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A Knife in the Dark, A Rogues Handbook
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<blockquote data-quote="clutchbone" data-source="post: 6704050" data-attributes="member: 98332"><p><strong><u>7. Roguish Archetypes</u></strong></p><p><strong>Thief</strong></p><p>The Thief is your stereotypical rogue archetype with bonuses to stealing, climbing, and sneaking, as well as granting the old favorite Use Magic Device and the awesome Thief's Reflexes. While this archetype is stronger at higher levels rather than low, on the whole its effectiveness is about average when compared to the other options. Can't go wrong with it.</p><p>[sblock=Thief Features]</p><p><strong>Fast Hands</strong>: Expanding your Cunning Action to cover Sleight of Hand, thieves' tools, and Use an Object actions. A DM may or may not let you pickpocket during a fight, although you may find using objects like ball bearings, poisons or potions as a bonus action to be handy. Works also with pouring oil, but not splashing it on someone as that's an attack roll (debated; ask your DM). Works very well with the <span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Healer feat</strong></span>. See the sidebar on p.190 in the PHB for a non-inclusive list of other potential actions.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Second Story Work</span></strong>: The need to climb fast rarely comes up. The jumping bonus is so bad it might be broken: an extra 1-5 feet with 12-20 Dex only gets you 1 extra square, if you're using a map & minis, and is nigh-useless in the Theatre of the Mind playstyle.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ffff"><strong>Supreme Sneak</strong></span>: Advantage on stealth is fantastic, even at half speed, because the risks of a failed stealth check are often fairly dangerous. Wood Elves and Lightfoot Halflings especially will love this.</p><p></p><p><strong>Use Magic Device</strong>: With magic items being rarer in 5e than in the past, there might not be many extra wands of fireball lying around for you to use. Still, few things are as frustrating as finding a magic item that no one in your party can use, so this helps with that.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Thief's Reflexes</span></strong>: Taking two turns is fantastic, and unlike Assassinate it works no matter how badly you roll your Initiative. Depending on the spread of rolls it's possible for you to get two turns in a row (ie if you go last normally, or if you're first and everyone else rolled terribly), potentially letting you Sneak Attack both times! [/sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Assassin</strong></span></p><p>This is your "finish the fight before it even starts" class, specializing in surprise round damage and disguise-type abilities. Personally, this archetype is a bit of a disappointment, but I imagine many players will pick it either because of a preoccupation with theoretical damage totals, or simply because being an assassin just sounds cool.</p><p>[sblock=Assassin Features]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Bonus Proficiencies</strong></span>: The only worthwhile use of the poisoner's kit is harvesting poison from dead monsters. Crafting takes too long and the off-the-shelf prices (if you can find a black market dealer that sells them) are too high for poisons to be practical otherwise. The Disguise Kit has its own issues; the rules regarding its use are ambiguous at best. Please see the "Non-Class Tools" section for more info.</p><p></p><p><strong>Assassinate</strong>: Excellent combat opener - but that's all it is, a once-per-encounter ability that you often don't even get the chance to use. To make this work you've got to be stealthy (so you can surprise them) and perceptive (so no one surprises you), and make sure you Sneak Attack first and ask questions later! Assassins need darkvision, maxed initiative, attack, and stealth bonuses, the Alert feat, and multiple attack rolls (via two-weapon fighting, Crossbow Expert, etc) to make the most of this... as well as teammates that won't kick in the door before you're in position.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Infiltration Expertise</strong></span>: First, taking 7 days of downtime is a luxury that most campaigns can't afford, especially with pre-built campaigns. Second, you can't mimic an existing npc. Third, this is a great way to get separated from your party and die. Best case scenario is you leave the other players to play on their iPhones while you have a solo adventure, unless you can repeatedly find ways to sneak them in with you. ie "Hi, I'm a high ranking evil guy you've never heard of, arriving unannounced to inspect your evil lair. Please let me in, and also my friends too. Don't worry, they're cool."</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Imposter</span></strong>: This explicitly doesn't work with Infiltration Expertise, which is dumb. Also, it'll be hard to gain 3 hours studying anybody besides your party members outside of the stereotypical Fancy Masquerade or a long boat ride or something.</p><p></p><p><strong>Death Strike</strong>: This doubles ALL your damage, Sneak Attack, crit dice, static modifiers, poison, hex, whatever. You just have to make sure that 1) you surprise them, 2) you don't miss, and 3) the target fails it's Con save. Great in theory, probably rarely executed (tee hee hee) in practice. This works well with Stroke of Luck (if you ever end up playing at 20th level as a full-classed Assassin). [/sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Arcane Trickster</strong></span></p><p>Although the Arcane Trickster doesn't have the same damage dealing potential as some other Archetypes, it also doesn't have any truly bad features either. Since this archetype has two stats to keep up (Dex & Int), Arcane Tricksters have less space for feats. You'll often want to keep one hand free for spellcasting, so stick with either a rapier or hand crossbow, and don't invest in two-weapon fighting.</p><p>[sblock=Arcane Trickster Features]</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Spellcasting</strong></span>: 1/3 spellcasting (as opposed to 1/2 casters like paladins and full casters like wizards) means you only get up to 4th level spells, although most players will only see spell levels 1-3. Still, the spells that you do get are great at making a Rogue's life easier. It's possible to dump Int and focus spells without saves or attack rolls (ie buffs, illusions), but not recommended as Magical Ambush and Spell Thief will suffer and your spell list isn't that large. After all, you only get to choose from Enchantment and Illusion spells (excluding cantrips and 1 spell each at 1st, 8th, 14th and 20th level) from the Wizard spell list, so you don't want to miss out on goodies like <em>suggestion</em>.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Mage Hand Legermain</strong></span>: A nice buff for a fun cantrip. Not having to risk your personal safety while pick-pocketing or disabling traps is great. Doing it as a bonus action is even better. Since <em>mage hand</em> is non-concentration, you can cast <em>mage hand</em> and then <em>invisibility</em> for maximum 1-minute mischief! You'll probably want to choose sleight of hand for one of your expertise skills to maximize this feature.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Magical Ambush</strong></span>: The other Archetypes get damage openers, you get this. This actually might be more useful since you can use it multiple times per encounter. Imposing disadvantage on a couple of <em>suggestions</em> for example can turn a deadly encounter into a cakewalk.