Melee and Ranged Combatant

[cd4]

I am trying to make a character who is good at both melee and ranged combat without resorting too much to spells. I want this character to be able to hit the enemy from a distance, then when they try and close to be able to switch to melee combat without any trouble. Then if they run to far away be able to hit them from ranged as they are fleeing.

[Captnq]

my Sig, get the EVD.

Compositie Longbow, elvencrafted, bow blade.

Extrapolated Weapon Special Abilities: Energy.

You now have three melee weapons you can switch back and forth from, and a bow that shoots force arrows. Enjoy.

[Riston]

Probably the simplest way is to make warblade/bloodstorm blade.

[Frozen_Feet]

See if you can make taking levels in both Feat Rogue and Fighter fly with your GM.

The point is that Feat Rogue 2 / Fighter 2 gets you 4 freely selectable Fighter Feats. If you start as Feat Rogue at 1st level, you also get nice 4 x 8 skillpoints and a great class skills, inc. necessary Spot.

You said you want to avoid spells (etc.), but I'd also suggest taking 2 level of Psychic Warrior. Again, 2 feats and you can take some useful power like Expansion.

If using SRD or Core only, 6 levels of Horizon Walker might be worth it for basically at-will Dimension Door for both gaining and closing distance, though out-of-core, there are probably better options. What sources can you draw from?

[cd4]

With my sources I have access to pretty much every book. I do not have access to any of the magazines but do have the Dragon Magazine Compendium.

Say I took those feats slots, what feats should I put there?

[Red Fel]

A surprisingly simple solution is the switch-hitter Ranger. Focus on ranged weapons, because that's the only way ranged weapons are any good, but your chassis permits you to be functional in melee as well. Simple but effective.

I do second the Warblade/Bloodstorm Blade suggestion above, however. Also simple, very effective, and more importantly, crazy fun.

[Z3ro]

A surprisingly simple solution is the switch-hitter Ranger. Focus on ranged weapons, because that's the only way ranged weapons are any good, but your chassis permits you to be functional in melee as well. Simple but effective.

I'd vote ranger as well, but throw in swift hunter. That way you have a source of bonus damage for both melee and ranged. Travel devotion with maybe a cleric dip makes this highly mobile as well.

[Frozen_Feet]

With my sources I have access to pretty much every book. I do not have access to any of the magazines but do have the Dragon Magazine Compendium.

Say I took those feats slots, what feats should I put there?

Depends slightly on what melee style you're after. Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot and Rapid Shot would be good choices as far as archery is concerned. Zen Archery might be worth it if you seek to develop your Psychic Warrior side/focus on Wisdom more, and Deadly Aim is a good choise if PF material is usable (you can find the feat in PF SRD).

For Melee, Combat Expertise + Improved Trip + Power Attack are solid choices. At level 3 or 6, you can take Knock-Down for one of your general feats. Or, since you might want high Dex for archery (if not going for Zen Archery), you could take Combat Reflexes and then Hold the Line as a general feat at 3 or 6, or focus on Two-Weapon Fighting. Exotic Weapon Proficiency will grant you a fancier bow, or a spiked chain if going for tripping.

More options open up depending on when you take the feat-granting levels. For example, you could take levels of Ranger or other full BAB class between Feat Rogue and Fighter/PsyWar to open up things like Improved Precise Shot, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting etc.

If you decide to reduce MAD by focusing on WIS, a level or two of Monk can net you increased AC, plus more bonus feats for unarmed combat (etc.). Pathfinder also has the Zen Archer archetype, which you might want to look into.

EDIT: If you want to aim for Dex SAD, Weapon Finesse + Two-Weapon Fighting + archery feats mentioned above are a good start.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Probably the simplest way is to make warblade/bloodstorm blade.
In terms of pure power/options, this one, although it is throwing as opposed to archery.

[NoACWarrior]

If its ok with using a single spell - you could go as a divine caster - either cleric or favored soul and pick up Darkfire. This spell lasts for a pretty long time, can be used on iteratives, used at 120 range, used in melee, makes you armed to do AoOs. And everyone knows that a cleric makes a pretty wicked tanker.

[Red Fel]

If its ok with using a single spell - you could go as a divine caster - either cleric or favored soul and pick up Darkfire. This spell lasts for a pretty long time, can be used on iteratives, used at 120 range, used in melee, makes you armed to do AoOs. And everyone knows that a cleric makes a pretty wicked tanker.

Alternatively, Blood Wind (Spell Compendium version) allows you to take a full-round action to use all natural weapons or unarmed strikes at 20-foot range. Find a way to persist that bad boy and it's party time.

[Segev]

I'm actually playing a (PF) paladin that fits the bill, but does so very oddly.

He's a TWF-type. He uses Quick Draw and multiple light crossbows (swallowing the penalties to hit, admittedly) at medium range, javelins at 30 feet or less, and then charges in to sword-and-board (treating his shield as an off-hand weapon thanks to - at first - a magic shield enhancement and later a feat that let him keep the AC bonus while doing so).

He's got, aside from the TWF tree, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, and rapid shot. This means he actually can take -4 to hit on ranged attacks for 2 extra attacks at his highest BAB (plus the additional TWF-granted attacks for the TWF tree's later BAB-based additional attacks).

He is still more damaging in melee if only because his sword is the best magic weapon he has, since he isn't relying on having a lot of it to get all his attacks every round.

Admittedly, he depends heavily on Smite Evil for a lot of bonus damage on each individual attack, and a high bonus to hit to overcome the large penalties for TWF+Rapid Shot+non-light weapons.

[NoACWarrior]

Alternatively, Blood Wind (Spell Compendium version) allows you to take a full-round action to use all natural weapons or unarmed strikes at 20-foot range. Find a way to persist that bad boy and it's party time.

Darkfire lasts for rounds per CL, and is a weapon like touch spell, and affects all nat attacks and unarmed strikes as normal for a touch effect. So yes, if you had 10 natural attacks, then you would be doing some massive damage. You can Persistent spell it as well, with the bonus that you don't hurt allies or your own equipment.