For a campaign I am creating a character who is a mage hunter. He is a wood elf rogue. Without homebrew, what would be the most fitting 2014 5e subclass of rogue for this. Tbc, he does not massacre all mages he sees, just a specific group after they slaughtered his family and damaged his leg.
D&D General Mage hunter rogue
- Thread starter Nerdette
- Start date
Arcane Trickster is probably the obvious choice, with you being part of a rival wizard group that got slaughtered by this group and so now you are learning magic the "hard" way. But I would be tempted with Phantom Rogue, when this mage group killed your family and damaged your leg they used some powerful necrotic magic that left it's imprint on you. Being able to interact even briefly with members of this wizard group after you kill them has some potential.
J-H
Hero
Go with assassin.
1. Wizards and sorcerers don't have great initiative-manipulation abilities, unlike 3.5. With high Dex and Alert, you're likely to get to go first.
2. Even true seeing and see invisibility don't help if you're silent and hidden.
3. Non-magical disguises aren't foiled by dispel magic, true seeing, etc.
4. High alpha strike damage means the mage has fewer rounds during which he can spellcast.
1. Wizards and sorcerers don't have great initiative-manipulation abilities, unlike 3.5. With high Dex and Alert, you're likely to get to go first.
2. Even true seeing and see invisibility don't help if you're silent and hidden.
3. Non-magical disguises aren't foiled by dispel magic, true seeing, etc.
4. High alpha strike damage means the mage has fewer rounds during which he can spellcast.
FrogReaver
The most respectful and polite poster ever
Soulknife or Swashbuckler IMO.
A soulknife wizard hunter seems thematically cool. You get some skill check bonuses as well. Good for stealth to sneak up on them. Decent range. Etc.
Swashbuckler get a nice initiative boost and the ability to use sneak attack in melee easily. It’s a very mobile battlefield character which is helpful for chasing casters. Especially if dual wielding. His thematics would come from being an expert swordsman than can shift through the battlefield to get to his target.
Assassin is thematic as well but works best as an archer style sniper pc IMO. Assassinate probably will rarely come up.
A soulknife wizard hunter seems thematically cool. You get some skill check bonuses as well. Good for stealth to sneak up on them. Decent range. Etc.
Swashbuckler get a nice initiative boost and the ability to use sneak attack in melee easily. It’s a very mobile battlefield character which is helpful for chasing casters. Especially if dual wielding. His thematics would come from being an expert swordsman than can shift through the battlefield to get to his target.
Assassin is thematic as well but works best as an archer style sniper pc IMO. Assassinate probably will rarely come up.
I would agree with @Sorinth that the Phantom Rogue would be an excellent choice. The subclass is all about 'walking a fine line between life and death', and thus makes a lot of sense for a character who is taking revenge on the living for their actions resulting in death.
But if not the Phantom and its direct connection with the killing of mages for their actions against your character's family... my other recommendation would be the Inquisitive. This subclass is very much more the 'tracker' or 'hunter' aspect of the Rogue rather than the straight-up murder machine of the Assassin... but if finding all the mages responsible for your family's deaths is going to play a part in the game, being much more a detective would be good way to go. Being able to find them more easily, and tell when they are lying if/when you engage with them makes for a good option to find the people responsible.
But if not the Phantom and its direct connection with the killing of mages for their actions against your character's family... my other recommendation would be the Inquisitive. This subclass is very much more the 'tracker' or 'hunter' aspect of the Rogue rather than the straight-up murder machine of the Assassin... but if finding all the mages responsible for your family's deaths is going to play a part in the game, being much more a detective would be good way to go. Being able to find them more easily, and tell when they are lying if/when you engage with them makes for a good option to find the people responsible.
The three or four options kindly mentioned by others above are viable choices, and they've made cogent arguments for each. You may have to weigh more intangible factors like how easy a character in your head fits vs. say, how interesting it is your character pushes against particular aspects of a subclass.
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