I play my rogue as more of a dogooding drifter of sorts. the fact that he is a rogue feeds into his personality and background alot. i play Erevan (my rogue) as neutral good.he has a folk hero/noble background. the noble part of him is his history but he's now living the folkhero life. he's not so much in the shadows as someone who is more of a loner, which is also ironic as of lately he's been hanging out in relatively big groups. I love a good roleplay and have just recently described to my DM of how he may have gotten the Assassin archetype, as more of a poor choice rather than what he wanted and it now provides useful skills for him as an adventurer. i definitely love to play with the role-playing aspect of it.
I used to really like the STR based thug builds from other additions. I prefer to play more like a viking; quick, scary and killing your look-outs before they can scream.
I think of my rogue as a seedy used car dealer that'll say and doing anything to make a little more money. He is a high elf charlatan arcane trickster 18/ bladesinger 2. He has 8 cantrips. Only booming blade and green flame blade are damaging. The rest are for role play. Friends can be useful for lying his way out of a sticky situation, and his invisible mage hand is useful for stealing things behind someone's back while smiling to their face. Minor illusion and prestidigitation are only limited by your imagination. Message is great for scouting. Dancing lights can make a movable, visible distraction to lead the unwary enemy into a trap. It also sheds dim light which he uses as bright light thanks to darkvision. The document forging also has great role play potential.
The wizard levels alow him to cast ritual spells for things like find familiar and detect magic without using spell slots, and I keep situational things prepend like absorb elements and shield. Bladesinging gives him more mobility and good AC. The familiar and/or mage hand lets him get advantage on most attacks. Which is good because he can't dual wield while using his attack cantrips. I also take the mobile feat for more speed and no need to disengage. Also the idea of dancing in out of the shadows to make a single deadly attack suits his personality.
He is powerful in and out of combat even if he doesn't do the most damage. All together a fun build.
Drow Criminal Arcane Trickster. Now, here's the interesting part. I deliberately choose Drow here for a very specific reason - Light Sensitivity. Odd, I know, but this is pretty much a standard campaign, not one specifically in the Underdark. So, its not uncommon for there to be sunlight to worry about. The idea is that this creates a bit of a challenge to play, learning to avoid all the sunlight and yet still be able to do whatever needs to get done. It creates an entirely different style of playing than I ever engaged in with other types of characters. It really forces you to learn how to engage with shadows and stealth, because it becomes a necessity.
Interestingly, I've found that, once you're forced to always be skulking, there's a lot of time to actually be skulking around. Lots of places to set yourself up to start ambushing others. Or always being out of sight and out of mind. That Light Sensitivity penalty was surprisingly not nearly as bad as you think it would be with some planning. Wide open plains just weren't as common as you think -there was always some kind of cover with shadows. The big times I needed to roll for perception? It almost was always inside somewhere, or in a forest, so sunlight wasn't an issue for the usual scout role. I can't think of a single time I needed to roll perception while penalized.
Now, outside of combat is where Delilah shined. Here, she was a stereotypical rogue type, constantly falling back on her cantrips to mess around with people with illusions and dancing lights. The two of them actually make a pretty solid combo for distracting guards with what's just beyond the corner. Thanks to Gloves of Thievery, she could use Mage Hand to steal and pick locks while distracting people using Deception. Actually used Disguise Self, walked up, joked around with people, robbed them blind, and then left, all the while none the wiser. Pretty bold and flamboyant for a race that is supposed to be widely hated and mistrusted. That said, she was entirely a kleptomaniac. She stole everything.
And, let me tell you. Del was a horror at fighting dirty. Improvised sand to the eyes. Smoke bombs. Thrown knives or arrows with poison. The fun thing about Mage Hand is that it lets you do things like dump potions and poisons over someone during combat as a bonus action. That was always fun. I had a whole host of things like trip wires and caltrops I was constantly tossing around the place through my mage hand's cunning action. And, when push came to shove and Del was forced into sunlight? She does have a few spells to fall back on that, while they don't do direct damage, are still useful. More than once, I've fallen back on just casting Faerie Fire to start things off, so that everyone and their brother was getting advantage on attacks, then moving up into melee and smacking things. Might not be advantage, but still dealt the damage and, with booming blade, often left the opponent unsure of what to do - moving hurts.
