I was wondering what people thought of picking it up, maybe from the variant human, to get Mage Armor, forgoing light armor. It does fit the character aesthetic, but I would like to hear peoples opinions and ideas on it. (i.e. different feats, other spells, waiting for magic armor)
For cantrips, probably Light or Dancing Lights for vision. Also, Gust for the harmless wind sensory effect to make my clothes blow in the wind like a makeshift billowing cloak :)
Hard to really comment since it sounds like a no-armor preference more than a optimizing choice. From an optimization point of view I would rather go booming blade+shield spell + studded leather.
then again, from an optimizing point of view I would rather take a couple of levels in a spellcasting class (lv 3 diviner, or hexblade for example) ;)
You could take one level in Fighter and get the Defense Fighting style, which makes Studded Leather equal to Mage Armor. It also gives you proficiency with shields (another +2 AC if you're willing to not dual wield, and just use your bonus action for the cunning actions), and the second wind heal, too. And you get some nice stuff at every level with Fighter, too, if you want to continue down that path and be a true hybrid Rogue-Fighter.
I would advise against going variant human for a Rogue unless you plan on multi-classing into Ranger Gloom Stalker, Twilight Domain Cleric, or Warlock with Devil's Sight. Dark vision is very useful to everyone, but it's especially important for a Rogue. And Devil's Sight is even better than dark vision. One great thing about multi-classing into Warlock is that you can pick up the Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade cantrip. It's also quite easy to justify a two level dip into Warlock for roleplaying - clearly you made a pact with a Patron because you wanted a few powerful abilities to supplement your Rogue abilities. Warlock also can give you access to Mage Armor if you use your second invocation for that. And if you're going Swashbuckler, you'll have the charisma for multiclassing into Warlock. And there are plenty of other great choices for your feat at level 1 as a variant human. Maybe the Actor Feat, especially if you take the Mask of Many Faces invocation. Or you could take the Alert feat if you want to have like +10 initiative at level 3 when you go with Swashbuckler. Defensive Duelist, Dual Wielder, Athlete, Inspiring Leader, Lucky, Mage Slayer, Resilient, and War Caster are all good options for level 1 feats as well.
But if you really don't want to multi-class, my advice is to choose a race with dark vision if you're going to play a Rogue. If you do decide to go with Magic Initiate at level 4 for Mage Armor, make sure that you take the Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade cantrip - these spells have a very nice jump in power at level 5. One of those two cantrips will help so much more than getting Mage Armor just for having 1 AC more than Studded Leather.
Sounds great, it sounds like this is a push to add a bit of flavor and some RP options. However, there are a whole bunch of good reason's to take magic initiate. Imagine asking for guidance from a god while you pick a lock, look for traps or pick a pocket. Or maybe you walk into a merchant's store and you are a bit short on cash, you spy a damaged good, ask how much, when the merchant responds, you point out the damage, then you mend it and suggest they ask for more and that you would be interested in some other goods for a discount maybe. Or maybe you are trying to gain their trust, get a favor, etc. Imagine you cast hex on someone as you move into mellee with them delivering even more damage on your sneak attack and then again on your offhand, " Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with an Attack". Better than booming blade, although booming blade is good, ecspecialy for a swashbuckler and is only a cantrip. Combine them and kick butt. Mage armor is a good idea for sure, but I would rather have the hex and RP it. Gust could have some rp moments, fog cloud seems like a great thing as well, sneak up on the sentry and back stab him, sneak past the guard, hide the group, cover the basalisk and keep from turning to stone, fill the store with fog and rob them blind. Light spells are handy for sure, me, I will get a torch, or ask the spell caster for a token of rattitude, perhaps a coin with the light spell cast on it if he can spare it, something I can quickly hide in a pouch or my mouth if need be. Go for it, if you have a vision, follow it.
I played a VHuman Swashbuckler with Magic Initiate and used Dancing Light for vision and Booming Blade. As for the lvl 1 spell, nothing beats Find Familiar imho. Mage Armor is nice but studded leather is almost as good and Shield is not very consistent if you only have 1 spell slot per day.
