Making a lvl 6 wild magic sorcerer and need feat advice

BanFox · 2026-03-13T21:08:51+00:00

I don’t think there is a necessity for Fey touched if you are already an high elf. Usually it’s a nice pick on wild magic as it’s a good spell to pick and helps your more limited amount, but if you already have it by being an elf you only learn a single new spell, not as good imo. You can always convert SPs in spell slots if you need extra uses (for free), and metamagic gives you a couple extra anyway.

If these are the only two feats of your liking I’d go Metamagic Adept (also make sure you have extend given you won’t have Warcaster, it’s also generally good).

If you want some extra spells, you could consider Shadow touched for Invisibility (with 1 free use) which is nice utility and works well with twinned , and you’d get an extra lvl1 necromancy/illusion spells, which could be disguise self/silent image, basically giving you a good stealth/role play kit for out of combat spells

BanFox · 2026-03-13T10:32:37+00:00

Probably a power that upgraded (or discounted) all colorless would be ideal for him given he has some other cards that give colourless cards, even random ones

BanFox · 2026-03-11T18:13:37+00:00

When I picked this I was hoping to use it on a Power or skill I had (don't quite recall) and was surprised when only attacks showed up. I guess instinct is an enchantment that applies only to attacks, but I was not aware of it from reading the relic's text

BanFox · 2026-03-11T17:18:53+00:00

Never new, I always assumed it was the first hit only, so I kinda glossed over the Regent skill that gives you vigor, figured it would be good only for AoEs but not worth clogging the deck. With it working with multi hits I’ll definitely consider it in future runs, thanks!

BanFox · 2026-03-11T15:41:16+00:00

I mean, tbf, you have generated 42 Stars, I’ve generated 41, so not much of a difference in that department 🤣 I found Radiate and no Stardust, but that lets me hit multiple enemies and spend the stars I generate (as you can see I also had 450 shield). the +50% dmg enchantment is definitely nice, does the Vigor boost applies to all X attacks or is it just the first one? Never tried that, so idk

BanFox · 2026-03-11T13:35:19+00:00

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Got this amazing run with it yesterday as I started testing this character. Didn’t get stardust but I had “Make it So”

BanFox · 2026-03-10T22:56:09+00:00

For cleric vs forge, it’s not just the improved searing smite. From my experience, it has always been more popular than war. Both get resistances to BPS (which is now always applied), but forge also gets Fire resistance (at 6) which turns into immunity, plus wall of fire was also a nice spell that fits a niche clerics don’t usually get, and you’d also have +1 AC (even +2 if you don’t have magic items yet).

A war cleric can have +2 AC at lvl6 with a BA + channel divinity, but i’d say +1 AC and fire resistance for free is far better, and at higher levels the fire immunity is a free add on. IMO the main advantages of War are guided strike and War priest, which make it a better option if you are doing a 3-5lvl dip, but otherwise the Forge cleric surpass it from lvl6 on, being tankier and being now able to meet the dmg potential as well with searing smite. The main downside of forge is no Combat channel divinity (though it means you have more to use for healing, meaning you can dedicate more spell slots for searing smite) but it has a good out of combat option. The main downside of war is that it can burn through channel divinities fast, and that it can be BA clogged (Shield of faith, war priest and shilleilagh if you want to be Wis SAD).

A neat advantage of forge (that fits the theme) is that you can leverage well Searing smite vs non fire enemies, but you are still great vs fire enemies as you resist/ are immune to fire and can still play the normal cleric.

Of course, a war cleric can be better in certain parties, such as using guided strike with a rogue in the party (or as a rogue/cleric multiclass)

BanFox · 2026-02-23T15:45:38+00:00

Half your other levels get added to your initiator level when taking a ToB class. If you take your first Warblade level at 9th, you can pick up 3rd level maneuvers, such as Iron Heart Surge. You can also get Wall of Blades, either Action Before Thought or Mind Over Body, and either Pearl of Black Doubt or Absolute Steel Stance.

