Rogues and rolling all the dice

[CapnZapp]

Not that I don't want the Rogue to roll all the dice on the table for a sneak attack, but I want to make sure he's not rolling all the dice on the table.

Buy more dice...?

 

[Dausuul]

If the 3rd level rogue is a half-orc add one more d6 for Savage Attack —- 7D6!

If you allow monstrous races from Volo's, a bugbear would roll 10d6 + Dex.

 

[cooperjer]

Not that I don't want the Rogue to roll all the dice on the table for a sneak attack, but I want to make sure he's not rolling all the dice on the table.

So at level 3 Assassin with sneak attack:

2 D20 for advantage (unless he has a party member within five feet, and if the target hasn't moved this turn he gets the advantage)
1 D6 for short sword
1 D6 for crit damage
2 D6 for sneak attack bonus (at level 3)

Are there any other dice he can roll, or is he already rolling too many dice?

I'm not sure the target not moving is critical. It is critical to have an enemy of the target within 5-ft and not have disadvantage. If the target moves away from one creature and ends within 5-ft to a different enemy to the target, then sneak attack can still occur. Note, I used "enemy of the target" and not "ally."

With respect to critical hit damage I like to use maximize the first die roll and then add the second set of dice rolled. This still allows players to roll dice, which they like, and reduces the chance of a critical hit being lower than when rolling twice as many dice. For example: Critical hit with the short sword sneak attack = 6 (weapon die) + 12 (sneak attack dice) + 1d6 (weapon die) + 2d6 (sneak attack dice) + Dex bonus.

 

[Horwath]

I prefer rolling max 4 or 5 dice.

Average the EVEN number of leftover dice.

I.E. 8d6 fireball would be 4d6+14

rogue critical of 2d8+10d6 would be 1d8+3d6+29

 

[Darren Campbell]

Ok, so the Rogue is basically gathering all dice on the table now and on a hit (because he's maxed out his Dex ability score he's pretty much always hitting) and most likely doing 26-30 damage. And if that's what he wants to do to have fun and play the game he wants to have so be it. I don't want to prevent him from having fun and enjoying the game.

At level 4 now he's choosing the alert feat. Giving him a +5 to initiative, he's never surprised, no one gets the advantage on him, rarely misses, and does tonnes of damage.

Then after the rest of the part wakes up from a nap, its their turn.

How do you as DM's keep the game going for others to have fun too while allowing the Rogue to feel satisfied that he's killed or almost killed something.

 

[rgoodbb]

Wait until 5th level...

When he/she misses with their one attack, the other Martials get two attacks and the Casters get Fireball/Spiritual Weapon etc.

Assassin's crit feature shouldn't necessarily come up all the time, and certainly only once per combat, just make sure the first thing they see is not always the boss. 30 damage on that goblin guard is amusing but not detrimental to a fun combat. That being said, they need their time in the spotlight. So allowing them to do what they do is fun for them, as long as what everyone else wants from their characters gets similar opportunities.

Ps. The player needs to buy more d6's. They need their own special roguey assassination dice. Makes them feel cool.

 

[Oofta]

Ok, so the Rogue is basically gathering all dice on the table now and on a hit (because he's maxed out his Dex ability score he's pretty much always hitting) and most likely doing 26-30 damage. And if that's what he wants to do to have fun and play the game he wants to have so be it. I don't want to prevent him from having fun and enjoying the game.

At level 4 now he's choosing the alert feat. Giving him a +5 to initiative, he's never surprised, no one gets the advantage on him, rarely misses, and does tonnes of damage.

Then after the rest of the part wakes up from a nap, its their turn.

How do you as DM's keep the game going for others to have fun too while allowing the Rogue to feel satisfied that he's killed or almost killed something.

First, buy more dice. More dice are good.

Second, different classes and builds have different peaks and valleys. Yes, right now he'd doing a lot of damage compared to the other PCs but give it a level or two and you'll be complaining about someone else.

Third, switch up encounters, he's only doing that damage to 1 creature.

• Increase the number of bad guys.
• Up the XP budget as necessary to challenge the group.
• Have the BBEG in an adjacent room and have them come out once they hear\ all of the commotion.
• Send in enemies in waves.
• The enemies have hired their own assassin who is waiting in the shadows with a drawn bow.
• It's a trap/illusion. The dogs gnolls playing poker aren't really there.
• Increase initial encounter distance.
• Say "good job!" and then have the other bad guys target him because he just took out the waterboy
• Accept that it's just one action and one attack.

I could go on but the basic point is that as a DM you always have to adjust encounters and difficulty to challenge your group. Sometimes you just have to accept that certain people are going to be really, really good at a niche. So find a way to let the guy have his moment in the sun while not bogging down play and move on.

 

[Smarmot]

Seal wrote a song about this in the 90s

 

[Guest 6801328]

I vote for rolling more dice. One of the best parts of playing a rogue is occasionally getting to throw a LOT of dice on the table.

I was playing with my nephews a few years ago, when they were about 9 and 13, and the 9 year old got a sneak attack crit. On his 6d6 he got 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 4. His vivid recounting of the tale to his mom was precious. ("...and the ghoul pretty much exploded and there was black blood everywhere it was awesome...")

 

[TerraDave]

Ok, so the Rogue is basically gathering all dice on the table now and on a hit (because he's maxed out his Dex ability score he's pretty much always hitting) and most likely doing 26-30 damage. And if that's what he wants to do to have fun and play the game he wants to have so be it. I don't want to prevent him from having fun and enjoying the game.

At level 4 now he's choosing the alert feat. Giving him a +5 to initiative, he's never surprised, no one gets the advantage on him, rarely misses, and does tonnes of damage.

Then after the rest of the part wakes up from a nap, its their turn.

How do you as DM's keep the game going for others to have fun too while allowing the Rogue to feel satisfied that he's killed or almost killed something.

The thing is, its not even a big deal. Especially by level 4. I have seen bigger hits by Paladin's with smite (and crit) at that level and spells that hit multiple targets can do more overall damage. As noted at level 5 the assasin gets just another d6, (or 2 on this move) but the others in the party will get more.

Wait till you see fireball in action.