Need a gestalt build idea!

[Jeriah]

Allowed Content: All 3.5 material, all 3.0 if there's not a 3.5 update to it, all WotC Web Enhancement content. No Dragon Magazine is allowed except for the Dragon Compendium, no Pathfinder (although I am combining Spot/Listen/Search into Perception (Wis), Hide/Move Silently into Stealth (Dex), and Balance/Climb/Jump/Tumble into Acrobatics (Dex)), and no 3rd party material (including the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, I'm counting that as 3rd party.) No Homebrew, no class fixes, no nothing. It's got to be in a book (or the official site).

So, that's my source list. Basically, everything is permitted, except psionics. No psionics. Also, cannot be Evil.
Additionally, spellcasting classes do not gain spellcasting but do gain all other class features. Non-full casters gain class related and/or Fighter bonus feats at 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th levels.

The build is required to be Anything // Arcane Swordsage 20. No PrCs or multiclassing on the Swordsage side.

So, please, give me some interesting ideas.

[Nifft]

How does your Arcane Swordsage work exactly?

- - -

Generic nice Swordsage mix: Totemist, Incarnate, Binder, Wildshape Ranger / Master of Many Forms / Warshaper

[nolongerchaos]

I happen to know that campaign. Some ideas I've had:

The particular mechanics used by the Arcane Swordsage in question might solidly prop up/help spread out the class abilities of a usually sub-par class (Shadowcaster from ToM might be a good candidate, but I haven't looked into that particular class much in relation to the Swordsage)
You could also pick a random/odd PrC to shoot for that's normally not exactly optimal since the Swordsage will be keeping you mostly relevant (something like Fleshwarper from LoM)
You could likewise chose a PrC with an interesting gimmick whose use is expanded by the Swordsage. (I was looking at the Telflammar Shadowlord)
Finally, you could pick an odd race and try something peculiar with it (D'vati Devoted Defenders for instance)

[Jeriah]

How does your Arcane Swordsage work exactly?Spells are known and readied as maneuvers but still cast as arcane spells. Choose a spell list to learn spells from.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Are unusual races on the table? I am always a fan of Astral deva& which will boost your BAB and skills a bit and give you SLAS to go with your swordsage spells.

[Red Fel]

Ignoring for a moment the fact that Arcane Swordsage has some big problems, not the least of which is the fact that if you replace maneuvers with spells then the Discipline Focus and Dual Boost class features cease to function, robbing you of a substantial portion of your actual class features, I have a suggestion.

Warblade.

Warblade, I say? Warblade, I say indeed. Let's review. If you give up Swordsage maneuvers for spells, Warblade still gives you maneuvers, along with a superior recovery mechanic. Given that your Arcane Swordsage can use a feat to recover all of his readied spells in a full round, you'll probably use Warblade's maneuvers for counters, boosts and stances, which is fine. Plus, if you decide to cast spells as a Wizard, you're casting from Int, which synergizes nicely with Warblade's abilities. Warblade//Swordsage also has a thoroughly well-rounded chassis - full BAB, all good saves, d12 hit dice, proficiency with all simple and martial melee weapons, light and medium armor, and non-tower shields.

Using another initiator class makes Swordsage's Discipline Focus and Dual Boost abilities suddenly functional again, because nothing says they need to apply only to maneuvers you learn from the Swordsage class. Discipline Focus is limited to the six Swordsage disciplines, but it's worth noting that three of them - Diamond Mind, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw - are also on the Warblade list, and can therefore apply to those maneuvers learned from Warblade levels. If you hit 20, Dual Boost applies to any boost, not just Swordsage boosts, so Warblade makes that work. Further, Warblade's capstone lets you dual-stance, which means you can use one of your Swordsage stances (which are not replaced by spells) alongside one of your Warblade stances. (Can you say Assassin's Stance + Punishing Stance? Can you say +3d6 damage per hit?)

Further, combining the two really opens up your options. Want to be martially-oriented with some blasting? Stormguard Warrior it up. Want to be blasting-oriented with some defensive options? That's what Warblade's solid chassis is for.

[Jeriah]

Are unusual races on the table? I am always a fan of Astral deva& which will boost your BAB and skills a bit and give you SLAS to go with your swordsage spells.Yes, but that's a bit too much RHD/LA. We're not starting at a high enough level.


Ignoring for a moment the fact that Arcane Swordsage has some big problems, not the least of which is the fact that if you replace maneuvers with spells then the Discipline Focus and Dual Boost class features cease to function, robbing you of a substantial portion of your actual class features, I have a suggestion.

Warblade.

