[3.5] The Rogue Handbook: A Fistful of d6

[Runestar]

Have you READ Marrulurk?

For ranged rogues it is awesome beyond measure, giving 2 bonus feats like 2 levels of fighter without slowing down sneak attack AND great stat bonuses. For other rogues it is only pretty good, because of the stat bonuses and special qualities.

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+2 Str, +6 Dex, +4 Con, +6 Wis, +4 Cha
+4 Racial Bonus on Hide and Move Silently and Listen (Racial skills:bluff, hide, listen, move silently, spot)
Darkvision, Low Light Vision, Discriminating Hearing (like a weaker blindsense),
+2 Natural Armor, Fire resistance 5
2 free bonus feats, Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot
Longbow Proficiency
Death attack and Poison Use like an Assassin
+2d6 Sneak Attack
Crummy breath weapon

It depends on what you want out of a rogue. If you are willing to give up all the skill points (which is really the key reason why you want to play a rogue, as opposed to say, a swordsage), all the better, I guess. Considering how it gets death attack as well, I might rather go pure assassin.

If I wanted archery, I might go rogueX/scout3 with swift ambusher, netting me full skirmish and almost full sneak attack progression. A rogue17/scout3 does +9d6SA and +5d6 skirmish (or +7d6 with improved skirmish).

[Zovc]

Excellent work! Just glancing through your guide has given me a few character ideas. :)

[PId6]

Feats: Rapidstrike and Improved Rapidstrike for your Kobold along with Multiattack. Dragon Tail if your DM agrees that being a bloody dragon is close enough to Dragonblood subtype to qualify you.

Oh, and great work.

I'll look over the combo later and add the build.

And thanks!

You've mixed up whether a couple of things are house rules or not.

Done and done; I've removed the line about Mobility, and added a note to Dragonfire Strike to ask for a houserule (because the RAW is stupid).

Quite an excellent guide, in my opinion. You clearly spent a lot of time on this, so thank you for that. And thanks for linking my poison handbook as well :)

Some random contributions:

Thank you.

I'll look over your list later. The Assassination ability looks very nice.

There are some problems with such a literalist intepretation but I won't go into them here. The key point is that not all DMs would follow that particular intepretation, so at the very least I would suggest noting it as a rule ambiguity.

I've added the note to the maneuvers and stances section.

In addition, I find it questionable that a rogue handbook would advocate builds that include only 1 lv of rogue. Shouldn't you be trying to make play a pure rogue as viable as possible?

Most of them do, or are at least very rogue based (Daring Outlaw, for example). The Unseen Seer builds are different because they're basically theurges; they're far more effective if you maximize one side and minimize the other, and wizard casting happens to be much stronger than rogue abilities. They're still decidedly more "rogueish" than pure wizards though, since they are far more focused on Sneak Attacks and skills.

Add "Undo Resistance" (Fiendish Codex II) to the Feat section. Definitely a blue feat, particularly at high levels when everybody and their dog has SR.

I'd change Staggering Strike to blue as well.

Might want to add "Air Goblin" to the races. Unearthed Arcana, Dex +4, LA +0. Also, Muckdweller from Serpent Kingdoms: tiny size, LA +0, Str -6, Dex +6, Wis -2, Cha -2.

Added to the "to-consider" list. Thanks!

I'm not buying your argument here any more than JeminiZero did. The context here is Swordsage class levels, as the next line makes clear. "You begin play" means "you begin play as a Swordsage". Whether WotC thought of multiclassing or not, as a 1st level Swordsage you begin with one 1st-level stance. (My opinion: "RAI" should never be mentioned in any rules discussion where you want to be taken seriously.)

I added a note to the Maneuvers and Stances section. In my opinion, RAI is a useful tool for practical optimization purposes when determining whether something should be houseruled, but YMMV.

This is awesome. There WAS a worrying lack of Rogue Handbooks prior to this. Kudos to you sir!

Thank you!

