Tell me about your Rogues

[Eko]

Story wise, where are they from? Why are they with the party? What do they want? Where are they going?

Mechanics wise, how do they fight? What is their weapon of choice? What are they "experts" in? Besides Dex, what are they rocking?

I've been thinking about re-fluffing the rogue as some kind of ranger, and I'm interested to see what others have come up with.

Edgy knife-in-the-dark assassins that kill for money need not apply!

[Arcangel4774]

Most rogues come from poorer backgrounds, giving a need to their more thriving ways. My favorite I've played, though, was a bored and rich noble, who steals for the fun of it.

[Eko]

Most rogues come from poorer backgrounds, giving a need to their more thriving ways. My favorite I've played, though, was a bored and rich noble, who steals for the fun of it.

Is stealing something a Rogue by class must do? Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly legitimate archetype that I'd play too, but I'm trying to push the bounds here and get away from the "shady thief" kind of Rogue.

[AmbientRaven]

I played a halfling Arcane Trickster Rogue with multiple perosnality disorder

Betty: Primary personality, a sweet halfling who grew up in a group home and now wants to see the world. Doesn't know she has multiple personalities.
Ivana: Combat personality. Likes to stab things dead.
Annabelle: Her thieving side, also her mage hand that she uses to steal stuff with, often stowing it in a pouch.
Wilfred: Her smart side

was fun playing 4 personalities, took the party a fair few sessions to catch on :p

[mephnick]

Is stealing something a Rogue by class must do? Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly legitimate archetype that I'd play too, but I'm trying to push the bounds here and get away from the "shady thief" kind of Rogue.

Nah, none of my rogue NPCs in like..a decade have been actual thieves. Scouts, martial artists, duelists, spies and hunters mainly. Heck, one was a half-orc gladiator.

[MeeposFire]

Most of your questions are the type all players must ask of their own characters.

As for rogues they work great for anybody who wants to play a character that is known for aptitude with skills, fights in such a way that promotes precision over many attacks or other special attack forms.

They make for great treasure hunters (archeologists anyone), duelists (if going swashbuckler), or even non-spellcasting scholars.

You can use them for a lot of concepts.

[WickerNipple]

* This campaign is a 5e adaptation of the Birthright setting *

My rogue is Kamani el Hadid - 5 UA Ranger (Hunter) / 3 Rogue (Swashbuckler)

I am the son of the notorious Essafah el-Hadid, the Guildmaster of Port of Call Exchange. One of the richest and most dangerous men on the continent, my father has an iron grip on the economy of one of the world's greatest cities. My uncles are pirates who ply the same waters we trade, protecting our shipping and sinking the competition.

My childhood was one of wealth and luxury until I was stolen from my bed and taken to our ancestral desert lands. Here I was sold into slavery to a caravan master who barely kept me alive for a year until I was kidnapped again. Each year this kidnapping was repeated and until I grew to expect it. I've lived as a caravan slave, a galley slave, a valet for a lesser noble, an assassin, a spy in the same noble family as before and finally the owner of the original caravan with the original master as my slave. The kidnappers were of course my uncles following dad's orders.

Our family reunion was unpleasant, but I have bowed to my father's authority for now and act as an independent agent indirectly benefiting our house. Along with some other ambitious young nobles (the party) we have managed to destabilize an area already primed for civil war. And we've managed to make ourselves look like goshdarn heroes while doing it.

My current goal is to usurp rulership from the Count of Ilien and combine his holdings with my father's economic empire, forcing dad to retire.

The party is a nebulous thing, as it's Birthright and we all have lieutenants and retainers and little people that often should be the ones sent to stomp on a bunch of goblins.

There are no hand crossbows in BR, so weapon of choice is a Longbow. Melee is a Dagger of Venom. Not the greatest melee weapon, but magic items are incredibly rare in BR so it's an honor to have one at all. The initiative synergy between UA Ranger and Swashbuckler means I always go first, with advantage to attack for sneak. I leverage sneak attack+hunter's mark and then colossus slayer to provide a ton of single target damage before hopefully hiding. I also really like Swashbuckler for an archer as fancy footwork saves you from having to blow your bonus to disengage.

