Rogue/Paladin Holy Assassin Multiclass needs critiquing (updated)

[Vemynal]

Completely changed the OP to this based off advice from this thread:

Feral Tiefling: Str 13 / Dex 14+2 / Con 14 / Int 9+1 / Wis 8 / Cha 14.
Darkvision, Fire Resistance, Darkness @ 5th level.

Background: Criminal/Spy. Thieves’ tools, 15g. Criminal Network.

1. Paladin 1. Wis & Cha saves. Skills: Insight, Religion, Deception, Stealth. Divine Sense, Lay on Hands
2. Paladin 2. Dueling Style, Divine Smite, two 1st level spell slots
3. Rogue 1. Perception Skill, Sneak attack 1d6, Expertise (Stealth, Deception), Thieves cant.
4. Rogue 2. Cunning Action
5. Rogue 3. Assassinate, Sneak Attack 2d6
6. Rogue 4. ASI
7. Paladin 3. Divine Health, +one 1st level spell slot, Channel Divinity: Abjure & Vow
8. Paladin 4. ASI
9. Paladin 5. Extra Attack; +one 1st level slot, +two 2nd level slots
10. Rogue 5. Uncanny Dodge, Sneak Attack 3d6
11. Rogue 6. Expertise 2: Insight, Religion, Perception, Thieves Tools
12. Rogue 7. Evasion, Sneak Attack 4d6
13. Rogue 8. ASI
14. Paladin 6. Aura of Protection
15. Paladin 7. Relentless Avenger; +one 2nd level slot
16. Paladin 8. ASI
17. Paladin 9. +two 3rd level slots
18. Paladin 10. Aura of Courage
19. Paladin 11. Improved Divine Smite; +one 3rd level slot.
20. Paladin 12. ASI

Here is a rough draft of my ASI assignments. Any suggestions/changes/other ideas?
ASI:
6 – +2 Dex (18) or Alert (great with Assassinate)
8 – +2 Dex (18; 20) or Alert
13 – +2 Dex (20) or Alert
16 – +2 Cha (16), Resilient Con, Mage Slayer, or Magic Initiate (Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Healing Word)
20 – +2 Cha (16, 18), Resilient Con, Mage Slayer, or Magic Initiate

Expertise Question: Is it worth it to use this on Thieves Tools?

*Paladin/Rogue mixed in the first 5 levels to better achieve the feel of the character

[Corran]

I suggest the following:

Start as a human variant paladin, taking resilient con at 1st level. Your starting stats should be 13 str, 16 dex, 14 con, 9 int, 10 wis, 14 cha.

By level 5 you will be paladin2/assassin3. Continue with paladin progression until level 9, so you will be paladin6/assassin3 (for aura of protection, and +7 con saves). Then take 3 levels in fighter (making you paladin6/assassin3/fighter3) for action surge and maneuvres (dont forget to take precise strike). Until level 8, when your extra attack and 2nd level slots kick in you will be left behind, and even then, you will have a real trouble deciding whether to make an off-hand attack or disengage, cause your concentration checks will be at a modest +5 (assuming you go OoV and use hunter's mark, which is obviously the best use of your concentration until you get improved divine smite, then you will change to haste - although watch out for losing that concentration when using haste, it can be a real b****). At level 9 your aura of protection kicks in (+7 con saves) and allows you to stay in melee, using your bonus action for an off-hand attack. Levels 11 and 12 (action surge and maneuvres) will upgrade your assassination attempts by a significant margin, but imo there are several inherent problems to that. Which I explain below.

You see, this build does indeed deal a ridiculous amount of damage during a surprise round, to the point that you can finish off with encounters before they even begin. There are 3 negatives to consider though.

Firstly, if you succeed at surprising your target, and you get to deal all that damage, encounter is practically over. That means that the rest of the players dont get to enjoy encounters if that is going to happen in a regular basis. There is also the danger that the DM might fudge the encounters, although you mentioned sth about AL play, so I wont go into much more detail with this. Bottom line, this build deals so much damage in surprise attacks, to the point that it is best intended for solo campaigns, rather than teamwork and group play.

Secondly, you do an incredible amount of damage when you have the drop on enemies, but since you focus in melee, and you dont have access to any toys other than stealth (like invisibility, or disguise/alter spell, or higher level spells that make the work of an assassin much easier, like etherealness), you will have a hard time engaging enemies (as stealthy characters go, you will have the hardest time). Also, the lack of darkvision is going to be a MAJOR problem.