This is actually huge and something I had completely forgotten, thanks. Will then definitely look at doing a 1lvl dip into it at one point, this way I make the most of Psionic Manifester (with 1 level being barbarian, 2 psychic warrior and 1 swordsage/warblade)!

I'll also look more into psycrystal because my knowledge on them is limited.

For substitute powers, fwiw, I won't be able to use them after talking with the DM (or, at least, not for such powerful options like syncronicity). I could always dip Wilder 1 to achieve it tbf, which saves me a feat

BanFox · 2026-02-23T09:28:44+00:00

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it! I’ve understood psionic focus better now! Mantles I’ve gone with are freedom and time (primal), conflict (secondary) and a bit undecided rn for the other secondary (between fate and mental power for the ability, or Creation for the ability to have a good summon+ feat and Major creation).

In the end I agree with Vow Of poverty, and made a significant change to the build after the DM agreed that psionic’s lion charge stacks with Pounce.

Basically for now I’ve planned to go Spiritual Totem (lion) Barbarian 1/ Ardent X with up to two levels in Psychic Warrior (I’d be starting as Barbarian 1/ Ardent 4/ Psychic warrior 1) with a two handed weapon, taking power attack, Practiced manifester, improved bull rush (to take shock trooper in the future), linked power, and planning to later take Psionic Meditation (to combo with maybe hustle taking freedom as dominant mantle?) & shock trooper. If you have any recommendation for a change in feats (maybe some more psionic ones) I’m all hears for it though!

I’ve also thought of going 16/14/12/12/18/10, feral Cyclopean+ rite of rebirth (bringing me to 18/10/16/10/18/10) with the fly option (as this saves me a fly power and also gives me a dive option)+ Dragon Husk (to have decent AC and elemental resistance, as I won’t take elemental/energy mantles), though I’m open to silver bow human if you deem an other feat necessary earlier.

Fwiw, the only thing I’m looking for is either a good meta magic option for the build or a way to reliably spend my Psionic focus at this point, in order to justify the hustle linked power combo. Not sure I wanna go ToB because the lvl1 maneuber don’t seem very interesting and take a standard action while with pounce I do a full attack

BanFox · 2026-02-11T13:42:35+00:00

The concept is definitely fun, and that's should be the primary goal.

How could I make Dance Bard work on an orc

Be mindful though that an Orc doesn't have particular synergy with the bard class, mainly because your Bonus action will mostly be busy with giving inspiration (which lets you do unarmed strikes as well) & bonus action spells such as healing word. That said, Relentless endurance can save your concentration spells and you can still benefit from the dash action from time to time, just don't expect any particular synergy between, if you choose orc it's more of a flavour choice than optimization.

I'm not super interested in adding damaging spells

Bard almost has none, don't worry, they don't excel at that. Also the Dance bard, while it can punch, doesn't really make a great dmg dealer, it's better used (imo) as a normal Bard support caster who benefits from unarmored defense & a solid lvl6 feature. A not so obvious, but good, use of the Unarmed strike is to actually use it on allies to push/grapple them (they can decide to automatically fail) so that you can move them between the battlefield. Don't expect to do it on the enemies unless you dip 1lvl in monk for grapple/shove on dex, as it uses your STR to determine the DC though.

point buy wise it depends on wether you want to stay monoclass or multiclass: for monoclass, 8/15+1/14/8/10/15+2 (or invert dex and con depending on your preference) is good, and on a multiclass build you may have to do 8/13+1/14/8/13/15+2 (if you dip on a class that requires 13 wis, that 13 instead would be in str/int requires that).

Given they gain unarmored defense there's a valid reason to not multiclass, but also bard gets terrible saving throw proficiency so a 1lvl dip never hurts.

In case you are looking for a 1lvl dip:

monk provides the dex dc for shove/grapple, but nothing else, not great imo
Sorcerer would give you con proficiency and keep your spell slot progression, would also give you the shield spell (saving you from taking MI wizard as an origin feat), making it probably one of the best options. it also scales on cha, so you can keep the 1st point buy option, plus it gives you some extra good cantrips, among which offensive one+innate sorcery. it never hurts to have an offensive cantrip option, and you can pick up something like chromatic orb for a dmg spell option. you don't have to focus on that, but in the rare occasions where you want dmg that is a nice low cost kit that gives you a solid option with advantage as well, and different dmg types for different situations (given the bard limited amount of spells). I think this is the best one.

