Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Roguish Archetypes by a Factor of Three

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted takes a look at the top rated fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons homebrew warlock patrons from D&D Beyond. We get a kick out of seeing what folks come up with and sharing their homebrew creations. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) I’m peering into the shadows to see what creations demonstrate skill and precision for the shadiest class in 5E D&D — the rogue — and checking out the Top 10 homebrew Roguish Archetypes. There’s currently over 1,850 homebrew of them so let’s get into it.

Roguish Archetypes at D&D Beyond

Before getting started it’s important to note you can create homebrew content for private use and share your homebrew content publicly at DDB at no cost — there’s no subscription required to access these services. However if you want to add any of the homebrew Roguish Archetypes mentioned below or any other homebrew content you come across to your 5E D&D collection you must subscribe at the Hero Tier or above. There’s a lot you can do at DDB for free. Check out what you can do here.

The DDB homebrew collection uses several statistics to track entries. Views shows how many eyeballs any particular homebrew creation received, Adds shows the number of times a creation was added to someone’s collection and Rating is an upvote/downvote system. Since there are over 1,850 Roguish Archetypes in the collection I’m going to share the top 10 highest rated, most viewed and most added selections and to see what’s out there along with any crossover between these three lists.

Top 10 highest rating Roguish Archetypes

1. Two Goblins In a Trench Coat. The party is certainly shocked to find out that the normal sized humanoid they thought that they knew was in fact, two goblins in a trench coat. The mechanics, language and design might be wonky but for concept and sheer go-for-it-ness I’ve got to hand it to this one.
2. Alchemist. As an alchemist you mix and match different substances to create harmful or helpful potions. I love this concept. Alchemy works much better as skill and knowledge based than through magic for my taste and this includes a big ol’ Chemistry table for concoctions. I’m pretty easy to please and this pleases me.
3. Blademaster. You train yourself in the art of open combat. Boring and falls into the same trap I see constantly anywhere there’s space to share homebrew — it’s all self-buffing combat features. Blech.
4. Bruiser. While most rogues rely on skill and precision, you embody the brutal nature of their murky world and have subsequently honed your hardiness and physical clout—what you lack in grace, you more than make up for in thuggish resilience. As a twist on all the drawbacks of the previous Roguish Archetype in the list this one goes the extra distance by expanding Sneak Attack applicability to otherwise restricted weapons.
5. Mist Walker. You have spent your life hiding in the mists. For starters one of the features is superfluous so off to a bad start. It goes on to incorporate basically unlimited 3rd and 5th level spells. The theme and execution don’t match up too well and this could use some rethinking.
6. Adrenaline Junkie. Thrills. You love ’em, you seek ’em, you thrive on them. I like the concept but a kludgy subsystem and almost completely self-centered features (there’s a single option from a subsystem menu doing anything besides buffing the individual) make it too messy for me.
7. Gadgeteer. In a world of magic, technology is pursued by a rare number of people. Gadgeteers are among those with an innate affinity for mechanical devices and technological innovation. Very noodly and very much like an artificer with the following differences — no one else can use any of the gadgets except the creator and the limitations on the features are based on time and gold. So another self-centered subclass with features that are either way overpowered given time and money or almost totally useless without time and money.
8. Assassin Variant: Master of Shadows. As a master of shadows you take a specialized approach to your craft. I feel like a broken record at this point. Features to only benefit the individual are lame. Creating a new subclass only to swap out the non-combat features of an existing one to tack on easily obtained features of another class through multiclassing is the cherry on top of this boring sundae.
9. Outlaw. While the majority or the world thinks of rogues as sneaky thieves who use poison and stealth to do their dirty work, Outlaws prefer wetwork. Make firearms and make yourself more deadly with them. Yawn.
10. Sniper. As a Sniper you are gifted at ranged combat, picking out an enemies weak points and attacking with deadly accuracy and power. Before I look beyond the name I’ll take a guess. All self-buffing combat tricks for ranged Sneak Attack. Wow! There’s non-combat features after all. This looks perfect for a single player campaign or a very simulationist approach to squad based tactical reconnaissance and combat.

