[3.P] Survivor

[ImperatorK]

I have a concept of a character that is a daredevil and a jack-of-all-trades. He jumps into dangerous situations and always prevails, traps got nothing on him, monsters either can't find him or can't hurt him, he can always escape from danger more-or-less unscathed.
What I need are suggestions on skills, feats, abilities, classes, equipment and other stuff. The character will have levels in the Specialist class which is a gestalted Rogue//Factotum, but if there's class(es) (or dips) that are better suited to this concept, please suggest them.
Level of this character isn't yet decided, so your suggestions can range from 1 to 20, although I'm not really asking for whole builds, just ideas. Obviously I'm going to make the character myself using the info gathered here.
What isn't allowed:
- caster classes (Wizards, Clerics, Bards, Beguilers, etc.) - the character is supposed to be more-or-less mundane (but it doesn't mean that he can't use spells at all)

What are the goals or what is he supposed to be able to do:
- deal with traps, either by disabling/bypassing them or being resistant to/ignoring their bad effects (preferably both)
- be good at avoiding stronger enemies or staying alive when confronted by them
- gather information of various sorts or just know his stuff
- get in and out of heavily guarded/difficult to access areas
- maneuver through social scenarios
- be decent at fighting mooks (optional)

The concept was inspired by characters like Indiana Jones, Nathan Drake, Assassin's Creed protagonists, etc.

[StreamOfTheSky]

If you don't want to be a caster class, it sounds like you're best off staying in your Specialist class....this isn't a gestalt game, right? You just get the two gestalted to keep pace with the spellcasters, correct? I'm assuming you're playing this gestalt in a non-gestalt game.

The obvious feats you'll need are Darkstalker (for stealth to be useful at all) and a whole lot of Font of Inspiration (to have enough points to do much; it's not worth the feats till at least the 3rd iteration anyway).

Are you set on a race? I suggest something with darkvision...

Traps: You'll have Trapfinding. Both classes give it. Just max Perception / Disable Device.

Avoidance: Darkstalker + maxed stealth. Possibly UMD or Factotum spell-likes to teleport in a pinch.

Gather Info: Max Diplomacy, simple. Having various knowledges also helps. Dwarf's Ancestral Knowledge or Gnome's Trivial Knowledge (both feats in Races of Stone) would help greatly. Can't really recommend either race, unless you could be a Whisper Gnome (w/ PF's stat buffs to gnome applied; you'd basically lose the -2 cha and be -2 str, +2 dex and con).

Getting on the VIP list: Basically the same things that help with avoidance help here. Hat of Disguise is a great item.

Social: Have a decent cha and diplomacy and bluff.

Fighting mooks: Either do Imperious Command + Never Outnumbered skill trick or a reach weapon AoO build. Or both. Consider Dazzling Display feat or if you somehow have an obscene amount of feats, Hero's Display from UC. Elusive Target feat from CW i also excellent for suviving against a lot of foes / slaying them quickly (if you have greater trip, at least).

[ImperatorK]

Quote:

If you don't want to be a caster class, it sounds like you're best off staying in your Specialist class....

Yeah, that's probably the best option as a primary class, but I was wondering if there aren't any useful dips. 2 levels of Swordsage for some Shadow Hand maneuvers and Wis to AC is nothing to sneeze at. And there's always Shadow Blade as a combat boost.

Quote:

this isn't a gestalt game, right? You just get the two gestalted to keep pace with the spellcasters, correct? I'm assuming you're playing this gestalt in a non-gestalt game.

Actually no. Specialist is my "homebrewed" class and the character will probably be an NPC or a PC in a solo game, if I manage to persuade my solo player to run a game for me (and use my houserules, obviously, but he likes that and we are using them in the game he plays in, so that's not a problem).