Knife Nut [3.5/Pathfinder]

[AtopTheMountain]

I was thinking of character ideas, and I fell upon the classic concept of a knife fighter. I've never actually played one before, so I could use some help in building it. I'm thinking a dual-wielding meleer with light armor who can do decent damage and hits often, would be nice.

Things to consider:

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Race: I'm thinking either Human or Halfling. Human gets a bonus feat and one ability score bonus (probably Dex), while Halfling gets an attack and AC bonus, as well as Dex and Cha.
Class: Either Fighter or Rogue, probably. Fighter gets bonus feats and high BAB, but Rogue gets Sneak Attack. Are there better options? Maybe a multiclass Rogue/Fighter could work?
Prestige Class?: Not sure yet if I even want to take one, but I believe there was a dagger-themed PrC in Complete Warrior. Invisible Blade looks pretty good, other than the requirements.
Feats: Weapon Finesse is a must. If I go Fighter, I'll probably do the Weapon Focus/Specialization feat tree.

[arguskos]

Prestige classes: You NEED to take Invisible Blade, from Complete Warrior. It's exactly what you're looking for. For an average, mid-power, game, it's just perfect.

[herrhauptmann]

Applies only to a 3.5 game (I haven't read pathfinder)
Strong heart halfling from FRCS. Bonus feat and boost to dex. :)

PrC: Invisible blade as stated.
There's another based around knife throwing...
If you decide you want some casting, daggerspell mage/shaper are there for you.

[Eldrys]

There's another based around knife throwing...

Master Thrower (Complete Warrior)

[gorfnab]

Applies only to a 3.5 game (I haven't read pathfinder)
Strong heart halfling from FRCS. Bonus feat and boost to dex. :)

Strongheart Halflings qualify for Whisperknife prestige class from Races of the Wild which has some uses with dagger throwing builds.

[BobVosh]

Inquisitor is great for TWF/archery. Bane/Greater Bane of your choice, judgements, and a few other bonuses for damage. Also the way smite works now, it is also great for TWF/Archery. Paladin ends up being far more MAD though.

[AtopTheMountain]

The problem with Invisible Blade is that I'll pretty much only be doing melee, and so I have to waste two feats on Point Blank Shot and Far Shot. Other than that, it looks really solid. I'm not really interested in throwing weapons.

I was looking at Daggerspell Mage and thought it seemed interesting, but I want just a straight-up knife fighter.

Actually, I'm still not even sure if my DM will let me use 3.5 material. Any suggestions for a Pathfinder-only game, just in case?

Oh yeah, and it happens to be set in Forgotten Realms. I'm pretty sure we can use that book.

[Cicciograna]

I'd go with Swordsage focusing on Tiger Claw and Shadow Hand, with a sprinkle of Rogue for the Sneak Attack. Maybe wielding kukris.

[Noodles2375]

Depending on whether you want to be built for sneakiness or head to head combat:

I would try something like straight warblade emphasis on diamond mind and tiger claw. Maybe a tiny iron heart dip to pick up Iron Heart Surge. There are so many cool dual wielding powers in the Tiger Claw school. Also, there is a bloodclaw master prestige class that you could slip into also. You'll lose some BAB and not get the ultimate ability of dual stances but it is something to consider.

[AtopTheMountain]

Okay, so I just found out that the only 3.5 books allowed are the Forgotten Realms campaign setting books, and not even all of them. So I have a change of concept/plans: I'm going Paladin, with dual-wielded kukris. HUGE damage bonuses from Smite Evil, and I'll crit on a 15-20 when I start taking the Crit feats. It's kind of MAD, I know, since I need to build up Dex as well as Str, Con, and Cha, but I think it's worth it. Plus, I was originally going to do a Pally anyway when I thought of a knife fighter, so it's a bonus.

[Harperfan7]

Two Weapon Fighting Halfling Pathfinder Rogue 20.

You'll have more than enough feats/combat tricks to cover it. Take the rogue special abilities that make your attacks better. By 20th you'll be able to do like 8-9 attacks per round, all with sneak attack and miscellaneous bonuses. If you use daggers, you can even throw them if necessary. At 20th, each one will have at least a 1 in 20 chance of killing any opponent who isn't immune to sneak attacks.