[Wids]

Well, I suppose that if you took Improved Critical: Kukri and found a pair of Keen kukris, you would be pretty well off. That's pretty much one of my characters' secret of success, only she wields a single Keen rapier instead of a pair of kukris. And she still lands Crits like a maniac (on a d6 Damage die, at that).

But it still seems like the shortsword is still on par with the kukri; your Crit range shrinks to 15-20 (from the kukri's range of 12-20), but you gain a d6 Damage die instead of a d4, so each Crit deals 2-12 base Damage rather than 2-8. So I have to wonder if the kukri's really all that much better than the shortsword...better enough to justify taking Exotic Weapon Proficiency, that is.*

Man, I wish I'd applied myself better in high school Statistics and Probability class. Gotta crunch some numbers and figure out which one does more harm in the long run. Not that Rogues or any other "glass cannon" Classes should be getting themselves into prolonged fights, of course....

(Know what would really be nice? Magic items which give Barbarian Speed, Monk Speed or higher running speed in general. I've had some success playing the whole guerilla ambush game (Hide and wait, Sneak Attack when the enemy comes by, run away, round a corner and break line of sight, Stealth Mode, stop running and wait, Sneak Attack when the enemy chasing you comes by, run away...), but that only works on enemies who don't run very fast.)


* Of course, if you're from a Small character race, dual-wielded kukris outshine dual-wielded shortswords any day. -2 to hit is plenty more sufferable than -4 is, right?