ideas for a non stereotypical rogue

[Ringtail69]

ok so my step brother is going to be running a game and so far we have a monk, a wizard and a possible cleric so he asks me to play as a class to deal with traps/locks and i would like to play as something out of the ordinary. any ideas or tips because i am drawing a blank.....

[Karl Aegis]

What do you think a stereotypical rogue is? Is it someone that is likely to engage in activities more dangerous to one's person than adventuring normally is?

[OldTrees1]

Trap based rogue themes:
The legendary thief sees traps and stealth as personal challenges to excel at.
The locksmith specializes in making defenses. Uses adventuring as business vacations to learn about competing designs and to get contracts.
The dungeon inspector makes sure dungeons are kept up to dungeon code.
The dungeon critic is similar to the inspector but critiques instead of regulates.


Then there is the genre savvy hero (uses genere savvy to avoid traps) and the lucky hero (uses luck represented as skill ranks to avoid traps).

[sideswipe]

i suggest looking at factotum from dungeonscape.

its a bit like a rogue.
its main ability is a pool of inspiration points, they are points that you can spend to give yourself buffs to skills, attacks, damage, other cool abilities like sneak attack. you passively gain int to all physical skills. you even gain a few spells each day as spell like abilities. i mean say 3 or 4 but its useful. you also gain a bit of healing.
also trapfinding and every skill is a class skill.

it does everything a rogue can. plus it gives you other things to do. its int based so you can skimp out on other stats a bit as you can add into to almost everything with points.

[M Placeholder]

Id pick a Bard Class instead of the Rogue.

Some more ideas -

The Athasian Bard (From the Dark Sun setting) is a master poisoner, and can deal with traps.
Playing as a Kobold would be an excellent choice for someone dealing with traps. A Kobold Bard that has undergone the Draconic Rite of passage would be an excellent support character.

Bear in mind that you could always ask the Wizard to create some undead, or dominate a mook to spring traps.

[Spore]

The feeling that a D&D group NEEDS a rogue is a false one.

If your deals with traps reasonably (e.g. not using a 10k gold trap for a loot hoard of about 1k gold) a trap is just an expense of daily ressources. And this is how traps should be used. Not as a "you're screwed if you don't find it" kind of thing but as a "you are deterred from going in any further" kind of thing. They're meant to kill or stop grave robbers (e.g. 1st level npc experts and rogues). You're heroes, if you have more creative solutions then use those.

1) the Monk SHOULD have enough perception to detect a trap beforehand.
2) The Wizard has enough spells to spring a trap in various ethic and unethic ways. This is only a problem if you start on 1st level since Wizards SUCK there.
3) If you feel to play a toolie character I am not sure if D&D offers not a VASTLY superior set of classes other than rogue.

But alas, ideas. Your character is an agent assigned to check on the group. If they act up or get too dangerous your order is to react with appropriate choices. THEY meant assassination or incarcaration, but you wanted to join them in order to get out of the organization. This gives your DM the option to send assassin after the group and your PC as well as a whole faction that is after your PC. Springing traps and unlocking doors is just what you've learned as a royal assassin.

[prufock]

Well, what is a non-stereotypical rogue?

First, let's make him lawful. Rogues have a tendency to be chaotic neutral or true neutral in my experience.

Second, put no ranks in the following skills: Hide, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand. The non-stereotypical rogue is not a footpad, sneaking around in the dark like some thief!

Third, you want him to be a trapfinder (or at least your party does) so that's one stereotypical element that has to stay. Give him Appraise, Craft (locks), Escape Artist, Open Lock, Disable Device, Profession (locksmith). That was his real job before becoming an adventurer. Throw some Search in there as well. He should definitely have the Quick Fingers ACF from Dungeonscape. At least one of your Special Abilities will be Skill Mastery.

Fourth, lets pick an unusual (but not a bad choice) race. Dwarf. They get a bonus to crafting and appraising metal objects (like, say, locks?).

Fifth, let's make him portly and in below average shape. His hands are dexterous, but the rest of his body isn't. He's not good at balancing, jumping, climbing, swimming, tumbling, and the like. He just has careful fingers. He can probably Use Rope pretty well, especially to make bindings.

Sixth, as a craftsman and salesman, he should be pretty good at dealing with people. Throw some diplomacy and sense motive on there. No bluff though, the stereotypical rogue is dishonest. You are an honest businessman. No forgery or intimidate for that matter. However, you should pile on some Decipher Script. After all, cyphers are just locks of language, and all you need is the right key. Speaking of which, give him a bunch of languages. Gather information should be on there, as should Knowledge (local), since he's a businessman, he talks to people a lot.