Next level I finally get Sharpshooter and the character becomes fully online.

My most important expertise is I have the bloodline power Animal Affinity: Cats. I can communicate with them and any cat within 60ft of me makes a save or becomes permanently charmed. I walk into town and they flock to me with all their stories and secrets. I'm sure you can think of a million things to do with an army of them.

I'm not sure what your goal is about the refluffing.


Edgy knife-in-the-dark assassins that kill for money need not apply!

Money? Pfft. Power and land and legacy.

[Magic Myrmidon]

My latest rogue is a "mist elf" (reflavored wood elf) thief rogue. Despite the archetype name, he was part of an elite city guard squad that specialized in fighting on docks and rocking ships. Hence the fast climbing, ability to grab and use items (like rigging and such), and the ability to "fade away" (hide) in mist and natural obscurement

[HolyDraconus]

My latest rogue is a "mist elf" (reflavored wood elf) thief rogue. Despite the archetype name, he was part of an elite city guard squad that specialized in fighting on docks and rocking ships. Hence the fast climbing, ability to grab and use items (like rigging and such), and the ability to "fade away" (hide) in mist and natural obscurement

Bugbear trickster from Big Chill. Wants to take things easy, so is mulling with the party for luls

[Markoff Chainey]

In our game, we got 2 rogues now...

Gitti
A shifter (Wolf) that likes to create jewellry out of garbage and stuff she finds. She loves tight and sexy dresses, but lacks the looks for them. Anybody laughing at her will face her claws, though. She is an arcane trickster and a fun and useful addition to the party. Her damage output with mobile, rapier and the shifter attack when sneak attack does not miss is really good.

Hubert
Is the classic half-drow assassin with bad manners and a sharp blade. As the story required him to be a member of the Harpers, I talked the player into a chaotic-neutral alignment and avoided a chaotic-evil guy in the group. His damage output is through the roof (Blade Master, Dex maxed) and that is maybe the reason the rest of the group does not kill him (yet).

Hubert came in as a Paladin of Devotion left the group. The mechanics are really interesting now, because the group relied on the tanking and healing ability of the Paladin and also her detect and identify magic. All that is now gone and they have a much harder time with things they took for granted. When the rogues are in their element (sneak in, kill, sneak out), though, they just stomp over anything.

[Spore]

Ferrin was the archetypical Thief Rogue (Pathfinder but he would probably not be Assassin or AT). He stole an important scroll from the Thieves' guild master and fled to a nearby town. There he had to pawn said scroll to a Gnome who screwed him out of gold. In that small town he met his party. A Paladin, a Fey Bloodline Sorcerer (would be a Feylock or a Lore Bard in 5e) and a wandering Dwarf Cleric/Ranger (prolly just a TWFing homebrew War Cleric in 5e).

They reestablished the desert city's water supply, nearly burned down the town (who builds a trap that releases a Fire Elemental honestly?) and all in all Ferrin was the King of Losers.

I had bad rolls. I had no idea how to build PF characters. I played him as the charismatic rogue ala Han Solo with Cha 10 and NO investment in social skills. Ferrin was mortally wounded nearly every other encounter. Even with Toughness, a very generous Con and a flanking buddy. The enemies just attacked the lightly armored TWFing stabby rogue instead of the armored self-healing Paladin. As they should. And no, my AC wasn't so bad.

Eventually I lost interest in this beloved character because he just sucked. so. much. I hope for the day where I can rebuild him in 5e and finally give this concept justice.

[Renvir]

I took inspiration for my Rogue from the Malazan Book of the Fallen series of novels, specifically the Malazan marines. My Rogue fought for a powerful empire only to see the empire turn its back on him and his fellow soldiers. Now he's just trying to figure out his place in the world. Unfortunately, you never know who is going to take offense at seeing a former soldier of an empire known for its imperialistic tendencies. Travelling with a group of tough adventurers seems to keep most people off of his back.