</p><p></p><p><strong>Versatile Trickster</strong>: A decent, if situational, source of automatic advantage and another nice buff for your mage hand. Note that this bonus action competes with Cunning Action (which includes moving the hand). If you have the Crossbow Expert feat, you will likely be using that bonus action instead.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spell Thief</strong>: This functions as an alternative to counterspell. I wanted to rate this higher but unless mages in your campaign world run around shouting "lightning bolt!" your DM might require an Arcana check to determine what spell is being cast on you (eg if it is 4th level or lower), and that skill is not on your class list. Also, it's only once per long rest.[/sblock]</p><p><strong>Spells</strong></p><p>Tips for Picking Spells:</p><p>Sneak Attack does not work with cantrips (except a few from SCAG) or spells, so if you want to do damage just use a weapon.</p><p>You have an extremely limited number of spells, so try to pick ones that will see a lot of use rather than ones that are situational. You can't afford to pick niche spells.</p><p>Many spells of the same level compete with each other (ie <em>color spray</em> vs <em>sleep</em>, <em>blur</em> vs <em>mirror image</em>, <em>crown of madness</em> vs <em>hold person</em> vs <em>phantasmal</em> <em>force</em> vs <em>suggestion)</em>, so don't bog down your spell list with four different spells that all boil down to "lock down a single target".</p><p></p><p>[sblock=Cantrips]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Acid Splash </em></span></strong>[Conjuration] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. RAW, you can only target creatures, not objects, so no melting locks or ropes.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Blade Ward </em></span></strong>[Abjuration] (V,S) – 1 action, range self, for resistance against physical damage only, and it only lasts 1 round? No thanks.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Chill Touch</em></span></strong> [Necromancy] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Dancing Lights</em></span></strong> [Evocation] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Concentration is bad. Creating magical floating torches isn’t a terrible choice, but it isn’t a good one either.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Fire Bolt </em></span></strong>[Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. If you want to start fires just throw a regular torch or use prestidigitation.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Friends </em></strong>[Enchantment] (S,M; Concentration) – Restricting the target to a non-hostile creature and turning the target hostile afterwards are major detriments to an otherwise powerful cantrip, but it works great when you’re disguised as someone else.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong><em>Light </em></strong></span>[Evocation] (V,M) – This doesn’t require concentration, and you can use it offensively to mark a creature, but there are still better choices.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ffff"><strong><em>Mage Hand</em></strong> </span>[Conjuration] (V,S) – It comes standard with Arcane Trickster and works with your class features.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong><em>Mending</em></strong></span> [Transmutation] (V,S,M) – Too situational to take up one of your slots, although you might be able use it to fix broken doors, locks or windows that got damaged during a burglary.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Message</em></span></strong> [Transmutation] (V,S,M) – Two-way secret communication with a range of 120 ft is very useful. You don't even need to know where the target is, exactly. "Somewhere that way, behind one of those bushes?" is good enough. Perfect for coordinating ambushes, jailbreaks, stealth missions, etc, or for just freaking out an NPC as the target doesn't automatically know who - or what - is whispering in it's ear.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong><em>Minor Illusion</em></strong> </span>[Illusion] (S,M) – According to the Sage Advice column, this cantrip can either recreate a sound (including complex sounds like voices) or the image of a solid object, but not the image of a creature or an atmospheric effect like fog, and the image cannot be animated or be moved around. The creature part bugs me ("Fine, I create an image of a 'expertly sculpted and painted statue of a goblin'. Happy?"); it's weird that you can recreate a creature's voice but not its looks. Anyways, as always with illusions, effectiveness depends on player creativity and DM permissiveness. One solid use is creating a fake rock to hide in; casters can see through their own illusions, so it's great for ambushes.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Poison Spray</em></span></strong> [Conjuration] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong><em>Prestidigitation</em> </strong></span>[Transmutation] (V,S) – For me, this one is too much fun to pass up. Soil a rival's pants at a party (and then ambush him when he goes to change!), mark a target’s back for easy following in a crowd, flavor your fighter’s rations to taste like poop and yours to taste like fine cuisine, sell some pebbles to your fighter that taste like fine cuisine, clean off mud or blood from your clothes (if your DM won’t let you clean yourself 1 cubic foot at a time, then just take off your clothes and scrunch them into a ball), etc. There's so much fun to be had!</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Ray of Frost</em></span></strong> [Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Shocking Grasp</em> </span></strong>[Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. You have Cunning Action to disengage anyways.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong><em>True Strike</em></strong></span> [Divination] (S; Concentration) – This seems good, but the fact that it takes a whole action means that you can’t attack this turn, and you might lose the spell if your concentration breaks. Hiding with Cunning Action is a simpler method to get advantage without wasting your actions or cantrip selection. [/sblock][sblock=Cantrips, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide]<span style="color: #00ffff"><strong><em>Booming Blade</em> </strong></span>[Evocation] (V,M) Hey, a cantrip that uses a melee attack with a weapon! You can Sneak Attack with this! Hit an enemy and they take thunder damage if they move. Pairs wonderfully with Cunning Action (Disengage), and even better with Fancy Footwork if you can find a way to give a Swashbuckler a cantrip. Thematically, "booming" anything seems kinds anti-Rogue and a no-go for stealth missions, but mechanically it's pretty awesome; it isn't even hampered by a weak Int score. Requires the Cast a Spell action, so can’t be used with opportunity attacks, two-weapon fighting, Extra Attack, etc. FYI, the Spell Sniper feat doubles this cantrip's range to 10ft, allowing reach with a whip.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00FFFF"><strong><em>Greenflame Blade</em> </strong></span>[Evocation] (V,M) Hey, a cantrip that uses a melee attack with a weapon! You can Sneak Attack with this! Hit an enemy and spray fire on a second adjacent enemy. Fire is more commonly resisted than Booming Blade's thunder, but this is still great. Benefits from your Int mod, and requires the Cast a Spell action, so can’t be used with opportunity attacks, two-weapon fighting, Extra Attack, etc. FYI, the Spell Sniper feat doubles this cantrip's range to 10ft, allowing reach with a whip.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Lightning Lure</em> </span></strong>[Evocation] (V) – Damage spell, so avoid. