So apparently it is generally agreed that one of the many woes a Rogue faces is his low attack bonus. Or rather, not having an innate means to boost his own to-hit.
The one defining class feature of the Rogue is his Sneak Attack. Which is presumed to represent the Rogue's ability to hit where it really does some damage. And with the right Rogue talents, even more then just hit point damage. However, not everything has a 'discernable anatomy'. Or maybe you figure that denying that one enemy his AoO is more important then doing a few HP damage.
Therefore I propose the following House Rule: As long as a Rogue is entitled to a Sneak Attack (ignoring if the target is immune to sneak attacks), he can chose to trade in a d6 of Sneak Attack damage for a +1 (precision) bonus to to-hit.
That way, you can chose to gamble on a damaging hit by applying all your SA dice to damage, or you can play it save and trade away some damage to increase your chance of hitting in the first place. Effects like bleeding etc. would still key off your full amount of SA dice (or maybe just the number of damage dice you didn't trade in for accuracy, not sure about this). That way, the Rogue would be a lot less disadvantaged by targets immune to Sneak Attacks. His vaunted precision at hitting vulnerable spots would then simply turn into precision at hitting at all.
Thoughts?
Personally, I'd change sneak attack to also grant a bonus to hit equal to 1/2 the number of damage dice you get, rounded down (only active when sneak attack applies). I think the trade-a-die mechanic should be reserved for applying conditions or other special effects.
|
I have houseruled Rogues (and ninjas) to gain a precision bonus to damage equal to the number of sneak attack dice on hits against sneak-able targets.
I have also houseruled the addition of "Advantage" and "Disadvantage" from 5e into Pathfinder, and made it so that sneak attacks are possible against enemies who are disadvantaged.
"Disadvantage" is basically a simple status condition that says the creature rolls 2d20 and takes the lower roll whenever they take an action that requires a d20 roll. "Advantage" is the opposite.
I've changed a couple rogue talents to give Advantage to the rogue, or disadvantage to the rogue's enemies, depending on how the talent works, and made certain other mechanics incorporate Advantage and Disadvantage. (You have advantage attacking a prone creature with a melee attack, or disadvantage when attacking the same creature with a ranged attack, etc.)
Mainly, these bonuses have given my rogues a little extra boost in combat effectiveness. Damage isn't the main problem for rogues, I know, but increasing the chances to do that sneak damage are things I'm all for, which is why the Scout Archetype is so awesome to me.
About the to-hit problem... I don't have a good solution. If you're the GM, make sure the rogue's the first one to get a masterwork or +1 weapon. Especially if they use something like a dagger or a short sword as their primary, as it will be pretty low-risk. If they use a Scimitar or Kukri, that's fine too, just realize that their higher crit range will be twice as good with a +1 weapon.
A friend has run the SA dice count as a bonus to hit for a single attack each round that must qualify for a SA. He did shift to one per three levels. Just fair warning...
How did that work? +1 to to-hit for every 3 dice of SA or for every 3 levels of Rogue?
|
I like the idea of rogues getting +1 on attack rolls for all sneak attacks per 1d6 of sneak attack damage they have. So, at 5th level, a rogue has +3 to hit and +3d6 damage on sneak attacks.
Since their defenses are so poor, I'd probably add in the duelist's canny defense (one point of intelligence bonus per level to armor class).
Finally, rogues should probably just get poison use standard. Seems silly to force them to futz around with fringe rules to pick up an arch-typical feature.
How did that work? +1 to to-hit for every 3 dice of SA or for every 3 levels of Rogue?
Sorry, just re-read my post.
1) The bonus is only if the attack qualifies as a SA. This seems valid to me.
2) SA dice are awarded at levels 1, 4, 7, 10, etc. A significant reduction in damage to my eye. This may be crippling in a tighter game.
3) The bonus to hit equals the total of SA dice.
4) The to hit Bonus does not apply to extra attacks due from Base Attack Bonus. I am not a fan of this.
5) Both Rogues in his troupe seem happy, but he is really light on complications like DCs, etc. They do get to swap talents each day. Nice trick!
Did that help?
Ah ok, that explains it, thanks.
So the better to-hit offset the lower damage enough to make the Rogue player happy with his performance?
So the better to-hit offset the lower damage enough to make the Rogue player happy with his performance?
I have heard no complaints, so it seems to work.