I have been trying to work on a half drow character today. I have just started to create a character for him on DDB, so that I have a visual on what I am creating, and I was wondering if these stats and stuff are okay for a level 4 rogue (theif)
The Big Q: why boost DEX and CHA by 1 each, to odd numbers? If you just boosted one twice at level 4 (presumably DEX), you could have +1 on a ton of useful stuff.
If you are using a points buy system: Similarly; since a thief/undying has no great use for INT, why not drop you base score to 13 and use the 2 extra purchase points to have 12 CON (or even 12 WIS if low CON is part of the concept and you want to get some extra mileage out of the Far Traveler proficiencies). Not to go full power gamer or anything, but with no INT proficiencies or class utilizations (Faerie Fire's saving throw is the only use?), would you contemplate dropping to base 11 to reach 12 in both CON and WIS?
Skills
It's a shame the Far Traveler proficiencies aren't 'optimal', however I do think it is a great concept for a presumably-good-natured Drow. However, with 2 abilities in a stat with no bonus already, I think athletics is a bid of a dud - persuasion or sleight of hand all seem like they'd play to your strengths & concept.
Spells
Presumably you intend to take a 2nd warlock level some time - to grab some sweet Eldritch Invocations - at which point you are going to swap False Life out? It's not a spell that ages well...
Since Hex also isn't great for a rogue with just the 1 attack per turn, I think you ultimately want to end up after your 2nd warlock level with Expeditious Retreat (great choice) plus 2 of the following: Comprehend Languages (fun RP choice for your background also), Unseen Servant (handy substitute for Mage Hand in a pinch) or Protection from Evil and Good (though you will have to carry consumable materials).
Misc
Since your ASI is currently going to waste anyway, any temptation to start off rogue 3/warlock 2? I'm just thinking that, depending on what Invocations you are eyeing up, you could make some very different choices e.g. Misty Visions means you don't need Minor Illusion, Beguiling Influence means you don't need deception proficiency. Also, from a RP perspective, if you are considering Mask of Many Faces as a disguise it probably makes more sense for your character to have it sooner rather than later (i.e. for their safety while weak & alone)...
If I explain my concept for this character it might help.
Although I haven't managed to quite get his backstory right yet, so have not wrote it onto his character sheet, i am imagining that this character was conceived due to his mothers abuse at the hands of his father - a once mighty and good aligned wizard, who tried to contain the evil of the Book of Vile Darkness. He kept the book safe for many years, locked away in his study and didn't realize that it was slowly twisting his mind, tempting him to open the book, to use its power and turning him against everyone and everything he loved.
Eventually, the wizards mind was so twisted and broken by the book, that he believed his wife had been cheating on him and in his dark depression and egged on by the book, he sacrificed her. With her death, the book finally revealed its secrets to the wizard and if anyone had been there to see it - they would have seen a once great wizard, drenched the blood of his wife, clutching the book to his chest and mumbling to it.
Thus, the wizard was broken and the evil of the Book of Vile Darkness, easily took over his mind and bent him to its will.
He set about various magical experiments to find away to bring back the creator of the book. To this end, he sent out his agents to kidnap or otherwise acquire members of all other races and bring them to him for use in his experiments. For years he tried and failed, though he managed to turn some of his more beastial prisnors into loyal servants.
At some point, he was brought a young Drow girl. (I haven't worked out how she was acquired yet) but she was quite young, young enough that she had barely been touched by Drow society. She was extremely beautiful and he was instantly attracted her and decided that he would keep her for himself. He locked her in a cell and through years of magical and physical torture, broke her will and turned her into his favourite plaything. At some point, she gave birth to a child (the character) and that character spent the first 10 years of his life locked in the cell, with barely any food or water, no clothes to speak of, a tiny pathetic stump of a candle for light and only his mother for company.
Thus, when the character and his mother were finally freed by a band of heroes, he was severely malnourished and this had caused him to grow much more slowly. So although he was 10, he was shorter and weaker than other boys his age and being a half Drow, he was bullied and tormented badly by the children of the other races.