For advancement, I can't decide between just bumping up Dex to max, or investing in a feat like Alert or go for broke and take Drow High Magic. I'm kind of a bit worried about having such low INT and CHA, but so far I've been making do with just Expertise in various things.
I love being a tiny halfling rogue, the fact I can move through creatures squares easier helps sneak attacks, and making him small enough to pass as a human child? Bonus! Sneak in rob the place blind and when you hear guards run to the kitchen and say your starving and homless, sneak out later when they stop paying attention. As for personalities he's usually very miserly, and out for all the gold, one game he got teleported into the loot room so he couldnt SA the boss, during the fight I figured out how much he could carry and took everything, then made a pretty awesome deception check with expertise saying "It's pretty bare in their idk why everyone thought he was loaded..." and proceeded to leave the 2000 coppers I couldnt carry in the chest( I think I had about 10k go worth of loot in my bag and couldnt carry another coin). The game was an AL game and the DM kept loot very private to who could honestly see it, I never steal from my group so no one had a reason not to believe me, I had even used my potions more on the group since I rarely took damage.
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For my attack I will throw my spear...two handed...for 1d8...
My first campaign starts tonight, and I'm playing a Drow Rogue Scout with the background of Spy. The plan is a fairly wary but pick-happy rogue. She's in a guild but largely has operated in 1-3 person groups. She is Chaotic Good and up until this campaign has been driven by trying to find her half-brother who was enslaved (they are now in the same group). She frees slaves and is fairly good for a rogue. She operates in information and sneaking but is a fairly well-rounded character - I hope. I am currently planning on her gaining the Ritual Caster feat at Level 2 so she can get Find Familiar + Comprehend Languages or Alarm.
I play a Lawful Good, Human, Inquisitive Rouge. They're an Investigator for the Baulder's Gate Watch who usually deals with murders, kidnappings, and the like. Loves wine, justice, and moonlit strolls through the city.
I've played thuggish Rogues, ne'er-do-well Rogues who are just in it for the grab and go, Swashbuckling Rogues, poison-wielding Assassin-Rogues, acrobatic Rogues, and stealthy-scout Rogues who are only Rogues because no other class fit the stealthy-scout backstory I wanted.
I usually play the role of whatever the party doesn't have. No one can disable traps? Play a thief. No magic user because everyone decided to go fighter and you still want to play rogue, arcane trickster! Party doesn't have a melee character, swashbuckler. One common thread for all of my rogues is that they all have high stealth because from my experience, no one wants to be the scout and it's always a role I take. An additional thing if you can cooperate with a magic classes, is the invisibility spell as well as the ranger/druid spell Pass without Trace as that adds even more stealth for a scout.
My Rogue used to be a Private Investigator and got into trouble so he became an adventurer, so I focus a lot on investigation and getting to the root of the problem. Always wanting to find the truth in things. He's also very combat oriented. Having the Dual Wielder feat and a Two Weapon Fighting Fighter multi class, he Dual Wields rapiers. Ultimately, I think my plan is to get him to Level 3 in Fighter, but I'm not sure of the trajectory at the moment.
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PCs - Richter Welz, Human Swashbuckler/Fighter; Manikin, Variant Tiefling Sorcerer
Jym is the local Lord's "yes" man, typically fetching things, sorting matters with the smallfolk, managing parts of his household, and generally trying to keep his over indulgent master from getting himself too much into trouble with his wife and the king. While he has skills like a thief his greatest asset is problem solving.
I have played two Rogue characters; one was a pure Arcane Trickster and one was a Barbarian/Rogue multiclass. They played similarly but differently, both were played in Adventure League.
Arcane Trickster was a Forest Gnome with magpie-like tendencies. His name was Guiles and he was built to be the very best at the traditional Rogue roles. He had Expertise in Sleight of Hand which was very helpful for disarming traps and pickpocketing with my Mage Hand. He had Expertise in Deception and the Charlatan background gave him Disguise Kit and Forgery Kit proficiency, he basically spent the entire campaign disguised as a child in a gnome costume (the ultimate double bluff!). He had Expertise in Stealth and was almost always hidden, except during negotiations with people he knew were allies. He had Expertise in Perception and the Observant feat; he had a Passive Perception score of 24 by level 5. Almost all of his spells were chosen for use out-of-combat, relying on Sneak Attack and Cunning Action to be useful in combat, both in melee and at range as he would carry a Rapier in one hand and a Hand Crossbow in the other. He would impulsively steal literally every shiny thing not nailed down and as many as he could that were; the list included carpet rods from a faction safe house, several sets of keys, cutlery, worthless chunks of rock, lavender bath oil, several jars of glitter, the belt buckle of a town guard, shattered glass, you name it he had it. Several times he was caught by the Paladin with items he had stolen, who then gave him a slap on the wrist and made him return the items. Extremely fun to roleplay, wish I could go back and play him all over again.
