So I'm playing an assassin rogue, more of a John Wick-esque figure (but girl) and as a result... I have excellent stealth but nothing in Sleight of Hand (my stuff has been allocated elsewhere). I'm looking to still engage in some petty theft but I can't really pick pockets. Right now in my doc notes I have some graverobbering/burglary as possible routes but I'd love to absorb some ideas.
Well what exactly is your character about? You said they were kinda like John Wick, but he’s a mostly serious character who gets things done in brutal manners, not really a guy who you would think of stealing random purses.
What exactly is the point of the petty theft, think around that angle. You could possibly try and swindle contracts from other people via disguise, seeing as assassins are very good at pretending to be other people.
you can steal by just being stealthy, hide while you cat-burgle. But you're going to struggle with anything behind a locked door, which frankly is the big reason to have a rogue in a party. Gloves of Thievery exist, but the investment in an attunement slot is at least as big as the skill you didn't take, which was the easy answer here. Ask the DM if you can re-spec your character.
I have excellent stealth but nothing in Sleight of Hand (my stuff has been allocated elsewhere). I'm looking to still engage in some petty theft but I can't really pick pockets
Anyone can pick pickets. Presumably you have a high DEX, so you're already better at it than most. Why are you worried about having proficiency in the skill if it's not a central part of the character?
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I have excellent stealth but nothing in Sleight of Hand (my stuff has been allocated elsewhere). I'm looking to still engage in some petty theft but I can't really pick pockets
Anyone can pick pickets. Presumably you have a high DEX, so you're already better at it than most. Why are you worried about having proficiency in the skill if it's not a central part of the character?
It's just kind of my videogame playstyle. I like stealing. I treat every RPG like Thief Simulator.
I have excellent stealth but nothing in Sleight of Hand (my stuff has been allocated elsewhere). I'm looking to still engage in some petty theft but I can't really pick pockets
Anyone can pick pickets. Presumably you have a high DEX, so you're already better at it than most. Why are you worried about having proficiency in the skill if it's not a central part of the character?
It's just kind of my videogame playstyle. I like stealing. I treat every RPG like Thief Simulator.
The easiest solution is to take the Skilled or Skill Expert feat at your next ASI
You may want to consider whether it's worth it though. Again, you don't need proficiency in a skill to do it, or even be pretty good at it. If your playstyle is to pick lots of pockets, then go pick pockets
If you fail sometimes, well, D&D isn't a videogame -- there's no winning or losing, no "beating the game", just different paths to telling a story. Just so long as you're ready to roll with the consequences of a failed check, pilfer away
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Yeah I'll work on it. My DM also allowed for a slight respec with a build change. Still only level 4 so it's early enough. Since I won't be taking Monk for various martial arts styling, I switched my Wisdom and Intelligence scores so I'm a little better at looting than before.
Also I didn't have all my Dex stuff marked correctly. The notation was empty so I thought I had nothing but I in fact have a baseline +3 to sleight of hand. So that's just me being newbie and I kinda feel silly making this thread entirely. That said, this character still isn't a classic -thief- in a rogue sense but she could still be a burglar.
You can always be a great thief in your own mind, but a horrible one in "practice". Bring a little humor to your PC. Consider yourself to be the worlds greatest cat burglar, even better then he is an assassin (a fun hobby), but fail with picking locks and actually stealing.
I came up with a concept that a very dumb Iowa farm boy thinks he is a sorcerer, but entered into a contract and is a warlock. Never heard of an Imp, but as Imps turn in to ravens, so the Patron is forcing him to have an Imp familiar, but it looks like a raven and if asked the PC does not know the difference between an Imp and a raven thinking they are all the same.
Heh, cute. But this is not a comedic character. It's my first game in DnD and I'm kinda playing a John Wick esque figure so she's fairly aloof and I'm trying to avoid being the main driver of the plot cos there's 3 other people with their own arcs happening so she's mostly quiet with some sassy interjections. I hope the party doesn't get too annoyed when I want to run off to do some burglarizing.
so much of so many campaigns seems to be sort of antagonistic to that kind of thing (focusing instead a lot on social encounters and combat)
You've hit the nail on the head!
You'll find the solution to this problem in the style of the adventure, not in the build of the character.
Talk to your DM!
Gratuitous theft is usually considered detrimental to a campaign because sooner or later the player will get caught, and then the DM needs to wrangle how resolve it while keeping the campaign moving and the rest of the party has to stop most of what they were doing until the consequences of one person’s actions are settled. It’s disruptive to campaigns that are trying to tell a story and/or groups that aren’t looking for all the players to engage in various kinds of horseplay.
