D&D 5E creating a halfling rogue and looking for advice

[Oofta]

There are a lot of options with rogues and what you go with will depend on the DM, options allowed and the group.

Arcane tricksters are a lot of fun and can, depending on what you need, be quite flexible. One of my first 5E PCs as an arcane trickster, it was a lot of fun. Took a little more creativity though, since your spell selection is limited which in part depends on the DM. Having an invisible mage hand was a blast at times. Not sure if it's an option though.

While I haven't played it, the thief is pretty straightforward.

Other than that? You need to think about what kind of rogue you want to run. Throwing daggers can be fun (and I'd consider going 2 at a time) but your range is pretty short. Depending on your DM a lightfoot halfling hiding behind allies could be pretty devastating. You don't need to attack from hidden to be effective but it doesn't hurt. A shortbow is better if you want to snipe from cover, but again I don't know how often that will be an option.

My wife's PC in my current game is a swashbuckler, she really enjoys annoying me by running up, stabbing and running away without having to use her bonus action to disengage because it let's her use her bonus action for off-hand attack if the primary misses. I guess it's fair trade for my rogue PC that she had a hard time hitting once he got shield.

Being a good investigator is simple - that's what expertise is for. Inquisitive does seem to be a good option for that.

Anyway, those are my two coppers. I have them right here ... wait where did they go? I swear I had them!

 

[billd91]

If you anticipate lots of investigation in dangerous areas, the Dungeon Delver feat can be pretty useful. Great for traps and hidden secrets. I believe it saved my rogue (when he was 10th level) over 70 hp of damage from one pair of traps. So, yeah, it's paid off more than once for me.

 

[Burnside]

As others have mentioned, the Inquisitive rogue sub-class seems like it fits the bill. It's essentially Sherlock Holmes. It also has no magical abilities, which it seems like is what your DM wants. This sub-class would be better if it gave you free Expertise in Investigation and Perception.

In terms of other other subclasses, I would write off the Arcane Trickster, Phantom, and Soulknife (all excellent) because all three are very magical so wouldn't fit the DM's request.

The Mastermind is okay if you make liberal use of the "Help at range, as a bonus action" Master of Tactics ability and have allies who can benefit from it - you should be giving other people advantage a LOT, but it competes with your Cunning Action which kinda sucks.

The Scout is a solid, mobile archer with some nature/survival skills flavoring. The Swashbuckler is a solid high-charisma rogue who likes to be in melee, but the Rakish Audacity sneak attack thing can be annoyingly fiddly to use. Thief is fine but can be a little under-powered compared to the other sub-classes unless your DM gives you a break on some stuff (like letting you drink a potion as a Cunning Action or interpreting the "climb as fast as you walk" thing as "you now have a Climb speed").

 

[jayoungr]

If you want to be an investigator type, no matter which subclass you choose, make sure to train in both perception and investigation--it's worth putting expertise into both of them as well. I would also recommend insight unless it's covered by someone else in the group. This means you're going to want to be sure wisdom and intelligence are not your dump stats.

Just how restricted are your choices? Is it PHB only? Can you use Xanathar's?

 

[jgsugden]

The best rogue - isn't. At least to me.

In my experience, I have found the most enjoyable rogue build to be s Gloomstalker Ranger, especially if you have a background with thieves tools. They just feel more like a rogue from fantasy stories to me. When I decide to be the scout/rogue member of a party, I start with Gloomstalker as my base (although I play other rangers whe I don't want a rogue feel).

If the DM believes the Gloomstalker would have too many spells, ask him how he feels about reskinning the spells as non-spells. Hex, Longstrider, etc... all are pretty easy to explain with nonmagical explanations.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

All good advice, though I've found, with halfling rogues, ranged attacks attacks are your friend because you can hide in combat much more easily than most.

Halfling handcrossbow rogues can be pretty wild.

 

[bedir than]

Halfling handcrossbow rogues can be pretty wild.

slings!!! Always slings

 

[jayoungr]

In my experience, I have found the most enjoyable rogue build to be s Gloomstalker Ranger, especially if you have a background with thieves tools.

How do you handle the comparative lack of skills?

 

[CleverNickName]

I'd keep it simple; I'd play a halfling rogue with the Thief subclass, and pick up the Lucky feat at 4th level. (shrug) But honestly, a halfling rogue is going to be strong no matter what subclass, ASIs, and feats you go with; there's no need to over-think it.

 

[Ancalagon]

Thief subclass interacts well with the Healer feat as well.