And that means that many of the subclasses that had been released as Unearthed Arcana / revised have been finalized...including the edgy goth subclass known as the "Phantom" Rogue!
These are the rogues who have some connection to the forces of death itself...the spirits of the deceased are drawn to this rogue; whispering secrets in their ear as they sleep, inflicting necrotic damage to your foes, and at higher levels, your character becomes so infused by death they become ghost-like themselves.
So...I love this subclass to death (kill me...IF YOU CAN!)...and the flavor provides wonderful opportunities for backstories.
Realistically, I see any sort of backstory where you had a "near-death" experience to be a good fit for this subclass.
But now that this subclass has gone official, I'm eager to hear the sorts of backstories people come up with for the Phantom Rogue.
I myself have two character ideas:
The first is the "Investigator" background, where the rogue was a private investigator in the criminally-corrupt town of Luskan...and in that town, they'd torture people accused of crimes publicly, right in the town square, in a festival they called The Carnival. Anyway, the rogue tries to help this person accused of murder...but doesn't crack the case in time.
The mental trauma of their dying screams in The Carnival follows the rogue wherever he goes...and so he is haunted until he cracks the case.
The other character idea is a rogue with the "Mercenary" background; his mercenary band was hired to raid an enemy encampment...but wasn't told that the attack was basically a suicide mission.
Their mercenary band was slaughtered; and the bodies were dumped into a massive pile of the dead.
The rogue, however, somehow communes with The Raven Queen...and is brought back from the brink of death...in the middle of the pile of bodies.
The "whispers" that the Rogue hears are the souls lost during the battle...including his former comrades.
These are some of the ideas I'm fiddling around with...heck, I might just make an "Entertainer" who mainly does Evanescence songs.
What are some of your ideas for the Phantom Rogue?
I took the Haunted One background and here is the backstory that I came up with:
“Kassy was born to a nomadic group of Kenku who had to move from city to city to avoid the town guard as they were thieves and had broken into many homes.Without the ability to defend their actions they were forced to flee.
One day when they were breaking into a house, Kassy read a book that was written in common but drove her crazy. In that fit of craziness she murdered her siblings. When she came to she had felt so much remorse that she took an old doll that was beside the book as reminder of what she did. Unable to face her parents she ran far away. Staying away from guards and main roads, she managed to make her way up to Ten-towns with her doll now missing a hand and foot in her grasp and as a constant reminder on what she can’t seem to forgot on what she seen in the book and her shameful act.“
So the souls are the souls/memories from the book that are haunting her.
I took the Haunted One background and here is the backstory that I came up with:
“Kassy was born to a nomadic group of Kenku who had to move from city to city to avoid the town guard as they were thieves and had broken into many homes.Without the ability to defend their actions they were forced to flee.
One day when they were breaking into a house, Kassy read a book that was written in common but drove her crazy. In that fit of craziness she murdered her siblings. When she came to she had felt so much remorse that she took an old doll that was beside the book as reminder of what she did. Unable to face her parents she ran far away. Staying away from guards and main roads, she managed to make her way up to Ten-towns with her doll now missing a hand and foot in her grasp and as a constant reminder on what she can’t seem to forgot on what she seen in the book and her shameful act.“
So the souls are the souls/memories from the book that are haunting her.
I took the Haunted One background and here is the backstory that I came up with:
“Kassy was born to a nomadic group of Kenku who had to move from city to city to avoid the town guard as they were thieves and had broken into many homes.Without the ability to defend their actions they were forced to flee.
One day when they were breaking into a house, Kassy read a book that was written in common but drove her crazy. In that fit of craziness she murdered her siblings. When she came to she had felt so much remorse that she took an old doll that was beside the book as reminder of what she did. Unable to face her parents she ran far away. Staying away from guards and main roads, she managed to make her way up to Ten-towns with her doll now missing a hand and foot in her grasp and as a constant reminder on what she can’t seem to forgot on what she seen in the book and her shameful act.“
So the souls are the souls/memories from the book that are haunting her.
