What weapons can Rogues use in Tales of the Valiant?

Rogues in ToV use simple weapons and martial weapons with the Finesse property. This means rapiers, shortswords, daggers, shortbows, and similar eligible weapons are core. Check the weapon entry before assuming it qualifies for Sneak Attack.

Can I use Sneak Attack with a ranged weapon without advantage?

Yes - the adjacency rule applies to both finesse and ranged weapons. If an unincapacitated enemy of the target is within 5 feet of the target and you don't have disadvantage, Sneak Attack triggers with any ranged weapon even without advantage. You don't need to be adjacent yourself.

How does Reliable Talent work?

In ToV, Reliable Talent arrives at 9th level. On any ability check using a skill or tool you're proficient in, treat d20 rolls of 9 or lower as 10. With Expertise, your floor on expertise skills becomes 10 + double PB + ability modifier - effectively eliminating low-roll failures on checks you're trained in.

Does Precise Critical add Sneak Attack dice to critical hits?

No. Precise Critical adds one additional weapon damage die (not a Sneak Attack die) on a critical hit with a finesse or ranged weapon. At 13th level you add one extra weapon die; at 17th level you add two. Sneak Attack dice are always doubled on a crit by the standard critical hit rules separately.

Can Enforcer Rogues use Sneak Attack with unarmed strikes?

Yes, but only after 7th level when you gain Brawler. Brawler explicitly adds unarmed strikes to the eligible weapons for Sneak Attack, alongside the standard finesse and ranged weapons. Before 7th level, unarmed strikes don't qualify regardless of build.

What does The Old Margreve add for Rogues?

The Old Margreve adds the Underfoot (The Old Margreve) Rogue subclass, a burrowing Primordial spellcaster that modifies shillelagh so it can use DEX or WIS and qualify for Sneak Attack. It also adds strong stealth and ambush support through Erina (The Old Margreve), Delver Heritage (The Old Margreve), Forest Dweller (The Old Margreve), Teleporting Harrier (The Old Margreve), Scentless (The Old Margreve), Margreve Fur (The Old Margreve), Moon Through the Trees (The Old Margreve), and Scorn Pouch (The Old Margreve).

What does Book of Blades add for Rogues?

The local Book of Blades material reviewed for this guide does not add a Rogue subclass. It matters through support options: Poisoner, War Dancer, Tactical Planning, Weapon Option Specialist, Privileged, Martial Law, Noxious Apothecary synergy, and mounted support such as Horse Lord or Fell Rider only if the campaign actually uses mounts.

What does the Labyrinth Worldbook add for Rogues?

The Labyrinth Worldbook adds Spy (Labyrinth Worldbook), a Rogue subclass focused on infiltration, false identity, guarded thoughts, initiative manipulation, and stunning the first undamaged creature you Sneak Attack in a round. Its core features are Feint, Infiltrator, Deep Cover, Upper Hand, and Cloaked Dagger.

What does Player's Guide 2 add for Rogues?

Player's Guide 2 adds new Rogue boons and three Rogue subclasses: Con Arcanist, Nightblade, and Trapsmith. Con Arcanist adds Arcane spellcasting, invisible mage hand utility, subtle casting, and mislead-style theft. Nightblade creates psychic daggers, psychic resistance, teleport-to-target pressure, and INT-based psychic burst. Trapsmith builds custom traps, improves trap disarming, reworks enemy traps, and eventually handles magical traps and stronger trap DCs.

Tales of the Valiant Rogue Guide

Introduction

The Tales of the Valiant Rogue is a Dexterity-led striker and skill specialist. Sneak Attack rewards timing and positioning, Cunning Action keeps you mobile, and Expertise makes a few chosen skills dependable. Choose Rogue if you want to create one clean opening instead of trading blows at the front.

If you are still choosing a party role, start with the Tales of the Valiant Class Guides. Return here when the appeal is Sneak Attack, mobility, scouting, and a character who can turn a prepared route or an ally's position into a decisive hit. Evasion arrives at 6th level and Reliable Talent at 9th, giving the class more defensive and skill reliability through the middle tiers.

The core book starts with two strong lanes: Enforcer is the combat optimized path, turning successful attacks on surprised targets into critical hits, enabling adjacency-free Sneak Attack at 7th, and rerolling Sneak Attack dice at 15th. Thief is the utility path, with Fast Hands extending your bonus action options, climbing speed at 3rd, item identification at 7th, and two full turns in the first round at 15th. Both are strong. The choice is about whether you want to be a precision killing machine or an impossible-to-stop problem-solver.

The Old Margreve adds a real third Rogue path: Underfoot (The Old Margreve), a burrowing ambusher with Primordial spellcasting and a Sneak Attack-compatible shillelagh. It also adds stealth lineages, wilderness backgrounds, technical and magic talents, Primordial spells for Underfoot, and several ambush-friendly magic items. Every option from that book is marked (The Old Margreve) below.

Book of Blades is not a Rogue subclass book in the local material reviewed here, but it still gives Rogues useful tools. Poisoner and Noxious Apothecary support assassin and alchemist Rogues, War Dancer supports mobile melee Rogues, Tactical Planning rewards Enforcer ambushes, and Weapon Option Specialist matters if your table uses weapon options. For the dedicated Book of Blades Cunning Tricks, rogue gear, and trap package, use the Rogue Tricks and Booby Traps Guide.

Labyrinth Worldbook adds Spy (Labyrinth Worldbook), an infiltration Rogue built for false identities, covert communication, mental shielding, initiative manipulation, and opening-round control. Every option from that book is marked (Labyrinth Worldbook) below.

Player's Guide 2 adds the biggest Rogue expansion so far: Con Arcanist (Player's Guide 2), Nightblade (Player's Guide 2), and Trapsmith (Player's Guide 2). It also adds new Rogue boons, Rogue-friendly backgrounds like Investigator, Servant, and Smuggler, and talents that shore up lightly armored skirmishers. Every option from that book is marked (Player's Guide 2) below.

Darian Vale picks a locked harbor customs cabinet while studying an escape route map

Disclaimer

Ratings use the following color system:

● Fantastic - Top tier. Build around this.
● Good - Solid choice. No regrets.
● Situational - Context-dependent. Not bad, just specific.
● Bad - Actively avoid unless you have a compelling reason.

These ratings assume general adventuring play across combat and exploration. Your table will vary.

Class Features

Hit Points (d8) ● A d8 is respectable for a class that should spend most of its time not getting hit. You're not a front-liner, but with Uncanny Dodge at 5th level cutting incoming damage in half and Evasion at 6th saving you from AOE, your effective HP is higher than the number suggests.

Proficiencies ● Light armor only - no shields, no medium armor. You're trading defensive bulk for mobility and skill breadth. Four skill proficiencies from the widest list in the game. Thieves' Tools come included. DEX and INT saves mean you laugh at traps and most mage shenanigans.

Expertise (1st and 6th) ● The Rogue's defining feature outside of combat. Double proficiency bonus on two skills or tools at 1st level, then two more at 6th. By 9th level with Reliable Talent, your floor on expertise checks becomes 10 + (2 x PB) + ability modifier. At 9th level that's a floor of 10 + 8 + modifier before any actual rolling. You will not fail skill checks you're supposed to win.

The interaction with Reliable Talent is what makes Expertise excellent rather than just good. Pick skills you want to be unassailable in. Stealth and Perception are universally correct. Thieves' Tools is strong for dungeoneers. Deception or Persuasion is strong for social campaigns.

Sneak Attack (1st to 10d6 at 20th) ● Your damage engine. 1d6 at 1st level, scaling to 10d6 at 20th. Triggers once per turn when you hit with a finesse or ranged weapon and have advantage, or when an unincapacitated ally is within 5 feet of the target (without disadvantage).