Warblade, I say? Warblade, I say indeed. Let's review. If you give up Swordsage maneuvers for spells, Warblade still gives you maneuvers, along with a superior recovery mechanic. Given that your Arcane Swordsage can use a feat to recover all of his readied spells in a full round, you'll probably use Warblade's maneuvers for counters, boosts and stances, which is fine. Plus, if you decide to cast spells as a Wizard, you're casting from Int, which synergizes nicely with Warblade's abilities. Warblade//Swordsage also has a thoroughly well-rounded chassis - full BAB, all good saves, d12 hit dice, proficiency with all simple and martial melee weapons, light and medium armor, and non-tower shields.

Using another initiator class makes Swordsage's Discipline Focus and Dual Boost abilities suddenly functional again, because nothing says they need to apply only to maneuvers you learn from the Swordsage class. Discipline Focus is limited to the six Swordsage disciplines, but it's worth noting that three of them - Diamond Mind, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw - are also on the Warblade list, and can therefore apply to those maneuvers learned from Warblade levels. If you hit 20, Dual Boost applies to any boost, not just Swordsage boosts, so Warblade makes that work. Further, Warblade's capstone lets you dual-stance, which means you can use one of your Swordsage stances (which are not replaced by spells) alongside one of your Warblade stances. (Can you say Assassin's Stance + Punishing Stance? Can you say +3d6 damage per hit?)

Further, combining the two really opens up your options. Want to be martially-oriented with some blasting? Stormguard Warrior it up. Want to be blasting-oriented with some defensive options? That's what Warblade's solid chassis is for.That's not a bad idea. I might look into that.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Yes, but that's a bit too much RHD/LA. We're not starting at a high enough level.

Savage Species has a racial class for it. You would need to update it to 3.5 (easily done) and it will be good to go.

[Jeriah]

Savage Species has a racial class for it. You would need to update it to 3.5 (easily done) and it will be good to go.

Hmm... I'll definitely look into that. That could be very interesting.

[kestrel404]

I'd say it depends strongly on what you want to do with the character.

Supreme Battle Mage?
A reasonable goal for the Arcane Swordsage. After all, they're better at the 'unlimited blastyness' of the Warlock than a fully optimized warlock. Because of this, you'll want two things from the other side of your build:
Physical staying power and ridiculously good initiative. This will be more of a charisma build, but worth it I think.
Warforged race. Crusader 2+, Marshal 2+, Fighter 2+ (with warforged fighter ACF for level 1, maybe level 2), Iaijutsu Master 10
2-level dips of Paladin variants, bard, or other Charisma-based classes to taste. At a minimum, you should have an initiative of +5 (dex, with Mithril Body feat) +4 (improved init) +3 (untyped, from fighter ACF L1), +charisma (Marshal, applies to whole party) +charisma (iaijutsu master). That's a bare minimum, and does not include the surprise-attack (may be a combat maneuver!) you get for free (as a surprise round action, from Iaijutsu Master 10) at the beginning of many combats. That one is especially amusing when combined with White-Raven abilities gained from Crusader (Surprise-round charge!)

Everything (wo)Man?
The other side of the coin is to be a generalist and skillmonkey - only better. In this case, you want to start off with Factotum levels, the Chameleon prestige class from RoD later, and possibly with Human Racial Paragon on top. This gives you truly limitless variety day-to-day on top of the really useful utility-spells you'll be able to at-will as an arcane swordsage.

Or, my personal favorite:
Wuxia Xiowdown (Pronounced Woo-zee-ah showdown). This is the classic example of everything that the 'fighers can't have nice things, and ToB is just anime' crowd thinks is thematically awful. Played completely straight. If you've seen 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' or even 'Shaolin Soccer', then you know what I'm talking about.
In this case, you want every completely wacky, inexplicable, and normally-useless ability you can concieve of in a build. All crammed on top of each other, and synergising. The point is not optimization, though. The point is to pull off a move like 'The Buddha's Hand', in which you jump two stories into the sky, cast 'Bigbys interposing hand' mid-jump, and then crush someone to death when you land on them. Or 'Leaden Raindrops Dance-Off Technique', where you call up an enormous storm, use ridiculously high balance/jump checks and the ability to walk on water to simulate the effects of a flight spell, while simultaneously cancelling all other flight abilities in the area.

For the best combination of 'what is this I don't even' and 'the magical ninja force is strong in this one', I recommend the Psychich-Warrior/Tashalatora Monk combo (this combos well with the high-wis you'd normally want anyway), with dips in Binder (for versatility), Totemist/Incarnate (for completely off-the-wall one-off powers) and/or Warblade for its refresh & to get some actual maneuvers. If you can use multiple progression prestige classes in your build (normally a no-no in Gestalt) then I highly recommend the Soul Manifester (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a) and maybe even Master of the Nine.