Pacifist Trickster Rogue Strategy Guide

A practical guide to combat as a pacifist trickster rogue

Strategy by Itham Silverstar

Well, hello there reader. If you are like me then you love mischief but can become a little squeamish when it comes to putting the pointy end of a dagger into someone's flesh. Ewww right? I too have quite an aversion to the messier side of physical encounters. Luckily for me my good friend Itham had no issues with it at all and we had many grandiose adventures. He was quite the stabby stab version of a traditional rogue and together we made a great team who could handle any situation.
In volume one of this book, we will cover some of the basic ways that he and I worked together while playing to our core principles. I will detail how to be effective in a confrontation while still maintaining my belief system and I will detail how my actions allowed Itham to rack up a body count that Ghengis Khan would be jealous of. Enjoy the read, and please pick up volume 2 tentatively titled “Fireball Shmireball: winning a fight without burning down the house”

Chapter 1 – Pew pew pew aka Spells

The largest and most versatile arsenal at your disposal are your arcane abilities. These are wide ranging, varied, and often unsuspecting. These abilities draw upon the magical essence of the world to create profound effects that can alter the course of a battle.

Cantrips

Blade Ward – Sometimes, making sure everyone is still in the fight is the most effective way to win. When you are healthy, presenting yourself as a lucrative target and reducing potential injury to yourself can buy you the time for your team to finish off your opponents.
Control Flames – Sometimes the darkness can be an ally if it affects your opponent's more than it affects you.
Gust – Itham was fond of disarming opponents to gain an advantage. One of our favorite tricks was for him to disarm someone and for me to blast their weapon over a cliff, down the stairs, into a pool of water, etc. People have a lot less appetite to fight when they are unarmed.
Mage Hand – Never underestimate the power of Legerdemain. I was quite an entomologist in my day. I love carrying around a jar of “scary” insects. During combat I was quite fond of having my mage hand deliver said jar into the pack, pouch, or shirt of an enemy. Some people get pretty freaked out when a jar of spiders is put into their pants. The best part is that I could do this (bonus action) while still being effective in other ways on the battlefield (main action)
Mold Earth – If you have time to prepare for a fight, creating difficult footing for your opponents ahead of time can give you an edge.

Novice Spells (1st level)

Cause Fear – Reducing your opponent's numbers is always a strong tactic
Charm Person – See above
Color Spray – Quite useful for allowing Itham to get a vital (sneak attack) attack in. This one time, at trickster camp we had a kid cast Color Spray right when the teacher was showing us the Permanency spell. Needless to say, there was some detention for that one.
Earth Tremor – This was a favorite of mine. When positioned correctly it could cause many people to all fall over thus giving my team a *wink* advantage in attacking them. Plus, it reduces enemy mobility on the battlefield which is another benefit.
Feather Fall – There are times when retreat is a must. Having a cliff and Feather Fall handy has gotten us out of more than one tough spot. There was that time when a kobold was grappling Itham when we jumped and then Itham pried him loose. Poor little guy screamed all the way down.
Fog Cloud – Perfect for dropping on top of yourself to foil any ranged attackers. It is also perfect to drop on ranged attackers to make them move to get line of sight on you again. Pro tip, not so perfect when fighting an Air Genasi Sorcerer.
Grease – Tried and true, one of the standard spells for anyone who likes mischief. And as a bonus, watching all your enemies slip around and fall is funny.
Silvery Barbs – One of the greatest tide turners during a fight. It protects your friends and increases their effectiveness. That’s the one two punch of any encounter. It also allowed Itham to deliver a fatal blow without any of our other teammates around. He was a big fan of this combo.
Sleep – There is a special place in my heart for sleep as it was the first spell I ever learned. A staple of early adventuring.
Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter – I've always wondered if Tasha herself was funny or was so devoid of a sense of humor that she created this spell out of spite. Either way, it’s a great way to distract and incapacitate an opponent.

Beginner Spells (2nd level)

Blindness/Deafness - Works great on spellcasters that need to see their target.
Crown of Madness – Having your opponent's own comrades go crazy and attack them is a surefire way to sew discord into their ranks. A very effective battlefield tactic.
Dust Devil – Pushing enemies away and obscuring vision, what isn’t to like about this spell.
Enhance Ability (Bears Endurance) - Sometimes buffing the Tank is the only strategy you need.
Enlarge/Reduce - See above
Fortunes Favor – If you have time to prepare for a large encounter and the resources (gold) for the components then this spell can be very effective indeed. The duration is what really makes this stand out.
Gust of Wind – Gust on steroids. Further push, stronger wind, and this can last quite a while in combat. Incredibly useful.
Hold Person – Come on, enough said.
Mirror Image – Having multiples targets for your opponents to choose can be a vital way to prolong an encounter if you need time to regroup or strategize a retreat.
Nathair’s Mischief – While not a big chaos magic fan myself there is no denying that this spell is effective on the battlefield. Charmed, Blinded, Incapacitated or stuck. This can quickly overcome enemies.
Ray of enfeeblement – I remember a time when Itham and I dual handedly took out a stone giant. Turns out that when they are sapped of their strength, they really aren’t that tough. Just irritable.
Suggestion – For anyone with an active imagination this spell can do wonders.