The trigger conditions are important. Most tables overestimate how often Rogues have advantage - you frequently rely on the adjacency rule instead. Any ally adjacent to your target unlocks Sneak Attack. This means positioning and coordination with your party matters. At high levels, 10d6 averages 35 extra damage per turn - roughly equivalent to a fighter's entire damage output. Sneak Attack is why Rogues are viable.

Thieves' Cant (1st) ● A secret language for criminal networking. Useful in the right campaign, essentially irrelevant in dungeon-delving scenarios. Your GM determines how much this comes up.

Cunning Action (2nd) ● Bonus action: Dash, Disengage, or Hide. This is a better feature than almost any other class's bonus action in the game because it's always available, costs nothing, and applies to three fundamentally different tactical needs.

Hide: can set up advantage for Sneak Attack next round when the environment and the GM's hiding rules support it
Disengage: removes opportunity attacks when escaping melee
Dash: doubles movement for repositioning or chase

A Rogue who uses Cunning Action every turn has a significantly better combat experience than one who doesn't. The only time you should skip it is if you have a better bonus action use (rare at most levels).

Uncanny Dodge (5th) ● Reaction: halve the damage from one attack by an attacker you can see. This is a standard reaction tax on the most dangerous single hit against you each turn. Combines with Evasion at 6th to make you remarkably hard to kill efficiently - enemies either need multiple reliable attacks or AOE damage to threaten you.

Evasion (6th) ● On a successful DEX save vs. half-damage effects, you take zero damage. On a failed save, you take half. Fireball? Half damage on fail, zero on success. Dragon breath? Same. Combined with DEX save proficiency, you will walk out of many AOE situations looking annoyingly uncrispy.

Reliable Talent (9th) ● Treat d20 rolls of 9 or lower as 10 on proficient skill/tool checks. With Expertise, your floor on those skills is 10 + double PB + modifier - at 9th level, that's a minimum of roughly 18-20 on Stealth or Perception before dice luck matters at all. You are no longer variable on the things you're supposed to be good at.

Heroic Boon (10th) - see Heroic Boon section

Precise Critical (13th, 17th) ● Critical hits on 19-20 with finesse or ranged weapons. Plus one additional weapon damage die per crit (not a Sneak Attack die), increasing to two additional dice at 17th. The expanded crit range is the real prize; the extra weapon damage die is a nice but minor bonus. Enforcer, Nightblade, and Thief all appreciate the increased chance that one clean hit becomes a very rude conversation.

Keensense (14th) ● 10 feet of keensense. It provides close-range perception through a sense other than vision, but it stops functioning while you are deafened or otherwise deprived of hearing. It complements ordinary perception; it does not replace sight at range.

Elusive (18th) ● Attack rolls can never have advantage against you while you're not incapacitated. This is the defensive capstone Rogues deserve. Flanking, Pack Tactics, high-ground bonuses, any source of advantage against you: nullified. You become nearly impossible to reliably hit at high levels.

Epic Boon (20th): Stroke of Luck ● Once per short or long rest: turn a miss against a target within normal range into a hit, or treat the d20 roll on a failed ability check as a 20. The flexibility is the strength here. Against a boss with high AC, flip a miss into a hit for a full Sneak Attack turn. A 20 can still leave an unusually difficult check short of its DC, so confirm the result rather than treating it as automatic success.

Heroic Boon

Escape Artist ● When any save allows half damage on success (DEX, CON, WIS, whatever), you now take zero on success and half on fail - for every save, not just DEX. This extends Evasion-like protection to every AOE and effect in the game. CON saves against a dragon's acid breath? Zero damage on success. WIS save against a 7th-circle spell's half-damage effect? Zero on success. This is broadly powerful and requires no decision-making.

Jack of All Trades ● Gain a talent from any talent list (not just technical) immediately, and all future talent picks can come from any list. The immediate free talent is worth approximately one Improvement's value. The unrestricted talent access is valuable in long campaigns - you can cherry-pick Combat Conditioning (martial), or Touch of Luck (magic), or whatever you need. Slightly less powerful than Escape Artist in raw defensive terms but better for specialized builds.

Double Tap (Player's Guide 2) ● After you deal Sneak Attack damage on your turn and the target survives, you can immediately make one additional attack against that creature with a Finesse or ranged weapon you are wielding. That is exactly the kind of follow-up Rogue damage usually struggles to get without giving up Cunning Action.

Double Tap is best on builds that already have a reliable first hit: Enforcer with Ambush, Nightblade with psychic blades, Con Arcanist with Distracting Hand later, and any Rogue working from advantage. If your hit rate is shaky, fix the setup before buying the extra swing.

Vanishing Act (Player's Guide 2) ● You can attempt to hide even from creatures that can clearly sense you, as long as you are not within 5 feet of a hostile creature. If the check beats the relevant Perception score, you become invisible while you keep hiding. It ends if you attack, cast a spell, or stop hiding.

This is excellent for ranged Rogues, spies, and scouts who want a panic button that says, "No, actually, I am not in this scene anymore." It is weaker for melee Enforcers who spend most turns inside threat range.

Verdict: Double Tap is the best damage pick. Escape Artist is the best defensive pick. Vanishing Act is the stealth pick. Jack of All Trades wins when your build needs a specific talent route more than another combat button.

Epic Boon

Stroke of Luck ● Turn a miss into a hit once per short rest, or treat an ability check as a 20. Short rest recharge means this is available roughly every encounter in a well-paced adventuring day. At 20th level with 10d6 Sneak Attack, one saved miss is potentially 35+ extra damage. Strong.

Mask of Oblivion (Player's Guide 2) ● As an action, become invisible for 1 minute, and that invisibility is not pierced by magical or nonmagical detection short of truesight. It recharges on a short or long rest. This is the late-game infiltration fantasy turned into a button.

Shroud of Shadow (Player's Guide 2) ● While in dim light or darkness, you count as having half cover and resist all damage that is not radiant. This is absurdly durable when the party can control lighting and merely good when the map cooperates. A Nightblade, Spy, or ranged Rogue who plans encounters around darkness can make enemies regret having eyes.

Verdict: Stroke of Luck is still the cleanest universal capstone. Mask of Oblivion is the heist capstone. Shroud of Shadow is the combat monster if your table regularly fights in dim light or darkness.

Ability Scores

Priority: DEX > INT >> CON > WIS/STR/CHA

Ability	Suggested Score	Notes
DEX	16-18	Attack, damage, AC, initiative, Evasion saves
INT	13-14	Save proficiency, Investigation
CON	12-14	HP, concentration (rare)
WIS	10-12	Passive Perception, Insight
STR	8-10	Dump unless grapple build
CHA	8-10	Dump unless social-focused

32-Point Buy Cost Reference:

Score	Cost
8	0
9	1
10	2
11	3
12	4
13	5
14	7
15	9

Recommended starting spread: DEX 16 (9), INT 14 (7), CON 14 (7), WIS 10 (2), STR 8 (0), CHA 10 (2) = 27 pts. Add 5 remaining to DEX (16 to 17, 2pts) and CON (14 to 15, 2 pts, +1 HP/level) with 1 spare for CHA or WIS.

Lineage & Heritage

Rogues care less about inherited ability-score assumptions and more about traits that keep Sneak Attack, scouting, and survival online: senses, stealth, unusual movement, Luck, tool support, condition defenses, and ways to win the first round.

● Elf - Heightened Senses, Magic Ancestry, and Trance are excellent on scouts and infiltrators. Elf is especially strong for Rogues who want Perception to stay reliable while the party travels, rests, or gets ambushed by something that should have chosen a less observant victim.

