D&D 5E (2024) Rogue abilities help

[Horwath]

The Skilled feat is never a bad idea for a rogue, and only gets better at higher levels.

it's also never a good option, even if you want to be the guy with all skills.
you get 2 skills from background, probably 1 from species, 4 from base rogue, that gives the feat 8th, 9th and 10th choice in skills.

I have yet to see this feat get taken in any game that I play in last 11 years.
Skill expert is another thing as it gives 1 expertise and that is something special that average Joe does not have.

Sentinel is good, but at 5th level, I think you get Uncanny Dodge, which will fight for your single reaction if you're in melee and the target of attacks.

Sentinel is great example on how you want to trade defense for offense.

Skulker is fine: - I don't tend to need it for hiding in combat much (less useful for a Thief), but blindsight is great, not just for operating in darkness, fog etc, but also for detecting hidden/invisible opponents.

good feat, that Stealth thing should work always. it's for skulking around.

I know what you mean about Hand Crossbows, but since they don't make sense on a number of levels, I either assume that they are actually inherently magical objects, or avoid them altogether. (I feel the same about people wielding a quarterstaff in one hand and a shield in the other.)

agree, Qstaff should have been a dedicated 2Handed weapon, that can be used 1Handed as spell focus only.
maybe even give it reach.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

it's also never a good option, even if you want to be the guy with all skills.
you get 2 skills from background, probably 1 from species, 4 from base rogue, that gives the feat 8th, 9th and 10th choice in skills.

I have yet to see this feat get taken in any game that I play in last 11 years.
Skill expert is another thing as it gives 1 expertise and that is something special that average Joe does not have.

I love the skilled feat but only when I’m not playing a rogue. It’s handy for the knowledgeable wizard or even a fighter who wants to buff some social skills. My rogue has all the necessary skills and, while another expertise would nice, with a +2 proficiency, it’s not worth a full feat.

Sentinel is great example on how you want to trade defense for offense.

Do you feel that’s a good thing?

good feat, that Stealth thing should work always. it's for skulking around.

I’m leaning towards it. I kind of like the heavy crossbow idea mentioned above. Loading it would take my bonus action which would be fine if I’m already hidden.

 

[Kobold Stew]

it's also never a good option, even if you want to be the guy with all skills.
you get 2 skills from background, probably 1 from species, 4 from base rogue, that gives the feat 8th, 9th and 10th choice in skills.
I have yet to see this feat get taken in any game that I play in last 11 years.

Skilled becomes a lot more appealing to Rogues in 2024, though, since Reliable Talent comes online so much earlier. It won't be for everyone, but it does allow some fun outcomes.

It's also, it turns out, good for casters who want to build magic items -- the requirements to have tool proficiencies are not easy to gut, and skilled is the best/easiest way to get a suite of them. (As a result, Humans make more magic items than any species, which, y'know, in my mind tracks.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

So I would go heavy crossbow (push) as your main weapon. Which is good for kiting and getting enemies away from wizards and into zones like Web.

Just checking and Rogues are not proficient in Heavy Crossbow. It's a Martial weapon and has the Heavy and loading property. The only martial weapons that rogues are proficient in are ones with finesse or light properties.

Medium crossbow is fine because it's a simple weapon and rogues are proficient in a simple weapons.