Hey all wanted to know what a swashbuckler should be looking out for in terms of armor? I'm multiclassed into fighter so I have access to medium armor, should I be looking at Half Plate? And also on sneak attack damage, I see that when we have an ally next to us we can sneak attack and when we are by ourselves we can sneak attack but when there are two enemies we can't sneak attack, does this also include sneak attack from ranged? I am asking for a friend of mine who is also multiclass his Ranger with rogue and want to make sure he is using it correctly or if its just a melee sneak attack rule.
Which armor to wear depends on your dex bonus and whether the disadvantage on stealth for some armors will hurt you.
The sneak attack granted by swashbuckler only works if you are within 5 feet of the target. Regular sneak attack (which swashbucklers can still use) works at range if you have advantage on the attack or one of your targets enemies is within 5 feet of it.
Yup I get that but are they allowed to still sneak attack if there are more then 1 creature within 5 ft of the ally while at range is what I am asking.
As long as an enemy (that isn't incapacitated) of the target is within 5 feet of the target you are attacking and you don't have disadvantage on the attack, you can sneak attack from any range. Other combatants in the area do not change this in any way.
You've got 2 questions. 1st Armor. You multiclassed into Fighter from Rogue. Rogue gives light armor and Fighter gives you medium armor. Major concerns on armor is do you care about being stealthy or not? light armor maxes out at 2+Dex, so you're max AC is 17 with a 20 Dex. medium armor maxes out at 15+(2)Dex, also for a 17 with halfplate but only requires 14 Dex and disadvantage on stealth. medium armor maxes out at 14+2(Dex) for 16 with breastplate, but only requires a 14 and you stay stealthy. Breastplate/halfplate are expensive and so are close to an uncommon magic item. Chainshirt and Scale mail are the same, but very cheap but lose 1 AC. Which is a pretty good deal as it's probably better then the best light armor until you have Dex 20. If you're playing with standard array, you won't be Dex 20 until 9th lvl at the soonest (8 rogue and 1 fighter)
Remember you can wield a shield!
Sneak Attack is pretty simple. You just need a few conditions 1) A finesse weapon or a ranged weapon. 2a) You have Advantage on the attack roll 2b) If the target has an enemy within 5' of them, and you don't have DisAdvantage. 2c) If you are within 5' of an enemy and no other creatures are within 5' of you, and you don't have DisAdvantage.
That's it. You always need 1) to be true and you need at least one of 2) to be true. 2b) you don't need an ally, you need an enemy of your target. So if it's a Free For All and two of your enemies are fighting it still counts. 2c is only for Swashbucklers.
You've got 2 questions. 1st Armor. You multiclassed into Fighter from Rogue. Rogue gives light armor and Fighter gives you medium armor. Major concerns on armor is do you care about being stealthy or not? light armor maxes out at 2+Dex, so you're max AC is 17 with a 20 Dex. medium armor maxes out at 15+(2)Dex, also for a 17 with halfplate but only requires 14 Dex and disadvantage on stealth. medium armor maxes out at 14+2(Dex) for 16 with breastplate, but only requires a 14 and you stay stealthy. Breastplate/halfplate are expensive and so are close to an uncommon magic item. Chainshirt and Scale mail are the same, but very cheap but lose 1 AC. Which is a pretty good deal as it's probably better then the best light armor until you have Dex 20. If you're playing with standard array, you won't be Dex 20 until 9th lvl at the soonest (8 rogue and 1 fighter)
Remember you can wield a shield!
Sneak Attack is pretty simple. You just need a few conditions 1) A finesse weapon or a ranged weapon. 2a) You have Advantage on the attack roll 2b) If the target has an enemy within 5' of them 2c) If you are within 5' of an enemy and no other creatures are within 5' of you, and you don't have DisAdvantage.
That's it. You always need 1) to be true and you need at least one of 2) to be true. 2b) you don't need an ally, you need an enemy of your target. So if it's a Free For All and two of your enemies are fighting it still counts. 2c is only for Swashbucklers.
Thanks for the info, I've already got 20 dex we are lvl 8 so I'm rogue 7 / 1 fighter, I'm not really a stealthy character so I'm wearing +1 half plate at the moment but can switch to a +1 breast plate or chain shirt. I always thought as long as your ally/teammate is next to an enemy you can get sneak attack.
With 20 dex, studded leather provides equal or better armor than anything but plate mail.
In general, as long as an ally/teammate/enemy of your enemy is next to your target you can get sneak attack. There are, however, other conditions that need to be met (finesse/ranged weapon, no disadvantage), there are also other ways of getting sneak attack, such as advantage or the swashbuckler trait. The required conditions are almost always going to be true in practice, so positioning is the one that you worry about.
With a 20 Dex you could pick up Medium Armor Master and increase your AC by 1 as your Max Dex is now 3 rather than 2. You would also no longer suffer disadvantage to Stealth while in half-plate, although this does not seem to matter as much to you.
I always thought as long as your ally/teammate is next to an enemy you can get sneak attack.
