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I'm about to start playing in a game as a Gnome Bard (Archaeologist). The idea is my character is sort of an information gathering fiend/con man of sorts. We're starting the campaign at 1st level and per rule of the DM everyone has to have a rank in a profession or craft skill. With that in mind I'm thinking Profession (Scribe) to further my characters ability to forge things and probably to give a sort of background worthy reason why he knows so much as well as my reasoning for him having gift of tongues in place of defensive combat training and hatred.
Anyway, with that in mind, I recently rolled my ability scores and got the following: 10, 14, 14, 14, 15, 18. Now, this isn't a bad set but I was wondering if anyone could assist me in placing them. I know I'll need a decent dex as my combat is probably going to rely on weapon finesse and Archaeologists luck and then from their I'd like a good or decent cha and I'd like a decent intelligence for skill points but I'm probably going to use my favored class bonus for 1 extra as well. My biggest issues right now are deciding whether to put the 18 in dex or cha and the 15 in the other and then whether to put the 10 in con or wis. Finally, after all that's decided I need a basic skill set for the character to have at 1st level. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Put the 10 in WIS. You get high will saves, plus gnome bonuses, and having 14 CON will really boost your durability. Alternatively, depending on how much actual combat you do, you might even want to put the 10 into strength (8 after gnome penalty) and fight ranged only.
Where to put the 18 depends mainly on the balance of skills, casting, and combat you want. If you're more about battlefield control, spells, and social encounters, definitely put the 18 in charisma. Your spells will have a minimum DC of 16 starting from level 1.
Skills. Notably, the forging aspect of your character can be covered by Linguistics, not Profession (Scribe). You can put a point in that. Profession (Soldier), Profession (Engineer), Profession (Cook), Profession (Merchant), Craft (Traps), Craft (Armor), and Craft (Weapons)are all good skills with lots of utility. Most of the other Craft and Profession skills are less useful and more for roleplay, depending on the campaign and GM.
*edit* Oh, and don't forget to put a rank in Diplomacy so you can gather info.
Str 10 Dex 15/18 Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15/18, that much is certain. I'd probably take 18 Dex, 15 Cha, as Archeologists have fewer Cha-dependent features. Take Weapon Finesse as your first feat, and use a whip to trip. Consider Heirloom Weapon (Whip) for +2 to trip.
Skills: Bluff, Perception, Disable Device, Stealth, Acrobatics, whatever. Remember that you can use your favored class bonus to get more luck.
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Considering Gnome racial mods, I'd switch the Str and either Wis or Con (depending on how durabled you'd care to be) in the above suggestion, though I too would go with 18 Dex.
With that change using, say, a Rapier in combat to actually deal damage becomes viable (though the whip is still also cool and a good idea). And gets miles better after you grab an Agile weapon.
In the long term, you want Lingering Performance (triple your luck per day), and at 4th level to increase whichever score that 15 winds up in.
Skill-wise, I'd go: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Perception, Stealth, Sense Motive, and put my Favored Class bonus here to get two Knowledge skills (probably Local and either Arcana or Dungeoneering), as well as the Profession. You'll want Acrobatics eventually, but it's not essential right at the moment.
If you're using Traits, look into Vagabond Child to acquire Disable Device as a Class Skll.
As far as my ability scores go I think I'm going to run with this - Str: 12 (14-2), Dex: 18, Con: 16 (14+2), Int: 14, Wis: 10, Cha: 17 (15+2). That gives me enough wiggle room to kind of "jack of all trades" the things I want to do which is get into places, use spells to help control the battle field/charm people, and give me enough skill points to do what I want in social and out of combat settings. As far as skills go I'm thinking Bluff, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Knowledge (just a rank in a different 1 each level, probably starting with Local), Linguistics, Perception, Stealth and then whatever Craft or Profession I can think of.
Honestly, my Profession as a Scribe was probably going to be more roleplay oriented anyway and I was probably not going to put ranks in it after 1st level unless it was required. It was also originally intended to help me make scorlls because my initial character concept was a Wizard.
Then as far as my favored class bonus, I think I like the skill point more so I can put ranks in Acorbatics rather than the extra use of Archaeologists Luck, 7 rounds a day isn't too bad (8 once I hit 4th level). Granted, it's a good ability, but I think Acrobatics might help me out more in the long run.
EDIT: I'm not sure if we're using traits yet but I was definitely going to grab Vagabond Child if we were. I was also probably going to use a rapier over the whip as I imagine my character as sort of a Courtier (although a whip also seems courtier-ish) I imagine if I was using the whip as an Archaeologist though that everyone would assume it was an Indiana Jones reference :P also, Weapon Finesse will almost definitely be my first feat.