New to Pathfinder, Restricted to SRD. Help with some concepts?

[Maeglin_Dubh]

First one is pretty simple.

I wanted to play a Warblade focusing on Diamond Mind and Iron Heart, using Leap Strike, charge, and either a Bastard Sword or Longaxe. Is it possible to approximate something similar at all using solely Pathfinder?

My other two options are to play a knife-fighter, of any sort, or a sword-cane wielding Inquisitor. Again, restricted to Pathfinder SRD. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/home)

[Crake]

First one is pretty simple.

I wanted to play a Warblade focusing on Diamond Mind and Iron Heart, using Leap Strike, charge, and either a Bastard Sword or Longaxe. Is it possible to approximate something similar at all using solely Pathfinder?

My other two options are to play a knife-fighter, of any sort, or a sword-cane wielding Inquisitor. Again, restricted to Pathfinder SRD. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/home)

Didn't paizo or whatever release a "tome of battle inspired" supplement? Also iirc, the pfsrd is pretty much all their official material anyway, so its not really a limitation.

[Urpriest]

Didn't paizo or whatever release a "tome of battle inspired" supplement? Also iirc, the pfsrd is pretty much all their official material anyway, so its not really a limitation.

Their "tome of battle" supplement is 3rd party, and IIRC isn't on their SRD (though other 3rd party content is, so the OP should clarify whether that content is allowed).

It's hard to do competent mundane melee in 1st party PF. I'd say a Barbarian would probably be closest to what you're going for. If you dig up a PF guide to optimizing the Barbarian you should find most of what you need.

[Turion]

Didn't paizo or whatever release a "tome of battle inspired" supplement? Also iirc, the pfsrd is pretty much all their official material anyway, so its not really a limitation.

That was actually Dreamscarred Press (http://dreamscarredpress.com/dragonfly/index.php), not Paizo, and it's currently being released. Their Warblade analogue, the Warlord, is out, but it's not on the PFSRD, and even if it was, it's still 3rd party.

Do note that 1. that's not technically the official Pathfinder SRD (http://paizo.com/prd/), and 2. not everything on it is 1st-party Paizo. Most of DSP's psionics stuff is there, as well as content from a bunch of other companies.

And to answer the original question, no. Pathfinder currently has no first-party product similar to the Warblade. The closest it gets is the Master of Many Styles Monk, and that's not even that close. The sword-cane inquisitor does sound fun, though.

Edit: aaand swordsaged by an Urpriest.

[Maeglin_Dubh]

I'll look for a Barbarian guide.

So, how about the knife-fighter? Should theoretically be able to do something besides sneak-attack, but sneak attacking is fine as well.

[grarrrg]

So, how about the knife-fighter? Should theoretically be able to do something besides sneak-attack, but sneak attacking is fine as well.

Knife Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/rogue/archetypes/paizo---rogue-archetypes/knife-master) Rogue gets to use d8's for Sneaking.

And Two-Weapon Warrior (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/two-weapon-warrior) Fighter is a pretty solid archetype as well. It (eventually) reduces Two-weapon To-Hit penalties, and lets you attack twice with a Standard action, or on an AoO.

[Maeglin_Dubh]

For the Knife Master, should I just look for a general Rogue guide to get further build ideas? I like what's there in the archetype already.

[Ravens_cry]

For the Knife Master, should I just look for a general Rogue guide to get further build ideas? I like what's there in the archetype already.

The two weapon fighting line, weapon finesse and high dex are musts, of course. Agile weapon property is awfully nice as well, especially since occasionally you will be fighting sneak attack proof enemies. Less often than 3.5, but there is still a few. If you can work it in, Butterfly Sting (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/butterfly-s-sting-critical) is nice, as you can pass a critical on to someone who doesn't get them often but loves them when they do.

[schoklat]

Some Barbarian with the correct set of Rage powers would be my first guess. Fighter has gotten a lot better as well.
If you are not dead set on no magic, at least take a quick glance at Magus?

[Spore]

For the Knife Master, should I just look for a general Rogue guide to get further build ideas? I like what's there in the archetype already.

Basically your average run of the mill TWF rogue specialised on daggers. You invest every rogue talent and talent into TWF, Weapon Focus and Mobility 8to flank). Buy some mundane and magic tricks to get back into stealth and to impede enemy movement. Smoke Bombs, Tanglefoot Bags, Caltrops, Ring of Invisibility, Invisibility Potions, help of your arcanist.

Something like this: (pref. Human for the extra feat, or Halfling for extra Dex + Stealth bonus)

(1) Two Weapon Fighting
(2r) Rogue Finesse
(3) Quick Draw (throwing daggers also gives you d8 sneaks)
(4r) Weapon Training (Dagger)
(5) Combat Expertise
(6s) Combat Trick (Two-Weapon Feint)
(7) Toughness
(8) Bleeding Attack (Bleed now stacks, so you deal 4d8 Sneak plus +4 Bleeding plus the +1 bleeding dagger you should have by now)
(9) Improved Two Weapon Fighting

Invest your favored class points into HP
(15 point-buy) Str 11 Dex 15 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 12
4. in Dex, 8. in Dex
(20 point-buy) Str 12 Dex 15 Con 15 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 12
4. in Dex, 8. in Con
(25 point-buy) Str 11 Dex 17 Con 15 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 12
4. in Dex, 8. in Con

Skills: Disable Device max; Perception max; Stealth max; Use Magic Device max. Diplomacy max; Bluff max, Acrobatics max; other 8-16 points free to distribute. Only take away HP when really necessary!