So the character is smaller and physically weaker than other males his age. His lack of growth is down to being malnourished for so long and although he now appears to be healthy physically and really quite beautiful (he seems to have inherited his mothers dark beauty) the psychological scars of his captivity, the culture shock he experienced after her was freed and being so badly bullied because of his race, have yet to heal.
He tries his hardest to be a good person but is obsessed with power and acquiring it. At first becoming a thief, to provide food and an income for him and his mother and then, when she disappeared setting out to find her and ended up joining a party of adventurers. At some point he learned about warlocks and the power they wielded and his obsession with power drove him down that path. He was attracted to the undying specifically because it has well - even conquered death and so to him, must be the most powerful of all.
He is not an evil character, he tries his hardest to be a good person but he is very much a coward. For although he obsessed with power, he believes himself to have none. So I am seeing him much more as Chaotic Good. He wants to be good, but he often runs away and when he does fight, his cowardly nature shows itself in the form of unfair tactics, like hiding and attacking from a distance - though he does this because he is almost always scared and afraid of dying.
So in that - he is the bravest of them all. Despite his fears and his cowardly nature, still he fights, even if he runs away when his enemies get to close, he wont totally abandon his friends.
Using Devil Sight (which he gets when he gets to level 2 warlock) he can cast magical darkness over the battlefield and sit there - seeing through the darkness, he can attack using eldritch blast/spear and his arrows to pick off his enemies one by one (enemies who cant see in magical darkness) before they even know he is there.
Even before that - I imagine him cloaking himself in shadow and attacking using long range magic and weapons like bow and arrows, from the very edge of the field of battle. Then if an enemy gets too close, he uses his blades long enough to find a gap through which he can use expeditious retreat, before casting his darkness spall and hiding. Treating his wounds and using his dexterity to get to a new vantage point from which he can attack.
From a social point of view, I am imagining him as being very social awkward. He isn't supposed to have a high charisma but I did want him to have a high natural intelligence. So he knows lots of stuff and can learn quite quickly, but he lacks the social skills to be tactful in the application of that knowledge and lacks the wisdom but really see the big picture. Thus, in general, he is more concerned with the hear and now. Although he has long term goals, he struggles in achieving them. A result of his early childhood perhaps, where he never really developed much in terms of wisdom.
So yeah, as you see. I have a really complex character concept and I am finding it hard to make a character that really fits.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Though the Devil Sight + Darkness sniper's nest is very evocative, on a practical level it is exacting a heavy toll from your build (to do this once between rests) and doesn't actually achieve anything more than simply hiding with your Cunning Action bonus action - still only disadvantage on enemy attack rolls, and you'll be protecting any enemies who charge in after you from your allies.
Your character biography and chosen skills sketch him out as being a potential Arcane Trickster, who supplemented his natural wit with arcane materials from his father's laboratory.
Get to lower CHA and bump up other abilities.
Gain access (eventually) to more powerful spells without multiclassing.
Magical Ambush is probably the closest thing to a magical sneak attack that anyone can get.
I have reworked this character several times now and have ended up with this https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/9605411/5zrQ8W after deciding to just go with pure rogue and dropping the multiclass all together.
I have giving him a high DEX to account for how I imagine him fighting and have giving him a high INT to account for his natural intelligence.
So he is now a very stealthy and very dextrous, highly intelligent theif.
His fighting style remains largely unchanged, except he now does not have access to any spells beyond the few he gets from his race. Thus, he isn't going to really be attacking with magic anymore and is primarily going to be relying on his stealth, his agility and his arrows.
(I can see him trying to use sneak attack as much as possible now)
Also, he no longer has expeditious retreat, so he is going to be relying heavily on his dexterity and agility to avoid being hit.
He still feels a bit weak though. It feels like one failed roll and he is going to die and I have these visions of him not living beyond his first battle encounter.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
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I have been trying to work on a half drow character today. I have just started to create a character for him on DDB, so that I have a visual on what I am creating, and I was wondering if these stats and stuff are okay for a level 4 rogue (theif)
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/9568192/594SSK
I feel like he is kind of not powerful enough for his level.
