D&D 5E Phandelver Rogue Clarification

[Charles Rampant]

Hey all,

So I am running a group through the Mines of Phandelver adventure. In the second session we had another player join, who took the Halfling Rogue character. He has played 4e before, and took to the character like a duck to water, quickly learning how to use its abilities. I would just like to make sure that I am interpreting the rules right, as he seems really powerful.

Each round, his actions have been:

1. Take his move to cover, if required
2. Fire off a bowshot, which either has advantage for him being hidden or is targeted at an enemy in melee with another PC. I give cover if he is firing through friendlies or whatnot, but generally he has had good angles thanks to the generous movement allowance. He gets sneak attack damage each time, making it 2d6+3 damage.
3. Use Cunning Action to hide, granting him advantage on the next attack roll

This means that he generally gets to roll with advantage and do extra damage on a hit. I don’t grant Advantage in the surprise round as a general thing, since it seems powerful enough as it is. However, the Rogue has often specified that he has been sneaking, and so he would seem to earn the Advantage from being unseen. I have disallowed that sneak at times (e.g. he opens a door and then walks through it when Redbrands are waiting inside and trying to take him by surprise).

In his first combat at the tavern, he rolled really low on his Hide, and promptly got one-shotted by a Redbrand. This seems to indicate that the Rogue is a total glass cannon, doing loads of damage but totally reliant upon hiding or position to keep him safe from harm. I think that if he were to be fighting with disadvantage then he wouldn’t get his Sneak Attack either, which is an option for future combats in dark environments.

Is this basically all functioning as expected? I have not run D&D in a long time, and my other games don’t really have this kind of sneak-attack mechanic, so I just wanted to make sure that I’m not running the rules wrong. In terms of the players having fun everything is working just fine, which is obviously the important part, but I’m planning on running a campaign of this in the future so I wanted to make sure of my mechanics now.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Melkor]

This thread might provide some insight:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...-Advantage-and-Sneak-Attacks&prefixid=dndnext

 

[Atomo]

Hey all,

1. Fire off a bowshot, which either has advantage for him being hidden or is targeted at an enemy in melee with another PC. I give cover if he is firing through friendlies or whatnot, but generally he has had good angles thanks to the generous movement allowance. He gets sneak attack damage each time, making it 2d6+3 damage.

His opponent gets cover if in melee no matter the angle of the shot. The rules assume that no one will be "frozen" in place while combating in melee... Even if he shoots at back of the creature and his ally is at front of the creature, cover applies by rule (the creature can just dodge in the last second and the shoot finds his ally, so he needs to be careful to have the right timing of the shot, which results in the bonus AC of target).

Use Cunning Action to hide, granting him advantage on the next attack roll

Also remembers that hide is not an "auto" action. It involves a check. And too "You can’t hide from a creature that can see you" (basic rules, pg 60). It is not explicit here, but I would assume as DM (and yes, just an oppinion and not a "this is the right way to do it") that if a creature saw you go behind that rock, it knows you are there. You are not entitled to hide from them except if you move to other place without being seen. If he ducks behind a rock and emerges to shot from a shrub a bit away, I would give him the hide check. But if he went behind a rock and shots from there, the target "knew" he was there. He was not hidden in my oppinion.

Anyway, just my two cents about. The most important is that you (as DM), he (as player) and everyone else around the table is having fun. This is the "right" way to read any rule in my oppinion

 

[Plaguescarred]

Is this basically all functioning as expected?

Yes pretty much.

His opponent gets cover if in melee no matter the angle of the shot. The rules assume that no one will be "frozen" in place while combating in melee... Even if he shoots at back of the creature and his ally is at front of the creature, cover applies by rule.

Humm no i believe it doesn't since a target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover.

So if the attack does not originate from the opposite side of the cover (such as firing at the back of an enemy engaged by an ally in front), no cover should be granted.

 

[Atomo]

Yes pretty much.

Humm no i believe it doesn't since a target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover.

So if the attack does not originate from the opposite side of the cover (such as firing at the back of an enemy engaged by an ally in front), no cover should be granted.

You are right... I was reading this the wrong way. My apologies. But, then, there is not a rule you have always disadvantage when firing a target in melee combat. I was pretty sure there was a rule some that, but I was not able to find it anywhere in the basic. Perhaps something from playtest that did not make place in the game?

 

[Plaguescarred]

You are right... I was reading this the wrong way. My apologies. But, then, there is not a rule you have always disadvantage when firing a target in melee combat. I was pretty sure there was a rule some that, but I was not able to find it anywhere in the basic. Perhaps something from playtest that did not make place in the game?

No worries brother! Ranged Attack in Close Combat is in the Basic rules, but it occur when the ranged attacker is within 5 feet of a hostile creature (not his target).


BR73 Ranged Attacks in Close Combat: Aiming a ranged attack is more difficult when a foe is next to you. When you make a ranged attack with a weapon, a spell, or some other means, you have disadvantage on the attack roll if you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature who can see you and who isn’t incapacitated.

 

[Charles Rampant]

Thanks for the help guys. I suspect that there might be more nuanced depictions of combat hiding and cover in the PHB. For the moment, I'll start to make the rogue work for his hiding a bit more - probably use the "snipers move after every shot for a reason" explanation - but otherwise I'm happy.