doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Now, I will start out by saying that the Assassin and the Inquisitive both do a good job of helping you be a sniper, but neither feels like a character specialized in that strategy, to me.
Which makes me wonder, what would? The assassin crits more and has advantage when getting the drop, which is easy to do with hundreds of feet of range and exceptional stealth, but the rest of the subclass is about social infiltration, more or less.
The Inquisitive lets you reliably sneak attack regardless of circumstance, allowing you more freedom in your tactics from round to round, once you've set that up, but it's actually a fairly small boon most of the time.
The Scout....exists, I guess. You can get away from people a bit easier, after they've whomped on you, if you didn't use your reaction to mitigate damage with uncanny dodge.
So, I don't think that rogues need much damage boost, but a sniper isn't dual wielding, and will probably never get reaction attacks, so I do think that a mild damage increase is possible, here.
Also, in terms of the story of a subclass, I see two possibilities. First, the rogue's alternative to the fighter's Gunslinger. Proficiency with guns, reload as a bonus action, etc. The second is the Deepwood Sniper concept. Basically an alternate Scout, gets proficiency but not automatic expertise in Survival and Nature, then sniper stuff and maybe some climbing related stuff, ability to ignore partial cover.
The gunfighter would be less focused on long range, and have some features that speak to fast draw type stuff, while the Deepwood sniper would be more about stealth and long range.
Here are some quick thoughts for mechanics that could work. The subclass wouldn't get all of these, they're just a list of ideas.
Any other ideas? Know of any 3pp rogue subclasses that already do this?
Which makes me wonder, what would? The assassin crits more and has advantage when getting the drop, which is easy to do with hundreds of feet of range and exceptional stealth, but the rest of the subclass is about social infiltration, more or less.
The Inquisitive lets you reliably sneak attack regardless of circumstance, allowing you more freedom in your tactics from round to round, once you've set that up, but it's actually a fairly small boon most of the time.
The Scout....exists, I guess. You can get away from people a bit easier, after they've whomped on you, if you didn't use your reaction to mitigate damage with uncanny dodge.
So, I don't think that rogues need much damage boost, but a sniper isn't dual wielding, and will probably never get reaction attacks, so I do think that a mild damage increase is possible, here.
Also, in terms of the story of a subclass, I see two possibilities. First, the rogue's alternative to the fighter's Gunslinger. Proficiency with guns, reload as a bonus action, etc. The second is the Deepwood Sniper concept. Basically an alternate Scout, gets proficiency but not automatic expertise in Survival and Nature, then sniper stuff and maybe some climbing related stuff, ability to ignore partial cover.
The gunfighter would be less focused on long range, and have some features that speak to fast draw type stuff, while the Deepwood sniper would be more about stealth and long range.
Here are some quick thoughts for mechanics that could work. The subclass wouldn't get all of these, they're just a list of ideas.
- Pick Your Target - the sniper gets to choose a target and focus on them, similar to the inquisitive.
- Shot on The Run - you can use Steady Aim even if you move. Later, you can move full speed without a stealth penalty.
- Use The Terrain - you can attempt to hide while only lightly obscured by features of the terrain that would be difficult terrain.
- Lethal Aim - When you hit with advantage on a ranged weapon attack, you gain one or more of;
- Reroll 1s and 2s on the damage dice
- reduce the target to 0hp if the damage would reduce them to a number of HP equal to your Rogue Level + your dex or lower
- Your Sneak Attack damage dice become d8s instead of d6s
- You can make a ranged weapon attack as as a reaction as if you'd taken the readied action if;
- A creature you have studied (or marked for death or whatever) moves more than 10ft or draws a weapon or spellcasting focus item while within the short range of a ranged weapon you are weilding
- A creature makes a ranged attack against you or an ally of yours within 30ft of you
- A hidden or invisible creature comes out of hiding or becomes visible due to casting a spell or making an attack
- You crit on a 19 or 20, either against targets you've marked, or with specific weapons, or when you make an attack that qualifies for sneak attack?
- A slightly more "tinker" aspect could be gained by being able to build specialised ranged weapons with greater range, repeating mechanisms, etc.
- A pool of trick shot dice, or an at-will version that packs less punch (no extra damage). Maybe reduce SA damage for secondary effects, but I've never seen any version of that be satisfying.
Any other ideas? Know of any 3pp rogue subclasses that already do this?
