Darius Finch

The Modern Bard's page

5 posts. Alias of AdamMeyers.


RSS


1 person marked this as a favorite.

May I plug myself? The entire point of Rogue Glory was to address these issues, and so far it's been very well reviewed: 5 stars and a personal seal of approval from Endzeitgeist, plus the comments above in this very thread. Since rogues are still a hot-button issue, I'd love to hear if others feel the book addresses the concerns at hand.


rainzax wrote:

i think Rogue Glory, as far as we have a spoiler for, has the brilliant idea of introducing the Guile Pool. as exactly proposed though, i think it could require more tinkering.

i'm not bashing Rogue Glory - the Improved Feint works well with every Rogue because it interacts with Sneak Attack, and the Ambush works well because it gives the class an added edge in it's own element - it's just that this merely advances the fighting skill of the Rogue. if the fight is what you want, these proposals deliver.

and so, my two critiques of Guile Pool are that stylistically it is inspired by the Ninja Ki Pool in that it offers additional combat options (my opinion: let Ninja be more combat-focused), and, that it gives away too much at early levels. basically, two new abilities at 2nd and 3rd (Improved Feint and Ambush). i personally would like to see the upgrades spread out more sigfificantly over more than the first 3 levels. this would incentivize class loyalty. as proposed, the (Glory) Rogue is just a better 'dip' than before.

that said, i am in the camp that believes not all classes need to be equal in a fight. there are roughly two other Modes of Play, Problem-Solving (w/ skills, props, plans) and Direct NPC Interaction ('roleplaying'), in which the Rogue has to shine. (of course, all these Modes overlap and mix to a great extent...) AND, as the last mode is mostly above the mechanics, i think any improvements to the Rogue class should be made with the Problem-Solving mode more in mind, with mechanics to support that.

The guile pool and ambush ability are hoping to improve class loyalty, as they actually start out fairly weak and improve steadily over time. The starting guile pool, for instance, is a fairly weak bonus (+1 to hit, +2 to a skill check,) but by the time you're at 10 rogue levels you're getting a +3 to hit and a +4 to any skill check, which is a nice in-and-out-of-combat boost for the rogue. It's mostly there to show off a rogue's ability to steal victory from defeat, as when his strikes or skill checks really count, he has a built-in way to get the extra boost he needs.


I always love seeing other people's design ideas. Personally, I'd like to see every class be a little bit MAD, so designing your character involves a little bit more picking and choosing of builds. As for Rogues, they've always seemed the most MAD to me already, what with their "Classic" skills being tied to so many attributes already (Dex for stealth and Disable Device, Int for more skill points, Cha for social skills, Wis for Perception, Con and Strength depending on what sort of rogue you want to be, etc.)

In my game, I give my rogues access to talents that let them use ranger traps, and an archetype that gets great use out of the Heal skill. Between that and a Cha-based guile pool, it makes having a Wisdom Rogue (ranger traps, Ki pool, grit pool, Healing) Intelligence Rogue (Major Magic, lots of skill points) and Charisma Rogue (Guile Pool, social skills) all valid choices.


For me, it's the Step into Reading Cars-themed version "Old, New, Red, Blue" to my son.


So Rogue Glory is coming out soon from Drop Dead Studios, which among other things, advocates adding abilities to the Rogue class as opposed to adding more powerful rogue talents that make the older ones obsolete. The choices they're advocating are also a guile pool and an ambush class ability. I guess it's just universally understood that those are the abilities the rogue needs or something.

Guile Pool:
At 2nd level, a rogue gains a guile pool equal to half her rogue level plus her Charisma modifier (minimum: 1).

A rogue may spend one point from her guile pool as part of any skill check to gain a +2 bonus to that skill check. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +4.

A rogue may spend 1 point from her guile pool as a swift action to grant herself a +1 circumstance bonus to her to-hit modifier until the end of her turn. For every four levels beyond 2nd the rogue possesses, this bonus increases by 1, to a maximum of +5 at 18th level.

As long as she has at least 1 point remaining in her guile pool, the rogue is treated as if under the effects of the Improved Feint feat.

Ambush:
At 3rd level, the rogue may designate one of her attacks during a surprise round as an ambush. If this attack hits and deals sneak attack damage, it deals an amount of extra precision damage equal to the rogue’s class level.

In addition, the target of a successful ambush must make a Fortitude save against a DC of 10 + half the rogue’s level + the rogue’s Dexterity modifier. If the target fails this save, he becomes sickened for 1d4+1 rounds. As a rogue gains levels, she may change the effect bestowed when the target fails this saving throw. At 8th level, the rogue may choose to make her target staggered. At 13th level, the rogue may make the target nauseated. At 18th level, the rogue may stun the target. All effects last for 1d4+1 rounds.