Remember, in the case of surprise you would be getting your Sneak Attack anyway, but with Assassinate it becomes a critical Sneak Attack, meaning you roll ALL your damage dice twice, then add any modifiers). Thieves do not generally have high Con.

Perception – Probably the most rolled skill check in the game, plus no one likes being surprised. Checks to craft and apply poison to your weapons are GM discretion. And dont forget the Bard spells (Disguise self, invis, Enhance ability, and even Speak with animals). This is your first strictly offensive ability (unless you count the Poisoner’s Kit!). And if your party just wants you to shut up and Disguise kit your way in there, you probably should to avoid frustrations. The traditional example of the Sneak Attack. On your typical rogue, you’ll be at 20 Dexterity with a +6 Proficiency bonus (without magic items!).

An odd choice, but if you’ve invested in your Charisma score, this is a good way to be more of a team player by inspiring your party. Fairness. You might be a mere bounty hunter, or a tribesman who needs to destroy a life to prove themselves. 1) Surprise is not a round, it can occur during the first round of combat, but that is dependent upon a lot of factors, many of which are not under the players control. Sounds like a fun character concept… mechanics-wise and I’d probably take 5 levels of Rogue to get 3d6 sneak attack damage and uncanny dodge and then segue into Bard. First, the scenario must arise. A Weapon of Warning gives you an advantage on your initiative roll, thus giving you a better chance to be first. The remaining skills will get JoAT. Being the party face is also a role you fit well. Expertise - Can be used to double your proficiency in stealth or other Rogue skills, Cunning action - At level 2, allows you to perform a bonus action to Disengage, Hide, or Dash, Uncanny Dodge - At level 5, use your reaction to halve the damage of an attack, Evasion -  Rogues get this at level 7. You said it yourself, you can use sneak attack once per turn, and aao happened on someone else’s turn, therefore you can use sneak.

The Harder They Fall: Revising Falling Damage for 5e, The Best Battle Master Maneuvers (incl. If you can dig out the old 2nd edition Thieves Handbook it had a load of good ideas to supplement your equipment with the likes of marked cards, loaded dice, blinding powder, weaponblack and more. You’ll have to deliberate with both your party and GM by level 9 to see if it’ll work with everyone involved. Don’t cop out of roleplaying by opting for the “silent killer” mould though… use my tips to come up with hitman with both personality and power. Though he is an elf he grew up around human children and absorbed a lot of their bad habits, including being somewhat light fingered. . It’s a concentration spell that creates a magical shadowy blade you can make melee weapon attacks with, and beyond how cool that sounds/is it is also a light, finesse, and thrown, weapon that deals a base 2d8 psychic damage. One weapon combination really stands out for Assassin’s as the best and that is fighting with two short swords (or for a more oriental flavour scimitars), one in each hand.

At 13th level, you gain the ability to unerringly mimic another person’s speech, writing, and behavior. After some RP stuff occurred, he realized that martial prowess, the thing that had defined him his entire life, was failing him and that the real power came from information. You can start combats in a lot of interesting and unique ways by simply stabbing someone who willingly makes friends with you.

Seems clear to me that I’d he is not spotted it should be a surprise round of combat and after that, roll initiative, As an D&D lover, I usually don't do a lot of roll play as an assassin because if you roll nat 1s on deception your disguise is done. The Infiltration Expertise and Imposter class features are potent in the right circumstances, but have precious little use outside of that particular niche. All the latest gaming news, game reviews and trailers, How Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity Changes The BOTW Story, Dungeons & Dragons: How To Multiclass As A Rogue, Dungeons & Dragons: How To Multiclass As A Warlock, Dungeons & Dragons: How To Multiclass As A Barbarian, Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Is Rumored To Have 20GB Memory, A Vampire: The Masquerade Battle Royale Game Is Coming In 2021, Super Lone Survivor Heading To PC And Switch In 2021, Critical Role Uses The Combat Wheelchair In Latest Episode, Adventure-RPG Haven Will Launch December 3 For PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox One And PC, This Genshin Impact x Persona 5 All Out Attack Crossover Is Incredible, Paizo Announces Playtesting For A New Starfinder Class, How To Use Gerudo From The Legend Of Zelda As A D&D Race, Yes, Of Course Someone Recreated P.T.

The Folk Hero or Charlatan backgrounds would serve you well. You focus your training on the grim art of death.

Now that they are crippled, your party’s fighter or mage can finish him off easily. There are, sadly, a lot of things that are immune to poison. Extra attack is nice, too. What advice would you give to players that want to play this subclass?