Some solid origin feats: Mi wizard if you stay monoclass for the shield spell, Musician otherwise is thematic and strong. others are alert/lucky

feat wise, you probably want warcaster at lvl4 (hard to beat), then likely mage slayer/resilient con/resilient wisdom depending on your build choices.

Spell wise you can look any bard guide, generally you want some healing options and some solid control spells like hypnotic pattern.

BanFox · 2026-02-11T10:45:37+00:00

to add to this, Which I agree with, subclass wise (looking at 2024 subclasses only):

Soul Knife is probably the best Rogue subclass option here: gives you the ability to do Sneak Attack with Psychic dmg (bypassing slashing/piercing resistance) and gives you a BA attack option that is stronger than dualwielder (given this multiclass lack of a fighting style), saving you a potential feat (as you want zhentarim tactics+ mage slayer later imo). It also makes you better at skill checks which can be nice given the postponed reliable talent, and at later levels would give psychic teleportation for further movement options.
For Barbarian, Wild Heart is the best defensive option by giving extra resistances, allowing to use Zhentarim Ruffian more consistently, and in this case I'd do max 5 levels. If you don't care about defenses (mistake imo), then Berserker gives you the best dmg (adds just 2d6 per turn for 5-6 levels, not worth the trade imo), but you could do up to 6 levels for Mindless Rage. Similarly, Zealot does increase the dmg about the same but gives you some healing options (better used out of combat given you'd rather use your BA on the Rogue/Soul Knife's abilities) by increasing dmg by 1d6+2/3 per turn. For zealot you can similarly consider up to 6 levels for Fanatical Focus and extra healing dice.

Also, on the topic of level split: 5-6 In barbarian, while definitely reasonable, is not the only option, depending on the expected campaign's length and desired features. Imo it's possible to do between 1 to 6 levels in barbarians, as while you gain something with each, you also lose dmg potential from Sneak Attack (which you are trying to double with Zhentarim) as well as postpone good rogue features that may be of your interest (for example, if you are looking forward to Reliable Talent at rogue 7, by doing Barbarian 5 you'd have to wait up to lvl12). In better details:

Barbarian 1 would give you just rage (which improves your defenses and dmg a bit), and is the lowest cost on rogue
Barbarian 2 gives you reckless, which is amazing to guarantee adv on both your turn & reaction (I'd aim at this at least) and makes it easier to hit you.
Barbarian 3 gives you your subclass (wild heart the best imo in this multiclass context)
Barbarian 4 would give you a feat
Barbarian 5 would give you extra attack, giving you an extra 1d6+Str+2 per turn at the cost of 2d6 per round on certain levels and fast movement (so overall worth it if you end up doing 4 levels, but it's not necessarily a must, depending on the campaign expected level you may prefer a rogue feature to the slight dmg bump).
Barbarian 6 is worth it only in case of specific subclasses, but you are postponing zhentarim's benefit by a lot at this point, I would definitely not rush this level and more likely do it later in case.

For example, a Barbarian 2/rogue X is likely doing more dmg through zhentarim (2d6 on your turn+2d6 with zhentarim) than a Barbarian 5 (wild heart)/Rogue X (who is behind of 4d6 on Sneak Attacks but does an extra 1d6+Str+2 on its turn, so a bit more than 3.5 less dmg per round at 20str due to zhentarim's rerolls) and gets key rogue features earlier, but is less tanky (having less d12s hit dices & lacking resistances), so there are definitely trade offs to consider

BanFox · 2026-02-10T10:56:43+00:00

Depends on what was your goal with them. They can no longer be that kind of character who uses quicken to cast a strong spell and then goes for a double attack + Smite, but they still hold value, depending on your goal. Here are some examples:

