I just built a TWF finessed rogue, and while I like his live-dangerously/sporadic-dps play style, I think I prefer my first character, a halfling spellsinger rapier+shield finessed. I think one of the key differences is the fact that, as a bard in combat, I'm not just choosing how to hit the monster (as a fighter does) or which spell to zap the monster with (as a wizard does) or how to distribute the healing (as a cleric does); I have to choose whether to attack or cast an offensive spell or heal. Granted, I'm mediocre at all the aforementioned tasks, but I can do them in a pinch, and I get some awesome buffing abilities.

All that said, I will at some point want to build another support character. There's nothing wrong with my bard or rogue; I'll just want some variety. I'm looking for suggestions and/or builds. I could throw together most possible pairs of classes and make something that could do a variety of stuff, but it would probably feel gimped at medium to high levels if not built with a particular specialty in mind. That seems to be the way this game works-- pick one or two things to do extremely well, and dump everything you can (money, feats, enhancements...) into those one or two things.

What are my options here? I considered rolling a pure ranger, as such a character could be good at combat and yet able to do a little bit of healing and buffing, but I suspect there's a more exciting hybrid build out there. My only other criteria are that it can't be a dwarf (for aesthetic reasons) and it can't play exactly the same as my bard.