Roguish Archetype
Kingpin
Your good at getting a following, and for having reputation that precedes you. Rogues that champion this archetype are often charismatic leaders commanding a small legion of followers willing to go to great length for them.
Often kingpins have magnetic idiosyncrasies or alluring personalities. At your option, you can pick from or roll on the Kingpin Rogue Mannerisms table to create a behavior for your character.
Kingpin Rogue Mannerisms
| d6 | Mannerism |
|---|---|
| 1 | I prefer to work from the shadows, my name carries enough weight to get anything I want. |
| 2 | I'm a bad guy, I embrace it, and so does my crew. We'll do whatever it takes to get fortune and fame. |
| 3 | Order is my highest desire, I'm simply the instrument distributing it. |
| 4 | Loot, influence, and wealth are nothing without style. |
| 5 | I care for each member of my organization. |
| 6 | I'll proclaim my name to the heavens and let everyone know who's in charge. |
Kingpin Features
| Rogue Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Motley Crew, Infamous Reputation |
| 9th | Exquisitely Equipped |
| 13th | Bravado |
| 17th | Improved Crew |
Motley Crew
By 3rd Level, your personality has garnered you a loyal gang, a motley crew. They are friendly to you and your companions, and they obey your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the motley crew stat block. You determine the creature’s appearance, and they are a fey, fiend, or humanoid (your choice); excluding that, your choice has no effect on its game statistics.
In combat, your motley crew shares your initiative count, but they takes their turn immediately after yours. They can move and use their reaction on their own, but the only action they takes on their turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command them to take one of the actions in its stat block or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide, or Search action. Any command you give can't put the crew into situation they would perceive as imminent mortal danger, unless you rally them on your turn.
In combat, you can rally them as an action. If you do, they regain 2d6 hit points and advantage on their next ability check or attack roll. If your motley crew are reduced to 0 hit points, they disperse and return to you when you finish a short or long rest.
Infamous Reputation
At 3rd level, your reputation proceeds you and your presence can cause lesser foes to cower or strength your allies resolve.
When a creature within 30 feet that can see you makes an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw, you can use your reaction to add or subtract your proficiency bonus plus your Charisma modifier from their roll. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Exquisitely Equipped
Starting at 9th level, your motley crew's attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Furthermore, you strengthen your connections with a network of affluent nobles, smugglers, or traders who are willing to help acquire you some extravagant supplies. When you take long rest in an urban area you can contact them and choose one of the following:
- Access. You are grant an invitation or permission to particular location or event. Whether this was through bribery or trickery, is up to you.
- Luxury Goods. You can expedite the purchase of non-magical luxury goods like fine wines, luxurious silks, intoxicants, poisons, rare books, etc. (even if they are illegal or taboo) and purchase them for 25% less than they would normally cost to purchase.
- Safe Harbor. While in a particular town, city, or other similarly sized community (DM's discretion), you and any of your companions can stay for free in a safe house. The safe house provides a wealthy lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret.
- Transport. When you need to, you can secure free passage on some kind of large scale transport (such as a sailing ship, trade caravan, or train). Because you're calling in a favor, you can't be certain of a schedule or route that will meet your every need. Your Dungeon Master will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go.
Once your contacts acquire these goods, you can’t use this feature again for 7 days.
Bravado
Starting at 13th level, you can use an action motivate your allies by making an example out of one of your crew members or giving an inspiring speech.
As an action, choose up to number creatures equal to your proficiency bonus that can see and hear you within 60 feet. Those creatures have advantage on all rolls for a number of turns equal to your proficiency bonus. They also become immune to being frightened for the duration.
Once you do so, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Improved Crew
Starting at 17th level, your crew becomes more powerful:
- Your crew deals an extra 4d6 damage when it hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally that isn't incapacitated and the crew doesn't have disadvantage on the attack roll.
- Your crew gains a +3 bonus to Armor Class.
- When you rally your crew, they can make a number of extra attacks equal to your Charisma modifier.
What's my crew?
As a kingpin, you command a gang of lackeys who have questionable ethics and morals. Your crew fights with a motley assortment of weaponry and styles (despite only dealing base 7 damage). They might even all fight with the same weapon. Decide what weapons they have when you decide their general appearance.
At any point in time, you're guarded by about 10 to 15 of these brutes, brigands, lackeys and scoundrels who do most of your dirty work. You’ll always have about that many no matter what or how many you lose (they’ll come out of the woodwork eventually).
Your crew however, isn't just static during your downtime. Choose the role from the Criminal Specialty table from the Criminal background in the Player's Handbook, or roll on the table below. That's what your crew does on your downtime, and how they make their living.
Members of your crew can get snuffed in combat, but don’t sweat it too much. You can decide when named members of the crew bite it, but any number of faceless goons will probably die for you.
Crew's Specialty
| d6 | Specialty |
|---|---|
| 1 | Blackmail, Extortion, and 'Dues' |
| 2 | Enforcer, Mercenary, and 'Protection' |
| 3 | Fencing, Smuggling, and 'Business' |
| 4 | Burglary, Pickpocketing, and 'Acquisitions' |
| 5 | Assassination, Bounty Hunting, and 'Wetwork' |
| 6 | Traders in goods and services of 'Acceptable Legality' |
Each of these 'specialties' are ways your crew makes their living during your downtime. It often says a lot about how your character presents and views their crew, and how they enjoy (or don't enjoy) presenting themselves as the head of this small criminal organization.
Motley Crew
Large swarm of medium fey, fiends, or humanoids, any alignment
- Armor Class 12 (natural armor)
- Hit Points equal the motley crew's Constitution modifier + your Charisma modifier + five times your level in this class
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (2) 4 (-4) 14 (2) 6 (-2) 10 (0) 12 (1)
- Saving Throws Con +4, Wis +2
- Skills Intimidation +4, Perception +4
- Condition Immunities charmed, grappled, paralyzed, restrained, stunned
- Senses passive Perception 14
- Languages understands and speaks the languages you speak
Dirty Work. If your crew is within 10 feet of you, you and your crew have a +1 bonus when rolling an ability check with a skill or tool you are proficient in.
Might of the Mob. The following numbers increase by 1 when your proficiency bonus increases by 1: the crew's skill and saving throw bonuses (above), the bonuses to hit and damage of its rend attack, the bonus to the Dirty Work trait (above), and the bonus to it's Back to Back action (below).
Swarm. The crew can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the crew can move through any opening large enough for a Medium humanoid. The crew can't gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Back to Back (3/Day). The crew starts taking defensive measures, granting themselves and allies within 5 ft. a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws until the start of the crew's next turn.
Gang Up (swarm has more than half its hit points). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target you can see. Hit: (1d8+2) bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice). Requires your Bonus Action
Gang Up (swarm has half its hit points or fewer). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target you can see. Hit: (1d4+2) bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice). Requires your Bonus Action
Reactions
Protect the Boss. The crew imposes disadvantage on the attack roll of one creature it can see that is within 5 feet of it, provided the attack roll is against you.