Ninja of Crescent Moon or Shao Disciple?

[fbmf]

Player of mine has a straight rogue that he wants to also be good in a straight fight, a la Batman. I think "Batman", when he has to straight fight, can do so because his levell is so much higher than the CR he is facing.

Anyway, the guys initial thought was to go further into Monk, but I'm trying to talk him out of that. If he has to deviate from Rogue (He is currently Rogue 10/Monk 1, Human) I'd rather see him go Shao Disciple, which is Monk-like but where the damage is only five levels long, or into NotCM where he can at least carry on his rogue sneak attack. (I think. IDHMBIFOM.)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Game On,
fbmf

[The_Hanged_Man]

Why did he take monk in the 1st place? Might make it easier to see what fits his PC concept.

[Username17]

When you come down to it, Rogue levels make you pretty good in combat, and Monk Levels honestly don't. So I'm a little at a loss as to why he doesn't just take more Rogue levels.

-Username17

[fbmf]

Me too. But work with me here. He is pretty much determined to do this, and I at least want to give him the lesser of two evils.

Hanged Man, a darker Batman, sort of a Riddick-type is his goal. He took the level of monk for the flurry so he can do real damage sneak attacks with his bare hands for lethal damage.

Game On,
fbmf

[The_Hanged_Man]

Got it. Here's a thought for you. I like Shao a lot better than NotCM, but the SA progression is pretty hard to miss out on. WOuld you let the player take the PrC, and let him blow a feat or some class skill to get SA?

[fbmf]

My initial reaction is "no", but, then again, if he is willing to blow a feat on an extra d6 of sneak attack, what can I say?

So what if I was? You think SD then?

Game On,
fbmf

[The_Hanged_Man]

The thing is, that level of monk really gimps him, and adding to it w/ monk PrC's just adds to it. Just IMO, I'd add something to SD.

[Maj]

If the monkish route must be taken, then I'd probably go with Shou Disciple and substitute SA dice for the bonus feats (page 58 of Unearthed Arcana implies that each die of sneak attack is worth a Fighter's bonus feat).

[Username17]

(page 58 of Unearthed Arcana implies that each die of sneak attack is worth a Fighter's bonus feat).

Thus implying that on some level they understand how many toes to the pants the Core Fighter gets.

-Username17

[fbmf]

I think he's going to stick with Rogue from now on, but I appreciate the input.

Game On,
fbmf