Thirdly, aside from your assassination prowess, you are not left with much to do during normal encounters. You are not a tank, you are not a dpr (you deal a decent amount of damage if you spend your bonus action for an off hand attack when hunter's mark is on, but that means you have to stay in melee, and you AC, HP, and concentration saves are not the greatest, so there is a lot of risk involved, especially when considering your hp, you can go down very quickly). And you are not a great support either. You also gain ASIs at a very slow rate, and there are not really any feats that can massively boost your build (all the great feats dont work with TWF, which as figthing styles go - I dont mean the +dex to damage of bonus attack, I mean TWF - is the worst (but good for assassination for stacking extra dice on that attack).

Starting as fighter to get con save prof without spending a feat on resilient is something I do not recommend. Even if after that one level you follow the character progression I detailed. You are already left behind, there is no reason to augment that problem.

You also only need 3 levels in fighter, no more. Replace the extra unnecessary fighter levels with more levels in rogue, paladin, or grab some warlock or sorcerer levels (for invisibility and some other goodies).

If your player is dead set on playing this concept though, I would suggest a straightforward OoV paladin build, with perhaps the criminal/spy background for thieves' tools and stealth.


ps: Your bonus action will have a lot of competition, which is not good. Consider a boss fight. You need to use a bonus action for vow of enmity, you need to use a bonus action for hunter's mark, and from the third round you get to use a bonus action for off-hand attack (or disengage). This can be easily handled if you first you first two rounds using a longbow, which is good as it allows you two presumably safe rounds before you go into melee, and you dont want to be in melee against a boss from first round, as you are rather squishy. Against multiple enemies, you have to use your bonus action for hunter's mark, and from second round start using offhand attack (or disengage), and then you have to use bonus action every time you move hunter's mark from a dead enemy to an alive one, thus missing more off-hands attack (remember, your off hand attack is a big deal, since it is what is keeping you relevant, still subpar, but at least relevant).

ps2: As feats go, dual wielder is a trap. DO NOT take it! Even allowing you to draw both your weapons at once is not a gain for you, since in no encounter will you be making an off-hand attack in the first round (you have to hunter' mark or vow of enmity first, as I specify right above). As feats go, resilient is a good feat, and you prefer to take resilient con, rather than resilient wis, since con is more important to you, that is one of the reasons I suggest starting as a paladin (the main reason is not delaying your 5th and 6th paladin level which are extremelly important). Other than resilient, lucky and perhaps mobile (athough you have cunning action which mitigates a bit the need for taking mobile, though mobile still is a good feat). I personally dont like alert, and houserule the silly rule regarding initiative and assassination during the surprise round, but if you play AL, then make sure it is the first feat to take. Dont take dual wielder, dont be tempted to take MAM unless you are tanking (and you should not be tanking with that character). Other than that, raise you dex to 20 asap (with alert if AL, and resilient con, being more urgent than pumping dex).

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With some changes, you can create a heavily multiclassed build, with the following trade.
You get to do less damage on your assassination rounds (still though, a heck lot of damage), but you get to be a lot more useful during normal encounters (you get to be a good skirmisher). I've found that such a change plays a lot better with the rest of the group. The idea is to drop fighter levels completely, and you paladin levels to just 2 (or 3 for the oath, but this is mostly for thematic reasons, not because it offers you sth that great), and take the remaining levels in a combination of warlock/sorcerer (weigthing more on the sorcerer part). Just find a way to justufy how you got the arcane gift, create your backstory (remember, this character starts as a paladin, perhaps even you are level 3 for an oath - roleplaying purposes mostly, I suggest sticking to paladin 2 from a mechanics point of view), and you get to roleplay your holy assassin exactly how you envisioned him in the first place, with the only difference that now you have some arcane powers to play with (you can reflavour them as divine if that is a big issue to you, or I dont know, if Mystra is your patron, or whatever else you can think of - you were in a mission to stop a cult, and something went wrong, you were caught in a blast of arcane energy and you were dropped unconscious or that is all you remember, and from that day onwards, you started demnstarting your arcane gifts, etc, etc).

