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Crowe |
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I'm seeing a grand total of four rogue skills that aren't either coverable with versatile performance, charisma based, or better shoveled off onto the wizard who doesn't need to take all the knowledges with bardic knowledge in play. And one of them is almost completely useless for non-evil characters.
I'm not counting climb, swim, or professions. Those are fixed DC skills that take a handful of points over the lifetime of the character or useless.
But, seriously, high int rogues? An obligate melee class since ranged sneak attack isn't viable so they need lots of con. They have a weak will save so they need quite a bit of wisdom. They need dexterity for AC. They can't dump strength because of the encumbrance rules. As many charisma based skills as they have int should be the last stat on their priority list.
The bard, on the other hand, doesn't need to be a melee build so he can skimp on constitution and put favored class bonus into skill points. He can skimp on wisdom because will isn't a weak save. Int could be priority three after charisma and dexterity instead of priority five or six.
I am of the opinion, that a rogues's second highest stat should be INT with DEX first. Strength is needed only to meet encumbrance requirements, Con contributes nothing to skills, and while the plus to save and absorption of an extra hit is nice (at high levels)...it is not mandatory. I am really surprised toughness and Great Fortitude aren't sky blue in all of these guides with the emphasis on 14 min Con or you will get pwned in melee. A rogue should only initiate fights in the surprise round and in the first round (ie, against helpless opponents), after that, he should assist teammates is finishing combats quickly. Wisdom is important, as one of the most used skills for a rogue is Perception, but you don't need anything spectacular, as most races have a bonus, and your Rogue's bonus makes traps fairly easy to detect. Most Guides recommend dumping Charisma, but I think it is best at a 10, as you have many skills that key off of it and I think it fits the Rogue to not stand out in a crowd as being too memorable either way. Many people criticize the low saves, but a +2 isn't really going to save you, and a rogue's best defense against a spellcaster is stealth and avoidance of line of sight. A Rogue's strengths are his skills and his speed, and you should emphasize these.