[Runestar]

Most of them do, or are at least very rogue based (Daring Outlaw, for example). The Unseen Seer builds are different because they're basically theurges; they're far more effective if you maximize one side and minimize the other, and wizard casting happens to be much stronger than rogue abilities. They're still decidedly more "rogueish" than pure wizards though, since they are far more focused on Sneak Attacks and skills.

In the case of daring outlaw, there is little incentive to want to take more than 3-4 lvs of rogue. You effectively get a +19bab fighter with full SA progression and some key rogue skills maxed out (with able learner if possible). Not quite what I had in mind from a rogue handbook, but I suppose that with the modular nature of multiclassing in 3e, it is foolhardy to expect myself to be confined to just 1 class.

[Curmudgeon]

Feats
Dragonfire Strike^DM – Turns all of your Sneak Attack damage into fire damage, letting you bypass all possible immunities to Sneak Attack ... Note: By literal wording, this feat doesn't let you deal fire damage to enemies immune to Sneak Attack. This would make it utterly useless and obviously isn't intended, so ask your DM nicely to make it do what it's supposed to.

Your note is wrong. The feat has obvious use in most cases simply because it gives you an extra 1d6 of damage: the equivalent of gaining 2 Rogue levels. Dragonfire Strike is worth even more when you're dealing with any creature with fire vulnerability, since it would increase all your sneak attack damage 50%. And since you can choose whether to make this conversion or not, you're still good with regular sneak attack against creatures immune to fire damage. The feat is far from "utterly useless".

You appear to be staring at a fine, useful feat, and trying to squint until it becomes a must-have awesome feat. Wishful thinking doesn't make it so, alas.

[Greenish]

In the case of daring outlaw, there is little incentive to want to take more than 3-4 lvs of rogue. You effectively get a +19bab fighter with full SA progression and some key rogue skills maxed out (with able learner if possible). Not quite what I had in mind from a rogue handbook, but I suppose that with the modular nature of multiclassing in 3e, it is foolhardy to expect myself to be confined to just 1 class.

It'd be a poor rogue handbook that didn't mention Daring Outlaw.

I've more feats for the canny rogues:

Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets) lets you touch people for 1d6 + SA electricity damage all day long, baby.
Shape Soulmeld (Mage's Spectacles) gives you better bonus to UMD than skill focus. It also gives you bonuses to Spellcraft and Decipher Script.
Shape Soulmeld (Kruthik Claws) gives you +4 to Hide & Move Silently.

Each of them takes a magic item slot: hands for gauntlets and claws, goggles for spectacles. They can be improved with essentia from an incarnum race or feats.

Two level dip to Totemist is something to consider, too: binding a blink shirt to your totem chakra you gain a move action teleport, while Girallon Arms gives you four claw attacks for your full round action, and Landshark Boots give four claw attacks as a standard action if you make a jump check (to which the soulmeld gives bonus to). And of course you can shape some pretty decent ones, too.

[Starscream]

Thanks for this. I'm playing a rogue right now, and this handbook is sure to come in handy.

[PId6]

In the case of daring outlaw, there is little incentive to want to take more than 3-4 lvs of rogue. You effectively get a +19bab fighter with full SA progression and some key rogue skills maxed out (with able learner if possible). Not quite what I had in mind from a rogue handbook, but I suppose that with the modular nature of multiclassing in 3e, it is foolhardy to expect myself to be confined to just 1 class.

There's only so many ways you can do Rogue 19/X 1. If you want a singleclassed-ish build, that's it. Past that point, the question is how you can take rogue and adapt it to various other builds, which would likely involve heavy multiclassing. The most important thing about a "rogue" build is that it plays like a rogue, making Sneak Attacks and using skills. Secondly, since this is a handbook for the class, the rogue class should be, if not centerpiece, at least an essential piece of every build, and all of them achieve that to some degree. You'll notice there's no Swordsage 20 suggestion, for example.

You appear to be staring at a fine, useful feat, and trying to squint until it becomes a must-have awesome feat. Wishful thinking doesn't make it so, alas.

