Two Bladed Sword - Unchained Rogue

[Dunmuir]

Hey guys,

I've been playing a bit of Final Fantasy IX lately, and was curious as about the above theme. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to martial classes and what feats should be used for them. Most of my experience is with casters. However, Zidane from the game is my favorite, and I was wondering if you might give me some advice on what I should do.

Pt. Buy: 25
Races: Core
Class: Unchained Rogue
Only Paizo Books

I do want the ability to steal stuff from my opponents, just for flavor. Other than that, go ham on the imagination stuff.

Thank you in advance.

[Dunmuir]

Actually, upon further investigation, the two bladed sword would not be an option. Instead, I found this.

Bladed Brush:

Note: This is associated with a specific deity.

You know how to balance a polearm perfectly, striking with artful, yet deadly precision.

Prerequisite(s): Weapon Focus (glaive), must be a worshiper of the associated deity.

Benefit(s): You can use the Weapon Finesse feat to apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack rolls with a glaive sized for you, even though it isn’t a light weapon. When wielding a glaive, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing or slashing melee weapon and as if you were not making attacks with your off-hand for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s or swashbuckler’s precise strike).

As a move action, you can shorten your grip on the glaive, treating it as though it lacked the reach weapon property. You can adjust your grip to grant the weapon the reach property as a move action.

If I were to combo the above feat with this...

Spear Dancing Style:

You can use polearms and spears as double weapons.

Prerequisite(s): Dex 13, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus with the chosen weapon.

Benefit(s): Choose one weapon from the polearm or spear fighter weapon groups. While using this style, you grant the chosen weapon the double special weapon feature, using the weapon’s normal statistics for its main-hand end and the statistics of a light mace for its off-hand end.

A weapon wielded in this way loses the brace and reach special weapon features.

Special: A character with the weapon training (polearms or spears) class feature can use Spear Dancing Style with any polearm or spear, respectively, in addition to the chosen weapon.

This might be an interesting build.

Going human for earliest access to full build, it'd look something like this, with finesse training being applied to glaive at level 3.

H - Bladed Brush
1 - Weapon Focus: Glaive
R - Weapon Finesse
3 - Two Weapon Fighting
5 - Spear Dancing Style

Feats to consider for later levels:
Combat Reflexes
Improved Initiative

Traits:
1 - Heirloom Weapon (Glaive)
2 - ?
3 - ?

Drawback: ?

Thoughts?

[Heather 540]

If you want the ability to steal, you'll need Improved Steal to avoid AoOs. That requires Combat Expertise or Dirty Fighting.

[Phntm888]

An Unchained Rogue can't take Weapon Focus (glaive) at level 1 - they don't meet the prerequisite of Base Attack Bonus +1. Here's a slightly different take, using Bladed Brush and the glaive:

R - Weapon Finesse
1 - Two-Weapon Fighting
2 - Rogue Talent: Weapon Training (Weapon Focus (glaive))
3 - Bladed Brush
4 - Rogue Talent: Combat Swipe (Improved Steal)
5 - Spear Dancing Style (Glaive)

Note that using Spear Dancing Style means that the glaive no longer has the reach feature, so Combat Reflexes isn't as effective. If you want that back, you'll need Spear Dancing Reach, which also requires Spear Dancing Spiral. Feats to consider:

Improved Initiative
Combat Reflexes
Spear Dancing Spiral
Spear Dancing Reach
Greater Steal (Combat Swipe allows you to count as meeting the prerequisites at level 6)
Agile Maneuvers (to use Dex for CMB instead of Strength)
Double Slice

I'd say skip Heirloom Weapon in traits - it only gives you proficiency with one specific glaive, not proficiency with glaives in general. Instead, you'll notice I skipped the Human bonus feat above. We'll replace that with an alternate race feature, Military Tradition, for proficiency in two martial or exotic weapons of your choice, one of which is the glaive. You can grab proficiency in composite longbows for a good ranged option when you need it.

That leaves traits wide open - I'd say pick up Indomitable Will to shore up your Will save, Armor Expert to help with those Armor Check Penalties, or Reactionary for an extra +2 to initiative. You can't take both Armor Expert and Reactionary, so you'll have to choose one or the other.