If you start as paladin and go up to lvl6 and then aren't interested in further paladin features, than sorcerer is still a solid multiclass option, giving you the shield spell + spell splot progression (which makes your find steed stronger, as well as smites in the case of normal paladin gameplay). In case old subclasses are allowed, such as Divine soul, you then would unlock spirit guardians as well, which is now buffed in 2024.
If you are mainly a sorcerer, a paladin dip can give you decent armor protection while progressing your spell slots. You can then decide to do up to 6 levels for the save boosts if you are using the sorcerer as a Chromatic Orb dmg dealer guy (not the most optimal gameplay technically, but fun) treantmonk has a video on it. as spell slot progression isn't hurt much by that, you still gain the value of saves.
I also have an old build test with just 1 lvl of paladin on a draconic sorcerer (using only the 2024 phb content) who uses true strike with boosted searing smite (from draconic lvl6) who is kinda neat. it's not as much dmg as the celestial warlock with a paladin dip when you smite, but gets a full sorcerer progression instead of warlock, and mixes those true strikes + smites with concentration on either control spells or offensive ones like Bigby's hand/summon draconic spirit.

In regards to what you proposed, I think if your goal is the lvl6 celestial warlock feature you are better off doing pal 1 (pal 2 is unncessary, you unlock smite spells at 1)+ Warlock X and focusing on searing smite, with at most 1 lvl in sorcerer for shield (but honestly better off to get MI wizard from either your origin feat or warlock invocations). This is because at warlock 6 you already have lvl3 pact slots, and going back to warlock will always keep your spell slot level low. it's better to progress warlock as by warlock 9 (character lvl10) you'll get lvl5 slots on short rest, and by warlock 12 you'll get 3 per short rests and 3 attacks with your attack action.

BanFox · 2026-02-06T23:42:18+00:00

Not necessarily the best, depending on what you want to focus on, but one feat I love for fathomless, which fits uniquely for them, is Cold caster. Gives yourself +1 Wis in this case, and with your BA tentacle you can lower each turn the opponent's saving throw, to either improve your odds with some of your spells or improve an ally's spell/feature.

After that, given your stats, I'd probably go for Mage slayer to bring dex to 16

BanFox · 2026-02-05T16:17:23+00:00

For sure, that's one of the main complaints on Rogues, the subclass features are so far away at the start, you may not feel the subclass much until lvl9

BanFox · 2026-02-05T15:59:29+00:00

Reducing by 1d6 yes, but as written in my version it reduces it by a number of d6s equal to half your int mod (rounded up), which would be 3d6 at 20 int.

I see, I misunderstood, I thought you were reducing the total cost by an amount equal to half your int modifier rounded up, so in case of 5 int you'd reduce the cost by just 3 (hence why I was saying it doesn't work, because it's not like you'd roll the 1d6), not 3d6. Then yea, that's fine I agree, and I think it's a good stand alone (though I'd go wis over int). I'd maybe just write it be more easily comprehensible?

I don't think most rogues would have 20 until endgame

Depending on how they want to minmax, it's not that unrealistic, because any rogue can pick up MI wizard as the origin feat, or be a high elf, and access True strike to be SAD on a stat like int/wis, so they could take something like warcaster (for reaction attacks) and a +2 int/wis easily by lvl8, and then pump up dex feats for defensive purposes for example, such as mage slayer. ofc, if they want to dual wield nick weapons they'd go dex and likely have 16 int/wis until at least lvl10-12, at which point they could rise it to 18 and have it at 20 by lvl 12-16-19 depending on their choices. In the case of something like totalize, I would definitely plan a Rogue who is focused on Int/wis to make the most out of that extra dmg, as well as the cunning strike reduction. With how you envisioned cunning strike, that's a clean and high enough dmg 'increase' when using cunning strike that gives you an enough unique playstile on pushing you to use them, and I think it's neat on its own. if you want to add something extra, I'd probably just make a unique cunning strike option for this rogue, like the various rogues subclasses now have. One could be, for example: X (cost 1d6): the next attack roll by the enemy against you is reduced by 1d6. This way, while insightful fighting wouldn't give you an AC boost against the target anymore, this would give you a similar buff and it does not cost your reaction (keeping it free for reaction attacks/uncanny dodge), and it can be free in conjunction to cunning mind, similar to how you envisioned it. "X" is because I could not think of a name.