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Sword Burst</em> </span></strong>[Conjuration] (V) – Damage spell, so avoid. [/sblock][sblock=1st level spells]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Charm Person</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,S) – No concentration is good, although the target knowing it was charmed by you is bad. This can be used as an effective ambush spell, but otherwise don’t use it during combat. You can use this on a captured enemy as you are no longer fighting it, eliminating the need for interrogations. Also, it doesn’t necessarily know that you tried to charm it if it makes its save. Initial save only.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong><em>Color Spray</em></strong></span> [Illusion] (V,S,M) – This is good, but <em>sleep</em> is better. While this affects more hp, both the range and duration are shorter and you won't get to Sneak Attack the blinded targets before this wears off.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Disguise Self </em></strong>[Illusion] (V,S) – This is okay, but it won’t make a small Trickster look medium, or vice versa, and you can also just use a disguise kit.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Illusory Script</em></span> </strong>[Illusion] (S,M; Ritual, Expensive Components) – This is way to situational.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Silent Image</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Like <em>minor illusion</em> except this is much bigger and you can move it. Have fun!</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff"><em>Sleep</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,S,M) - Your best combat spell at low levels, affecting an average of 22.5 hp as a 1st level spell with no save, and an additional ~9 hp for every slot higher (for a max of ~58.5 hp). You’ll probably want to retrain this out around level 5.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Tasha's Hideous Laughter</em> </span></strong>[Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) - Prone and incapacitated are powerful conditions (Sneak Attack!), although the target gets to make a save each turn and another save (with advantage) each time it’s damaged, so it won’t last long. Additional saves can be triggered by damage.[/sblock][sblock=2nd level spells]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080"><em>Blur </em></span></strong>[Illusion] (V; Concentration) – Concentration on a defensive spell? So I can't cast other concentration spells and if I get hit I might lose the buff? <em>Mirror image</em> is better.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080"><em>Crown of Madness</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,S; Concentration) – This is useless if the target isn't adjacent to another enemy, and it takes up your action on subsequent turns. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Hold Person</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) – <em>Suggestion</em> has more utility and doesn’t allow a save each turn. However, auto-crit on Sneak Attack dice is very sweet. This is better if someone else casts it; at least then you might attack before the target has a chance to roll it's save again.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Invisibility</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Redeem for one Sneak Attack.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Magic mouth</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M; Expensive Components) – Way too situational.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff"><em>Mirror image</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S) – Yes please. Unlike <em>blur</em> this doesn't require concentration, although it does involve a bit of bookkeeping to track.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Nystul's magic aura</em> </span></strong>[Illusion] (V,S,M) – Way too situational.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Phantasmal Force</em></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) - <em>Suggestion</em> is better. Also, this spell suffers from too much TL;DR for a "take out one enemy" spell.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff"><em>Suggestion</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,M; Concentration) – Take out one enemy (“It's too hot to fight in plate armor, you should take it off and put it away”) or even two (“your buddy is making a mistake, grapple him before he hurts himself!”) that understands you for up to 8 hours. Initial save only. Some actions break spell, and the suggestion must "sound reasonable". Incredible utility, both in and out of combat.[/sblock][sblock=3rd level spells]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Fear </em></span></strong>[Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) - Take out a whole encounter, but in a dungeon be careful that they don’t run and alert others. Shorter range than <em>hypnotic pattern</em> but targets also drop their weapons and damage doesn't end the effect. Additional saves are end-of-turn and only happen if line of sight is broken, so it's better in open country.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Hypnotic Pattern</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (S,M; Concentration) - Take out a whole encounter, but damage breaks effect. Attack the affected targets one-by-one so they don't wake each other up. Take either this or <em>fear</em>. Initial save only.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Major Image</em></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – You can probably get by with just the first two illusions.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Phantom Steed</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S; Ritual) - Not worth it with your limited spells, especially since you're not a ritual caster and it doesn't let more than one person ride.[/sblock][sblock=4th level spells]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Confusion</em></span></strong> [Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Even if the enemy might attack you, it’s still better than them attacking you as normal. Decent AoE crowd control, but all the extra dice rolls can slow down the game.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff"><em>Greater invisibility</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S; Concentration) – As a rogue, you want to kiss whomever made this.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000"><em>Hallucinatory terrain</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S,M) – No thank you, how often will you really use this?</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff"><em>Phantasmal killer</em></span></strong> [Illusion] (V,S; Concentration) - Targets one enemy. Frightened condition is pretty good, and this is your only damage spell. Additional saves are at end of turn, as per official errata.[/sblock]Arcane Tricksters get to choose one non-illusion or enchantment wizard spell at 3rd, 8th, 14th, and 20th level. Try to pick spells that do something your other spells can't. Here are some suggestions, and try not to be overcome by analysis paralysis.</p><p>[sblock=Non-enchantment, non-illusion spell suggestions]</p><p>3rd: Escape spells (<em>expeditious retreat, feather fall, fog cloud, longstrider</em>), defensive buffs (<em>protection from good & evil, shield</em>), other (<em>dectect magic, find familiar, grease</em>)</p><p></p><p>8th: Buffs/debuffs (<em>enlarge/reduce, levitate</em>), movement <em>(levitate, misty step, spider climb</em>), other (<em>rope trick</em>)</p><p></p><p>14th: Buffs (<em>haste</em>), movement (<em>fly</em>)</p><p></p><p>20th: Escape (<em>dimension door</em>), crowd control (<em>evard's black </em><em>tentacles</em>) [/sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Mastermind </strong></span><strong>(Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide)</strong></p><p>This is the silver-tongued schemer, built for intrigue. I really wanted to like this, as it represents the type of characters I most like to play, but the Mastermind is the weakest rogue archetype. Even for the specific type of campaign that would cater to the roleplay/interaction pillar of D&D, these features are mediocre at best.