Telling other players about your characters is sort of like telling other people about the dream you had last night: if you don’t keep it short then you’re going to bore the hell out of your listener. This version of Let Me Tell You About My Character is pretty long, but at least it’s here. Using this post as an outlet will (hopefully) keep me from cornering you at a cocktail party and regaling you with tales of my Roguish exploits. Although this is technically the first in a series of posts, rest assured that I don’t go through many characters so installments of LMTYAMC will be few and far between.

I’m currently playing two very (mechanically) similar Human Rogues, both of whom are named after favorite NPCs from a previous campaign. The first, Maximillian III, is 3rd Level and I play him in Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) at events hosted by NARPGA. The second, Thelias, is 11th Level and I play him in my home campaign (set in a mutated version of Ravenloft which includes elements of the Witcher novels). These characters represent my very first foray into 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Max is a very simple character since there isn’t much use for a detailed backstory or special goals in RPGA campaigns: he hails from Amn, which is why he’s greedy, and he isn’t above bending the rules or threatening someone if it helps him achieve his momentary objective. The mechanical advantage of the Amn background to a Rogue is obvious. Being a greedy, somewhat shady brute plays to the strengths of RPGA play where, by its very nature, the major campaign objectives are survival, gaining Experience Points and accumulating treasure.

Thelias is a bit more complicated. He’s a native of Darkon and the son of two professional undertakers. Upon their untimely death he inherited the family business but, due to his poor Intelligence, promptly ran it into the ground. He learned the Rogue’s way of life on the streets of Corvia and, eventually, merged his knowledge of burial practices with his thieving skills to become an expert graverobber. His heart, though, is pure: while he does steal to survive, he also robs tombs to slay the undead which he finds there and to obtain powerful relics or wealth which might otherwise be used for evil purposes. In an uncharacteristically witty turn of phrase he seeks to “Liquidate the assets of evil” and use the treasure he finds to fund a group of fellow undead hunters. If he succeeds then not only will he join the noble, if futile, fight against evil in Darkon, but he’ll also compensate for his previous failure in business, a failure which haunts him to this day. Thelias is an adventurous, “poke it with your sword” type who isn’t afraid to take risks, and this outgoing personality is his most endearing trait: he wades into battle head first and uses his understanding of the common folk to cull information from the streets and taverns of Darkon.

Mechanically, both Max and Thelias are built as melee-centric Brutal Scoundrels who fulfill a traditionally “thievish” role outside of combat. Max was created first for a small local LFR convention, where I was greeted with amazement that a) my character was Human and b) that he was a Brutal Scoundrel. Paradoxically, I had built this character for convention gaming but infused him with a tad bit more “non-optimal” flair than was the norm at the tables where I played that weekend. Thelias was created at 11th Level to “drop in” on the ongoing Ravenloft game, and having the chance to work with the concept on a Paragon-tier canvass made me think that it was viable, and fueled my desire to prove as much to the dude at the convention who told me that all my feat choices were wrong.

Max and Thelias both have very high Dexterity scores, but instead of maxing them out I decided to bump up Strength to take advantage of their Brutal Scoundrel power. In keeping with the theory of “do more damage” they both have the Backstabber feat, and they both wield wield short swords, taking the extra damage in lieu of the Rogue’s +1 to hit with the dagger (although the dagger option is always available). Action Surge and Slaying Action allow them to exploit combat advantage against a powerful enemy by dumping loads of dice onto the table in one turn. While Max isn’t quite there yet, Thelias uses Improved Initiative and Danger Sense to maximize his chance of nailing an enemy in the opening round of combat; he also has Weapon Focus and Weapon Expertise in Light Blades, as well as Nimble Blade, all of which are simple number bumpers.

Their attack powers are focused primarily on those that deal the most damage, as opposed to those which grant status effects, which means that finding ways to obtain Combat Advantage is critical to their functionality. Setup Strike and Adaptable Flanker are great for this; Vexing Flanker has its uses in this regard and Combat Tumbleset is also handy for getting into position. At 11th Level Thelias wants to go first and either wipe out a nearby enemy with an encounter power or, better yet, get the drop on the most powerful enemy on the field, spend an action point and dump two dailies on him. He wields a Magic Short Sword +3: the first strike with Precise Incision is made at +21 vs. Reflex for 3d6 + 3d8 +9 damage; and the second strike, with Crimson Edge, is made at +24 vs. Fortitude for 2d6+3d8+9 damage (with 8 ongoing plus combat advantage until the enemy saves). I don’t know what the going rate is for DPR at 11th Level–I know he’s not the champ–but the potential to deal 29 to 90 points of damage to the BBEG before anyone acts (not to mention the promise of more to come via Crimson Edge) makes me pretty happy. It works well in my home campaign because there’s another Rogue in the group, as well as a melee Ranger, so Combat Advantage is usually there for those who seek it.

Max, on the other hand, lives in the LFR, where table dynamics shift and not everyone is always thinking about (or capable of) setting the Rogue up for a flank. I’m looking at some other powers to offset these conditions and make him more versatile (especially for a table that might only have one Striker), but the basic idea is the same: get in there fast, do lots of damage, and pick a mean lock.