Rewrote it; is that more agreeable?

As written, it's not really worth a feat. 1d6 Sneak Attack for a feat is okay, but not when it would fail on so many enemies. The houseruled version would actually be usable, though still not really "must have" IMO, since it costs three feats to actually be fantastic and you can do well enough using things like Wands of Grave Strike and Penetrating Strike.

I've more feats for the canny rogues:

Added to list of things to look over. I really need to get a better grasp of MoI one of these days.

[Curmudgeon]

Rewrote it; is that more agreeable?

Yes, though I still think there's no call to try to add a house rule.

As written, it's not really worth a feat. 1d6 Sneak Attack for a feat is okay, but not when it would fail on so many enemies.

The obvious comparison if you're looking for a feat to add 1d6 to your sneak attack is Improved Sneak Attack [Epic], which is considerably harder to qualify for. A Silverbrow Human can take Dragonfire Strike at level 1. Simple prerequisites make the feat more reasonable.

[Gnaeus]

[QUOTE=Runestar;8712218]

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+2 Str, +6 Dex, +4 Con, +6 Wis, +4 Cha
+4 Racial Bonus on Hide and Move Silently and Listen (Racial skills:bluff, hide, listen, move silently, spot)
Darkvision, Low Light Vision, Discriminating Hearing (like a weaker blindsense),
+2 Natural Armor, Fire resistance 5
2 free bonus feats, Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot
Longbow Proficiency
Death attack and Poison Use like an Assassin
+2d6 Sneak Attack
Crummy breath weapon

It depends on what you want out of a rogue. If you are willing to give up all the skill points (which is really the key reason why you want to play a rogue, as opposed to say, a swordsage), all the better, I guess. Considering how it gets death attack as well, I might rather go pure assassin.

Do the math again. A Marrulurk is about 36 skill points behind a rogue (after LA buyoff). -12 (for the racial bonuses in core rogue skills) =24 skill points. Figure a +2 bonus (based on its better stats) on every skill requiring Dex, Wisdom, or Charisma, and you realize that if it takes at least 12 different skills during its career, its overall bonuses are as good or better than a straight rogue. Even better if you assume that the rogue would otherwise be dropping skill points by taking classes like Assassin which aren't 8/level.

But that assumes that all skills are equal. A marrulurk Rogue, with its higher stat bonuses and racial bonuses, can choose, if he wishes, to concentrate his skill points on key skills (Hide & Move Silently especially, but any skill based on Wis, Dex, or Cha) to get a higher total bonus in those key skills than a human rogue could achieve. I mean, yes, it is nice to have 11 maxed skills per level, but it is nicer to succeed on a 1 on your move silently when you are sneaking ahead of the party.

And that also assumes that the marrulurk, with his 22 points of racial stat bonuses, can't afford to put a higher score in Int than a rogue of a +0/1 ecl race could do. If normal rogue allocated Dex, Con, Int, (as PId6 advises) and Marrulurk allocated Int, Dex, Con, it is likely that for the elite array or most point buys the Marrulurk has a higher int than most races, while still retaining better scores in most or all his other stats. Even a 2 point advantage in intelligence means that the marrulurk is only 13 skill points behind the full rogue over his career.

Example:

Sample Elite Array: Str 8, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 13
Sample 25 PB: Str 9, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 10

Compared to:
Sample Elite Array (Marrulurk) Str 10, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 17
Sample 25 PB (Marrulurk) Str 11, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 12

The marrulurk isn't better than the best rogue races for every single rogue build, but its stats + skill bonuses alone make it very comparable. Its sensory advantages make it a better scout, and its bonus feats make it a better archer.

If I wanted archery, I might go rogueX/scout3 with swift ambusher, netting me full skirmish and almost full sneak attack progression. A rogue17/scout3 does +9d6SA and +5d6 skirmish (or +7d6 with improved skirmish).

