105
Imagine you have a friend who roleplays in Second Life. There are all kinds of emoting macros there to supplement the textual channel they use to weave their stories.
Now put that person on the stage. "This has so few options, I can't do anything except stand here and talk!"
That would be obviously ridiculous, right?
The situation is the same in D&D (...
85
Although many tables allow some degree of tweaking in order to make a build match a concept, they usually involve some degree of horse trading, i.e. giving up something to get something else. Assassins get the Assassinate ability at third level. Arcane Tricksters get Mage Hand Legerdemain. Wizards get their own specialties. Unless he is willing to give up ...
75
You have a few options.
Don't change your stealth missions at all.
Instead provide a scenario in which the Druid is the only one that can do something with any reasonable chance of success, while at the same time the scouting has be done. In this case the Druid gets to shine and the Rogue does their sneaky bit, which can be resolved at the same time. This ...
74
Cunning Action absolutely does let you Dash again, but Dash doesn't work quite like you're remembering (PHB, p. 192):
When you take the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the current turn. The increase equals your speed, after applying any modifiers.
Speed and movement are separate concepts in 5e. Usually your allowed movement for the turn = your ...
56
Yes!
The verbiage 1/turn definitely allows for the use of Sneak Attack out of turn for the rogue if they somehow get a reaction attack (either granted by an ally or by an opportunity attack).
Note that this basically limits them to 2x per round since you only get one reaction. But yes absolutely. Note that all of the normal restrictions on SA apply, they ...
55
You can't build for this on your own, or with our help
It sounds very much like the DM is using 3.5e rules as a toolbox to create a home-brewed game that works somewhat like the older AD&D 2nd edition did (sneak attacks, XP, and rogues in general work in 2e as you describe these house rule working).
I can understand the motivation—more streamlined ...
54
Yes...sort of. More at L1 than at other levels though.
For a brief look at this, let's look at the 4 basic L1 characters and see what their defined combat options are.
Wizard: 3 L1 spells/day (they get the extra from an afternoon nap). 3-4 cantrips. Generally the wizard has the most combat options. They have more daily spells than the cleric and they have ...
54
Keep the mechanic, change the name
There is actually nothing “sneaky” about “Sneak Attack” - the name is a holdover from earlier editions when it was sneaky. Indeed, in really early editions it was called “backstab”: they weren’t subtle - Rogues were called Thieves.
The mechanic kicks in when you have advantage or an ally distracting your enemy (some ...
52
In terms of dealing lethal damage, a dagger is strictly inferior to a short sword--to a user proficient in both.
Daggers, however, have all the benefits in-game that they enjoy in real life: they are smaller and easier to conceal, lighter, throwable, cheaper, and a little easier to use. (Cf. wizards who, as a class, can use daggers but not short swords.)
I ...
50
No, Magic missile is not an attack.
The general rule is:
If there's ever any question whether something you're doing counts as
an attack, the rule is simple: if you're making an attack roll, you're
making an attack. (PHB 194)
Since magic missile never rolls, it is not an attack.
Jeremy Crawford has confirmed this:
Uncanny Dodge works against an ...
49
The Rogue, a bowdlerized Thief, was always an Adventurer / Treasure Hunter
For a swords and sorcery genre fictional or legendary root, you could look at the Grey Mouser (from Fritz Lieber's fiction), Cugel the Clever (Jack Vance), the Thief of Baghdad, or Ali Baba. Thieves guilds became a permanent feature of the game once the class was introduced. If ...
48
High Reflex Doth Not A Tank Make
Having a high reflex doesn't count for anything extraordinary. It's one of four defences beside armor, fortitude and will, and one quarter of attacks missing you more often doesn't make you a tank.
The magic of defenders, however, is not a matter of being unable to be hit. (In fact, they need to be hittable, so enemies don'...
48
The Finesse property allows you to choose between using strength or dexterity when making an attack. As such, so long as you're making a melee weapon attack and choose to use strength for the attack roll than yes, Sneak Attack can be used in conjunction with Reckless Attack.
48
You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll (emphasis mine)
This is an understandable misreading. "that enemy" refers to an enemy of the creature being targeted with the attack.
In other words, to trigger sneak attack, ...
47
Wait, what?
Sneak Attack Does Work While Flanking
What in the world is your DM basing this ruling on? The rules are very clear on this.
The rogue’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be
denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a
Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target.
Go Ask The DM Again....
46
Create scenarios that require resource management
Your players are right that a wild-shaped druid is a lot better at infiltration than a rogue. However, don't forget that a druid at your party's level only gets 2 wild shapes per long/short rest. A druid using a wild shape to do infiltration does not have that wild shape for any other future purpose, like ...
