Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Radar_UK Oct 22, 2014 12:49:07	Character background fluff:- Traxian was brought up on the streets of Baldurs Gate. His mother, a human serving maid, died when he was 10 and he never got to meet his dad, who his mother refused to speak of. He spent most of the years from then till now living on the streets, relying on a combination of his looks and wits to get him by. While Traxian's good looks were initially a blessing, they quickly became a curse when he caught the eye of a young noble last summer. Initially the noble was kind to him, offering the use of a mat in a disused barn and scraps of food from time to time. As the weeks past the young noble would occasionally turn up in the early hours, stinking of booze, trying to force himself on Traxian, but he was always able to resist him. One night a couple of months ago the young noble turned up sober and, when Traxian had his back turned, he hit him over the head knocking him out. Traxian awoke sore, in a few places, and chained to a wall in the barn. He spent a few weeks there, going through a cycle of being beaten and used by the noble, with no end in site. A few weeks ago, during an attempt to fight off the noble, he was able to land a headbutt on the nobles nose, breaking it in the process. Enraged by this the noble beat him to within an inch of his life and promised Traxian this was going to continue until he died here, rotting and chained to the wall. It was on this night when my patron appeared to me in a dream/waking vision. On the edge of life and death, after the pretty severe beating, a pact was made and the patron showed me how to unlock the power within. The noble entered the barn the next day, it was Traxian who left. In the few weeks since then my patron has appeared in more dreams/visions and either directly taught me or shown me where to go to gain more knowledge and power. He has so far asked for little in return, so I don't know what my patron wants exactly from helping me or who he/she is. I am sure there will be some kind of payback, in return for this help, but the thirst for more power/knowledge drives me ever deeper into my pact. What started as a pact out of necessity has started to grow as I learn more secrets and gain more power. Stats:- STR - 11 DEX - 14 CON - 16 INT - 12 WIS - 12 CHA - 17 Half Elf - Urchin - The ArchFey I had planned on being a ranged blaster, and to go Tome, but I am now thinking of going Blade and it's decision time. The reason I am thinking about this is I think a dip into rogue would fit the way my character has played out. He's used disguise kit and deception a few times already and, after distracting some cultists, slit one of their throats when their back was turned(The first of a few throat cutting moves to date!). My character has done a lot of sneaking about, and recon stuff, and it just feels right to dip Rogue next level for the roleplay side of things. With that in mind I was thinking of going Blade, using Darkness early levels (with devils sight), with HEX as needed (tight space and close party members). In most cases this would give me advantage on attacks and make me less likely to be hit. The advantage gives me an extra 1d6 per attack from a 1 level dip into Rogue as well if I am right?   I know it's not optimum, there are some overlaps with the skills/background etc, but it just seems to fit and i thought it could be fun. Thoughts on this?
#2 mellored Oct 22, 2014 13:15:10	If you get the same skill twice, then you can choose another one.   Dipping rogue can get you expertise in deception (and stealth), which seems to be what you want.   Bladelocks can do more damage then blastlocks, but it takes more resources (Dex and Cha vs just Cha) to do so.
#3 Corran21 Oct 22, 2014 18:56:39	Abd you could go trickster for some more precious spell slots, or assassin to get the assassinate feature if you want to successfully keep this throat-cutting bussiness going on. Both options available with 3 levels of rogue... you also get some more goodies, like expertise (stealth and deception could be really profited by this as mellored said), cunning action, thieve's language which is nice for fluff, and 2d6 sneak attack. Thematicaly it fits with your backstory, and more importantly with how you seem to enjoy playing your character. Sure it is not the best character optimization, but it's not exactly bad, is it? Go for it...   PS: now that I think of it, you could turn this character into a very decent assassin...
#4 ChrisCarlson Oct 22, 2014 19:30:14	Agreed. Warlock/Rogue can be a potent and fun assassin mix. If that's what you are going for...
#5 N4M8- Oct 23, 2014 7:12:09	As someone playing a Rogue/Warlock, I will say it's been enjoyable so far (4th level). You'll want to start rogue and multi into warlock. You biggest problem is you'll want low level abilities from both classes but can only take a level at a time from either. Probably best to start human variant because level attribute/feat increases only come as you gain 4th level in a class.
#6 Jumuraa Oct 23, 2014 10:47:37	@N4M8, OP has already been playing the character. What's being asked is, given the current situation, if Dipping/MCing Rogue is the right call. And if so, then is Blade Pact the smart move.   I've not played any MC builds yet, but if you are wanting to expand your sneaking-knife-in-the-dark aspects, then Rogue with Blade Pact is the right way to go. It synergizes better than EB because you can have your Pact Weapon be anything you want, and you want a finese weapon for sneak attacks. Gaining Advantage is easy with your Darkness/Eyes combo, so you are almost garunteed to get your +Xd6/round.    Go check out the Rouge and Warlock Guides for some other ideas. Neither guide has the MC section up to snuff yet, but there are some good ideas in the thread. The Assassin Guide, however, does. Edit: Grammar
#7 Varisthenes Oct 23, 2014 10:53:14	I'd go at least level 2 if you want to dip rogue.  Cunning Action is a really great ability.
(Reply to #6) N4M8-	Jumuraa wrote:
(Reply to #7) N4M8-	Varisthenes wrote:
#10 Radar_UK Oct 24, 2014 9:16:21	Thank you for the advice so far.   I have decided I will go Blade, and will go Rogue next level which puts me at 3/1.   With my stats would you go 4/1 and get 2 skill points into Dex or look at taking a feat? After that I would probably go 5/1 for Thirsting Blade.
#11 mellored Oct 24, 2014 9:38:27	Radar_UK wrote: