PC Boon - Need a Sense Check

[Sparky McDibben]

Hey Playgrounders,

One of my players has been doing some great RP as a good-aligned rogue (thief archetype; she's been robbing from organized crime to fund orphanages and the like). I'd like to give her a few nifty options for a player boon:


Cast blade ward as a reaction when taking bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. The effect lasts until the start of her next turn. Usable times per day.
Cast [I]true strike as a bonus action; usable only times per day.
Cast [I]protection from evil and good once per day without requiring concentration.


I need a sense check on how good these options are. I'm using Intelligence as the modifier because that's the rogue's other saving throw stat (and Dexterity didn't seem like a good fit).

[Contrast]

Cast blade ward as a reaction when taking bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. The effect lasts until the start of her next turn. Usable times per day.

This seems strictly worse than (and conflicts with) Uncanny Dodge.

Edit - didn't notice until start of next turn. I'd still discourage due to the conflict with the class feature. /edit


Cast [I]true strike as a bonus action; usable only times per day.

Has some utility when hiding isn't an option but the range limit on True Strike limits usefulness for a melee rogue. Does enable sneak attack on targets who might not otherwise be vulnerable for non-swashbucklers.


Cast [I]protection from evil and good once per day without requiring concentration.

Entirely depends on how common the specific foes are in your campaign. Usually a ribbon feature I'd say but potentially very powerful in the right circumstances.


Personally I'd be inclined to give her something that recharges on a short rest so there's some incentive to go along with short resting (which rogues often lack). A single lucky point or the non-stat half of Second Chance perhaps.

In terms of my actual suggestion - good RP is its own reward. Her reward for funding orphanages is the pay off of you talking about how the orphanages are doing and seeing the good effects their actions are having on the world.

[CheddarChampion]

IIRC true strike only applies on the following turn.
Maybe that's what you want but I'd let it apply to the same turn if I were in your position.

[Rukelnikov]

I 100% back you in giving players unique stuff like boons and such. Regarding these boons in particular:

As @Contrast wrote above, Blade Ward until the start of your next turn would be awesome for a Fighter, but is not that interesting for a Rogue considering they have Uncanny Dodge at lvl 5, it will be better than UD a lot of times, but theres a fair ammount of overlapping between the 2 features.

This could maybe be changed to Int times / day when you use uncanny dodge you keep the resistance to that type of damage until the beginning of your next turn, or make it automatic "When you cant use your reaction ant take B, P or S damage, Blade Ward is cast on you, can only happen Int times / day"

For the second, as @Sparky pointed out, you cant use TS and gain its venefits on the same turn normally, you could change this to Zephyr Strike which would achieve what I infer was your desired goal.

The third is conceptually cool, and it being non-con is great, it also reminds me a bit of 3e where higher planes creatures would often be constantly under the effects of PfE.

They choice of Int as governing stat for Rogue's features is on point IMO.

[Sparky McDibben]

This is all excellent advice! Thanks, guys!

After cogitating a bit, here's what I've come up with:


A single luck point (as per the Lucky feat) that refreshes on a short rest
The ability to cast zephyr strike once per short rest
Cast dissonant whispers once per short rest.


All spells use Intelligence as their casting ability. Are these any better or perhaps slightly overtuned? I was torn between giving her a once per short rest dissonant whispers spell or a once per short rest hex spell; I thought dissonant whispers would be better for a rogue because she can use all the crowd control she can get.

What are your thoughts?

[Bjarkmundur]

What's the narrative behind the boon? Who grants it?

For encouraging certain player action í personally use Inspiration

Inspiration
Inspiration is a resource gifted to players for creativity, prioritizing roleplay, and generally being an upstanding player. The most sure-fire way of gaining an inspiration is doing something that yield no mechanical benefit (or even grants a penalty) in order to better portray your character, serve the story or immerse the players. As such, Inspiration is a direct encouragement to move away from metagaming and focus on better overall storytelling.
A player starts each session with one inspiration tokens, and can have a maximum of two unused tokens at any given time. Inspiration can be used in one of three different ways:

Healing Surge
You can use one Inspiration token to restore your vigor. You regain 7 (2d4+2) hit points.

Reroll
You can use one Inspiration token to reroll one d20, or have the DM reroll a saving throw, but you must use the second result.

Make a narrative declaration
You can use one Inspiration token to either add or remove details regarding the current narrative, within reason.

[Sparky McDibben]

What's the narrative behind the boon? Who grants it?

For encouraging certain player action í personally use Inspiration


Hey Bjarkmundr, the fluff is that she's part of a faction (I borrowed the "factions give you spells" aspect of Ravnica) who focuses on running around doing good deeds and screwing with criminals. We might imagine these boons derive from either her fellowship with her sisters (she's technically a nun), the gratitude of the citizens, or a helpful goddess who likes the cut of her jib. Not really important. As far as inspiration goes, I've stopped using it to incentivize player behavior. I always forget about it.

Instead, I'm using it like this:

All PCs start out every game session with Inspiration; Inspiration does not accumulate. Your character can use their Inspiration to take Heroic Actions. Heroic Actions can be used only at the end of another creature's turn. Heroic Actions allow you to:


Attack. You make one weapon attack against a target within range.
Cantrip. You cast one cantrip at a target within range.
Move. You move up to your movement speed without drawing opportunity attacks.
Bonus Action. You use a feature or cast a spell that normally requires a bonus action.
Inspiration can be recovered during the session by claiming a Setback. A Setback engages your Flaw in a way that is detrimental to your character’s health. It’s a way of regaining control.

[Bjarkmundur]

I love the heroic action! Brings back fond memories from 4e!

Think about that faction. What spells or items will directly help a person of that faction carry out its goals. Imagine being mugged, and you only had that boon to save you, what would work best?

Shield spell, command, hold person, Suggestion, calm emotion are all non-lethal humanoid focused effects that are great for your average Joe trying to confront a group of ruffians. Even an aoe prone or push spell is great when outnumbered by low level bandits. There are also great protection and defensive themed magic items. It's just hard for me to think of such a lawful good faction to give spells that are designed to harm others. It feels out of character.
I personally like to sticking to things already present in the game, since it teaches my players more about the game, and they might get to see these effects with other DMs. Check out my magic items also (see sig) They are ordered by their power level, so it can help you find an item of the exact value that you are looking for.

You can also check my Waterdeep faction supplement, since your faction could use something from the Harpers, Lords Allience or Order of The Gauntlet faction rewards.

If you're more trying to find something mechanically interesting for your specific player or group, I like what you came up with. Mostly because you seemed happy with it, and you know your group best.

I can't tell you what's the right choice or will be the most fun, I can only present you with options and trust you choose what works best.