That is good, but Marrulurk Rogue 14/Scout 3 (assuming LA buyoff) is very comparable. It loses 2d6 SA and a little skirmish, but adds 2 free feats, and if the +6 dex means that you hit with 1 additional attack/round, it actually does more damage (here assuming that you have a method of move+full attack for skirmish).

[Keld Denar]

Each of them takes a magic item slot: hands for gauntlets and claws, goggles for spectacles. They can be improved with essentia from an incarnum race or feats.

Only if you bind them to a Chakra, which you probably won't be doing, given that you won't have a Chakra bind unless you dip Incarnate. You can't shape more than one soulmeld to a given chakra slot, but ONLY when a meld is bound to a chakra does it interfere with a magic item slot. Reference MoI pages 50 and 51, specifically the sections on Melds and Chakras.

Two soulmelds can't be bound to the same chakra

When you bind a soulmeld to a chakra, it usually fuses to your body in the location corresponding to that chakra. It prevents you from gaining any benefit from a magic item that occupies the corresponding body slot.

So, taking Shape Soulmeld in NO way prohibits you from wearing a magic item. You couldn't, however, take Shape Soulmeld: Lightning Gauntlets AND Shape Soulmeld: Kruthik Claws, due to the fact that you can't shape 2 soulmelds to the same chakra. There is a difference between SHAPE and BIND.

[gorfnab]

Another rogue based prestige class to add would be Telfammar Shadowlord. It is especially nice when paired with a late level dip into swordsage for Shadow Jaunt/Stride/Blink

Also it gets even better for Whisper Gnome rogues. Magic in the Blood + Silencing Strike = 3 dead mages per day unless they have Silent Spell feat.

For builds, rogues are a solid base for dagger throwers.

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Human
1. Rogue - Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2. Swashbuckler - B:Weapon Finesse
3. Rogue - Two Weapon Fighting
4. Rogue - Penetrating Strike ACF (DS)
5. Swashbuckler
6. Swashbuckler - Craven
7. Fighter - Targeteer (Drag 310) - Vital Aim
8. Fighter - Targeteer - Far Shot
9. Swordsage - Shadow Blade, B: Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand
10. Swordsage - Assassins Stance
11. Master Thrower - B: Quick Draw
12. Master Thrower - Improved Two Weapon Fighting
13. Master Thrower
14. Master Thrower - B: Snatch Arrows
15. Master Thrower - Greater Two Weapon Fighting, B: Improved Critical
16. Invisible Blade
17. Invisible Blade
18. Invisible Blade - Rapid Shot
19. Invisible Blade
20. Invisible Blade

Strongheart Halfling
1. Rogue - Halfling Rogue (RotW) - Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2. Swashbuckler - B:Weapon Finesse
3. Rogue - Two Weapon Fighting
4. Rogue - Penetrating Strike ACF (DS)
5. Swashbuckler
6. Swashbuckler - Craven
7. Fighter - Targeteer (Drag 310) - Vital Aim
8. Fighter - Targeteer - Far Shot
9. Swordsage - Shadow Blade, B: Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand
10. Swordsage - Assassins Stance
11. Master Thrower - B: Quick Draw
12. Master Thrower - Improved Two Weapon Fighting
13. Master Thrower
14. Master Thrower - B: Snatch Arrows
15. Master Thrower - Greater Two Weapon Fighting, B: Improved Critical
16. Whisper Knife - B: Rapid Shot
17. Whisper Knife
18. Whisper Knife or Invisible Blade - Improved Precise Shot
19. Invisible Blade
20. Invisible Blade

For Targeteer exotic weapon proficiencies look into Desert Throwing Knife (Sandstorm), Halfling Skiprock (Rotw) or Drow Long Knife (SoX). For Master Thrower tricks I recommend Palm Throw, Two With One Blow, and Weak Spot.

Each build will get you BAB 18 for 16 daggers thrown per round (8 get sneak attack because of volley rules).

If you can take flaws that will open up space for Improved Precise Shot (human build), Twin Sword Style, Darkstalker, Surprising Riposte or other feats.

