PRC for a rogue skill-abuser

**Tyndmyr** · 2009-08-28, 08:08 AM (ISO 8601)

Got a L3 rogue buddy who wants to find a good prestige class for being the party skillbot. Mind you, he's already pretty skilled up, being a rogue with high int, and blowing at least one feat on skill specialization.

As I know next to nothing about rogue PRCs, figured I'd ask you all. Party is rogue, rogue, wizard, monk if it matters. Traps are extremely frequent in this campaign.

**Douglas** · 2009-08-28, 08:27 AM (ISO 8601)

Exemplar from Complete Adventurer is a pretty good skill focused class as I recall.

**Eldariel** · 2009-08-28, 09:31 AM (ISO 8601)

Really, I find Rogue works best as straight Rogue when monkeying. Shoot for Skill Mastery on 10, eat those tasty skill points and go to town. Exemplar is slightly better in skills, but loses Sneak Attack entirely and gets a worse version of Skill Mastery so I'd at most dip it afterwards for second Skill Mastery-set, and keep progressing Rogue then (this is no problem since Rogue 20 is a useless level anyways so you don't give up much of your Rogue-progression).

**Human Paragon 3** · 2009-08-28, 09:49 AM (ISO 8601)

Exemplar is pretty kick-ass in the skill department, but you can't enter it until 10. If you don't care about sneak attack as much, Thief Acrobat, also in Complete Adventurer is really skilled-out in terms of athletics skills and Spymaster, also Complete Adventurer, is pretty tricked-out for personal interaction skills. Each also offers a few little tricks that it's hard to find elsewhere.

**Curmudgeon** · 2009-08-28, 10:08 AM (ISO 8601)

Actually, the best boost for making skill checks comes not from a PrC, but from a dip into Cloistered Cleric. While it drops skill points for the level by 2, it also adds the Knowledge domain, which makes all Knowledge skills class skills. And it gives 0- and 1st-level Cleric spells, including Guidance for +1 to any skill check. If you stick with CC for 3 levels you get the 2nd level Guidance of the Avatar for +20 to any single check.

**paddyfool** · 2009-08-28, 10:18 AM (ISO 8601)

I'm not sure about dipping into casters - getting access to spells is what UMD is for. A wand of Guidance of the Avatar could be fun to have, though.

**PinkysBrain** · 2009-08-28, 10:23 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by paddyfool

I'm not sure about dipping into casters - getting access to spells is what UMD is for. A wand of Guidance of the Avatar could be fun to have, though.

That's 3.0 isn't it? I think Divine Insight is it's defacto replacement.

A couple of high caster level wands of Divine Insight and Improvisation can give you ridiculous skill bonuses.

**Curmudgeon** · 2009-08-28, 10:40 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by PinkysBrain

That's 3.0 isn't it? I think Divine Insight is it's defacto replacement.

No, Guidance of the Avatar is part of the online "Spellbook Archive". And there's no such thing as a de facto replacement. It either has to have the same name, or a statement that it's intended to be a replacement. There's nothing like that for Guidance of the Avatar and Divine Insight.

**Tyndmyr** · 2009-08-28, 01:40 PM (ISO 8601)

Right, with casting elsewhere in the party, and maxed UMD, there's little need for him to dip for casting proficiency. In terms of sheer volume of skill points, it's hard to actually beat rogue...and the same is true of volume of class skill. Skill Focus/Mastery is definitely useful, but limited to one skill IIRC, and feat slots are limited.

Perhaps I should clarify the question a bit...are there any good ways to boost skill points and increase class skills in general? Obviously, you could get a little in a lot of skills by dipping repeatedly, but that'd be detrimental to the overall amount of skill points gained.

**woodenbandman** · 2009-08-28, 02:21 PM (ISO 8601)

3 level detour into Factotum to add his INT to his Strength and Dex based skill checks.

Or just go for the remaining 17 levels and bada bing, bada boom.

**Fax Celestis** · 2009-08-28, 02:27 PM (ISO 8601)

Recommendation:

Rogue 6/Cloistered Cleric (from Unearthed Arcana) 1/Uncanny Trickster (from Complete Scoundrel; advance your Cleric Casting) 3/Exemplar 10. You can move up to two of those Rogue levels to after Uncanny Trickster, I think. If you can, I'd recommend it.

**Draz74** · 2009-08-28, 04:10 PM (ISO 8601)

It's not technically a PrC, and I have no idea whether your campaign uses Incarnum, but:

Rogue/Incarnate is a better skill monkey than pure Rogue. Don't let the Incarnate's 2+INT skill points fool you.

**Gralamin** · 2009-08-28, 04:35 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Draz74

It's not technically a PrC, and I have no idea whether your campaign uses Incarnum, but:

Rogue/Incarnate is a better skill monkey than pure Rogue. Don't let the Incarnate's 2+INT skill points fool you.

Most people shouldn't let anything about the Incarnate fool them. Incarnum is powerful stuff.

Thread: PRC for a rogue skill-abuser

Thread Tools

Spoilers