Mastermind Rogues, Int, & Not Sucking

[Townopolis]

When I finally bought a copy of SCAG, the Mastermind rogue scheme caught my eye. I read it over and was initially pleased. But, as I continued to think about it and try to build some masterminds, I came to realize that it's just not very good, and it's not very good for a variety of reasons. Prime among these being that it doesn't support being a mastermind all that well. It seems like the design tries to reconcile leading a life of intrigue with your typical touring campaign, but it does so in a way that neither fits nor works. Instead, you get a rogue that works well as a spy and charlatan, but not as a mastermind--which is more about coming up with schemes and organizing your crew than being able to pass yourself off as a native. Looking around at some of the rogue guides, I see that I'm not the only one who thinks Mastermind is a bad rogue scheme.

So I'm setting out to design a better Mastermind, and while I'm at it, I'm going to try to address another gripe I have--that Arcane Tricksters are the only rogue who gives two jots about Intelligence. So here we go.

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Level 3
The Plan
Beginning at level 3, your constant planning and scheming has given you a contingency for almost every occasion. As a bonus action, you can initiate The Plan. Once initiated, The Plan remains active for a number of rounds equal to your Intelligence Modifier. While The Plan is active, you and up to five other creatures of your choice may reroll one attack roll or ability check per round.

Once you use this ability, you must complete a long rest before you can use it again.

Master of Tactics
As-is.

Level 9
Insightful Manipulator
Starting at level 9, you are so well-versed in people and their motivations that you can ferret out information without anyone else realizing it. When you succeed on a Charisma check against a creature, you may attempt an Intelligence (Investigation) check against the same DC or opposed roll. If you succeed, you are able to discern some useful truth from the creature's words or actions. This takes the form of a single question, which you learn the answer to. If the creature in question does not know the answer, you learn that or what the creature thinks the answer is. In all cases, the creature doesn't know it has revealed any information

Once you use this ability on a particular creature, you cannot use it again on that creature for 24 hours.

Level 13
Precise Teamwork
When you and your allies work together, you move as if of a single mind. Starting at level 13, whenever an ally you can see makes an attack roll with advantage and hits, you may spend your reaction to add your sneak attack dice to the damage dealt to a single target by that attack. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. When you complete a long or short rest, you recover any expended uses of this ability.

Level 17
Soul of Deceit
As-is.

Level 3
The Plan
You are constantly scheming and planning, and your allies know the benefit of listening to your designs. Starting at level 3, whenever you finish a short or long rest, roll a number of d4s equal to your Intelligence modifier, and record the results. You may then distribute these results among your allies. Each result can only belong to one creature. Any results you do not distribute remain yours.

Whenever a creature makes an ability check or attack roll, after seeing the roll but before knowing if it succeeded or failed, they may choose to add one of their results to the roll. Adding a result to a roll consumes that result. Alternately, if a creature uses an ability or spell that requires its target to make a saving throw, that creature may subtract one of its results from one target's save. Using a result in this way also consumes the result.

When you take a short or long rest, any unused results are lost.

Master of Tactics
As-is.

Level 9
Connected
Years of intrigue and conspiracy have given you an uncanny knack for establishing new contacts wherever you go. Starting at level 9, you can establish a small number of contacts in any settlement you visit. This takes 8 hours, during which you must be able to move freely throughout the settlement. When you are done, you have a number of new contacts equal to your Intelligence modifier. Each contact may be a merchant, soldier, servant, criminal, or sage. At the DM's discretion, you may also be able to establish contacts of additional types. Each contact gives you advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks to gather information related to their position. Merchants keep track of trading agreements, road safety, and local wealth. Soldiers know about military activities and troop dispositions. Servants have information on the nobles and their intrigue. Criminals understand the law, how best to avoid it locally, and who's who in the underworld. Sages are great repositories of arcane, religious, occult, and natural lore.

At the DM's discretion, your contacts may also give you advantage on Charisma checks made to influence NPCs who know and respect your contact.

You may also choose to spend one of your contacts to have them perform a favor for you. A soldier might be able to get your released from prison, a servant might leave a door unlocked, or a merchant might be able to acquire some rare item or material for you. Calling in this favor ends your relationship with this contact until you spend another 8 hours refreshing your contacts.

When returning to a settlement you had contacts in previously, you must still spend 8 hours establishing contacts. When you do, you may reconnect with your previous contacts or establish whole new ones.

Level 13
Precise Teamwork
When you and your allies work together, you move as if of a single mind. Starting at level 13, whenever an ally you can see makes an attack roll with advantage and hits, you may spend your reaction to add your sneak attack dice to the damage dealt to a single target by that attack.