Also if your DM allows it try to see if you can do both the Targeteer Variant fighter along with the Hit-and-Run variant fighter (DotU).

[Math_Mage]

Is there a TWF handbook? I constantly see references to how TWF rogues are more optimized than other melee rogues, but never any details on how to actually optimize a TWF rogue.

[gorfnab]

Is there a TWF handbook? I constantly see references to how TWF rogues are more optimized than other melee rogues, but never any details on how to actually optimize a TWF rogue.

Normal rogues get 3 attacks per round while TWF tree rogues get 6 attacks per round. Basically it comes down to more attacks per round = more sneak attack damage. Feats for a TWF rogue are fairly easy. You'll want TWF, ITWF, GTWF, Weapon Finesse (or add Swashbuckler + Daring Outlaw), and Craven. And maybe think about taking 2 levels of Swordsage around level 9+ for Shadowblade and more sneak attack damage from Assassin's Stance. After that max out your dex and look into prestige classes and whatnot for more tricks and more ways to get sneak attack.

[Kaiyanwang]

OP, maybe I missed it and someone already said it, but what about the Scarlet Corsair from Stormwrack?

I liked the free action feint.. does some build with it exist?

[Curmudgeon]

Is there a TWF handbook? I constantly see references to how TWF rogues are more optimized than other melee rogues, but never any details on how to actually optimize a TWF rogue.

That's because Two-Weapon Fighting isn't actually a good idea for Rogues.

The theory is that more attacks = more opportunities for sneak attacks. However, this only works if all of the following are true:

• you actually get more attacks
• more attacks = more hits
• you survive

Two-Weapon Fighting only gives you more attacks when you can make a full attack; the rest of the time this feat does nothing for you. Getting those extra attacks requires that you don't need to use a move action in any round, so it's quite situation-dependent.

Choosing TWF reduces your chances of hitting in several ways:

• It applies at minimum a -2 penalty to all attacks.
• Using it either doubles your costs for weapons, or has you using weapons with lower enhancement (so even less likely to hit).
• Feat cost: Selecting Two-Weapon Fighting means you didn't select something that would provide greater benefits (like Knowledge Devotion, which increases both hit chance and damage). And the returns on further feats in the TWF tree are worse: same cost (1 feat), but less chance of hitting with each one.
• The ideal main hand Rogue weapon is the rapier. Off hand weapons Rogues are proficient with can't match the rapier's threat range, which means you'll make fewer critical hits. (Or you'll incur a -4 penalty using dual rapiers, or a feat cost for Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting instead.)
• At the start of every encounter you must be equipped with a ranged weapon, or waste vital chances to sneak attack flat-footed foes: once in the surprise round (if your Spot and Listen are good), and for a full attack in the first regular round. But Two-Weapon Fighting doesn't help if you use a two-handed ranged weapon, like a bow. So you'll only benefit from TWF if you throw things (or grab loaded hand crossbows, which amounts to the same thing). Every thrown weapon the Rogue is proficient with will incur a range penalty within the 30' sneak attack limit, so you're less likely to hit. Plus when you get to BAB +6 you'll need Quick Draw or you'll be unable to full attack with your thrown weapons: more feat cost.

Because you're going to make full attacks, you're probably going to be in melee a lot, and thus at greater risk of being killed by full counterattacks. (The other option is to take Quick Draw and throw javelins or use many hand crossbows. Though a safer approach, range penalties and poor threat ranges cause you to lose on both regular and critical hits.) Heavy melee combat means you'll want to increase your CON score, which isn't normally useful for the Rogue's class abilities. Boosting CON comes at the expense of some other ability that is useful to the class (like INT for more skill points, or WIS to boost Spot and Listen so you won't be surprised).

As I see it, Two-Weapon Fighting is an expensive trap for Rogues. It's just not worth it.

