Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DarianVereeth 01-26-04, 02:44 AM	Darian Vareeth 3.0 A ranger/rouge/shadowdancer in the making. Currently He is at level 7, with 4 Ranger levels and 3 Rouge Levels. He uses two short swords and has a longbow as well. The feats he has taken so far are Dodge and Mobility and Weapon Finesse, so he can use his dex mod to hit. He plans on taking 9 Levels in Ranger to negate the -2/-2 for two handed fighting, and 10 levels in Ranger to get the special ability slippery mind and 5d6 sneak attack damage. He also will take one level in Shadow Dancing for Hide in plain sight. He is in a party with a Monk, a Barbarian, a Fighter, a Cleric, and a Sorcerer of Equvilant Levels. He is the parties Trap Disabler, Door Searcher, and Path Scaver. With these 20 levels, He will get 4 attacks per round. His ability scores are as follows on a 28 base point system. He is at level 7 so far. Strength 10, Dexterity 18, Con 10, Wisdom 11 (12 with a +1wis headband), Intelligence 14 (for the skill points baby!), and 8 Charisma! Does anyone have any suggestions regarding skill point allocation and such? Is Hide in Plain Sight really that Effective? Will it help with my sneak attacks? Any advice is greatly appricated!
BenjCano 01-26-04, 03:25 AM	9 levels of Ranger do not, not in 3E, nor in 3.5, negate the -2/-2 penalty for two-weapon fighting. Nothing short of a class feature of a very unattractive prestige class can negate that. What Rangers in 3E were permitted to do was to take Improved Two-weapon fighting with a normal feat expenditure, slightly before they would normally become eligible. You will have that -2 hanging over your head for the rest of your fighting career, I just want to make this clear from the onset. 3E rangers were really only good for a single level dip if you wanted them for your TWF mojo. It's also not necessary to remain with your rogue until level 10 solely for the purposes of acquiring slippery mind. Shadowdancers get this at 7th level, I believe. You'd probably be better off with something like: Ranger 1/Fighter 2/Rogue 10/Shadowdancer 7 That way you can take either Improved Evasion or Skill Focus to get the ability to always take 10 on a Hide, Bluff, or Move Silently check. Regarding the Shadowdancer's HiPS, what this does is remove the normal stipulation that requires you to have cover or concealment when Hiding. You can hide without benefit of cover, without benefit of concealment, and even while being observed. That's what it does for you. By the time you acquire it, however, you'll most likely have access to rings, scrolls, and potions of invisibility, which makes HiPS a little redundant. That's only in broad terms, however, since there are a few situations in which HiPS would be more useful than invisibility items. Not many, but a few. Also, unless there's a level based increase to your ability scores, I count that you've spent 29 points, not 28.
PhaedrusXY 01-26-04, 06:09 AM	Originally posted by BenjCano By the time you acquire it, however, you'll most likely have access to rings, scrolls, and potions of invisibility, which makes HiPS a little redundant. That's only in broad terms, however, since there are a few situations in which HiPS would be more useful than invisibility items. Not many, but a few. At higher levels, I have found HiPS to be more useful than invisibility. Everyone and his balrog brother has See Invisibility or True Seeing at Will, but not many can beat a really good Hide check. And if you have an item or the ability to cast Darkness, you are never without a shadowy area to use it in. Also, I would not recommend taking more than one or two levels of Shadow Dancer. Hide in Plain Sight is really the only good ability they get, and that is at first level. I'd check out the Teflemmar Shadowlord PrC. It is in the Unapproachable East book, if you can use it.
Funny Slaughter 01-26-04, 07:31 AM	Hide in Plain Sight is really the only good ability they get i disagree here. i think he shadow companions can do some good tricks and the other abilities are not bad, either. taking 10 levels of rogue as a prefix is a huge waste, the classes overlap a lot imo. of course, the TSL is a big amount more powerful, but it also has big prerequisites roleplaying-wise. it meshes very well with a shadowdancer though. gs Funny
mosteya4 01-26-04, 08:36 AM	Yes, your right I cannot negate the -2/-2 Penalty. I misread Improved two weapon fighting. But It still allows me to have 4 attacks once I hit maximum level. My charecters sole purposes were hiding and sliding through places undetected. He isnt a very good fighter, and I did this so he could use camoflauge, a nice ranger spell that ups hiding and move silently. The reason I spent 29 instead of 28 is because I get a skill point before 7....DUH!