3rd level, we can start pulling from other stuff.


I know I basically just said, "Hey, build me a character since I don't know what I'm doing" but I guess that's not really what I want.

The problem is that I don't even know what my future options will be. I'm not just driving in the dark, I don't know how to drive the car.

So maybe just present some options?



This is totally going to get ignored, isn't it?

[Waker]

Did you have any preference for which spellcaster you use? Wizard is stronger than Sorcerer, but the latter is less book keeping. The choice of which spells to use is dependent on your preferred playstyle.
For the core feat, how about Improved Initiative? Nice and simple, not a bad feat for anyone.

[Sactheminions]

Well, the obvious build for a roguish caster is rogue slash wizard slash unseen seer slash something. Arcane Trickster is an extra d6 of sneak attack, but it is a Goliath of suck otherwise.

Either way, Warlock can make some sense too, in the form of rogueX/WarlockX/Unseen Seer 10/X, where you get to use sneak attack and Eldritch Blast dice together. Of course, it will never be as good a Glaivelock as Eldritch Disciple, but...

On which subject, Rogue/Cloistered Cleric/Unseen Seer/Shadowbane Stalker?

[gorfnab]

Sneak Attacking Spellcasters Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1240)
You could go Rogue 1/ Wizard 5/ Unseen Seer 10/ Arcane Trickster 4

[Maginomicon]

Convince the GM to waive the "only if everyone does it" part of the Generic Classes (which is in the SRD) (www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/genericClasses.htm) rules and play a Generic Spellcaster with Rogue-like class features (that is, you swap out your Generic Spellcaster bonus feats when possible with the Rogue abilities you like).

The "only if everyone does it" bit in those rules is silly except as fluff. Those classes are absolutely perfect for people new to the game overall, so there's no reason to hamstring everyone else.

Pick up the Open Minded feat (which is also in the SRD) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#openMinded) for more skill points if the points granted by Generic Spellcaster are too few.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Normally I would suggest the Beguiler class from the PHB2 for a Rogue/Arcane Caster feel. But you said core only for the first 3 levels. It's pretty much EXACTLY what you want. If the DM is unwilling to bend and let you play this class there's other ways to do this.

Would you rather use Arcane or Divine magic for the magical part? Arcane has nifty spells like Invisibility, but you can get that from the Trickery domain as a Cleric. I once played a Gnome Cleric that basically functioned as the party skillmonkey/rogue using divine spells to do the things Rogues normally do in a party. It works better when you have access to the Spell Compendium, but still doable with core.

For Arcane, you could go with Sorcerer for Charisma synergy and be the party face. Or you could go with Wizard for much greater versatility and focus on Intelligence for insane skill points. Multiclassing one of these with Rogue opens up the PrC Arcane Trickster in the DMG. It advances spell casting and sneak attack at the same time.

It all depends on how you want to play the character.

[Rebel7284]

Sneak Attacking Spellcasters Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1240)
You could go Rogue 1/ Wizard 5/ Unseen Seer 10/ Arcane Trickster 4

Do this. Unseen Seer is GREAT for what you are trying to do.

Remember how skill points work:

If it was EVER a class skill, the cap on skill points if your level + 3
However, if it is not CURRENTLY your class skill, you need to pay 2 skill points per one rank.

Alternatively, if you want to focus on sneak attacking with rays, there is spellwarp sniper prestige class.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

It's already been said but bears repeating, the Beguiler base class in PH2 is probably what you're looking for. You want to take nineteen levels of it, with a single level in Mindbender or similar asap to set your advanced learning back a level so you can get spells one level higher with it.

Get useful stuff from 1st level like Color Spray, Silent Image, and Charm Person. The spell list has a tool for just about every situation you'll ever run into, and it gets all the skills of a Rogue and a Wizard. It doesn't have the sneak attack of a Rogue, but Rogues aren't good at combat anyway, there's better stuff for you to do than stab stuff.