Making the ideal coward in 3.5

[whisperwind1]

Well, if you have a monk/swashbuckler who is tanking well, then your group must be really low-op (or the monk is really high-op). I suggest burning a few caster levels to keep your op-level low.

I'm guessing you mean optimization? Because as a rule my group doesn't go too crazy with that (although all of them try to be relatively cheesy in their assigned roll). I think the monk rolls with Vow of Poverty to get the super high AC. Are you suggesting that i hold back on optimizing my character? Honestly i'm not very good at optimizing to begin with (and find it rather distasteful, like min-maxing).

[Flickerdart]

Be a Community domain Cleric. Cast Greater Status on your friends. Now you can sit at home where it's safe and upload buff spells to them at any range.

[Rubik]

I'm guessing you mean optimization?

Yeah.

Because as a rule my group doesn't go too crazy with that (although all of them try to be relatively cheesy in their assigned roll). I think the monk rolls with Vow of Poverty to get the super high AC.

Oh. Ow. Yeah, you're definitely a low-op group (or you don't get any WBL to speak of).

Are you suggesting that i hold back on optimizing my character? Honestly i'm not very good at optimizing to begin with (and find it rather distasteful, like min-maxing).

Optimizing just means making decisions that make you better at what you do and the game more fun for you. If you find making a useful and fun character distasteful, I kind of feel sorry for you, honestly. Having fun is important to you as a player, and being useful means you're not a drag on the group (and you, as a player, are never stuck twiddling your tumbs for long periods of time in-game, as I can't imagine that's fun, either).

[KingAtomsk]

A bunch of the Skill Tricks from Complete Scoundrel will help you be more mobile, and give you some options in combat that fit the distraction/dirty fighting archetype.

[Troacctid]

The very first character I ever played was a pacifistic Bard who was... I wouldn't say cowardly, but he was extremely skittish. I was still learning the system at the time, and one of the first things I learned is that Dimension Door is an amazing "Nope!" button. As soon as initiative was rolled, my Bard would say "Screw this, let's get out of here," and teleport the party out of danger. Then we would either shrug, walk away, and pursue some other objective, or sneak back in to fight from a more advantageous position, e.g. one where the Druid has had a couple extra rounds to summon a few dinosaurs.

Anyway, it turns out Bards actually make pretty great cowards because they naturally excel at non-combat situations, which leads them to naturally want to avoid combat. Furthermore, even if they do end up in combat, their natural inclination is to stay in the back and let the rest of the party fight while they play support. I didn't intend for my character to be a coward, but that ended up being how he played out.

My recommendation? Play a Beguiler. They have everything Bards have that makes for a great cowardly character, but with more focus on spells, and spells are great.