Roguish Archetype: The Shadow-Weaver [Third Draft]

Man, have I not thought about this one in a while. One of my favorite roguish archetypes (along with the ninja), and definitely one of the ones most in need of a rework.

One of the fortunate/unfortunate things about doing this for as long as I have is that I learn so much about how things are balanced. Eventually, I start seeing the glaring mistakes earlier on, and either have to whistle and pretend they don't exist, or sigh mightily, go back, and start revising them.

What IS handy, though, is this allows me to update to more modern templates I have developed, standardizing the look of my material while I rework it from the ground up.

So how did everyone's favorite shadow-assassin-counterpoint-to-the-arcane-trickster change in this most recent iteration? Well...

CHANGELOG:

• Doubled the length of the Shadowy Organization table, and fixed some of the sillier choices. Sorry, members of the Venom Cave.
• Added Phantasmal Force to the spell list, because why wasn't that there before.
• Shrouds are no longer a smite-type ability, and instead act as a vehicle to confer Sneak Attack. Less potent than before, but also more in-line with how rogues typically scale. 
• Heart of Darkness is now Eyes in the Dark, because Heart of Darkness honestly didn't do much. It was one of those ideas that sounded better in my head, and EitD gives a good little bit of fun utility not represented by the spell list. 
• Black Agony is now Deathly Shroud, because the idea of calling in shrouds for damage needed to be represented somehow. Deathly Shroud strikes me as a more thematic ability than Black Agony's "hey you do extra damage," anyhow. 

CONCERNS:

• I basically changed everything except Gloomstride, so there's liable to be some mistakes in there. That's just how it goes, really.

WHAT I LEARNED:

• Dang did I used to have a real problem letting images collide with text. Now every time I see that, it annoys the pants off of me. Revision revision revision!

Roguish Archetype: The Shadow-Weaver [Second Draft]

Some homebrew is universally beloved right off the bat, while other homebrew is markedly less so.

What's interesting to me is when a homebrew project falls in between, absolutely loved by some and completely reviled by others. The response to the shadow-weaver was pretty markedly polarized, but within all of that was some really quality criticism, such that I feel confident in releasing another build.

WHAT I CHANGED:

• The usual slew of textual errors, blady-bloo.
• Revamped the cantrips list and added silence to the spell list. Man, is it a pain in the butt to reference spells from EEPC and SCAG, though.
• Retooled Shroud of Shadow such that it deals 1d6 necrotic per spell level on a hit OR a miss. Now specifies that only one shroud may be out at any one time, and that you cannot place a shroud the same turn you remove one, or vice versa.
• Buffed Black Agony from d10's to d12's, adding ~10 damage to the ability.
• Feed the Darkness is now Heart of Darkness, and is a significant fluff power closer in balance to the Assassin's Impostor than the Arcane Trickster's outrageous Versatile Trickster.

CONCERNS:

• The new Shroud of Shadow math is based on magic missile (1d4+1 [median 3.5] per slot vs. SoS's 1d6 [median 3.5] per slot). Still not entirely satisfied, as SoS does this alongside a normal attack, but it seems like the most balanced I can make it while keeping it faithful to the Oassassin's feel.
• Really, that's about it. Most of my worries about this archetype are tied to how shrouds work. If that's 100% functional and balanced, the rest of the subclass probably is as well. 

WHAT I LEARNED: 

• If you're trying to somewhat emulate Smite, on a rogue, don't make it out-damage Smite what the hell were you thinking. 

Roguish Archetype: The Shadow-Weaver [ROUGH DRAFT]

Does anyone remember the original 4e assassin? Used invisible marks and shadows, jumped around with shadowstep, was optimized with a greatsword for some reason?

I always thought it was a fantastic concept. Not, y'know, exactly as it was - the eventual Executioner was a much better representation of the idea of an Assassin - but a rogue-type sneak with shadow powers struck me as a particularly fun, interesting thing to play.

So I remade it for 5e. Tried to address some balance and fun issues present in the 4e version while keeping it consistent with 5e, hopefully it came out well!

FEATURES:

• 1/3 Spellcaster Casting, complete with shadow-focused spell list thematically differentiated from Arcane Trickster.
• Shrouds, a 4e oassassin mainstay, play into bonus action economy while allowing you to regain abilities, gain tHP, and even deal damage on a miss.
• Shadowstep Gloomstride, a thematic ability allowing you a greater range of motion and synergy with sneak attack.
• Black Agony, a level 17 capstone allowing you to temporarily upgrade your sneak attack damage dice for a single, debilitating attack, dealing overall less damage but being more versatile than the 5e assassin capstone. 

CONCERNS:

• Definitely more rough than the huckster. Balance across the board needs some general looking at, but the core ideas are solid.
• The 2d10+ on a miss for shrouds seems reasonable (especially since it costs spell slots), but may affect overall damage balance in a way I haven't anticipated.
• Black Agony's damage numbers and Feed the Darkness' tHP reward both seem reasonable, but I'd like someone to take a second look at them.
• Any thematic spells I missed? How necessary is invisibility to a shadow rogue's spell list?

WHAT I LEARNED:

• Thematic roll tables are definitely worth the time and effort, as having a basic idea of an archetype's significance does a lot to sell people on the fun of the subclass. 

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