● Smallfolk - Smallfolk remain great Rogues because their defensive luck and small-body infiltration package support the core class loop. The fantasy is simple: hard to spot, harder to pin down, and extremely annoying when a lock thinks it is safe.

● Human - Extra talent at 1st level. Flexible ability scores to hit DEX/INT targets. The talent can be spent on something like Aware or Covert immediately.

● Drow (Player's Guide 2) - Superior Darkvision and Arachnid Kismet are a natural fit for underground scouts, spies, and Nightblades. The line between "ambush specialist" and "problem in a cloak" is mostly branding.

● Shade (Player's Guide 2) - Excellent for shadowed infiltrators, especially Spy and Nightblade concepts. Pair it with Covenant (Player's Guide 2) or Conflicted (Player's Guide 2) if the character is defined by a supernatural bargain, exile, or faction pressure.

● Dhampir (Player's Guide 2) - The bite loop, dark identity, and self-sustaining melee pressure make Dhampir a strong fit for Enforcer, Nightblade, and social predator builds. If the campaign likes suspicion, this lineage comes with free narrative gasoline.

● Gearforged (Player's Guide 2) - Best for Trapsmiths, Con Arcanists, and investigation Rogues who want a constructed-body theme. Ironwrought (Player's Guide 2) is the obvious heritage partner if the character comes from a machine, foundry, or artifice-heavy society.

● Erina (The Old Margreve). Small size, darkvision, a full burrow speed, poison resilience, heightened senses, and defensive spines. This is one of the cleanest Old Margreve Rogue lineages, and it is especially good for Underfoot (The Old Margreve) because burrowing stacks with the subclass identity.

● Alseid (The Old Margreve). 40-foot speed, advantage on sight/hearing Perception, better vision in dim and lightly obscured areas, stealth support, and no tracks unless you choose to leave them. The quadruped drawbacks are real in dungeons, but the scouting package is excellent.

● Piney (The Old Margreve). Living Wood gives a PB-based reaction AC boost against melee attacks, while the condition advantages help you avoid losing turns. Less stealthy than Erina or Alseid, but more durable.

● Bearfolk (The Old Margreve). Cold resistance and fear support are useful, but the STR/CON-to-CHA social rider does not align with a DEX-first Rogue unless you are building a very specific bruiser Enforcer.

● Smallfolk (Gnomish) - INT-based, advantage on INT, WIS, and CHA saves against magic. Defensive, but the smaller size can be a nuisance. Smallfolk variants can support this same small-body hide-behind-allies play.

● Delver Heritage (The Old Margreve). Burrow speed, Acrobatics or Persuasion, provisioner tools, and an extra language. This is excellent for Rogues and nearly perfect for Underfoot (The Old Margreve), where extra burrow movement reinforces the subclass's core plan.

● Moonlit Heritage (The Old Margreve). Bonus-action sunlight and advantage against frightened effects. More campaign-dependent than Delver, but good against shadow, undead, fey, and fear-heavy threats.

● Forest Bastion Heritage (The Old Margreve). Animal Handling or Nature, trapper tools, and a CHA-check reroll with urban creatures. The tool package is useful for a trapper/scout Rogue, though the skills are not your strongest defaults.

● Hiveheim Heritage (The Old Margreve). Stealth advantage and Survival help in hive environments plus Nature or Survival and a tool. Strong when the environment applies, ordinary elsewhere.

● Privileged (Book of Blades). Flexible skill proficiency, a social contest package, and courtly access. This is the best Book of Blades heritage for infiltrators, spies, con artists, and social Thieves who need to pass as someone with status.

● Conflicted (Player's Guide 2). Best for spies, rebels, underworld agents, and Rogues caught between factions. It fits Drow, Dhampir, Human, Smallfolk, and any character whose backstory begins with "the authorities disagree with my methods."

● Covenant (Player's Guide 2). Strong for Con Arcanists, Shades, Drow, and pact-touched infiltrators. Spell Inoculation is real defense against single-target magical control, which is exactly the kind of thing villains use when they are tired of you leaving by the window.

● Kithren (Player's Guide 2). Useful for investigator Rogues, rescue networks, settlement agents, and party-first scouts. It is less flashy than a shadow heritage, but the social and community hook is strong.

● Seafarer (Player's Guide 2). Best for smugglers, pirates, river spies, and coastal campaigns. Away from ships and ports, it is still useful but less build-defining.

● Martial Law (Book of Blades). Athletics, Intimidation, some martial training, and limited bonus-action Help. The skills are not ideal for a DEX/INT Rogue, but the disciplined-soldier Enforcer concept works if the campaign supports military infiltration or squad tactics.

● Horse Lord (Book of Blades). Mostly for couriers, mounted scouts, and open-road campaigns. Rogues can exploit mounted mobility, but most dungeon and rooftop Rogue scenes do not keep a horse on-screen long enough to justify building around it.

Skills

With four starting skills, you can cover your core competencies plus two extras.

Stealth ● - Expertise this. Your offense depends on positioning, which depends on stealth. Always.

Perception ● - Best skill in the game. Expertise this if you didn't pick Stealth. Passive Perception stops you from getting ambushed.

Thieves' Tools (via proficiency) ● - Not a skill, but expertise applies. Expertise here is worth considering for dungeon-heavy games.

Deception ● - CHA-based, but you likely have 8-10 CHA. With Expertise it's still usable. Essential for social Rogues.

Investigation ● - INT-based. You've got 14 INT. Finding traps, reading hidden writing, examining scenes. Solid.

Sleight of Hand ● - DEX-based. Pickpocketing, planting items, palming objects. Expertise makes you nearly undetectable.

Persuasion ● - CHA-based. Useful in social games but your CHA is probably dumped. Pick Deception instead for a more DEX/INT aligned "lie your way through" approach.

Acrobatics ● - DEX-based. Mostly used for escaping grapples and tumbling. Fine to have, not essential.

Athletics ● - STR-based. You're dumping STR. Skip unless you're building a melee grappler Enforcer.

Intimidation ● - CHA-based dump stat. Not your lane unless you're Enforcer-flavored with the muscle.

Insight ● - WIS-based, moderate WIS. Occasionally useful for reading people. Not Expertise-worthy.

History / Religion / Arcana ● - INT skills you're not investing in and don't benefit from class features. Skip.

Backgrounds

Outcast ● - Stealth + Survival. Thematic, and Stealth overlaps with your Expertise target.

Criminal ● - Deception + Stealth, plus thieves' tools proficiency (which you already have from class, but double proficiency doesn't help - Expertise the tools instead). Thematically obvious. The background talent matters most here.

Courtier ● - Persuasion + Insight for social Rogues. The talent access and social skills synergize for infiltration campaigns.

Forest Dweller (The Old Margreve) ● - Survival, a choice of Animal Handling, Nature, or Stealth, Sylvan, and a wilderness tool. The real draw is the talent choice: Forest Denizen or Relentless Hunter can support a scout Rogue without waiting for an Improvement.

Judicial Champion (Book of Blades) ● - Excellent for investigator Rogues, court agents, and bounty-hunter Enforcers. The flexible skill choice can support Perception, Sense Motive, History, or Intimidation, and its talent routes can matter if your build wants Weapon Option Specialist or broader combat utility.

Battle Academician (Book of Blades) ● - Mostly for Enforcers who want Tactical Planning. The History prerequisite is awkward, but a Rogue who plans heists, ambushes, and assassinations can make the theme work.