What do you guys think?
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
A few suggestions...
Abilities
The Big Q: why boost DEX and CHA by 1 each, to odd numbers? If you just boosted one twice at level 4 (presumably DEX), you could have +1 on a ton of useful stuff.
If you are using a points buy system: Similarly; since a thief/undying has no great use for INT, why not drop you base score to 13 and use the 2 extra purchase points to have 12 CON (or even 12 WIS if low CON is part of the concept and you want to get some extra mileage out of the Far Traveler proficiencies). Not to go full power gamer or anything, but with no INT proficiencies or class utilizations (Faerie Fire's saving throw is the only use?), would you contemplate dropping to base 11 to reach 12 in both CON and WIS?
Skills
It's a shame the Far Traveler proficiencies aren't 'optimal', however I do think it is a great concept for a presumably-good-natured Drow. However, with 2 abilities in a stat with no bonus already, I think athletics is a bid of a dud - persuasion or sleight of hand all seem like they'd play to your strengths & concept.
Spells
Presumably you intend to take a 2nd warlock level some time - to grab some sweet Eldritch Invocations - at which point you are going to swap False Life out? It's not a spell that ages well...
Since Hex also isn't great for a rogue with just the 1 attack per turn, I think you ultimately want to end up after your 2nd warlock level with Expeditious Retreat (great choice) plus 2 of the following: Comprehend Languages (fun RP choice for your background also), Unseen Servant (handy substitute for Mage Hand in a pinch) or Protection from Evil and Good (though you will have to carry consumable materials).
Misc
Since your ASI is currently going to waste anyway, any temptation to start off rogue 3/warlock 2? I'm just thinking that, depending on what Invocations you are eyeing up, you could make some very different choices e.g. Misty Visions means you don't need Minor Illusion, Beguiling Influence means you don't need deception proficiency. Also, from a RP perspective, if you are considering Mask of Many Faces as a disguise it probably makes more sense for your character to have it sooner rather than later (i.e. for their safety while weak & alone)...
I'm inclined to agree with Vorsa. Especially on the odd ability scores. But I also think you should raise WIS a bit and go with a 3/2 level split.
Don't forget the evil alignment ;)
Just kidding. It often comes down to how you play rather than straight killing power.
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"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Thanks guys,
If I explain my concept for this character it might help.
Although I haven't managed to quite get his backstory right yet, so have not wrote it onto his character sheet, i am imagining that this character was conceived due to his mothers abuse at the hands of his father - a once mighty and good aligned wizard, who tried to contain the evil of the Book of Vile Darkness. He kept the book safe for many years, locked away in his study and didn't realize that it was slowly twisting his mind, tempting him to open the book, to use its power and turning him against everyone and everything he loved.
Eventually, the wizards mind was so twisted and broken by the book, that he believed his wife had been cheating on him and in his dark depression and egged on by the book, he sacrificed her. With her death, the book finally revealed its secrets to the wizard and if anyone had been there to see it - they would have seen a once great wizard, drenched the blood of his wife, clutching the book to his chest and mumbling to it.
Thus, the wizard was broken and the evil of the Book of Vile Darkness, easily took over his mind and bent him to its will.
He set about various magical experiments to find away to bring back the creator of the book. To this end, he sent out his agents to kidnap or otherwise acquire members of all other races and bring them to him for use in his experiments. For years he tried and failed, though he managed to turn some of his more beastial prisnors into loyal servants.
At some point, he was brought a young Drow girl. (I haven't worked out how she was acquired yet) but she was quite young, young enough that she had barely been touched by Drow society. She was extremely beautiful and he was instantly attracted her and decided that he would keep her for himself. He locked her in a cell and through years of magical and physical torture, broke her will and turned her into his favourite plaything. At some point, she gave birth to a child (the character) and that character spent the first 10 years of his life locked in the cell, with barely any food or water, no clothes to speak of, a tiny pathetic stump of a candle for light and only his mother for company.
