Some of the more obvious changes could include giving Rogues additional armor or hit points to make them more durable when fighting one-on-one. That being said, throwing heavy armor on a stealthy character could disrupt the balance in Dungeons and Dragons. Improving any class in 6E will need to go deeper than simply removing any negatives.

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Cunning Rogue Expertise Outside of Combat

An important part of building any character for a D&D campaign is balancing combat effectiveness with other abilities that can push an adventure forward. In the lore for Rogues, these characters are meant to be sly, cunning tricksters, but their class features and proficiencies don’t exactly follow the same guidelines. More often than not, the best ways for Rogues to interact outside of combat is by sneaking through closed-off spaces. It’s more about not being seen than it is about fast-talking through conversation.

Non-combat class features might appear boring on the surface, but they can have a huge impact on an overall story. A skilled DM can also make spoken interactions have an even larger impact on combat encounters than levels and equipment. In that case, giving Rogues the ability to fast-talk through conversations, either through a class feature or additional proficiency, could help with writing compelling D&D campaigns around a character’s lies and the consequences of them.

More Options For Long-Distance Combat

Ask any Ranger, Wizard, or Bard how to keep from dying while fighting alongside a party of Fighters and Barbarians, and the answer will often be to keep their distance. The same goes for the Rogue class, which has a number of defensive abilities like Uncanny Dodge, as well as few options for actively staying outside of melee range. Rogues who choose to train in archery can still land sneak attacks with a bow and arrow, giving a prepared character a few options for ranged combat in D&D.

One addition that could give Rogues more ranged options could be thrown weapons usable with sneak attacks. Throwing weapons can be more costly than a bow and arrow, but it would offer options for building a character who behaves in ways that better fit a character-written backstory. Granting Rogues new avenues for ranged combat, either through a passive change to what counts for sneak attacks or with a range-specific archetype, could both improve D&D’s character creation and give the class more versatility.

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Rogues Need a Wider Variety of Combat Apart from Sneak Attacks

The sneak attack is easily the most powerful weapon in a Rogue’s arsenal, able to deliver up to sixty additional damage on a successful hit - not counting the power of the weapon itself. However, this leaves Rogues with only one trick for dealing serious damage during combat, with most other abilities aimed at fleeing from retaliation. Many other classes have a variety of options for taking on different encounters, from D&D’s strongest spells to utilizing multiple attacks in a single turn. This winds up leaving the Rogue somewhat shallow when it comes to combat.

As for suggestions, class or archetype features that allow a Rogue to split their sneak attack damage across multiple attacks could be a strong start. This would remove the all-or-nothing nature of the attack, also giving players the chance to split damage across multiple enemies. Of course, this is only one possible example of how the sneak attack can be reworked in order to offer more depth to the class’ arsenal without just giving the Rogue a stronger magical weapon. It wouldn’t completely reinvent the class, but any added depth to the strategy would be a marked improvement from the glass cannon niche that Rogues current fit in D&D.

The balance of 5E Rogues is impressively crafted and makes them a fun class to take on adventure in D&D’s current form. However, as Wizards of the Coast moves toward reinventing Dungeons and Dragons in 6E, the versatility of a Rogue should be addressed to improve both combat and non-combat experiences. For now, the class is still a blast in 5E for anyone looking to spend their time rolling for stealth and sleight of hand.

Dungeons and Dragons 5E is available now.

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