User:SushiSquid/Stage blade - Ro(13),F(12),IB(5)

Description
The stage blade is first a fighter and second a rogue, but is unlike both. Creeping through the shadows to strike at his unwitting opponents is simply not his style, nor is rushing in and lobbing off heads. He prefers a much flashier approach to combat, and makes use of his exceptional acting talents to trick enemies into dropping their guards, which he then immediately presses two blades into. But the stage blade is just as talented out of combat as well. He is as smooth talking as he is convincing, and whether sincere or not, he can easily earn the trust of everyone around him. Besides this, he also exhibits other rather useful abilities, some of which may be dubious, but do help to satiate his inquisitive mind.

Character Creation
Race: Tiefling

Classes: Rogue 10 / Fighter 14 / Invisible Blade 5

Alignment: Any

Strengths:

 * BAB of 27 and Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting earn you 12 attacks per round.


 * Large Bluff check lets you reliably feint against most enemies.


 * You can constantly sneak attack Feinted enemies with no need to break from combat.


 * You can drop enemy AC with Feint, Taunt, and Expose Weakness.


 * High skill point totals (for a fighter, not a rogue) make you multi-talented.


 * Good AC even though unarmored.


 * Good fortitude and reflex saves, along with Evasion.


 * Epic Weapon Focus and Specialization mean you're accurate and capable of damage even without sneak attacks.


 * By [i]very[/i] careful level arrangement, you even slip in the amazing Epic Dodge!

Weaknesses:

 * Your main source of damage relies on successful use of Feint. On certain enemies, this simply is not feasible.


 * Your will save is [i]terrible[/i], and tieflings are not immune to hold/charm/dominate person effects as they should be.


 * You can't Sneak Attack critical hit immune enemies until level 21, and even then only at halved damage.


 * You don't have Improved Evasion and Slippery Mind, unlike most other rogues.


 * There really isn't room for customization on feats. All feats are absolutely required to make the build work, to qualify for higher feats, or are those higher feats.

Character Progression

 * Feint does not function as it says. Feint uses up one attack per round (two because you dual-wield), but you still get all other attacks that round.  It's best to Feint at the end of every turn on what would have been a low AB attack anyway, which still gives you sneak attacks for the entire next turn.
 * I usually would include the skill points, but for this class, that is simply too cumbersome and would anyway be based on personal preference. Maxed out Bluff is nearly required, and you must get Tumble to 30 by level 27 (but don't bring it over that because there's no benefit).  A high Diplomacy and Use Magic Device are also very highly suggested.

Air Genasi
The air genasi immediately comes to mind as the other great option for this build, but is weaker than the tiefling in every way. You lose 2 Wisdom, which isn't a big penalty. You also trade the useful Darkness racial spell for the useless Summon Gale. The major loss is that Tieflings have Skill Affinity: Bluff, while air genasi do not. I am in no way discounting the fact that air genasi works extremely well with this build. I'm simply pointed out that tiefling is practically designed specifically for it.

Human
Human is a great option for the build if you want to skip the level adjustment, but you will be missing several things. You won't have darkvision, you won't have any skill bonuses, and you won't have added intelligence and dexterity. Skilled makes up for the intelligence only somewhat, since Invisible Blade levels would have given you another +1 AC if you'd had it. Quick to Master can be useful, but you don't honestly need the extra feat since you mostly get what you need from your classes or in epic levels. To actually be able to meet the minimum DEX requirement for Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, you'll still have to start with 18 DEX, and drain the points needed from other stats. You can push this feat back and start with 17, however.

Half-Elf and Half-Drow
I could spend my time laughing at the half-elf race for being worse than either of its two parents, but rather than do that, I'll say this: this is one of the very few circumstances in which I would ever recommend half-elf as a race. It all comes down to the fact that half-elves get the amiable bonus to bluff and diplomacy, as well as slight bonuses to listen, search, and spot. You also still get darkvision, or at least low-light vision if for some silly reason you pick half-elf over half-drow. In a rare turn of events, half-elf ends up actually being a the best option for this build if you want to skip the level adjustment. As with human, though, you still need to start with 18 DEX and just drain the points from other things.