|
Recently I have started working on a rogue half-elf character with a 20 point buy system. While I do have a good grasp on the character concept, my ability when crunching numbers is still growing at a crawling pace, so I'm seeking advice to throw a playable build together to make the character work well in a party.
I'm wanting to build a rogue who's good at disabling and playing with traps, open and bypass most locks I run into, who can talk his way into and out of most situations, as well as be an overall skill monkey. I've run through a guide or two and while they were informative, most of them seem to focus quite a bit more on combat, which is something I'm not wanting to absolutely excel at- I'd play my old barbarian otherwise.
DEX 16 (10 points spent)
CON 12 (2 points spent)
INT 15 (7 points spent)
WIS 10 (0 points spent)
CHA 14 (5 points spent)
That's a grant total of 20 points there.
I plan on taking Weapon Finesse with a rapier to be able to stab things with my DEX score instead, and my reasoning behind not cutting out points from WIS is due to perception, which I would rather not have a negative score in at the starting.
Tell me what you guys think, I'm open to suggestions and learning a few new tricks. After all, if I'm not learning something new each day I'm living wrong.
-Pennor
Romon fills most of what you've asked for. I wanted a more all-around athletic, acrobatic rogue, a smooth fast-talking secondary story man.
He was a real blast through level 4 or 5, but lately his combat performance has been poor. Not that the party has needed him that way; they've been shredding encounters so fast that he doesn't even have time to set up a sneak attack. (His initiative rolls have always been abysmal.)
You can check out his profile, but his ability scores are :
S 14(+2), D 18(+4), Co 12(+1), I 14(+2), W 11(+0), Ch 12(+1)
Both level bumps went into dex, so he started with a 16 there.
***your guy***
As a half-elf you get a +2 racial bonus to the ability of your choice. I presume you'll throw it into dexterity?
As a half elf you also get a +2 to perception, and a bonus skill focus feat. So you could drop your wisdom a little or have a stratospheric perception at first level.
The 15 in intelligence has me wondering if you're planning on boosting Int when you hit level 4. If not, you spent two points of your buy for nothing. You could put those two points into strength or wisdom instead.
I'd caution against dumping so much strength. Climb is a stock rogue skill and swim can be a life saver. It's fun to be able to carry your loot. And at low levels -2 to damage is going to have the party melee monster laughing at you.
I have a rogue presently, primary stats were Cha>Dex>Wis>Int>Str>Con.
Putting strength so low was the biggest mistake of my build. In the end, being a small sized character with a low score, I started off with a -2 STR mod from the beginning. My damage output is a 1d4-1, and before I got muleback cords, my max carrying capacity was horrendous.
While DEX is great, I'd realllllly suggest reducing it slightly in order to get STR out of the basement. What good is being able to tumble into the fray with high initiative and a great chance to hit if every hit does anywhere from 1-4 damage? Plus, what good is talking your way into the royal treasury if you can only carry 4 shiny baubles?
Unless in combat you have a vast array of poisons to cripple everything when you hit it, you are essentially doomed in combat unless you can get Sneak Attack.
I know combat isn't a big part of your build, but it is a big part of most games, and being able to talk your way out of trouble isn't even close to being useful if you die in the first encounter.
You could cut one point from INT since odd numbers don't boost your modifier, then redirect points elsewhere (ideally STR).
I also find it weird you assign CON a 12 and WIS 10since a rogue isn't meant to be taking lots of damage, and you'll likely be using wisdom based skill checks more than CON based ones. Us rogues are far to suave to get nasty acidic burns on our handsome faces, that's why we bring along ugly barbarians and make our meatshields wear helmets to hide their grotesque faces.
Recently I have started working on a rogue half-elf character with a 20 point buy system. While I do have a good grasp on the character concept, my ability when crunching numbers is still growing at a crawling pace, so I'm seeking advice to throw a playable build together to make the character work well in a party.
I'm wanting to build a rogue who's good at disabling and playing with traps, open and bypass most locks I run into, who can talk his way into and out of most situations, as well as be an overall skill monkey. I've run through a guide or two and while they were informative, most of them seem to focus quite a bit more on combat, which is something I'm not wanting to absolutely excel at- I'd play my old barbarian otherwise.
** spoiler omitted **
I plan on taking Weapon Finesse with a rapier to be able to stab things with my DEX score instead, and my reasoning behind not cutting out points from WIS is due to perception, which I would rather not have a negative score in at the starting.
Tell me what you guys think, I'm open to suggestions and learning a few new tricks. After all, if I'm not learning something new each day I'm living wrong.
-Pennor
I would seriously avoid the 7 strength as a d6-2 is never good damage and being unable to wear most armors without encumerance is crippling to a rogue.