The real trade is that you let go of your extra attack (though favoured soul origin lets you have it, though you dont depend on it that much), and you use the scag weapon cantrips, which scale with character level.
There are many powerful combinations of spells and abilities in this build, that make for some very nice strategies to employ in battle and give you many different tricks to rely on (you are NOT a one trick pony). But that is another big conversation and this post has already grown too long. Oh, and for assassination rounds, you use quicken cantrip with you bonus action, and twin the cantrip of your main action if it can aply to two targets, and throw higher level smites on top of those attacks. Lower than what you had with the previous build, but you can still pull off all the assassination things you want, without making everyone else in the table watch you win singlehandedly every encounter, or do nothing if you do not surprise an enemy.

ps3: Mage slayer (the feat) does not combine well with TWF. If you want to deal with mages, engulfing them in magical darkness while you have a way to see (warlock 2 or warlock 3 for darkness spell if you dont already have it) will hurt them enough (prevents them from casting most spells that require a save, and gives them disadvantage on spells with attack rolls). You can also use cunning action to hide in the darkness. Alternatively, greater invisibility, plus you can twin it! Also counterspell is the best possible tool for the job. So if you want a mage hunter type holy assassin, I really suggest building sth in the lines of paladin2-3/assassin3/warlock1-3/sorcerer11-14. Anyway, if you are going against mages, you need a good wis save, that means wis save proficiency. And since you also want con save proficiency, that means you have to grab resilient at some point, and as I mentioned previously, resilient con > resilient wis for you.

[CNagy]

By going 3 levels of Rogue early, you're basically going to fulfill the Rogue role in the party until your more martial and smitey natures come online. So I'd bump Fighter 2 down to CL5, because while Action Surge is nice, your primary concern (considering how late you are getting Extra Attack) is to get Rogue 3 as early as possible (while keeping Fighter 1 for proficiencies/saves/etc.)

[Jeebs]

I know Stealth and Surprise are important to the build, but have you considered leaving DEX at 14 and using Medium Armor? You could pump up STR, use Thrown and Finesse weapons, and get by with Proficiency and Expertise in Stealth and Perception.

Maybe take the feat that bumps up your Passive Perception. 13 STR for multi classing just seems like a waste otherwise.

[Vemynal]

Ok so I'm going to completely scrap everything above due to these notes:
-Not having dark vision is a major hinder
-Previous build is really only good for surprise rounds / solo play
-If V. Human take Resilient Con at first level
-Lack of invisibility/Disguise & Alter Self/Etherealness make an Assassins work hard
-Vengeance Paladin with Criminal/Spy background
-Dual Wielding is a trap both fighting style and feat
-Resilient Con rather than Fighter

We're going to completely revamp what we're going to do with this character and start over in a couple days while keeping these notes in mind. Likely the remade version will be a rogue/paladin MC. No Fighter.

Further questions:
1. Is taking V. Human for Resilient Con at level 1 better than taking a race with Darkvision? So far I'm looking at Half-Elf, Tiefling (Cha +2, Int +1), Feral Tiefling (Dex +2, Int +1), and V. Human.

2. Would it be better to start as a Criminal/Spy Paladin2/Rogue3 or as an Acolyte Rogue3/Paladin 2? (those just the first 5 levels. No clue what I would take for level 6 yet)

3. Does an end build of Assassin Rogue 8/Vengeance Paladin12 sound good?

[Jeebs]

You don't need Resilient CON if you can get your CHA high enough to boost your saves with the level 6 Paladin ability.

Maybe not doable with your need for decent STR, DEX, CON, and CHA. I think CHA needs to be at least 13 to MC in or out of Paladin.

[Vemynal]

I completely changed the OP based on advice from the above posts.

If a character has a Wisdom of 8 and takes Magic Initiate (Cleric) for Guidance, Thaumaturgy, and Healing Word is he restricted from casting Healing Word? Or the Cantrips?

I can't find anything in the PHB addressing this (only Spell DC and Spell Attack Bonus).

Side question: the "1d4+Wis Mod" for Healing Word. Does that mean the character has a chance to heal for "0"?

[Arkhios]

At level 9 your aura of courage kicks in (+7 con saves)

Pst... That's Aura of Protection, Aura of Courage is at paladin 10. And sorry, just had to correct this one, as the paladin is my all-time favorite class, regardless of edition, and seeing the names' faulty use felt so wrong...


I completely changed the OP based on advice from the above posts.

If a character has a Wisdom of 8 and takes Magic Initiate (Cleric) for Guidance, Thaumaturgy, and Healing Word is he restricted from casting Healing Word? Or the Cantrips?

I can't find anything in the PHB addressing this (only Spell DC and Spell Attack Bonus).