In keeping with the Malazan theme my Rogue opens most combat from distance with a light crossbow. He spends a good chunk of his money on modified bolts with vials of alchemists fire attached. It cuts the distance by 20 feet (homebrew rule) but sometimes you just need to light things on fire and force them to waste an action to put it out. Otherwise he uses shortswords when he is in melee combat. He's a Vhuman and took Crossbow expert as his feat.

He is an expert in keeping alive in dangerous situations. A healthy does of Con and Wis with expertise in perception and stealth makes him an excellent scout and lookout.

The campaign is ending soon but if I had to do it again I would probably do a level of fighter at 1st level and then Rogue. Access to medium armor, shields, heavy crossbows, and archery fighting style sounds perfect. Maybe next time.

[DarkKnightJin]

The Rogue (or Rouge, as I've seen them being called WAY too much..) I've got planned is going to be a refluffed Goliath. Into a Kodan, aka a humanoid bear. Think 'Werebear', but without the shapeshifting. Or the curse.

I just like the mental image of a literal bear of a guy vanishing into the shadows and doing stuff he probably shouldn't be doing if he wants to be buddies with the Lawful Anal party members.

[smcmike]

Mine's a half-orc sailor, who is splitting barbarian and rogue. Grew up poor, ran away to sea at a young age, got kicked off his ship due to some weird stuff a fortune teller said (sailors are very superstitious).

We roll for stats, and he's got 16s across the physicals, so I play him as an action hero - running around without armor, knocking people over with his shield, stabbing them with his rapier. His rage and his sneak attack share a common fluff, which is that he has a natural affinity for violence, despite never being involved in anything much prior to the campaign. He's a bit upset by this, because he's also just a dumb kid.

[Afrodactyl]

I don't really like 'cloak and dagger, sneaky-stealy' rogues. Most of my rogues end up as thugs and gladiator/put fighter types.

My favourite was my strength based shield master Goliath rogue, who's 'sneak attacks' were just him throwing sand in faces, kidney shots, etc

[Potato_Priest]

My most recent rogue was a failed necromancy student. By lying, cheating, and the application of minor magic tricks (arcane trickster) he managed to bluff his way through most of magic school, but was caught near completion of his degree. Too ashamed to communicate his failure to his parents, he was living as a con man practicing "wizardry" when he met up with the party.

Unfortunately, that campaign didn't last very long, so I wasn't able to do any fun fake "wizard duels" where I use smoke bombs and pretend it's fog cloud, etc, but I definitely planned to do so.

[Naanomi]

Rogues I've played...
2e: a halfling rogue who wanted to remove all record of his existence and become an 'urban legend'
3e: a goblin dualweilding barbarian/rogue; more of a 'sneak attack/finesse fighter' than a classic rogue
5e:
~a lightfoot halfling master of disguise, pretends to be a human child for fun and profit
~a fallen Aasimar fighter/swashbuckler; raised in the underdark and a ruthless gladiator turned mercenary
~drow Assassin, sniper type who passes herself off as a surface Elf to push her drow clan agenda and take out vulnerable surface targets
~a half-orc rogue/barbarian; a literal murder-hobo raised on the streets, brutally fighting to protect the more vulnerable members of society (children and other homeless mostly)
~variant human rogue/Druid; mostly being a 'sneaky animal spy' for the organized Druid circle

[RickAsWritten]

I haven't actually played him yet, but...

Vapors McGluggin is a backwoods(Hill) Dwarven moonshiner that loves three things: booze, religion(1st level-Cleric), an' killin' stuff(War Cleric, Swashbuckler, heavy armor, hand crossbow, whip). He's an expert at surviving in the harsh forests of his homeland, and in perceiving any threats to his precious stills. He speaks Sylvan fluently due to an ongoing trade deal with the fairfolk that provides him mystical ingredients for his special brew, Mountain Dew; a glowing green, corn whiskey that'll get you good and plastered, but also produces mild hallucinations and makes your teeth fall out. Needless to say, Vapors' teeth are fashioned from polished bulette hide, and are a precious family heirloom that have been passed down for generation after generation.

