D&D 5E A maladroit rogue?

[JWO]

I'm putting together a rogue for adventurers league, but I'm stuck on the idea of playing a dwarf so the maximum dex I could have is 15. I'm really not bothered about playing the most optimal character possible, but would a rogue with low dex and high strength be doable? By 'low dex', I'm thinking in relative terms so more like a 13 or 14 dex, low for a rogue kind of thing. Sneak attack says you have to use ranged or finesse weapons but could you use a finesse weapon and use your strength to wield it? Can you think of any other issues a low dex rogue might have? I guess AC could be an issue but if I throw him in a nice set of medium armour (mountain dwarf) it'd be less of an issue.

For me, character concept always trumps optimisation, but at the same time I don't want my character to be totally gimped...

 

[Riley37]

The description of Finesse is on PHB p. 147 and answers your question.

Dex 14 will not be the best evar at Stealth nor Sleight of Hand, nor the best archer evar.

You could be a con artist with high CHA. You could be a brute-force, high-mobility robber. Well, higher mobility than comparable non-rogue dwarves, at least. You could be an arcane trickster.

There's more than one way to get the loot into your pockets.

People will see you, and think "a dwarf, can't be very sneaky, they're just not born that way".
For some PCs, being dismissively underestimated just makes them all the more determined to either PROVE THEM ALL WRONG... or to exploit their target's mistaken assumptions.

 

[JWO]

Cool, well my character background is that he's one of the sons of a pigment mining clan (an idea I had from a game I was DMing) who previously dealt with the mercantile side of their operation, taking their produce out for sale in the city. He was caught running a smuggling operation on the side and was disowned by his clan.

So yeah, a high charisma, salesman/con-artist was more what I was thinking, but he also knows how to look after himself from when he was protecting the caravan.

 

[I'm A Banana]

You'd be fine. Finesse weapons can be wielded with Strength, and you'll want to not bugger about with Dex skills much, but give yourself a decent STR and CHA and take him in a "thug" or "trickster" route and you'll be great.

 

[Paraxis]

I don't think it will work well. But if you are set on doing it, then try to optimize the usefulness of your higher strength score. I would expertise in athletics and become the climbing, jumping, swimming guy. Grappling is not a great option in 5e, but you don't need to use two weapons, if you are using cunning action a bunch anyway so having a free hand to grapple and a short sword in the other doesn't sound to bad. Do put a 14 in Dex so you can get the most out of medium armor use.

 

[JWO]

I don't think it will work well. But if you are set on doing it, then try to optimize the usefulness of your higher strength score. I would expertise in athletics and become the climbing, jumping, swimming guy. Grappling is not a great option in 5e, but you don't need to use two weapons, if you are using cunning action a bunch anyway so having a free hand to grapple and a short sword in the other doesn't sound to bad. Do put a 14 in Dex so you can get the most out of medium armor use.

Why d'you not think it'd work well?

 

[DEFCON 1]

The one advantage you have by playing a rogue is Expertise. So while your DEX modifier might be a plus or two lower than the typical starting rogue character (who would have a 16 or 17)... with Expertise (and the double proficiency bonus), you can still have a very good score for one or two DEX-based skills/tools if that's the way you want to go.

So maybe you decide to forsake Stealth (due to armor concerns), but you could still easily go to a Second-Story Man or Trapfinder type with Expertise in Athletics and Thieve's Tools. Your Thieve's Tools bonus still will be +5 or +6, which is still going to be equal or better than someone with a high DEX and regular proficiency in TTs. Throw in a d8 weapon or dual-wielded d6s (which actually is more viable for a non-Stealthing rogue because you aren't using Cunning Action to go into Hiding like most stealth-based rogues are and can thus attack with the off-hand more often) and your STR-based rogue is a bit better standing toe-to-toe in melee. The 60' of darkvision is a boon too that shouldn't be downplayed (I have a pair of rogues in my two games-- a human and a halfling-- and both regret not having darkvision pretty often.)

*EDIT*

You could easily buy yourself 14/14/14/12/10/8, which when you apply racial bonuses for a Mountain Dwarf equals 16 STR +3) / 14 DEX (+2) / 16 CON (+3) / 8 INT (-1) / 12 WIS (+1) / 10 CHA (+0). Wear Medium Armor (which the DEX mod adds to), fight using STR (rapier or dual wield axes), take Expertise in Athletics and Thieve's Tools, and you're doing pretty good as a melee rogue thug who can get into places other people can't.

 

[Paraxis]

Why d'you not think it'd work well?

It is just better to focus on Dex builds for rogues. It would be like trying to build a Dex based barbarian, can you do it sure, should you do it, probably not.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It is just better to focus on Dex builds for rogues. It would be like trying to build a Dex based barbarian, can you do it sure, should you do it, probably not.

Eh. It's potentially just a point difference in modifier-- nothing too difficult to overcome if it makes for a more interesting character for you to play. The only potential issue is going to be that since this is for Adventurer's League, there's always a good chance he'd be playing with another rogue in the party (one that *did* go DEX-based) and thus perhaps get slightly overshadowed in some bits. But then again... I also think DEX-based rogues tend to focus on Stealth, thus using Cunning Action to go into Hiding each round and then firing from range. So having a ranged DEX rogue in the same party as a melee STR rogue might not overlap so entirely, except perhaps on Thieve's Tools checks (if the DEX-based rogue went with Stealth and Thieve's Tools for their Expertise.)

 

[Trit One-Ear]

I'm inclined to agree with [MENTION=7006]DEFCON 1[/MENTION], though I do think it'll be less-than-optimal. With Expertise you can be competent with some skills you want that your low Dex is otherwise hurting, using finesse weapons with strength is passable, but most of your damage will be coming from Sneak Attack anyway. You can afford to wear slightly heavier armor (especially if you don't plan on being very Stealth focused). Not optimized at all, but manageable.

That being said, I'm in strong support of playing a character that you're clearly interested in and that doesn't fit in normal stereotypes/archetypes. I have a player looking at playing a Dragonborn Rogue for his next character, and I think it's much more interested (both from a DM and Player perspective) than the 5000th Halfing Rogue (though that is my race/class combo of choice personally).

Trit