In this Dungeon Master, we are going to sneak around DDO, gather some information, maybe even grab some items that are not ours. The class this time is, the Rogue.
Lore Bites: The Rogue comes in several different ways. Many thieves you find in the prisons of Eberron are of this slight-of-hand clan, but tales have been heard of noble men and women recruiting these shadowy figures to spy on the rival noble house. The rogues that become thieves mostly had a hard life living on the street resorting, stealing was a means to survival. Rogues that are more honorable – and take honorable lightly – become spies, working for kings and noblemen and women. Many people who tried were not able to find them, but there are stories of a rogue guild where both honorable and dishonorable of their ilk find employment. Well-paying employment.
The number “1” reason to bring a rogue.
If the player wants to play a class that sneaks around and is a great help to a party, the rogue should be your first, and let’s be honest, only thought. The utmost important detail of the class is that he is not a frontal fighter. A rogue is meant to pop out of the shadows, using surprise and even underhanded tactics to deal damage. He can’t just storm in and kill the enemy. Second , and this is nearly as crucial as the first, a party that wants to get the maximum amount of loot and the most experience from a dungeon will need to take along a rogue. This makes it crucial to anyone building a shadow hunter to get skills like ‘open lock’ and ‘spot’ to insure party invites.
Besides being a really handy ally in parties, the player can also deal out a lot of damage. But only in a party setting. The rogue’s ‘sneak attack’ ability, which adds extra damage if the player is flanking the enemy or he is not seen yet and backstabs him, dominates all opening abilities in the game.
A quick rundown on flanking for the people that might not know it. Flanking happens when the enemy is busy fighting another person and the rogue stands behind said enemy (it’s conical, you can be to the side as well, but it’s far more finicky). The sneak attack bonus goes up to a whopping 10d6 making an attack with even the weakest of daggers a true pain for the enemy.
The down side on this class is that the chance that the player is able to solo dungeons – bar the earliest dungeons – is very, very low. The player could get a combo of skills to compensate, but that would mean offering up more points for the stats to get more intelligence to be able to both, help parties with locked doors/chests and deal a lot of damage, and to solo the dungeons. A character of this nature would become a hybrid, doing nothing to its full potential.
As last, the race of choice is once again, the Drow. Bored with Drows? An Elf and Human are two great backup selections. Elf for giving a bonus to dexterity and the Human again because of the bonus feats and the extra skill the player gets.
Let’s get stabbin’.