Roguish Archetype
Rimeblade
Rimeblades are an obscure breed of rogue, adventurers who are imbued with the icy touch of winter. Some may have narrowly survived a frozen fate, while others may have been touched by snow-spirits or cursed while robbing a glacial tomb. They still practice their rogueish arts, but are able to summon blades of ice or conjure waves of frost to prepare their foes for a deadly strike.
Rimeblades may be from any alignment or background, though something in their history will tie them to wintry powers. Once they walk the path of the Rimeblade however, they may lean towards evil, or at least selfishness - picks and knives that melt at a touch are an easy way to avoid leaving evidence, after all. Good-aligned Rimeblades may be investigators or treasure hunters, while evil Rimeblades make excellent assassins.
Rimeblade Features
| Rogue Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Crystal Blades, Biting Cold |
| 9th | Shattering Burst, Wintry Wanderer |
| 13th | Snap Freeze |
| 17th | Winter's Breath |
Crystal Blades
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, as a bonus action, you are able to summon a dagger of solid ice. It functions as a normal dagger in all respects, but does 1d4 piercing and 1d4 cold damage on a hit. When you deal Sneak Attack damage with it, you may turn that damage into cold damage. It melts 1 minute after it leaves your hand.
You may also coat an existing weapon with ice, allowing it to function as an ice dagger for purposes of your other abilities.
Biting Cold
Additionally at 3rd level, you have a preternatural ability to chill your foes and take advantage of the results. You gain the abilities listed below. If any of your subclass abilities call for a saving throw or spell attack, the DC is:
Saving Throw DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier Spell attack modifier = Your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Winter's Bite
When you damage an enemy with your ice dagger (or an ice-covered weapon), you may choose to leave the ice embedded in them. They take cold damage equal to your Intelligence modifier at the start of each of their turns, and may remove the dagger with an action.
If you hit a creature with a weapon attack who has one of your daggers embedded in them, you can use your Sneak Attack against that target as long as you don't have disadvantage on the roll.
Crystal Burst
As an action, you may explode one of your ice daggers you can see within 30 feet. A creature holding an ice dagger or within 1 foot of one must make a Dexterity saving throw; if the ice dagger is embedded in them, they make this saving throw at disadvantage. On a failure, they take cold damage equal to one roll of your Sneak Attack dice and their movement speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of their next turn. On a success, they take half as much damage and their speed isn't reduced.
Piercing Icicle
As a bonus action, you may command your ice dagger to dig deeper into its victim. Select a creature with one of your ice daggers embedded. That creature must make a Constitution saving throw or the dagger sinks deeper, increasing the damage they take at the start of their turns by your Intelligence modifier.
Shattering Burst
Starting at 9th level, your frost magic is more powerful. When you use your Crystal Burst ability, you may send a shard of ice flying off to strike another creature within 30 feet. Make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit, they take cold damage equal to half of one roll of your Sneak Attack dice.
You can use your Shattering Burst a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier, regaining all uses after a long rest.
Wintry Wanderer
Also at 9th level, you gain resistance to cold damage, and you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when attempting to hide on ice or snow.
Snap Freeze
At 13th level, you learn a new, defensive use for your frost magic. As a reaction before an enemy attempts a melee attack against you, you can immediately summon a column of ice to encase the attacker. They must make a Dexterity saving throw, or they are restrained until the end of their next turn.
You can attempt to freeze a creature in this way a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, regaining all uses after completing a long rest.
Winter's Breath
At 17th level, your frozen blades embody the very heart of winter. When you hit an enemy with your ice dagger and deal Sneak Attack damage, you may cast cone of cold as part of the same action, originating at that enemy and directed away from you.
You may cast cone of cold in this way once, regaining its use after a short rest.
Elementally Adept?
If you're concerned that the Rimeblade might struggle in campaigns where many enemies have cold resistance, consider allowing Rimeblades to use any feats that enable bypassing elemental resistance (and waiving any prerequisites).
Rimeblade quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this archetype to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You prefer to drink ice-cold snowmelt. |
| 2 | Your breath is always chill, even in summer. |
| 3 | You never met a frozen signpost you didn't lick. |
| 4 | You twirl tiny icicles as a nervous habit. |
| 5 | Your hair and eyebrows are always dusted with snow. |
| 6 | You love popsicles. |
Change Log
v1.0.1
- Typo fix
v1.0
- Updated artwork
v0.31
- Tiny additional fix for existing weapons
v0.3
- More clarifications & cleanup
- Explicitly made Crystal Blades work with existing weapons
v0.2
- Language tweaks for clarity
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
- Rimeblade created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art:
- Rimeblade, by Kassini Ilustra
Background Image Stains
License
- © 2023 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.