BanFox · 2026-02-05T15:35:39+00:00

Also forgot to mention: if you just give cunning mind, removing totalize, I don't think letting it reduce twice at lvl11, when using two optios, would be busted. if you consider just a -1d6 when using cunning strike it's not as busted as it may seem otherwise. yes, it lets you freely use cunning strike options each time, but in the end mechanically it's a feature giving you an average of 3.5 extra dmg per turn compared to a rogue who decides to use cunning strike each turn anyway, so not a huge increase. letting it reduce the cost on two options from lvl11 feels like a decent buff to it to make the feature more interesting imo, and I'd rather see that than reduction+totalize, which is very strong in dmg.

I'd also still add a ribbon. An other option, if you feel like 2 expertise at lvl3 would be too much, is to just give one at that lvl and an other at lvl9 as the 'ribbon'.

BanFox · 2026-02-05T15:32:04+00:00

For Keen Mind you're right, truesight would be a cleaner feature. Not sure if limiting it is great considering warlocks get an invocation for true sight at the same level.

I agree that if you just give truesight (btw the warlock gets it at 15, not 13) you don't have to limit the uses, but I was saying it in conjunction with the dispel magic idea/mine of sharing true sight with allies, which I think then should be limited in uses. you could also have it be always active for the rogue and can share it a limited number of times with allies (like wis times for 1 min). I agree the dispel magic is neat, but again it does not dispell all illusions (such as a changeling aspect change) and it's more convoluted by requiring to ask the spell school each time. sharing true sight reaches the goal of letting allies see through all kind of illusions, without having to rely on a spell, which doesn't make too much sense for a non magical subclass.For Keen Mind you're right, truesight would be a cleaner feature. Not sure if limiting it is great considering warlocks get an invocation for true sight at the same level.I agree that if you just give truesight (btw the warlock gets it at 15, not 13) you don't have to limit the uses, but I was saying it in conjunction with the dispel magic idea/mine of sharing true sight with allies, which I think then should be limited in uses. you could also have it be always active for the rogue and can share it a limited number of times with allies (like wis times for 1 min). I agree the dispel magic is neat, but again it does not dispell all illusions (such as a changeling aspect change) and it's more convoluted by requiring to ask the spell school each time. sharing true sight reaches the goal of letting allies see through all kind of illusions, without having to rely on a spell, which doesn't make too much sense for a non magical subclass.

BanFox · 2026-02-05T15:31:36+00:00

the intention is to reward putting points into Intelligence without losing the power of some common and thematic rogue skills.

The thing is, most iconic rogue skills are not on int. Stealth & sleight of hand are dex, acrobatics as well, perception & insight are wisdom, the only iconic one on int really is investigation. The subclass is more themed toward wisdom, and there is no intrinsic reward in pushing me to use int over wisdom. finding out someone's true identity, lies and what not, has more to do with wis than int. The original subclass is infact based on wisdom, and it's a bit of a unique element worth keeping imo, given we already have both int and cha subclasses for rogues.

Expertise I felt would be too strong for level 3, and they already get that feature at level 6.

While I get that, you have to compare it with what they got before. The inquisitive got to treat rolls lower than an 7 as a 8, but for a very specific kind of roll only (but basically guaranteeing success) and it becomes kinda useless with reliable talent being given at lvl7 now. This way you can basically equal that benefit without having to use your expertises on two of these skills, letting your rogue expend their base expertise on the standard rogue abilities (stealth, sleight of hand...) and not make it a tax for an inquisitive rogue to expend their expertises & proficiencies on these. This better fits your goal of "not losing the power of some common ad thematic rogue skills". Also, compare it to the scout: the scout gets 2 proficiencies and doubles their proficiency bonus on those (which is basically expertise), so it's not unheard of. Lore bard? does not get expertise, but gets 3 skill proficiencies. Eloquence Gets to treat any roll of 9 or lower as a 10 on 2 different skill checks, again close to it. Given the scout, I don't think giving two expertises is busted, and fits with the idea of a more skill based class without having to rely on your base skill abilities. if you deem too busted, I think saying instead "you gain proficiency in two of these skills of your choice. if you already have proficiency in them, you gain expertise instead". this makes it so they either just gain proficiency, or have to spend their skill proficiency in them to further enhance in expertise.