[gorfnab]

Another race to consider, if the DM allows it, is the Beguiler from Shining South. It gets a nice bonus to Dex and Int though takes a hit to Str, True Seeing, climb speed, and an insane bonus to Hide. It has natural attacks of claw, claw, bite, rake with Multiattack as a bonus feat. All this with +0 LA.

[Sliver]

Wouldn't taking a barbarian ACF dip for pounce help a TWF rogue? (or any other pounce...)

[ZeroNumerous]

Kind of surprised no one's mentioned Thri-Keen yet(from Expanded Psionics or Dark Sun). Who needs Dual-Wielding when you can Quad-Wield?

[Adumbration]

I've always liked the Silver Key prestige class. How would you rate it for rogues?

[Curmudgeon]

Wouldn't taking a barbarian ACF dip for pounce help a TWF rogue? (or any other pounce...)

Yes, it would help. The biggest limitation of Two-Weapon Fighting is that you can't move more than 5'. Being able to charge and then full attack is a big improvement.

On the down side, Barbarian/Rogue synergies are so-so. You get +¼ extra BAB (difference between full and 3/4), good hit points, martial weapon proficiencies, and a boost to Fortitude saves (though that's the least important one for a Rogue). But it costs you ½ die of sneak attack, 4 skill points, an inability to add any other base class past level 2 because of the multiclass XP penalties, and a delay of 1 level in getting to the Rogue special abilities (Skill Mastery, Crippling Strike).

[Greenish]

Only if you bind them to a Chakra, which you probably won't be doing, given that you won't have a Chakra bind unless you dip Incarnate. You can't shape more than one soulmeld to a given chakra slot, but ONLY when a meld is bound to a chakra does it interfere with a magic item slot. Reference MoI pages 50 and 51, specifically the sections on Melds and Chakras.

So, taking Shape Soulmeld in NO way prohibits you from wearing a magic item. You couldn't, however, take Shape Soulmeld: Lightning Gauntlets AND Shape Soulmeld: Kruthik Claws, due to the fact that you can't shape 2 soulmelds to the same chakra. There is a difference between SHAPE and BIND.

Ah, my bad. I'm not as well versed on Incarnum as I'd like to think.

[Sc00by]

That's because Two-Weapon Fighting isn't actually a good idea for Rogues.
...

I have to say that I had to take TWF to qualify for a prestige class (and I got rapid shot for free) and have used both exactly once.
In the really real world your 3rd (and 4th) attacks are marginal in terms of hitting at best, putting your 1st and 2nd attacks near those numbers is not a good thing. Focus on hitting (you don't do any damage if you can't actually hit the target) and hitting hard. Having 1 weapon means it can realistically be in the +7 or +8 category at higher levels without making the WBL table cry. Try having 2 of them?

Also I have a +5 buckler that stops working if I use my left arm to attack and that's 6 points of very neccessary AC (and there is just no room in any rogue build for improved buckler defense (especially if you have the whole TWF line) Even a 6 point power attack hurts.

Also where is the Barbarian ACF that gives pounce? I thought it was the Lion totem, but the versions I can find all give Run as the ACF @ 1st level?

Also:

I've always liked the Silver Key prestige class. How would you rate it for rogues?

You have to be a dwarf, which isn't that great and it doesn't advance sneak attack as far as I can see. Also you can't have ACFed away trapsense :(
But it looks like it would make a pretty decent skill monkey and has loads of 'fluff' or flavour if you prefer? :)

[Tytalus]

[*]Crippling Strike – It’s a no-save debuff that can really stack up after a few attacks. Can disable weaker enemies like archers/casters fairly quickly. Very nice.

In theory perhaps, but in practice that doesn't work.

For example, assume you want to "disable" the scrawny caster (STR 8). You need to land four sneak attacks on that poor chap. At this level, that's already at least 20D6 sneak attack damage alone (not counting weapon damage and any other bonuses at all) - only exceptional wizards will live long enough to to actually care about the strength damage. Archers will be even less impressed, since they often sport a higher strength than mages do.

In other words, CS works best if you get many sneak attack hits on a single creature. True, it stacks up nicely, but the sneak attack damage tends to kill things much faster than the STR damage disables them.

In practice, it serves as a minor debuff on tough melee enemies (where reduced STR does actually matter a little). It's not great, but it doesn't offer a save. In comparison, Staggering Strike results in a much better effect, for it really does cripple those affected (and being affected is not difficult despite the FORT save).

[*]Staggering Strike^CAdv – Potentially very useful versus boss monsters and even just melee brutes. It essentially Slows them, preventing full attacks each round that they’re affected by it. Allows a Fort save, which can be annoying, but it’s based on damage dealt, which can easily be through the roof, and you get multiple attacks so more chances to fail. Worthless against anything with Fast Healing though.

It's very useful against all kinds of opponents. For example it's also useful vs. spellcasters. Not only are they even more likely to be affected, it prevents them from casting an moving or 5ft.-stepping and casting. In essence, if they want to cast, they'll have to stay next to you, setting you up for a full attack next round. Unless they spend a spell to get out of trouble, which is also a success - that's a spell wasted that isn't used to influence the battle otherwise.

And for the record, it is not worthless vs. Fast Healing. The staggering condition is overcome only by a Heal check or magical healing (see feat description). Fast Healing generally is neither (Vigor spells and certain magic items are a rare exception).

It's a truly great payoff for a single feat, as it triggers on all your sneak attacks automatically without wasting extra actions. That's why it's generally considered an excellent choice for melee rogues.

[Amphetryon]

Samurai and Hexblade could use some mention in the multiclassing section. Both provide better HD and CHA-focused abilities, with CHA being arguably better for a Rogue to raise than STR. A Samurai dip gets you free TWF - for those who disagree with Curmudgeon's analysis - while Hexblade's Curse ability softens up opponents nicely for your team if you're using Mearls' suggested fix.

[Tytalus]

If I wanted archery, I might go rogueX/scout3 with swift ambusher, netting me full skirmish and almost full sneak attack progression. A rogue17/scout3 does +9d6SA and +5d6 skirmish (or +7d6 with improved skirmish).

That is good, but Marrulurk Rogue 14/Scout 3 (assuming LA buyoff) is very comparable. It loses 2d6 SA and a little skirmish, but adds 2 free feats, and if the +6 dex means that you hit with 1 additional attack/round, it actually does more damage (here assuming that you have a method of move+full attack for skirmish).

Actually, the Marrulurk does exactly the same SA damage as the Runestar's archer - not less (Gnaeus forgot the racial +2D6 SA), and the same skirmish damage (he's missing only a measly +1 skirmish AC).

Given vastly superior ability mods, better HD, two free feats and a couple of minor abilities, how is that not clearly better than Runestar's suggestion?

[Ravens_cry]

Is there any rogue PRC that gets smite? If not, any rogue/paladin synergy feats? Such as levels in paladin levels stacking for sneak attack or visa the versa?

[Amphetryon]

Is there any rogue PRC that gets smite? If not, any rogue/paladin synergy feats? Such as levels in paladin levels stacking for sneak attack or visa the versa?

Shadowbane Inquisitor is the default Paladin/Rogue PrC. Smites at 2nd, 6th, and 10th.

[Il_Vec]

Also where is the Barbarian ACF that gives pounce? I thought it was the Lion totem, but the versions I can find all give Run as the ACF @ 1st level?

It is the Lion Spirit Totem Barbarian found on Complete Champion.

[Curmudgeon]

Is there any rogue PRC that gets smite? If not, any rogue/paladin synergy feats? Such as levels in paladin levels stacking for sneak attack or visa the versa?

No, nothing like that. There is one multiclassing feat that ought to be added, though: Sacred Outlaw (from Dragon # 357), which stacks Cleric and Rogue levels for sneak attack and undead turning. Since sneak attack is a stronger ability than undead turning, this typically is used in a mostly-(Cloistered) Cleric build (Rogue 3/Cloistered Cleric X).