Investigator (Player's Guide 2) ● - Choose two from Deception, Insight, Investigation, or Perception, then gain charlatan tools and thieves' tools. The talent options include Scrutinous, Situational Awareness, and Sleuth. This is the cleanest PG2 Rogue background for detectives, bounty hunters, spies, and anyone whose job description is "notice the thing everyone else missed."

Smuggler (Player's Guide 2) ● - Deception, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth plus Thieves' Cant, navigator tools, and a vehicle. Talent options include Covert, Escamotage, and Slippery. Excellent for urban, coastal, criminal, or courier Rogues.

Servant (Player's Guide 2) ● - Insight, Perception, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth with useful tool choices. This is much better than it looks for Thieves and Spies because access, observation, and plausible invisibility in polite society are all Rogue tools.

Rebel (Player's Guide 2) ● - Conceptually strong for faction campaigns, but its skill and talent package is less Rogue-optimized than Investigator or Smuggler. Pick it when the revolution matters more than the spreadsheet.

Scholar ● - Arcana + History. You're not really an INT-knowledge character even with 14 INT unless you're leaning into Investigation.

Adherent ● - Insight + Religion. Niche. The features are fine but not particularly Rogue-synergistic.

Soldier ● - Athletics + Intimidation. Both are STR/CHA based skills you're dumping. Hard pass.

Talents

Rogues access Technical talents at Improvement levels (Enforcer expands to martial OR technical).

Touch of Luck ● (Technical) - Gain Luck dice. Luck interacts with everything in ToV - ability checks, attack rolls, saves. More Luck means more second chances on critical moments.

Aware ● (Technical) - Initiative rolls of 9 or lower treated as 10, immune to surprise while conscious, hidden attackers lose advantage against you. Surprise is the Rogue's best friend (auto-crit from Enforcer's Ambush, or just free first-round advantage). Even non-Enforcers want to move first.

Covert ● (Technical) - Hide in three-quarters cover or while lightly obscured. No disadvantage on attacks or Perception in dim light. Can react to spot attempts to remain hidden. Essential for archer-style Rogues.

Scrutinous ● (Technical) - +5 passive Perception and passive Investigation. Never miss hidden doors. With Expertise + Reliable Talent, your passive Perception is already high - this pushes it into "the GM just tells you what's hidden" territory.

Two Weapon Mastery ● (Martial) - Adds PB to off-hand damage. Kill or crit triggers movement and a free attack. Rogue two-weapon fighting is mostly irrelevant (you already have better bonus action uses), but the kill/crit trigger has occasional niche value.

Combat Conditioning ● (Martial, Enforcer only) - CON save proficiency. Relevant when anything tries to incapacitate you and break your evasion/Cunning Action loop.

Teleporting Harrier (The Old Margreve, Magic Talent) ● - Excellent if your Rogue has reliable teleportation from magic items, multiclassing, or Jack of All Trades talent access. After teleporting, your next weapon or spell attack can gain two benefits from advantage, PB extra damage, or frighten. Not automatic, but powerful when enabled.

Relentless Hunter (The Old Margreve, Forest Dweller / Technical Talent) ● - Tracking, pursuit, stealth/perception against a tracked quarry, and PB extra damage on your first hit against a chosen creature when combat starts. Good for scout-assassin play.

Forest Denizen (The Old Margreve, Forest Dweller / Technical Talent) ● - Advantage on climbing and swimming checks, poisoned-condition resistance, safe plant/fungi identification, and help avoiding or escaping vegetation, Beast, or Monstrosity restraints. Useful for wilderness Rogues and Underfoot (The Old Margreve).

Friend of the Fey (The Old Margreve, Technical Talent) ● - Sylvan, a limited social advantage with Fey or Sylvan speakers, and PB-per-long-rest advantage on charmed or frightened saves. Strong only when fey social play matters.

Stunning Sniper (The Old Margreve, Martial Talent) ● - Expanded crit range, stun-on-crit, and extra weapon die against stunned targets with one chosen ranged weapon. Enforcer can access martial talents directly, but Rogue already gets Precise Critical later, so this is best in lower-level ranged Enforcer campaigns.

Poisoner (Book of Blades, Martial Talent) ● - Better for Rogues than for most classes if the campaign supports poison access. Poison immunity is useful, and bonus-action application lets an assassin pivot when a fight starts unexpectedly. The cost is that it competes with Cunning Action, so pre-apply poison whenever possible.

Noxious Apothecary + Poisoner (Book of Blades) ● - This is the real poison Rogue package. Noxious Apothecary improves harvesting, duration, save DC, damage, and resistance handling; Poisoner makes combat application possible. Take both only if poison sources and crafting matter in the campaign.

War Dancer (Book of Blades, Martial Talent) ● - Strong for melee Rogues who move every turn. The +1 AC after movement and hit-based opportunity attack protection reinforce the hit-and-leave loop. It is less useful for ranged Rogues who spend most turns hiding.

Tactical Planning (Book of Blades, Martial Talent) ● - Excellent when the party can plan an ambush, but awkward for standard Rogues because it is a martial talent with a History and level prerequisite. Enforcer gets the cleanest access and the biggest payoff because Ambush already cares about surprise and first-round tempo.

Weapon Option Specialist (Book of Blades, Martial Talent) ● - Good only if your table actively uses weapon options. Rogues care about landing one important hit, so a weapon option that preserves damage while adding control can be worth it. If weapon options rarely show up, skip this.

Unarmed Maneuvers (Book of Blades, Martial Talent) ● - Niche Enforcer tech after Brawler makes unarmed strikes Sneak Attack-eligible. The control options are flavorful, but replacing damage is a steep price for a class built around one big hit.

Sleuth (Player's Guide 2) ● - One of the best new Rogue talents. Floor-10 reliability on investigation-facing skills stacks beautifully with the Rogue's "I refuse to roll badly at my job" identity, and the social truth-pressure rider is perfect for investigative play.

Slippery (Player's Guide 2) ● - Difficult-terrain smoothing and anti-grapple reliability are boring until the exact moment they save your Cunning Action plan. Rogues do not like being held in place. This talent agrees.

Escamotage (Player's Guide 2) ● - Best for pickpockets, heist Thieves, Con Arcanists, and social Spies. If the campaign has keys, badges, rings, ledgers, vials, evidence, and planted objects, this talent gets real fast.

Self Defense (Player's Guide 2) ● - Excellent on lightly armored melee Rogues who can access martial talents through Enforcer, Jack of All Trades, or a background route. A PB-based reaction AC boost is the kind of emergency button that keeps a scout from becoming floor decor.

Situational Awareness (Player's Guide 2) ● - Surprise protection and reaction repositioning both matter to Rogues. If your GM likes ambushes, this is not paranoia; it is maintenance.

Two Weapon Defense (Player's Guide 2) ● - Best for Nightblade or dagger Rogues who actually dual wield. The +2 AC stance is useful, but it competes with Cunning Action and other bonus-action tech.

Spells

For Underfoot spell picks and Primordial spell ratings, use the Ranger spell guide, Druid spell guide, and circle-by-circle spell guides.

For Con Arcanist (Player's Guide 2), use the Arcane spell guides. Before the subclass opens up, prioritize enchantment and illusion spells that do not need a full caster's slot depth to matter: deception, control, distraction, scouting, escape, and save-or-swing effects. Your INT matters now, but you are still a Rogue first. If your spell plan keeps you from landing Sneak Attack, the spell plan is wearing a fake mustache.

Subclasses

Enforcer ●

The combat-optimized subclass. Enforcer Rogues are precision killers who exploit openings, delete surprised or low-HP targets, and snowball kill potential as a fight progresses.