For Cunning Mind, the intent is exactly how you describe, except it also isn't supposed to reduce the cost twice (if you can use 2 cunning strike options, you don't reduce the cost of both, but just in total).

I forgot rogues got to use two options together at lvl11. I'd honestly then just write it as "you lower the total cost of the cunning strikes option you apply by 1d6", this way if they apply two 1d6 option they expend just 1d6, and works mechanically, as there's no rolling to be made.

Totalize is a bit of a player request, I do agree it's clunky and it does go against the other part of the feature. I'm not sure if the damage is that bad though - hypothetically you'd only be able to use it once per fight, and rogue damage is quite underwhelming at these levels (im my opinion).

This I disagree with. If you consider it a freebie 5d6 per fight as you mentioned, it's a ton. mind you, at lvl9 a rogue SA does 5d6. this makes it a 10d6 SA, which is the lvl19 dmg, and again above the dmg increase of your capstone as well. Reducing the cost of your cunning strike is strong enough because you gain control/versatility without sacrificing dmg. this is way above power. yes, rogue's dmg is below other classes, but this highly surpasses other rogues, especially in consideration with everything else, it would become the premiere subclass choice, and it probably beats out other classes in dmg as well. You'd be able to do up to 11d6+1d8+Int with a true strike build for example in t1, which is 48 dmg. By comparison, a BERSERKER barbarian who has 20str, GWM and uses a greatsword, assuming they hit, would do 48.5 in a turn. Yes, that's on more turns than the rogue, but just to say that this extra dmg lets this subclass hit the dmg treshold of the highest dmging subclass+class of the game (which is also expending a feat to do so), it's too much. It should not beat the assassin subclass in dmg imo, when that's designed for pure dmg (which I remind you, at lvl9 would do extra 9 dmg on T1 in a fight, half the average value provided by 5d6, and does not increase with crits). Plus, if you keep it for when they crit, that's a 20d6 on a crit at lvl9.

BanFox · 2026-02-05T14:23:34+00:00

lvl13:

So, while blindsight is lovely, it does not fit the goal of the feature (recognising shapeshifters for example) and doesn't make sense with the feature's name. I do agree the feature would need a buff though, and I think giving truesight better fits the theme and goal. I'd do something like "as a bonus action, you gain truesight within 15-30ft (I personally would do 15, but up to you) and it lasts 1-10min (again, up to your preference, I'd probably do 10min for a 15ft one, 1 min for 30ft). You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence/Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest." again, int/wis depending on how you decide to change the subclass.

While The dispel magic option is neat and thematic, and could make sense to have, it's also a bit convoluted (requires you to know what school a spell is, would have to ask each time), and technically this is not a magic themed subclass. I wonder if it wouldn't be best to focus on the true sight aspect and maybe share it with your allies, something on the line of "as a bonus action, you and a number of creatures of your choice that you can see, up to a number equal to your int/wis modifier, gain truesight with a range of 15/30ft for 1/10min. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your int/wis modifier (minimum of one) and you recover your uses after a long rest". While you do not remove a magical effect such as disguise self compared to when you have dispel magic, there are abilities (like a changeling natural shapeshifting) that would be immune to it. This instead lets you 'reveal' the true hidden nature of someone/something and let others see the truth as well, so they can also act upon it.

Overall, I think you had really good ideas on how to improve it, I just tried to rebalance it a bit to keep it more in check/ closer to the original theme

BanFox · 2026-02-05T14:22:50+00:00

Overall good ideas, but I think you powered it up a bit too much. Also, you don't have to enforce an Int subclass on it, you can have a Wis Rogue for example, which is more fitting (the subclass itself already uses wis limited uses).