I was wondering what people thought of picking it up, maybe from the variant human, to get Mage Armor, forgoing light armor. It does fit the character aesthetic, but I would like to hear peoples opinions and ideas on it. (i.e. different feats, other spells, waiting for magic armor)
For cantrips, probably Light or Dancing Lights for vision. Also, Gust for the harmless wind sensory effect to make my clothes blow in the wind like a makeshift billowing cloak :)
If you are going to get cantrips it would be a good idea to grab booming blade from SCAG.
Hard to really comment since it sounds like a no-armor preference more than a optimizing choice. From an optimization point of view I would rather go booming blade+shield spell + studded leather.
then again, from an optimizing point of view I would rather take a couple of levels in a spellcasting class (lv 3 diviner, or hexblade for example) ;)
You could take one level in Fighter and get the Defense Fighting style, which makes Studded Leather equal to Mage Armor. It also gives you proficiency with shields (another +2 AC if you're willing to not dual wield, and just use your bonus action for the cunning actions), and the second wind heal, too. And you get some nice stuff at every level with Fighter, too, if you want to continue down that path and be a true hybrid Rogue-Fighter.
I would advise against going variant human for a Rogue unless you plan on multi-classing into Ranger Gloom Stalker, Twilight Domain Cleric, or Warlock with Devil's Sight. Dark vision is very useful to everyone, but it's especially important for a Rogue. And Devil's Sight is even better than dark vision. One great thing about multi-classing into Warlock is that you can pick up the Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade cantrip. It's also quite easy to justify a two level dip into Warlock for roleplaying - clearly you made a pact with a Patron because you wanted a few powerful abilities to supplement your Rogue abilities. Warlock also can give you access to Mage Armor if you use your second invocation for that. And if you're going Swashbuckler, you'll have the charisma for multiclassing into Warlock. And there are plenty of other great choices for your feat at level 1 as a variant human. Maybe the Actor Feat, especially if you take the Mask of Many Faces invocation. Or you could take the Alert feat if you want to have like +10 initiative at level 3 when you go with Swashbuckler. Defensive Duelist, Dual Wielder, Athlete, Inspiring Leader, Lucky, Mage Slayer, Resilient, and War Caster are all good options for level 1 feats as well.
But if you really don't want to multi-class, my advice is to choose a race with dark vision if you're going to play a Rogue. If you do decide to go with Magic Initiate at level 4 for Mage Armor, make sure that you take the Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade cantrip - these spells have a very nice jump in power at level 5. One of those two cantrips will help so much more than getting Mage Armor just for having 1 AC more than Studded Leather.
Sounds great, it sounds like this is a push to add a bit of flavor and some RP options. However, there are a whole bunch of good reason's to take magic initiate. Imagine asking for guidance from a god while you pick a lock, look for traps or pick a pocket. Or maybe you walk into a merchant's store and you are a bit short on cash, you spy a damaged good, ask how much, when the merchant responds, you point out the damage, then you mend it and suggest they ask for more and that you would be interested in some other goods for a discount maybe. Or maybe you are trying to gain their trust, get a favor, etc. Imagine you cast hex on someone as you move into mellee with them delivering even more damage on your sneak attack and then again on your offhand, " Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with an Attack". Better than booming blade, although booming blade is good, ecspecialy for a swashbuckler and is only a cantrip. Combine them and kick butt. Mage armor is a good idea for sure, but I would rather have the hex and RP it. Gust could have some rp moments, fog cloud seems like a great thing as well, sneak up on the sentry and back stab him, sneak past the guard, hide the group, cover the basalisk and keep from turning to stone, fill the store with fog and rob them blind. Light spells are handy for sure, me, I will get a torch, or ask the spell caster for a token of rattitude, perhaps a coin with the light spell cast on it if he can spare it, something I can quickly hide in a pouch or my mouth if need be. Go for it, if you have a vision, follow it.
I played a VHuman Swashbuckler with Magic Initiate and used Dancing Light for vision and Booming Blade. As for the lvl 1 spell, nothing beats Find Familiar imho. Mage Armor is nice but studded leather is almost as good and Shield is not very consistent if you only have 1 spell slot per day.
Take two levels of Hexblade. Booming blade, hex, hexblade's curse, Eldritch Sight, Armor of Shadows (if you want Mage Armor). You lose one SA dice.
This is the Way.
if you keep Hex up, you aren't losing anything (unless there is necro resistance).