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Tonic
2007-10-15, 03:33 AM
Hi,
I´m planning to play a halfling Swordsage in my next round. I want him to be a more rogue like char, with 2 daggers. Here is what I have planned so far:

race: strongheart halfling for bonus feat

stats:
12 Str
19 Dex
14 Con
10 Int
17 Wis
8 Cha

1. Shadow Hand, Adoptive Style
3. Weapon Finesse
4. twf

maneuvers so far (I´m starting at lvl 2):
Burning Blades (can I use this with the 2 attacks of Wolf Fang Strike?)
Wind Stride
Counter Charge
Mighty Throw (do i get a size penalty like for normal tripping?)
Shadow Blade Technique
Sudden Leap
Wolf Fang Strike
Stances: Island of Blades and Step of the Wind

We are playing the Freeport triology, so I´m planning to use mainly Shadow Hand, Setting Sun and Tiger Claw.
At the moment I´m thinking about multiclassing with 1 lvl in Swashbuckler or dropping Adaptive Style in favour of twf at lvl 1. I´m going to be the main Fighter (I know, Swordsage isn´t the best for this, but I really want to play one) and the rogue. Is it worth dropping Adoptive Style to get twf earlier?
Is my choice of maneuvers ok or are there better ones I missed?

kamikasei
2007-10-15, 04:08 AM
How were the stats obtained, rolling? (That is, can they be rejiggered or just moved around?)

The obvious problem I see with this scheme is your attempt to fill a rogue's role. If you're actually trying to be both frontline fighter and rogue as they fit in to a standard four-person party, you'll need some way to get trapfinding and roguish skills like Open Lock and Disable Device. The fact that swordsages don't gain any non-skill benefit from a high intelligence also works against you.

I would almost be tempted to suggest going Warblade instead. Something like Factotum 1/Warblade X would give you the needed skills and good int synergy. It would move your role more towards a fighter with a side order of rogue abilities when they're needed, but with Diamond Mind and Tiger Claw maneuvers you could have something close to your initial idea.

If it's really a swordsage you want to play, you'll probably need to find some other way to fill the rogue's role. Straight swordsage as a melee'er would be a good deal more workable.

KIDS
2007-10-15, 04:14 AM
Hi,

it's a completely solid build though you might want to take into account some things that you wisely asked about:

I think that unless you're going for a lot of Swashbuckler levels with daring outlaw (which Freeport won't last you anyway), you would be better off with 3rd level of Weapon Finesse and Swordsage. The second level maneuver is good anyway, it's better scaling whatever you choose. (Rabid Wolf Strike might be good)

For your other side, Adaptive Style at that level is not extraordinary, but it's fine. I don't think battles in that adventure have many BBEGs or single tough creatures, mostly swarms of weaker cultists. You should do just fine as a melee but as far as I know, size penalties do apply to your "throw" maneuvers and you can't trip (throw) someone two size categories larger than you. But Freeport as I said isn't agressive with large creatures, you should be fine.

All in all I think you made solid choices so far and unless you expect something seriously deadly or your mates are optimizing much more than you, you should do just fine and be happy. Have fun with Freeport!

p.s. as a Swordsage, TWF is not needed to come in early. At low levels, Wolf Fang strike supports that aspect, you don't have full-attack bonus damage source anyway, so it might be better as 6th lvl feat.

Reel On, Love
2007-10-15, 04:44 AM
If you are taking levels in something else, I recommend levels 2 and 3 as Psychic Warrior. PsyWar gets you a bonus feat, and Psionic Focus, which you can expend to take 15 on Diamond Mind maneuvers

If you are the Rogue, you might want to be a human and take Able Learner. Rogue 1/Psychic Warrior 1/Swordsage X.

As a straight Swordsage, you can put TWF off--use Strikes until you get it.

Are you starting at level 1?

Dode
2007-10-15, 05:02 AM
Before I chime in with any advice, I have to ask - what exactly do you mean by "rogue-like char"? Do you mean just going for a lightly-armored, extremely agile combatant like a typical rogue, or like a rogue that detects traps and has lots of skills, and fulfills the actual Rogue "role" of the party.

One is achievable with Swordsage, one isn't.

Reel On, Love
2007-10-15, 05:04 AM
Before I chime in with any advice, I have to ask - what exactly do you mean by "rogue-like char"? Do you mean just going for a lightly-armored, extremely agile combatant like a typical rogue, or like a rogue that detects traps and has lots of skills, and fulfills the actual Rogue "role" of the party.

One is achievable with Swordsage, one isn't.

Human Swordsage taking a Rogue level and Able Learner = trapfinding roguey Swordsage.

Dode
2007-10-15, 05:06 AM
I stand corrected.

Tonic
2007-10-15, 05:08 AM
Thx for the replies.
@kamikasei
yes, they are rolled. Maybe I wasn´t really clear. I meant that I´m going to make a more stealthy char. We have a Factotum in the party, so he will be the trapfinder. I´m the one who sneaks around and scouts the area (high move silently, hide and listen skills).
@KIDS
The other players are not really optimizing ;D (human straight Factotum, human fighter(archer) and human swashbuckler/rogue), so I think i´ll stick to the original plan and take twf at lvl 6.
@Reel On, Love
I´d rather take just swordsage instead of PsyWar for ingame reasons, altough the psionic focus/diamond mind trick is quite useful. And i prefer using a halfling (just for style). I´m starting at lvl 2.

kamikasei
2007-10-15, 05:17 AM
Ah okay, well then a sneaky Swordsage is perfectly achievable and I'll defer to those who know the ToB better than I.

GeneralTacticus
2007-10-15, 05:42 AM
If you're going for stealth, you might want to consider dropping something like Shadow Blade Technique or Wind Stride (or both) in favour of Cloak of Deception and Shadow Jaunt. The former synergises scarily well with Assassin's Stance (which you can get at 6th - what level are you starting, anyway?) and Wilf Fang Strike; the latter is very handy for moving about undetected.

And yes, Burning Blade applies to all your attacks for that round, so it does apply to Wolf Fang strike. Once you start getting the Tiger Claw boosts that give you extra attacks for each weapon, that particular combo becomes truly horrifying. You'd almost certainly want to put your level 4 Discipline Focus into Tiger Claw, in that case, since the Wis-to-damage bonus will be stacking for every attack you make with those strikes.