[3.5] Static damage sneak attacking with a minor in crit-fishing

[Pechvarry]

I thought this would be a fun build, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Initial thoughts run something like:

Rogue 1/ Warblade 7+ With Craven and Tactics of the Wolf (half IL to damage while flanking for you and allies).

That doesn't seem all that impressive, though. Would be awesome if he were running a different stance (say Island of Blades) and had a Crusader/Marshal ally running Tactics of the Wolf + Master of Tactics minor aura.

I can't really get both on the same character, as that's an INT and CHA focus on a melee character.

TWF line seems like a must, so I suppose pouncebarian is inevitable. Perhaps he should continue with it to 7 for the Streetfighter replacement, gaining +1 crit range while charging or against flat-footed foes.

Any ideas where to go from here?

[Last Laugh]

Consider Sneak attack variant fighter for full BA. you lose out on tasty skills.
Alternatively binder 1 with improved bind vestige would give you access to Malphas who has 1d6 sudden strike (does SS qualify for craven?) as well as several nice scouty abilities. (you can summon a dove to gather info, gain poison use, and can become invisible for 1 whole round as a full round action (OMG!))


But then you'd miss out on all those tasty skills.

[randomhero00]

Your title confuses me. Perhaps if you explain that better I may be able to give some worthwhile advice.

Are you suggesting a sneak attack variant where its static damage instead of D6s? I think that'd be cool personally. Basically +3 damage instead of d6. Would make rolling all those pesky dice easier.

[CodeRed]

Your title confuses me. Perhaps if you explain that better I may be able to give some worthwhile advice.

Are you suggesting a sneak attack variant where its static damage instead of D6s? I think that'd be cool personally. Basically +3 damage instead of d6. Would make rolling all those pesky dice easier.

He wants to build a character using Craven to abuse the +1 dmg per character level part on Sneak Attack with that feat. Those don't have to be Rogue levels and with only one SA dice its still 1d6+20.

If your using ToB I would go Swordsage honestly. Shadow Hand is already a Pseudo-rogue discipline and with Assassin's Stance you can pick up Craven even without a single rogue level because of it granting +2d6 SA dice.

[Pechvarry]

Not just Craven, I'm looking for things that add static amounts of damage to flanked/flat-footed foes. The drow fighter hit-and-run dex-to-damage-when-flat-footed is also worthy of note, though I'd rather rely on flanking.

Assassin's stance is fun and all, but ultimately detrimental to the build. 7 average damage that doesn't get multiplied instead of 9-10 damage from Tactics of the Wolf stance (which also applies to allies' attacks!) Though said stance also encourages me to stay Warblade forever.

It occurs to me that straight Warblade 20 with martial study/martial stance could use assassin's stance to qualify for craven, have a full 20 IL for tactics of the wolf, and dual stance class feature to run both full time.

Hum.

EDIT: also, yes, sudden strike and skirmish qualify for sneak attack, according to CAdv.

[Eldariel]

I'd definitely dip/feat for Distracting Ember; you need a way to guarantee Flank and that is it.

[Curmudgeon]

Adding static damage (to all foes, not just the flat-footed ones) is easily accomplished with Knowledge Devotion (from Complete Champion), the 6 creature-related Knowledge skills, and a decent number of skill points. (Warblade lets you down here.) Best bet is a dip into Cloistered Cleric, which will give you the Knowledge domain and allow you to convert it (or Inquisition) to Knowledge Devotion; see Complete Champion on page 53. Basically you roll a Knowledge check when you see a creature, and add at least +1 (maximum +5) to both attack and damage vs. all such creatures.

[Cadian 9th]

I thought this would be a fun build, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Initial thoughts run something like:

Rogue 1/ Warblade 7+ With Craven and Tactics of the Wolf (half IL to damage while flanking for you and allies).

That doesn't seem all that impressive, though. Would be awesome if he were running a different stance (say Island of Blades) and had a Crusader/Marshal ally running Tactics of the Wolf + Master of Tactics minor aura.

I can't really get both on the same character, as that's an INT and CHA focus on a melee character.

TWF line seems like a must, so I suppose pouncebarian is inevitable. Perhaps he should continue with it to 7 for the Streetfighter replacement, gaining +1 crit range while charging or against flat-footed foes.

Any ideas where to go from here?

For starters, try for a mount (animal companion/wild cohort), give it Martial Stance (Island of Blades), then enjoy your constant flanking. With your focus on flanking, I'd say stay out of Tactics of the Wolf and instead go for Leading the Charge or Assasins stance, simply due to the fact you'll get more out of those stances.

For a fun thing, go for a single level of Wolf Totem Barbarian, and another level of Cleric with the madness domain, pick up Frantic Rage and Ferocity, for +8 dex while raging, pick Shadow Blade and weapon finesse, and feel the power. A level of Sneak Attack Hit and Run fighter, as you said, would do the job of the rogue, and give you extra benefit from using stuff like Saphire Nightmare blade.

If you want to focus more on intelligence, a 3 level taking of Duskblade with poison spell, and that Poison helping ambush feat (increase Virulence, IIRC), coupled with a Warmage or Factotum, would help you get plenty more damage across while mounted in addition to putting status effects on enemies. It's worth noting that spellstoring cares not wether you've hit them with a maneuver or whatever.

Enough from me.

[Pechvarry]

Adding static damage (to all foes, not just the flat-footed ones) is easily accomplished with Knowledge Devotion (from Complete Champion), the 6 creature-related Knowledge skills, and a decent number of skill points. (Warblade lets you down here.) Best bet is a dip into Cloistered Cleric, which will give you the Knowledge domain and allow you to convert it (or Inquisition) to Knowledge Devotion; see Complete Champion on page 53. Basically you roll a Knowledge check when you see a creature, and add at least +1 (maximum +5) to both attack and damage vs. all such creatures.

While the attack bonus of Knowledge Devotion would work, it is, regrettably, an Insight bonus and thus the damage portion doesn't stack with the Warblade class feature.

If I'm remembering right, Hit-and-Run fighter replaces armor proficiencies and doesn't touch the bonus feats. I assume this means I could take level 1 Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter and get double goodies.

[Swooper]

I'm currently playing a rogue1/factotum5/warblade5 who's combat shthick is similar to what you're going for, though different in some ways. I basically scrape small bits of damage from all over, which stacks up to surprising amounts. You may want to use some of them, maybe.

Keen Falchion (15-20/x2), Craven and Telling Blow give me 1d6+11 SA damage when I crit (1d6+22 because the Craven damage gets multiplied). I can spend an IP to add my int (which is +5) to the damage roll, and/or to add another +1d6 to the sneak attack damage. Iaijutsu Focus is maxed out, so I can usually add 3-5d6 when I catch an opponent flatfooted with my blade sheathed, which isn't that uncommon with my high initiative modifier as well as the Sapphire Nightmare Blade (which also adds 1d6 damage) + Quick Draw combo. Another 1d6 from Punishing Stance. My int again to damage if I'm flanking thanks to the warblade class feature. On top of all this, there's of course Power Attack. All in all, I can situationally pull off amazing damage, and because it's from so many sources I'm not useless if some of it doesn't apply.