Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build A Thief Rogue

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• Rogue Thief Features

• Best Species For A Rogue Thief

• Best Ability Scores For A Rogue Thief

• Best Starting Equipment For A Rogue Thief

• Best Feats For A Rogue Thief

Sometimes, adventures in Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition calls for a deft hand. Getting into and out of sticky situations without getting caught can be a real challenge, but for one Rogue subclass, it's second nature. They go by many names: burglars, bandits, pickpockets, cutpurses, but they can all be summarized by a single term: thief.

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Unlike many rogue subclasses, the humble thief doesn't rely on magic or supernatural powers to accomplish their tasks. Instead, thieves specialize in exploiting their environment, stealthily using terrain and magic items to their advantage. Read on to discover how to play this challenging rogue subclass.

Rogue Thief Features

As a professional pilferer, the thief's skills are all about plucking items without anyone noticing. At third level, the Fast Hands ability allows thieves to use the bonus action granted by Cunning Action to make Sleight of Hand checks, use thieves tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action.

Second-Story Work also allows thieves to climb without any penalty to their movement speed. They can also make running jumps using their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier.

Supreme Sneak at level nine grants the thief advantage on stealth checks if they do not move more than half their speed on the same turn.

At level 13, Use Magic Device provides the thief with access to all magic items, ignoring all class, race, and level requirements. This makes the thief incredibly versatile, provided you're able to procure some magical implements.

Finally, Thief's Reflexes at level 17 lets the thief take two turns during the first round of combat. The first turn is taken at normal initiative, and the second turn is taken at your initiative roll minus 10.

Best Species For A Rogue Thief

You can play any species as a rogue thief and still be reasonably effective, but there are a few species that lend themselves to a thief's special set of skills. Here are a few suggestions for species that make especially good thieves.

Autognome

Armored Casing makes sourcing armore pretty easy, and not needing to sleep can make you the party's watch person. Built for Success is the real draw here as it adds a d4 to your attacks, ability checks, and saving throws.

Bugbear

Perhaps the best class for any rogue, Bugbears add an extra five feet of reach, Darkvision, and stealth proficiency. Perhaps best of all, Surprise Attack adds an extra 2d6 damage to any creature that hasn't yet had its turn in combat, making you the perfect ambush predator.

Deep Gnome

Being able to cast Disguise Self and Nondetection are both perfect for any thief. Advantage on stealth checks is great, although you'd get that at level nine as a thief anyway if you're willing to wait.

Elf

The High Elf gains access to longbows and a wizard cantrip. Booming Blade is probably the best cantrip for a rogue to learn as your bonus action allows you to disengage freely, prompting enemies to move and trigger Booming Blade for extra damage.

Fairy

Being able to fly makes the thief's climbing abilities somewhat redundant, but being able to cast Faerie Fire pairs extremely well with the rogue's Sneak Attack ability. Plus, you might not be able to fly all the time.

Half-Elf

Darkvision, extra skills, and more stats are all good for a rogue. Take the High-Elf subspecies if you want access to Booming Blade.

Kenku

Gaining advantage on your proficient skill checks can allow a Kenku thief to virtually ignore locks. Expert Duplication can let you make a quick copy of a note you need to steal or leave a good enough copy of a valuable art piece. Very on-brand for a thief.

Kobold

Draconic Cry can provide an easy route to advantage for Sneak Attack rolls, and the Kobold Legacy feature can provide access to Booming Blade or another useful sorcerer cantrip.

Owlin

Flight, Darkvision, and stealth proficiency. If you want to be a flying thief, there's no better way to do it than the Owlin.

Tabaxi

Cat's Talent provides two useful skills for a thief, and Feline Agility lets you get into the thick of combat without using your bonus action. A great choice for any rogue.

Thri-kreen

Thieves are all about using objects, and with an extra set of hands, you can use those objects while still dual-wielding daggers. Chameleon Carapace also provides advantage on hide checks and a better base armor class.

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Best Ability Scores For A Rogue Thief

Rogue thieves are unique in that they really just need Dexterity to function well. Constitution is always useful for more hitpoints, and the rest can be spread out among Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma to provide you with better skill checks.

As the thief can use its Dexterity to jump, you can safely ignore Strength without losing too much in-game functionality.

If you're using the points buy system for D&D, a good starting ability score spread might look something like this:

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

8(-1)

16(+3)

14(+2)

14(+2)

12(+1)

12(+1)

Feel free to swap the 14 points in Intelligence with the 12 points in Wisdom or Charisma, depending on how you'd prefer to play your thief.

Best Starting Equipment For A Rogue Thief

Rapiers simply do more damage than shortswords, so pick the rapier as your starting melee weapon. A shortbow will provide some much-needed ranged attack for your rogue, so it's recommended to pick that over a shortsword as your second weapon.

If you really want to dual-wield your rogue, then pick the shortsword and rely on your thrown daggers for ranged attacks.

The burglar's pack provides way more useful items for a rogue thief than either the dungeoneer's or explorer's pack. Finally, leather armor, two daggers, and a set of thieve's tools round out your starting equipment.

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Best Feats For A Rogue Thief

If you're playing with an extra feat to start your game, or if you're late in your adventure and don't feel the need to maximize more ability scores, there are a few feats that a rogue thief might find useful.

Alert

An extra five initiative score can pair extremely well with a Bugbear rogue's Surprise Attack.

Crossbow Expert

For thieves looking to specialize in ranged attacks with crossbows, this feat is essential for rogues as they won't often want to use their bonus action to reload.

Gunner

Same as Crossbow Expert, but for guns.

Dual Wielder

If you insist on dual-wielding swords, this is the way to do it.

Elven Accuracy

As an Elf with a bow, this is an excellent feat to maximize your damage.

Lucky

Who needs skill proficiencies when you've got luck?

Magic Initiate

Learning two cantrips (such as Booming Blade) can be a huge boost to the thief, although if you wanted that, you might as well have picked the arcane trickster subclass.

Sharpshooter

Perfect when used with the rogue's optional Steady Aim feature.

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