May I offer a suggestion? Instead of “crazy,” use mad/madness. It has a greater narrative value because it isn’t subject to the comical or zany antics undertones “crazy/craziness” gets used for. It also has a long literary history in horror.
I took the Haunted One background and here is the backstory that I came up with:
“Kassy was born to a nomadic group of Kenku who had to move from city to city to avoid the town guard as they were thieves and had broken into many homes.Without the ability to defend their actions they were forced to flee.
One day when they were breaking into a house, Kassy read a book that was written in common but drove her crazy. In that fit of craziness she murdered her siblings. When she came to she had felt so much remorse that she took an old doll that was beside the book as reminder of what she did. Unable to face her parents she ran far away. Staying away from guards and main roads, she managed to make her way up to Ten-towns with her doll now missing a hand and foot in her grasp and as a constant reminder on what she can’t seem to forgot on what she seen in the book and her shameful act.“
So the souls are the souls/memories from the book that are haunting her.
May I offer a suggestion? Instead of “crazy,” use mad/madness. It has a greater narrative value because it isn’t subject to the comical or zany antics undertones “crazy/craziness” gets used for. It also has a long literary history in horror.
Originally, I had this concept for when it was the "Revived" Rogue; but it still works here:
A paladin who found themselves in a chess game with an undying lich; the paladin vowed to put an end to the lich's schemes, but found themselves slowed by their own old age, while the lich only grew stronger.
Eventually, the paladin died...but such was the strength of their vow, their spirit would not rest: it sought out others fit to carry on their oath, a lingering spirit.
Countless souls undertook the oath; until finally it was the Rogue's turn. Receiving wisdom whispered by the souls before him, the Rogue carries out the will of that stalwart paladin, opposite to any lich that would harm innocents.
The "Wails of the Dead" are flavored as the battle-cries of all the paladins that came before. : )
I played an elf rogue through Lost Mines a couple of years ago. When we were going through the Wave Echo Cave, my rogue made the mistake of trying to loot the wizard wraith Mormesk's treasure chest while the party was distracting him. He instantly came through the wall and crit my rogue with his wraith touch attack. At level 4 that instantly took him to zero hp. Thank the gods I passed my saving throw or it would have been instant death due to loss of max hp. I roleplayed the rest of the campaign as the character having been very upset by that brush with death, and I even said he had a scar like a burn on his face where the wraith touched him.
At the time, I was playing a thief rogue, which I greatly enjoyed, but I think if I ever bring that character out again I may switch to phantom, roleplaying that this touch from the wraith and subsequent near death experience changed him, and he sometimes hears the whispers of the dead and manifests negative energy from the presence of vengeful spirits. I always love a chance to let the story guide which subclass I pick, and while thief definitely fit my character at level 3, it would make sense to change to Phantom after that experience.
I played an elf rogue through Lost Mines a couple of years ago. When we were going through the Wave Echo Cave, my rogue made the mistake of trying to loot the wizard wraith Mormesk's treasure chest while the party was distracting him. He instantly came through the wall and crit my rogue with his wraith touch attack. At level 4 that instantly took him to zero hp. Thank the gods I passed my saving throw or it would have been instant death due to loss of max hp. I roleplayed the rest of the campaign as the character having been very upset by that brush with death, and I even said he had a scar like a burn on his face where the wraith touched him.
At the time, I was playing a thief rogue, which I greatly enjoyed, but I think if I ever bring that character out again I may switch to phantom, roleplaying that this touch from the wraith and subsequent near death experience changed him, and he sometimes hears the whispers of the dead and manifests negative energy from the presence of vengeful spirits. I always love a chance to let the story guide which subclass I pick, and while thief definitely fit my character at level 3, it would make sense to change to Phantom after that experience.
I've always have been a fan of in-canon reasons for a character multiclassing, or changing classes...either within a campaign, or in subsequent campaigns.
One of my table's favorite characters changed their paladin oath upon witnessing the death of an entire goblin village...yup; he went straight from "Oath of the Crown" to "Oath of Conquest" REAL quick.
