Might I ask for feat/ASI ideas for a lv 4 Soul Knife Rogue?

[Odessa333]

So yes, I am a level 4 Soul Knife rogue, half-elf. For context, we're running curse of Strahd, and the other party members are a Aasimar life Cleric, halfling celestial warlock, and a human glaive fighter/samurai (we also have a bard who sometimes shows up, but not consistently). Rolled stats are 10 STR, 18 DEX, 11 Con, 12 INT, 12 WIS, 18 CHA.

My initial plan for this character was ultimate skill money. DM has approved taking 'skilled' multiple times, and it was my plan to take it several times to get all skill profs, and have reliable talent with them later. With the soul knife ability to add a dice roll upon failure, it's one of the better skill monkey builds I know.

Still, I'm having second thoughts when there are feats to teach magic out there. RES Con. +2 DEX. I'm starting to overthink this and go in circles, and wanted some outside input. Thank you for your time.

[RogueJK]

With an 18 starting DEX, you definitely don't need to go +2 DEX right now. The average PC doesn't have an 18 primary stat until Level 4 at the earliest and often Level 8, and they don't have a 20 primary stat until Level 8 at the earliest and often Level 12 or sometimes never. So you're already ahead of the power curve there.

The 11 CON is worrisome, especially in CoS, which is known for being extra deadly. I'd want to address that ASAP.

So with your stated desire to be a skill monkey, picking up Skill Expert to bump up to 12 CON (for +1 to CON saves and +4 HP), an additional skill proficiency, and an additional Expertise, seems like the natural choice.

Or, another excellent way to address the low CON would be by taking the Inspiring Leader feat to leverage your high CHA. This would get you and all your allies 4+Level in Temp HP after every short or long rest. Right now at Level 4, that's 8 Temp HP a pop, which is equivalent bonus HP to giving you and all your allies +3/+4 to everyone's CON. Plus you can re-up after every rest, for effectively "free healing". And unlike Skill Expert's CON bump, everyone in your party gets to benefit from the same bonus HP. The slight downside to this one is that it will eventually become a little redundant after your Celestial Warlock hits Level 10 and gains a similar ability with Celestial Resilience. (But since CoS only runs to Level 10, the overlap will be very minimal at the very end of the campaign, and your party can definitely still benefit from both Temp HP abilities if you're taking enough HP damage between rests.)

So basically, if you want to go all-in on extra survivability from a bunch of extra HP for you and your buddies, pick Inspiring Leader. Or if you want a few more HP for yourself and a step towards your Skill Monkey goal, go Skill Expert (+1 CON).

... Or maybe talk the Celestial Warlock into taking Inspiring Leader and you take Skill Expert, for the best of both worlds. :smallbiggrin:

[Sherlockpwns]

I’d second that 11 con is a bit of a problem that can be solved with a half feat. Since your concept was already super skill focused, I’d say go with your first instinct.

After that the world is your oyster. I don’t know if more skills at level 8 would be worthwhile. I actually like mobility most on the SK. Yes, sure you can disengage as a bonus already, but there are so many other things I’d rather do (dash, hide, or just throw another knife, let alone anything else you may pick up along the way). Plus more movement never hurts. By 8 you should know how often such a thing would be handy.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I'd second Rogue JK's thoughts on Inspiring Leader. 8hp * 4 characters * 3 rests = potentially 96 hp per day. If the bard shows up or there's an NPC it goes up from there. I had a Sorcerer through that campaign with IL and it was a noticeable power bump for the party; if you like things that help the group this one's for you.

[ImproperJustice]

I am gonna toss out an odd and indefensibly sub optimal yet potentially useful option: Keen Mind.

The ability to remember everything you see and hear from 30 days ago in the hands of a skill monkey, especially one with a few tool choices like Cartography, Painting, etc can be used for creating accurate maps, descriptions of NPCs / wanted posters, art forgeries / recreations, and really detailed and accurate scouting reports.