Barbarian/Rogue was a Stout Halfling who flirted with everyone. His name was Willy and he was build to tank like a champ, going three levels into Ancestral Guardian. He wielded a Shortsword and a Hand Crossbow, claiming he only wielded his 'longsword' against people who really deserved it. When he called himself 'Big Willy', people weren't sure if he was being ironic about his height or whether he was on about something else. He took the Swashbuckler archetype of Rogue and the Sentinel feat, he didn't often get the extra attack from Sentinel but he would always prevent his allies being targeted by melee enemies. He would often yell "SNEAK ATTACK" as he charged in for the initial attack and would always verbally taunt his enemies. Rage and Expertise in Athletics made him a mean grappler at the best of times and he always carried concealed daggers. All in all he was a great 'thug' type character despite his size and it was fun to do something different.
My Rogu is 3rd level so far and is a Scout, he is a Variant Human with the Crossbow Expert Feat. I plan on going to multiclass to Fighter for 3 levels I want the Archery fighting style, and go the Champian route for the bonus to crit. I may go to 4th level as fighter (still debating as I do not wish to lose the level 17 Scout feature) so I do not lose an ASI. I plan on the Sharpshooter Feat as soon as I can get it. But I do need the Athletics Feat as well.
So I've wanted to do a rogue/ranger crossover for my campagn. Liked the idea of a stealthy master of the wilderness with a criminal background. Ended up with this build which I actually liked a lot, considering the opportunities for roleplay (seemed appropriate to have high wisdom and charisma scores). I liked the idea of an generally likeable individual with a shady who eventually grows tired of the criminal lifestyle and searches for meaning and adventure elsewhere. Eventually needing to survive in the wilderness on his travels.
Took some inspo from some characters in the Belgariad (an awesome novel series I am reading)
Assassin rogue lv3/ Ranger lv2 (5) Assassin (rogue) Two weapon fighting style (ranger) Dual shortswords (d6) Str -1 Dex +3 Con +1 Int -1 Wis +3 Cha +2 Another fun (more combat-related) feature I stumbled upon was the synergy between Assassin and Ranger abilities. Before combat- hunters mark First round Sneak up and attack with both swords. Assuming these two attacks can occur simultaneously (ie. Stabbing with both hands at the same moment), they will both have surprise and crit.
Thought this was a feature that stayed true to the idea, with both ranger and assassin abilities combining as he scopes out terrain, tracks and quickly dispatches enemies for his party. All while being an otherwise chatty and amiable fellow inbetween, as you may expect of a rakish ex-criminal looking for a thrill.
Skills and guile is how I roll. Also if the authorities ever do catch up with you... try to be likeable... You never know, someday you may be the devil they know!
Got a campaign starting next week. My pirate kobold is now without a crew and has been hired for a task force. He will be causing so much mischief because he thinks he needs to appear strong. Probably going to be a bit of an enabler unless the group teaches him otherwise.
Im looking forward to darting in and out of combat, starting tavern brawls and making it look like some one else is the culprit. And most of all I’m looking forward to when I roll bad and everything gets out of control.
I recently rolled a High Elf Rogue with a group.... I took Charlatan as my background and used it to 'roleplay' a priest. I acted lawful good around the group, constantly engaging in conversation with the Cleric and Druid I was running with.
While dungeon crawling I would use sleight of hand to take a little extra for myself... never getting caught, thankfully. (I had a contingency plan to blame my witholdings on the other rogue of the group, whom noone trusted but was the treasurer for some reason, if I ever did get caught. I would tell the group that I didnt trust the rogue and didnt want him stealing anything so I was holding it to divy up later.)
While in town I was constantly 'speaking the word' to townsfolk. After the town was attacked I seized my opportunity. The group and I dealt with the attackers, and saved a monastery. Upon returning to the town I expressed (very well with a +8 persuade) that I was sent to this town by my God and that this is the protection he offers, along with prosperity, in return for allegiance.