Another character of mine, a battle master fighter, had an experience in which the Raven Queen brought him back to life, because he died fighting undead in her temple. On his next level up, the DM gave me permission to take a level of cleric. It was an awesome story experience. Normally I am not a fan of multiclassing because it is usually just power gaming, but when a player has a good story reason I have allowed it in my games.
I like a Shadar-kai/Raven Queen backstory to a Phantom Rogue. Fits well in my mind.
I made one with a “witch-doctor” “Voodoo” feel to it that was also very fun on a one-shot. Like a goblin Nazeebo from Diablo.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
The Phantom is basically a riff on the 'I see dead people' archetype, almost a medium.
Being involved in a harsh justice system where you see people killed, or a mercenary or soldier where you've seem the brutality of war are common adventurer origins. The Phantom's Trinket is basically a discounted, so to speak, soul coin found in the 9 Hells and maybe elsewhere ... so anyone who trafficked in the underworld could find themselves so touched (though good luck in the lower planes at levels 1-2).
Really, if a rogue characters survives a "meat grinder" sort of dungeon and is trying to figure out where to take the character, I sometimes suggest Phantom. I tell them basically the character saw a lot of death, and some of it stayed with them. Leaves the who's and why's of it for further exploration in the game if it takes us there; but basically when the rogue emerged from the dungeon ... some of the dying they witnessed stayed with them.
I've got a pretty enjoyable character that's half Phantom, half Totem Barbarian that is flavored as a shaman's elite guard. The Phantom stuff dovetails well with the Totem stuff to give it a real nature-y voodoo feel to it. He can talk to animals and talk to dead people.
I've got a pretty enjoyable character that's half Phantom, half Totem Barbarian that is flavored as a shaman's elite guard. The Phantom stuff dovetails well with the Totem stuff to give it a real nature-y voodoo feel to it. He can talk to animals and talk to dead people.
I like when Rogues take a few levels of Barbarian. : )
You reminded me that the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian is a thing; those spooky spirits could easily be the same spirits that commune with the Phantom Rogue with their “Whispers of the Dead” feature.
Admittedly I haven't fleshed it out enough yet, but my phantom rogue is a vampire (from a setting where vampires are common and not too powerful) who was driven to a fascination with the boundary between life and death after his transformation. He is also looking for ways to extend his life without needing to constantly use his bite
I should also mention that this character is a mid game replacement. My old character didn't die or anything, I just wanted to take a break from him for a while. It's a game with a lot of interplanar travel, so it was easy enough to bring him in
My Phantom I'm planning is the son of an infamous necromancer, who as a young man unknowingly tipped off a band of adventurers who were trying to take down his father (he knew there was a necromancer tormenting the area, but didn't know it was his father). After his father's death he begins to develop his spectral sensitivity, and as he begins to make sense of it he determines the spirits are those of his father's victims. He begins trying to tie up loose ends in their abbreviated lives, and sets out from there.
Been thinking about making a Phamtom Rogue. I think it would be appropriate to discuss how the rogue would take the subclass with a DM. I’m a fan of using the starting trinket table to make a small item the rogue steals, only for it to draw spirits towards the character. Have the spirits guide the rogue, influence their actions, etc.
Here's the one I've got, inspired by a Ghostface, particularly his appearance in Dead By Daylight:
A young man born to a family that has always been around death. Most of his family has been either an executioner, mortician, or funerary caretaker. He himself was raised near a graveyard.
Before he was born, his grandfather was put in charge of executing a prolific serial killer. This killer swore that he would be back, and that until he returned, he wouldn't leave the executioner's family alone.
Several years later, my character was born, and at a young age would talk to people he met at the graveyard-his parents quickly realized that he was talking to the dead, and became concerned, especially after he mentioned the name of the serial killer, thinking that he might even be the reincarnation of this evil man.