[Chugger]

My arcane rogue is a trickster. In town he casts minor illusion on the communal outhouse - it might be the voice of an elderly lady, "Help, I've fallen in and I can't get out!" Or a sprinkling of gold coins and valuable gems down there on the muck. In combat, other people cast the minor illusion of a crate to hide inside - or extend a cliff. My AT casts a giant ornate birthday present - a clown head - a black cube with words on it in white "ain't nobody here but us chickens" - a dead grizzly bear (statue) - a really big pink egg. He wastes his bonus action to tweak the enemy on the nose (or do the 3 stooges eye poke) with his mage hand. Oh, when he gets to cast Phantasmal Force, he's going to have a FIELD DAY! muhahahaha.

[Twilightwyrm]

Nero was an elven rogue of mine, the scion of an ancient society of elves nearly pushed to the brink of destruction long ago, only now once again sending out scouts and forward agents into the world to gather information and perhaps forge an alliance or two. I find rogues, in addition to the other narrative archetypes mentioned, work well for spies, scouts, diplomats, agents, tacticians, or even just hunters of a different sort than rangers.

[Laserlight]

Toraulethon Ironhand was a half elf whose human mother was a "soiled dove" beholden to the local mob, and whose elfin father rejected him once it was clear that Tor had no aptitude for magic. He learned all weapons (fighter dip) as a way of rebelling against his father (and thereby gained the name Ironhand, which is not a compliment to an elf); but he also learned that fights were better avoided, or else ended suddenly and unfairly. He used his charm and his proficiency with weapons to become a merchant, buying weapons and ironwork from a dwarven smithy and traveling the countryside selling them....while also keeping tabs on things on behalf of the Harpers. The Harpers affiliation led to him getting involved in the Princes of the Apocalypse mess.

He generally tried to fast talk his way through encounters, and in a couple of instances managed to bamboozle cultists into leading him and the party right through an entire dungeon level all the way to the boss.

Players kept asking me what class he was; I steadfastly replied "Merchant!" He was a swashbuckler / battlemaster.

[solidork]

The game I played my rogue in, there was a magical catastrophe that caused things from the world of dreams to manifest in reality. My character (Lane) was from the dream of a charismatic young man who was looking for any excuse to get out of his podunk fishing village and live a life of daring and intrigue. My character showed him the ropes of swindling high society types, romance blossomed (unexpectedly, it wasn't part of the "script") and then instead of Lane tragically dying in the second act to give the 'protagonist' their motivation, the protégé got killed because of a random mistake. I liked the idea of playing a character that is from a 'failed' stereotypical PC backstory; the whole dream world angle meant that my character was literally a narrative contrivance to usher someone else into accomplishing their dreams. At first it was kinda amusing, but now it is mostly just tragic and sad.

I built him to actually work best in a team with a more charismatic partner (10 Cha, 14 Wis, 14 Int. Expertise in Insight and Investigation). Lane would study the target and learn what made them tick or what secrets they might have that could be of use, and then the partner would be the one who attended the masquerade/high stakes poker game/etc. while Lane usually played the role of a servant. He sort of transitioned to a kind of detective character, ironically enough, and was perpetually attempting to be the voice of reason in a party full of hot heads. I went for full utility, with the Skilled feat (variant human) and then Ritual Caster: Wizard.

As far as combat goes, I really liked that I could be effective both in melee as well as attacking at range, since you could sneak attack either way. I would often do both in the same combat.