Heh, cute. But this is not a comedic character. It's my first game in DnD and I'm kinda playing a John Wick esque figure so she's fairly aloof and I'm trying to avoid being the main driver of the plot cos there's 3 other people with their own arcs happening so she's mostly quiet with some sassy interjections. I hope the party doesn't get too annoyed when I want to run off to do some burglarizing.
Honestly “I’m gonna run off and do my own thing” is usually a flag for a group, and when it’s something that should have significant consequences for your character if they’re caught it becomes even more of a concern. If you want to try this, I strongly recommend you talk with your group about the idea ahead of time.
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So I'm playing an assassin rogue, more of a John Wick-esque figure (but girl) and as a result... I have excellent stealth but nothing in Sleight of Hand (my stuff has been allocated elsewhere). I'm looking to still engage in some petty theft but I can't really pick pockets. Right now in my doc notes I have some graverobbering/burglary as possible routes but I'd love to absorb some ideas.
Well what exactly is your character about? You said they were kinda like John Wick, but he’s a mostly serious character who gets things done in brutal manners, not really a guy who you would think of stealing random purses.
What exactly is the point of the petty theft, think around that angle. You could possibly try and swindle contracts from other people via disguise, seeing as assassins are very good at pretending to be other people.
you can steal by just being stealthy, hide while you cat-burgle. But you're going to struggle with anything behind a locked door, which frankly is the big reason to have a rogue in a party. Gloves of Thievery exist, but the investment in an attunement slot is at least as big as the skill you didn't take, which was the easy answer here. Ask the DM if you can re-spec your character.
Anyone can pick pickets. Presumably you have a high DEX, so you're already better at it than most. Why are you worried about having proficiency in the skill if it's not a central part of the character?
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
It's just kind of my videogame playstyle. I like stealing. I treat every RPG like Thief Simulator.
The easiest solution is to take the Skilled or Skill Expert feat at your next ASI
You may want to consider whether it's worth it though. Again, you don't need proficiency in a skill to do it, or even be pretty good at it. If your playstyle is to pick lots of pockets, then go pick pockets
If you fail sometimes, well, D&D isn't a videogame -- there's no winning or losing, no "beating the game", just different paths to telling a story. Just so long as you're ready to roll with the consequences of a failed check, pilfer away
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
so much of so many campaigns seems to be sort of antagonistic to that kind of thing (focusing instead a lot on social encounters and combat)
You've hit the nail on the head!
You'll find the solution to this problem in the style of the adventure, not in the build of the character.
Talk to your DM!
Yeah I'll work on it. My DM also allowed for a slight respec with a build change. Still only level 4 so it's early enough. Since I won't be taking Monk for various martial arts styling, I switched my Wisdom and Intelligence scores so I'm a little better at looting than before.
Also I didn't have all my Dex stuff marked correctly. The notation was empty so I thought I had nothing but I in fact have a baseline +3 to sleight of hand. So that's just me being newbie and I kinda feel silly making this thread entirely. That said, this character still isn't a classic -thief- in a rogue sense but she could still be a burglar.
You can always be a great thief in your own mind, but a horrible one in "practice". Bring a little humor to your PC. Consider yourself to be the worlds greatest cat burglar, even better then he is an assassin (a fun hobby), but fail with picking locks and actually stealing.
I came up with a concept that a very dumb Iowa farm boy thinks he is a sorcerer, but entered into a contract and is a warlock. Never heard of an Imp, but as Imps turn in to ravens, so the Patron is forcing him to have an Imp familiar, but it looks like a raven and if asked the PC does not know the difference between an Imp and a raven thinking they are all the same.
Heh, cute. But this is not a comedic character. It's my first game in DnD and I'm kinda playing a John Wick esque figure so she's fairly aloof and I'm trying to avoid being the main driver of the plot cos there's 3 other people with their own arcs happening so she's mostly quiet with some sassy interjections. I hope the party doesn't get too annoyed when I want to run off to do some burglarizing.
Gratuitous theft is usually considered detrimental to a campaign because sooner or later the player will get caught, and then the DM needs to wrangle how resolve it while keeping the campaign moving and the rest of the party has to stop most of what they were doing until the consequences of one person’s actions are settled. It’s disruptive to campaigns that are trying to tell a story and/or groups that aren’t looking for all the players to engage in various kinds of horseplay.
Honestly “I’m gonna run off and do my own thing” is usually a flag for a group, and when it’s something that should have significant consequences for your character if they’re caught it becomes even more of a concern. If you want to try this, I strongly recommend you talk with your group about the idea ahead of time.