Thursday, September 29, 2022

Expert Class: The Rogue in One D&D

 Turns out these write-ups aren't quick and easy!

In his interview with Todd Kenreck, Jeremy Crawford identified the Rogue as one of the classes that most players find satisfying from the 2014 PHB. As such, the intent here was not to reinvent the wheel, seeking to retain most of what works about the Rogue and just make little tweaks here and there.

First off, the Rogue somewhat infamously currently has to wait for 9th level before they get their second subclass feature (consider that Artificers get their third at that level,) which has been a bit of a frustrating element to the class. Well, with subclass features now all showing up at 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 14th level, that's no longer an issue.

Rogues also, interestingly, get access to any martial weapons with the finesse property, which... might actually be the case already.

Sneak Attack, the core of the Rogue class, is, as far as I can tell, completely unchanged. However, at higher levels (13) the two modes of sneak attack - either having advantage on the attack or having a non-incapacitated ally within 5 feet of the target - combine, so that now the ally being there gives you advantage, which is great for getting to hit with your one attack.

Another change noted with Rangers is that the bonus attack you get with a Light Weapon while dual-wielding no longer takes your bonus action, but simply comes as part of the attack action (still only once per turn). Thus, you can still use your Cunning Action while being a dual-wielding Rogue (which is practically like having advantage on your Sneak Attack).

Now, some things have been shuffled around a little. Evasion doesn't come online until level 9, compared with level 7 - which is now when you get your second Expertise (which is odd, given that Bards and Rangers get it at 1 and 9).

Slippery Mind now also grants Charisma saving throw proficiency - which is rare, but will protect you against things like Bane or Banishment.

Interestingly, Blindsense is gone, which is certainly a nerf (though you're also getting Subtle Strikes - the aforementioned advantage on attacks against targets within 5 feet of an ally).

The phrasing on Stroke of Luck is simplified, but seems to introduce a new oddity: it changes the roll of any failed d20 test into a 20. Naturally, getting to use this on saving throws is nice (a kind of legendary resistance, in a way) but also... does this mean you can automatically crit once per short rest? Somehow this reminds me of the ending of Big Trouble in Little China (though that's of course really more of a Deflect Missiles thing). Like all level 20 capstones, this now comes at level 18, with 20 being the level for Epic Boons.

So, when all is said and done, the Rogue looks almost unchanged, except for a little shuffling. That works out.

Now, I'd kind of hoped to see the redesigned Assassin, which I think is in dire need of big changes, but instead we got the Thief to check out.

    The Thief:

Fast Hands has been subtly shifted around, clearly defining picking a lock as a Sleight of Hand check that also uses Tool Proficiency with Thieves' Tools. It also allows you to use the Search Action as part of your Cunning Action, which entails all manner of Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Survival checks (the Rules Glossary actually does a really good job of distinguishing Perception and Investigation as being part of the "Search" versus the "Study" actions).

Second Story Work now explicitly gives you a climb speed. It also allows you to use Dexterity rather than Strength when taking the Jump Action (interestingly, Acrobatics now seems to be more associated with Strength, though this means you don't have to worry about that).

Supreme Sneak does away with the requirement to move at half speed, and now simply gives you advantage on Stealth checks as long as you're not wearing medium or heavy armor (which I doubt most Rogues would be wearing).

Use Magic Device has been somewhat substantially changed. First off, you get to attune to a fourth magic item (still not beating Artificers, but not bad). You can also potentially avoid spending charges when using a device that has charges - you roll a d6, and on a 6, no charges are expended. Finally, you can use any spell scroll with a cantrip or 1st level spell, and then you can attempt an Intelligence (Arcana) check to cast higher-level spells with a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. On a success, you cast it with Intelligence as your spellcasting ability. On a failure, the scroll crumbles.

Considering Reliable Talent and Expertise, by this level, with Proficiency in Arcana, you could automatically succeed on this check, which is pretty cool.

Finally, Thieves' Reflexes has been rather dramatically redesigned. This now lets you take a second Bonus Action per turn if it uses one of your Cunning Action options, which you can do a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

While there are certainly cases where this will be a life-saver - maybe letting you Disengage and Dash on the same turn to get away from a deadly enemy - I do feel like this is mostly a nerf. The nova-damage potential of a whole second turn on the first round of combat is a big thing to give up.

In comparison to the other classes in this UA, this one is certainly the most familiar - which is probably fine, given how effectively designed the Rogue already was. I'm very eager to see how the other subclasses look. I'm very happy to see subclass features coming earlier here, too (I still think Soulknife is my favored subclass to play if I play one, but it'll be very nice to get Homing Strikes at 6 instead of 9).

With that, we're through the class overviews. There are still a ton of feats to cover, as well as the Rules Glossary, which is arguably the most important part of these documents.

I suspect we'll be seeing classes previewed by Category - I wonder which one we'll see next.

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