[sblock=Mastermind features] </p><p><strong>Master of Intrigue</strong>: Proficiencies with the disguise kit, forgery kit, a gaming set, and 2 languages. Also, you can mimic accents and tics after 1 min of study. This is okay. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Master of Tactics</strong>: Use the help action as a bonus action with a range of 30ft, if the enemy can see or hear you. This precludes the use of Cunning Action and feats like Crossbow Expert, but it works well enough if you have a greatsword-wielding bruiser on your team and the initiative order lines up.</p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Insightful Manipulator</strong></span>: Outside combat, spend 1 min of study to learn if a creature has higher, equal, or lower Int, Wis, Cha or class levels than you, or perhaps some personal info. The usefulness of this is quite limited, in practice. So the target’s intelligence is higher than 10 and (like most NPCs) it doesn’t have class levels… now what?</p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Misdirection</strong></span>: Incredibly situational. If a creature (not a trap) attacks you (with a ranged or reach attack) while another creature (not an object) is granting you cover, you can use your reaction (instead of using it for Uncanny Dodge) to have the attack target the other creature (which might be your ally).</p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Soul of Deceit</span></strong>: You’re immune to unwanted telepathy and truth-enforcing/detecting magic, and you can trick telepaths with Deception. This would be okay… if it ever came up, and if you got it at a lower level, and if you could prevent the Aboleth or whatever from just scanning your meatshield instead of you.[/sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Swashbuckler</span> (Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide)</strong></p><p>The Swashbuckler is oriented around melee combat. Every Swashbuckler feature is both useful and thematically consistent, providing defense, offense, mobility and even some awesome battlefield control and out-of-combat utility. Remember that you still need a tank/meatshield to run interference. Works well with either strength or dexterity builds.</p><p>[sblock=Swashbuckler Features]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Fancy Footwork</span></strong>: Awesome mobility feature. This makes the Disengage action nigh-obsolete (except when you're adjacent to multiple foes), freeing up your bonus action for two-weapon fighting, Cunning Action(Hide), Elegant Maneuver, or other shenanigans. You can even target two different creatures with two-weapon fighting for maximum coverage. Note that it still works even if you miss.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ffff"><strong>Rakish Audacity</strong></span>: Initiative bonus? Sure I'll take one. Oh wait, there's something else... you can now Sneak Attack a creature if it’s the only one adjacent to you? Sweet! You’re no longer reliant on an adjacent ally or having advantage.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ffff"><strong>Panache</strong></span>: An action use Persuasion (ideally with Expertise, and eventually Reliable Talent) to draw aggro better than any tank, or to basically cast an upgraded, non-magical, at-will version of <em>charm person</em>. The only weaknesses are that you must share a language, and that this might get you killed.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Elegant Maneuver</strong></span>: Bonus action advantage on Athletics or Acrobatics checks. With Reliable talent and Expertise, you can use this to pretty much auto-escape any grapple. Combine this with Fancy Footwork for a vertical getaway after you stab the enemy (climbing and jumping in combat costs movement, not actions). </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Master Duelist</strong></span>: Once per short rest, if you miss an attack, roll again with advantage. Slightly diluted version of your level 20 feature Stroke of Luck.[/sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #800080">Inquisitive</span> (</strong><strong>Xanathar's Guide to Everything</strong><strong>)</strong></p><p>This is your detective-type rogue, in the vein of Robert Downey Jr.'s version of Sherlock Holmes. Favours wisdom as a secondary stat. It's a little less than average on the power scale.</p><p>[sblock=Inquisitive features] <strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Ear for</span> <span style="color: #ff0000">Deceit</span></strong>: You can't roll lower than an 8 on Wisdom (Insight) checks to sense if a creature is lying. This is fantastic… until you get Reliable Talent at 10[SUP]th[/SUP] level. Then Ear for Deceit becomes completely obsolete. Honestly, this is just a temporary prop for your Insightful Fighting feature.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Eye for Detail</strong></span>: Expands Cunning Action to include Wisdom (Perception) checks to spot a hidden creature or object, to make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to uncover and decipher clues, or to use Insightful Fighting (see below). Bonus action Insightful Fighting is the real purpose here.</p><p></p><p><strong>Insightful Fighting</strong>: Bonus action, make a Wisdom (Insight) check vs the target’s Charisma (Deception) check. Win, and you can Sneak Attack it even without advantage or if no enemy is within 5 feet of it, but not if you have disadvantage. This benefit lasts for 1 minute or until you successfully use Insightful Fighting against a different target. They clearly built this subclass around this feature (see Ear for Deceit, Eye for Detail, Eye for Weakness), but requiring a bonus action and a skill contest really devalues it in my mind. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Steady Eye</span></strong>: Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks if you only move 1/2 speed or less. Picture the CSI agent that stands in the middle of the crime scene and takes it all in. With this, Reliable Talent, and Expertise, nothing gets past you.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Unerring Eye</strong></span><span style="color: #800080">:</span> Use an action to sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers, and deceitful magic within 30 feet of you. You can’t pinpoint what or where it is, but you know something is “off”. Unfortunately limited to [Wis mod] uses per long rest. Casters can learn the superior <em>true sight</em> spell two levels earlier, which is what they would do if you're playing in this kind of campaign.</p><p></p><p><strong>Eye for Weakness</strong>: +3d6 on Sneak Attack with Insightful Fighting. Useful, if a bit underwhelming.[/sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Scout</span> (Xanathar's Guide to Everything)</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Mobile rogue with a wilderness theme. The best rogue for kiting enemies with ranged weapons. Better at high levels.</p><p>[sblock=Scout features]<strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Survivalist</span></strong>: Two extra skills (Nature & Survival) with doubled proficiency bonus, albeit ones that don’t typically see as much use in regular gameplay.</p><p></p><p><strong>Skirmisher</strong>: Move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. Skirmisher + regular move on your turn will put enough distance between you and the enemy to force them to dash to catch up or change targets, possibly saving you an attack next turn. If I'm being hit, I'd rather use Uncanny Dodge to mitigate damage and then use Cunning Action on my own turn to disengage, using the threat of my team's opportunity attacks to dissuade pursuit.