As he grew, he realized what was happening, and that he unnerved his family. He realized that a lot of the spirits he spoke to had been killed maliciously, so decided to take on the form of a spirit of vengeance to help them rest, killing those who would kill indiscriminately. (Faceless background)
My character is a Tiefling rogue in a Dark Sun-inspired world. He was cast out by his Tiefling parents due to a shamefully human-like appearance. An expert in perception and deception, he guards and rejects his infernal origin to avoid suspicion and mistrust from others (so far my party thinks I'm human), but perhaps his greatest skill is in self-deception.
Haunted One: He hears demons talk to him but his adopted human family taught him to suppress those thoughts via a superstitious, almost OCD 'ritual' (flaw) using a ring of keys (gothic trinket). He has evil in him that he feels he must never set free (bond). He even suppresses knowledge of his own magic, meaning when he casts Thaumaturgy, he doesn't realize it's his own spell. He doesn't know that the silver piece granted by Haunted One is actually a Token of the Departed (pending DM approval) that he will not be able to use until level 9.
I'm still level 1, but I talked to my DM about the evil slowly being unleashed via the Phantom subclass as a manifestation of his proto-demon possession and him fighting to control the power and use it for good.
I think in-canon ways of MCing are the "proper" way to do things, again IMO. Especially if its a decision made after the game start. I talk to DM about possibilities and if an MC would be HUGE depart from current trajectory then I tend to stray away. Prime example is a current PC of mine. He is a GOOlock in a homebrew setting, basically its a new world that other worlds are converging on to explore. Its HIGHLY magical, sometimes even to a volatile sense. Well there was this weird magical surge, kind of like a quick thunderstorm, that took place while traveling. The inherent strangeness of the warlock's Patron, and the volatile magic of this world is physically changing the warlocks body. He is now taking a few levels of sorcerer (don't worry I am not abusing the coffeelock loophole.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is now upon us!
And that means that many of the subclasses that had been released as Unearthed Arcana / revised have been finalized...including the edgy goth subclass known as the "Phantom" Rogue!
These are the rogues who have some connection to the forces of death itself...the spirits of the deceased are drawn to this rogue; whispering secrets in their ear as they sleep, inflicting necrotic damage to your foes, and at higher levels, your character becomes so infused by death they become ghost-like themselves.
So...I love this subclass to death (kill me...IF YOU CAN!)...and the flavor provides wonderful opportunities for backstories.
Realistically, I see any sort of backstory where you had a "near-death" experience to be a good fit for this subclass.
But now that this subclass has gone official, I'm eager to hear the sorts of backstories people come up with for the Phantom Rogue.
I myself have two character ideas:
The first is the "Investigator" background, where the rogue was a private investigator in the criminally-corrupt town of Luskan...and in that town, they'd torture people accused of crimes publicly, right in the town square, in a festival they called The Carnival. Anyway, the rogue tries to help this person accused of murder...but doesn't crack the case in time.
The mental trauma of their dying screams in The Carnival follows the rogue wherever he goes...and so he is haunted until he cracks the case.
The other character idea is a rogue with the "Mercenary" background; his mercenary band was hired to raid an enemy encampment...but wasn't told that the attack was basically a suicide mission.
Their mercenary band was slaughtered; and the bodies were dumped into a massive pile of the dead.
The rogue, however, somehow communes with The Raven Queen...and is brought back from the brink of death...in the middle of the pile of bodies.
The "whispers" that the Rogue hears are the souls lost during the battle...including his former comrades.
These are some of the ideas I'm fiddling around with...heck, I might just make an "Entertainer" who mainly does Evanescence songs.
What are some of your ideas for the Phantom Rogue?
I took the Haunted One background and here is the backstory that I came up with:
“Kassy was born to a nomadic group of Kenku who had to move from city to city to avoid the town guard as they were thieves and had broken into many homes. Without the ability to defend their actions they were forced to flee.
