Duelist Rogue
You are an expert at the art of parry and riposte, at reading your opponent and exploiting their weaknesses to maximise your impact. While other combatants might fight in heavy armour and use brute force, when you fight you are constantly on the move.
Duelists excel in single combat, but can also work well with others by taking advantage of the distractions they provide to your enemies.
Fancy Footwork
Starting at 3rd level, you are a continuous blur of motion in battle as you dart in, attack, and slip away to safety. During your turn, if you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature cannot make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
Toujours l'Audace
Starting at 3rd level, your ability to quickly analyse your surroundings allows you to determine how others around you will behave and react to it quickly. You add your Intelligence modifier to your initiative rolls.
In addition, you can use Sneak Attack with a melee attack even without advantage, when there is no creature other than your target within 5 feet of you. All other prerequisites of Sneak Attack still apply.
Botta-in-tempo
At 9th level, your observation of your enemies' moves allows you to react instantly to their preoccupation. As an action, you can make an Intelligence (Investigation) check contested by a creature's Charisma (Deception) check.
If you succeed on the check and the creature is hostile to you, if it makes an attack against a creature other than you or moves at least 1 foot away from you, you may make an Opportunity Attack against it, even if it took the Disengage action. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until you and the target are more than 60 feet apart.
If you succeed on the check and the creature isn't hostile to you, your ability to read them is increased for 1 minute. During this time, you gain advantage on any Wisdom (Insight) checks on them, such as to determine their motives or whether they are lying.
Elegant Manoeuvre
You complete difficult manoeuvres with practised ease. Starting at 13th level, you can use a bonus action to gain advantage on the next Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Strength (Athletics) check you make on that turn.
Riposte
Beginning at 17th level, your mastery of the blade lets you turn your opponents' errors to your advantage. If an opponent misses you with a melee attack, you may make an opportunity attack against them with advantage. Once you use this feature, you may not use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
An Intelligent Swashbuckler
This duelist rogue is, not surprisingly, closely based on the swashbuckler rogue released in the Waterborne Adventures Unearthed Arcana and later in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
The primary difference is that it is based around using intelligence, rather than charisma, to support its combat and social abilities.
Thalia, by merkymerx on DeviantArt.
Equipment
| Name | Cost | Armour Class (AC) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckler | 6 gp | +2 against melee attacks | 2 lb. |
| Main-Gauche | 5 gp | +2 against melee attacks* | 2 lb. |
Buckler
A buckler provides a +2 bonus to your Armour Class against melee attacks as you move it into the path of incoming blows with great agility, but gain no bonus against ranged attacks due to its small size being unable to effectively act as a barrier between the missile and its target.
As a result of its small size, it can be grabbed and dropped just as easily as drawing or stowing a weapon.
Main-Gauche
A main-gauche, also known as a parrying dagger, is a short defensive weapon carried in the off hand. A main-gauche adds +2 to AC against melee attacks when a character is not incapacitated, if the character is wielding a finesse weapon in their other hand.
Proficiency
Any character proficient with martial weapons should be considered proficient with the main-gauche, and any character proficient with shields is proficient with bucklers. Additionally, rogues and bards should be considered proficient with both the main-gauche and buckler.
Feats
Parrying duelist
You master the art of fighting with a main-gauche, gaining the ability to use your main-gauche offensively. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you may use a bonus action to make a melee weapon attack with the main-gauche, dealing 1d4 piercing damage on a hit. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.
Additionally, you can draw or stow a main-gauche and another finesse weapon when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
Duelist Fighter
To play as a duelist-oriented fighter, choose the Battle Master Martial Archetype. Use a finesse weapon as your primary weapon, and either a main-gauche or a buckler in your off-hand.
Take Defence or Dueling as your Fighting Style and select your manoeuvers from the following list:
- Disarming Attack
- Evasive Footwork
- Feinting Attack
- Goading Attack
- Lunging Attack
- Parry
- Precision Attack
- Riposte