[Ventruenox]

My AL legal character is a Devil's Tongue feral tiefling Swashbuckler from Zakhara (Far Traveler background). I pulled heavily from 2E resources and broke a few 2E rules. I found the Cal****e naming convention formula, and created Rypta Gudyn Al-Fulsmel Yi Misbahd. (Say it aloud, and apologies to fans of the short lived Vext comic) I roleplay him as a mish-mash of every foreigner stereotype on TV. Fez from that 70's show, Balky from Perfect Strangers, Zutroy from Simpsons, Twoflower from Discworld, etc. Part of his backstory is that he has travelled so many places that he can't keep his accent straight. If called on it, he gives a bad Christopher Lambert impersonation from Highlander saying he's from "Lots of places."

Born in the pirate village on Sahu, he was discarded by his family as an infant due to "deformities" influenced by the strong necromantic magic that permeates the island. Claimed by slavers, he was eventually sold to the Everlasting - a Holy Slayer organization. After attempting to train him, they quickly became agitated with his lack of respect and consigned him to the Winged Bulls faction with the rest of their embarrassments. He befriended a Sha'ir in the same service who taught him a few tricks (Magic Initiate feat for BB, Prestidigitation, & Find Familiar). Eventually, his superiors also grew tired of him and sent him on a made-up mission just to be rid of him. He's supposed to track down and eliminate a runaway princess who stole a Djinn Bottle and eloped with an infidel as an honor slaying. Neither actually exist. He has since been in many places in the Realms, from Halruaa to Thay. While he may claim to have visited Kara-Tur, in fact he only learned about the land and its culture while incarcerated from another prisoner - Narco Yolo.

Vicious Mockery is quite the fun cantrip to roleplay with this character. His M.O. is to taunt and run away while taking any cheap shots he can.

[nvisibl]

Your talk of ranger re-fluffing made me think of the last "rogue" I played:

Rylo was a nearly feral wood elf boy found by a human hunter in the woods one day. Of course, since he was an elf his full name was much longer, but all he could remember/pronounce was "Rylo" when the hunter asked him his name. He was dressed in rags and furs, but had an extremely well crafted bow that he was using to keep himself fed. The hunter took him in and raised him as his own. All Rylo could remember of his childhood and parents was a beautiful city up in the trees, his father in gleaming armor wielding the bow he now carried, and his mother's silver hair and lovely smile. I pitched to the DM that there may have been an elven stronghold abandoned due to some looming threat in the forest, but, alas, he never chased the storyline. I played him as a UA revised ranger through the first 5 levels for extra attack and the other early level goodies that class gets, then MC'd him into a rogue (AT). The party spent some time with a NPC rogue and Rylo was fascinated by the way he fought so
spent some time trying to learn from him was the RP for it, but with a pally, druid, and wizard in the party, we were desperate for some skill monkey business. I dumped CHA since he spent much of his childhood alone in the woods, so I played him that way and he was hopeless in any social environment. He was extremely naive and fell for any fast talking con or charismatic charlatan in the world. It led to many groans of "What are you doing?" and "Why would you do that?" from the group, but was lots fun none the less. In combat, he was an absolute beast. With advantage on initiative and attack rolls against creatures who haven't acted, archery fighting style, colossus slayer, hunter's mark and SA dice his DPR was splendid. Cunning action + mask of the wild meant he could hide almost anywhere. He also wasn't scared to mix it up in melee. Proficiency in acrobatics gained him loads of backflipping fun and stabbing zombie ogres and other baddies in the head with his magical scimitar and dagger of venom while standing atop their shoulders.

A concept I have for potential future games:

Half elf "procurer"/owner of a magical item shop. Needless to say, many of his items may have been attained illegitimately.
This one I'm having trouble nailing down the subclass. Of course, AT or thief makes sense, but swashbuckler sounds great too. I'm also thinking of MCing this character. He may have gotten himself in over his head on his last job and stole the wrong artifact. He may have just stolen either a demonic shackle to MC into a fiend bladelock or hexblade if UA is allowed. Swashbuckler probably the best choice if he's planning on mixing it up too much in melee. Also, good synergy with high CHA.
"Some things steal a piece of you back when you steal them."

I also love the idea of a half orc dirty fighter with expertise in athletics for the grapple, pin, shank shenanigans. Not necessarily sneaky, but definitely someone you don't want to bump into in the back alleys of Neverwinter.

