Li Shenron
Legend
Then they failed.The designers of the game have said the intention is for the rogue to have SA in basically every round of combat.
Then they failed.The designers of the game have said the intention is for the rogue to have SA in basically every round of combat.
No, they didn't.Then they failed.
I would say long range shooting fights are not rare but are uncommon, and fights where you can get to the enemy in 1 round are common but still a minority or at best a plurality of total fights. There are going to be lots of times when it is the Rogues turn and there is not an ally adjacent to an enemy he can attack. Heck a fair amount of times the Rogue will win initiative and go before the rest of his party gets into position.I think 95% is still pretty close to accurate. Running, shooting fights are pretty rare. Far more often are fights in dungeons or other places where you can get on the enemy round 1 and the rogue gets sneak attack for 100% of his attacks. The rare running fights where the rogue gets sneak attack on 0% of his attacks are just part of the 5% of attacks where he doesn't get it.
Your Rogues never disadvantaged from being poisioned or frightenend? Your enemies never take dodge when they can see you? You never fight displacer beasts or any other creature like that? Are you never pron?. Are your enemies never prone when you are using a missile weapon? Are your enemies never invisible or in darkness when they can see you or have blindsight?I disagree. Your mileage may vary. My encounters tend to be dungeons and similar areas (the scale of a standard battle map with minis) in groups of 5 PCs, and with ample terrain to allow Hiding.
Yes they did fail if that was the intent. If they really intended for the Rogue to have SA every single turn then the PHB is poorly worded. What it should say is:No, they didn't.
Yes.Are you telling me all the cases above, plus others I did not mention cumulatively account for less than 5% of the attacks your Rogues make?
I think you misunderstand. The rogue is balanced so that they aren’t overpowered if they get SA on literally every attack they ever make.Yes they did fail if that was the intent. If they really intended for the Rogue to have SA every single turn then the PHB is poorly worded. What it should say is:
"Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an Attack"
If they said that and left off the rest of the paragraph the Rogue would actually get SA every single turn.
Saying they intended for it to be every turn when they wrote it, is like saying they intended for him to get SA with greatswords. If it was true they would not have put wording specifically disallowing it in the PHB.
If the author put wording in there that prevents him from getting SA or puts conditions on it, then clearly the author who wrote that, when he wrote it, intended to prevent the Rogue from getting SA every turn. It is possible he/they changed his/thier mind. I will add that material that has come out since the PHB, including inquisitive, swashbuckler and now steady aim all may support the idea that they did change their mind.
I will add, why bother with insightful fighting or the second part of Rakish audacity if they already get SA every turn.
In combat they are not overpowered if they get SA every single turn. You are right about that.I think you misunderstand. The rogue is balanced so that they aren’t overpowered if they get SA on literally every attack they ever make.
The rogue is also built so that getting SA is easy, as long as the rogue engages in certain rogueish tactics.
Subclasses sometimes change the rogues fighting style by allowing it to bypass those rogueish tactics in favor of different ones.
The rogue is built to feel a certain way in a fight, but doing comparable damage to other combatants using noticeably different tactics.On
If an ally will be engaging someone later this round, readying an action to attack the first engaged enemy (with Sneak Attack) is a good strategy. If the distance is too great for them to be engaged this round, go ahead and take the shot without Sneak Attack. You are still adding another potential round of damage above the melee folks' average.There are going to be lots of times when it is the Rogues turn and there is not an ally adjacent to an enemy he can attack. Heck a fair amount of times the Rogue will win initiative and go before the rest of his party gets into position.
If an ally will be engaging someone later this round, readying an action to attack the first engaged enemy (with Sneak Attack) is a good strategy. If the distance is too great for them to be engaged this round, go ahead and take the shot without Sneak Attack. You are still adding another potential round of damage above the melee folks' average.