How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM Who Should Play As a Rogue
The moon hangs high in the sky, full in its brilliance. A bank of clouds slides lazily across the sky and obscures part of the moon shining down on you as you scale the side of the building. You love how the moon illuminates the world at night. In fact, for most of your life, you’ve considered the moon your closest companion. For a job like this, you would’ve preferred a new moon and utter darkness, but time won’t allow it. That’s fine with you. The moon gives you comfort.
“As it should,” whispers a small silky voice into your ear. You smile. It’s not the first time your protector has whispered in your ear on a job. You don’t really know when the voice started, but it’s always helped you out. At first you were distrustful of it, but it never asked for anything so you’ve learned to trust it over the years.
Finally you reach the zenith of the Serpent’s Dome. This Museum houses precious artifacts from across Integrity. But you and your companions only need one artifact. You pull out your tools and pry open one of the windows. You set up the pulley system and start to lower yourself down.
“Use the dust,” whispers the voice. You stop your descent and smile. You reach into your pack and pull out a handful of dust and toss if below you. A small spark flashes and then you see a field of magic appear and then fade. That dust was definitely worth the cost. You begin your descent again.
Finally you reach the glass case and use your tools to extract the artifact. Easier than you thought it would be.
You begin to pull yourself back up but halfway to your exit you hear the whisper, “It’s a trap. They know you’re here, drop it and leave.”
What would you like to do?
Welcome back to the 20th episode of How to Be a Better DM. As always, I’m your host, Justin Lewis, and I’m here to help you create more engaging stories for you and your players as you DM a nice session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I am incredibly grateful for you all who listen in every week. Thank you to all of you who support the show and thanks for your continued backing.
Second, I’m happy to announce that we are working on our Patreon and that should be done pretty soon. Stay tuned for that and get ready for the goodies that come with it.
Now, last week I talked about who shouldn’t play as a rogue. This week, let’s talk about who should be steered toward playing a rogue.
- Sneaky Sneaky
If you have a player who wants to sneak places, then the obvious choice is a rogue. Every character will probably be forced to stealth at some point, but generally rogues are the ones who excel the most at stealth.
- Stealy Stealy
Similarly, if you are interested in pick pocketing and stealing stuff then the rogue is for you. It’s basically the job description for a rogue. Their natural dexterity allows them to get in and out quickly.
- Assassinations
Any character can assassinate enemies. With sneak attack damage making a secret kill becomes much easier. Add the stealth and the dexterity to it and it becomes almost a cinch.
- The Underworld of Crime
As a Rogue, you gain the ability to speak Thieve’s Cant which is only really spoken in the seedy underbelly of society. This naturally connects rogues with Crime syndicates, gangs and the like. If you have a player who is interested in that, encourage them to choose a rogue.
- Stay Away from Spells
Even if your player wants to choose arcane trickster, a rogue is a perfect character for someone who doesn’t want the complexity of spells. Rogues get to do awesome stuff that doesn’t deal with spell components, concentration, or ritual spells.
- Avoiding Damage
Rogues get to use their bonus action to disengage, hide, or dash. This allows Rogues to be very mobile and or stealthy even during combat. When you pair this ability with sneak attack, a rogue becomes the perfect role for someone who wants to cause specific damage with minimal damage taken.
While not an exhaustive list, this should help you direct newbies to the character class that they will love!
Thanks again everyone for listening to today’s show. As always you rock. And have a very happy thanksgiving everyone.
We’ll see you next week.
Until then, let’s roll initiative…
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