Legend & Lore: Rogue Design Goals

I guess according to Twitter it was supposed to be the wizard’s turn to show off her design goals, but the rogue *ahem* stole the spotlight.

Ultimately the design goals can be condensed into two key points: rogues do not fight fair, and they are skilled. So, very, very skilled.

The first part I have no problem with, and has basically always been there from the start. In older editions I guess thieves had to work a bit more in order to get their backstab off, but it was probably relatively cooler given that ability scores did not do much to affect melee attack and damage output.

In other words, landing one big attack without much of a risk of getting caught was better than trying to go toe-to-claw with a big monster.

This was made easier to pull of in 3rd and 4th Edition, as all you really needed was to flank a monster. 3rd Edition made it a bit riskier, partly because there were plenty of monster types that were immune to critical hits (and therefore sneak attacks), but mostly because there was no way for a fighter to actually defend you from a monster should it decide to turn its attention to you.

4th Edition reduced the damage quite a bit, but opened up the floodgate on what was fair game, and with fighter-types being actually able to keep monsters off of you, it was easier to get into the fray without much fear of retribution…not that rogues did not have tricks of their own to get away when that happened.

From the sounds of things it looks like rogues are somewhat receding back to 3rd Edition, with a more rapidly scaling sneak attack an emphasis on waiting for an opportune moment. I would like to see 4th Edition’s flexibility maintained, so that players can make a thief-type, swashbuckler-type, or even a street thug-type depending on their tastes.

As for skills, they will apparently be able to reach a higher degree of mastery than other classes in a given skill. Since the statement lacks a qualifier for either skills or classes, I take this to mean that if they want to be better at Arcana than a wizard, or know more about Religion than a cleric, they can.

This mastery extends to them performing feats that while not technically magical, certainly seem so. The only magical-ish think mentioned was slipping through shadows, the idea that a rogue could spin a lie so complex that even magic would be hard-pressed to unravel is pretty appealing. To top it off, the article states that they will be able to do so without “much exertion”, and that “luck and chance play no role in determining success”.

On one hand I can kind of see where they are coming from, as back when rogues were called thieves they were one of two classes that had more than a handful of skills. As editions progressed they became one of the classes that got the most skill points or trained skill choices. In order words there is a reason why they are commonly labeled the “skill-monkey”.

On the other hand–if the article is to be believed–I do not particularly like the idea of a rogue being able to transcend any class in any skill they choose. Lots of stuff I do not have a problem with, but I think that wizards should be head of the class at wizard-type skills like Arcana, extraplanar knowledge, alchemy, etc, and that rangers and druids should be the best at nature and what-have-you.

Ultimately I am curious to see how both goals play out, though I am a bit wary of the latter. But, hey, that is what a playtest is for.

Character Concepts: The Thief of Wind

I forgot exactly how and when I came up with this character concept. Maybe it was a character that I would play had I been playing in A Sundered World instead of running it, though it could also be a rad NPC to throw at my party as a part-time antagonist. Like a D&D-based Faye Valentine or Saffron. Basically it is a rogue that managed to swindle a wish from a djinni without it backfiring (or at least, not in an immediately noticeable way), or discovered some kind of item that grants a measure of elemental power, like a could be a djinni’s bottle or air elemental core.

Now I could go with elemental heritage (or even windsoul genasi), but I like the idea of a rogue that managed to actually steal power, as it would ideally give a DM a very definitive adventure hook and a motivation for the character. 

Mechanically you can get away with this by going with a human rogue and multiclassing into wizard for an encounter thunderwave, re-flavoring it to be a gust of wind instead of a thunder clap. The problem is that that gives you one wind-based power, and only on a per-encounter basis at that. I think what I would prefer more is a hybrid rogue/sorcerer. The problem here is that none of the at-wills really have a wind-motif. Well…storm walk is kind of wind-ish, but I would prefer to reskin thunderwave and just make it a Charisma attack instead of Intelligence. 

