Rogue

# Rogue Class Details

Signaling for her companions to wait, a halfling creeps forward
through the dungeon hall. She presses an ear to the door, then pulls out
 a set of tools and picks the lock in the blink of an eye. Then she
disappears into the shadows as her fighter friend moves forward to kick
the door open.

A human lurks in the shadows of an alley while his accomplice
prepares for her part in the ambush. When their target — a notorious
slaver — passes the alleyway, the accomplice cries out, the slaver comes
 to investigate, and the assassin’s blade cuts his throat before he can
make a sound.

Suppressing a giggle, a gnome waggles her fingers and magically lifts
 the key ring from the guard’s belt. In a moment, the keys are in her
hand, the cell door is open, and she and her companions are free to make
 their escape.

Rogues rely on skill, stealth, and their foes’ vulnerabilities to get
 the upper hand in any situation. They have a knack for finding the
solution to just about any problem, demonstrating a resourcefulness and
versatility that is the cornerstone of any successful adventuring party.

## Skill and Precision

Rogues devote as much effort to mastering the use of a variety of
skills as they do to perfecting their combat abilities, giving them a
broad expertise that few other characters can match. Many rogues focus
on stealth and deception, while others refine the skills that help them
in a dungeon environment, such as climbing, finding and disarming traps,
 and opening locks.

When it comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute
strength. A rogue would rather make one precise strike, placing it
exactly where the attack will hurt the target most, than wear an
opponent down with a barrage of attacks. Rogues have an almost
supernatural knack for avoiding danger, and a few learn magical tricks
to supplement their other abilities.

## A Shady Living

Every town and city has its share of rogues. Most of them live up to
the worst stereotypes of the class, making a living as burglars,
assassins, cutpurses, and con artists. Often, these scoundrels are
organized into thieves’ guilds or crime families. Plenty of rogues
operate independently, but even they sometimes recruit apprentices to
help them in their scams and heists. A few rogues make an honest living
as locksmiths, investigators, or exterminators, which can be a dangerous
 job in a world where dire rats—and wererats—haunt the sewers.

As adventurers, rogues fall on both sides of the law. Some are
hardened criminals who decide to seek their fortune in treasure hoards,
while others take up a life of adventure to escape from the law. Some
have learned and perfected their skills with the explicit purpose of
infiltrating ancient ruins and hidden crypts in search of treasure.

As you create your rogue character, consider the character’s
relationship to the law. Do you have a criminal past—or present? Are you
 on the run from the law or from an angry thieves’ guild master? Or did
you leave your guild in search of bigger risks and bigger rewards? Is it
 greed that drives you in your adventures, or some other desire or
ideal?

What was the trigger that led you away from your previous life? Did a
 great con or heist gone terribly wrong cause you to reevaluate your
career? Maybe you were lucky and a successful robbery gave you the coin
you needed to escape the squalor of your life. Did wanderlust finally
call you away from your home? Perhaps you suddenly found yourself cut
off from your family or your mentor, and you had to find a new means of
support. Or maybe you made a new friend—another member of your
adventuring party—who showed you new possibilities for earning a living
and employing your particular talents.

As a rogue, you have the following class features.

**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per rogue level after 1st

### Proficiencies

**Armor:** Light armor
**Weapons:** Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
**Tools:** Thieves’ tools
**Saving Throws:** Dexterity, Intelligence
**Skills:** Choose four from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth

### Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) a rapier or (b) a shortsword
* (a) a shortbow and quiver of 20 arrows or (b) a shortsword
* (a) a burglar’s pack, (b) a dungeoneer’s pack, or (c) an explorer’s pack
* Leather armor, two daggers, and thieves’ tools

### Expertise

At 1st level, choose two of
 your skill proficiencies, or one of your skill proficiencies and your
proficiency with thieves’ tools. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for
any ability check you make that uses either of the chosen proficiencies.
At 6th level, you can choose two more of your proficiencies (in skills or with thieves’ tools) to gain this benefit.

### Sneak Attack

Beginning at 1st
level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction.
Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit
with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must
 use a finesse or a ranged weapon.
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.

The amount of the extra damage
increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack
 column of the Rogue table.

### Thieves’ Cant

During your rogue
training you learned thieves’ cant, a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and
 code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly normal conversation.
 Only another creature that knows thieves’ cant understands such
messages. It takes four times longer to convey such a message than it
does to speak the same idea plainly.
In addition, you understand a set of
secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages, such as
whether an area is dangerous or the territory of a thieves’ guild,
whether loot is nearby, or whether the people in an area are easy marks
or will provide a safe house for thieves on the run.

### Cunning Action

Starting at 2nd
level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act
quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat.
This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.

### Roguish Archetype

At 3rd level, you choose an
 archetype that you emulate in the exercise of your rogue abilities:
Thief, detailed at the end of the class description, or one from another
 source. Your archetype choice grants you features at 3rd level and then
 again at 9th, 13th, and 17th level.

### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th,
 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your
choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.
 As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this
feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

### Uncanny Dodge

Starting at 5th level, when
 an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your
reaction to halve the attack’s damage against you.

### Expertise

At 6th level, choose two
more of your skill proficiencies, or one more of your skill
proficiencies and your proficiency with thieves’ tools. Your proficiency
 bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of the
 chosen proficiencies.

### Evasion

Beginning at 7th level, you can nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as an ancient red dragon’s fiery breath or an ice storm
 spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a
Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no
damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you
fail.

### Reliable Talent

By 11th level, you have
refined your chosen skills until they approach perfection. Whenever you
make an ability check that lets you add your proficiency bonus, you can
treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.

### Blindsense

Starting at 14th level, if you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you.

### Slippery Mind

By 15th level, you have acquired greater mental strength. You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws.

### Elusive

Beginning at 18th level,
you are so evasive that attackers rarely gain the upper hand against
you. No attack roll has advantage against you while you aren’t incapacitated.

### Stroke of Luck

At 20th level, you have an
uncanny knack for succeeding when you need to. If your attack misses a
target within range, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if
 you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.