One day when they were breaking into a house, Kassy read a book that was written in common but drove her crazy. In that fit of craziness she murdered her siblings. When she came to she had felt so much remorse that she took an old doll that was beside the book as reminder of what she did. Unable to face her parents she ran far away. Staying away from guards and main roads, she managed to make her way up to Ten-towns with her doll now missing a hand and foot in her grasp and as a constant reminder on what she can’t seem to forgot on what she seen in the book and her shameful act.“
So the souls are the souls/memories from the book that are haunting her.
Appropriately creepy. : )
May I offer a suggestion? Instead of “crazy,” use mad/madness. It has a greater narrative value because it isn’t subject to the comical or zany antics undertones “crazy/craziness” gets used for. It also has a long literary history in horror.
Thank you. I will definitely do that.
Originally, I had this concept for when it was the "Revived" Rogue; but it still works here:
A paladin who found themselves in a chess game with an undying lich; the paladin vowed to put an end to the lich's schemes, but found themselves slowed by their own old age, while the lich only grew stronger.
Eventually, the paladin died...but such was the strength of their vow, their spirit would not rest: it sought out others fit to carry on their oath, a lingering spirit.
Countless souls undertook the oath; until finally it was the Rogue's turn. Receiving wisdom whispered by the souls before him, the Rogue carries out the will of that stalwart paladin, opposite to any lich that would harm innocents.
The "Wails of the Dead" are flavored as the battle-cries of all the paladins that came before. : )
I played an elf rogue through Lost Mines a couple of years ago. When we were going through the Wave Echo Cave, my rogue made the mistake of trying to loot the wizard wraith Mormesk's treasure chest while the party was distracting him. He instantly came through the wall and crit my rogue with his wraith touch attack. At level 4 that instantly took him to zero hp. Thank the gods I passed my saving throw or it would have been instant death due to loss of max hp. I roleplayed the rest of the campaign as the character having been very upset by that brush with death, and I even said he had a scar like a burn on his face where the wraith touched him.
At the time, I was playing a thief rogue, which I greatly enjoyed, but I think if I ever bring that character out again I may switch to phantom, roleplaying that this touch from the wraith and subsequent near death experience changed him, and he sometimes hears the whispers of the dead and manifests negative energy from the presence of vengeful spirits. I always love a chance to let the story guide which subclass I pick, and while thief definitely fit my character at level 3, it would make sense to change to Phantom after that experience.
I've always have been a fan of in-canon reasons for a character multiclassing, or changing classes...either within a campaign, or in subsequent campaigns.
One of my table's favorite characters changed their paladin oath upon witnessing the death of an entire goblin village...yup; he went straight from "Oath of the Crown" to "Oath of Conquest" REAL quick.
Another character of mine, a battle master fighter, had an experience in which the Raven Queen brought him back to life, because he died fighting undead in her temple. On his next level up, the DM gave me permission to take a level of cleric. It was an awesome story experience. Normally I am not a fan of multiclassing because it is usually just power gaming, but when a player has a good story reason I have allowed it in my games.
I like a Shadar-kai/Raven Queen backstory to a Phantom Rogue. Fits well in my mind.
I made one with a “witch-doctor” “Voodoo” feel to it that was also very fun on a one-shot. Like a goblin Nazeebo from Diablo.
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPmyTI0tZ6nM-bzY0IG3ww
The Phantom is basically a riff on the 'I see dead people' archetype, almost a medium.
Being involved in a harsh justice system where you see people killed, or a mercenary or soldier where you've seem the brutality of war are common adventurer origins. The Phantom's Trinket is basically a discounted, so to speak, soul coin found in the 9 Hells and maybe elsewhere ... so anyone who trafficked in the underworld could find themselves so touched (though good luck in the lower planes at levels 1-2).
Really, if a rogue characters survives a "meat grinder" sort of dungeon and is trying to figure out where to take the character, I sometimes suggest Phantom. I tell them basically the character saw a lot of death, and some of it stayed with them. Leaves the who's and why's of it for further exploration in the game if it takes us there; but basically when the rogue emerged from the dungeon ... some of the dying they witnessed stayed with them.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I've got a pretty enjoyable character that's half Phantom, half Totem Barbarian that is flavored as a shaman's elite guard. The Phantom stuff dovetails well with the Totem stuff to give it a real nature-y voodoo feel to it. He can talk to animals and talk to dead people.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I like when Rogues take a few levels of Barbarian. : )
You reminded me that the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian is a thing; those spooky spirits could easily be the same spirits that commune with the Phantom Rogue with their “Whispers of the Dead” feature.