Seventh, if there's an ACF to get rid of Evasion and Uncanny Dodge you should probably take it. He's not your stereotypical rogue. Rogues are usually quick with poor willpower. If you can, pay 300 gp for Iron Will (from an Otyugh Hole), boost your Wis, and take Slippery Mind as a Special Ability.

[MrSinister]

Well, what is a non-stereotypical rogue?

Fourth, lets pick an unusual (but not a bad choice) race. Dwarf. They get a bonus to crafting and appraising metal objects (like, say, locks?).


Dwarf Rogue 3/Silver Key 10/Fortune's Friend 4/Uncanny Trickster 3

Use the Feat rogue and the education feat to qualify for that Silver Key knowledge
become immune to doors as a Silver Key
become super lucky with Fortune's Friend
Use Uncanny Trickster to upgrade class abilities on Rogue and Fortune's Friend

Spend all your feats that aren't prerequisites on Luck feats

You are rogue-like, but your true class is The Luckiest Locksmith Alive

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Take a one level dip in Fighter or Crusader for proficiencies and walk around in Full Plate, Tower Shield and a Martial one-hander that isn't on the Rogue list and take 0 ranks in every skill hit by ACP(possible exception for 5 ranks of balance, depending on your tables optimization level). You're a locksmith by trade, but you were conscripted into the militia.

[Zaq]

Dwarf Rogue 3/Silver Key 10/Fortune's Friend 4/Uncanny Trickster 3

Use the Feat rogue and the education feat to qualify for that Silver Key knowledge
become immune to doors as a Silver Key
become super lucky with Fortune's Friend
Use Uncanny Trickster to upgrade class abilities on Rogue and Fortune's Friend

Spend all your feats that aren't prerequisites on Luck feats

You are rogue-like, but your true class is The Luckiest Locksmith Alive

This man is wise.

[Naez]

Complete Scoundrel. The book is full of classes that are rogue-like without actually being rogues.

[Just to Browse]

AFAIK stereotypical rogues are chaotic stupid mindless glass cannons that run into fights to get sqiushed or dark brooding assassin types that nobody understands.

You could try a flasked avenger. Get the ability to make alchemist's fire or acid flasks (maybe a 1-level dip in wizard?) so you can blow your WBL crafting flasks. Then throw explosive sneak touch attacks from range and scream obscenities. You can carry around a crate or a wagon or something.

[MrSinister]

I had a player once that just happened to be a rogue, but this was only because there was no other chassis for what he wanted to be. This was a Ravenloft 3.0 game, and he wanted to be a non-magical cartographer and linguist. So he used Rogue as the base to enter the Royal Explorer from Song and Silence and he spent all his skills on craft (mapmaking), languages, decipher script, and other things that would help him survive in both city and outdoor settings, like Intuit Direction, Wilderness Lore, Diplomacy, and some Knowledges.

Once we bought the Swashbuckling Adventures book, he dropped Rogue levels and use their Explorer class. (I think it was called Explorer).

The guy worked out really well until his powder horn got his with a scorching ray.

[Zaq]

I had a player once that just happened to be a rogue, but this was only because there was no other chassis for what he wanted to be. This was a Ravenloft 3.0 game, and he wanted to be a non-magical cartographer and linguist. So he used Rogue as the base to enter the Royal Explorer from Song and Silence and he spent all his skills on craft (mapmaking), languages, decipher script, and other things that would help him survive in both city and outdoor settings, like Intuit Direction, Wilderness Lore, Diplomacy, and some Knowledges.

Once we bought the Swashbuckling Adventures book, he dropped Rogue levels and use their Explorer class. (I think it was called Explorer).

The guy worked out really well until his powder horn got his with a scorching ray.

Huh. Never seen that Royal Explorer before. I almost feel like it would be an interesting Iron Chef ingredient, though you'd have to do some fudging about the prereqs. (Either Intuit Direction or Wilderness Lore would be easy to turn into Survival, but it requires both, so that's a little weird.)

[NecessaryWeevil]

If the only requirement is "be able to deal with locks and traps," you don't need to be a rogue at all. You could be a caster who knows Detect Traps and Knock, for example, or a summoner who gets minions to deal with them. Or...dozens of other options I'm probably unaware of. But many of them don't require a Rogue at all.