Pathfinder Paladin/Rogue Help

[Ninjadeadbeard]

So I am prepping for a game my friend is running, and together we came up with a neat character for myself: A former soldier in The Great War (of the setting), who is seeking redemption by helping to rebuild the fallen Knight Orders. We figured he'd be a Rogue/Paladin, and the DM is starting us at level six, so I went with an even split (Rg3/Pal3).

HP - 46
AC - 20 (armor and enchanted amulet)
Str 12
Dex 16
Con 16
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 15
Skills

Acrobatics 10
Climb 8
Craft (Beer) 10
Diplomacy 9
Disable Device 10
Know Local 6
Know Rel/Nob 8
Perform Lute 9
Sense Motive 7
Sleight of Hand 8
Stealth 8
Gear: Greatsword, Composite Longbow
Rogue Talent: Wep Focus-Sword

I have come to tap the deep knowledge of the playground on a few things: Where do I go, buildwise from here? My DM is very lenient, but the table isn't one where cheese is tolerated in great amounts. I'm looking more for cool ideas in feats, skills, and prestige classes.

tl;dr - Where does a Rogue3/Paladin3 go from here, assuming rule of cool and no cheese.

[BWR]

What sort of soldier were you? Normally one would expect to find soldiers with the Fighter class, not Rogue. I suppose a scout type could work, or an infiltrator, but you don't have Perception, which is the single most important ability for a scout (or trapfinder) or Disguise which would be the most useful for an infiltrator. What sort of jobs did this soldier do? Why would he be a rogue rather than a fighter? What sort of role did he have in combat? What sort of role did he have outside of combat? What sort of god or code does the paladin follow?
In short, we have to know what the character was and what you want him to be before we can give any specific advice.

Rogues aren't proficient with greatswords, and you need proficiency to pick up Wp Focus. Now if you want to spend a feat on it, if your DM wants to give you greatsword proficiency for free or allow you to exchange one of your existing proficiencies for it, fine but as it is this is illegal. I would not recommend spending a feat, since you can probably find better uses for a feat. With those stats a greatsword is probably a waste. To deal significant damage you'd need to pick up Power Attack to deal any significant damage, and you don't have the prereqs for that. Much better to stick to a short sword or rapier, pick up Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/piranha-strike-combat) if you want to deal melee damage or focus on a ranged attacks with Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim and Rapid Shot. Paladins can make excellent archers now. Of course you can always switch your Dexterity and Strength to better use melee weapons, but if you plan to deal damage upfront in melee with a bid wapon, why play rogue?
Do you plan to try to use Sneak Attack at all? Because you don't have a lot and to be useful in melee you need to make sure you either flank your enemy or feint them (which you can't do because you have not ranks in Bluff, and you need Improved Feint to be useful)

[Ninjadeadbeard]

What sort of soldier were you? Normally one would expect to find soldiers with the Fighter class, not Rogue. I suppose a scout type could work, or an infiltrator, but you don't have Perception, which is the single most important ability for a scout (or trapfinder) or Disguise which would be the most useful for an infiltrator. What sort of jobs did this soldier do? Why would he be a rogue rather than a fighter? What sort of role did he have in combat? What sort of role did he have outside of combat? What sort of god or code does the paladin follow?
In short, we have to know what the character was and what you want him to be before we can give any specific advice.

He fought as a mercenary, specifically an Archer. His unit specialized in ambushes and sabotage, but were occasionally roped into fighting on the front line as skirmishers. He was a Rogue, because he was an educated Nobleman (close enough anyway), and his lack of perception...may need to be fixed by talking to my DM :smallbiggrin:, but is explained by his not being a true scout, but rather a stealth-armor guerrilla.

Outside of combat, he was the son of a famous Brewer, and he used his knowledge as a camp chef, specializing in spirits (for which he almost received a medal from his squadmates). His Paladin Code is the basic one (do no evil, be merciful, do not support evil gov'ts), but he personally thinks the stuff about playing fair is crap. If he can, he's gonna nut-shot evil until it dies. Courage =/= fighting fair. He doesn't give fair warnings to monsters.

He came home from the war shell-shocked. After a time, he has chosen to dedicate his life to making right what once went wrong, and helping to rebuild the once noble Knight Orders of the land.


Rogues aren't proficient with greatswords, and you need proficiency to pick up Wp Focus. Now if you want to spend a feat on it, if your DM wants to give you greatsword proficiency for free or allow you to exchange one of your existing proficiencies for it, fine but as it is this is illegal.

He's got Paladin levels. He has proficiency.


I would not recommend spending a feat, since you can probably find better uses for a feat. With those stats a greatsword is probably a waste. To deal significant damage you'd need to pick up Power Attack to deal any significant damage, and you don't have the prereqs for that. Much better to stick to a short sword or rapier, pick up Weapon Finesse and Piranha Strike (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/piranha-strike-combat) if you want to deal melee damage or focus on a ranged attacks with Point Blank Shot, Deadly Aim and Rapid Shot. Paladins can make excellent archers now. Of course you can always switch your Dexterity and Strength to better use melee weapons, but if you plan to deal damage upfront in melee with a bid wapon, why play rogue?

Greatsword has more dice. :smallbiggrin: Sneak attack is not weapon dependent. He uses a Greatsword (thinking of getting Wep Exotic and getting a Bastard sword and shield!) because it hurts more. It is more of a weapon of war, and thus it makes sense he would be trained in its use.

He also has the usual archery feats. But enemies can close distances, so he prepares for the worst.


Do you plan to try to use Sneak Attack at all? Because you don't have a lot and to be useful in melee you need to make sure you either flank your enemy or feint them (which you can't do because you have not ranks in Bluff, and you need Improved Feint to be useful)

Yes. Those are the circumstances when he would use Sneak Attack. He flanks enemies, because that's how he was taught to fight in the war.

Anything else?

[BWR]

He's got Paladin levels. He has proficiency.

But you used his Rogue Talent to pick up Wp Foc. Unless picked up your first level of paladin before your second level of rogue this still doesn't work. Technically your stats just say "sword" but I assumed that you mean "greatsword".


He also has the usual archery feats. But enemies can close distances, so he prepares for the worst.

Yes. Those are the circumstances when he would use Sneak Attack. He flanks enemies, because that's how he was taught to fight in the war.



You don't have the feats to waste on learning big weapons if you want to be an archer. Or rather, you can but you will suck at both rather than being moderately competant at one. If you want to be a dedicated archer (fighter still does this better than rogue, but whatever). If you need to worry about melee attack, pick up Weapon finesse so you can hit things and get an Agile weapon, leave off wasting feats on weapons you aren't planning on using.