A way to get 0 fighting penalties with light weapons?!

[Svethnika]

I got my hands on a copy of the ultimate prestige classes, volume 1 and on page 17 is a prestige called the Buccaneer. This little class has full attack bonus, good fort saves and good ref saves. The first level has something that gives a climbing bonus when on ships, but what has my attention is the second level with a class ability called "up close and personal". I hope I can quote this without causing a raucus but this should mean in conjunction with the two weapon fighting feat you could remove the entire two weapons penalty to attacks right?
"Buccanneers..... When fighting with two small size weapons, the penalties for fighting with two weapons is reduced by a further -2 as soon as the buccaneer achieves 2nd level." Presumably "small size weapons" means light right? Or does it mean... weapons for gnomes? If it means light this is a really awsome prestige two level dip for a piratey two weapon fighter :P

[the_tick_rules]

for only 2 levels that is a very good ability, i'll wait for the rest to say how twf still sucks.

[Quietus]

"Small size weapons" generally means the class was designed for 3.0; If I'm not mistaken, however, for a medium sized character, a small sized weapon translates to light weapons.

You can also check out Tempest, I believe it was, which also has an ability similar to this.

[the_tick_rules]

yeah, the tempest is a 5 level class, at 2 and 4 your twf penalties go down by 1 regardless of what your using, but since that wouldn't stack taking both would be a bad idea.

[Rachel Lorelei]

Bloodclaw Master, from the Tome of Battle, also does this (but only with Tiger Claw weapons), at level 2; level 1 gives you your full Strength with offhand damage to boot!

[Svethnika]

for only 2 levels that is a very good ability, i'll wait for the rest to say how twf still sucks.

Does TWF still suck for doing sneak attack though? That is what I'm aiming for.

Good to know Quietus and Rachel, thanks for your responses.

[Jasdoif]

Does TWF still suck for doing sneak attack though? That is what I'm aiming for.

Well, you have the same question as any other TWF-er: How to get that full attack without being slaughtered before or slaughtered after. And you, in particular, need to do it while making each hit valid for a sneak attack.

If you can pull it off, it's not bad. Bonus damage, like sneak attack, can make TWF a reasonable option.

[Silentmaster101]

a ranger/scout build with TWF isnt bad as long as you keep moving, especially if you choose favored enemies that cant be criticalled, so you can crit them. a couple of kukri's and improved critical will give you a 15-20 crit range and minimized penalties, add two levels of tempest in there and you are pretty good off.

[Reel On, Love]

a ranger/scout build with TWF isnt bad as long as you keep moving, especially if you choose favored enemies that cant be criticalled, so you can crit them. a couple of kukri's and improved critical will give you a 15-20 crit range and minimized penalties, add two levels of tempest in there and you are pretty good off.

Uh, no, Ranger/Scout SUCKS, because either you can't full attack or you don't get skirmish. Which doesn't do that much damage in any case. And you're squishy.
You can get Skirmish on charges if you have pounce, or with full attacks if you pick up a 10' instead of 5' step somehow, but getting a 10' step eats up so many Scout levels that you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

[The Glyphstone]

That's what the Magical Ebberon Roller Skates^TM were made by Wizards for. So that Scouts weren't useless anymore.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cw/20061120a

Only 3/day...but that's why you keep multiple sets of boots. :)
Okay, maybe not so good...dip 1 level of Monk and get a Sparring Dummy from the A&E guide instead.

[Indon]

Uh, no, Ranger/Scout SUCKS, because either you can't full attack or you don't get skirmish. Which doesn't do that much damage in any case. And you're squishy.
You can get Skirmish on charges if you have pounce, or with full attacks if you pick up a 10' instead of 5' step somehow, but getting a 10' step eats up so many Scout levels that you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

Scout 3/Ranger X with the appropriate feat gives you skirmish (I forget the name, it's in Complete Scoundrel). There's also one for Scouts and Rogues. Both feats allow your Scout and other class levels to stack for the purpose of Skirmish bonuses.

[Droodle]

Scout 3/Ranger X with the appropriate feat gives you skirmish (I forget the name, it's in Complete Scoundrel). There's also one for Scouts and Rogues. Both feats allow your Scout and other class levels to stack for the purpose of Skirmish bonuses.

A straight up Ranger/Scout build is really only effective as an archer. If you throw in some dervish levels or get your hands on pounce, though, it becomes quite viable.

[Keld Denar]

Scout 3/Ranger X with the appropriate feat gives you skirmish (I forget the name, it's in Complete Scoundrel). There's also one for Scouts and Rogues. Both feats allow your Scout and other class levels to stack for the purpose of Skirmish bonuses.

Swift Hunter is the feat.

Anklet of Translocation (MIC) gives 2/day 10 foot teleport as a free action. They are pretty cheap too. You could teleport behind someone (moved 10 ft, new point of view) and full attack for full skirmish. Some DMs might not approve, since you arn't technically moving using your move action or move speed, but the flavor of skirmish seems to be that you get bonus damage by moving to get a better view of your opponents weaknesses. I'd allow it.

Only problem then is it becomes a 2x per encounter kind of thing, and only for x encounters per day, where x is the number of anklets you buy. (no attuning period!)

[Bobbis]

Isn't a Scout X/Barbarian 1 actually fairly good with the variant barbarian in Complete Champion (Pounce at first level)?