The whole thing was a hoax for my character to gain wealth and power... when it was all said and done my rogue (priest) had an entire town, and a monastery, worshipping Mask. He set up a thieves guild, underground casino, and temple of mask.
The best part.... he was the face of all of it. And so brought wealth and power...
My rogue has a soldier background. The story is that she joined the army and became one of the most valuable spies around. Her alignment is lawful neutral because she believes in the law and the chain of command over her own morals.
I've basically just built her for super stealth and skills. My default tactic is to hide behind other party members. (halfling)
I play two rogues in two separate campaign groups. Both give a good balance of RP abilities and decent combat skills to really contribute to the party.
One is a Swashbuckler with a 5 level deep-dip into Warlock Hexblade. I've taken the Smuggler background. He is only passable with stealth and slight of hand. But he's a con-artist of the first order. He has strong in deception, disguise and melee skills. Makes for excellent RP options and a decent combat support team member.
The other rogue is a straight up Inquisitor. He has a City Watch background. He's very good with stealth, locks, and of course investigation and insight skills. And with the Insightful Fighting ability, also a decent melee support.
One thing I've noticed and others have written about this too in the forum: the hexblade's extra-attack on a action doesn't really provide that much more of an advantage for melee damage. He has more combat options with the spells and Invocation. But the inquisitor's in depth focus in the rogue class and the Insightful Fighting feature ensures the single attack does more damage when sneak attack lands.
Bottom line - Both are very different, and both are very fun.
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I play my rogue as more of a dogooding drifter of sorts. the fact that he is a rogue feeds into his personality and background alot. i play Erevan (my rogue) as neutral good.he has a folk hero/noble background. the noble part of him is his history but he's now living the folkhero life. he's not so much in the shadows as someone who is more of a loner, which is also ironic as of lately he's been hanging out in relatively big groups. I love a good roleplay and have just recently described to my DM of how he may have gotten the Assassin archetype, as more of a poor choice rather than what he wanted and it now provides useful skills for him as an adventurer. i definitely love to play with the role-playing aspect of it.
I used to really like the STR based thug builds from other additions. I prefer to play more like a viking; quick, scary and killing your look-outs before they can scream.
I think of my rogue as a seedy used car dealer that'll say and doing anything to make a little more money. He is a high elf charlatan arcane trickster 18/ bladesinger 2. He has 8 cantrips. Only booming blade and green flame blade are damaging. The rest are for role play. Friends can be useful for lying his way out of a sticky situation, and his invisible mage hand is useful for stealing things behind someone's back while smiling to their face. Minor illusion and prestidigitation are only limited by your imagination. Message is great for scouting. Dancing lights can make a movable, visible distraction to lead the unwary enemy into a trap. It also sheds dim light which he uses as bright light thanks to darkvision. The document forging also has great role play potential.
The wizard levels alow him to cast ritual spells for things like find familiar and detect magic without using spell slots, and I keep situational things prepend like absorb elements and shield. Bladesinging gives him more mobility and good AC. The familiar and/or mage hand lets him get advantage on most attacks. Which is good because he can't dual wield while using his attack cantrips. I also take the mobile feat for more speed and no need to disengage. Also the idea of dancing in out of the shadows to make a single deadly attack suits his personality.
He is powerful in and out of combat even if he doesn't do the most damage. All together a fun build.
Oscar "Oz" Diggs, Human Technomancer Wizard (10)/Rogue (1) - Fate/False Revelation, PbP
DM, Kaden Tolgalen
Meet Delilah.
Drow Criminal Arcane Trickster. Now, here's the interesting part. I deliberately choose Drow here for a very specific reason - Light Sensitivity. Odd, I know, but this is pretty much a standard campaign, not one specifically in the Underdark. So, its not uncommon for there to be sunlight to worry about. The idea is that this creates a bit of a challenge to play, learning to avoid all the sunlight and yet still be able to do whatever needs to get done. It creates an entirely different style of playing than I ever engaged in with other types of characters. It really forces you to learn how to engage with shadows and stealth, because it becomes a necessity.
