Feedback welcome. This is a draft subclass I plan to offer to players in a seafaring campaign, and the features will also inform a nemesis of the campaign. This rogue wants to be lightly obscured so they can turn invisible or at high levels, summon a misty duplicate to attack from a different angle. They can summon or destroy fog, and are strangely difficult to see even in full view.

Inspiration: Smoke and mirrors rogue subclass, eversmoking bottle, figures in the mist, Haku’s ice mirrors in Naruto.

Rogue: Mistveil

Elusive as smoke on the wind, a Mistveil rogue carries a concealing shroud wherever they go. Whether cloaked in sea fog, the haze of a swamp, or the shade of deep forest, these rogues thrive in murky environments where they can vanish between one step and the next. They make effective spies and infiltrators anywhere but are especially valued among pirate crews.

Fade

Beginning at 3rd level, you disappear into the embrace of shadows more easily than others. You can attempt to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creatures from which you are hiding. If you succeed, you magically turn invisible until the end of your next turn or until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. In addition, you can't be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

Create or Destroy Mist

Also at 3rd level, you can call the mist to you, or disperse it. Once you use this feature you cannot do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

Create Mist. As an action, you create a 20-foot-radius sphere of fog centered on a point you can see within 120 feet. You may concentrate on the fog as if you were concentrating on a spell for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. For each round you maintain concentration, the radius of the fog increases by 20 feet. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is lightly obscured. You can dismiss the fog voluntarily (no action required). Otherwise, it lasts for 10 minutes or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.

Destroy Mist. As an action, you disperse a 20-foot radius sphere of fog centered on you. You may concentrate on the fog as if you were concentrating on a spell for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. For each round you maintain concentration, the radius of the fog dispersed increases by 20 feet. Nonmagical fog does not reform for at least 10 minutes, and magical fog does not reform unless it is recast.

Veiled Form

At 9th level, you embody a little of the mist you so often hide in. Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see you have disadvantage. In addition, creatures that haven’t taken a turn in the combat yet have disadvantage on attack rolls against you.

Turn to Mist

At 13th level, you can embody mist fully, becoming little more than breath on the wind. As an action, you can transform yourself, along with everything you are wearing and carrying, into a small cloud of mist. While transformed this way, you cannot talk, manipulate objects, attack or cast spells.

While in mist form, you are weightless and have a flying speed of 20 feet. You can’t fall and remain hovering in the air even when stunned or otherwise incapacitated. You can enter and occupy the space of another creature, and if air can pass through a space, you can do so, although you cannot pass through liquid. You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity and Constitution saving throws, and have resistance to nonmagical damage.

You can use feature twice and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest. You can stay in mist form for 1 hour, after which you revert to your normal form unless you expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.

Misty Double

At 17th level, you can shape an illusory duplicate of yourself from fog and shadows. When you are lightly obscured, you can use a bonus action to create a perfect illusion of yourself that lasts for 1 minute, or until you lose your concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell). The illusion appears in an unoccupied space that you can see within 30 feet of you. As a bonus action on your turn, you can move the illusion up to 30 feet to a space you can see, but it must remain within 120 feet of you.

For the duration, you can take actions as though you were in the illusion's space, but you must use your own senses. Additionally, when both you and your illusion are within 5 feet of a creature that can see the illusion, you have advantage on attack rolls against that creature, given how distracting the illusion is to the target. You can use this feature twice and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Change History

Veiled Form 1.0 - changed from disadvantage for attackers while the rogue is lightly obscured to disadvantage for attackers in the first round of combat

Feature Overview

It's interesting, and mostly is fine in terms of balance - except when it comes to defense. Permanent disadvantage on attacks against you is very powerful. In a nautical campaign where it is going to be common for there to be movement / wind that removes their mist it might not be so bad, but in a typical campaign this is an extremely tanky rogue.

Perhaps it should be only ranged attacks that have disadvantage, and still, only while you're lightly obscured? Means the traditional rogue's bane guy with a big stick can wade into the fog to wail on you. Bonus effect of incentivizing enemies in.

I wanted a defense buff, so I looked at blur, mirror image and displacement. Mirror image is interesting but complicated with the 3 tiers of protection. Which is less overpowered - ranged attacks have disadvantage, or ranged attacks subtract 1d4, like a bane effect?

Or perhaps something like the rogue assassin's offense buff, but defensive - in the first round of combat, attacks have disadvantage against you.

As written, Veiled Form was intended to mean creatures always start at disadvantage to see you (unless they gain advantage somehow), but you are not always lightly obscured.  When you are lightly obscured, attacks are less likely to hit you.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to streamline the Fade feature? The intention was to give the Rogue an uncanny ability to just disappear into the mist, then pop up somewhere else. What's the best mechanic to let the Rogue (sometimes) turn invisible in mist?

At the moment, it resembles the Skulker feat which allows you to hide while lightly obscured, but in practice, I think that could get tedious - lightly obscured Rogue rolls a Dexterity (Stealth) check, and every enemy that can see them rolls Wisdom (Perception) checks. Lots of rolling. And if you succeed against all of them, you turn invisible for a while, hopefully gaining Sneak Attack. Unless I'm misunderstanding and you just have to beat all their Passive Perceptions?

But some other options might be less time-consuming, fewer rolls:

• Change to limited use, turn invisible as a bonus action, no roll required, maybe proficiency bonus uses/recharge on a long rest
• Change to a Stealth roll vs the highest perception creature's Perception, so only two rolls per use
• Change to a (probably Dexterity) ability check vs a DC, turn invisible on a success - but hard to pick a fair DC given Rogue's Reliable Talent at higher levels
• Maybe a percentile dice?

Intended action economy: you bonus action hide, gain invisibility until the end of your next turn, then can use your action to Sneak Attack. Or, you can use your action to attack, and bonus action hide, then hopefully gain Sneak Attack on your next turn. Invisibility until the end of your next turn (rather than start of your next turn as per the Firbolg Hidden Step ability I based it on) makes it less confusing/less rolling. If it ended at the start of your turn, you might lose Sneak Attack or have to reroll Stealth etc.

Fade

Beginning at 3rd level, you disappear into the embrace of shadows more easily than others. You can attempt to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creatures from which you are hiding. If you succeed, you magically turn invisible until the end of your next turn or until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. In addition, you can't be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail.

As for the last bit about being tracked, that's mostly for coolness, you don't leave footprints, but I think you'd mainly use this ability in combat, and no one would be trying to track you anyway.