D&D: The ‘Scion of The Three Rogue’ Playtest – Putting The Cut In Cutthroat

In the latest Forgotten Realms playtest, Rogues get a fun set of deadly new toys: the Scion of the Three subclass.

The Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide will feature at least eight new subclasses – at least according to the latest Unearthed Arcana. Of the eight, one of the more interesting options is the Scion of the Three subclasses for Rogues. In this playtest Scion of the Three Rogues is a little more combat-focused than most Rogues. And that’s a niche that needs filling in the Rogue department.

Because, in 5.5E, Rogues have lost a little of their combat tricksiness. And it’s interesting because Rogues have more options in combat – they can trade in some of their Sneak Attack damage to apply status effects and other things. Of the four subclasses, the Soulknife is the one most focused on actually fighting, while the Assassin is more about killing someone in the first round of combat and then kind of sneaking around and applying poison.

While the Scion of the Three Rogues, in the playtest, is about dealing damage and making attacks. This gives a fun little toolkit to Rogues who want to pull off some powerful maneuvers in combat. Especially since this is the first subclass that cares if your enemies are Bloodied, let’s check it out.

Scion of the Three Rogue Playtest – Gruesome Agents of Malice

The Scion of the Three Rogues takes its name from the Dead Three – a trio of malevolent, murderous gods. If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ve run into them before: Bane, god of Tyranny; Bhaal, god of Violence and Murder; and Myrkul, god of Death. But just because they’ve got that evil in them doesn’t mean you have to be bad:

“While some Rogues of this subclass pledge themselves ardently to those three macabre gods, others find themselves thrust on this path by a curse. Either way, a scion’s power manifests as various occult gifts, as well as an uncanny talent for striking and terrifying foes.

Scions of the Three are most common in Baldur’s Gate, where the Dead Three have long competed for influence over mortal hearts. Underground cults to Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul often count Scions of the Three among their most useful agents. Outside Baldur’s Gate, secular thieves’ guilds such as the Shadow Thieves of Amn or Xanathar’s guild in Waterdeep might cautiously call on a Scion of the Three to undertake an especially violent contract.”

So you know, they have a reputation. But it’s a potential subclass for people wanting to flirt with the idea of having power they don’t want, a la the “good” version of the Dark Urge out of BG3. Cursed by a trio of evil gods to be their instrument? Yeah. That makes for a good story.

Whatever your reasons for having the power – playing a Scion of the Three makes for a bloody time on and off the battlefield right from the jump. Which is good, because Rogues have a while to wait when it comes to subclasses.

Scion of the Three Rogues – Bloodied Good Fun

At level 3, you’ll gain Bloodthirst. This is the bread and butter of this class – the core mechanic, if you will. Keep that in mind for later. There are two main benefits:

• When you land a Sneak Attack on a Bloodied creature, they take half your Rogue level in extra damage.
• Whenever an enemy you can see is reduced to 0 hit points you can use your Reaction to teleport 30 feet and then immediately make a melee attack.

That last benefit is the real powerhouse one. You get a Reaction attack on top of a teleport? And it’s not even limited by range. If you see someone a few hundred feet away get reduced to 0 hit points, and they’re an enemy, you get to do your cool attack. Of course, it is limited; you can only use it up to your Intelligence modifier times per day. Which, for the core mechanic of the class, is probably slightly too few. It’s better than an Arcane Archer – but if they came back on Short Rest, that would probably feel right.

The other big feature is Dread Allegiance. You pick one of the Dead Three to give you power in the form of Resistance to a damage type, and a Cantrip. Bane gives you resistance to Psychic damage and the Minor Illusion cantrip. Bhaal gives you Resistance to Poison and Blade Ward. And Myrkul gives you Resistance to Necrotic damage and Chill Touch.

But your decision doesn’t have to be permanent. You can switch up after you finish a Long Rest.

Fear, Malevolence, and Dread

Rogues have a long time to wait before they get their next feature. It isn’t until level 9 that you get your next feature, Strike Fear. This gives you an extra Cunning Strike option. In exchange for 1d6 of Sneak Attack damage (an amount offset by your Bloodthirst, easily), you can Terrify your target, forcing them to ssucceed on a Wisdom save or be Frightened for 1 minute. Which isn’t too shabby a benefit, though the target making a save every round is a bit of a bummer. Especially on a 9th level feature.

At 13th level, Aura of Malevolence means you get a 10-foot damaging aura of dark and terrible power. At the start of each of your turns, each creature of your choice takes damage equal to your Intelligence modifier of the same kind you picked for your Dread Allegiance. And it ignores Resistances and keeps hitting your enemies even if you’re Incapacitated.

Finally, at 17th level, the Scion of the Three caps off with Dread Incarnate. It’s another two benefit option, offering you Advantage when attacking Frightened targets, as well as letting you treat a roll of 1 or 2 on your Sneak Attack damage as a 3. All potent stuff, but by the time you’re 17th level, it feels a bit lackluster compared to other classes. I feel like it either needs a little extra, or you could get some of these benefits a little earlier. The Sneak Attack one in particular.

Scion of the Three – Wrapping Up Dark Deeds

Overall, I really like the flavor of this subclass. The dark themes are fun to play around with. I think it can just use a little more of its core features. Especially since the level 3 feature is going to have to carry you for most of your character’s career. If it were up to me, I’d maybe shuffle around some of the later features, or buff them. Some of them feel pretty good – but some of the more standout ones feel a little lackluster since you have to wait so long to get ’em.

Still, I like the ground WotC is carving out for Rogues with this one. But, it doesn’t matter what I think. WotC wants to know what YOU think of the subclass. And now’s your chance to let ’em know. You can fill out the Scion of the Three Playtest survey – and answer all the other ones too – at the link below.

Sighin about scions – which of the dead three would you pick?

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]

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