I LOVE the concept of the Cad Archetype for Fighter but me and my group have talked and talked about this and we find it hard to make it viable in a game and not have it just get killed after it tries to throw dirt in someone's face or something along those lines. The Dirty tricks just seem weak and doing one in place of an attack opens yourself up to probably ending up very dead. Has anyone played a Cad in a game and had it survive and actually flourish? what type of game was it (Ex Low powered city game with minimal combat)?
Anyway, Look forward to hearing opinions. Thank you!
In general I think it's a bad idea to use combat Maneuvers when you know your enemy can AoO you in return for it.
So you either make sure the enemy doesn't get AoOs, like with this Litany of Sloth
or you get the necessary feat to not provoke with maneuvers: Combat Expertise -> Improved Dirty Trick
and while you are at it, get Quick Dirty Trick and Greater Dirty Trick, too.
Of course, running around with low AC is a bad idea in general when you are a frontline person.
Which effect did you cause when you Dirty Trick? Blindness? Sickness?
Both should increase your survivability...?