So if you have been connected to the Internet in the past week, you likely have seen the release of the Rogue class for Dungeons & Dragons 4e. If not, welcome from out your hole, and click the link above and take a look.

It is no secret that I am a Mike Mearls fan. I even stalked him at GenCon 2006, to get him to sign my Iron Heroes book. So it goes to say, that I have been very curious to see what Mike would do with 4e. Would he bring in some of the things that I love the most about Iron Heroes into D&D? The short answer…yes, yes he did.

Below are some of my comments on the Rogue class.

Rogue

“You look surprised to see me. If you’d been paying attention, you might still be alive.”

CLASS TRAITS

Role: Striker. You dart in to attack, do massive damage, and then retreat to safety. You do best when teamed with a defender to flank enemies.
Power Source: Martial. Your talents depend on extensive training and constant practice, innate skill, and natural coordination.
Key Abilities: Dexterity, Strength, Charisma

Armor Training: Leather
Weapon Proficiencies: Dagger, hand crossbow, shuriken, sling, short sword
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex

A few things I like in this initial block:  First, I like that classes have a role. No, I do not think that you have to always use them to fill that role, but I do like that it is made clear to the player, the intent of this class. That give players a better understanding on which classes they may like to play, based on their play style and preferences.

The Bonus To Defense: This makes it sound like there may not be different saving throw progressions for the classes, just a bonus to one, for each class. I am iffy on this. I like the different progressions that D&D uses, but Iron Heroes had done away with them, and it really works out pretty well.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5

No rolled HP…love it! I have not rolled for hit points in over 10 years. I am glad to see them gone. Nothing was worst than the fighter rolling a 1 for his new hit points, after gaining a level.

I am also glad to see what looks to be double the 3.5 HP for a 1st level Rogue. Since 2nd edition, I have been starting at 2nd level, because how low starting hit points were.

Healing Surges: 6 + Constitution modifier

Not sure what this is, but I like this too. Like a mini-reserve pool. Iron Heroes has something called a Reserve Pool, but its slow to use, and not used in combat. This seems to be something to more useful in combat. The only question is, is this number the number of times it can be used or the hit points gained?

Trained Skills: Stealth and Thievery plus four others. From the class skills list below, choose four more trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dexterity), Athletics (Str), Bluff (Cha), Dungeoneering (Wis), Insight (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis), Stealth (Dexterity), Streetwise (Cha), Thievery (Dexterity)

These are trained skills, which beg the question, are there untrained skills? I am betting there are. Though I am hoping that we will see a smaller number of skills. Something akin to True 20, where a number of similar skills were bundled together. I believe this was done in Star Wars Saga edition, so hopefully we will see it in 4e. I am curious about Dungeoneering, and what it covers, as well as Insight.

Build Options: Brawny rogue, trickster rogue

I like the suggested builds. I think it is nice to show players options for ways to go with characters. This will help newer players get a feel of how the character can be played. Over time, I am sure we will see other build options as new feats and such are released.

Rogue Class Features

All rogues share these class features.

First Strike
At the start of an encounter, you have combat advantage against any creatures that have not yet acted in that encounter.

Combat advantage…there is that phrase again. Must be the 4e term for flat-footed.

Sneak Attack
Once per round, when you have combat advantage against an enemy and are using a light blade, a crossbow, or a sling, your attacks against that enemy deal extra damage. As you advance in level, your extra damage increases.

Only once per round. I like this. In Iron Heroes there are some characters with Sneak Attack, that with multiple attacks are devastating. I think that holding this to a single attack is more balanced.

Rogue Powers

Your powers are daring exploits that draw on your personal cunning, agility, and expertise. Some powers reward a high Charisma and are well suited for the trickster rogue, and others reward a high Strength and appeal to the brawny rogue, but you are free to choose any power you like.

I love these. Level based, with the number of times listed as At Will, Encounter, Daily. I also like seeing the various Attack rolls. Dex vs Fort, etc. Much better than, “Make an attack, and then target must make Fort Save.” Much more streamlined. I am excited that these powers are going to be in each character class, giving each class something cool to do in combat. I am most curious to see how this works out for the Wizard, who in 3.5, at low levels, is relegated to standing in the back of the party so that once per day he can toss his Sleep spell.

All in all, I think this Rogue class looks very exciting.  There is no doubt that 4e is not going to be like 3e any more than 2e was like 3e.   I was lukewarm about 4e, back in August, but with the release of this class, my interest level is rising.

What are some of the things you like, or don’t like about new Rogue?