Side question: the "1d4+Wis Mod" for Healing Word. Does that mean the character has a chance to heal for "0"?

Yes, you'd risk a chance to heal for "0". If nothing in the rules says otherwise, then the wording of original source is as accurate as it gets. Until someone official says otherwise. (Note: a DM of your group is second only to being official, and might rule otherwise).
If you can live without getting thaumaturgy, you could always take magic initiate (bard) and get Guidance, 1 other bard cantrip and Healing Word with charisma as a 1st level spell once per long rest.

My suggestion for the second bard cantrip is as good as anyone elses. I would suggest taking Vicious Mockery: A cheap "taunt" that'll leave the target startled for a short while and deals scaling d4 psychic damage which is one of the types that's rarely resisted. At least to my experience. Or you could take prestidigitation, possibly the coolest cantrip ever. As a tiefling you could use it (for example) snuff out light from candles, torches or a small campfire and approach your prey in the dark, as you'd probably prefer.

[Vemynal]

I'm looking at the phb bard spell list and Guidance isn't on it =/

[Arkhios]

I'm looking at the phb bard spell list and Guidance isn't on it =/

Huh.. you know what, my bad, must've been tired when I looked it up myself. Although, I don't see why would it be so great cantrip anyway. Requires 1 action, a concentration, and lasts up to 1 minute, so you can have only one target at a time, it doesn't scale with only 1d4 to one ability check within duration... In fact, I think that even with a saving throw dependancy Vicious Mockery is better cantrip than Guidance. A scaling d4 psychic damage and a disadvantage on attack rolls for the target, and you can spam insults all day long and even leave painful mark with it.

A case in point, it's not even close to pathfinder's guidance (I've played it for too long to have grown accustomed to and getting bored of players abusing guidance all the frikkin time, and couldn't help but wonder if that was the driving need to have the cantrip)

PS. If healing word isn't necessary, I'd suggest looking at sorcerer or warlock spell lists, and looking for Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade cantrips from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Dropping Dual Wielding, either one of those could be a great boost to damage, especially with in tandem with divine smite.

[djreynolds]

I like the build. I see a cloaked figure gaining entry into a castle and stabbing the evil king. And heading off to the next castle, with two bloody short swords.

But he will take forever to come together. Can you wait that long?

Either way you are stuck with a 13 in strength or 13 in dexterity, no big deal, and leave one of them there

Now I like the assassin, but how useful will that assassinate ability be to you. How often will you campaign in these assassin setting types? And after level 3, how much rogue do you really need after you got that auto-critical? Is the 4d6 sneak attack even worth it?

Vengeance paladin has a good assortment of spells, such as hold-person, that if you pull off and they fail, will grant auto-crits. He also has dimension door and misty step and haste, but this will take investment in paladin of at least 13 levels and you want that big 5d8 smite.

Mr Corran's suggestion that you use assassin 3/ battlemaster 3 as a base, is actually very good and if you select fighter first you have con saves and precision, but this will take a long time to come online as well, but you will get to 14 paladin.

But if you take my suggestion about just how powerful the auto-critical of hold person is, a sorcerer could give you magical means of stealth as well and the coveted con save. And a cheap dip of rogue or 3 levels of bard could give expertise.

But I like the concept, and if you want a more martial type, than Mr Corran's suggestion is where I would go. And take Half-elf and go fighter first to get con saves, coupled with your charisma level 6 paladin your fine for most concentration checks and plenty of skills.

[Corran]

I second the sorcerer progression.

You want a holy assassin? Easy! Paladin2/Rogue3. Done! You need nothing more from either of these classes. Or to be more precise, you can do so much better by taking levels as a sorcerer from then on! And all that while remaining a martial kind of guy (you still get to slit throats with your blade).

Forget about the extra attack you would have got from paladin 5, at 8th level. You get it too late, and since you are not a GWM/SS (and improved divine smite is substancially delayed - lvl 19 from what I see in the op), I say skip it entirely. You have something that is as if it was designed specifically for you. Cantrips. More specifically, the scag cantrips Booming Blade and Greenflame Blade. Why are these cantrips better than extra attack for you? Simple. They automatically power up at levels 5, 11, 17, regardless of your class progression, so your multiclassed build's damage output increases better and more smoothly. And they do so by allowing you to add more dice (d8's, which also get doubled on crits). They also allow you to stack smites and sneak attacks on top of what damage they already do, since they involve making an actual weapon attack. And since you already have cunning action, you can always try to force BB's secondary effect every round (BB + cunning action disengage + move away is fun, especially if you twin BB).

