Trickery domain cleric/Rogue questions

[caoshunter22]

I was wondering if it's good for Trickery domain cleric to multiclass into a Rogue?
If it is good what would be the best subclass for the Rogue to go with?
If the character has a shield is it possible to to still get a sneak attack?

I know a shield isn't optimal for this build but I'm planning on doing it more for role-playing purposes. I'm thinking using the Drow race and using a short sword but I'm not sure what this means (Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage) is it saying when a Drow uses a short sword it can hit one target up to 5 times with one action?

[Man_Over_Game]

I was wondering if it's good for Trickery domain cleric to multiclass into a Rogue?
If it is good what would be the best subclass for the Rogue to go with?
If the character has a shield is it possible to to still get a sneak attack?

I know a shield isn't optimal for this build but I'm planning on doing it more for role-playing purposes. I'm thinking using the Drow race and using a short sword but I'm not sure what this means (Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage) is it saying when a Drow uses a short sword it can hit one target up to 5 times with one action?

There's a few things to dissect here.

First thing's first: What you're reading is not the Drow Race (which is listed with the Elf race class in the Player's Handbook), but rather you're reading the Drow as an enemy creature. You're reading the summarized way for the DM to know what kind of attacks the Drow monster should normally be able to do (which is a shortsword attack that has a +4 to hit on top of the normal 1d20, attacks a single target who's adjacent to the drow, and deals an average of 5 damage).

As for Sneak Attack, it needs these things:


Use a melee weapon with Finesse OR use a ranged weapon.
Attack an enemy who's adjacent to an ally OR have advantage on your attack roll


Neither of those state any issues with using a shield. As long as you're using a rapier, shortsword or dagger, you should be fine, just keep in mind that you generally need an ally adjacent to your target.

As for what works best for the Trickery cleric, I'd recommend the Scout or the Mastermind from the Xanathar book. Since you'll want to be utilizing your Illusion to grant you advantage on your attacks, you'll want to have some abilities that work well in moderately close-ranged conditions, including the Mastermind's ability to help your allies or the Scout's ability to move away from enemies. If you plan on using a shield, I'd recommend getting comfortable utilizing things like Darts for some ranged attacks that only require one free hand.

[caoshunter22]

There's a few things to dissect here.

First thing's first: What you're reading is not the Drow Race (which is listed with the Elf race class in the Player's Handbook), but rather you're reading the Drow as an enemy creature. It's a summarized way for the DM to know what kind of attacks the Drow monster should normally be able to do (which is a shortsword attack that has a +4 to hit on top of the normal 1d20, attacks a single target who's adjacent to the drow, and deals an average of 5 damage).

ok well my DM said that Drow is a playable race and showed me that info so I just assumed what he said was correct so I guess I need to talk to my DM about that.

[Man_Over_Game]

ok well my DM said that Drow is a playable race and showed me that info so I just assumed what he said was correct so I guess I need to talk to my DM about that.

Look at the Elf player race. There is a Drow subrace that is what is intended to be used for people who want to play Drow, which has a bonus to Charisma, some weapon proficiencies and can naturally cast spells that modify light.

[caoshunter22]

Look at the Elf player race. There is a Drow subrace that is what is intended to be used for people who want to play Drow, which has a bonus to Charisma, some weapon proficiencies and can naturally cast spells that modify light.

Ok thank you. So how many levels do you think I should put into rouge? I was thinking up to 5 levels so I can get Uncanny Dodge but I'm not sure if as a cleric putting that many levels in a rouge is a good idea.

[noob]

Ok thank you. So how many levels do you think I should put into rouge? I was thinking up to 5 levels so I can get Uncanny Dodge but I'm not sure if as a cleric putting that many levels in a rouge is a good idea.

There is a Rouge class and it have a quite good synergy with charisma(Does charisma helps clerics in 5e?) but it was not a 5e class(although there is probably an update of that class)
The rogue class is problematic since it does not synergize with cleric stats.
While uncanny dodge is cool 5 levels less in cleric are felt a lot and if you are losing masses of cleric levels you might try to grab instead another class such as possibly barbarian or paladin or fighter(if what you want is increased durability)
Or just forget about tankyness and enjoy getting higher level spells.

[Man_Over_Game]

There is a Rouge class and it have a quite good synergy with charisma(Does charisma helps clerics in 5e?) but it was not a 5e class(although there is probably an update of that class)
The rogue class is problematic since it does not synergize with cleric stats.
While uncanny dodge is cool 5 levels less in cleric are felt a lot and if you are losing masses of cleric levels you might try to grab instead another class such as possibly barbarian or paladin or fighter(if what you want is increased durability)
Or just forget about uncanny dodge and enjoy getting higher level spells.

Picking Rogue is a good enough choice as long as you recognize what doing so gives vs. what your team needs.

In order for Rogue to be successful, it generally needs to be good in these aspects:

The team has enough melee combatants without you
The team needs more damage
The team needs more skills/utility
The Rogue can make a weapon attack almost every turn

The catch is, with going Rogue/Cleric, there is a lot of overlap between your spells and your attacks. You cannot cast a spell the same turn you attack, so you can not deal damage as a Cleric AND deal damage as a Rogue. You can only do one or the other every turn, and the more you invest into Rogue, the more dependent your character will become on making weapon attacks. Considering the fact that the Cleric has multiple cantrips (that may be chosen to attack with), it could lead to a lot of useless redundancy.

Now, there's a few things you can still do:


Focus mostly on Rogue, choosing to take only a few levels into Cleric (and using Cleric spells/abilities just to add a little bit of versatility)
Focus your Cleric spells on things that don't interfere with your rogue attacks, so that there is little redundancy in having to choose between casting a combat spell vs. attacking as a Rogue (Mirror Image and utility spells are good examples).


As for the Charisma Rogue Noob is talking about, that's the Swashbuckler that was officially released in the Sword Coast book and the Xanathar book. It's a melee combatant that focuses on hit and run attacks. It's main feature is that it does not need advantage or an adjacent ally to get Sneak Attack as long as the Rogue is making a melee attack against the target and the target has no allies adjacent to it.

[Chronos]

Noob wasn't talking about a charisma rogue. Re-read that.