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Superior Mobility</span></strong>: +10ft walking speed, and climb or swim speed if you have it. Sorry Aarakocras, no fly speed increase. This improves your Cunning Action (dash/disengage) and also Skirmisher.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ffff"><strong>Ambush Master</strong></span>: Advantage on initiative, and grant a round of advantage to allies vs the first creature you hit in the first round. The Alert feat will guarantee that you never lose out on using this.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ffff">Sudden Strike</span></strong>: Wow! Take the attack action, make an additional attack as a bonus action. If you target a different creature, you can Sneak Attack a second time, so do that. Currently the only way to Sneak Attack twice in the same turn. Overlaps a bit with the Crossbow Expert feat, if you have it.[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clutchbone, post: 6704050, member: 98332"] [B][U]7. Roguish Archetypes[/U][/B] [B]Thief[/B] The Thief is your stereotypical rogue archetype with bonuses to stealing, climbing, and sneaking, as well as granting the old favorite Use Magic Device and the awesome Thief's Reflexes. While this archetype is stronger at higher levels rather than low, on the whole its effectiveness is about average when compared to the other options. Can't go wrong with it. [sblock=Thief Features] [B]Fast Hands[/B]: Expanding your Cunning Action to cover Sleight of Hand, thieves' tools, and Use an Object actions. A DM may or may not let you pickpocket during a fight, although you may find using objects like ball bearings, poisons or potions as a bonus action to be handy. Works also with pouring oil, but not splashing it on someone as that's an attack roll (debated; ask your DM). Works very well with the [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Healer feat[/B][/COLOR]. See the sidebar on p.190 in the PHB for a non-inclusive list of other potential actions. [B][COLOR=#ff0000]Second Story Work[/COLOR][/B]: The need to climb fast rarely comes up. The jumping bonus is so bad it might be broken: an extra 1-5 feet with 12-20 Dex only gets you 1 extra square, if you're using a map & minis, and is nigh-useless in the Theatre of the Mind playstyle. [COLOR=#00ffff][B]Supreme Sneak[/B][/COLOR]: Advantage on stealth is fantastic, even at half speed, because the risks of a failed stealth check are often fairly dangerous. Wood Elves and Lightfoot Halflings especially will love this. [B]Use Magic Device[/B]: With magic items being rarer in 5e than in the past, there might not be many extra wands of fireball lying around for you to use. Still, few things are as frustrating as finding a magic item that no one in your party can use, so this helps with that. [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Thief's Reflexes[/COLOR][/B]: Taking two turns is fantastic, and unlike Assassinate it works no matter how badly you roll your Initiative. Depending on the spread of rolls it's possible for you to get two turns in a row (ie if you go last normally, or if you're first and everyone else rolled terribly), potentially letting you Sneak Attack both times! [/sblock] [COLOR=#800080][B]Assassin[/B][/COLOR] This is your "finish the fight before it even starts" class, specializing in surprise round damage and disguise-type abilities. Personally, this archetype is a bit of a disappointment, but I imagine many players will pick it either because of a preoccupation with theoretical damage totals, or simply because being an assassin just sounds cool. [sblock=Assassin Features] [COLOR=#800080][B]Bonus Proficiencies[/B][/COLOR]: The only worthwhile use of the poisoner's kit is harvesting poison from dead monsters. Crafting takes too long and the off-the-shelf prices (if you can find a black market dealer that sells them) are too high for poisons to be practical otherwise. The Disguise Kit has its own issues; the rules regarding its use are ambiguous at best. Please see the "Non-Class Tools" section for more info. [B]Assassinate[/B]: Excellent combat opener - but that's all it is, a once-per-encounter ability that you often don't even get the chance to use. To make this work you've got to be stealthy (so you can surprise them) and perceptive (so no one surprises you), and make sure you Sneak Attack first and ask questions later! Assassins need darkvision, maxed initiative, attack, and stealth bonuses, the Alert feat, and multiple attack rolls (via two-weapon fighting, Crossbow Expert, etc) to make the most of this... as well as teammates that won't kick in the door before you're in position. [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Infiltration Expertise[/B][/COLOR]: First, taking 7 days of downtime is a luxury that most campaigns can't afford, especially with pre-built campaigns. Second, you can't mimic an existing npc. Third, this is a great way to get separated from your party and die. Best case scenario is you leave the other players to play on their iPhones while you have a solo adventure, unless you can repeatedly find ways to sneak them in with you. ie "Hi, I'm a high ranking evil guy you've never heard of, arriving unannounced to inspect your evil lair. Please let me in, and also my friends too. Don't worry, they're cool." [B][COLOR=#ff0000]Imposter[/COLOR][/B]: This explicitly doesn't work with Infiltration Expertise, which is dumb. Also, it'll be hard to gain 3 hours studying anybody besides your party members outside of the stereotypical Fancy Masquerade or a long boat ride or something. [B]Death Strike[/B]: This doubles ALL your damage, Sneak Attack, crit dice, static modifiers, poison, hex, whatever. You just have to make sure that 1) you surprise them, 2) you don't miss, and 3) the target fails it's Con save. Great in theory, probably rarely executed (tee hee hee) in practice. This works well with Stroke of Luck (if you ever end up playing at 20th level as a full-classed Assassin). [/sblock] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Arcane Trickster[/B][/COLOR] Although the Arcane Trickster doesn't have the same damage dealing potential as some other Archetypes, it also doesn't have any truly bad features either. Since this archetype has two stats to keep up (Dex & Int), Arcane Tricksters have less space for feats. You'll often want to keep one hand free for spellcasting, so stick with either a rapier or hand crossbow, and don't invest in two-weapon fighting. [sblock=Arcane Trickster Features] [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Spellcasting[/B][/COLOR]: 1/3 spellcasting (as opposed to 1/2 casters like paladins and full casters like wizards) means you only get up to 4th level spells, although most players will only see spell levels 1-3. Still, the spells that you do get are great at making a Rogue's life easier. It's possible to dump Int and focus spells without saves or attack rolls (ie buffs, illusions), but not recommended as Magical Ambush and Spell Thief will suffer and your spell list isn't that large. After all, you only get to choose from Enchantment and Illusion spells (excluding cantrips and 1 spell each at 1st, 8th, 14th and 20th level) from the Wizard spell list, so you don't want to miss out on goodies like [I]suggestion[/I]. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Mage Hand Legermain[/B][/COLOR]: A nice buff for a fun cantrip. Not having to risk your personal safety while pick-pocketing or disabling traps is great. Doing it as a bonus action is even better. Since [I]mage hand[/I] is non-concentration, you can cast [I]mage hand[/I] and then [I]invisibility[/I] for maximum 1-minute mischief! You'll probably want to choose sleight of hand for one of your expertise skills to maximize this feature. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Magical Ambush[/B][/COLOR]: The other Archetypes get damage openers, you get this. This actually might be more useful since you can use it multiple times per encounter. Imposing disadvantage on a couple of [I]suggestions[/I] for example can turn a deadly encounter into a cakewalk. [B]Versatile Trickster[/B]: A decent, if situational, source of automatic advantage and another nice buff for your mage hand. Note that this bonus action competes with Cunning Action (which includes moving the hand). If you have the Crossbow Expert feat, you will likely be using that bonus action instead. [B]Spell Thief[/B]: This functions as an alternative to counterspell. I wanted to rate this higher but unless mages in your campaign world run around shouting "lightning bolt!" your DM might require an Arcana check to determine what spell is being cast on you (eg if it is 4th level or lower), and that skill is not on your class list. Also, it's only once per long rest.[/sblock] [B]Spells[/B] Tips for Picking Spells: Sneak Attack does not work with cantrips (except a few from SCAG) or spells, so if you want to do damage just use a weapon. You have an extremely limited number of spells, so try to pick ones that will see a lot of use rather than ones that are situational. You can't afford to pick niche spells. Many spells of the same level compete with each other (ie [I]color spray[/I] vs [I]sleep[/I], [I]blur[/I] vs [I]mirror image[/I], [I]crown of madness[/I] vs [I]hold person[/I] vs [I]phantasmal[/I] [I]force[/I] vs [I]suggestion)[/I], so don't bog down your spell list with four different spells that all boil down to "lock down a single target". [sblock=Cantrips] [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Acid Splash [/I][/COLOR][/B][Conjuration] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. RAW, you can only target creatures, not objects, so no melting locks or ropes. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Blade Ward [/I][/COLOR][/B][Abjuration] (V,S) – 1 action, range self, for resistance against physical damage only, and it only lasts 1 round? No thanks. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Chill Touch[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Necromancy] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Dancing Lights[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Evocation] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Concentration is bad. Creating magical floating torches isn’t a terrible choice, but it isn’t a good one either. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Fire Bolt [/I][/COLOR][/B][Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. If you want to start fires just throw a regular torch or use prestidigitation. [B][I]Friends [/I][/B][Enchantment] (S,M; Concentration) – Restricting the target to a non-hostile creature and turning the target hostile afterwards are major detriments to an otherwise powerful cantrip, but it works great when you’re disguised as someone else. [COLOR=#800080][B][I]Light [/I][/B][/COLOR][Evocation] (V,M) – This doesn’t require concentration, and you can use it offensively to mark a creature, but there are still better choices. [COLOR=#00ffff][B][I]Mage Hand[/I][/B] [/COLOR][Conjuration] (V,S) – It comes standard with Arcane Trickster and works with your class features. [COLOR=#800080][B][I]Mending[/I][/B][/COLOR] [Transmutation] (V,S,M) – Too situational to take up one of your slots, although you might be able use it to fix broken doors, locks or windows that got damaged during a burglary. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Message[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Transmutation] (V,S,M) – Two-way secret communication with a range of 120 ft is very useful. You don't even need to know where the target is, exactly. "Somewhere that way, behind one of those bushes?" is good enough. Perfect for coordinating ambushes, jailbreaks, stealth missions, etc, or for just freaking out an NPC as the target doesn't automatically know who - or what - is whispering in it's ear. [COLOR=#0000ff][B][I]Minor Illusion[/I][/B] [/COLOR][Illusion] (S,M) – According to the Sage Advice column, this cantrip can either recreate a sound (including complex sounds like voices) or the image of a solid object, but not the image of a creature or an atmospheric effect like fog, and the image cannot be animated or be moved around. The creature part bugs me ("Fine, I create an image of a 'expertly sculpted and painted statue of a goblin'. Happy?"); it's weird that you can recreate a creature's voice but not its looks. Anyways, as always with illusions, effectiveness depends on player creativity and DM permissiveness. One solid use is creating a fake rock to hide in; casters can see through their own illusions, so it's great for ambushes. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Poison Spray[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Conjuration] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. [COLOR=#0000ff][B][I]Prestidigitation[/I] [/B][/COLOR][Transmutation] (V,S) – For me, this one is too much fun to pass up. Soil a rival's pants at a party (and then ambush him when he goes to change!), mark a target’s back for easy following in a crowd, flavor your fighter’s rations to taste like poop and yours to taste like fine cuisine, sell some pebbles to your fighter that taste like fine cuisine, clean off mud or blood from your clothes (if your DM won’t let you clean yourself 1 cubic foot at a time, then just take off your clothes and scrunch them into a ball), etc. There's so much fun to be had! [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Ray of Frost[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Shocking Grasp[/I] [/COLOR][/B][Evocation] (V,S) – Damage spell, so avoid. You have Cunning Action to disengage anyways. [COLOR=#ff0000][B][I]True Strike[/I][/B][/COLOR] [Divination] (S; Concentration) – This seems good, but the fact that it takes a whole action means that you can’t attack this turn, and you might lose the spell if your concentration breaks. Hiding with Cunning Action is a simpler method to get advantage without wasting your actions or cantrip selection. [/sblock][sblock=Cantrips, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide][COLOR=#00ffff][B][I]Booming Blade[/I] [/B][/COLOR][Evocation] (V,M) Hey, a cantrip that uses a melee attack with a weapon! You can Sneak Attack with this! Hit an enemy and they take thunder damage if they move. Pairs wonderfully with Cunning Action (Disengage), and even better with Fancy Footwork if you can find a way to give a Swashbuckler a cantrip. Thematically, "booming" anything seems kinds anti-Rogue and a no-go for stealth missions, but mechanically it's pretty awesome; it isn't even hampered by a weak Int score. Requires the Cast a Spell action, so can’t be used with opportunity attacks, two-weapon fighting, Extra Attack, etc. FYI, the Spell Sniper feat doubles this cantrip's range to 10ft, allowing reach with a whip. [COLOR=#00FFFF][B][I]Greenflame Blade[/I] [/B][/COLOR][Evocation] (V,M) Hey, a cantrip that uses a melee attack with a weapon! You can Sneak Attack with this! Hit an enemy and spray fire on a second adjacent enemy. Fire is more commonly resisted than Booming Blade's thunder, but this is still great. Benefits from your Int mod, and requires the Cast a Spell action, so can’t be used with opportunity attacks, two-weapon fighting, Extra Attack, etc. FYI, the Spell Sniper feat doubles this cantrip's range to 10ft, allowing reach with a whip. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Lightning Lure[/I] [/COLOR][/B][Evocation] (V) – Damage spell, so avoid. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Sword Burst[/I] [/COLOR][/B][Conjuration] (V) – Damage spell, so avoid. [/sblock][sblock=1st level spells] [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Charm Person[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,S) – No concentration is good, although the target knowing it was charmed by you is bad. This can be used as an effective ambush spell, but otherwise don’t use it during combat. You can use this on a captured enemy as you are no longer fighting it, eliminating the need for interrogations. Also, it doesn’t necessarily know that you tried to charm it if it makes its save. Initial save only. [COLOR=#0000ff][B][I]Color Spray[/I][/B][/COLOR] [Illusion] (V,S,M) – This is good, but [I]sleep[/I] is better. While this affects more hp, both the range and duration are shorter and you won't get to Sneak Attack the blinded targets before this wears off. [B][I]Disguise Self [/I][/B][Illusion] (V,S) – This is okay, but it won’t make a small Trickster look medium, or vice versa, and you can also just use a disguise kit. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Illusory Script[/I][/COLOR] [/B][Illusion] (S,M; Ritual, Expensive Components) – This is way to situational. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Silent Image[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Like [I]minor illusion[/I] except this is much bigger and you can move it. Have fun! [B][COLOR=#00ffff][I]Sleep[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,S,M) - Your best combat spell at low levels, affecting an average of 22.5 hp as a 1st level spell with no save, and an additional ~9 hp for every slot higher (for a max of ~58.5 hp). You’ll probably want to retrain this out around level 5. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Tasha's Hideous Laughter[/I] [/COLOR][/B][Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) - Prone and incapacitated are powerful conditions (Sneak Attack!), although the target gets to make a save each turn and another save (with advantage) each time it’s damaged, so it won’t last long. Additional saves can be triggered by damage.[/sblock][sblock=2nd level spells] [B][COLOR=#800080][I]Blur [/I][/COLOR][/B][Illusion] (V; Concentration) – Concentration on a defensive spell? So I can't cast other concentration spells and if I get hit I might lose the buff? [I]Mirror image[/I] is better. [B][COLOR=#800080][I]Crown of Madness[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,S; Concentration) – This is useless if the target isn't adjacent to another enemy, and it takes up your action on subsequent turns. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Hold Person[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) – [I]Suggestion[/I] has more utility and doesn’t allow a save each turn. However, auto-crit on Sneak Attack dice is very sweet. This is better if someone else casts it; at least then you might attack before the target has a chance to roll it's save again. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Invisibility[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Redeem for one Sneak Attack. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Magic mouth[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M; Expensive Components) – Way too situational. [B][COLOR=#00ffff][I]Mirror image[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S) – Yes please. Unlike [I]blur[/I] this doesn't require concentration, although it does involve a bit of bookkeeping to track. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Nystul's magic aura[/I] [/COLOR][/B][Illusion] (V,S,M) – Way too situational. [B][I]Phantasmal Force[/I][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) - [I]Suggestion[/I] is better. Also, this spell suffers from too much TL;DR for a "take out one enemy" spell. [B][COLOR=#00ffff][I]Suggestion[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,M; Concentration) – Take out one enemy (“It's too hot to fight in plate armor, you should take it off and put it away”) or even two (“your buddy is making a mistake, grapple him before he hurts himself!”) that understands you for up to 8 hours. Initial save only. Some actions break spell, and the suggestion must "sound reasonable". Incredible utility, both in and out of combat.[/sblock][sblock=3rd level spells] [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Fear [/I][/COLOR][/B][Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) - Take out a whole encounter, but in a dungeon be careful that they don’t run and alert others. Shorter range than [I]hypnotic pattern[/I] but targets also drop their weapons and damage doesn't end the effect. Additional saves are end-of-turn and only happen if line of sight is broken, so it's better in open country. [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Hypnotic Pattern[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (S,M; Concentration) - Take out a whole encounter, but damage breaks effect. Attack the affected targets one-by-one so they don't wake each other up. Take either this or [I]fear[/I]. Initial save only. [B][I]Major Image[/I][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M; Concentration) – You can probably get by with just the first two illusions. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Phantom Steed[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S; Ritual) - Not worth it with your limited spells, especially since you're not a ritual caster and it doesn't let more than one person ride.[/sblock][sblock=4th level spells] [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Confusion[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Enchantment] (V,S,M; Concentration) – Even if the enemy might attack you, it’s still better than them attacking you as normal. Decent AoE crowd control, but all the extra dice rolls can slow down the game. [B][COLOR=#00ffff][I]Greater invisibility[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S; Concentration) – As a rogue, you want to kiss whomever made this. [B][COLOR=#ff0000][I]Hallucinatory terrain[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S,M) – No thank you, how often will you really use this? [B][COLOR=#0000ff][I]Phantasmal killer[/I][/COLOR][/B] [Illusion] (V,S; Concentration) - Targets one enemy. Frightened condition is pretty good, and this is your only damage spell. Additional saves are at end of turn, as per official errata.[/sblock]Arcane Tricksters get to choose one non-illusion or enchantment wizard spell at 3rd, 8th, 14th, and 20th level. Try to pick spells that do something your other spells can't. Here are some suggestions, and try not to be overcome by analysis paralysis. [sblock=Non-enchantment, non-illusion spell suggestions] 3rd: Escape spells ([I]expeditious retreat, feather fall, fog cloud, longstrider[/I]), defensive buffs ([I]protection from good & evil, shield[/I]), other ([I]dectect magic, find familiar, grease[/I]) 8th: Buffs/debuffs ([I]enlarge/reduce, levitate[/I]), movement [I](levitate, misty step, spider climb[/I]), other ([I]rope trick[/I]) 14th: Buffs ([I]haste[/I]), movement ([I]fly[/I]) 20th: Escape ([I]dimension door[/I]), crowd control ([I]evard's black [/I][I]tentacles[/I]) [/sblock] [COLOR=#800080][B]Mastermind [/B][/COLOR][B](Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide)[/B] This is the silver-tongued schemer, built for intrigue. I really wanted to like this, as it represents the type of characters I most like to play, but the Mastermind is the weakest rogue archetype. Even for the specific type of campaign that would cater to the roleplay/interaction pillar of D&D, these features are mediocre at best.