Enforcer Progression:

3rd: Ambush, Cold-Blooded, Expanded Talent List
7th: Brawler
11th: Ready to Rumble
15th: Kill Shot

Ambush (3rd) ● During round 1 of combat, you have advantage on the first attack roll against any creature in the fight. Against a surprised creature, a hit is automatically a critical hit.

This is obscenely good. In round 1, you effectively have advantage guaranteed (no positioning required). Against a surprised target, it's not just advantage - it's an auto-crit, which doubles all weapon dice AND Sneak Attack dice. The surprise auto-crit is one of the highest single-hit damage ceilings in the game for a martial character. At 5th level: 2d6 (rapier crit) + 6d6 (Sneak Attack crit at level 5) = up to 48 damage before modifiers. Tier 1-2 enemies rarely survive this.

Pair it with Aware: you can't be surprised yourself, so you are always eligible to surprise enemies rather than the reverse.

Cold-Blooded (3rd) ● Once per turn when you reduce a creature to 0 HP with a weapon attack, immediately make one additional attack with the same weapon against a different creature you can see within that weapon's normal range. The follow-up attack can't use Sneak Attack.

Clean-up engine in multi-enemy fights. Kill a minion, pivot to the boss, deal weapon damage without Sneak Attack. This is not a second Rogue attack routine; it is a conditional follow-up after you drop a creature. That makes it swingy, but free when the battlefield has low-HP enemies. Don't overlook it.

Expanded Talent List (3rd) ● Access to martial OR technical talent picks at Improvements. This unlocks Combat Conditioning (CON save proficiency), various weapon masteries, and other combat-oriented talents. Good for specialization.

Brawler (7th) ● You can now use Sneak Attack in melee without requiring another creature adjacent to the target. You still can't have disadvantage, but the adjacency requirement is removed entirely. Also adds unarmed strikes to valid Sneak Attack weapons.

This removes the single biggest operational constraint on Rogue combat: needing a babysitter. Solo operations, scouting runs, fights where your party got separated - you're now a self-sufficient damage dealer in melee. The unarmed strike addition is mostly flavor, but with the right talent investment, Sneak Attack-eligible unarmed strikes are a fun niche.

Ready to Rumble (11th) ● Advantage on DEX initiative checks. You can't be surprised. The can't-be-surprised clause is the better half - it means Ambush now effectively guarantees your auto-crit potential at round 1 while removing your own vulnerability to surprise. The initiative floor stacks if you also have Aware.

Kill Shot (15th) ● When you roll Sneak Attack, reroll any dice you choose and keep the new result. Also, you can apply Sneak Attack to opportunity attacks if you haven't used Sneak Attack yet that round.

The reroll is massive at 15th level when you're rolling 8d6 of Sneak Attack. Force-rerolling all your 1s and 2s on 8 dice dramatically increases your average damage - the expected Sneak Attack goes from ~28 to roughly ~34. The opportunity attack clause is the other half: if you Haven't landed Sneak Attack yet, an enemy walking away triggers an opportunity attack WITH Sneak Attack on top. This rewards the riposte playstyle of staying in melee and waiting.

Thief ●

The utility and mobility specialist. Thief Rogues don't hit as hard as Enforcers in pure damage terms, but they're the most capable skill-based class in the game and generate obscene value in exploration and social pillars.

Thief Progression:

3rd: Fast Hands, Second-Story Work
7th: Appraising Eye
11th: Trap Specialist
15th: Thief's Reflexes

Fast Hands (3rd) ● Your Cunning Action bonus action can now also: make a Sleight of Hand check, take the Use Object action, or use thieves' tools to disarm a trap or open a lock.

This is a massive quality-of-life expansion. You can Hide as a bonus action and use a utility item in the same round - or unlock a door while enemies are bearing down on you. Use Object as a bonus action means activating wands, throwing caltrops, using healing potions without eating your action. The practical value in any dungeon-crawling campaign is immense.

Second-Story Work (3rd) ● Climbing speed equals walking speed. If you already have climbing speed, it increases by 10 feet. The long jump distance also scales with walking speed (up to full movement on a 10-foot run-up).

The climbing speed is straightforwardly useful. Walls and vertical terrain become movement advantages rather than obstacles. Long jump scaling is minor but occasionally relevant for crossing gaps.

Appraising Eye (7th) ● Action: learn whether any object within 10 feet is magical or nonmagical, its approximate value in GP (nonmagical), or if magical: type, rarity, curse status, attunement requirements, and how to use it. After examining a magic item, you can ignore class/feature requirements to use it (but not level requirements). If it needs a spellcasting ability, use DEX.

This is treasure-hunt gold. Detecting cursed items before attuning is priceless. Bypassing class-use requirements means you can activate Fighter-exclusive magic items, Cleric-only holy relics, or Wizard wands with DEX-based spellcasting. The tool-identification role alone justifies the subclass for some tables.

Trap Specialist (11th) ● Reaction to disarm a trap triggered by you or someone within 5 feet (if your check succeeds, the trap doesn't fire). Also disarms magical traps normally requiring dispel magic using only DEX modifier vs. the trap's DC.

This is "save the party from traps for free." A Thief 11 doesn't walk into a dungeon fearing trap rooms - they walk in expecting to defuse them. The magical trap interaction is unusual: no PB added, just raw DEX modifier. With 20 DEX that's +5, which is weak against high-DC magical traps but functional against standard ones.

Thief's Reflexes (15th) ● Two turns in round 1: your normal initiative and your initiative minus 10. Neither turn can be used if you were surprised.

Two full turns with full actions and bonus actions. This is a disproportionate power spike at 15th level. In round 1 you can: Hide + attack (Sneak Attack), then attack again (second Sneak Attack), repositioning twice. The Sneak Attack fires on each separate turn - which means two full Sneak Attack activations in round 1 alone. Against a boss, round 1 now does approximately double your normal first-round damage. Extraordinary.

Underfoot (The Old Margreve) ●

The burrowing ambusher and Primordial trickster. Underfoot is not as straightforwardly lethal as Enforcer or as broadly useful as Thief, but it gives Rogue a unique angle: attack from below, cast nature magic, and make a Sneak Attack-compatible shillelagh work with DEX.

Underfoot Progression:

3rd: Underfoot Ambusher, Expanded Talent List, Primordial Spellcasting, Versatile Shillelagh
7th: Undermine
11th: Death from Below
15th: Rapid Growth

Primordial Spellcasting (3rd) ● You learn shillelagh and two Primordial cantrips, then gain a limited known-spell progression up to 4th-circle slots. WIS is your spellcasting ability, which is awkward for a DEX/INT class, so prioritize utility, stealth, and control spells that do not need high save DCs.

Versatile Shillelagh (3rd) ● Your shillelagh lasts 1 hour, can use WIS or DEX for melee attack and damage, and qualifies for Sneak Attack. This solves the biggest rules problem with a nature-magic Rogue: your signature weapon still works with the core Rogue damage engine.

Underfoot Ambusher (3rd) ● You gain a 10-foot burrow speed that improves by 10 feet at 7th and 11th level. You cannot burrow through ice or rock, but in soil, loose earth, and many wilderness battlefields, this gives you angles other Rogues simply do not have.

Expanded Talent List (3rd) ● When you gain a new talent, you can select from magic or technical talents. This is a major customization hook. It is also your clean route to magic talents that normal Rogues cannot take.

Undermine (7th) ● As an action, disrupt a Large or smaller grounded creature within 5 feet. On a failed DEX save, it falls prone, and you can make a bonus-action weapon attack against it. At 11th level, this works on Huge or smaller creatures. The action cost is steep, but prone plus a follow-up attack can create your own advantage.

Death from Below (11th) ● After burrowing at least 10 feet toward a creature, your next attack against it with a shillelagh-enchanted weapon has advantage. You also gain 15-foot tremorsense. This is the subclass finally becoming self-sufficient: move underground, surface, attack with advantage, apply Sneak Attack.

