CQB Practitioner

A warrior wearing a bandana escapes captivity,  with nothing but his bare hands and a knack for cqc. A mole wearing triple-eyed Goggles of Night infiltrates an enemy fortress, interrogating his way in and out without getting caught or leaving witnesses. An assassin swims through the crowd of people right towards their target unnoticed, before eliminating them and making it look like an accident by throwing them from the balcony. A double agent slips out of invisibility in enemy backlines, disarming the commanders before rendering them unconscious for later interrogation.

What do they have in common? Certain techniques and expertise, of course.

Rogues are already great at stealth, reeking havoc upon enemies and distracting them, or catching those who broke away from the group. But, what if the approach was a little bit different?
There are the Rogues who take lessons in Martial Arts, using their physique as a way to disable opponents on the battlefield in other ways besides damage or poisons, and preferring a more hands-on approach.

Level 3: Close Quarters Combatant, Grappling Techniques

You learn how to discourage, debilitate, and harm your enemies using your quickness and mind rather than pure strength. You gain the following benefits:

• The damage die for your Unarmed Strikes increases to a 1d6 and they gain the Finesse property, letting you use Sneak Attack or similar features with them. They are also viable for Weapon Mastery, having Slow when chosen.
• When you use the Grapple or Shove option of your Unarmed Strike, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to determine the save DC, as your techniques utilise quick and technical movements rather than pure muscle.
• You can use the Bonus Action granted by your Cunning Action to make an Unarmed Strike on your turn.
• You don’t need advantage on your attack roll to use your Sneak Attack if the target of your Sneak Attack is a creature Grappled by you. All the other rules for the Sneak Attack class feature still apply to you.

You also learn Grappling Techniques.

When you hit a creature grappled by you with an Unarmed Strike and deal Sneak Attack damage, you may choose to forgo some of your Sneak Attack dice to make the attack from a singular Grappling Technique. You remove the die before rolling, and the effect occurs immediately after the attack's damage is dealt.
Starting at 5th level, they are considered Cunning Strike features for the purposes of not letting it be stacked together. Improved Cunning Strike feature applies to them at level 11.

One of your Grappling Techniques requires your target to make a saving throw to resist the Grappling Technique’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Grapple Technique save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity Modifier.

- Disarm (Cost: 1d6)
The target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it releases the object. If you have a free hand, you can catch the object as part of the same action. Otherwise, it lands at their feet.

- Defensive Grip (Cost: 1d6)
Interlocking the joints of your opponent, you turn the initial motion and their position into momentary defenses. You increase your degree of cover by 1 until the start of your next turn.

Level 9: Iron Grip

You learn how to better manipulate the body of a grappled foe.

• Moving a Grappled creature the same size as you or smaller no longer halves your speed.
• You count as one size larger for Grappling checks and contests.
• You also get the “Tighten” Cunning Strike option.

TIGHTEN (Cost: 1d6)
Tightening your grip, you make it harder to escape your grasp. The next saving throw or skill check against your Grapple by the target hit is made at Disadvantage.

Level 13: Painful Clinch

• You can’t roll lower than 3 on your Sneak Attack damage against a target Grappled by you.
• Whenever someone successfully breaks out of your grapple, you can use Opportunity Attack against them.
• Additionally, whenever someone starts a turn Grappled by you, or rolls to escape your Grapple, they take 1d4 + Dexterity Modifier damage of the same type as your Unarmed Strike.

Level 17: Bone Snap

As an action you can force a creature grappled by you to make a Constitution saving throw against your Grapple Technique DC. On a failed save, if the creature has 100 hit points or fewer, it is reduced to 0. If the target has more than 100 hit points, it immediately takes 12d6 damage. The damage type is Bludgeoning and it bypasses Resistances. 

Once you’ve used this feature, you must complete a short or a long rest before you can use it again.