Rogue Prestige Class suggestions

[supervillan]

I'm looking for ideas or suggestions for one of my players, and I wonder if the playground might help :smallsmile:

The player likes the idea of a prestige class, but can't find one to fit. He's fairly new to 3.5e and the party is not optimised.

The character is a CG Halfling, Ftr2/Rogue5. He's focussed on typical thief skills and ranged combat.

The player's criteria are these:

1. advance sneak attack progression
2. have good skill points/skills mix
3. have some interesting or cool class features/abilities

Alignment has to be adhered to, so no Assassin or other evil types.

The campaign is likely to run to about lvl14-15.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

[G.Cube]

AFB right now, but off the top of my head Shadow dancer is a popular choice for new players. He also might want to check out the good-version of Assassin in the Book of Exalted Deeds.

[Fax Celestis]

Dark Lantern from Five Nations is pretty cool. Silver Key (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061106a&page=2) is one of my favorites, and you could give it Sneak Attack at 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th without making it broken. Shadow Thief of Amn (PGtF) is pretty cool also. Master of Masks (CScn) is also pretty awesome. Battle and Uncanny Tricksters from CScn are also excellent choices, the former more than the latter if he wants to be smashy.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Books allowed?

[John Longarrow]

Combat Trapsmith from Complete Scoundral may be a good match. If he is doing the sneaky fighter type the buffs it gives could be very useful.

[gorfnab]

Nightsong Enforcer and Nightsong Infiltrator from Complete Adventurer are decent. Enforcer has the better attack bonus. Whisperknife from Races of the Wild is Halfling specific and advances sneak attack and dagger throwing capabilities.

[Norin]

Look into a 3 level dip or more in umbral disciple from magic of incarnum.

[Pickford]

I'm looking for ideas or suggestions for one of my players, and I wonder if the playground might help :smallsmile:

The player likes the idea of a prestige class, but can't find one to fit. He's fairly new to 3.5e and the party is not optimised.

The character is a CG Halfling, Ftr2/Rogue5. He's focussed on typical thief skills and ranged combat.

The player's criteria are these:

1. advance sneak attack progression
2. have good skill points/skills mix
3. have some interesting or cool class features/abilities

Alignment has to be adhered to, so no Assassin or other evil types.

The campaign is likely to run to about lvl14-15.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

From CAdv:
Nightsong Enforcer (Can be re-fluffed for whatever world you're in, but principally it is a Fighter/Rogue mix of a PrC; Team oriented)

Also see: Nightsong Infiltrator (pg. 60-65)

The Spymaster (pg. 76-78) (7 levels) good for roleplaying

The Streetfighter (79-80) (5 levels) also a Fighter/Thief mix

There are other mixes in CAdv, but they require either divine casting, arcane casting, or psionic casting.

From CScoundrel:
Cloaked Dancer (need performance ranks) pg. 31

The Mountebank (similar to the spymaster, disguise related)

Uncanny Trickster (3 levels, simulates rogue levels for 2-3), pg 67-68

CWar: Darkwood Stalker could be refluffed by you to fit (it's an elf anti-orc class)

Invisible Blade (basically geared for a twf dagger rogue)

Justiciar (nonlethal strike +4d6)

The Ronin - given that the char is chaotic, this one seems apropos (does have a special rp requirement, though this could be waved)

CDivine: Temple Raider of Olidammara - gives divine casting/luck domain, rp requirement

CMage: Unseen Seer (requires ability to cast two 1st level divinations, so he'd have to pick up a level of something with casting)

[supervillan]

Books allowed?

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

I only have Core plus C.Adv, C.War, C.Div, and C.Arc, a bunch of monster manuals and Libris Mortis. Which is partly why I asked the playground, because I know there's a lot of other good material out there.

As for what's allowed, my general position is I'll consider anything presented, but any PC progression needs to fit into the campaign and the story. One PC is taking Wild Mage - as he's a CG Elf Wizard that's a straightforward progression. A new PC joining the group will be a half-orc Frostrager and I've developed a backstory with the player that fits nicely with the campaign.

I've got some Googling to do!

[Pickford]

Silver Key is one of my favorites, and you could give it Sneak Attack at 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th without making it broken.


ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Race: Dwarf.

Character is a Halfling. Also that's Eberron specific, so if they're playing standard D&D (Greyhawk), or Forgotten Realms, or Spelljammer, or Dark Sun, or Ravenloft it won't work.

[Fax Celestis]

Character is a Halfling. Also that's Eberron specific, so if they're playing standard D&D (Greyhawk), or Forgotten Realms, or Spelljammer, or Dark Sun, or Ravenloft it won't work.

Some DMs let that stuff be bent. I thought I'd throw it out there because it's an underloved but awesome PrC.

[Averis Vol]

If he isn't opposed to a small switch in weaponry to something more traditionally halfling, a one level dip in master of masks for the gladiator mask fills the proficiency prereqs for Warsling Sniper from races of faerun (Pg. 189).

[pilvento]

WISPERKNIFE! HANDS DOWN!

Races of the wild. full bab, sneak attack, feats, features, RANGED FANKING!

[nedz]

Ftr 2 / Rogue 5 / Beguiler 1 / Unseen Seer 10 — but it requires stuff from PH2 and CMage.

