D&D 5E Brawny rogue

[RogueBarbarian]

Hey

I found this class Brawny Rogue from the forgotten realms wiki.

Rogue

Rogues were versatile masters of stealth, nimble combat, and various skillful tricks. Where other adventurers had the power to defeat their enemies, rogues used their wits and their natural resourcefulness to exploit their foes' vulnerabilities as well as to lead their allies safely through...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

A few questions

1. How would one go about making one in 5e? Is there a class from 5e that comes close?

2. Any examples of a brawny rogue from movies/tv/books?

 

[Charlaquin]

Technically rogues don’t need to use dexterity to sneak attack, as long as the weapon has finesse. So you could make a strength rogue simply by pumping strength instead of dex. You could take two levels of barbarian to pick up reckless attack for a reliable source of advantage, plus unarmored defense to compensate for the lower dex bonus to AC.

 

[Tutara]

A Strength rogue can indeed use Strength with finesse weapons to still get sneak. It can be brutally effective with a dip into Barbarian for endless Reckless Attack advantage.

To hit well with clubs and maces, but still be dexterous, you're better off being a monk. The martial arts/flurries become dirty kicks and off-hand punches, Stunning Strike becomes a particualarly nasty blow to the head. Of course, there's some weirdness later on - you speak all languages because you met a lot of people in prison?

To hit well with clubs and maces, and be strong, be a fighter. Ask your DM to get Thieves' Cant instead of a racial language and take the Criminal background. Then go wild. I like a battlemaster for the battlefield control.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Does it have to be a rogue to be a brawny rogue?

I'd go with a fighter or barbarian with the good mix of background (criminal), and feats (mobile, dungeon delver, alert, observant, tavern brawler, skill expert etc)

 

[NotAYakk]

Barbarian 1/Rogue 1/Barbarian 2/Rogue X

Medium armor, use short swords. Reckless attack for advantage.

(Barbarian unarmored defence is mostly a trap; you need 16 con to make it better than "wear studded leather", and then you need like 18 dex to make it better AC than "wear medium armor". At 16 con/16 dex you match a breastplate with 14 dex; awesome, wow. At 16 con/18 dex you match half-plate (and avoid disadvantage on stealth). Only at 18 con/18 dex does it actually grant increased AC over light armor with lower stats; I mean, at 20 con/14 dex gives you 17 AC, which means you have the same AC as you would have in half-plate; you just don't have stealth disadvantage.)

 

[Shiroiken]

A Thug subclass wouldn't be terrible. Grant medium weapon proficiency and the ability to use sneak attack with thief proficient weapons would be fine mechanically. I'd probably also add a knockout mechanic at higher levels and some Intimidation benefits to round it out.

 

[Charlaquin]

(Barbarian unarmored defence is mostly a trap; you need 16 con to make it better than "wear studded leather", and then you need like 18 dex to make it better AC than "wear medium armor". At 16 con/16 dex you match a breastplate with 14 dex; awesome, wow. At 16 con/18 dex you match half-plate (and avoid disadvantage on stealth). Only at 18 con/18 dex does it actually grant increased AC over light armor with lower stats; I mean, at 20 con/14 dex gives you 17 AC, which means you have the same AC as you would have in half-plate; you just don't have stealth disadvantage.)

But aesthetics!

 

[aco175]

I'll do it.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Here's a quick version I just whipped up. I'm sure it needs work, but it might be a decent starting place:

UPDATE: I added unarmed strikes to Dirty Fighting.

I have two versions of Strong Arm. Not sure which I like better.

 

[Nightfly]

4e had a strength-based rogue variant that was a blast.