Rapid Growth (15th) ● When you deal Sneak Attack damage, the target is restrained by vegetation and soil until the end of its next turn. If you roll Sneak Attack against a grappled, restrained, or speed-reduced creature, roll one extra Sneak Attack die. This is excellent control stapled to your normal damage loop.

Spy (Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

The infiltration specialist. Spy is less raw-damage focused than Enforcer and less item-forward than Thief, but it has the best social espionage chassis: false identities, protected thoughts, covert messages, initiative manipulation, and a brutal first-damage stun at 15th level.

Spy Progression:

3rd: Feint, Infiltrator
7th: Deep Cover
11th: Upper Hand
15th: Cloaked Dagger

Feint (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

Before making an attack roll with the Attack action against a creature within 30 feet that can see and hear you, you can force a WIS save against a CHA-based DC. On a failure, you gain advantage on the first attack roll you make against the target. That advantage can enable Sneak Attack if the other requirements are met.

This is useful, but the CHA scaling is awkward. Most Rogues prioritize DEX, then INT/CON/WIS depending on table needs. A Spy who wants Feint to land regularly needs real CHA investment or must target creatures with weak WIS saves. When it works, it gives the Spy a built-in way to manufacture advantage without hiding.

Hot take: Feint is not a free Sneak Attack button. It is a social Rogue feature that gets better when your stats and roleplay both support deception.

Infiltrator (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

You learn message and can cast it without material components. You also gain charlatan tools proficiency, or double your PB with charlatan tools if you already have proficiency. At Rogue 7, you learn sending and can cast it once per long rest without a spell slot or material components.

This is the Spy identity in one feature. Message handles short-range covert coordination. Charlatan tools support disguises, false documents, cons, and social engineering. Sending at 7th level gives the Rogue long-range intelligence traffic without needing a full caster.

Verdict: Excellent in heists, faction play, investigations, diplomacy, and Labyrinth campaigns where information beats damage.

Deep Cover (7th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

Your thoughts cannot be read by magical means unless you allow it. As a bonus action, you can also gain the benefits of nondetection for 1 hour, once per long rest.

This is campaign-facing defense. If your enemies use divination, interrogation magic, faction surveillance, mind reading, or scrying-style investigations, Deep Cover is excellent. If your campaign does not track magical intelligence at all, it becomes mostly flavor. In the Labyrinth, where spies are embedded among cults and factions, it is exactly the right kind of protection.

Upper Hand (11th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

After initiative is rolled but before the first round begins, you can switch your initiative, or the initiative of a willing ally you can see, with the initiative of another creature you can see. You cannot use this while surprised.

This is the Spy's tactical standout. Rogues care enormously about opening order: acting before allies can create Sneak Attack can be awkward, while letting a dangerous enemy act first can be fatal. Upper Hand lets you rewrite the opening tempo.

Best uses: move your frontliner before yourself to enable Sneak Attack, push a boss later in the order, move a controller before a clustered enemy group, or set up your own Cloaked Dagger turn at 15th.

Cloaked Dagger (15th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

When you successfully deal Sneak Attack damage against a creature that has not taken damage during the current round, the target is automatically stunned until the end of its next turn. Each time the stunned target takes damage, it can attempt a CON save against a DEX-based DC to end the effect early.

This is huge if your party respects the trigger. You want to hit a fresh target before anyone else damages it. Upper Hand helps make that happen by controlling initiative. Against one priority enemy, a round-long stun can be fight-defining.

Limitation: The "has not taken damage during the current round" clause means party discipline matters. Allies who chip the boss before you act can turn off your best feature.

Con Arcanist (Player's Guide 2) ●

The Arcane Rogue. Con Arcanist trades the Thief's item engine and Enforcer's raw violence for spellcasting, invisible mage hand tricks, subtle casting, and high-level misdirection. It wants INT more than most Rogues, but it still lives or dies on Sneak Attack positioning.

Con Arcanist Progression:

3rd: Arcane Spellcasting, Expanded Talent List, Ranged Legerdemain
7th: Subtle Spellcasting
11th: Distracting Hand
15th: Invisible Thief

Arcane Spellcasting (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● You gain limited Arcane spellcasting, starting with mage hand and two other Arcane cantrips, then known spells up to 4th circle by late levels. Early spell choices are mostly enchantment and illusion, with broader school access later. INT is your spellcasting ability.

This is good, but it is not permission to forget you are a Rogue. The best Con Arcanist spells create advantage, remove attention, move information, or disable a target long enough for the party to profit. If you are spending precious slots to do weaker Wizard cosplay, the hat is too big.

Expanded Talent List (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● When you gain a new talent, you can choose from magic or technical talents. This is a major customization hook and the cleanest Rogue route into magic utility without multiclassing.

Ranged Legerdemain (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● Your mage hand can be invisible, controlled with the bonus action from Cunning Action, manipulate worn or carried containers, and make Thieves' Tools checks at range if the hand has tools available.

This is the subclass identity. It lets you steal, plant, disarm, unlock, and sabotage from a safer distance. It also makes the Rogue's bonus action busier, so plan turns carefully.

Subtle Spellcasting (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● PB times per long rest, you can cast without verbal or somatic components. If the target is a creature that meets your Sneak Attack conditions, it has disadvantage on the save.

That is a sharp feature. The subclass rewards you for doing Rogue positioning first, then casting the spell where the target is already exposed. Good spell selection matters more here than raw slot count.

Distracting Hand (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● As a bonus action, choose a target within 5 feet of your mage hand; you have advantage on attack rolls against it until the start of your next turn.

This is excellent because it turns your signature cantrip into Sneak Attack infrastructure. Yes, it costs your bonus action. No, the target will not appreciate your handsy little crime cloud.

Invisible Thief (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● As an action, you become invisible and create an illusory double, functioning like a modified mislead effect. You can use Cunning Action's bonus action to move and control the double. Once per long rest.

This is powerful infiltration and combat misdirection. It is less directly lethal than Kill Shot or Cloaked Dagger, but for a Rogue who wants to be uncatchable, it is on brand.

Nightblade (Player's Guide 2) ●

The psychic knife Rogue. Nightblade gives you soul-bound blades, psychic resistance, scaling magical weapon bonuses, teleport pressure, and an INT-based psychic burst. It is the cleanest PG2 combat subclass for players who want a supernatural Rogue without becoming a spellcaster.

Nightblade Progression:

3rd: Psychic Blade, Psychic Bulwark
7th: Enhanced Blades (+1)
11th: Home In
15th: Enhanced Blades (+2, spiritual weapon), Psychic Burst

Psychic Blade (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● When you take the Attack action, you can manifest a psychic blade from a free hand and attack with it. It uses dagger statistics but deals psychic damage, and you can manifest a second blade for two-weapon fighting. If used for Pinning Shot, the blade remains until the target breaks free or you use Pinning Shot again.

This solves weapon access and damage typing in one feature. Psychic damage is often cleaner than mundane piercing, and the always-available blade is excellent for infiltrators who keep getting searched by guards with tragically reasonable policies.

Psychic Bulwark (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● You resist psychic damage. When you take psychic damage, you can hold part of that energy until the end of your next turn and add half the damage you took to one Psychic Blade attack.

Campaign-dependent but flavorful. Against psychic enemies, this turns being attacked into a receipt you can redeem violently.

Enhanced Blades (7th and 15th, Player's Guide 2) ● Your blades become magical with a +1 bonus to attack and damage, increasing to +2 at 15th. At 15th, you can also manifest a hovering blade as a bonus action, working like a psychic-damage spiritual weapon using INT.