Interestingly, I've found that, once you're forced to always be skulking, there's a lot of time to actually be skulking around. Lots of places to set yourself up to start ambushing others. Or always being out of sight and out of mind. That Light Sensitivity penalty was surprisingly not nearly as bad as you think it would be with some planning. Wide open plains just weren't as common as you think -there was always some kind of cover with shadows. The big times I needed to roll for perception? It almost was always inside somewhere, or in a forest, so sunlight wasn't an issue for the usual scout role. I can't think of a single time I needed to roll perception while penalized.
Now, outside of combat is where Delilah shined. Here, she was a stereotypical rogue type, constantly falling back on her cantrips to mess around with people with illusions and dancing lights. The two of them actually make a pretty solid combo for distracting guards with what's just beyond the corner. Thanks to Gloves of Thievery, she could use Mage Hand to steal and pick locks while distracting people using Deception. Actually used Disguise Self, walked up, joked around with people, robbed them blind, and then left, all the while none the wiser. Pretty bold and flamboyant for a race that is supposed to be widely hated and mistrusted. That said, she was entirely a kleptomaniac. She stole everything.
And, let me tell you. Del was a horror at fighting dirty. Improvised sand to the eyes. Smoke bombs. Thrown knives or arrows with poison. The fun thing about Mage Hand is that it lets you do things like dump potions and poisons over someone during combat as a bonus action. That was always fun. I had a whole host of things like trip wires and caltrops I was constantly tossing around the place through my mage hand's cunning action. And, when push came to shove and Del was forced into sunlight? She does have a few spells to fall back on that, while they don't do direct damage, are still useful. More than once, I've fallen back on just casting Faerie Fire to start things off, so that everyone and their brother was getting advantage on attacks, then moving up into melee and smacking things. Might not be advantage, but still dealt the damage and, with booming blade, often left the opponent unsure of what to do - moving hurts.
For advancement, I can't decide between just bumping up Dex to max, or investing in a feat like Alert or go for broke and take Drow High Magic. I'm kind of a bit worried about having such low INT and CHA, but so far I've been making do with just Expertise in various things.
I love being a tiny halfling rogue, the fact I can move through creatures squares easier helps sneak attacks, and making him small enough to pass as a human child? Bonus! Sneak in rob the place blind and when you hear guards run to the kitchen and say your starving and homless, sneak out later when they stop paying attention. As for personalities he's usually very miserly, and out for all the gold, one game he got teleported into the loot room so he couldnt SA the boss, during the fight I figured out how much he could carry and took everything, then made a pretty awesome deception check with expertise saying "It's pretty bare in their idk why everyone thought he was loaded..." and proceeded to leave the 2000 coppers I couldnt carry in the chest( I think I had about 10k go worth of loot in my bag and couldnt carry another coin). The game was an AL game and the DM kept loot very private to who could honestly see it, I never steal from my group so no one had a reason not to believe me, I had even used my potions more on the group since I rarely took damage.
For my attack I will throw my spear...two handed...for 1d8...
Human Rogue Swashbuckler with the human feat of Magic Initiate Sorcerer to get Booming Blade, Minor Illusion and Mage Armor
We rolled stats and my DM was fine with putting both the human +1s into the same stat so had 20 Dex and 18 Cha at level 1.
Currently Level 8
Level 4 and level 8 feats of Mage Slayer and Sentinel.
More than likely I will win initiative as a swash buckler and good Dex and Cha.
Bonus action dash, if I have to poke at someone on the way with paired short swords to get into melee range of a high value target.
If I did not have to attack someone to get to them, Booming Blade on the target for 1d6 + Sneak Attack damage.
Now they have problems:
If they try to move, SA because of Sentinel, and they do not get to move, if by some reason I miss they still take the BB damage.
Try to hit someone else, SA because of Sentinel
If they try to cast a spell SA from Mage Slayer.
My first campaign starts tonight, and I'm playing a Drow Rogue Scout with the background of Spy. The plan is a fairly wary but pick-happy rogue. She's in a guild but largely has operated in 1-3 person groups. She is Chaotic Good and up until this campaign has been driven by trying to find her half-brother who was enslaved (they are now in the same group). She frees slaves and is fairly good for a rogue. She operates in information and sneaking but is a fairly well-rounded character - I hope. I am currently planning on her gaining the Ritual Caster feat at Level 2 so she can get Find Familiar + Comprehend Languages or Alarm.