[Piggy Knowles]

My hands down favorite rogue prestige class? Uncanny Trickster. Three levels long, easy to qualify for, you progress all your important rogue stuff and pick up some neat tricks on top. No frills, just a nice solid little class that I add to just about every roguish build.

(Actually, my all-time favorite rogue suggestion is Chameleon, but as you're playing a halfling, it won't really fly in this instance.)

All in all, I find that rogues have a hard time of it when it comes to prestige classes. Assassin's not bad - it progresses your SA and many of your core abilities, gives you a couple of nice extras like HiPS and poison use, and gives you some pretty solid Int-based spells. If Chameleon's not on the table and there are no alignment issues, that's my usual go-to.

In general, though, rogues tend to do better taking a splash here and there of several different prestige classes and base classes, rather than focusing entirely on any one PrC. A dash of Exemplar and Uncanny Trickster here for some skill shenanigans, maybe a splash of Nightsong Enforcer here to help rebuild BAB, some Warblade or Swordsage to bring in maneuvers, that sort of thing. The only prestige classes I'd consider taking all ten levels of on a straight rogue would be Chameleon and Assassin, and that's almost entirely because of the spellcasting they offer.

[supervillan]

Character is a Halfling. Also that's Eberron specific, so if they're playing standard D&D (Greyhawk), or Forgotten Realms, or Spelljammer, or Dark Sun, or Ravenloft it won't work.

The setting is my own homebrew world. I've been running campaigns and adventures there since way back in the days of 1e. Some material from published campaigns will fit, some will need work to adapt, some (like Dark Sun) won't fly at all.

I like Whisperknife, it could fit well.

[supervillan]

The player is favouring the Unseen Seer route - having seen how useful Sniper's Shot and True Strike divinations could be on his sneak attacking archer!

Thanks again for the tips :smallsmile:

[Grayson01]

GhostFaced Killa CA, Halfling Outrider CW, MAster Thrower (Dagger Thrower) or (Halfling Skip Rock Thrower) CW, are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[Pickford]

GhostFaced Killa CA, Halfling Outrider CW, MAster Thrower (Dagger Thrower) or (Halfling Skip Rock Thrower) CW, are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

The first is evil and the other three don't have sneak attack progression.

[Sgt. Cookie]

WISPERKNIFE! HANDS DOWN!

Races of the wild. full bab, sneak attack, feats, features, RANGED FANKING!

I don't know what this "fanking" is, but it sounds arousing.

[Prince Raven]

WISPERKNIFE! HANDS DOWN!

Races of the wild. full bab, sneak attack, feats, features, RANGED FANKING!

I'm with this guy, Whisperknives are awesome. I take it you're the DM, so find some way for him to defend some Halflings and get noticed by a senior Whisperknife whose looking for a pupil.

Also, make sure you never fank alone, you always need a partner to fank with.

[Andezzar]

Also, make sure you never fank alone, you always need a partner to fank with.Not, if you are an adaptable fanker and use a spiked chain. Fanking alone in the presence of large creatures may prove more difficult though.

[nedz]

Well you just need Fick of the Wrist, or something like that.

The advantage of the Beguier/Unseen Seer is that you get invisibility and greater invisibility so you don't need to fank at all.

[Andezzar]

Fick of the wrist does not hep with fanking. It makes the opponent fat-footed.

Shouldn't the Beguier/Unseen Seer get Invisibiity/greater Invisibiity?

[Person_Man]

My suggestions:

Psychic Rogue (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723b): If the player feels like he's "missing out" on cool abilities by playing a vanilla Rogue, he's right. It's a weak Tier 4 class. You might want to allow him to just retrain as a Psychic Rogue, which basically gives up UMD, a couple Skill points per level, and a couple of dice of Sneak Attack in exchange for a decent set of psionic powers. Alternatively, he could go Rogue/Psion/Psychic Assassin (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723d).

Master of Masks: 1 level grants proficiency with every exotic weapon, which can be very handy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88633).

Chameleon: Floating bonus Feat is very handy, especially if you have an Incarnum or psionic base. More importantly, you can cast spells from any list. If you spend some time searching through the books, you'll find a lot of gems on the Ranger, Blackguard, Paladin, and various prestige class lists.

Ironsoul Forgemaster or Totem Rager: These classes progress soulmelds and chakra binds fairly well. Soulmelds can dramatically improve Skills, and chakra bind often have crazy useful abilities. Totemist is also an easy way to add 6+ natural attacks to your build. So while neither progresses Sneak Attack, the extra attacks more then make up for it.

[nedz]

Fick of the wrist does not hep with fanking. It makes the opponent fat-footed.

Shouldn't the Beguier/Unseen Seer get Invisibiity/greater Invisibiity?

I think you mean Invisibiity and Greater Invisibiity.

[pilvento]

I was going to correct my post but... fanking it is...

The player is favouring the Unseen Seer route - having seen how useful Sniper's Shot and True Strike divinations could be on his sneak attacking archer!

If he is an archer then yes, go for unseen seer for sniper shot.

[Greenish]

I think you mean Invisibiity and Greater Invisibiity.And let's not forget Superior Invisibility.

[nedz]

And let's not forget Superior Invisibility.

No, no, Superior Invisibiity.
FTFY :smallbiggrin: