Updated Rule of Rogue's Backstab Ability
RULES UPDATE: Rogue Backstab & The Hand Crossbow (aka The "No Point-Blank
Sniping" update)
Hey y'all! We have a small but important rules tweak coming to the Rogue class before our next event, specifically regarding how Backstab and Use Hand Crossbow work together.
Why We’re Making This Change (Designer’s Notes from Bryan):
I originally got the idea of letting Rogues use Backstab with a hand crossbow from the Pathfinder RPG. In Pathfinder, sneaking up and landing a ranged sneak attack with a hand crossbow is possible in the rules, and when you're just rolling plastic dice at a kitchen table, nobody actually gets shot!
Even back when I first wrote the Player Core Book, I was a little worried about how that would translate to live-action combat, but I thought, "Eh, let's play test it and see if it works out." For the longest time, we never had any Rogues actually using hand crossbows in the field, so it was never an issue.
Now that hand crossbows are starting to show up in the game and we’ve had a little bit of actual in-game playtesting with them, what worked great on paper in Pathfinder is proving to be too dangerous and unbalanced in live-action play for two big reasons:
Point-Blank Safety: Because Backstab is all about sneaking up behind or beside someone, allowing it with a hand crossbow encourages Rogues to walk right up and shoot other players at point-blank range. That's a real safety hazard—nobody wants to take a crossbow bolt from three feet away!
Long-Range Instant-Death Sniping: On the flip side, firing from a distance turns a Rogue into a long-range sniper who can bypass all armor (APR) and drop a player's HP straight to 0 in a single shot from across the battlefield. That is just way too powerful and throws off the balance of the game.
So, before we end up with either point-blank welts or a squad of ghillie-suit Rogue snipers deleting people from the bushes, we are officially separating Backstab from the Hand Crossbow. Hand crossbows are still awesome sidearms for Rogues (dealing 2 base damage, plus +1 if you are Tiss, and +1 with Level 5 Rogue Weapons Training!), but if you want that instant-drop Backstab, you’ve gotta get in there with a melee blade the old-fashioned way!
WHAT IT USED TO SAY:
Backstab: You ignore all APR if you make a melee attack from behind or the side. You must call out “Backstab” for each strike. If your strike is successful, the target's HP drops to 0. Can be used an unlimited amount of times, but it cannot be used with ranged attacks or spells (other than by the Rogue’s Hand Crossbow).
Use Hand Crossbow: Three shots per day (3x/day). This can be refilled by a Smith, forge, or a high enough level Druid. This can be used with Backstab. If you are a member of the Tiss culture, then you get +1 to hand crossbow damage instead.
WHAT IT SAYS NOW (EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY):
Backstab: You ignore all APR if you make a melee attack from behind or the side. You must call out “Backstab” for each strike. If your strike is successful, the target's HP drops to 0. Can be used an unlimited amount of times, but it cannot be used with any ranged attacks, thrown weapons, or spells.
Use Hand Crossbow: Three shots per day (3x/day). This can be refilled by a Smith, forge, or a high enough level Druid. Cannot be used with Backstab. If you are a member of the Tiss culture, you receive +1 to hand crossbow damage.
Thanks for helping us test things out and keep the game fun, safe, and balanced for everyone!
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