The scaling weapon bonus keeps the subclass smooth without loot dependency. The 15th-level hovering blade adds action-economy pressure, though it competes with Cunning Action.

Home In (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● Your Psychic Blade range improves to 30/120 feet. When you hit a target with a psychic blade, you can use a bonus action to teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of it.

This is the feature that makes Nightblade feel different. You can throw, hit, teleport, and suddenly the enemy's backline has a very personal problem. Do not teleport into a bad square just because the button is shiny.

Psychic Burst (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● When you use Sneak Attack or score a critical hit with a psychic blade, you can force the target and nearby creatures to make an INT save or take psychic damage equal to your Sneak Attack dice, half on success. On a psychic-blade crit, the target can also suffer a d6 penalty to attacks, ability checks, or CON saves until it succeeds on an INT save. Uses scale by PB per long rest.

This is real area pressure on a class that normally deletes one target at a time. The INT save target is a nice bonus; plenty of enemies brought muscles to a math fight.

Trapsmith (Player's Guide 2) ●

The dungeon-control Rogue. Trapsmith is for players who want thieves' tools, map detail, ambush routes, and enemy movement to matter. It is strong when the table gives traps time and space, and weaker in featureless slugfests.

Trapsmith Progression:

3rd: Makeshift Trap, Trap Expertise
7th: Rework Trap
11th: Improved Traps
15th: Trap Mastery

Makeshift Trap (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● You spend 1 minute crafting a Small or smaller trap, then place it as an action in an unoccupied space within 5 feet. Uses per long rest equal PB + DEX modifier. Traps can damage, grapple, restrain, tether, inflict conditions, and expand their trigger or area by spending a pool based on Sneak Attack dice.

This is the PG2 trap engine. It is more class-integrated than Book of Blades booby traps because it keys off your Rogue progression. It still needs preparation and enemy movement, so tell your party before they charge directly through the murder hallway you thoughtfully curated.

Trap Expertise (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● You have advantage on checks to find, understand, disarm, or disable traps with thieves' tools. Without thieves' tools, you can still try with materials at hand, but at disadvantage.

This is clean, useful, and exactly what the subclass needs. In trap-heavy adventures, you become the reason the party still has eyebrows.

Rework Trap (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● When you disarm a trap you did not make, you can leave it untriggered, change its disable DC to your trap save DC, and add trap effects within a limited budget. You can also remotely trigger a known trap within 30 feet PB times per long rest.

This turns enemy preparation into your preparation. It is campaign-facing and very funny when the villain's own hallway learns new management.

Improved Traps (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● You can create a trap as an action and set it as a bonus action, place it within 30 feet, remotely trigger at 60 feet, and add stronger conditions such as incapacitated, paralyzed, stunned, and unconscious. You can also disarm certain magical traps with a DEX-only check against the trap DC.

This is the level where Trapsmith becomes combat-practical instead of mostly prep-based. The condition expansion is the serious payoff.

Trap Mastery (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● Failed disarm attempts against auto-triggering traps do not trigger the trap until you fail a second time. Your own traps also become hardier, and one check or save DC associated with a trap can increase by your DEX modifier.

The first half keeps you alive. The second half makes your trap field harder to ignore. Not flashy, but very on-plan.

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Weapons

Rapier ● - 1d8 finesse. Your primary melee weapon for single-weapon builds. Best damage die for Sneak Attack-eligible finesse weapons. Bring a rapier.

Shortsword ● - 1d6 finesse, Light. Great for secondary weapon or dual-wielding setups. Less damage than rapier but Light property opens Quick-Draw options.

Dagger ● - 1d4 finesse, Light, thrown (20/60). Versatile - usable in melee or at range. Concealable. Every Rogue should have a few. The 1d4 damage die limits it as a primary weapon.

Club or Quarterstaff with Shillelagh (The Old Margreve, Underfoot only) ● - Underfoot (The Old Margreve) changes shillelagh so the weapon can use DEX or WIS and qualify for Sneak Attack. Outside that subclass, this is not a normal Rogue plan.

Psychic Blade (Player's Guide 2, Nightblade only) ● - Nightblade manifests dagger-stat psychic blades whenever it takes the Attack action. This is the subclass weapon plan, and it neatly avoids the "where did you hide the dagger?" problem by answering "inside my soul, officer."

Shortbow ● - 1d6, ranged (80/320). With Covert, you can miss without being revealed. Standard issue for ranged Rogues.

Repeating Crossbow (Player's Guide 2) ● - Worth checking if your table uses PG2 weapons. Rogues like ranged weapons that reduce reload friction and keep the one-big-hit plan simple.

Bladed Whip / Wrist Knife / Joining Dirks / Parrying Dagger (Player's Guide 2) ● - These are build-specific weapon toys. Use them when their properties support the character's trick package; do not downgrade from a clean rapier or shortbow just because the equipment table got spicy.

Longsword and other non-Finesse martial weapons ● - Skip unless a specific ToV option makes the weapon Sneak Attack-eligible. Rogue damage is built around finesse or ranged weapons, not nostalgia.

Armor

Leather Armor ● - AC 11 + DEX. With 20 DEX that's AC 15 with zero penalties. Your standard armor. No stealth disadvantage. Default choice.

Studded Leather ● - AC 12 + DEX. With 20 DEX that's AC 16. Modest upgrade over leather. No stealth disadvantage. Strictly better than leather if available.

Chain Shirt ● - AC 13 + DEX (max +2). Caps at AC 15, same as studded leather with moderate DEX. The +2 DEX cap is what kills this option - your DEX investment doesn't pay off.

No Armor ● - Unlike Monk or Barbarian, Rogues have no Unarmored Defense. Skipping armor means relying purely on DEX. At AC 15 with studded leather, there's no reason to go unarmored.

Medium Armor ● - Not proficient. You'd need a talent or multiclass level to wear it, and the stealth disadvantage is antithetical to the Rogue identity.

Magic Items

● Margreve Fur (The Old Margreve) - Advantage on smell-based Perception and initiative, plus limited invisibility in plant terrain. Initiative advantage is excellent for Rogues, and the invisibility rider is exactly what stealth builds want.

● Moon Through the Trees (The Old Margreve) - Bonus-action invisibility near a living tree, with a reveal option that can blind chosen creatures. Rogues can convert invisibility into advantage and Sneak Attack, so this is one of the better stealth items in the book.

● Scorn Pouch (The Old Margreve) - Prevents surprise from hostile creatures within 30 feet. Rogues hate losing the first round, and Enforcer especially wants surprise to flow one way.

● Worg Salve (The Old Margreve) - Short-duration darkvision, smell-based Perception advantage, 50-foot speed, or a wolf bite option. The senses and speed are the relevant parts; the wolf form is more scouting than combat.

● Scrimshaw Comb (The Old Margreve) - Limited invisibility to Undead. Very strong in undead-heavy adventures, too narrow elsewhere.

● Sand Arrow (The Old Margreve) - Specialty arrow that slows armored targets and can blind briefly. Useful backup ammunition for archer Rogues.

● Sickle of Thorns (The Old Margreve) - +1 sickle that clears vegetation and deals extra damage to Plant creatures. Good utility, but sickles are not the default Rogue weapon plan unless your table treats one as Sneak Attack-eligible.

● Goblin Shield (The Old Margreve) - Rogues are not shield users, and a shield conflicts with the stealthy light-armor profile.

● Smoke Bomb (Book of Blades) - Mundane mount gear in the local animal-allies guide, but Rogues care about the tactical effect: a heavily obscured area for escape, repositioning, or breaking line of sight. Useful if your GM lets you buy and carry the gear outside mounted scenes.

