DnD 2024 Rogue class explained

The DnD 2024 Rogue is skilled, stealthy, and ready to steal all the loot in the dungeon before the other players get a look in. This guide to the DnD Rogue explains all its core features, abilities, and subclasses, giving the full rundown of how the class works in the new 2024 edition of the ruleset.

If you prefer the days of yore or just want to see how the Rogue 5e compares to the updated model, check out our 2014 class guide. In fact, we have primers on all the DnD classes from 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. But if you’re only interested in the newest and shiniest of treasures:

These are the class features for the DnD 2024 Rogue:

• DnD 2024 Rogue class traits
• DnD 2024 Rogue starting equipment
• DnD 2024 Rogue features
• DnD 2024 Rogue subclasses
  • DnD 2024 Arcane Trickster
  • DnD 2024 Assassin
  • DnD 2024 Soulknife
  • DnD 2024 Thief

DnD 2024 Rogue class traits

DnD 2024 Rogue starting equipment

In the 2024 rules, your Rogue will start the game with either

• Leather armor
• Two daggers
• Shortsword
• Shortbow
• 20 arrows
• Quiver
• Thieves’ Tools
• Burglar’s Pack
• 8 GP

or a bulging purse of 100 GP to spend on whatever basic starting equipment you need.

DnD 2024 Rogue features

This is a full list of all the DnD 2024 Rogue features, followed by a breakdown of how every ability works.

Expertise

Level: One and Six

Choose two of your skill proficiencies and gain Expertise in them. You double your proficiency bonus when testing that skill (unless it’s already being doubled by another effect).

This makes Rogues good at doing stuff – they can often be the dedicated ‘Skill Monkey’ of the party, called upon to deal with tricky non-combat challenges.

Of note, you’re no longer able to take Expertise with a set of DnD tools, only skill proficiencies. This means you can’t give yourself a doubled bonus with your Thieves’ Tools and become ridiculously good at picking locks from day one.

Sneak Attack

Level: One

Once per turn you can deal additional Sneak Attack damage, as per the table above, when you hit with an attack that meets one of these conditions:

1. You have Advantage on your attack, or;
2. A non-incapacitated ally is currently within five feet of the target enemy and you don’t have Disadvantage on your attack roll.

Thieves’ Cant

Level: One

You know Thieves’ Cant, the secret underground language of criminals and ne’er-do-wells. You also learn one of the other DnD languages, of your choice.

Weapon Mastery

Level: One

Rogues have access to the new DnD Weapon Mastery system. You can pick two DnD weapons – for example, Dagger and Shortbow – and unlock the ‘Mastery Property’ of each. Any time you take a long rest you can retrain and swap for different weapons.

For example, daggers and scimitars have the Light property, and the Nick mastery property. Nick lets you make the extra attack granted by the Light property as part of your main attack, instead of as a Bonus Action. That leaves your Bonus Action free to quaff a potion, use an item, or (from level two and above) use your Cunning Action.

Alternatively, if you hit with a Shortsword, you’ll activate its Vex mastery property, which gives you Advantage on your next attack against the same target. It’s the perfect setup for your Light weapon bonus attack, perhaps loaded up with some lovely poison, and teeing you up to trigger your Sneak Attack damage.

Cunning Action

Level: Two

As a Bonus Action on your turn, you can take a Dash, Disengage, or Hide action

Steady Aim

Level: Two

Steady Aim lets you use a Bonus Action to give yourself Advantage on your next attack roll this turn. However, you can’t move before or after using this ability.

This is a welcome boost to the Rogue’s ranged capabilities, and gives you a reliable way to get Advantage (and therefore a chance at a Sneak Attack) on a turn when you’re already in a good position.

Rogue Subclass

Level: Three, nine, 13, 17

At level three, you will pick your Rogue Subclass, specialising your character around a particular set of abilities. You will get extra features from your subclass at levels nine, 13, and 17. The Player’s Handbook lets you choose from four Rogue subclasses:

• DnD 2024 Arcane Trickster
• DnD 2024 Assassin
• DnD 2024 Soulknife
• DnD 2024 Thief

You’ll find more information about each subclass via the links above.

Ability Score Improvement

Level: Four, Eight, 12, 16

You can either:

• Increase two DnD stats by +1
• Increase one stat by +2
• Pick one of the DnD 2024 feats instead

Cunning Strike

Level: Five

Cunning Strike turns your Sneak Attack damage dice into a flexible resource you can spend to apply a variety of flavorful, tactical effects in combat.