After that it is a simple matter of divvying up your exploits and spells to taste, and nabbing Hybrid Talent for a sorcerer’s storm soul class feature, artful dodger, or weapon talent if that is your thing. Personally I like storm soul because I imagine the part where you lose your energy resistances as wind shielding you from harm.

Essential Rogue Preview

I like how the Essential Rogue preview opens up–yet a-fucking-gain–with a disclaimer about how Essentials isn’t a new edition, replacing the original core rulebooks, or is in any way incompatible with 4E. Of course, I still expect to see forum-wankers clamoring to the contrary (which is why I don’t like the forums).

The featured rogue build is a thief. Sneak Attack is still there and works like you’d expect (edit: Shazbot pointed out that it works on a turn-by-turn basis, instead of round-by-round, and you can do it with shortbows to boot), but backstab makes a return as an encounter exploit that you can activate against a creature granting combat advantage to you and within 5 squares as a free action, giving you a +3 power bonus to the attack roll and an extra d6 damage to boot. Other class features include Weapon Finesse, First Strike, Skill Mastery, Cunning Escape, and Combat Readiness, though none of them are explained.

Unlike the various “essential fighter” builds, the essential rogue doesn’t modify her basic attacks with stances, instead having to burn move actions to both let her move and add on a kicker effect to her basic attacks. Ambush strike lets you move your speed, and until the end of your next turn causes all enemies within 5 squares to grant combat advantage to you. Feinting trick, on the other hand, let’s you move your speed and let’s you add your Charisma modifier to damage so long as the target doesn’t grant combat advantage.

Class Acts: The Duelist Rogue

I’m of the mind that the rogue already heavily supported the concept of a dashing swordsman (especially since Artful Dodger let you add your Charisma mod to a lot of shit), but today’s class acts article delivers some more swashbuckling goodness to the game in the form of a few pages of exploits and feats. I dont even play rogues and I think this article kicks ass.

The new at-will targets AC, deals just Dex mod damage, but not only lets you move the target around but also roll SA damage if you didnt have combat advantage with this attack. At 21st level you deal 5 damage on top of everything else. Good, but I think that the shining exploit for any good Charisma-based rogue is still sly flourish: getting to add Dex and Cha to damage is too fucking sweet.

There are eleven other powers in total, most of them encounter attacks that center around mobility or boosting your defense. If you have Artful Dodger, these bonuses get a hefty boost and rely on your Charisma. The two utilities either let you shift when an enemy gets too close or boosts your defense and causes the attacker to grant CA for a turn. The level 1 daily is a stance that lets you make an attack (against Reflex) as a free action whenever an enemy hits or misses you. The level 5 daily lets you lock down a target so long as you dont move.

The feat selection is sparse but really cool. A couple of them boost the efficacy of packing a buckler around, but the best one is Versatile Duelist: it gives you proficiency with all one-handed military heavy blades, and you can use them with rogue powers that normally call for a light blade. Fucking yes. The rest does some other nifty shit that relies on Charisma, like adding Cha to your Acrobatics and Athletics checks or letting you deal SA damage to a target even if you dont have combat advantage.

Great addition to the rogue class. I like crunchy bundles of powers that support a class concept. Feats are just gravy, but I really like gravy. >_>

Character Concepts: Kara, Kenku Rogue/Bard

A friend asked about making a good multiclassed rogue/bard, or bard/rogue, whichever works. I think that they can both work extremely well since both classes use Charisma in some capacity. Rogues can get a lot of mileage out of it with the Artful Dodger class feature, and bards are entirely dependent on it, so there’s a lot of room for synergy.

I was considering what race to use, and wanted to default to the half-elf since they are great iconic rogues and bards, not to mention their multiclassing affinity. That seemed waaaaaaaaaay too easy and I dont really care for half-elves, so I quickly discarded it in favor of a more…unique race: the kenku.