[sblock=Mastermind features] [B]Master of Intrigue[/B]: Proficiencies with the disguise kit, forgery kit, a gaming set, and 2 languages. Also, you can mimic accents and tics after 1 min of study. This is okay. [B]Master of Tactics[/B]: Use the help action as a bonus action with a range of 30ft, if the enemy can see or hear you. This precludes the use of Cunning Action and feats like Crossbow Expert, but it works well enough if you have a greatsword-wielding bruiser on your team and the initiative order lines up. [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Insightful Manipulator[/B][/COLOR]: Outside combat, spend 1 min of study to learn if a creature has higher, equal, or lower Int, Wis, Cha or class levels than you, or perhaps some personal info. The usefulness of this is quite limited, in practice. So the target’s intelligence is higher than 10 and (like most NPCs) it doesn’t have class levels… now what? [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Misdirection[/B][/COLOR]: Incredibly situational. If a creature (not a trap) attacks you (with a ranged or reach attack) while another creature (not an object) is granting you cover, you can use your reaction (instead of using it for Uncanny Dodge) to have the attack target the other creature (which might be your ally). [B][COLOR=#800080]Soul of Deceit[/COLOR][/B]: You’re immune to unwanted telepathy and truth-enforcing/detecting magic, and you can trick telepaths with Deception. This would be okay… if it ever came up, and if you got it at a lower level, and if you could prevent the Aboleth or whatever from just scanning your meatshield instead of you.[/sblock] [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Swashbuckler[/COLOR] (Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide)[/B] The Swashbuckler is oriented around melee combat. Every Swashbuckler feature is both useful and thematically consistent, providing defense, offense, mobility and even some awesome battlefield control and out-of-combat utility. Remember that you still need a tank/meatshield to run interference. Works well with either strength or dexterity builds. [sblock=Swashbuckler Features] [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Fancy Footwork[/COLOR][/B]: Awesome mobility feature. This makes the Disengage action nigh-obsolete (except when you're adjacent to multiple foes), freeing up your bonus action for two-weapon fighting, Cunning Action(Hide), Elegant Maneuver, or other shenanigans. You can even target two different creatures with two-weapon fighting for maximum coverage. Note that it still works even if you miss. [COLOR=#00ffff][B]Rakish Audacity[/B][/COLOR]: Initiative bonus? Sure I'll take one. Oh wait, there's something else... you can now Sneak Attack a creature if it’s the only one adjacent to you? Sweet! You’re no longer reliant on an adjacent ally or having advantage. [COLOR=#00ffff][B]Panache[/B][/COLOR]: An action use Persuasion (ideally with Expertise, and eventually Reliable Talent) to draw aggro better than any tank, or to basically cast an upgraded, non-magical, at-will version of [I]charm person[/I]. The only weaknesses are that you must share a language, and that this might get you killed. [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Elegant Maneuver[/B][/COLOR]: Bonus action advantage on Athletics or Acrobatics checks. With Reliable talent and Expertise, you can use this to pretty much auto-escape any grapple. Combine this with Fancy Footwork for a vertical getaway after you stab the enemy (climbing and jumping in combat costs movement, not actions). [COLOR=#0000ff][B]Master Duelist[/B][/COLOR]: Once per short rest, if you miss an attack, roll again with advantage. Slightly diluted version of your level 20 feature Stroke of Luck.[/sblock] [B][COLOR=#800080]Inquisitive[/COLOR] ([/B][B]Xanathar's Guide to Everything[/B][B])[/B] This is your detective-type rogue, in the vein of Robert Downey Jr.'s version of Sherlock Holmes. Favours wisdom as a secondary stat. It's a little less than average on the power scale. [sblock=Inquisitive features] [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Ear for[/COLOR] [COLOR=#ff0000]Deceit[/COLOR][/B]: You can't roll lower than an 8 on Wisdom (Insight) checks to sense if a creature is lying. This is fantastic… until you get Reliable Talent at 10[SUP]th[/SUP] level. Then Ear for Deceit becomes completely obsolete. Honestly, this is just a temporary prop for your Insightful Fighting feature. [COLOR=#800080][B]Eye for Detail[/B][/COLOR]: Expands Cunning Action to include Wisdom (Perception) checks to spot a hidden creature or object, to make an Intelligence (Investigation) check to uncover and decipher clues, or to use Insightful Fighting (see below). Bonus action Insightful Fighting is the real purpose here. [B]Insightful Fighting[/B]: Bonus action, make a Wisdom (Insight) check vs the target’s Charisma (Deception) check. Win, and you can Sneak Attack it even without advantage or if no enemy is within 5 feet of it, but not if you have disadvantage. This benefit lasts for 1 minute or until you successfully use Insightful Fighting against a different target. They clearly built this subclass around this feature (see Ear for Deceit, Eye for Detail, Eye for Weakness), but requiring a bonus action and a skill contest really devalues it in my mind. [B][COLOR=#0000ff]Steady Eye[/COLOR][/B]: Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks if you only move 1/2 speed or less. Picture the CSI agent that stands in the middle of the crime scene and takes it all in. With this, Reliable Talent, and Expertise, nothing gets past you. [COLOR=#ff0000][B]Unerring Eye[/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#800080]:[/COLOR] Use an action to sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers, and deceitful magic within 30 feet of you. You can’t pinpoint what or where it is, but you know something is “off”. Unfortunately limited to [Wis mod] uses per long rest. Casters can learn the superior [I]true sight[/I] spell two levels earlier, which is what they would do if you're playing in this kind of campaign. [B]Eye for Weakness[/B]: +3d6 on Sneak Attack with Insightful Fighting. Useful, if a bit underwhelming.[/sblock] [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Scout[/COLOR] (Xanathar's Guide to Everything) [/B]Mobile rogue with a wilderness theme. The best rogue for kiting enemies with ranged weapons. Better at high levels. [sblock=Scout features][B][COLOR=#0000ff]Survivalist[/COLOR][/B]: Two extra skills (Nature & Survival) with doubled proficiency bonus, albeit ones that don’t typically see as much use in regular gameplay. [B]Skirmisher[/B]: Move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks. Skirmisher + regular move on your turn will put enough distance between you and the enemy to force them to dash to catch up or change targets, possibly saving you an attack next turn. If I'm being hit, I'd rather use Uncanny Dodge to mitigate damage and then use Cunning Action on my own turn to disengage, using the threat of my team's opportunity attacks to dissuade pursuit. [B][COLOR=#0000ff]Superior Mobility[/COLOR][/B]: +10ft walking speed, and climb or swim speed if you have it. Sorry Aarakocras, no fly speed increase. This improves your Cunning Action (dash/disengage) and also Skirmisher. [COLOR=#00ffff][B]Ambush Master[/B][/COLOR]: Advantage on initiative, and grant a round of advantage to allies vs the first creature you hit in the first round. The Alert feat will guarantee that you never lose out on using this. [B][COLOR=#00ffff]Sudden Strike[/COLOR][/B]: Wow! Take the attack action, make an additional attack as a bonus action. If you target a different creature, you can Sneak Attack a second time, so do that. Currently the only way to Sneak Attack twice in the same turn. Overlaps a bit with the Crossbow Expert feat, if you have it.[/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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