PHB 6: Rogues and Cunning Strikes

 Yeah, we're jumping around here.

With Rogues going back to the agonizing wait for a second subclass level, a new class-wide feature (that many subclasses add onto) is the Cunning Strike.

At 5th level, you now get this feature, which allows you to forgo some damage in the name of various tactical effects. Rogues are also getting Weapon Masteries, so be aware that you can potentially get a lot of different effects here.

The way it works is that, if you get Sneak Attack on your hit, you can choose one of the options presented, and subtract a number of d6s (only one for the initial options) from your sneak attack damage roll before you roll it, and then get the benefit.

At level 5, the options are:

Disarm (1d6): The target makes a Dexterity save or drops an item of your choice it's holding.

Poison (1d6): The target makes a Con save or becomes poisoned for 1 minute (save ends at end of their turn). This does require you have a poisoner's kit on your person.

Trip (1d6): If the target is Large or smaller, it must make a Dex save or fall prone.

Withdraw (1d6): You can move up to half your speed immediately after the attack without provoking opportunity attacks.

You'll get some other options from some of the subclasses as well.

The Assassin gets an enhancement to the Poison option, allowing you to deal 2d6 Poison damage if they fail their save, and this ignores Poison resistance. So, a bit more damage, though you give them a chance to save against it.

Swashbucklers get Goad (1d6) which causes the target to make a Wisdom save, and on a failure, they have disadvantage on attacks against anyone other than you and cannot make Opportunity attacks against anyone other than you until the end of their next turn. They also get Awe, (3d6), and requires a Wisdom save or the target becomes charmed by you until the end of their next turn.

Swashbucklers also then, at 13, get Parrying Stance (2d6), which adds 1d6 to your Armor Class until the start of your next turn and also Invigorate (2d6) which is almost like Bardic Inspiration, giving an ally within 30 feet a d6 to add to an attack roll or saving throw until the end of their next turn.

Thieves at 9 get Stealth Attack (1d6) which lets them stay hidden after they hit a target with a sneak attack as long as they're behind Three-Quarters or Total cover.

Arcane Tricksters at 13 get a little flexibility with the Trip and Disarm strikes, as they can affect a different target that's within 5 feet of their Mage Hand rather than the target they hit if they choose (which really plays into the "Trickster" half of the subclass).

Finally, all Rogues at 14 get Daze (2d6) which has the target make a Con save or get the Dazed condition (which is new - limiting them to either an action, move, or bonus action on their turn, and not all three).

Knock Out (6d6) forces a Con save or the target goes Unconscious for 1 minute or until it takes damage (save ends at end of turn).

Obscure (3d6) forces a Dex save or the target is Blinded until the end of their next turn.

    So, this is really cool. And it's basically an unlimited resource. I think this is going to add a lot of tactical decisions for the Rogue, sacrificing some damage for pretty solid effects. I also like that it's clearly a scaffold to build upon for future subclasses (and the existing ones).

I'll be very curious to see if the loss of damage feels worth it, but at 1d6 in most cases, I suspect that it most certainly will.

Now, I still think that pushing Rogues back to their old subclass feature progression is a shame (Bards getting only three levels that grant subclass features is also kind of crappy, though at least they seem to be getting multiple features at many of these) but I do think that these are very cool additions to the class.

That said, I do wonder if stacking such a feature on top of Weapon Mastery is going to result in some weird interactions or over-complicated turns. This is something I'll need to test or see tested.