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I was thinking about playing a thief pretending to be a monk. It seems to me that the thief would kick the monks butt (which is wrong).

I would take two weapon fighting as my feat (and improved initiative if I was human) and use a quarter staff. I am now doing the same damage at the same minuses but have the advantage that I can use the staff as a two handed weapon for one attack for extra damage. Also I can attack oozes and other things without worrying about touching them.

Instead of being able to use my wisdom to improve my AC I would just wear light armour under my robes giving me a better touch AC.

I would take as much bluff as I could so that I could feint in combat for extra damage "It is an ancient manouver taught in our temple called 'two soggy plums' really".

I know that in a bare knuckle fight the monk might thrash me but I would be a mug to do that when I could use a weapon instead. I know that monks get cool abilities later on but I would get rogue tricks. I know monks have great saving throws and movement but it never really seems to matter. As for spider fall, if you have tumble you should be able to survive a 20 ft fall anyway.

The rogue has the advantage that he doesn't need to spread his stats as badly. I know the monk gets faster and his armour class improves but by 5th level you would hope to have picked up an item that improves AC. Apart from charging distance there is no real advantage to being faster apart from jumping (another skill that isn't used very much).

One important advantage is that the rogue can use crossbows and shortbows instead of shuriken and javelins.

Heck if you class dip into sorceror or wizard what abilities does the monk really get that you couldn't copy. Mage armour, feather fall, expeditious retreat, ...

I was looking at class skills and thinking of characters. I thought about the idea of a thief that pretends to be a monk. It seems like the thief would whup the monks butt at everything but saving throws. I admit they don't get immunity to poison or disease but they make up for it with a better range of skills, rogue tricks, and the ever-popular sneak attack. They do less damage with their bare hands but so what? They can still use weapons and get the improved unarmed feat.

My first level pretend monk would use a quarter staff (1d6/1d6) and have the feats two weapon fighting, improved initiative. He is doing the same damage as a monk with his flurry of blows at the same minuses but can choose to make a single two handed attack for extra damage unlike the monk. Although I would lack the monk's wisdom bonus to AC I would make up for it by wearing armour under my robes. I would also have the advantage that I might not need to spread my stats as much as the monk. I would also crank my bluff skill as much as possibble so that I could feint in combat and add my SA damage. "No that wasn't a sneak attack, it was an ancient combat move taught in our temple called 'two soggy plums'" Also I can use a heavy crossbow :) as opposed to a shuriken. I think that although the monk later on gets lots of interesting abilities the rogue would kick his butt especially if I took a dip into an arcane class and picked up mage armour or something similar.

Any thoughts?

A long long time ago I played a goblin thief who's favourite attack was strangling his opponents from behind. I was curious how sneak attack worked with grappling in regards to extra damage.

Any ideas

see the title?
I don't know enough about necromancers but how would a first level necromancer get 8hd of undead to control. It seems to me at lower levels this is a pretty useful bonus.

I thought of a few but I can't be bothered with all the pre-requisites. I'll leave them to whoever likes that sort of minor detail. Feel free to tweak any ideas you like.

here's a few ideas.
for small humanoids:
'safety in numbers' the humanoids will save goes up by +1 for every four similar humanoids within perception. I was thinking of kobolds and goblins for this one.
'mob rule'. Due to the humanoids experience at working as a group the bonus for having allies aiding you is doubled for special attacks e.g. trip and grapple.
'scuttle'. The creature runs on all fours and is counted as one size smaller when charging or running. They can also travel through a tiny tunnel at full speed. They cannot use a two handed weapon and use this feat.
'long arms'. The creature can use a medium sized crossbow or shortbow without penalties.
'fungus lore'. The creature has a +2 to alchemy rolls to make fungus based poisons and a +2 to herbalism or survival check to find edible fungi.
'Lizard affinity'. When dealing with reptilian creatures the humanoid gets a +2 bonus on handle animal or ride checks. Rangers also get this bonus when trying to change an animals atitude.
'lizard rider'. The character gets an additional +2 for any ride rolls while mounted on a reptilian mount. If they make a succesful ride roll at whatever DC you think is appropriate they can also charge vertically up or down a wall.
'death from above'. The character is skilled at shooting a missile weapon from the back of the lizard they are riding. They can shoot without penalty even if they are on a ceiling or wall.
'cold-blooded'. The humanoids get dr 1/fire and +2 to save vs heat damage.
'bug breeder' The creature has +2 to all rolls to train or breed insects.
'the weasel's nose'. The creature can track by smell.Add +2 to perception to track this way.
'the dragon's eye'. The creature can track in complete darkness using only the heat signature left by the creature.
'not worth killing'. By making a performance check the creature appears as the embodiment of craven uselessness. It's assailant must make a will save do lethal damage.
'play dead'. The creature can slow it's metabolism down low enough to appear dead. The party members must make a heal check to determine otherwise.
'mimicry'. The creature can sound like a member of another race on a successful perform check. This ability is most commonly used to lure opponents into traps. By making a succesful mimicry roll the creature can mimic a specific person if it has heard their voice before. Add whatever DC you think is appropriate to how much information the creature has regarding the creature it is imitating.

I have more ideas but I'll wait for feedback.

These are just some ideas

Hi there, I am new to playing fighters especially in 3.5 and I want to make a fighter that is good at hitting things hard. There has been so much debate in the threads about how nerfed great cleave is I am wondering what feats to go for instead.
The starting feats I took were improved initiative (to get the first hit in), improved trip (because it is a feat I always thought was great although weaker than before) and just because I have never used one and it ties in with my character concept I went for spiked chain as well. The only thing I don't know now is what next.

Any advice welcome.