Level 3 Optimization - To Fill Scout/Rogue/Skill Monkey/Wilderness hole!

[FarmerGiles]

Hi, a new campaign is coming up as a mate wants to try DMing out.

So far the party is looking like a Dragonborn Paladin (guy munchkins a lot but maybe I'm over-estimating the "Dragonborn" part), a Samurai and a Wizard. Now that's a weird mix I grant you that, but so far what we seem to be missing is a skillmonkey/scout/wilderness type character. Paladins, Samurais and Wizards will suck for skills or speed or scouting. I know we don't have a dedicated healer but paladins do some and the wizard will have wands so I'm not fussed about that.

However it's rumoured we're only starting from Level 3 which is really low. I doubt the campaign will get us to silly high levels either, but let's assume that it's working up to mid level.

I did think of Druid, but they aren't really a "ranged" class and without Wild Shape, things are limited. I've played Rogues to death so I'm not too keen on them, but if there's a variant that makes them more interesting I'll try it. I did look at Wilderness Rogue to gain Survival and Knowledge Nature, but the other skills are subpar.

I looked at Mounted Archery, but at Level 3, I wouldn't really be much of one. Not a fan of Rangers either.

The Scout class did look ideal for all those holes, but I hear that Scout is a really weak class even as a ranged skirmisher, is that true?

Cloistered cleric............any way to turn one of those into an archer/skill/wilderness expert?

Most books seem to be available I think, though let's keep the really obscure ones down as it gets well complex sometimes, though like I said, for some reason one was allowed to be a Dragonborn. Certainly all Cores, Completes and UA is available. Races of Stone/Destiny I suppose are so maybe substitution racial levels??

Any guidance will be great!

Thanks.

[Maat_Mons]

Cloistered cleric can be turned into an archer.  Snow elf (Frostburn), the elf domain (Player's Guide to Faerun), the time domain (Player's Guide to Faerun), and the zen archery feat (Complete Warrior) form a good base.  Snow elf gives you a penalty to charisma instead of constitution.  Elf domain gives you point blank shot.  Time domain gives you improved initiative.  Zen archery lets you use wisdom instead of dexterity on ranged attacks.  

Factotum (Dungeonscape) would work.  

Beguiler (Player's Handbook II) would work.  You can take the apprentice feat (Dungeon Master's Guide II) for woodsman to gain knowledge (nature) and survival as class skills.  

[Echoes]

Cloistered Cleric 1/Scout 4/Ranger X. Take the Law, Travel and Knowledge domains, trade Law and Travel for the Devotion feats. Pick up Swift Hunter, then proceed to Rapid Shot people with skirmish damage while zipping around using Travel Devotion. Grab a splitting force bow if you possibly can.

Pick up Knowledge Devotion with one of your real feats and keep the domain - it's worth it to have all Knowledge skills as class skills. Able Learner (requires Human) @ 1st will help with keeping your skills up.

The Swift Hunter Handbook and the Archery Handbook should have a lot of info.

[Mixster]

Cloistered Cleric 1/Scout 4/Ranger X. Take the Law, Travel and Knowledge domains, trade Law and Travel for the Devotion feats. Pick up Swift Hunter, then proceed to Rapid Shot people with skirmish damage while zipping around using Travel Devotion. Grab a splitting force bow if you possibly can.

Pick up Knowledge Devotion with one of your real feats and keep the domain - it's worth it to have all Knowledge skills as class skills. Able Learner (requires Human) @ 1st will help with keeping your skills up.

The Swift Hunter Handbook and the Archery Handbook should have a lot of info.

I echo Echoes.

This is a great build, that does everything you seem to need.

Basically a scout would too, but 1 level of Cloistered Cleric is just so simple and good optimization.

If you are using Partial BAB. 6 levels of scout + 1 level of cloistered cleric is probably better though.

[Echoes]

For a build progression (assuming you wanted to do a Swift Hunter), I would go Cloistered Cleric 1/Ranger 1/Scout 4/Ranger 14 (or whatever level you end at). Your stat priorities are Dex=Int>Con>Wis>Str>Cha. Try to find out what kind of campaign world you'll be in and tailor your knowledges to fit. The big four knowledges to take are arcana, nature, religion and the planes - those cover everything except humanoids, aberrations, and oozes. You might actually be able to drop the Knowledge domain for the devotion if, for example, you're only going to need those four (clerics get all but nature, and both rangers and scouts get that).

The early levels are kind of rough because your BAB is pretty bad and you don't really have any cool tricks. Make sure to take advantage of Knowledge Devotion + Law Devotion (attack) to make up the difference. Ask your DM if the collector of stories skill trick works for Knowledge Devotion - it should, since your bonus is based off of your roll to ID a creature, but I've met some DMs who are leery of it. If so, take it ASAP.

For feats, your first six levels should look like this:
1st - Able Learner, Point-blank Shot, Law Devotion, Travel Devotion
2nd - Track
3rd - Knowledge Devotion or Precise Shot (retrain this once you get it via Ranger)
6th - Improved Skirmish*, Swift Hunter

* Swift Hunter will qualify you for this.

For skills, you'll have 7+Int mod. skills for most of your career and you want Disable Device, your main Knowledges (so probably four), Listen, Search, and Spot maxed. Hide and Move Silently too if you plan on actually filling in the scout/stealth guy role. Sense Motive is nice if your Wisdom is decent. If collector of stories applies to Knowledge Devotion, you can afford to skimp a little on the knowledges in order to fill out the rest of your skills.

Also, remember that with one level of Cleric you can activate wands of lesser vigor for out-of-combat healing, so try to pick some up.

[rot42]

Alternatively, you could check out the Totemist for lovely wilderness/survivalist flavor. They get soulmelds for boosting Hide, Move Silently, and Search, and can pick up Track for a chakra bind at level 5 (well, 6 unless you want to leave your totem chakra unbound (hint: don't)). The Manticore Belt gives a mess of ranged attacks, though it comes with all the usual caveats of natural vs. manufactured weapons. Going dragonborn opens up the melds in Dragon Magic and boosts Con, but I think you lose any racial essentia. Vow of Poverty works better on Totemists than most characters, though past level ten or so I doubt that it would be a worthwhile trade. Totemists do not get trapfinding, so a bit of Rogue or Kobold domain might be in order.

[Lycanthromancer]

Dragonborn warforged factotum/totemist (with the Ironwood Body feat). Muahahahaha!

Also, use wands of Lesser Vigor or Cure Light Wounds for healing.

[nightshade]

Dragonfire Inspiration Bard/Druid?
Buff the Paladin and the Samurai so they feel a little more competetive. Also buff your companion, take some Archery feats. Job done.
I'm playing a char like this atm, tons of fun.

[X-Codes]

So far the party is looking like a Dragonborn Paladin (guy munchkins a lot but maybe I'm over-estimating the "Dragonborn" part), a Samurai and a Wizard.

The Dragonborn Paladin is going to be mediocre against anything that's not evil, and the Samurai is just going to suck.  The Wizard will, basically, own this game unless you play to buff the party.  I'll suggest some manner of Malconvoker, probably Cloistered Cleric.  It *might* be worth a Rogue dip at level 1 to pick up a lot of class skills and then supplement them with Able Learner, but you can get away with using spells for a while.