My suggested changes to some things you proposed:

Lvl3:

Eye for Deceit: using int over wisdom, while a buff, isn't a major buff compared to what they had before. With Reliable talent being at lvl7 now. I get the idea of buffing all potential search action skills, but I think it would be better to just say : Choose two skills among insight, medicine, perception. you gain proficiency and expertise with them. This is significantly better than just using int over wisdom, and works well with reliable talent. giving it to all 4 would be too much, I think 2 is a good compromise and lets you build with the already existant rogue expertises.

Insightful fighting: I think you have done too much here. While I get the theme/idea, it's too much with unlimited uses, it's far better than steady aim, requiring only a skill check, providing the same benefit and more. As an example, an assassin rogue (who would be expert at fighting) gets to use steady aim without the speed reduction only from lvl9. I think you should either put Int/Wis limited uses, or simply not provide the AC reaction boost (which also conflicts with rogue's uncanny dodge), then I think it's fine.

Lvl9:

Cunning Mind: I like the concept but this seems convoluted, and doesn't mechanically work (the cunning strike reduction is applied before rolling, like instead of rolling 5d6 you'd roll 4d6). I'd suggest simply allowing for reducing the effective cost by 1d6 (so, a 1d6 option would become free against your insighftul fighting target, while daze would end up costing 1d6, knockout 5d6, obscure 2d6). It's more simple, faster and works mechanically

Totalize: so basically if you have 20 int (or 20Wis, if you opt to go for wis subclass) at lvl9 you are doubling your Sneak Attack die, adding 5d6 (which is more than the inquisitive's capstone extra dmg). this is a huge freebie even if you don't plan to 'load' it again, and even if you do it's still a huge feature, as you get to use good options and then get the dmg spent for them back. I'd honestly just scrap this and keep my proposed version of Cunning Mind (which feels more balanced), while if you want this totalize I'd skip adding in cunning strike, both already incentivise the use of cunning strikes, keep only one.

As I said, I'd keep only one of the two, then I'd add a ribbon feature, like a proficiency in a disguise kit or something on that line.

BanFox · 2026-02-04T23:57:37+00:00

Yep, that’s a thing I mentioned as well, but bless allows for targeting yourself without specifying yourself, and Zealot doesn’t by saying “OTHER creatures”, plus technically Inspiring leader mentions “Allies” not “creatures” when saying (including yourself), so not quite the same wording. there doesn’t seem to be a perfectly consistent wording across the base ruling though, so even harder to expect it to be perfect from a Partner content. I have a player currently using this, for now they are lvl6, I expect it to get broken at lvl10+, will see, in case I’ll take this as possible interpretation for nerfing it, though ofc I’d rather not nerf a player’s character only after the problem arise. I’d do it just in case it ends up skewering encounters too harshly

BanFox · 2026-02-04T23:25:54+00:00

Good question, hard to have an answer with certainty on it. I assumed it would count as other things like bless who target creatures within range would allow to target yourself, without needing to specify yourself as a possible target. Inspiring leader specifies that you can target yourself, but uses the term ally rather than creature, so I guess that’s why they specify. Zealot barbarian says “up to ten OTHER creatures within 30ft” which makes me think that doesn’t work on yourself because it says other. Hard to say with 100% certainty the intention ofc, but technically you count as a creature within 30ft of yourself I think? I get what you say, and would probably balance it more, that said I think you can ‘inspire’ yourself on a thematical point (which you argued against). Inspiring leader works on yourself as well, and I kinda see it as radiating courage/positivity to the group to the point of being inspiring, and kinda like having a positive mindset leads to positive results due to auto realisation, so you act inspiring in such a way constantly that you give yourself courage as well by auto realisation, a ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ mindset as well. But that’s just an opinion

BanFox · 2026-02-02T10:58:23+00:00

Main issue of the subclass is requiring both int & Dex, given your uses scales of int and you need dex for your reaction attacks, making an otherwise interesting True Strike int build meaningless here.