[Maeglin_Dubh]

Human would take Finesse at lvl1, yes?

[Drachasor]

I advise strongly against a rogue. Go take a look at how they changed tumbling. It is very hard to tumble well against equal CR opponents, so you'll have a really hard time sneak attacking. The Ninja does it better, since he can turn invisible sometimes, but it isn't easy. Both are a far, far cry from the versatility and power of a Warblade. Ironically, while sneak attack works against more enemies, successfully getting into flanking is much, much harder.

In terms of powerful charging, the Barbarian, Magus, or Druid are your best bets. An Eldritch Knight is also an option as well -- you can get into the EK at 3rd level now if you player an Aasimar or another race with a 3rd level SLA.

[CombatOwl]

First one is pretty simple.

I wanted to play a Warblade focusing on Diamond Mind and Iron Heart, using Leap Strike, charge, and either a Bastard Sword or Longaxe. Is it possible to approximate something similar at all using solely Pathfinder?

No. Martial combat tactics in PF are an entirely different world than 3.5e. Charging is more of a PITA than it's worth, because you don't have the feats to back it up. If you decide to do a charger, welcome to AOO hell. Because tumbling goes against CMD, you can't reliable do it anymore unless you super-specialize on acrobatics. Mounted charging is usually the only charge worth bothering with because of the ability to vital strike + spirited charge with a lance.

There are a few fighter archetypes that can solve the AOO problem, but it's rarely worth bothering.


My other two options are to play a knife-fighter, of any sort, or a sword-cane wielding Inquisitor. Again, restricted to Pathfinder SRD. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/home)

Rogues do it better from behind. Fighter/rogue is doable. You want at least 13 strength for power attack, rest into dex and con. Prioritize the rogue. 1 fighter for every 3 rogue. You can fill in some of the combat feats you might otherwise miss with combat trick and the weapon focus rogue talent (if you need weapon focus to qualify for something). Note: getting people flat-footed in PF is very difficult. Unless you're ambushing, you probably won't get them flat-footed more than once. There are also no methods to drop feint to a free action in PF, AFAIK. That puts a harsh limit on knife fighting in PF, but on the flip side you can sneak attack way more types of monsters. If you want to feint, you should absolutely take the vital strike chain, because you can improved feint and vital strike in the same round (but you cannot vital strike with multiple attacks). If you setup right, you spend the first round moving into melee range. You then follow them whenever they try to five-foot away. You then improved feint + vital strike + power attack with the dagger. You'll get triple the dagger's rolled damage, your fulls str bonus, your power attack bonus, and your sneak attack on the hit. OTOH, all of this works better with an elven curve blade, but whatever.

This is way more reliable than setting up for flanking using mobility and tumbling. You just walk up in their face and stab them for sneak attack damage. Yes, it takes longer to kill folks--your single turn damage goes down--but you gain reliability and versatility because you keep more options. You can always throw some feats at two-weapon fighting too, in those cases where you have an opportunity to flank normally with a full attack.

A trickier method is to try to force AOOs from attacking enemies using reach weapons and a few levels in flowing monk. You can get sneak attacks from AOOs using feint, as long as it's done before your next turn. Basically you take 4 levels of flowing monk in order to get the 4th level reposition, which les you reposition or trip as an AOO whenever someone attacks an ally (And you always count as your own ally, as per the FAQ)--and because of the 2nd level flowing monk ability, the AOO renders the target flat-footed. If you take flowing monk to 8, you can re-position and trip in the same maneuver, as an immediate action. So you render them flat footed, move them a square, and trip them (which can provoke an attack in its own right). So basically if they are in your threatened squares and attack anyone, you get to make two combat maneuvers against them, render them flat-footed, and if the trip works, get to make an attack and get sneak attack damage with that. Did I mention that they have to save or be sickened too? This works with any weapon, even knives. It's not about the flurry of blows, so you don't need a monk weapon.

Sword-cane is seriously bad in PF, because you don't have iajutsu. It can be doable, but you have to do straight fighter to make it work because you desperately need as many static damage bonuses as possible.

[Maeglin_Dubh]

A trickier method is to try to force AOOs from attacking enemies using reach weapons and a few levels in flowing monk. You can get sneak attacks from AOOs using feint, as long as it's done before your next turn. Basically you take 4 levels of flowing monk in order to get the 4th level reposition, which les you reposition or trip as an AOO whenever someone attacks an ally (And you always count as your own ally, as per the FAQ)--and because of the 2nd level flowing monk ability, the AOO renders the target flat-footed. If you take flowing monk to 8, you can re-position and trip in the same maneuver, as an immediate action. So you render them flat footed, move them a square, and trip them (which can provoke an attack in its own right). So basically if they are in your threatened squares and attack anyone, you get to make two combat maneuvers against them, render them flat-footed, and if the trip works, get to make an attack and get sneak attack damage with that. Did I mention that they have to save or be sickened too? This works with any weapon, even knives. It's not

This is my favorite option right now. How would I do this starting at level 1?