D&D 5E Mike Mearl's Rogue Acrobat

[Jester David]

Moving through enemy’s spaces is pretty fun. I like that. As is standing for less movement.

If designing my own variant, I’d probably also add Dodge to your Cunning Action bonus. That might be fun.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Maybe a small revision of the Eagle totem barb could be simpler:
Aerial Artistry
At level 3, when you Dash you gain a fly speed equal to your current movement speed. You must land at the end of the granted movement speed and each time you stop the movement to use another action if nothing is keeping you aloft. You have resistance against falling damage.

Acrobat armament
At level 3, you can use your sneak attack features with clubs, spears, whips and quarterstaves. Those weapons gain the finesse trait.

Death from above
At level 9, when you attack a surprised creature when standing above it, the attack is automatically a critical hit.

Unbalancing dodge
At lvl 13, when you use the dodge action and an enemy misses you, you can use your reaction to make a single attack against the attacker. If the attack hit, the target must succeed at a DC 8+prof+Dex str save or fall prone.

Masterful spiral
At level 17, you no longer need to land until the end of the granted movement speed when you use Aerial Artistry. Once during the movement granted by Aerial artistry you can make a single attack against a target within you range. The attack can benefit from your sneak attack features.

 

[Elon Tusk]

If designing my own variant, I’d probably also add Dodge to your Cunning Action bonus. That might be fun.

I like Dodge as part of the Cunning Action, would make some sense to add it at 13th level Advanced Dodge.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Given the amount of work that the Acrobatics skill already does towards the Thief-Acrobat concept, I wonder why there needs to be a whole subclass for it (aside from legacy). It strikes me that what remains missing from previous editions’ versions could likely be handled in a 5e feat. That would both act to expand upon what’s already extant and would allow other classes to use it (as well as other subclasses, such as an actual thief-acrobat, or an assassin playing off pop culture parkour).

The extension of feats into larger packages is something that the D&D team has simply not done much of anything to play with since the game came out (besides a few racial fears). Yes, they’re not a required part of the game, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be more options over time.

 

[Jester David]

Given the amount of work that the Acrobatics skill already does towards the Thief-Acrobat concept, I wonder why there needs to be a whole subclass for it (aside from legacy). It strikes me that what remains missing from previous editions’ versions could likely be handled in a 5e feat. That would both act to expand upon what’s already extant and would allow other classes to use it (as well as other subclasses, such as an actual thief-acrobat, or an assassin playing off pop culture parkour).

The extension of feats into larger packages is something that the D&D team has simply not done much of anything to play with since the game came out (besides a few racial fears). Yes, they’re not a required part of the game, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be more options over time.

The Mike Mearls' Happy Hour Show is less about designing content that needs to be in the game and more Mearls walking through the creation of a subclass while talking about design considerations and some of the reasoning that went into the PHB options. It's more of a design walkthrough and lesson.
Often times, he'll design a class based on a request from the Twitch chat or from Twitter. Which is what happened here. Someone pitched the Acrobat and he walked through it's creation.

 

[Pauln6]

Maybe a small revision of the Eagle totem barb could be simpler:Aerial ArtistryAt level 3, when you Dash you gain a fly speed equal to your current movement speed. You must land at the end of the granted movement speed and each time you stop the movement to use another action if nothing is keeping you aloft. You have resistance against falling damage.Acrobat armamentAt level 3, you can use your sneak attack features with clubs, spears, whips and quarterstaves. Those weapons gain the finesse trait.Death from aboveAt level 9, when you attack a surprised creature when standing above it, the attack is automatically a critical hit.Unbalancing dodgeAt lvl 13, when you use the dodge action and an enemy misses you, you can use your reaction to make a single attack against the attacker. If the attack hit, the target must succeed at a DC 8+prof+Dex str save or fall prone.Masterful spiralAt level 17, you no longer need to land until the end of the granted movement speed when you use Aerial Artistry. Once during the movement granted by Aerial artistry you can make a single attack against a target within you range. The attack can benefit from your sneak attack features.

I recall the playtest version granted sneak attack as long as the acrobat had moved 10+ towards the target. Is there a balance / mechanical reason why this seems to evaporated?