Extra attack would allow you to use a bonus action for an off hand attack, but that wont work well with your build in the op, and here is why: copy paste from my first post : Your bonus action will have a lot of competition, which is not good. Consider a boss fight. You need to use a bonus action for vow of enmity, you need to use a bonus action for hunter's mark, and from the third round you get to use a bonus action for off-hand attack (or disengage). This can be easily handled if you first you first two rounds using a longbow, which is good as it allows you two presumably safe rounds before you go into melee, and you dont want to be in melee against a boss from first round, as you are rather squishy. Against multiple enemies, you have to use your bonus action for hunter's mark, and from second round start using offhand attack (or disengage), and then you have to use bonus action every time you move hunter's mark from a dead enemy to an alive one, thus missing more off-hands attack (remember, your off hand attack is a big deal, since it is what is keeping you relevant, still subpar, but at least relevant).

So, forget about extra attack, and start spamming BB while disengaging as a bonus action and move away from whatever it was that you hit with BB (twin it at the cost of 1 sorcery point as often as you can, as this is one of the best ways to spend your sorcery points). Or alternaively, use GFB if enemies are stuck together and you want to save your sorcery points for something else (eg, for surprise rounds). And grab a shield to boost your AC. Also, from paladin 2, figthing style, choose defense instead of dueling.

As for surprise rounds, instead of extra attack and off hand attack, you quicken (metamagic option from sorcerer 3) one of your cantrips as a bonus action, and spam another cantrip with your action against the surprised target. And stack sneak attack (2d6x2) and smites as appropriate. Still a heck lot of damage, which get better as you increase in level and your cantrips power up. Also, if 2 unsuspected enemies are close enough to each other (10ft from each other), you can even twin the cantrip you cast with your main action during the surprise round (BB), for 2 separate attacks (both of which get the extra d8's from the cantrip) and hence you can stack another smite. Your surprse rounds are not only as good as before, but now you have more flexibility too.

Aim for paladin2/rogue3/sorcerer7. Your cantrip damage will carry you throughout your whole adventuring career (meaning that you dont have to wait for your build to get online, it is online and it just gets better as you level up), and once you start getting sorcerer levels (full caster progression), your spells and spell slots will give you the extra edge you need. I recommend the following spell selection from the sorcerer (at sorcerer level 7): shield, invisibility, misty step, mirror image (or blur, though blur requires concentration and your con saves are not great if you start as a paladin - if you dont start as a paladin you dont get wis saves which are also very important saves), hold person, counterspell, greater invisibility, dimension door.

Invisibility. Lasts for one hour. Dont be afraid to use it (even if you have to upcast it to bring friends with you). Easy surprise rounds!!! Oh, and happy scouting...! ps: expertise in stealth.

Greater invisibility + cunning action hide + move freely without provoking AoO because you are unseen will be your best use for concentration and your best combat strategy, unless your enemies have any special senses (typically bosses types of enemies have such powers, eg dragons have truesight). Misty step (for anti-grappling) and counterspell will be your best defenses, while you attack everything with advantage and are practically untargetable. Which reminds me. Definitely expertise in stealth.

Quicken hold person as bonus action (cast at a higher slot to target more enemies - especially if some of them are close to one another so you can autocrit with twinned cantrip and double smite) and autocrit madness means bringing your assassination online when you wish for. Plus your martial buddies will thank you, and it is also good CC.

Shield is one of the best reactions. You get it from sorcerer level 1 (sooner than uncanny), and makes up for missing on uncanny dodge by staying put at rogue 3.

Dimension door for easy way in, easy way out.

Counterspell for going against spellcasters, among other things, as you mentioned somewhere in your posts. No witch hunter should miss on counterspell. Nuff said.

Misty step for ensuring mobility when terain is tricky, or when someone is grappling you. Which reminds me. Get athletics or acrobatics training, you must have at least one of those skills (if not expertise as well).

And mirror image for some extra survivability when you need it. Remember, you are not a tank, you actively try to avoid being targeted (BB + cunning action disengage + move away), so mirror image wont burn out too quickly. Blur is better for tanks who lack better concentration options. You are no tank, and you have better concentration options (hold person, greater invisibility). If you wanted a tank, you should be a single class paladin. Self buffs like mirror image and armor of agathys, work well with quickened spell metamagic option.

