The 2024 5e rules for Dungeons and Dragons have been supported with unique Unearthed Arcana (UA) since its release, with the latest one added more interesting concepts for character creation. Named the “Mystic Subclasses,” the latest UA creates never-before-seen archetypes for four different classes, including the stealth and shadow Rogue. While the Rogue has interacted with magic before as a spell wielding Arcane Trickster in a past subclass, its newest path interacts with D&D‘s larger magic systems in new ways.
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The Warrior of Mystic Arts Monk, the Oath of the Spellguard Paladin, and Vestige Patron Warlock all also make their debut in the Mystic UA for D&D. For some, these build options let classes without magic engage with spells for the first time, like the Monk’s added archetype. For others, it allows them to interact with magic through new features, giving the Spellguard Paldain ways to counter enemy mages and the Vestige Warlock to have a patron tied to a dead god of old magic. Meanwhile, the Rouge’s Magic Stealer subclass takes an unorthodox approach.
The UA Magic Stealer Rogue Can Directly Interact With & Manipulate Enemy Stat Blocks
The Magic Stealer Rogue can do a variety of actions as they level up, from absorbing magical energy from a spell cast near them to drain, end spell effects, or restore the spell slot resources of their allies. However, the most interesting feature of the subclass comes at Level 9, when they gain the Magical Sabotage ability. This skill gives the Rogue’s typical Cunning Strike new properties, allowing the player to spend a number of their Sneak Attack dice to sacrifice damage for extra effects.
By expending 2d6 of Sneak Attack damage after a successful attack, the Magic Stealer Rogue can make enemies more susceptible to incoming spells or disrupt whatever magic they cast soon after they were hit. Alternatively, characters with the Magical Sabotage feature can use it to directly influence an enemy’s stat block, stealing their resistance to a particular magic type and applying it to themselves instead. While the other two routes for this ability aren’t too uncommon, this “Steal Resistance” option is far beyond what some archetypes are capable of.
This marks one of the few times a subclass can use its features to impact the structure of an enemy they’re facing. Oftentimes, a character’s abilities are meant to adapt or influence to various actions on the battlefield, triggering from certain conditions that take place. It is extremely rare for a character skill to go into the core elements that make up someone’s raw stats, whether it is changing their Ability Scores, Armor Class, or other features. It is rarer still when that direct influence targets condition or damage interactions a character has.
No matter what D&D adventure you’re playing with others, this single skill is incredibly useful in almost any situation. While it doesn’t target enemy immunities, this makes the Magic Stealer capable of robbing an enemy of perhaps their strongest defensive trait during a battle. For example, should players be fighting a devil with fire resistance, a Magic Stealer Rogue can simply take it away, removing a core quality of devils that is usually an assumed obstacle in fighting them.
Sabotaging Enemy Properties Has Been Lost Somewhat In New 2024 D&D Rules
Exceedingly few subclasses can remotely do what the Magic Stealer can, as manipulation of an enemy’s stat block is hardly a feature that is commonly used. The only other big example of this comes from the Battle Master Fighter, who can peer directly into an enemy’s traits once they reach Level 7. This skill, called “Know Your Enemy,” gives Battle Master Fighters a way to learn distinct strength and weaknesses of enemies they see. By using a bonus action, Fighters of this archetype can learn if an enemy has specific immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities to damage types in D&D.
In the past, the Battle Master could do even more with this feature, learning a hostile creature’s Challenge Rating (CR), overall Level, Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution scores, or even how many Hit Points they had at a given moment. With the reduction of viewable traits in 2024 5e rules, the inclusion of the Magic Stealer Rouge’s thieving feature is even more surprising. It could indicate that more features in new UA will allow new archetypes to interact with enemy stat blocks in similar ways.
These type of abilities have always been fascinating among D&D‘s more unorthodox classes and subclasses, making them more than welcome to the TTRPG. Compared to a generic feature that simply adds more damage or does the effect of an existing spell, the Magic Stealer Rogue’s sabotaging skill is refreshingly unique, and something that hopefully signals other archetypes adopting that idea in future UA playtesting.
What do you think of the Magic Stealer Rogue’s abilities in D&D‘s latest UA? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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