When you go to roll your Sneak Attack damage after a successful attack, you can choose to forgo a number of your extra damage dice, in exchange for applying one of a range of special effects.

Some Cunning Strikes force the target to make a saving throw – in all cases this is DC 8 plus your Dexterity modifier and your Proficiency bonus.

The three options open to all Rogues at level five are:

Additional Cunning Strike options are unlocked at level 14 thanks to Improved Cunning Strike, and yet more are available within specific subclasses.

With 3d6 Sneak Attack dice to play with already at level five, your Cunning Strike immediately gives you new options to soften up enemies and maneuver around the battlefield.

Uncanny Dodge

Level: Five

When an enemy you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your Reaction to halve the damage you take, rounding down.

Evasion

Level: Seven

When you’re targeted with an attack that allows a Dexterity saving throw, a successful save lets you ignore all the damage instead of half of it, and on a failed save you still only take half damage.

You can’t use this feature if your character is Incapacitated, in case it needed to be said…

Reliable Talent

Level: Seven

If you roll a nine or lower on a D20 check for a skill or tool you have Proficiency in, you count that roll as a ten.

Improved Cunning Strike

Level: 11

You can now use up to two Cunning Strike effects each time you deal Sneak Attack damage, instead of just one – paying the dice cost each time.

Devious Strikes

Level: 14

Devious Strikes unlocks three additional, stronger uses for your Cunning Strike, as follows:

This replaces the handy but highly situational feature Blindsense, from 5e, which let you know the location of nearby hidden or invisible creatures.

Slippery Mind

Level: 15

You now have proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saving throws, as well as the Rogue’s starting proficient saves of Dexterity and Intelligence.

Elusive

Level: 18

No attack roll against you can have Advantage unless you are currently Incapacitated.

Epic Boon

Level: 19

Your Rogue gains one of the new Epic Boon feats. See our DnD 2024 feats guide to learn what your options are.

Stroke of Luck

Level: 20

Once per short or long rest, if you fail any kind of D20 roll, you can change the die result to a 20. Take that, Fate!

DnD 2024 Rogue subclasses

DnD 2024 Arcane Trickster

Rogues who’ve learned magic to aid their underhand dealings, Arcane Tricksters are a splicing of Rogue and Wizard. This Rogue turns the useful cantrip Mage Hand into a tool for purloining stolen goods and distracting enemies.

• Mage Hand Legerdemain: You can cast and control a Mage Hand as a Bonus Action, can turn it invisible, and can use it to take Sleight of Hand actions like picking someone’s pocket.
• Magical Ambush: If you’re Invisible when you cast a spell against a creature, it has Disadvantage on any saves it makes against that spell this turn.
• Versatile Trickster: When you use the Trip Cunning Strike option, you can also do the same against another target in range of your Mage Hand.
• Spell Thief: Once per Long Rest you can react against being targeted by (or caught in the AOE of a) spell, forcing the caster to make an Intelligence save using your spell save DC. If they fail, the spell doesn’t affect you; and if it’s at least level one and of a level you can cast, you count as having prepared that spell for the next eight hours.

Arcane Trickster spellcasting

Arcane Tricksters take their spells from the Wizard spell list. The table below shows, for each level, how many Prepared Spells you know, how many Cantrips you know, and how many Spell Slots you have. Spell Slots indicate the number of spells, of each spell level, that you can cast per day. One of your Cantrips must be Mage Hand – it’s core to this subclass.

Whenever you gain a level, you can forget a spell and prepare another one from the Wizard spell list, provided you have a Spell Slot that would allow you to cast it. You can also swap out a cantrip of your choice each time you gain a level, though you must keep Mage Hand.

You can use an Arcane Focus, so you can ignore a spell’s material components unless they have an explicit cash value.

DnD 2024 Assassin

The simplest and most explicitly violent Rogue subclass, the Assassin aims to make the first blow in combat the only blow they need to strike. They act fast to assassinate their targets, striking early, and with the advantage of deadly poisons.

The Assassin has changed significantly since 5e, with new combat features like Envenom Weapons and an upgraded Steady Aim.