You also have numerous slots to burn for smiting, and you get these slots a lot sooner than you would with the progression of a paly/rogue, as shown in the op.

Something about your spell slots. Paladin2/sorcererX, means that every second level you will have some spell slots for which you have no known spells (eg, when you are paladin2/sorcerer4, you will have 2 3rd level spell slots, but you will not know any third level spells). That is not a bad thing. You can use these slots to smite, or upcast any spell you know as a sorcerer or that is a 1st level paladin spell (such as cure wounds). A good use for these slots would typically be spells that add targets when they are cast with a hight level slot, such as hold person or banishment. And that works well with your build, as I described above what you can do with a quickened upcast hold person. And as I also said, you can also smite with those slots (and we all know that smiting = fun!).
Edit: This is the reason I like to add at least one warlock level to this build. For armor of agathys. I like the idea of upcasting this spell with my higher level spell slot (at no expense to my spellcasting since I have no known spell for that slot anyway), as armor of agathys increases my survivability dramatically and makes me a very unattractive target as well (and it can increase my dpr if I get hit by a melee attack).

After paladin2/rogue3/sorcerer7, I personally like to add a couple of warlock levels (mainly for armor of agathys - a fantatic spell to cast with my highest level spell slots) and a couple of other tricks (darkness + devil's sight, at will disguise self, pact of the blade for summoning my blade at will), but that is just personal taste. Perhaps the best thing to do, would be to just continue with your sorcerer progression. More spells known, more spell slots, more sorcery points, all of it much desirable. Dont be afraid to continue in sorcerer, even if your charisma is only 14. There are tons of very good spells that dont rely on your charisma, and that work well with your build (a melee skirmisher with defensive/utility/a-bit-of-control magic juice, and amazing surprise rounds), disguise or alter self complement well your social stealth (notice how you can abuse the cantrip friends with one of these spells), spider climb is good utility, feather fall is meh until you need it (and then it is too late), blink is not bad (I prefer mirror image), the list goes on..... fly, haste (twin / though avoid cause you are in melee and losing concentration, especially if you twin it, can even lead to a TPK), polymorph, animate objects, etherealness, and on and on it goes. Even spells like fireball and disintegrate can work for you, despite having a mediocre charisma. But my point is, there are enough spells that dont rely on your charisma score (even in higher levels, eg, reverse gravity), so dont be afraid to advance a lot in sorcerer even if your charisma is and stays at 14.

As for race, unless you take 2 warlock levels for devil's sight, or unless you arrange with the DM to start with or find relatively soon night goggles (item granting you darkvision), then starting with a race that grants you darkvision is mandatory!

As for stats, str13 (5 points spent), dex 16 (with racial bonuses), wis should not be lower than 10, int 8 (+add any spare points / this is your dump stat), cha must be at least 13 but try to have at least 14 at it, con will probably be 12 or 14 (13 if you plan to take resilient con at some point).
Examples:
If halfelf (+2 cha, +1 dex, +1 con), we have str 13, dex 16, con 13, int 8, wis 10, cha 16 (and you will take resilient at some point to raise con to 14).
If feral tiefling (+2 dex, +1 int), we have str 13, dex 16, con 13, int 10, wis 10, cha 14 (and you will take resilient at some point to raise con to 14).
If drow (+2 dex, +1 cha), we have str 13, dex 16, con 12, int 8, wis 10, cha 16 (and you wont take resilient).

Since you will be paladin 2 /rogue 3 /sorcerer X (/unknown Y), you will only have access to 3 ASIs/feats. If you think resilient(con) will be one of them, then go with halfelf or feral tiefling. If you dont think you will take resilient, then go with drow. Personally, I dont think resilient(con) makes it to the list, especially since alert is necessary for surprise rounds. So I would go with drow under these conditions. But.... there is something to be said about sunlight sensitivity, about how NPCs view drows, and first and formost about if you actually like roleplaying the race. Anyway, if any of these is an issue, I suggest you go with halfelf or tiefling. Halfelves also get two extra skills, that is important to you, as your high dex, high cha, expertise build can make use of many many skills. Halfelves are also a bit less controversial and safer choice compared to drows and tieflings.
(I tried to make a case for each one of these races, the differences in optimization are minor, so I strongly suggest to pick the one you want to play more!)

