Picking traits

[Heather 540]

I'm making a pair of Thief twins. One is a Phantom Thief (Rogue) and the other is a Dashing Thief (Swashbuckler). I'm trying to pick out traits for them. They are both human Dex builds.

These are the traits I like the looks of best for my Rogue thief. They can be considered for the Swashbuckler as well, but I forget what those class skills are so I might want to look at others as well. A Phantom Thief has everything but Fly as a class skill.

Combat:
Ambush Training: +1 trait Initiative, +1 trait to damage during surprise rounds.
Bloody-Minded: +1 trait Initiative and Intimidate
Crowd Dodger: +2 traits Acrobatics to move through another creature’s space and to avoid attacks of opportunity for leaving a threatened square.
Fencer: +1 trait on attack for AoOs with blades.
Hidden Hand: +1 trait Sleight of Hand to hide light weapon, +1 attack during surprise rounds with light weapon.
Pillager: +1 trait to disarm and steal.
Reactionary: +2 trait Initiative

Faith:
Indomitable Faith: +1 trait Will
Secret Keeper: +3 trait Bluff against Sense Motive
Spirit Sense: +2 trait Perception to avoid surprise or to detect invisible or incorporeal foes.

Social:
Civilized: +1 trait Nobility and Local
Criminal: +1 trait Disable Device, Intimidate, Sleight of Hand
Friends in High Places: +1 trait Diplomacy and Intimidate, +2 for government officials.
Life of Toil: +1 trait Fort
Seeker: +1 trait Perception

Race:
Deathtouched: +1 trait Fort
Gruff Watcher (Ulfon ethnic group): +1 trait Initiative and Perception
Intrepid Volunteer: (Requires Adopted) Use Dex instead of Str for one Str-skill or combat maneuver.
Legacy of Sand: (Requires Adopted) +1 trait Will
Rapscallion: (Requires Adopted) +1 trait Escape Artist and Initiative

[Saronian]

Are there any campaign traits being used?

[Heather 540]

There's no game for them at the moment. I just really like making characters.

[Saronian]

Heather 540 wrote:

There's no game for them at the moment. I just really like making characters.

Campaign traits can help augment the choices. That being said, rogues usually don't need to use magic or faith traits. That can be useful for the Save Traits.

In addition, Initiative traits are pretty good to have to go first in combat. The skill traits can also be of higher use.

The damage traits are a catch 22, as they can be extremely situational.

[Heather 540]

For my Phantom, I'm leaning towards Reactionary and Indomitable Faith. For my Dashing Thief, I'm considering Pillager since a Dashing Thief regains panache from stealing an item rather than a killing blow.

[Cevah]

Heather 540 wrote:

A Phantom Thief has everything but Fly as a class skill.

If you manage to get a fly speed, it becomes a class skill.

Heather 540 wrote:

Combat:

Ambush Training: +1 trait Initiative, +1 trait to damage during surprise rounds. +1 damage in a surprise round sucks. Skip this one.
Bloody-Minded: +1 trait Initiative and Intimidate +1 Intimidate is OK if you are doing a social character. Otherwise, skip this one.
Crowd Dodger: +2 traits Acrobatics to move through another creature’s space and to avoid attacks of opportunity for leaving a threatened square. Solid if you plan to move in combat.
Fencer: +1 trait on attack for AoOs with blades. Solid if you plan to get a lot of AoOs.
Hidden Hand: +1 trait Sleight of Hand to hide light weapon, +1 attack during surprise rounds with light weapon. Too situational, skip.
Pillager: +1 trait to disarm and steal. Too situational, skip.
Reactionary: +2 trait Initiative Solid.

Faith:
Indomitable Faith: +1 trait Will Solid.
Secret Keeper: +3 trait Bluff against Sense Motive OK if a social build.
Spirit Sense: +2 trait Perception to avoid surprise or to detect invisible or incorporeal foes. Too situational.

Social:
Civilized: +1 trait Nobility and Local Are you a wizard? No? Skip.
Criminal: +1 trait Disable Device, Intimidate, Sleight of Hand OK but situational.
Friends in High Places: +1 trait Diplomacy and Intimidate, +2 for government officials. Solid for social rogues.
Life of Toil: +1 trait Fort OK, but not great.
Seeker: +1 trait Perception Invest in a magic item. Cheaper.

Race:
Deathtouched: +1 trait Fort OK, but not great.
Gruff Watcher (Ulfon ethnic group): +1 trait Initiative and Perception Good, but not great.
Intrepid Volunteer: (Requires Adopted) Use Dex instead of Str for one Str-skill or combat maneuver. If going for maneuvers, you don't build a Dex character. Skip.
Legacy of Sand: (Requires Adopted) +1 trait Will Solid.
Rapscallion: (Requires Adopted) +1 trait Escape Artist and Initiative OK, but not great.

Don't forget the other categories of traits. Magic, Faction, Regional, Religion, Equipment, Story, and perhaps others. There are a lot out there.

/cevah

[Gisher]

For humans, I like using the Blood of Dragons Trait to get low-light vision.