Master escape artist

[Drogorn]

This idea intrigued me. How would one go about creating such a character?

An ultimate escape artist. Not just handing you shackles back a second after being locked and walking out of jail without an effort. The kind of guy, that could be bound, gagged, sealed in a airtight adamantine vault in a deadmagic zone and still escape. I'd probably try to think up some contingent plans of escaping Imprisonment (if it's remotly possible to do on ones own) or any kind of afterlife.

I didn't spend quite enough time to do any build, that would live up to the concept, so the idea sits there and waits.

[casper]

Scout 18 is the easiest way, i think. Extraordinary freedom of movement :-)

[nedz]

or

Cleric - Travel Domain

or

Still Spell / Silent Spell / Freedom of Movement

[casper]

or

Cleric - Travel Domain

or

Still Spell / Silent Spell / Freedom of Movement

Would be problematic in dead magic zones and nonpermanent/dispellable (yeah, I know, that there is Cheater of Mystra )

[Radar]

It's nice to see ones idea being brought to life (hopefuly).
*goes on an ego stroll*

First thing to do is to categorise general methods of escaping:
1. Through incredible skills and dexterity.
Well Escape Artist skill is kind of a given, but Sleight of Hand and Disable Device might be of use. Being stealthy would be a nice perk as well. Brute force might be a substitute, but punching through
2. Through great personal charisma.
In many situation diplomacy or bluff is the most powerful tool to have.
3. Through magic.
There are potentially spells for everything, but in some situations one is unable to cast them (Antimagic Field, deadmagic zones and the like). Thus it would be best to achieve as much as possible without magic and circumvent all magic denial systems: class without a spellbook, Eschew Materials, Still and Silent Spell, maybe the fabled Initiate of Mystra the problem being, clerics need their holy symbol to cast spells - it would solve almost every problem tough (pumping caster level is not as hard and it doesn't have to be that high).
4. Through fancy equipment.
The most unreliable one, since the first thing your captors would do, would be to relieve you from your more or less valuable items. There is there somewhere a feat or something (can't remember), that allows you to store things in you stomach. Fantasy settings normaly don't involve X-rays, so there is a chance of getting away with it. Later on there are Instant Summons - if only it didn't require you to crush a precious gem to retrieve your item (you have to have an item, to get an item, so yeah).

Next would be to make a list of obstacles, that have to be overcome and list requirements to solve a given problem (in most cases more then one).

Finally finding out how much can be fit in just one character and which things to choose, to cover all bases (if it's possible).

[Person_Man]

Hengeyokai (Oriental Adventures) can change into a Fine sized sparrow. So unless you're completely surrounded by Walls of Force (which would suffocate you), you should be able to escape from pretty much any mundane prison or bonds.

The Acrobat Boots soulmeld also gives you a 2 + 2*essentia invested Insight Bonus to Escape Artist. Marshal can add your Cha bonus. Factotum can add your Int bonus.

I'm sure there's an optimizer's challenge thread somewhere that gets it up to 120 somehow, high enough to slip through a Wall of Force. Maybe through the use of nanobots (cast Animate Object several times on sticks of butter, then have each of them use Aid Another to help on your Skill Check).

[Lord of Syntax]

PROTIP: If you are a cleric, take "Worldly Symbol" from Eberron.

[Glimbur]

I would think a Factotum could be good at this. Lots of skill points, Int to dex based skills (like Escape Artist), some magical abilities...

[Ormur]

An unarmed VoP swordsage with mountainhammer would be able to punch himself out of any cell. ToB states you need to be able to move though so it's up to interpretation if he could punch the shackles of his hands. Boosting strength or just escape artist (able learner to make it a class skill perhaps) would remove those limitation unambiguously and there is nothing static that can hold in a swordsage that doesn't even need to eat or drink and can pulverize walls with his bare fists safe for walls of force.

I'm not saying VoP is good but it frees you from any equipment considerations which is useful if you're captured.

[Darrin]

I did fiddle around with my Lightning Thief build to see if I could rework it and hit a DC 120 Escape Artist check (this is the DC to slip through a Wall of Force). It does work around ECL 15ish, although it requires several magic items. I'm not sure if I kept my notes, though.

[Radar]

PROTIP: If you are a cleric, take "Worldly Symbol" from Eberron.

It would come in conflict with the Initiate of Mystra tough, since both feats require a specific deity/pantheon. If there is a possibility to get around that, then it would be golden.

@Ormur
Good one. This idea seems to deal with any kind of mundane entrapment and VoP might be of use for this character (i don't have the book, so i don't know exactly, what exalted feats are good for, but there sure is something there), since he can't rely on equipment anyway. Still i don't think, it would be possible, to get Escape Artist check up to 120 without magic and there is a problem of being imprisoned on some remote demiplane. Would it be possible for a cleric to grab mountainhammer through martial study?

@Darrin
Nearly forgot about that build - gives a new meaning to a phrase "waltzing in". Difference here would be, that stacking one-time bonuses will be just fine, so spells (some of the better ones were mentioned in your thread) might make up for the lack of items.

@Glimbur
Factotum is very flexible, but epic skill DCs might be out of reach without excessive use of magic. It is still a good 3 lvl dip.