I play a Lawful Good, Human, Inquisitive Rouge. They're an Investigator for the Baulder's Gate Watch who usually deals with murders, kidnappings, and the like. Loves wine, justice, and moonlit strolls through the city.
I've played thuggish Rogues, ne'er-do-well Rogues who are just in it for the grab and go, Swashbuckling Rogues, poison-wielding Assassin-Rogues, acrobatic Rogues, and stealthy-scout Rogues who are only Rogues because no other class fit the stealthy-scout backstory I wanted.
I love the skill-monkey roleplay.
I usually play the role of whatever the party doesn't have. No one can disable traps? Play a thief. No magic user because everyone decided to go fighter and you still want to play rogue, arcane trickster! Party doesn't have a melee character, swashbuckler. One common thread for all of my rogues is that they all have high stealth because from my experience, no one wants to be the scout and it's always a role I take. An additional thing if you can cooperate with a magic classes, is the invisibility spell as well as the ranger/druid spell Pass without Trace as that adds even more stealth for a scout.
My Rogue used to be a Private Investigator and got into trouble so he became an adventurer, so I focus a lot on investigation and getting to the root of the problem. Always wanting to find the truth in things. He's also very combat oriented. Having the Dual Wielder feat and a Two Weapon Fighting Fighter multi class, he Dual Wields rapiers. Ultimately, I think my plan is to get him to Level 3 in Fighter, but I'm not sure of the trajectory at the moment.
PCs - Richter Welz, Human Swashbuckler/Fighter; Manikin, Variant Tiefling Sorcerer
Jym is the local Lord's "yes" man, typically fetching things, sorting matters with the smallfolk, managing parts of his household, and generally trying to keep his over indulgent master from getting himself too much into trouble with his wife and the king. While he has skills like a thief his greatest asset is problem solving.
I have played two Rogue characters; one was a pure Arcane Trickster and one was a Barbarian/Rogue multiclass. They played similarly but differently, both were played in Adventure League.
Arcane Trickster was a Forest Gnome with magpie-like tendencies. His name was Guiles and he was built to be the very best at the traditional Rogue roles. He had Expertise in Sleight of Hand which was very helpful for disarming traps and pickpocketing with my Mage Hand. He had Expertise in Deception and the Charlatan background gave him Disguise Kit and Forgery Kit proficiency, he basically spent the entire campaign disguised as a child in a gnome costume (the ultimate double bluff!). He had Expertise in Stealth and was almost always hidden, except during negotiations with people he knew were allies. He had Expertise in Perception and the Observant feat; he had a Passive Perception score of 24 by level 5. Almost all of his spells were chosen for use out-of-combat, relying on Sneak Attack and Cunning Action to be useful in combat, both in melee and at range as he would carry a Rapier in one hand and a Hand Crossbow in the other. He would impulsively steal literally every shiny thing not nailed down and as many as he could that were; the list included carpet rods from a faction safe house, several sets of keys, cutlery, worthless chunks of rock, lavender bath oil, several jars of glitter, the belt buckle of a town guard, shattered glass, you name it he had it. Several times he was caught by the Paladin with items he had stolen, who then gave him a slap on the wrist and made him return the items. Extremely fun to roleplay, wish I could go back and play him all over again.
Barbarian/Rogue was a Stout Halfling who flirted with everyone. His name was Willy and he was build to tank like a champ, going three levels into Ancestral Guardian. He wielded a Shortsword and a Hand Crossbow, claiming he only wielded his 'longsword' against people who really deserved it. When he called himself 'Big Willy', people weren't sure if he was being ironic about his height or whether he was on about something else. He took the Swashbuckler archetype of Rogue and the Sentinel feat, he didn't often get the extra attack from Sentinel but he would always prevent his allies being targeted by melee enemies. He would often yell "SNEAK ATTACK" as he charged in for the initial attack and would always verbally taunt his enemies. Rage and Expertise in Athletics made him a mean grappler at the best of times and he always carried concealed daggers. All in all he was a great 'thug' type character despite his size and it was fun to do something different.
My Rogu is 3rd level so far and is a Scout, he is a Variant Human with the Crossbow Expert Feat. I plan on going to multiclass to Fighter for 3 levels I want the Archery fighting style, and go the Champian route for the bonus to crit. I may go to 4th level as fighter (still debating as I do not wish to lose the level 17 Scout feature) so I do not lose an ASI. I plan on the Sharpshooter Feat as soon as I can get it. But I do need the Athletics Feat as well.