Admittedly I haven't fleshed it out enough yet, but my phantom rogue is a vampire (from a setting where vampires are common and not too powerful) who was driven to a fascination with the boundary between life and death after his transformation. He is also looking for ways to extend his life without needing to constantly use his bite
I should also mention that this character is a mid game replacement. My old character didn't die or anything, I just wanted to take a break from him for a while. It's a game with a lot of interplanar travel, so it was easy enough to bring him in
My Phantom I'm planning is the son of an infamous necromancer, who as a young man unknowingly tipped off a band of adventurers who were trying to take down his father (he knew there was a necromancer tormenting the area, but didn't know it was his father). After his father's death he begins to develop his spectral sensitivity, and as he begins to make sense of it he determines the spirits are those of his father's victims. He begins trying to tie up loose ends in their abbreviated lives, and sets out from there.
Been thinking about making a Phamtom Rogue. I think it would be appropriate to discuss how the rogue would take the subclass with a DM. I’m a fan of using the starting trinket table to make a small item the rogue steals, only for it to draw spirits towards the character. Have the spirits guide the rogue, influence their actions, etc.
Here's the one I've got, inspired by a Ghostface, particularly his appearance in Dead By Daylight:
A young man born to a family that has always been around death. Most of his family has been either an executioner, mortician, or funerary caretaker. He himself was raised near a graveyard.
Before he was born, his grandfather was put in charge of executing a prolific serial killer. This killer swore that he would be back, and that until he returned, he wouldn't leave the executioner's family alone.
Several years later, my character was born, and at a young age would talk to people he met at the graveyard-his parents quickly realized that he was talking to the dead, and became concerned, especially after he mentioned the name of the serial killer, thinking that he might even be the reincarnation of this evil man.
As he grew, he realized what was happening, and that he unnerved his family. He realized that a lot of the spirits he spoke to had been killed maliciously, so decided to take on the form of a spirit of vengeance to help them rest, killing those who would kill indiscriminately. (Faceless background)
My character is a Tiefling rogue in a Dark Sun-inspired world. He was cast out by his Tiefling parents due to a shamefully human-like appearance. An expert in perception and deception, he guards and rejects his infernal origin to avoid suspicion and mistrust from others (so far my party thinks I'm human), but perhaps his greatest skill is in self-deception.
Haunted One: He hears demons talk to him but his adopted human family taught him to suppress those thoughts via a superstitious, almost OCD 'ritual' (flaw) using a ring of keys (gothic trinket). He has evil in him that he feels he must never set free (bond). He even suppresses knowledge of his own magic, meaning when he casts Thaumaturgy, he doesn't realize it's his own spell. He doesn't know that the silver piece granted by Haunted One is actually a Token of the Departed (pending DM approval) that he will not be able to use until level 9.
I'm still level 1, but I talked to my DM about the evil slowly being unleashed via the Phantom subclass as a manifestation of his proto-demon possession and him fighting to control the power and use it for good.
I think in-canon ways of MCing are the "proper" way to do things, again IMO. Especially if its a decision made after the game start. I talk to DM about possibilities and if an MC would be HUGE depart from current trajectory then I tend to stray away. Prime example is a current PC of mine. He is a GOOlock in a homebrew setting, basically its a new world that other worlds are converging on to explore. Its HIGHLY magical, sometimes even to a volatile sense. Well there was this weird magical surge, kind of like a quick thunderstorm, that took place while traveling. The inherent strangeness of the warlock's Patron, and the volatile magic of this world is physically changing the warlocks body. He is now taking a few levels of sorcerer (don't worry I am not abusing the coffeelock loophole.)