• Sit on your hands and count to 1 million out loud
• Run to the kingdom of (insert far away kingdom here)
• Tickle your friend until he gives you the password to stop (Psst, it’s a secret password)
• Naked Party Time!!!

Vortex Warp – I don’t like you here, go way over there. Great for that giant Ogre that you want out of the way so you can concentrate on the goblins first.
Warding Wind – You will notice another wind themed spell here. Let’s just say that the comment earlier about fighting an Air Genasi Sorcerer had a profound effect on me. Regardless this is still a great offensive or defensive spell.
Web – Ahh, a classic. Hard to swing your sword at me when you are stuck to a wall eh buddy.

Chapter 2 – You go here, I go there aka Positioning

One undervalued aspect of any combat encounter is affecting who fights whom. Traditionally a rogue attempts to perform hit and run attacks or fights from the shadows and range. However, there are times when you can play the tank. I recall one such fight when our party had to contend with a large troll and many of his hobgoblin servants. Our champion was already severely wounded and taking on the troll could have gone poorly fast. Instead, I engaged the troll by maneuvering close to him immediately and making myself the focus of his ire. I would bounce around and annoy him with taunts and mage hand poking at him without attacking (Dodge) making it a lot harder for him to hit me. Even when he occasionally did, I would use my quick reflexes (Uncanny Dodge) to minimize the blow. While he spent the first half of the battle trying to take me down the rest of my team was easily able to dispatch his weaker minions. Then together, defeating one large threat was much easier.
The same way that sometimes you can dictate who is attacking you, you can also dictate who isn’t attacking someone else. Mages can quickly affect a battle (you should know, you are kinda one yourself). Ranged attackers can often pick on your weakest members from afar. Getting into close quarters with these opponents can change their course of action and make them contend with you right away. Taking a MM to the face is sometimes the better option than your whole party taking a Fireball. Stopping the archer from pin cushioning your own caster can alter the course of the encounter.
Finally, don’t forget to help your own teammates take someone down. Often when you need that key hit to finish off someone you can help your own party by jumping in and feinting to give them an edge when they really need to connect their swing.

Chapter 3a – Rear Naked Choke, Armbar, Kimura, and Heel Hook aka Grappling

Grappling can be an effective way to influence the battlefield. Hitting the gym every day will surely help but it is not required. Not only does a hold prevent your opponent from moving but it also allows you to move them where you want them. Want to get rid of a weak squishy guy but your buff barbarian is already engaged with three guys and can’t get to him? No problem, bring him to the barb yourself. Until your opponent escapes your grapple, they cannot move but you can drag them where you want, albeit at half speed. However, you can really push yourself (bonus action dash) and get that extra movement to drag them into range.
Not only can you move someone to an ally for them to attack but you can also move someone into a disadvantageous situation. Drag them into a pit and teleport out. Because you are a trickster you can use your mage hand quickly (bonus action) to lock and unlock things. Drag them into a room or a cell, close the door (free action) and use your mage hand to lock it.
Sometimes grappling with someone and threatening to jump with them from a high point is enough to get them to give up.

Chapter 3b – Push it, push it real good aka Shove attack

Again, it helps if you are very strong when attempting these actions. Great use case for the Enlarge spell or Enhance Ability: Bull’s strength. These spells have a huge effect on your ability to Grapple or Push someone (Str check Advantage) Shoving a creature to the ground has multiple effects. First and foremost, it makes it easier for all your allies to attack. Great to use right after your opponent has attacked. You can push them to the ground and have everyone on your team gain an advantage in attacking them. Secondly, it can assist if you are trying to stop a creature from fleeing. Push someone into difficult terrain or shove them to the ground and they won’t be able to effectively escape from you.
It's important to keep in mind that you can still use the push attack if your opponent tries to run away from you (Opportunity attack)

Chapter 4 – Did you drop something? Here, drink this aka everything else

Don’t underestimate the benefit of just being useful on the battlefield. Your mage hand can be particularly good for this sometimes. You can retrieve a dropped weapon for an ally. You can grab a dropped weapon from an opponent and make sure they can’t use it. You can administer a potion to someone who has been knocked out or who is still fighting and is getting hurt badly. You can flip a table over to provide cover for a teammate. You can disarm the trap that’s filling the room with water.
You can solve the puzzle that lowers the drawbridge over the moat of lava so you can escape the hoard of lesser Deamons that is attacking your team. And sometimes puzzles can be hard, it’s not like I know everything about the entire universe. Having the answer involving an ancient religious text, arcane knowledge of the puzzle, and a complicated trigonometry problem while picking two locks at the same time wasn’t easy. IT WAS A COMPLICATED PUZZLE AND I’VE APPOLOGIZED LIKE 30 TIMES THAT THEY ATE YOUR FOOT BEFORE WE GOT AWAY, OKAY!!!
*cough cough* Sorry about that. Bad memories for some people. The point is, there is a plethora of things that can be done or attempted in the middle of a fight that will aid your side in combat.

Epilogue

Well reader, I hope these suggestions have helped you to think outside the box. Oh, what a great idea for a suggestion. “Go build me a 30x30x30 wooden box.” I digress though. Combat isn’t always about Shatter and Magic Missile. There are plenty of ways to be effective while helping your friends and hurting your enemies. Use these ideas as a building block to create your own combat strategies. Have fun out there, and don’t forget to look for Volume 2 coming soon!