Level 17
Soul of Deceit
As-is.

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What do you think? Overpowered? Badly-worded? Doesn't fix the real problem? Or is Mastermind just fine the way it's written, and what I've got here is a solution in search of a problem? What would you change, if anything, about the scheme?

[Specter]

Level 13 ability is ridonkulously over-powered. 2 rogues can wipe out an entire party with it, not even mentioning paladins and barbarians who would make their damage even higher.

[Biggstick]

Mastermind is more of a support type Rogue. If you read the description in SCAG about Mastermind, it actually does talk about how the Mastermind Rogue is more about slipping into social circles, or past them. Without knowing what they actually want the Mastermind to do, I'd assume it's to act/sit in the back ground manipulating everything going on, which all of the features given in the archetype imo supports.

Your interpretation of Mastermind feels more like the cunning strategist who doesn't really need to slip into the social circles and instead out-thinks them. That's a fine interpretation, but it doesn't feel like the design intentions of the developers.

Now, to actually being constructive in helping you build this.

Level 3: Your level 3 choice for some reason just doesn't feel right. It feels too much like it's stealing Bardic Inspiration, even if it is based off of a non primary stat. I don't really have a great suggestion in place of this one, and I think keeping Master of Tactics is right on.

Level 13: This is broken. If you limited this in some way like giving it a number of uses based off the Int or Dex modifier, it would feel more balanced. Allowing it to refresh charges on a short rest would stay in line with your initial level 3 choice.

Level 9: I'm not a fan of this either. This feels like the Criminal Contacts portion of the Criminal background with a tiny re-skin. The favors granted could just as easily be done by the Criminal Contacts. I do have a suggestion for this level though.


Your experience and intellect enable you to create prescient plans and contingencies.

Benefit(s): You can prepare for future contingencies without defining what those preparations are until they are relevant. As a part of this preparation, while in a settlement for at least 24 hours, you can take 8 hours and spend up to 50 gp per character level, which becomes your brilliant plan fund. While you have a brilliant plan pending, you are always treated as carrying 20 additional pounds of weight, even before you define your brilliant plan.

Once per day, you can take 10 minutes to enact a brilliant plan, withdrawing an item that would have been available in a settlement you visited or procuring a mundane service that your character planned ahead of time. Once you enact the plan, subtract the price of the item or service from this feat's fund. Any item procured must weigh 10 pounds or less. Likewise, the GM must approve any non-magical service you gain by using this feat as being appropriate for the location selected.

Once you have spent all the money in your brilliant plan fund or procured 20 pounds of objects with this feat, you cannot use the feat again until you replenish your brilliant plan fund.


I'll admit this is stolen from what another player talked about at a game a couple nights ago. He also plays Pathfinder and talked about a feat he was able to pick-up. This feat allowed him to purchase a spell component that was desperately needed for their current situation. The limiting factor would be the gold cost of whatever you're attempting to bring into the situation, but this could be worked out with a DM to be changed to whatever value the DM/Player feel is appropriate.

I do like what you're trying to do to increase the value of Mastermind, and definitely think whatever ends up being the design of the class, Int should play a decent part of it.

[R.Shackleford]

The mastermind is one of the best canidates for the Strength based not-fighter fighter.

Vhuman moderately armored and then shield master and then expertise (athletics + 1 other) and you are an absolute beast.

[Biggstick]

The mastermind is one of the best canidates for the Strength based not-fighter fighter.

Vhuman moderately armored and then shield master and then expertise (athletics + 1 other) and you are an absolute beast.

Mastermind already has a decent use of the bonus action though. I guess it's nice in providing another option for the bonus action. You don't actually need any points into Strength though with Expertise and can just utilize the expertise bonus.

[R.Shackleford]

Mastermind already has a decent use of the bonus action though. I guess it's nice in providing another option for the bonus action. You don't actually need any points into Strength though with Expertise and can just utilize the expertise bonus.

Help action is nice, however if you want to slow down a creature nothing is better than halving their movement. Expertise in athletics means the target is going down.

It isn't always about damage. If you and your party members don't have means of damaging a creature then running away is a great option.

[Townopolis]

Okay, Precision Teamwork (level 13) is now limited to Int Mod uses/short rest. You're all right about that; I wasn't thinking about how much better it would be than every other way to get reaction sneak attacks.

The Plan (level 3) is pretty much just a (theoretically) weaker Bardic Inspiration, but also altered to promote discussions when used. If it's too similar a mechanic, I'll get to work on something more distinct.

