Rogue Build, Help A Newbie? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Rogue Build, Help A Newbie? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JustSomeGuy
04-03-07, 10:46 AM Hello experts.

i will be enoying my second ever D&D session this coming weekend (4 days) and will be making my second character. My first died pretty quickly.

i will have a monk, wizard and paladin with me in the party and think that a rogue would be helpful. i do not have any books for reference (yet) and could really use some advice from the experts.

Anything you can suggest for the build, any good web sites besides this one?

Thank you in advance for your help!
CrimsonDeath
04-03-07, 09:58 PM It looks like you may want the Character Optimization (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=339) board. For a start, take a look at the Rogue links here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=3032117&postcount=2).
kave99
04-03-07, 11:44 PM welcome to the table. might i suggest you look over the SRD http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm as that should help you learn the rules of the game till you get the books . you have taken the first step on what i hope will be a long and happy adventure. after almost 30 years of gaming i hope you will get as much out of it as i have.
Westbound
04-06-07, 12:06 AM I also would suggest the character optimization boards, but let me, at least, point you in something of a direction. One of the things that has endeared me to 3E (d20) is how, through experience, you can quite effectively customize your character as you see fit. You don't have to have all your class levels in Rogue; you can multi-class into other classes.

When I make a character, I give him something of a meta-game goal. I want to know where I want him to be at L5, L10, L15, L20 and beyond, if he lives that long. It's not written in stone, but at least I know where I'm generally going.

Rogues fulfill two primary needs in a party: Access and threat detection. With access, they can pick locks that grant entry to rooms and open chests. With threat detection, they can find, avoid and disarm traps and with stealth they can scout ahead of a party and locate enemies. Secondary needs in a party are as an assassin and a thief, both of which don't have much of a use to a party as they might appear. Sure, Sneak Attack is nice, but locating the enemies and traps and disarming traps is nicer, since most warriors and spell-casters cannot do these things as well as you can, not without magic. If your intended role in a party is to be the "scout," running ahead to look for threats, disarming traps and opening doors, then you should try to focus on these abilities, especially in the beginning, since these abilities will come to be the most useful to a group. If you want to be an assassin, consider taking levels in another class to supplement your abilities as a Rogue.

A lot of groups don't really understand how potent a Rogue's skills are, and they might not like you scouting out ahead of the party, probably because it'll seem as though you're hogging all of a DM's attention. In reality, if you do your job right, you'll be saving the party a lot of grief. Of course, you'll run the risk of being jumped and not having your party close-by to help you, but such is the way of things for good Rogues.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JustSomeGuy 04-03-07, 10:46 AM	Hello experts. i will be enoying my second ever D&D session this coming weekend (4 days) and will be making my second character. My first died pretty quickly. i will have a monk, wizard and paladin with me in the party and think that a rogue would be helpful. i do not have any books for reference (yet) and could really use some advice from the experts. Anything you can suggest for the build, any good web sites besides this one? Thank you in advance for your help!
CrimsonDeath 04-03-07, 09:58 PM	It looks like you may want the Character Optimization (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=339) board. For a start, take a look at the Rogue links here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=3032117&postcount=2).
kave99 04-03-07, 11:44 PM	welcome to the table. might i suggest you look over the SRD http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm as that should help you learn the rules of the game till you get the books . you have taken the first step on what i hope will be a long and happy adventure. after almost 30 years of gaming i hope you will get as much out of it as i have.
Westbound 04-06-07, 12:06 AM	I also would suggest the character optimization boards, but let me, at least, point you in something of a direction. One of the things that has endeared me to 3E (d20) is how, through experience, you can quite effectively customize your character as you see fit. You don't have to have all your class levels in Rogue; you can multi-class into other classes. When I make a character, I give him something of a meta-game goal. I want to know where I want him to be at L5, L10, L15, L20 and beyond, if he lives that long. It's not written in stone, but at least I know where I'm generally going. Rogues fulfill two primary needs in a party: Access and threat detection. With access, they can pick locks that grant entry to rooms and open chests. With threat detection, they can find, avoid and disarm traps and with stealth they can scout ahead of a party and locate enemies. Secondary needs in a party are as an assassin and a thief, both of which don't have much of a use to a party as they might appear. Sure, Sneak Attack is nice, but locating the enemies and traps and disarming traps is nicer, since most warriors and spell-casters cannot do these things as well as you can, not without magic. If your intended role in a party is to be the "scout," running ahead to look for threats, disarming traps and opening doors, then you should try to focus on these abilities, especially in the beginning, since these abilities will come to be the most useful to a group. If you want to be an assassin, consider taking levels in another class to supplement your abilities as a Rogue. A lot of groups don't really understand how potent a Rogue's skills are, and they might not like you scouting out ahead of the party, probably because it'll seem as though you're hogging all of a DM's attention. In reality, if you do your job right, you'll be saving the party a lot of grief. Of course, you'll run the risk of being jumped and not having your party close-by to help you, but such is the way of things for good Rogues.