Help with Gish/Skillmonkey-Lite

[jaydubs]

So, I don't actually have very much experience designing characters. But my friend is looking for some advice on character builds, and I'd like to help him out and maybe get some good will for it (to hopefully avoid my own character being killed in his sleep).

The only things that are basically set in stone, are that his character needs to fill the scout/traps/skills role, and he really wants to take a rank in wizard so he can have Abrupt Jaunt as an alternate class feature. His main concern with his own attempts at character designing were that he wouldn't be particularly effective in combat.

I was considering suggesting Rogue 1 - Wizard 1 - Rogue 2 - Swashbuckler 3 - Abjurant Champion 5 - Rogue 1 - Swashbuckler. The main idea is that this allows Arcane casting at character level -2 at level 12, and for him to mainly just put points into Intelligence for everything. Then Daring Outlaw to have Swashbuckler and Rogue stack for sneak attacks and defense bonuses.

So, comments or suggestions? Will he be able to fill the required scout/traps/skillmonkey role? Will he be effective at later levels? Are there any major flaws I haven't thought of?

Things to note: the DM is probably going to allow him to take Faeries Mysteries Initiate to use Intelligence bonus for determining HP, Nymph's Kiss for 1 extra skill point per level, and he starts with 20 intelligence.

Edit:

Brainstorming... would it be better/worse to get rid of Daring Outlaw, cap Swashbuckler at 3, and put levels into Daggerspell Mage?

[IronFist]

I would drop Daring Outlaw, yes.
If all your friend wants is skills, I'd also use a Ranger instead of a Rogue. Between the variants from Dungeonscape and Cityscape (in the web enhancement), you get pretty much all the skills you'll need, don't lose any bab, get slightly better HD and favored enemy (could be arcanists) and access to Ranger wands. As a single level dip, all you'll lose is 2 skil points.

I would advise against Daggerspell Mage, though. I love the class, but it's a bit on the weak side.

Consider the Unseen Seer prestige class from Complete Mage. Between that and Abjurant Champion, you should get enough power.

Also, as much as I like Swashbuckler, I don't think Int to damage is worth 3 levels. I would do something like Ranger 1/Wizard X into Unseen Seer -> Abjurant Champion, maybe using Ruathar (Races of the Wild) as a stepping stone.

[jaydubs]

Thanks for the input. I will run both by him and see what he likes. :smallsmile:

[Keld Denar]

I second the choice of USS. It's really good with 6 + int skills from a good list, full casting, and 3/4 BAB. It's not super gishy, but magic can more than make up the lost BAB. Typical entry involves Rogue 1/Wizard 4 or Spellthief 1/Wizard 4. Wizard 5 isn't a bad idea, though, because the feat is decent but the ACFs you can get can be amazing. USS gives you some spells off other spell lists. Typically these are Hunters Eye from PHBII (Ranger 2) and Divine Insight from Complete Divine (Cleric 2). Divine Insight it's particularly awesome for those skill checks you just HAVE to make.

[Piggy Knowles]

Another option would be Chameleon. It's very easy to build a Chameleon that can fulfill a "lite" version of all three roles simultaneously. And you can easily fit in a level of wizard for Abrupt Jaunt if you'd like, too...

[Fouredged Sword]

My suggestion would be

Human

Spellthief 1
Duskblade 3
Wizard 1
Chameleon 10
Abjurant Champion 5

Feats
1 - Able Learner
H- Craven
3- Master Spellthief
6- Practical Spellcaster (chameleon)
9+ - Something nice

You cast in light armor, can cast any arcane spell 6th and under into your greatsword, while swift casting and 6th or under abjuration. You have trapfinding and any skill that was ever a class skill acts like that for all further classes (due to able learner) and those that arn't are still 1 point per rank (you just are still stuck with the 1/2 max rank cap)

Your bab takes a bit of a hit, but you can fix that with divine power at higher levels.

You can get +16 to your strength easily for tearing things up in melee, and divine insight and guidance of the avatar to make skillchecks a given.