I'll look into Connected (level 9) being too close to the Criminal's contact as well. I'm not sold on the brilliant plan, though, it seems like it would beget too much bookkeeping. Whatever happens, It should be a social/exploration ability, and I'm leaning heavily toward something for the social pillar.

And yeah, the flavor text in SCAG does seem to describe a social manipulator rather than a strategist, and this is backed up by Master of Intrigue and Insightful Manipulator especially (although the former's only unique feature reads like a halfway point between the Actor feat and the Assassin's level 9, while the latter is a worse version of the Battlemaster's level 7). I suppose this all began because I saw the title "mastermind" and thought "Tyrion" when the designers were making Littlefinger.

[X3r4ph]

Personally I love the original level 3 ability of the Mastermind. Running around in combat directing work flow like a BAWS is awesome.

I like the idea about setting up A Brilliant Plan before combat. Make it work like a ritual that give all listeners (int mod targets) advantage on everything on the first round of combat.

Unarmored Defense (int to AC) is always a good way to promote the use of int.

Also, less is more. Remember to make your design concise. It's the 5e way.

Just some ideas :)

[Grod_The_Giant]

I like the idea about setting up A Brilliant Plan before combat. Make it work like a ritual that give all listeners (int mod targets) advantage on everything on the first round of combat.
I like retroactive abilities for stuff like that. Like, so many times per interval, you can use your reaction to declare that you set a trap, or bought an item, or some such nonsense.


The mastermind is one of the best canidates for the Strength based not-fighter fighter.

Vhuman moderately armored and then shield master and then expertise (athletics + 1 other) and you are an absolute beast.
Why Mastermind as opposed to, oh, literally any other Rogue? I'd think Swashbuckler for easier sneak attack triggering.

[R.Shackleford]

Why Mastermind as opposed to, oh, literally any other Rogue? I'd think Swashbuckler for easier sneak attack triggering.

The bonus action help can be refluffed and mechanically work as so many things.

Got a shield and want to play Captain America? Help Action (30') throw your shield, it bounces back to you, enemy is "stunned" (basic English not D&D english) and next attack has advantage.

Want to play a Warlord? Bonus Action "you can do itttttt". Much better than Bardic inspiration for the most part. Mastermind doesn't run out of "you can do itttt" and the bonus can help you crit (plus now the bard can use their inspiration for better things like cutting words).

Want to take a "called shot" and play Hawkeye or Bullseye? Bonus Action Help within 30', I throw my spoon at the Orc to hit him in between the eyes.

Mechanically the Bonus Action Help can be used to make so many things a mechanical reality. This stops the DM from having to make stuff up on the spot and as long as you keep with this mechanic the fluff of how you use it shouldn't matter.

Hell, you could fluff it as a Psionic attack and make a Psionic warrior.

[Townopolis]

I'm leaning toward a reactive ability for The Plan myself. I was initially keen on it mirroring an actual planning process. Now, though, I'm thinking a reactive ability would be better because it supports people who may not be good at planning ahead but want to play a character with Batman-level foresight.

The Plan
Your constant planning and scheming has given you a contingency for almost every occasion. As a bonus action, you can initiate The Plan. Once initiated, The Plan remains active for a number of rounds equal to your Intelligence Modifier. While The Plan is active, you and up to five other creatures of your choice may reroll one attack roll or ability check per round.

Once you use this ability, you must complete a long rest before you can use it again.
That seems like a fairly powerful ability to me. I'm not sure it would be appropriate for level 3. It might need to wait for level 9 or 13 (pushing Precise Teamwork to level 17 and ousting Soul of Deceit).

As for Connected, while it may or may not overlap with the Criminal feature, it's still clunky. Here's my first idea for something simpler.


Beguile or Master of Intrigue or Insightful Manipulator
When you succeed on a Charisma check against a creature, you may attempt an Intelligence (Investigation) check against the same DC or opposed roll. If you succeed, you are able to discern some useful truth from the creature's words or actions. This takes the form of a single question, which you learn the answer to. If the creature in question does not know the answer, you learn that or what the creature thinks the answer is. In all cases, the creature doesn't know it has revealed any information

Once you use this ability on a particular creature, you cannot use it again on that creature for 24 hours.
I'm also not sure whether this is worth a level 9 ability. Social abilities are hard to quantify because they can vary so wildly in how useful they are campaign-to-campaign. I might put this at level 3 and put the revised The Plan or a different social power at level 9

[Grod_The_Giant]

The bonus action help can be refluffed and mechanically work as so many things.
Wait. I thought you couldn't use Help on yourself?

