Premade Character: Rogue Medic

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Player Character: Rogue Medic

So, today's blog entry is a ready to use character for 2nd edition—a rogue who happens to be a medic. This build is capable of very efficient out-of-combat healing, thanks to very generous Medicine rules (healing 2d8 points of damage takes 10 minutes, and can be repeated every hour, in mean time you can take care of wounds of other part members easily, while the rest is taking their time to Refocus). It can also provide healing in combat with a single action, though it can be done only once per target every 24 hours.

Twilight heritage was picked to provide low-light vision. Thief racket to allow adding Dex bonus to damage and bypass poor damage potential of low Strength.

Rogue Medic
Ancestry Twilight Halfling
Class Rogue (Thief Racket)
Background Field Medic
Ability Scores Strength 8 (–1), Dexterity 18 (+4), Constitution 14 (+2), Intelligence 12 (+1), Wisdom 16 (+3), Charisma 10 (+0)

Armor Class 17 (+4 Dex, +3 trained)
Saving Throws Fortitude +5 (+2 Con, +3 trained), Reflex +9 (+4 Dex, +5 expert), Will +8 (+3 Wis, +5 expert)
Hit Points 16
Speed 25 feet

Perception +8 (+3 Wis, +5 expert); Senses low-light vision
Skills Acrobatics +7 (+4 Dex, +3 trained), Athletics +2 (–1 Str, +3 trained), Deception +3 (+3 trained), Diplomacy +3 (+3 trained), Lore (Warfare) +4 (+1 Int, +3 trained), Medicine +6 (+3 Wis, +3 trained), Nature +6 (+3 Wis, +3 trained), Religion +6 (+3 Wis, +3 trained), Society +4 (+1 Int, +3 trained), Stealth +7 (+4 Dex, +3 trained), Survival +6 (+3 Wis, +3 trained), Thievery +7 (+4 Dex, +3 trained)
Languages Common, Halfling, one additional language

Ancestry Feat Halfling Luck
Background Feat Battle Medicine
Class Feat Nimble Dodge
Skill Feat Assurance (Medicine)

Other Abilities Keen Eyes, Sneak Attack 1d6, Surprise Attack

Melee shortsword +7 (1d6+3); Traits agile, finesse, versatile S
Melee dagger +7 (1d4+3); Traits agile, finesse, thrown 10 ft., versatile S
Ranged dagger +7 (1d4+3); Traits agile, finesse, thrown 10 ft., versatile S

Gear shortsword, 5 daggers, explorer's clothing, adventurer's pack, healer's tools, thieves' tools

Advancement
2nd level—increase hit points by 10 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Medicine rank to expert (which increases its proficiency bonus by 2 more). Select Continual Recovery skill feat and Minor Magic class feat, with shield and stabilize gained as divine spells.

At this level, when you Treat Wounds or use Battle Medicine feat, you can automatically succeed the DC 15 Medicine check thanks to the Assurance feat, healing 2d8 hit points without risk, or you can roll the die, with results of 6 or more healing 2d8, and result of 16 or more healing 4d8 points of damage. Alternatively, you can decide to make a check against DC 20, hoping to get 11 or more on the dice, and heal 2d8+10 points of damage or 4d8+10 on natural 20. Either way, rolling natural 1 deals 1d8 point of damage to the patient.

3rd level—increase hit points by 10 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Thievery rank to expert (which increases its proficiency bonus by 2 more). Select Toughness general feat (increasing your hit points by 3 more) and Ward Medic skill feat. Gain Deny Advantage ability.

You can treat two patients with Treat Disease and Treat Wounds, allowing you to put the rest of the party on their feet faster.

4th level—increase hit points by 11 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Stealth rank to expert (which increases its proficiency bonus by 2 more). Select Hefty Hauler skill feat and Quick Draw class feat.

Now you can carry more without getting encumbered and you can draw weapon and strike in a single action, an important ability as using your Battle Medic requires two free hands to handle the healer's tools.

5th level—increase Dexterity by 1, and Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom by 2. Increase hit points by 16 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Crafting rank and proficiency with simple weapons, rapier, sap, shortsword, and shortbow to expert (which increases their proficiency bonuses by 2 more). Select Distracting Shadows ancestry feat and Robust Recovery skill feat.

6th level—increase hit points by 12 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Acrobatics rank to expert (which increases its proficiency bonus by 2 more). Select Cat Fall skill feat and Light Step class feat.

At this level, your Assurance feat allows you to meet DC 20 with your Medicine checks without rolling. If you are desperate for a lot of healing (or have a lot of bonuses) you might try to roll anyway, hoping to get 16 or more and heal 4d8+10, with regular 2d8+10 healing provided on a roll of 6 or more.

7th level—increase hit points by 12 and all proficiency bonuses by 1. Increase Medicine rank to master (which increases its proficiency bonus by 2 more). Select Diehard general feat and Multilingual skill feat (or whatever). Gain evasion, vigilant senses, and weapon specialization abilities, improving your proficiency rank with Perception and Reflex saves to master.

With Medicine at master rank, you can try to beat DC of 30 to heal 2d8+30 hit points with single check. Your bonus with Medicine skill should be +17 +18 (you bought yourself better healer's tools, didn't you?) meaning that you can hit that DC with a roll of 12... And you can re-roll a failed skill check or a saving throw once per day if you have to.

Congratulations, by now you should have better practical knowledge of this build than me.

A few observations... General feats are crap. Selecting among them is a very meh process, as  they are very limited in number and rather underwhelming. Selecting skill feats is not that stellar either, though they are not as bad as general feats (even if only by virtue of their numbers)—some of them are interesting, some of them are fitting specific builds, other are useful in specific circumstances. Still, some of the choices felt forced as some levels had no really fitting choices.

Reduced number of skills feels underwhelming for rogues as well—they already start game being trained in more than half of the skills, and it is not hard to make a rogue character that is trained in almost all skills at 1st level. In fact, a human rogue with Intelligence 16, skilled heritage, natural skill ancestry feat, and scoundrel racket would run out of non-Lore skills to pick. On the other hand, that number of skills might work much better (or even feel to be too much) for other classes that don't get so many skill increases.