Factotum/Rogue/Swashbuckler/Swordsage? Too much?

[Murph]

I'm getting ready to play in my first game where we can use things beyond what's in the PHB and I may be going overboard in planning my character. I want an acrobatic character that is a bit of a skillmonkey, but a beast in combat with an int/dex focus. I'm thinking Factotum 3, Rogue 3, Swashbuckler 6, Swordsage 2, and then 6 more Swashbuckler. Thoughts on that build? I'm also looking for suggestions on alternate class features (trapfinding) and feats.
Obviously I'll want daring outlaw and I have some other ideas, but I'm kind of overwhelmed with feat possibilities.
Thanks!

[Cerefel]

What features do you want to get from those classes? If you want to streamline your build you should take a closer look at what features are necessary for your character concept.

[Rebel7284]

I assume using daring outlaw for more Sneak Attack?

I mean it works, but I feel you would get more mileage from going deeper into the TOB classes or factotum. Swashbuckler, even with sneak attack stapled onto it, is pretty lackluster class after level 3.

Something like Factotum 8/Warblade 12 is probably better. Two striker per round and stuff. :)

[Murph]

Well, I like Factotum because I want my character to be very knowledgeable, have access to low level arcane spells, and I like Brains over Brawn to boost my rogue skills. I like rogue because sneak attack and skills. I want sneak attack to be a main focus in combat for me. I think that swashbuckler would be my main class and the main flavor of my character at mid to high levels. Then I want to dip Swordsage for maybe three levels so I can get Assassin's stance for an extra 2D6 sneak attack dice, plus some other cool stances and manuevers, plus wisdom to my armor class. I'm not opposed to having four classes, if I can get the feats to work out to help me maximize my sneak attack and acrobatics.

[Murph]

I'll have to look more into warblades. I've just started looking into ToB and it's a lot to figure out.

[Pyromancer999]

Well, I like Factotum because I want my character to be very knowledgeable, have access to low level arcane spells, and I like Brains over Brawn to boost my rogue skills. I like rogue because sneak attack and skills. I want sneak attack to be a main focus in combat for me. I think that swashbuckler would be my main class and the main flavor of my character at mid to high levels. Then I want to dip Swordsage for maybe three levels so I can get Assassin's stance for an extra 2D6 sneak attack dice, plus some other cool stances and manuevers, plus wisdom to my armor class. I'm not opposed to having four classes, if I can get the feats to work out to help me maximize my sneak attack and acrobatics.

I don't know if you'd necessarily want to have Wisdom to AC, as it'd depend on if you intend on having a very good Wisdom score. However, you can always take the stance through feats, which would be easier with levels in Warblade, which syncs up well with Factotum given that Int does good things for the both of theme. Also, if you want a good source of damage to replace having less sneak attack with a Factotum/Warblade build, you can always have skill ranks in Iaijutsu Focus and a Gnomish Quickrazor to add damage. Still, Factotum does have the advantage of eventually being able to expend Inspiration to get Sneak Attack to a hit, although the amount depends on how much Inspiration you spend.

Either way, Warblade does a lot more for a combat build than Swashbuckler. Swashbuckler isn't too bad of a dip, but not that useful beyond level 3. If you do intend to keep keeping Sneak Attack from Rogue and have it play a major part in damage dealing, I'd recommend you take the Penetrative Strike ACF to keep yourself competent when facing Sneak Attack-Immune enemies.

Another note is that a dip into Chameleon 2 isn't bad, as it does allow you to get low-level spells from a focus(divine or arcane, you pick, up to 2nd level spells), and it does get you a flexible feat, if you wanted to do that. It's not a bad choice as you may want to be a Human or Changeling, and take Able Learner anyways so you can keep advancing whatever skills you like with your Warblade/other levels.

[Gildedragon]

So: if you're going rogue: it ought be at first level. And you ought trade trapfinding away (factotum gets it right back)
Believe it or not, rogue is the dip, factotum is the meat; work around factotum being boosted; for example taking feat rogue instead of standard rogue: get ewp or the like.
Swordsage: ask if kung-fu genius applies to swordsage, if so you will get int to AC as a constant bonus; which is something you really want. You want at least 2 levels, taken at a multiple of 4 level
Factotum you want at least 8 levels

[BilltheCynic]

So, you want to be a knowledgeable, acrobatic skillmonkey focused on sneak attacking and a dash of magic? As others have said, factotum can give you all of that. Since the magic and the skillmonkey aspects are already obvious in the class, I will instead go into detail about the sneak attack and knowledgeable parts.