Top 10 most viewed Roguish Archetypes

1. Two Goblins In a Trench Coat.
2. Alchemist.
3. Mist Walker.
4. Blademaster.
5. Gadgeteer.
6. Assassin Variant: Master of Shadows.
7. Bruiser.
8. Time Thief. Control the powers of time. Bit of an odd duck here. This Roguish Archetype intrigued me by name alone so off to a great start. It’s missing a lot of necessary mechanical language but the intent is pretty clear and I can overlook it if for no other reason than the breath of fresh air from this Roguish Archetype doing something different than combat buffs to the individual. And it’s got a wonderful d100 Paradox table!
9. Sniper.
10. Agent of the Divine. Not all of those who serve a deity will be devoted clerics or paladins. Sort of a divine take on the Arcane Trickster is a neat idea.

Top 10 most added Roguish Archetypes

1. Two Goblins In a Trench Coat.
2. Alchemist.
3. Blademaster.
4. Mist Walker.
5. Sniper.
6. Gadgeteer.
7. Assassin Variant: Master of Shadows.
8. Bruiser.
9. Outlaw.
10. Wildcard (Ravnica: New Beginnings). Some rogues favor honing their skill and precision, others perfect a silver tongue, but you—well, you’ve always gotten a kick out of leaving things up to chance. This one starts off well. Noncombat features and I see stuff to benefit allies. Looking pretty cool and oh what’s this? “Each creature within 10 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence or Charisma modifier), or be stunned until the end of your next turn” — as a bonus action? And it recharges on a short rest? Yowza.

Roguish Archetypes rising to the top

I honestly do not understand why so many homebrew subclasses for rogues or any other class wind up doing nothing but tacking on more damage and defenses in combat. What is the point? There’s much easier and frankly better ways to achieve these goals using existing 5E D&D material. It seems to me homebrew like this does nothing but take away from characters. By only creating features to benefit the individual in combat they waste all the design space for what? Damage they could have simply reflavored while keeping utility and features to interact with their companions?

I’m relieved to see Two Goblins in a Trenchcoat and Alchemist showing so strongly across the board. They’re both very different than just about every other Roguish Archetype I looked at today, which lends them even more credibility in a way. Out of all the ones on these three lists the Time Thief appeals to me the most. Funky concepts like this always catch my attention and the creator is really onto something there. Another editing pass with some revisions would really transform it into something very special.

5E D&D rogue resources

I mention our own forays into homebrew content creation for 5E D&D several times to plant the seed in your mind. Now you’re wondering, “What kind of homebrew content do you create, Nerdarchy? I’m extremely interested!” In addition to the monthly rewards our Patreon supporters receive we’ve presented tons of material in our videos and right here at Nerdarchy the Website ready to drop right into your games too. Another place we frequently create new content for Dungeon Masters and players to drop right into games is Nerdarchy the Newsletter and you’ll also get several gifts including $9.99 in store credit so you can add whatever you like there to your own collection when you sign up. We’ve explored the cleric class many times already. Here’s some resources to check out if you dig 5E D&D clerics.

• Facedancer
• Weaver
• Thought Thief
• New 5E D&D Roguish Archetype — The Enforcer
• Nerdarchy Arcana: D&D Rogue Archetype – Jester
• D&D Party Composition — Playing an All Rogue Party
• Soulknife from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is the Best Heist Rogue in 5E D&D
• Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Mind Killer
• Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Deadly Spell Assassin
• Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Magic Items for Rogues by a Factor of Three
• A Group of Rogues is Called a Thieves Guild

*Featured image — Rogues rely on skill, stealth, and their foes’ vulnerabilities to get the upper hand in any situation. They have a knack for finding the solution to just about any problem, demonstrating a resourcefulness and versatility that is the cornerstone of any successful adventuring party.

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here