Thus, when the character and his mother were finally freed by a band of heroes, he was severely malnourished and this had caused him to grow much more slowly. So although he was 10, he was shorter and weaker than other boys his age and being a half Drow, he was bullied and tormented badly by the children of the other races.
So the character is smaller and physically weaker than other males his age. His lack of growth is down to being malnourished for so long and although he now appears to be healthy physically and really quite beautiful (he seems to have inherited his mothers dark beauty) the psychological scars of his captivity, the culture shock he experienced after her was freed and being so badly bullied because of his race, have yet to heal.
He tries his hardest to be a good person but is obsessed with power and acquiring it. At first becoming a thief, to provide food and an income for him and his mother and then, when she disappeared setting out to find her and ended up joining a party of adventurers. At some point he learned about warlocks and the power they wielded and his obsession with power drove him down that path. He was attracted to the undying specifically because it has well - even conquered death and so to him, must be the most powerful of all.
He is not an evil character, he tries his hardest to be a good person but he is very much a coward. For although he obsessed with power, he believes himself to have none. So I am seeing him much more as Chaotic Good. He wants to be good, but he often runs away and when he does fight, his cowardly nature shows itself in the form of unfair tactics, like hiding and attacking from a distance - though he does this because he is almost always scared and afraid of dying.
So in that - he is the bravest of them all. Despite his fears and his cowardly nature, still he fights, even if he runs away when his enemies get to close, he wont totally abandon his friends.
Using Devil Sight (which he gets when he gets to level 2 warlock) he can cast magical darkness over the battlefield and sit there - seeing through the darkness, he can attack using eldritch blast/spear and his arrows to pick off his enemies one by one (enemies who cant see in magical darkness) before they even know he is there.
Even before that - I imagine him cloaking himself in shadow and attacking using long range magic and weapons like bow and arrows, from the very edge of the field of battle. Then if an enemy gets too close, he uses his blades long enough to find a gap through which he can use expeditious retreat, before casting his darkness spall and hiding. Treating his wounds and using his dexterity to get to a new vantage point from which he can attack.
From a social point of view, I am imagining him as being very social awkward. He isn't supposed to have a high charisma but I did want him to have a high natural intelligence. So he knows lots of stuff and can learn quite quickly, but he lacks the social skills to be tactful in the application of that knowledge and lacks the wisdom but really see the big picture. Thus, in general, he is more concerned with the hear and now. Although he has long term goals, he struggles in achieving them. A result of his early childhood perhaps, where he never really developed much in terms of wisdom.
So yeah, as you see. I have a really complex character concept and I am finding it hard to make a character that really fits.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Yes, that is a tricky one...
Though the Devil Sight + Darkness sniper's nest is very evocative, on a practical level it is exacting a heavy toll from your build (to do this once between rests) and doesn't actually achieve anything more than simply hiding with your Cunning Action bonus action - still only disadvantage on enemy attack rolls, and you'll be protecting any enemies who charge in after you from your allies.
Your character biography and chosen skills sketch him out as being a potential Arcane Trickster, who supplemented his natural wit with arcane materials from his father's laboratory.
I have reworked this character several times now and have ended up with this https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/9605411/5zrQ8W after deciding to just go with pure rogue and dropping the multiclass all together.
I have giving him a high DEX to account for how I imagine him fighting and have giving him a high INT to account for his natural intelligence.
So he is now a very stealthy and very dextrous, highly intelligent theif.
His fighting style remains largely unchanged, except he now does not have access to any spells beyond the few he gets from his race. Thus, he isn't going to really be attacking with magic anymore and is primarily going to be relying on his stealth, his agility and his arrows.
(I can see him trying to use sneak attack as much as possible now)
Also, he no longer has expeditious retreat, so he is going to be relying heavily on his dexterity and agility to avoid being hit.
He still feels a bit weak though. It feels like one failed roll and he is going to die and I have these visions of him not living beyond his first battle encounter.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.