Here's a build I was toying around with for a while:
I wanted to have a tiny PC. That's doable. But the boring optimal thing to do with a tiny PC is to make them a spellcaster. Spells don't care what size you are and then you just get AC and "to hit" bonuses from being tiny. But I felt that went against the spirit of being a tiny PC. So, I tried to make a tiny melee character.
So, what's the character's race? Could be jermlaine or muckdweller. I picked jermlaine. Their stat modifiers are Str -8, Dex +6, Con -2, Int -2, Wis +6, Cha -6. Again, that seems pretty bad for a melee character. You could make a great druid. Maybe even an archer with that DEX. But... yuck.
Okay, so ingredient #2 is templates to improve on that STR and CON. I went through a long process to figure out what would work. Here's what I chose:
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First, we apply inherited templates. The main one I want here is Unseelie Fey.
So, in addition to possibly gaining wings, we have these stat modifiers At LA+0:
STR: -10, DEX: +8, CON: -4, INT: -2, WIS: +6, CHA: -4
We seem to be going in the wrong direction, but that's fine. Next, the character takes a level of barbarian and then gets some templates that are not inherited. The first one is Dustform. This turns our fey into a construct and our stat mods (at LA: +2) are now:
STR: -6, DEX: +6, CON: --, INT: --, WIS: +6, CHA: -4
At this point, our alignment has changed from evil to neutral (but we must also still be non-lawful because barbarian). Then, of course, we take Incarnate Construct to turn the construct into a humanoid, giving us the following for stats (at LA: +0):
STR: -6, DEX: +6, CON: 4d6, INT: 4d6, WIS: +6, CHA: -4
Now, we haven't improved that STR modifier very much, right? But notice that we have two stats that are determined by die rolls, so we can totally dump CON and INT in our original stat rolls because they get replaced by 4d6, so in a point buy system, we have a lot more flexibility to put points in STR if we want.
But we can do more if we're willing to take on some LA. We have one more template: Lolth-Touched. Now, at LA: +1, we have the following:
STR: +0, DEX: +6, CON: 4d6+6, INT: 4d6, WIS: +6, CHA: -4
So, now we're as strong as a human. That's great. And we only have one negative modifer (CHA) which we would probably want to dump anyway. In fact, we could dump INT, CON, and CHA, leaving us with only three stats where we should put a lot of points (STR, DEX to make our AC crazy, and maybe WIS for saving throws). This first level barbarian will be ECL 2 though.
Unfortunately, this does lock us in at an evil alignment once more. If that's not gonna work, here are my two possible work-arounds:
(a) I hope I can have a backstory where I talked to a CG Evangelist (class) who has a 5th level power to change my alignment. I used to be a CE jerk, a low charisma evil guy that nobody liked. Well, suddenly, now that I'm CG, I have friends, I have people who like me, maybe even people I can trust. But I can still have fun, still be chaotic. I choose to stay CG.
As a DM, I would allow this except the PC would have to pay the cost of someone using one of their class abilities. I would charge the same price as if asking someone of that level to cast the highest level spell they could cast. But many DMs might not allow that.
(b) Put the Lolth-Touched template *before* Dust Form. That means that we lose out on having the +6 to CON, so our stat modifiers would actually be:
STR: +0, DEX: +6, CON: 4d6, INT: 4d6, WIS: +6, CHA: -4
Okay, we have a tiny PC with STR modifier of +0. Now what?
Being tiny is great for AC and hitting but terrible for a melee combatant because *no* weapon can ever be long enough to allow a tiny PC to get reach of even 5' according to the rules. Without even 5' reach, tiny PCs have to enter people's squares to attack, meaning the enemy gets an AoO on you every single time before you can attack them once (unless you make a DC 25 Tumble check). Hopefully, crazy high AC will help.
I would be using the ACF of the Urban Barbarian to replace rage with ferocity, granting a bonus to STR and DEX (instead of CON). He gets a penalty on ranged attacks, but who cares?
And then at level 2 (ECL 3), we switch to Swordsage.
We will be using an elven courtblade (basically a great sword that you can use Weapon Finesse with, since our DEX is going to be higher than our STR). He probably should eventually do crit-fishing (get a keen weapon and the improved critical feat for greatsword since courtblade counts as greatsword for feats). I also want at least one Stone Dragon maneuver as a swordsage to get Weapon Focus in greatsword, which would mean WF in elven courtblade (unless someone wants to nitpick and say that this is only the "benefit" of the feat without actually being the feat, and courtblade only acts like a greatsword with an actual feat).
I could discuss a lot of other important choices, like stances and maneuvers and equipment (like armor and encumbrance), but now, let's talk about feats.
First of all, we need a lot probably. So, let's take two flaws for an extra feat. I choose Shaky and Weak Will. Then, I take two traits to move the penalties around. I choose Detached and Plucky. The overall effect is: -1 to all saves and -2 to ranged combat. This forces us even more into "pure melee".
That means that at 1st level, I'll have two feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (elven courtblade) and Weapon Finesse. Here are my thoughts for later feats:
At ECL 4 (level 3), take the Aberration Blood feat (+2 spot).
At ECL 5 (level 4), take a level of fighter for Improved Crit.
At ECL 6 (level 5), back to swordsage?
AT ECL 7 (level 6), take the Inhuman Reach [Aberrant] feat. This gives +5 reach but -1 to all melee attacks, which hurts but we should have enough bonuses to hit to make up for no longer having to move into someone's square to make a melee attack.