[Sans.]

Mountain Dwarf Thief Rogue 3/Bearbarian 2. Abuses Reckless Attack + Sneak Attack in current version (rapier+shield+medium armour), but could also grapple amazingly with expertise in Athletics and advantage with Rage. Could possibly take Shield Master or maybe Sentinel.

Used to be a pub-owner's assistant, but was fired. Started drinking heavily at his old bar, but didn't have enough money, so started thieving to cover the costs. It worked for a while, but was caught and exiled. He made his way to the nearby human town, keeping his drinking, brawling, stealing ways, but now with depression from leaving his homeplace. One day he just snapped and decided to stop drinking and do something worthy enough to be accepted back home.

[Zakhara]

Our party's Rogue was, originally, their resolute Fighter.

The Skinny
Hailing from not!Imperial-Germanyland, he originally joined the party by coincidence. His unit was assassinated on contested borders, escaping as the only survivor. Taking shelter in a dilapidated church from a storm, he bore witness to cultists committing murder (which the party also saw). Collecting a mysterious bauble, they joined forces to protect themselves from a party member's old enemies--and save a city being burned down by more cultists.

This truce was intended to be temporary, but in being contracted to suss out the origins of their bauble they were double-crossed and forced to go on the run from the law. Tense teamwork gave way to real camaraderie. His newfound goal became solving the bauble's mystery and overthrowing the corrupt government that imposed his exile. He could smell something rotten.

He originally wanted to stay by-the-book, but bit by bit his patience wore thin, and when faced with a gloating crime lord (knowing that being detained would only slow him down) the straw broke the camel's back. He killed him in cold blood and began taking Rogue levels to represent his growing tenacity and underhandedness.

He's gained something of a reputation across the mainland as a rebel, objector, and freedom fighter without realizing it. Now that he's a statue, others are hoping to retrieve his body and make him something of a status symbol for the war effort.

The Build
He uses pretty much every Fighter weapon possible. Throwing axes, spear/shield, a maul, a short sword, a dagger (just in case), a bow, and whatever else he can carry. He largely uses Rogue levels for mobility, abusing Cunning Action to disengage from unfavourable positions and allow his placement (and Maneuvers) to protect his allies and impose on attackers.

His general skillset uses Rogue expertise to benefit Athletics and the like, in lieu of just Stealth. With Feats he's unable to be surprised, can sneak around remarkably well in plate armour, and can climb walls with ease--important skills for the coup d'etat he's planning.

His primary abilities aren't DEX at all; he favours CON more than anything, using his mix of speed and durability to become an incredibly stubborn opponent. Until recently he was KO'd the least in the party--that is, before he was Petrified.

[JBPuffin]

We're talking about rogues? That means I have a moral obligation to talk about Vishal Nemshara.

Background-wise, he's an average person with a love - and perhaps more - for books (VHuman, Sage[Librarian] background) and, as a result of all his reading, he picked up some magic (Magic Initiate Wizard - Fire Bolt, Mage Hand, and Shield, later retrained to Fire Bolt, Blade Ward, and Feather Fall). He was his library's acquisition manager, hence his roguishness: sometimes, people didn't want to give up their books, so he got them one way or another - golden diplomacy (crap charisma, but never attached to his money), mage hand thievery (like normal theft, but from afar!), or sneak attacks with bow or blade. The campaign kicked off because he accidentally bought a book tied to Tymult, an evil storm deity in direct opposition to both the church in charge of the library and the deity of a dragonborn tempest cleric. Always up for a good mystery, the fledgeling sneak/spellcaster teamed up with the aforementioned storm priest, and together they've fought goblins and ogres aplenty with a rotating cast of supporting characters (first five sessions have been all over the place, player-wise). He's full-on AT now, headed for a Wizard multiclass after his third rogue ASI, and it's been a blast.

Side note: why on earth is the OP making Rogue a ranger variant and not the other way around? One is a fantasy staple, the other is a DnDism.