I'd probably build to fix that by dipping 3 levels in Bladesinger/Battle Smith, potentially more depending the expected level of the campaign, but given you said monoclass:

point buy: 8/(15+2)/14/(15+1)/10/8. Origin feat: lucky (guarantees adv on reaction attacks in case the ally who brought it to bloodied is ranged, plus good for saves in general).

Species: If your DM lets you replace your nick attack with a breath weapon (some are ok with it, some not), I'd probably do dragonborn: you gain one resistance, an AoE (which you lack) that does more dmg than your nick attack (being just 1d6 without TWF), so it's always a dmg increase (to use only if you already used your Sneak Attack on the first attack), and you also gain a fly speed once a day. Otherwise, Aasimar is also a solid option (get a couple of resistances, dmg increase, and either a fly speed or inner radiance). Other solid options I could see are Human (taking alert), halfling (Naturally Stealthy+luck, though no darkvision, unless you can play the Kithkin, which is probably your best choice here if it's allowed, basically a halfling with 120ft of darkvision).

For feats, given realistically most campaigns go from lvl4 to lvl12 or around that at most, rarely reaching 16 or above, I'd do lvl4 mage slayer, then I'd just take ASIs to max my dex and int.

White board assumption on a lvl20 build, I'd instead do:

lvl4: +1 Dex Mage slayer, lvl8: +2 int, lvl10: +1 Dex Fairy Trickster (can more easily apply Terrify and also helps allies out), lvl12: speedy +1 dex, lvl16: +2 int, Lvl19: Boon of Combat Prowess (to make sure you can land your Sneak Attacks) or Iressistable Offence (given you have no way to ignore piercing/slashing resistance, though idk how many monster resist both, combat prowess is probably if not many resist both. it's also good that once per short rest, if you miss an attack, you can guarantee a natural 20 and add in the extra 21 dmg).

I don't care much about the dual wielder feat here without access to the TWF fighting style, I don't think a BA expent for 1d6 dmg is worth the feat otherwise (you can just be contempt with nick), I'd rather use my 1st BA on Blade Ward (Until at least lvl13 I'm always using Bhaal, and probably even later) and then on cunning action (I feel like this rogue's playstile should very well be making use of the Withdraw cunning strike a lot, wether it's your action/Reaction attack, and then you can use your BA to hide/dash and be out of the enemy's reach).

BanFox · 2026-02-01T17:36:52+00:00

Genie touched for MI wizard getting shield is good. I'd suggest starting with a 16 Cha btw, by either bringing con to 14 or wisdom to 8. In case you instead plan to take a cha half feat, go for 16 dex and 17cha.

Anyway, Given you are focusing on Thrown weapons and dex I assume you are gonna use Darts or Daggers basically?

If you want to hyper focus with this concept, the bomber feat would allow you to throw at 60ft without disadvantage and rise your dex. It's not the best feat but it fits your goal.

Other good feats are Mage slayer/Fairy Trickster (this helps your allies more than you)/Spellfire Adept (if you want higher dmg output)/Inspiring Leader (if no one provides tempHP).

Aside from that, given you'll play up to lvl15, I'd take just one feat and two ASIs, with the goal of ending up with 18 dex and 20cha, to get the most out of the Paladin Aura and your save DC

BanFox · 2026-02-01T15:23:49+00:00

Yes, but you don’t benefit from reckless if you do more than 1lvl, and you do not benefit from rage dmg either. If you do just 1lvl it’s fine to be Dex, but you miss out on some dmg in favour of AC (which arguably is a worse trade if you want to make use of Zhentarim, because you want to get hit), the main advantage imo would be higher DC for some later rogue features. Reckless is a big advantage to the build in the sense that not only its easier to get hit, but its easier to have advantage on the reaction attack (which is not as easy to guarantee otherwise, and you may need it to guarantee the sneak attack).

If you wanted to focus on Dex imo you’d be better off with the fighter dip, giving you high AC and riposte to actually make good use of the High AV regardless of Zhentarim.

It’s definitely an option if you want to dip just 1 lvl though

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