CapnZapp
Legend
Lets see...:
A Rogue is the obvious starting point for a Scoundrel, but woefully inadequate. I would love to give the Rogue a real upgrade, and what better way than to get inspired by the Scoundrel, and the way it almost becomes the group's leader with its abilities to go last then first and startegically melding into shadows (not to use "invisibility" which is already a defined effect/spell in D&D, and we don't want the "I hate magical martials" discussion).
For a Fighter (Barbarian?) to be able to work as a Brute, it really needs damage negation aka real tanking. Exactly how to implement Juggernaut et al is something we can leave for later.
Tinkerer? Well, Artificer seems to never drop so who knows?
Cragheart. It's signature move (in GH) is moving obstacles around. This ability probably has no place in a rpg.
The mindthief is a psychic warrior/rogue perhaps? Not much to say until Psionics drops.
The spellweaver needs the least work - Wizards et al already is a good approximation.
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Looking at this, one thing becomes glaringly obvious - D&D really keeps a short leash on martials.
Fighters and especially Rogues get nothing. (Sneak Attack? Only brings Rogues up to par, and then only barely) Spellcasters get everything.
Makes me sad and frustrated how D&D can never look beyond its narrow horizon for inspiration.
Adding initiative modification abilities to rogues would singlehandedly solve a lot of the rogue's combat survivability, and all without any magic involved.
A simple idea: allow the rogue two d20 initiative rolls. Once per short rest he can switch during combat. (More at high levels).
That is, in the first fight he rolls 12 and 14. He acts at #14 during the entire combat. In the second fight ten minutes later, he rolls 9 and 21. He acts at 9 for the first round, then switches to 21 in round 2, using up his power. He keeps acting at #21 for the rest of that fight.
Then add that once per short rest he can meld into shadows, making him impossible to target with individual attacks. Area attacks still work. He returns from the shadows on his initiative next round, doubling sneak attack dice on his very next melee attack (a single attack at one individual).
These two ideas would make the 5E rogue much more awesome and cool and unique to play.
Shame we needed a boardgame to see what D&D is missing for its martials...
A Rogue is the obvious starting point for a Scoundrel, but woefully inadequate. I would love to give the Rogue a real upgrade, and what better way than to get inspired by the Scoundrel, and the way it almost becomes the group's leader with its abilities to go last then first and startegically melding into shadows (not to use "invisibility" which is already a defined effect/spell in D&D, and we don't want the "I hate magical martials" discussion).
For a Fighter (Barbarian?) to be able to work as a Brute, it really needs damage negation aka real tanking. Exactly how to implement Juggernaut et al is something we can leave for later.
Tinkerer? Well, Artificer seems to never drop so who knows?
Cragheart. It's signature move (in GH) is moving obstacles around. This ability probably has no place in a rpg.
The mindthief is a psychic warrior/rogue perhaps? Not much to say until Psionics drops.
The spellweaver needs the least work - Wizards et al already is a good approximation.
---
Looking at this, one thing becomes glaringly obvious - D&D really keeps a short leash on martials.
Fighters and especially Rogues get nothing. (Sneak Attack? Only brings Rogues up to par, and then only barely) Spellcasters get everything.
Makes me sad and frustrated how D&D can never look beyond its narrow horizon for inspiration.
Adding initiative modification abilities to rogues would singlehandedly solve a lot of the rogue's combat survivability, and all without any magic involved.
A simple idea: allow the rogue two d20 initiative rolls. Once per short rest he can switch during combat. (More at high levels).
That is, in the first fight he rolls 12 and 14. He acts at #14 during the entire combat. In the second fight ten minutes later, he rolls 9 and 21. He acts at 9 for the first round, then switches to 21 in round 2, using up his power. He keeps acting at #21 for the rest of that fight.
Then add that once per short rest he can meld into shadows, making him impossible to target with individual attacks. Area attacks still work. He returns from the shadows on his initiative next round, doubling sneak attack dice on his very next melee attack (a single attack at one individual).
These two ideas would make the 5E rogue much more awesome and cool and unique to play.
Shame we needed a boardgame to see what D&D is missing for its martials...