46
The Rogue and Monk would take half damage
Your argument seems sound. Since the Evasion feature specifies Dexterity saving throws, but Toll the Dead requires a Wisdom saving throw, Evasion simply doesn't apply here. So they would take full damage from Toll the Dead if they fail the Wisdom saving throw, or half the damage if they succeed due to the Potent ...
44
If you hit, it is already considered a critical hit
This is the case regardless of whether you then roll a natural 20 or not.
When the Rogue is assassinating a surprised target, it will be a critical hit regardless of what the roll of the d20 is, providing of course you still beat the target's AC.
So no, the critical hits do not stack
44
Hit dice have no impact on attacks
Your Hit-Dice have nothing to do with your attacks, and are related to your HP max and HP recovery while resting. They're "hit dice" as in "hit points", not as in "hitting enemies".
Two Weapon Fighting attack sequence (At level 1)
Attack with first dagger (Main action)
Roll 1d20 + 3 (dex mod) + 2 (proficiency)
If this ...
42
Yes, rogues can sneak attack at range pretty effectively.
You're reading the rules right, and all a ranged rogue needs for sneak attack is an ally's adjacency. (Actually, an enemy-of-my-enemy's adjacency, not necessarily an ally.)
Shooting in to melee...
may, at your GMs discretion, call cover into question. Review PHB p. 196: intervening combatants might ...
41
The next paragraph reads
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn
how to land a strike and then slip away without reprisal.
During your turn, if you make a melee attack against a
creature, that creature can't make opportunity attacks
against you for the rest of your turn. -SCAG pg. 135
It further goes on to clarify in a blurb on the ...
40
Enemies don't get advantage against you in this scenario.
Yes, Reckless Attack grants them advantage. However, no-one ever has advantage unless something grants it to them. If Elusive doesn't work against Reckless Attack, it doesn't work against anything.
Consider, for example, someone who casts True Strike. That gives them advantage, too, contradicting ...
40
From logic, one would arrive at:
"Climbing for a thief no longer costs the thief extra movement,"
"Climbing for a centaur costs 4 extra feet,"
"4 extra feet is extra movement," (implied from "instead of the normal 1 extra foot")
(2&3) "Climbing for a centaur costs extra movement"
C. (1&4) "Climbing for a centaur thief would not cost any extra ...
39
Ability checks don't critically succeed or fail.
In 5th edition, ability checks don't typically automatically succeed on a 20, or automatically fail on a 1. It's only attack rolls that have automatic failure or critical success.
The only rules relating to critical success or failure for ability checks is on page 242 of the DMG:
Rolling a 20 or a 1 on ...
38
No, that's not correct. Half-Orcs get the following ability:
Savage
Attacks.
When
you
score
a
critical
hit
with
a
melee
weapon
attack,
you
can
roll
one
of
the
weapon’s
damage
dice
one
additional
time
and
add
it
to
the
extra
damage
of
the
critical
hit.
As it says, when you get a crit, ...
38
No, this doesn't work in melee.
At least not the important second half.
Yes, they can duck behind the corner and hide. All they need to do to be allowed to hide is break line of sight.
No, they can't just pop back out and sneak attack. To sneak attack, they need advantage, and to get that from being unseen they have to still be unseen when they attack (PHB,...
38
Can a rogue use sneak attack with weapons that have the thrown property even if they are not thrown?
Sneak Attack does not work with melee weapons that have the thrown property, but lack the finesse property
The Rogue's Sneak Attack feature states:
The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
A melee weapon cannot simultaneously be a ranged weapon, because as the Weapons section (PHB, p146) states:
Every weapon is classified as either melee or ...
37
Yes, and they don't need to ready an action to do it
Say their movement is 30ft. They expend their movement for 30ft, use their action to Dash for an extra 30ft, then Bonus action to Dash again with an additional 30ft.
90ft in total - triple their base movement
Here's a question that covers Dashing twice on the same round:
Can you dash twice on the same ...
36
It's neither the first attack nor the first round. As far as RAW is concerned, if you're surprised, you're surprised at least until the end of your first turn. From the Player's Basic Rules, page 69:
The DM determines who might be surprised. If
neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice
each other. Otherwise, the DM compares the ...
36
You cannot activate magic items with Fast Hands
The section on activating magic items specifically calls out this case:
If an item requires an action to activate, that action isn't a
function of the Use an Item action, so a feature such as the rogue's
Fast Hands can't be used to activate the item. (DMG 141)
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