• Assassinate – you have advantage on Initiative rolls, and during the first round of combat you have Advantage on attack rolls against creatures that haven’t acted yet. During the first round your Sneak Attack deals additional damage equal to your level.
• Assassin’s Tools – You get a Disguise Kit, Poisoner’s Kit, and the proficiency to use both of them.
• Infiltration Expertise – You can use Steady Aim without giving up your movement, and you can perfectly mimic someone’s speech and/or handwriting by studying them for an hour.
• Envenom Weapons – Enhances the ‘Poison’ option of your Cunning Strike – as well as Poisoning the target for one minute, every time they fail a Constitution save (either when you hit them and attempt to poison them, or on each of their turns when they try to shake the effect), they take 2D6 Poison damage that ignores Poison resistance.
• Death Strike – During the first round of a Combat, if you hit with your Sneak attack, the target must pass a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + Proficiency Bonus + Dex mod). If they fail, the attacks’ damage is doubled.

DnD 2024 Soulknife

The Soulknife can summon psychic daggers with their latent psionic talent, hurling them at their foes. Compared to 5e, these mind daggers have been buffed, with greater range, and the ability to take advantage of Weapon Mastery.

Psionic Power

You have a pool of Psionic Energy Dice which are used (and sometimes spent) to fuel your class powers. You regenerate these dice gradually, regaining one after each Short Rest and all of them at the end of a Long Rest.

After failing a check using a Skill or Tool that you’re proficient with, you can roll one Psionic Energy Die and add the result to the total for the dice test. If the roll now succeeds, the die is spent.

As a Magic action, choose a number of creatures up to your Proficiency bonus, and roll a Psionic Energy Die. Provided you share a language, you can speak telepathically to them while you’re within one mile of each other. A creature can break the link at any time. You can use this power once per long rest for free, and after that by spending a Psionic Energy Die each time.

• Psychic Blades – You can summon a psychic blade into one of your free hands, at will, as part of an Attack or Opportunity Attack. The blade only exists while you are attacking, disappearing immediately after you hit or miss. You have Weapon Mastery over the psychic blades, and it doesn’t count towards the two weapons you can master.
• Soul Blades – You get two new powers for your Psychic Blades. After missing with a hit roll, you can roll a Psionic Energy Die and add the result to your hit roll, spending the die if you now hit. And as a Bonus action you can expend and roll one Psionic Energy Die, teleporting to a space you can see up to the result of the die x 10 feet away.
• Psychic Veil – as a Magic action, you become invisible for an hour, until you dismiss it, deal damage to a creature, or force a creature to make a saving throw. You can use this ability once per Long Rest, or expend a Psionic Energy Die to refresh it.
• Rend Mind – when you Sneak Attack an enemy using your Psychic Blades, you can force them to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + Dex mod + Proficiency Bonus). If they fail, they’re Stunned for one minute, though they can attempt to save again at the end of each of their turns. You can use this ability once per Long Rest, or expend a Psionic Energy Die to refresh it.

Psychic Blade stats

Note that your Bonus Attack with a Psychic Blade is the result of a special property of the weapon, not the Light property, so you can add your ability modifier to the damage.

DnD 2024 Thief

Your bog-standard, sneaky burglar type, inspired by Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit, the Thief is all about utility. It’s not magical at all, but it’s handy with all kinds of tools and tricks, and much better at using magical items than its 5e forefather.

• Fast Hands – You can use a mundane or magical item, pick a lock or disarm a trap with Thieves’ Tools – or pick a pocket – as a Bonus Action.
• Second-story work – You have a Climb Speed equal to your speed, and you can determine your Jump distance based on your Dex, not Strength.
• Supreme Sneak – If you’re Invisible to a target as a result of hiding, you can make a Stealth Attack as a Cunning Strike. It costs 1D6 from your Sneak Attack damage. Provided you end your turn in three-quarters or total cover, you don’t lose the Invisible condition as a result of attacking.
• Use Magic Device – You can attune up to four magic items. When you use a magic item that has charges, you can roll a D6, and on a six you don’t spend a charge. You can also use any Spell Scroll with Intelligence as your Spellcasting ability (though you must make an Arcana check of DC 10 + spell level to successfully cast a Level 2 or higher spell)
• Thief’s Reflexes – You get two turns during the first round of combat, one at your normal Initiative and another at that Initiative minus 10.

If you’re still on the fence about whether to give the new version of DnD a go, check out our 2024 Player’s Handbook review for a full picture of what’s changed, what we like, and what we don’t. We also have handy guides to the DnD 2024 backgrounds and the expanded rules for DnD tools, key parts of the 2024 core rulebook.