So 3 rolls on first round with a +15ish (wisdom mod, DeX mod, alert) with action surge and dread ambush  that gives you another attack if you take your action to attack first turn. You can buy it for just 2.99 USD and I hope it will give you a big head start on fleshing out an awesome character. The build options are going to come down to what spells you pick and how you want to play your trickster. The Alert feat is important, therefore, not just because it helps you gain advantage, but also because it helps you gain auto-crits. The traditional example of the Sneak Attack. Find out what you can do. Perhaps you could ask your DM for some kind of paralysis or sleep poison that enables you to capture victims alive… although be aware, it can be a drag having a bunch of prisoners on an adventure mission!

We’ve got the answers for you right here. This powers up your mage hand beyond what other casters are capable of. Is a fun way to fly, with limitations that stop it breaking the game (must be dark and you have to hold the edges of the cloak). Rolling randomly on the Charlatan’s tables just now I got the following: Personality Trait

And that has to be useful for you or your party in some variety. This could be a great story development which you could play out. Wisdom and Strength aren’t likely to be important for you, unless you’re doing an extremely strange build or multiclass. This meant I could play a principled character of good alignment, one who could ally easily with the objectives of my party as they performed various missions against the forces of evil. So you might want to do your DM a massive favour and stick to the Arcane Trickster! James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. Swashbuckler’s are stylish charismatic rogues that use their panache to artfully dodge their opponents and talk their opponents into duels. Disguise kits are flavorful and not bad at all! It wasn’t until the stench came wafting out a week later that someone dared enter. anyway and your DM insists on Athletics checks for climbing and jumping choose Athletics instead. The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide gave us a couple of wizard cantrips that you can cast as part of an attack. In all cases you should consult with your DM… if you’re spying on your fellow players for example do you need to present yourself as something else and hide your Rogue abilities? Rogue class features are strong enough that subclasses can afford to slack off, but there are still several exceptional subclasses while others have niche fits in D&D 5e. That might be my next character, a sentinel swashbuckling pirate. ), you will want to carry a range weapon. You get a single attack roll to shine, and then you become archetype-less… if your GM is doing a typical slashing crawler. Circle of the Moon Druid. Something like Assassin’s Blood, 150 gp, does a paltry 1d12 damage and is saved on a DC10 anyway. Watch headings for an "edit" link when available. Indeed, let’s read again the wording of the Assassinate skill which says: you are deadliest when you get the drop on your enemies. What’s more deadly than an Assassin? So there you go guys… roll dem dice and watch as – out of thin air – a fully fledged character idea emerges! They are also Lucky, allowing you to reroll 1s on attacks. ), whilst Constitution is handy if you plan to fight hand to hand in combat (more fun than pussying around with bows IMHO! The ballbearings can be useful to aid an escape… see also caltrops (both p.151 of the PH). At three fighter levels, the Battle Master archetype has a lot of combat options for the savvy rogue, and the Samurai gives a bonus proficiency and free advantage three times a day. You might be a mere bounty hunter, or a tribesman who needs to destroy a life to prove themselves. Forest gnomes make surprisingly good assassins, thanks to their bonuses to both Dexterity and Intelligence, and their ability to cast minor illusion at will. Plus with alert feat you’d almost certainly win initiative and act first in next round if you didn’t get the job done in round 1.

If you’ve ever wanted to play Sherlock Holmes, this is how you do it. Monk multiclassing is hampered by the fact that you probably won’t have stellar Wisdom. If you want more advice for building a rogue, check out Rogue 101. Then, you get increasingly more abilities to help you sneak into situations. But why roll initiative if he has not been spotted? A lot of sneaking scenarios could be solved if just the guards looked away for only a moment, or a bit of information got to the right person at the right moment. Her eyes narrowed, and she peered into his window. Do you mean take down a target in one shot? Thereafter, if you adopt the new identity as a disguise, other creatures believe you to be that person until given an obvious reason not to. As a mix of Rogue and Wizard, your two most important stats are going to be Dexterity and Intelligence. Haven’t checked out the racial feats yet properly, so must do that soon, and see what else is there! 2. He still robs, cheats and cons to pay for his lifestyle, but only from the rich. Check out our other Class Guides for, Hungry for Adventure? According to p292 of the PH: a poisoned creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks). Or maybe you’ve rejected and run away from your guild training (let’s hope they took it well!)? It’s not like the Rogue class is short on damage potential. I think the imperative thing, in practically all the Rogue archetype options is that the player understands the combat rules well enough in order to exploit them to the maximum. If your rogues stealth beats the victims perception then the victim is unaware of the assassins presence and becomes surprised even if he has a better initiative. Those who adhere to this archetype are diverse: hired killers, spies, bounty hunters, and even specially anointed priests trained to exterminate the enemies of their deity.