So I've wanted to do a rogue/ranger crossover for my campagn. Liked the idea of a stealthy master of the wilderness with a criminal background. Ended up with this build which I actually liked a lot, considering the opportunities for roleplay (seemed appropriate to have high wisdom and charisma scores). I liked the idea of an generally likeable individual with a shady who eventually grows tired of the criminal lifestyle and searches for meaning and adventure elsewhere. Eventually needing to survive in the wilderness on his travels.
Took some inspo from some characters in the Belgariad (an awesome novel series I am reading)
Assassin rogue lv3/ Ranger lv2 (5)
Assassin (rogue)
Two weapon fighting style (ranger)
Dual shortswords (d6)
Str -1
Dex +3
Con +1
Int -1
Wis +3
Cha +2
Another fun (more combat-related) feature I stumbled upon was the synergy between Assassin and Ranger abilities.
Before combat- hunters mark
First round
Sneak up and attack with both swords.
Assuming these two attacks can occur simultaneously (ie. Stabbing with both hands at the same moment), they will both have surprise and crit.
Thought this was a feature that stayed true to the idea, with both ranger and assassin abilities combining as he scopes out terrain, tracks and quickly dispatches enemies for his party. All while being an otherwise chatty and amiable fellow inbetween, as you may expect of a rakish ex-criminal looking for a thrill.
Skills and guile is how I roll. Also if the authorities ever do catch up with you... try to be likeable... You never know, someday you may be the devil they know!
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Got a campaign starting next week. My pirate kobold is now without a crew and has been hired for a task force. He will be causing so much mischief because he thinks he needs to appear strong. Probably going to be a bit of an enabler unless the group teaches him otherwise.
Im looking forward to darting in and out of combat, starting tavern brawls and making it look like some one else is the culprit. And most of all I’m looking forward to when I roll bad and everything gets out of control.
I recently rolled a High Elf Rogue with a group.... I took Charlatan as my background and used it to 'roleplay' a priest. I acted lawful good around the group, constantly engaging in conversation with the Cleric and Druid I was running with.
While dungeon crawling I would use sleight of hand to take a little extra for myself... never getting caught, thankfully. (I had a contingency plan to blame my witholdings on the other rogue of the group, whom noone trusted but was the treasurer for some reason, if I ever did get caught. I would tell the group that I didnt trust the rogue and didnt want him stealing anything so I was holding it to divy up later.)
While in town I was constantly 'speaking the word' to townsfolk. After the town was attacked I seized my opportunity. The group and I dealt with the attackers, and saved a monastery. Upon returning to the town I expressed (very well with a +8 persuade) that I was sent to this town by my God and that this is the protection he offers, along with prosperity, in return for allegiance.
The whole thing was a hoax for my character to gain wealth and power... when it was all said and done my rogue (priest) had an entire town, and a monastery, worshipping Mask. He set up a thieves guild, underground casino, and temple of mask.
The best part.... he was the face of all of it. And so brought wealth and power...
My rogue has a soldier background. The story is that she joined the army and became one of the most valuable spies around. Her alignment is lawful neutral because she believes in the law and the chain of command over her own morals.
I've basically just built her for super stealth and skills. My default tactic is to hide behind other party members. (halfling)
I play two rogues in two separate campaign groups. Both give a good balance of RP abilities and decent combat skills to really contribute to the party.
One is a Swashbuckler with a 5 level deep-dip into Warlock Hexblade. I've taken the Smuggler background. He is only passable with stealth and slight of hand. But he's a con-artist of the first order. He has strong in deception, disguise and melee skills. Makes for excellent RP options and a decent combat support team member.
The other rogue is a straight up Inquisitor. He has a City Watch background. He's very good with stealth, locks, and of course investigation and insight skills. And with the Insightful Fighting ability, also a decent melee support.
One thing I've noticed and others have written about this too in the forum: the hexblade's extra-attack on a action doesn't really provide that much more of an advantage for melee damage. He has more combat options with the spells and Invocation. But the inquisitor's in depth focus in the rogue class and the Insightful Fighting feature ensures the single attack does more damage when sneak attack lands.
Bottom line - Both are very different, and both are very fun.