D&D 5E Mike Mearl's Rogue Acrobat

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Elon Tusk

Explorer

• Dec 20, 2018

• #1

My group is 4th level, currently with a Rogue/Thief in Waterdeep.
We had a new player join that wanted to try Mike Mearl's new Rogue/Acrobat: https://thinkdm.wordpress.com/hfh/acrobat-rogue/

At one point they got into a chase; the acrobat thought he could use the Aerial Artistry to escape onto a rooftop, but the thief used Second-story Work to follow, the bonus 5' of movement actually letting him gain on the acrobat.

I realize Aerial Artistry can allow a PC to jump over pits or fly up to unclimbable heights, but in most instance Second Story Work seems to be its equal, and the thief also gains the Fast Hands feature at 3rd making the acrobatics quite disappointing.

At 9th, Thief gets advantage on Stealth while Acrobat is immune to falling damage. These are probably equal, given that falling is more situational than be stealthy.

At 13th, thief gets to use magic items. An acrobat gains Freedom of Movement. I guess this one depends on how many magic items the DM includes.

at 17th, the thief gets an extra turn at the beginning of combat. An Acrobat can "make 4 short movement by flying." I'm not sure if this is giving the Acrobat more movement or how this works so it's hard to compare.

Anyone else have thoughts?

 

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The Crimson Binome

Hero

• Dec 20, 2018

• #2

I would think that the big benefit is the ability to move past your teammates at full speed, by going over them, at the start of combat. It should make it easier to set up your initial positioning, which can otherwise be a major hassle.

 

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Elon Tusk

Explorer

• Dec 20, 2018

• #3

Saelorn said:

I would think that the big benefit is the ability to move past your teammates at full speed, by going over them, at the start of combat. It should make it easier to set up your initial positioning, which can otherwise be a major hassle.

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That's not something I had considered.
However, many if not most of these encounters for our group, happen at a doorway so flying ahead is not an option.

 

doctorbadwolf

Heretic of The Seventh Circle

• Dec 21, 2018

• #4

Does moving through allied space take extra movement?

Anyway, the acrobat can completely ignore terrain, so while the thief can gain on them in pure climbing, they will quickly fall behind in difficult terrain. The acrobat can just jump over hazards, as well.

But still, they could use an extra benefit, like being able to use SA with staves, and unarmed attacks. Maybe a speed bonus while using their acrobatic thingy?

 

SkidAce

Legend

Supporter

• Dec 21, 2018

• #5

Hmmm, Aerial Artistry for my monk....

 

Jester David

Hero

• Dec 21, 2018

• #6

Most of the Happy Hour subclasses are pretty rough. I'd be pretty hesitant to allow them without rereading and revising. They're unedited and pretty much lose concepts of vague degrees of balance.

 

Charlaquin

Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)

• Dec 21, 2018

• #7

Ugh, that “X short movements by flying” wording is awful. I get what it’s trying to accomplish, but what a horribly inelegant and unclear way to phrase that. If Mike Mearls didn’t have an irrational fear of bonus actions, I’d say just straight-up give the Acrobat an actual fly speed and let them use it with their Cunning Action. The absurd linguistic gymnastics he has to do to make these features work without bonus actions should be a clear indication why removing them from the game would be a terrible idea.

Oh, also, with the immunity to fall damage feature, you can totally abuse this for an extra 2d6 damage per round. Just jump the 15 feet straight up, end your movement in the air, and fall on your opponent. Twice. Or four times if you have that feature.

 

Ralif Redhammer

Legend

• Dec 21, 2018

• #8

It still seems a work-in-progress, but I like some of the ideas. The class has a giant amount of mobility. Like, being able to essentially fly up, get out of melee range, then use ranged attacks is pretty cool. And the no-falling thing opens up all sorts of craziness. But it also seems really dependent on player creativity and the right situations coming up.

For my part, I’d put the immunity to falling damage earlier on, but have it start at something small, like 20’, and scale upwards as you level.

 

Jester David

Hero

• Dec 21, 2018

• #9

Charlaquin said:

Ugh, that “X short movements by flying” wording is awful. I get what it’s trying to accomplish, but what a horribly inelegant and unclear way to phrase that. If Mike Mearls didn’t have an irrational fear of bonus actions, I’d say just straight-up give the Acrobat an actual fly speed and let them use it with their Cunning Action. The absurd linguistic gymnastics he has to do to make these features work without bonus actions should be a clear indication why removing them from the game would be a terrible idea.

Oh, also, with the immunity to fall damage feature, you can totally abuse this for an extra 2d6 damage per round. Just jump the 15 feet straight up, end your movement in the air, and fall on your opponent. Twice. Or four times if you have that feature.

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He uses Bonus Actions quite a bit in Happy Fun Hour. He doesn't LIKE them as a design, and thinks he could do better, but still acknowledges that they're part of the game.

But, yeah, that wording is awful. Almost as if he wrote the entire thing live on the air over the course of a single hour and didn't stop to edit or revise and just got down the first phrasing he thought of.

 

Parmandur

Book-Friend

• Dec 21, 2018

• #10

Mearls has walked back his distaste for bonus actions: his issue is with two-weapon fighting exclusively now, and how it interacts with class features such as Cunning Action or Rage.