Kenku made their debut in Monster Manual 2, and was something I was going to kick around as a Charisma-based paladin of the Raven Queen in an “oriental setting” part of my Points of Light campaign, where I called the Raven Queen something else entirely. However, thats neither here nor there, so for now I’ll just stick to the plan.

I decided to start out with the rogue as a good foundation, since my friend wanted to have the built excel at melee stuff. This works out well since the bard has plenty of brutal melee spells at its disposal, but being as we only get one feat at level 1 to play with, we wont be seeing any of that at the start.

It was a simple matter of immediately slapping 16’s in both Dex and Cha. I need Cha anyway for Artful Dodger, and once I actually get around to learning bard spells it’ll be doubly useful. I put some pips into Strength, since I wanted to reflect a rough upbringing on the mean ol’ streets as viewed through the eyes of China Mieville. I almost never seem to put Con at 8, so I did just for that reason, chalking it up to chronic malnourishment while growing up.

At any rate, here is the finished level 1 product.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
Kara, level 1
Kenku, Rogue
Rogue Tactics: Artful Dodger

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 8, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 18.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 8, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 16.

AC: 16 Fort: 11 Reflex: 16 Will: 14
HP: 20 Surges: 5 Surge Value: 5

TRAINED SKILLS
Stealth +11, Thievery +9, Acrobatics +9, Intimidate +9, Bluff +11, Streetwise +11, Diplomacy +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana, Dungeoneering, Endurance -1, Heal, History, Insight, Nature, Perception, Religion, Athletics +1

FEATS
Level 1: Bardic Dilettante

POWERS
Rogue at-will 1: Sly Flourish
Rogue at-will 1: Piercing Strike
Rogue daily 1: Handspring Assault
Rogue encounter 1: Fox’s Gambit

ITEMS
Leather Armor, Adventurer’s Kit, Dagger, Short sword, Shuriken
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======

I prefer to advance a character in a more organic fashion (ie, actual play), but I advanced Kara up to level 10 to see how well she plays with groups. Basically it ended up with me taking a bard attack and utility, which was easy since bards are leaders and thats their thing: work with the group.

Speaking of bards, lets see how she looks as a bard-multiclassed-rogue.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
Karasu, level 1
Kenku, Bard
Bardic Virtue: Virtue of Cunning

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 8, Dex 18, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 18.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 8, Dex 16, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 16.

AC: 17 Fort: 10 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 20 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +6, Diplomacy +9, Acrobatics +8, Bluff +11, Streetwise +11, Thievery +8

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Dungeoneering +1, Endurance -1, Heal +1, History +2, Insight +1, Intimidate +5, Nature +1, Perception +1, Religion +2, Stealth +6, Athletics

FEATS
Bard: Ritual Caster
Level 1: Sneak of Shadows

POWERS
Bard at-will 1: War Song Strike
Bard at-will 1: Guiding Strike
Bard daily 1: Slayer’s Song
Bard encounter 1: Inspiring Refrain

ITEMS
Ritual Book, Hide Armor, Short sword, Spiked gauntlet, Adventurer’s Kit
RITUALS
Glib Limerick, Silence
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======

I think that this build better compliments the flock mentality that kenku emphasize. The problem I ran into is that none of the bard virtues rely on Dexterity, where the rogue/bard combination readily uses both high ability scores. In this case, the Int of 13 ensures that Virtue of Cunning gets something, but not much. On the chance that most melee powers synch up to Virtue of Valor, its a simple manner of swapping Int with Con. In the end, its a minor benefit at best, at least until paragon tier.
Now, you could drop Dex a bit and take the bard multiclass feat that causes all multiclass powers to rely on Charisma. This basically sidesteps most of the mess and lets you get away with having a Dex of 16 and an Int of 14-15. Your damage is slightly lower (by one whole point, yawn), but I think its a worthy tradeoff.

Both builds work out very well and are thematic in their own way, and this actually makes me want to run an all kenku urban campaign…