As long as you are wielding a finesse weapon or a ranged weapon, do not have disadvantage on the attack and your ally is hostile to your target then yes, you would get Sneak Attack. This is a specific case of 2b) from FullMetalBunny's post.
The rules specifically mention that the creature within 5' of your target must be an enemy of your target, this means that you could still get Sneak Attack in a Battle Royale scenario where you have no allies but would also mean that you may not get Sneak Attack if your ally was charmed by your target as they no may longer consider your target their enemy.
I've also seen quite a few people caught out by the Swashbuckler specific condition (2c). It allows you more flexibility so that you can still get Sneak Attack if you go 1 on 1 with your target, however, it also requires that the only creature within 5' of you be your target, so an ally standing 5' behind you to heal or buff you could prevent you getting Sneak Attack.
Hey all wanted to know what a swashbuckler should be looking out for in terms of armor? I'm multiclassed into fighter so I have access to medium armor, should I be looking at Half Plate? And also on sneak attack damage, I see that when we have an ally next to us we can sneak attack and when we are by ourselves we can sneak attack but when there are two enemies we can't sneak attack, does this also include sneak attack from ranged? I am asking for a friend of mine who is also multiclass his Ranger with rogue and want to make sure he is using it correctly or if its just a melee sneak attack rule.
Which armor to wear depends on your dex bonus and whether the disadvantage on stealth for some armors will hurt you.
The sneak attack granted by swashbuckler only works if you are within 5 feet of the target. Regular sneak attack (which swashbucklers can still use) works at range if you have advantage on the attack or one of your targets enemies is within 5 feet of it.
Yup I get that but are they allowed to still sneak attack if there are more then 1 creature within 5 ft of the ally while at range is what I am asking.
As long as an enemy (that isn't incapacitated) of the target is within 5 feet of the target you are attacking and you don't have disadvantage on the attack, you can sneak attack from any range. Other combatants in the area do not change this in any way.
You've got 2 questions.
1st Armor.
You multiclassed into Fighter from Rogue. Rogue gives light armor and Fighter gives you medium armor.
Major concerns on armor is do you care about being stealthy or not?
light armor maxes out at 2+Dex, so you're max AC is 17 with a 20 Dex.
medium armor maxes out at 15+(2)Dex, also for a 17 with halfplate but only requires 14 Dex and disadvantage on stealth.
medium armor maxes out at 14+2(Dex) for 16 with breastplate, but only requires a 14 and you stay stealthy.
Breastplate/halfplate are expensive and so are close to an uncommon magic item. Chainshirt and Scale mail are the same, but very cheap but lose 1 AC. Which is a pretty good deal as it's probably better then the best light armor until you have Dex 20. If you're playing with standard array, you won't be Dex 20 until 9th lvl at the soonest (8 rogue and 1 fighter)
Remember you can wield a shield!
Sneak Attack is pretty simple. You just need a few conditions
1) A finesse weapon or a ranged weapon.
2a) You have Advantage on the attack roll
2b) If the target has an enemy within 5' of them, and you don't have DisAdvantage.
2c) If you are within 5' of an enemy and no other creatures are within 5' of you, and you don't have DisAdvantage.
That's it. You always need 1) to be true and you need at least one of 2) to be true.
2b) you don't need an ally, you need an enemy of your target. So if it's a Free For All and two of your enemies are fighting it still counts.
2c is only for Swashbucklers.
Thanks for the info, I've already got 20 dex we are lvl 8 so I'm rogue 7 / 1 fighter, I'm not really a stealthy character so I'm wearing +1 half plate at the moment but can switch to a +1 breast plate or chain shirt. I always thought as long as your ally/teammate is next to an enemy you can get sneak attack.
With 20 dex, studded leather provides equal or better armor than anything but plate mail.
In general, as long as an ally/teammate/enemy of your enemy is next to your target you can get sneak attack. There are, however, other conditions that need to be met (finesse/ranged weapon, no disadvantage), there are also other ways of getting sneak attack, such as advantage or the swashbuckler trait. The required conditions are almost always going to be true in practice, so positioning is the one that you worry about.
With a 20 Dex you could pick up Medium Armor Master and increase your AC by 1 as your Max Dex is now 3 rather than 2. You would also no longer suffer disadvantage to Stealth while in half-plate, although this does not seem to matter as much to you.
As long as you are wielding a finesse weapon or a ranged weapon, do not have disadvantage on the attack and your ally is hostile to your target then yes, you would get Sneak Attack. This is a specific case of 2b) from FullMetalBunny's post.
The rules specifically mention that the creature within 5' of your target must be an enemy of your target, this means that you could still get Sneak Attack in a Battle Royale scenario where you have no allies but would also mean that you may not get Sneak Attack if your ally was charmed by your target as they no may longer consider your target their enemy.
I've also seen quite a few people caught out by the Swashbuckler specific condition (2c). It allows you more flexibility so that you can still get Sneak Attack if you go 1 on 1 with your target, however, it also requires that the only creature within 5' of you be your target, so an ally standing 5' behind you to heal or buff you could prevent you getting Sneak Attack.
Thanks all that's what I was looking for and just needed that little extra info from everyone :)