● Saddle of Flying / Bridle of Calling (Book of Blades) - Only for mounted scout Rogues, couriers, and road-heist campaigns. Use the Book of Blades mounted support section if horses, chases, and mounted infiltration are real encounter tools at your table.

● Key of Keys (Player's Guide 2) - Exactly the kind of magic item a Rogue wants: it makes locks and access problems less honest. Trapsmiths and Thieves should fight politely over who gets it, then the Rogue should take it anyway.

● Cloak of Irrelevance / Caliginous Cowl (Player's Guide 2) - Strong stealth and anti-attention items for spies, Nightblades, and social infiltrators. If the item helps enemies fail to care where you are, that is practically a class feature with fabric.

● Quick-Up Boots / Potion of Readiness (Player's Guide 2) - Initiative and readiness boosts are always relevant to Rogues because the first round is where you either win tempo or spend six seconds saying "wait, I needed the Paladin over there."

● Bracers of Throwing / Night Blade / Mockingblade (Player's Guide 2) - Build-specific weapon support. Great when the item matches your combat plan, ordinary when it asks you to change the plan around loot.

Multiclassing

Rogue multiclasses require DEX 13.

Fighter 1-2 ● Fighter can be worthwhile for martial durability, weapon plans, and a more aggressive Enforcer-style build, but do not assume the dip is automatically better than another Rogue level. Every level away from Rogue delays Sneak Attack scaling, subclass features, Reliable Talent timing, boons, and high-level tricks.

Ranger 1-3 ● Explorer (climbing/swimming speed, difficult terrain immunity), Mystic Mark (no concentration extra damage). Pairs well with Thief's Second-Story Work if you want maximum climbing synergy, and Mystic Mark effectively adds bonus damage that doesn't consume your Sneak Attack turn.

Wizard 1-2 ● Arcane spell access. Mage Hand helps Thief's Fast Hands indirectly. Mostly niche. INT of 14 makes this viable but not optimal.

Bard 1-3 ● Bardic Inspiration and expertise stacking. Lore Bard at 3 gives Jack of All Trades (half PB on all non-proficient checks). Some skill overlap makes this feel redundant for most builds, but the social skills are better through Bard if you're building a face character.

Sorcerer/Warlock 1 ● - CHA dump kills the spellcasting investment immediately.

Example Build: Enforcer Assassin

Concept: Maximize opening-round burst damage through guaranteed advantage (Ambush) and auto-critical hits on surprised targets. Remain relevant throughout encounters via Brawler's adjacency-free Sneak Attack.

Level	Class	Key Gains	Decisions
1	Rogue	Expertise (2), Sneak Attack 1d6, Thieves' Cant	DEX 16, INT 14, CON 14; Expertise: Stealth + Thieves' Tools
2	Rogue	Cunning Action	Use every turn: Hide or Disengage
3	Rogue	Subclass	Enforcer to Ambush, Cold-Blooded
4	Rogue	Improvement	DEX 16 to 18
5	Rogue	Uncanny Dodge	Reaction damage halving
6	Rogue	Evasion, Expertise (4)	Expertise: Perception + Deception
7	Rogue	Enforcer: Brawler	No more adjacency requirement
8	Rogue	Improvement	DEX 18 to 20
9	Rogue	Reliable Talent	Floor on expertise skills ~18+
10	Rogue	Heroic Boon	Escape Artist
11	Rogue	Enforcer: Ready to Rumble	Advantage on init, can't be surprised
12	Rogue	Improvement	INT 14 to 16 (or Aware talent)
13	Rogue	Precise Critical	19-20 crits with finesse/ranged
14	Rogue	Keensense	10 ft sensing
15	Rogue	Enforcer: Kill Shot	Reroll Sneak Attack dice; OA Sneak Attack
16	Rogue	Improvement	CON 14 to 16 or Combat Conditioning talent
17	Rogue	Precise Critical (2 dice)	+2 weapon dice on crits
18	Rogue	Elusive	No advantage on attacks vs. you
19	Rogue	Improvement	CON boost or Touch of Luck talent
20	Rogue	Epic Boon: Stroke of Luck	Turn miss into hit 1/short rest

Tactics: Move before enemies using Ready to Rumble's initiative advantage. Identify the priority target. If it's surprised, walk up and attack - Ambush's auto-crit triggers, doubling your rapier die and all 10d6 (at level 20) of Sneak Attack. Against non-surprised targets, use Cunning Action to Hide, then attack from hiding (advantage = Sneak Attack), then Disengage next round if needed.

Round 1 math vs. surprised target at level 15: 2d8 (rapier crit) + 16d6 (Sneak Attack 8d6 doubled) + modifiers, with Kill Shot rerolling bad dice. Expected: ~14 + 56 + 10 = ~80 damage before any other modifiers. Most bosses don't enjoy round 1.

Hot Take

Hot Take: The best Rogue support does not replace Sneak Attack or Cunning Action. It creates a reliable opening for Sneak Attack, saves the bonus action for movement or hiding, or rewards a plan the party can execute together. An option that looks strong in isolation can be a poor pick when the campaign never offers stealth, positioning, or preparation.

Final Notes

The ToV Rogue rewards players who think about positioning. The Sneak Attack trigger system means you're never just "click attack button" - you're asking "where do I need to be, and who needs to be where, for this to work?" That decision-making loop is what makes the class fun to play at high levels.

Enforcer is the more rewarding combat experience if you enjoy executing a combat plan efficiently. The Ambush auto-crit is thrilling - designing encounters around surprising enemies and cashing in that first-round burst never gets old. Thief is the more rewarding exploration experience. Thief's Reflexes at 15th is a power spike that catches many players off guard - two full turns in round 1 is a mechanical conversation stopper.

The Old Margreve adds a third lane with Underfoot (The Old Margreve). It is more build-around than Enforcer or Thief, but burrowing, Sneak Attack-compatible shillelagh, Death from Below advantage, and Rapid Growth restraint give it a play pattern no other Rogue has. The book's best Rogue support pieces are Erina (The Old Margreve), Delver Heritage (The Old Margreve), Forest Dweller (The Old Margreve), Teleporting Harrier (The Old Margreve), Scentless (The Old Margreve), Margreve Fur (The Old Margreve), Moon Through the Trees (The Old Margreve), and Scorn Pouch (The Old Margreve).

Book of Blades adds a different kind of Rogue support. Poisoner plus Noxious Apothecary is the assassin/alchemist package. War Dancer supports mobile melee Rogues. Tactical Planning turns scouting and heist prep into combat tempo. Privileged is the best Book of Blades social heritage for infiltration characters.

Labyrinth Worldbook adds Spy (Labyrinth Worldbook). Where Enforcer kills, Thief solves, and Underfoot ambushes from below, Spy controls information and tempo. Feint tries to manufacture advantage, Infiltrator turns the Rogue into a covert communications hub, Deep Cover protects against magical counterintelligence, Upper Hand rewrites the first round, and Cloaked Dagger turns first damage into a stun.

Player's Guide 2 adds three more Rogue lanes. Con Arcanist (Player's Guide 2) is the magical con artist and distant tool user. Nightblade (Player's Guide 2) is the psychic-weapon striker with teleport pressure and burst. Trapsmith (Player's Guide 2) is the dungeon saboteur that turns Sneak Attack dice into trap budgets and enemy traps into invitations.

The big watch-out: Rogues are dependent on team composition. Without allies to trigger adjacency Sneak Attack (pre-Brawler), or without Cunning Action-Hide setups working, your damage drops dramatically. Know when you need a front-liner to set up your strike, and communicate with your party.

Talent Guides

Lineage Guides

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