Damn, look at all of you playing rogues seriously.

See, what I do is I play the rogue only to be able to pop up out of literally nowhere and do one of the following:

• meme
• meme then kill
• cause a problem/instigate shit
• piss off the local NPCs
• do something extremely f**king stupid and end up causing massive amounts of damage

that last one actually happened, in the case of me single handedly creating a sinkhole larger than most villages.

After wading through all of the 2024 changes to the classes, I think Rogue might be my favorite updated class. Weapon mastery is a game changer. And I also love both the Thief and Assassin subclasses (both have their origins in AD&D). I've built a thief and assassin. Full disclosure: I have not played these PCs, but I have them built and am looking for an opportunity to play either/both of them soon.

Assassin: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/135752007

First off, I couldn't pass up the benefits of Deep Gnomes for my assassin:

• Small (benefits hiding behind cover)
• 120 ft Darkvision
• Gnomish Magic Resistance: advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against spells.

• Svirfneblin Camouflage: when you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check, you can make the check with advantage. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest

• Gift of the Svirfneblin: starting at 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self spell with this trait. Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the nondetection spell without requiring a material component

In combat:

1. Rathbone has many weapons, and will change proficiency on different days (after a long rest)
2. Two-weapon fighting: since I use light weapons, I get a second attack as a bonus action. So my max attacks per turn is: i. Attack with Scimitar (regular attack), which has the Nick property, which allows another attack (on a hit) ii. Bonus attack action with Short sword (I don't add my STR/DEX modifier to the damage roll, unless that modifier is negative), which has the Vex property (gives me Advantage on the next round)

General goals/themes: incorporate as much:

1. INT- & Gnome-based abilities, especially spell, casting, especially illusionism, e.g., wand, etc., which is part of my Gnomish ancestry
2. Poison - use poisoner's kit, find materials (plants, extract from monsters) for making poison, envenoming weapons.

Seeking magic weapons: Baleful Talon, Dagger of Venom, Dancing Sword, Any Enspelled Weapon that enhances flavor (ray of sickness, contagion; Other: darkness, dimension door, maze, poison spray, etc.)

Background: born to parents/community from both the Black Forest (forest gnome) and the Underdark (deep gnome). His childhood was unstable due to local/regional conflicts, and his family was poor. As a result he engaged in crime starting at a young age, then joined an assassin's guild for a little over a year, and just decided to start venturing out. Left behind some enemies but also retained some friends in the criminal underworld.

And here's my Thief: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/135872989

Combat:

1. Zeff has many weapons, and will change proficiency on different days (after a long rest)
2. Two-weapon fighting: since I use light weapons, I get a second attack as a bonus action. So my max attacks per turn is: i. Attack with Scimitar (regular attack), which has the Nick property, which allows another attack (on a hit) ii. Bonus attack action with Short sword (I don't add my STR/DEX modifier to the damage roll, unless that modifier is negative), which has the Vex property (gives me Advantage on the next round)
3. Sneak Attack: extra 2d6 damage when I have Advantage Cunning Action: as a Bonus Action I can Hide, Dash, or Disengage.
4. Steady Aim: as a Bonus Action, I have Advantage only if you haven’t moved during your turn; after you use it, your Speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.
5. Fast Hands: as a bonus action, I can use take the magic action, e.g., use a wand. Zeff will seek out: Wand of fireballs, magic missile.
6. General goals/themes: incorporate as much INT- & Gnome-based abilities, especially spellcasting, e.g., Illusionism which is part of my Gnomish ancestry
7. Backstory: Zeff's mom is a forest gnome and his dad is a deep gnome. For this reason, he has dark features. He spent most of his life in a community of forest gnomes, although he has family in both the Underdark and the forest. He had parents who provided for his physical and emotional needs, but was given a lot of freedom to explore and pursue his own interests, which lead him to hang out with both members of the thief and arcane communities. He has a decent sized family (4 other siblings) and aunts/uncles and grandparent adventurers, thieves and wizards/illusionists. These family members have made a strong impression on his life, interests and values. In short, he sees himself as someone who uses his thief and arcane abilities for good (think ~ Robin Hood).

Seeking weapons: Fools Blade, Baleful Talon, Any Enspelled Weapon that enhances flavor (Illusion: minor illusion, color spray, blur, silent image, mirror image, phantasmal force, fear, hypnotic pattern, greater invisibility, phantasmal killer, mental prison, simulacrum, weird; Other: conjure volley, maze, web). 

Other magic items seeking: Boots of Speed, Flying, Cloak of Invisibility, the Manta Ray, Elvin kind, Arachnida, Mountebank (teleport/dimension door), Staff: Hither-Thither, Defense, Frost, Rings: Invisibility, Protection, X-Ray vision, Free Action, Jumping, Ram (2d10 force damage, push), Stone of Good Luck, Gloves of Thievery, Sword: Weapon of warning, 9 lives stealer, Dagger of Venom, Bag of Tricks, Holding, Tattoo: Ghost Step (passwall)

Just gotta say, I love the halfling rogue combination.

