Essentials Rogue is up!

[Aegeri]

Thanks for answering anyway, but could you clarify for us if the Thief is intended to use sneak attack every turn or should it be every round like other +bonus damage abilities?

I picked out Feinting Trick precisely because it didn't allow its damage effect to work with combat advantage, which just seemed very strange.

 

[nightspaladin]

While Mr. Mearls is available, perhaps he can answer why SA is once per turn instead of once per round. Is this an upcoming errata or something special for the Thief?

(I know that most likely he can't answer, but It doesn't hurt to try)

Thanks btw for a great set of tweaks for the upcoming essential classes. They have kept the boards jumping with speculation for weeks.

EDIT: BAH Ninja'd above.

 

[mearls]

Thanks for answering anyway, but could you clarify for us if the Thief is intended to use sneak attack every turn or should it be every round like other +bonus damage abilities?

I picked out Feinting Trick precisely because it didn't allow its damage effect to work with combat advantage, which just seemed very strange.

I believe sneak attack is intended to be used every turn rather than round.

The idea behind Feinting Trick is to give you what amounts to a different striker mechanic for when you can't get combat advantage. For instance, a short bow using thief can get a lot of mileage out of that trick at long range.

 

[mearls]

While Mr. Mearls is available, perhaps he can answer why SA is once per turn instead of once per round. Is this an upcoming errata or something special for the Thief?

I believe it is an change for the sneak attack mechanic used by all rogues, rather than just a change for the thief.

 

[Aegeri]

I believe it is an change for the sneak attack mechanic used by all rogues, rather than just a change for the thief.

!!!!!!!

BOMBSHELL.

Will that also apply to curse, hunters quarry and such? Oh god rangers and their billions of out of turn attacks and HQ applying every *starts having a fit on the ground*

Edit: I think this is a pretty solid change btw. But man, Warlord parties are going to just get better and better...

 

[mearls]

!!!!!!!

BOMBSHELL.

Will that also apply to curse, hunters quarry and such? Oh god rangers and their billions of out of turn attacks and HQ applying every *starts having a fit on the ground*

Edit: I think this is a pretty solid change btw. But man, Warlord parties are going to just get better and better...

It does not apply to curse and especially hunters quarry, for precisely the reasons you cite.

And yes, warlords are happy. From the design side, I really like that the martial leader interacts really well with the essentials martial classes. It's fitting, IMO.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

From the design side, I really like that the martial leader interacts really well with the essentials martial classes. It's fitting, IMO.

A.). You've now all but confirmed that the slayer and the ranger builds are Basic Attack users, not that it is a particularly well concealed idea.

B). It helps quell my fear of the Warlord being marginalized.

 

[FireLance]

It helps quell my fear of the Warlord being marginalized.

It's a WotC ploy, I tell you.

"In order to get the most out of the Knight and the Thief, you will need a Warlord, which is detailed in the soon-to-be hard-to-find PH1. Buy now while stocks last!"

 

[Xris Robin]

Edit: SHORTBOWS!!! Was it that hard?

I was going to point that out. Sneak Attack now works with short bows, but in return drops all crossbows except hand ones.

 

[FireLance]

The idea behind Feinting Trick is to give you what amounts to a different striker mechanic for when you can't get combat advantage. For instance, a short bow using thief can get a lot of mileage out of that trick at long range.

As a side note, backstab (though not sneak attack) works with all weapons. So yes, we are going back to the days when a thief can backstab with a two-handed sword greatsword.