IMPORTANT: You will get ASIs/feats at levels 9, and possibly at levels 13 and 17. So you will probably get only 3 of them, and get them relatively late. That is the price you pay for multiclassing the way I suggested, but imo it is worth it, and you should not be discouraged by this. Your build makes up for the delayed and fewer ASIs! Remember, you are playing with bounded accuracy.
ASIs/feats: If the DM insists on the initiative-surprise ruling, take alert at level 9. In any other case, do not take alert. Dexterity governs most of what you do, so spend at least 1 ASI on it, to pump it to 18, maybe spend a second as well to max it at 20, though there is enough competition from Alert (if dm obeys the ruling), lucky (seriously, a great feat), resilient (if you have an odd con score). Dont spend an ASI on charisma. (alert/ +2dex/ +2dex, or alert/ +2dex/ lucky, or +2dex/ +2dex/ lucky, or +2dex/ resilient con/ lucky, or etc etc).

ps: Aura of protection is the real loss of not going strictly paladin/rogue (although there are many benefits in not doing so). But if you were stack with a paladin/rogue build, your cha would be stuck at 14-16 most likely, so you wouldnt be making the best use of aura of protection anyway (you would use it worse than a single class paladin). Saying this for consolation. The reality is that the rogue/paladin wouldnt stand around enough (conscious) to benefit his allies with the aura's bonus.


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Example build
Halfelf: STR 13, DEX 15+1 = 16, CON 12+1 = 13, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 14+2 = 16.
Darkvision, Fey ancestry, proficiency in 2 skills (any skills)

Background: Criminal (spy). Thieve's tools. 15 gp. Criminal contact. Stealth, deception.

1. Paladin 1. Good starting hp and proficiencies. Divine sense and lay on hands (5hp).
2. Rogue 1. Sneak attack (1d6), thieves' cant, expertise (stealth and 1 more skill).
3. Rogue 2. Cunning action.
4. Sorcerer 1. Cantrips (BB, GFB, etc...). 1st level spells. Sorcerous origin. Learn shield.
5. Rogue 3. Assassinate. Sneak attack (2d6). Diguise and poisoner's kits proficiency.
6. Paladin 2. 1st level paladin spells. Defense fighting style (+1AC). Divine smite. Lay on hands maxes out (10hp).
7. Sorcerer 2. Sorcery points (they increase as I gain sorcerer levels). 2nd level spell slots.
8. Sorcerer3. Metamagic (quickened and twinned). 2nd level spells. Learn invisibility, hold person and other spells.
9. Sorcerer 4. ASI/feat (take alert if dm uses initiative ruling, else take +2 dex). 3rd level spell slots
10. Sorcerer 5. 3rd level spells. Learn counterspell and other spells.
11. Sorcerer 6. Sorcerous origin feature. 4th level spell slots. Smites max out.
12. Sorcerer 7. 4th level spells. Learn greater invisibility and other spells.
13. Sorcerer 8. ASI/feat (take +2dex or resilient con). 5th level spell slots.
14. Warlock 1. Learn armor of agathys and cast it with your highest level slots. Gain one 1st level slot that recharges on short rests.
15. Sorcerer 9. 5th level spells.
16. Sorcerer 10. Metamagic (Subtle pairs well with surprise rounds, and it is good against spellcasters too - counter-counterspelling).
17. Sorcerer 11. 6th level spells.
18. Sorcerer 12. ASI/feat (take +2 dex / lucky). 7th level spell slot.
19. Sorcerer 13. 7th level spells.
20. Sorcerer 14. Sorcerous origin features (some include gaining wings!). One 8th level spell slot (best used with armor of agathys).

skills: stealth (expertise), deception (expertise?), persuasion/intimidation, insight/athletics, perception, acrobatics, sleight of hand.
tools: one gaming set, thieves' tools, disguise kit, poisoner's kit, 1 extra tool proficiency (eg alchemist's tools).

*Haven't looked into much detail for the different sorcerous origins, but any would be a good fit. For example, dragon sorcerer increases your hp, your AC (once you pump your dex to 18 or higher), gives you one energy type resistance, and possibly increases the damage of 1 of GFB or BB. Also, wings!

**If you are sure you wont take resilient con (even very late in the game), then use one of the +1 from the halfelf for strength instead of constitution, thus giving you a strength score of 14 and a constitution score of 12, to start with. You do that for a +1 to athletics and str saves, and for a slightly better carrying capacity. Though I suggest to think twice about picking resilient con at some point if you went with halfelf.