My character, (Atara) was a socialite that came from a family of thieves.

My style is basically stocking up on Charisma and Dexterity so I can do the stealing thing but if I'm caught I can talk my way out of it.

Atara has a +8 in Persuasion and Stealth as a level one.

My other rogue (Ren'Ati) is a cleric - rogue multi class who was in the illegal arena and lost her eyes and most of her hand. For her, I mostly stick with 'Stay long range! Magic! If needed, stick him with a dagger/thwacking with a mace! Or, of course, talk my way out of everything!' Fun character. Her highlight is rolling a Nat 20 persuasion check, managing to convince a horde of goblins to learn Common and to stop being violent sociopaths. 

If you want to play a nearly untouchable rogue then try the Deep Gnome with the Svirfneblin Magic feat. 

Deep gnomes are lean with bodies as hard as a slab of rock ranging from 3​ to ​3.5 feet (0.91​ to ​1.1 meters) in height and weighing between 40​ to ​45 pounds (18​ to ​20 kilograms). Males are completely bald with only a small amount of facial hair (a goatee), while the females have very long hair. Deep Gnome complexions are sometimes described as "gnarled" and, like the Drow and Duergar, are commonly dark in hue, with most Deep Gnomes demonstrating brown or gray skin with very light grey eyes. Females typically have platinum blonde hair.

Deep Gnomes exhibit an insatiable curiosity and craftiness when put in the right circumstances. It is this trait, more than any other, which lead Deep Gnomes to abandon their cautious upbringing and explore the world around them. Some of these wandering Deep Gnomes turn upwards and investigate the surface world from which their ancestors came, particularly Deep Gnome illusionists who hope to find advanced instruction in the Art beyond what could be obtained in their isolated homes. Others become prospectors, searching the Underdark for new veins of gems and ore to mine.

They are also excellent guides, scouts and foragers because they know of underground portals, tunnels, and passages long forgotten by the other races. Having to rely on stealth and cunning, they have truly mastered traveling through their environment, resulting in some of the finest Rangers and Rogues.

Deep Gnomes who become adventurers most frequently are Fighters, Rangers, Rogues, or Wizards (particularly illusionists). Although well-suited to the arcane arts like other Gnomes, they are specifically fit to become Gloom Stalker Rangers or Arcane Trickster Rogues, adapting as they do to hiding and navigating the labyrinthine caverns of the Underdark.

* As a Deep Gnome you inherit the innate spellcasting ability of your ancestors. This ability allows you to cast Nondetection on yourself at will, without needing a material component. You can also cast each of the following spells once with this ability: Blindness/Deafness, Blur, and Disguise Self. You regain the ability to cast these spells when you finish a long rest.

* Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells, and you cast them at their lowest possible levels. 

Thanks for the deep gnome lore. I agree that deep gnomes are ideal rogues--I have Thief and Assassin Rogue builds, both are deep gnomes. Their magic resistance makes them only vulnerable to melee combat, and things like invisibility, blur, etc. helps mitigate some of the risk in melee. What do you mean by "magic feat"?

Goliath Rogue Barbarian multiclass.

Get super massive, hide in plain sight, then rage sneak attack them for massive damage.

Someone else has probably beaten me to this but Rogue: Scout is a great non-caster alternative to Ranger. Taking a single dip into Fighter gets you the weapon proficiencies and Second Wind for a quick self-heal. 

Quote from Shoktona70 >>

After wading through all of the 2024 changes to the classes, I think Rogue might be my favorite updated class. Weapon mastery is a game changer. And I also love both the Thief and Assassin subclasses (both have their origins in AD&D). I've built a thief and assassin. Full disclosure: I have not played these PCs, but I have them built and am looking for an opportunity to play either/both of them soon.

Assassin: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/135752007

 

 
Hi, im playing assassin right now and am also lvl3, so I was wondering how do you get so many points in Skill proficiency section??? How does skill proficiencies actually level up? Because as we use it at our table it just level ups general proficiency and adds more points to them all basically (we are using old rule book).

P.s. If you never played assassin before then take time investigating all about "Assassinate" attack ability, stealth(you probably already know it) and Surprised state. And discus this with your DM before game starts, because there is much vague parts in there.

In 5e the way to increase skills is through a couple means:

• gaining levels and increasing your proficiency bonus, which is added to skill checks based on the skills you are proficient in
• by taking the Skilled or Sill Expert feats, which grant proficiency in additional skills
• improving the ability score linked to an existing skill
• you can also gain proficiency in new skills by multiclassing into other classes

Last, skills also derive from backgrounds, but I'm not sure whether DMs would allow PCs to have (e.g., develop new) backgrounds based on experience, etc.

Honestly I like the rogue thief cause he is so dang sneaky