For sneak attack, you may see that at 4th level Factotums get the ability to spend Inspiration to get sneak attack dice. Ignore this. It can be occasionally helpful, but you have better things to spend Inspiration on and a much better source of sneak attack. Factotums get every skill as a class skill. This includes obscure skills from non-core books, including one from Oriental Adventurers called Iaijutsu Focus. Basically, if you attack a flat-footed opponent immediately after drawing your weapon, you do bonus damage based on your Iaijutsu skill check. There is a weapon in Races of Stone called the Gnomish Quickrazor, which has the incredibly useful property to be drawn and sheathed as a free action, allowing you to draw your weapon after every strike. By combining the Quickrazor and Iaijutsu focus, you basically get sneak attack that you can boost further by spending an Inspiration point on Cunning Knowledge. For how to make opponents flat footed for IF, check this guide (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=8741.0). Unfortunately, it is an exotic weapon so you will need a feat to gain proficiency...unless you play as a gnome, who get to treat it as a martial weapon. For extra goodness, Races of Stone also features the Whisper Gnome, an absolutely amazing subrace that gets, among other things, 30 ft movement for a small race, +2 Dex and Con in exchange for -2 Str and Cha (neither super important stats for you), both low light vision and darkvision, +4 to Move Silently and +8 to Hide, and access to the feat Trivial Knowledge (more on that in the next section).

Next, making the know-it-all give tactical bonuses. Factotums are very Int focused and get a lot of skill points per level, so you can spend afford to spend several points on knowledge skills. There is a feat from Complete Champion called Knowledge Devotion, which gives a bonus on Attack and Damage rolls based on the knowledge check you make on a creature. Note that you can further boost that check with Cunning Knowledge. As a further bonus, there is a feat in Races of Stone called Trivial Knowledge that lets you roll all of your knowledge checks twice and take the better result. The only requirements are an Int of at least 13 (you're a factotum, you have that) and being a gnome, such as the wonderful whisper gnome listed above. Those two combined will turn your smarts into deadly combat ability.

For more on how to optimize the factotum, you can check the handbook here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?272130-Getting-the-Facts-Straight-A-Factotum-Handbook-(WIP-PEACH)).

If you're really committed to getting maneuvers, I would suggest dipping Swordsage at ECL 9 and 10. ToB classes have a wonky mechanic where every non-ToB class level counts as 1/2 a ToB class for your initiator level. This means that at 9th level you have access to 3rd level maneuvers, and at 10th you will get a 3rd level stance (the stance chosen at 1st level must be a 1st level stance, no matter your initiator level. I would suggest Child of Shadows or Hunter's Sense). This will give you access to a variety of useful abilities, including using your concentration on will saves, an attack that makes an enemy flat footted, and a constant +2d6 sneak attack damage. In addition, there's a feat from the same book called Shadow Blade that lets you apply Dex to damage when in a Shadow Hand stance (such as Assassin Stance) and using a Shadow Hand weapon. Unfortunately a Quickrazor is not a Shadow Hand weapon, but you should be able to get around this restriction by giving it the Adaptive Weapon enhancement from the same book. This should allow you to dump strength and focus almost solely on Dex and Int. Note that Weapon Finesse, though it works well for getting Dex to attack, also eats a precious feat slot. If you find yourself feat starved, consider instead making your Quickrazor feycraft, an option from the Dungeon Master's Guide II that lets you add Dex to attack when using that weapon. The second level of Swordsage also grants Into to AC, as the monk's class feature except it is also good in light armor. As Guigarci suggested, if you can convince your DM to let the Kung Fu Genius feat from Dragon Compendium apply to the Swordsage, you can get Int to AC, and if your DM is generous maybe even Int to your maneuver saves. For more on Swordsage optimization and good maneuvers, check this guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?259783-3-5-Swordsage-Handbook-This-one-ll-walk-the-whole-Way-WIP-PEACH).

[Troacctid]

Swashbuckler is just a generally awful class, so I'd strongly recommend against taking any levels of it.

[noce]

A player in my party is a swash/rogue/sage.
He's a human with 37 point buy, nonetheless he has 10 on str, wis and cha. And he has lots of problems picking skills he wants (although he has able learner).
Str, dex and int to damage, dex and wis to AC, int to skill points and factotum stuff, con for hitpoints, cha for sociale skills and UMD...you will need every stat, and having 10 to str or wis makes worthless having so many stats to damage or AC.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I second the notion of factotum 8/warblade X. Good with intelligence, good in combat. Don't forget that having 1 rank in a knowledge skill and 20+ int already makes you a pretty damn knowledgable person. You don't need to keep throwing in skill points. Incidentally, Knowledge Devotion might suit what you're looking for.

[Gildedragon]

If pathfinder is on the table
The kirin style line of feats are amazing (and dovetail with knowledge devotion perfectly)
I recommend getting them with a dip in Master of Many Styles + Sohei Monk (and the kung-fu genius feat) so you can get strike and path asap