[R.Shackleford]

Wait. I thought you couldn't use Help on yourself?

Never said you was using it on yourself, you can use (Help) against a creature within 30'.

You fluff your help action as hitting someone with a spoon, throwing a shield, spitting on their mouth (in sure bullseye could do that), or whatever else. You still do your damage and whatever but you set up an ally with your "help".

Refluffing help can allow for a multitude of character ideas to come to fruition.

[Biggstick]

I'm leaning toward a reactive ability for The Plan myself. I was initially keen on it mirroring an actual planning process. Now, though, I'm thinking a reactive ability would be better because it supports people who may not be good at planning ahead but want to play a character with Batman-level foresight.

That seems like a fairly powerful ability to me. I'm not sure it would be appropriate for level 3. It might need to wait for level 9 or 13 (pushing Precise Teamwork to level 17 and ousting Soul of Deceit).

As for Connected, while it may or may not overlap with the Criminal feature, it's still clunky. Here's my first idea for something simpler.


I'm also not sure whether this is worth a level 9 ability. Social abilities are hard to quantify because they can vary so wildly in how useful they are campaign-to-campaign. I might put this at level 3 and put the revised The Plan or a different social power at level 9

The Plan Doesn't feel like an actual contingency plan the way you're talking about. It sounds more like a straight team fight buff mechanic. And with the power of this ability, it definitely can't be a level 3 ability. It should at the very least be a level 9. I'd argue against this ability being added though if you're keen on keeping the Precise Teamwork ability, as the synergy makes both abilities combined absolutely broken.

Grod pointed it out earlier and you seemed to agree with it a bit. Having an ability to have acquired an item or a service or to have laid out a trap of some sort, is a defining characteristic of a Mastermind. To have thought ahead and planned for such an event in the odd case of it happening.

I also really liked the Unarmored bonus suggested by X3r4ph. Ten + Int mod + Dex mod starting at level 3 would really encourage Masterminds to consider Int as a more important stat, feeding into your desired effect.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Grod pointed it out earlier and you seemed to agree with it a bit. Having an ability to have acquired an item or a service or to have laid out a trap of some sort, is a defining characteristic of a Mastermind. To have thought ahead and planned for such an event in the odd case of it happening.
I did a 3.5 Diviner class that had such an ability:

Always Prepared (Ex): Knowing what the future will hold makes planning a whole lot easier. Beginning at 5th level, a Seer almost always has the right tool for the job somewhere on their person.

At any point, a Seer may spend any amount of gold, adding it to a sort of trust fund. As a move action, he may expend one Foresight Point to spend up to 500 gold per Seer level to purchase a single item, such as a scroll or vial of acid, at its full market price. Items produced in this fashion may be deposited back into the fund— they are lost, but two-thirds of their market price is added to the fund.

This ability only functions if the Seer has access to his own storage space— pockets, backpacks, saddlebags, and so on. The DM may veto rare or otherwise unavailable items, in which case this ability is not considered used— neither action nor Foresight point nor gold is expended.
Of course, that kind of thing is much more useful in 3.5's magic-item-heavy space than 5e. As for traps... Ziegander and I came up with this for a fighter fix:

Problem Solver (Ex): Starting at 17th level, a Fighter may ready contingent actions any time he is able to rest for at least 5 minutes. Contingent actions are like readied actions (PHB 160) except that they remain readied indefinitely and after a contingent action has been taken, the Fighter's initiative count does not change. To ready a contingent action, a fighter must set aside a die from his Talent Pool-- he does not gain that die when the pool refreshes, through the use of his Battle Recover ability, or by any other means until he either takes the readied action or de-readies it, at which point the die is expended, and can be recovered normally. A Fighter can only ready number of contingent actions equal to or less than his key ability modifier.
Which also feeds into the vibe.

[Townopolis]

How about something like

Backup Plan
Beginning at level 3, you can spend 8 hours in any settled area establishing a backup plan. This backup plan then remains available until you use it. As an action, you may use your available backup plan to have one of the following occur

You immediately acquire items with a combined gp value of up to 10 times your level.
Up to three NPCs or beasts, with a combined CR of up to one-third your rogue level (rounded down), arrive and assist you for one encounter, then leave.

When you activate your backup plan, you must pay twice the value of the items acquired or ten times the total CR of the creatures in gp. If you are unable to do so, the backup plan fails; you acquire no items and no creatures arrive, but the plan is still considered used.

At the DM's discretion, the elements of your backup plan may be scattered about the immediate vicinity or already deployed--such as caches of weapons placed around a room for you and your allies, a hunting trap already laid, or allies waiting in ambush for your foes.