Gnome Soulknife Rogue Build Guide
Unleash the power of the mind with the Gnome Soulknife, combining unmatched gnomish resilience with lethal, invisible psychic blades to dominate the battlefield.
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Why Soulknife?
Choosing a Gnome for your Soulknife Rogue creates a highly resilient, stealthy psychic striker. Rogues are notorious for sneak attacks, but they are often vulnerable to mental magic. That is where your Gnomish Cunning comes in, granting you advantage on saving throws against magic targeting your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Since you have a naturally high Intelligence of 14, you will easily shrug off spells that would paralyze or control other stealth specialists, keeping you in the fight.
As a Soulknife, you do not need to worry about carrying heavy weapons or getting caught unarmed. Your Psychic Blades feature allows you to manifest glowing blades of mental energy directly into your hands whenever you attack, leaving no physical evidence behind. This synergizes perfectly with your Gnome's Darkvision, letting you slip into pitch-black enemy camps, take down targets silently with psychic energy, and retreat undetected.
Furthermore, your Psionic Power feature lets you boost your skill checks with psychic energy. Combined with your high Dexterity of 15, you will excel at lockpicking, acrobatics, and stealth, making you an incredibly versatile utility character and a deadly assassin.
Soulknife Features
Psionic Power
Level 3You have a pool of psionic energy represented by Psionic Energy dice. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and they are d6s. You can use them to power psi abilities: Psi-Bolstered Knack (add die to a failed ability check) and Psychic Whispers (establish telepathic communication). You regain all expended dice after a long rest, or one die as a bonus action.
Psychic Blades
Level 3You can manifest blades of psychic energy. When you take the Attack action, you can create a psychic blade that deals 1d6 psychic damage. The blade vanishes after hitting or missing. It has the finesse and thrown (60 ft) properties. After attacking with the blade, you can make a bonus action attack with a second psychic blade that deals 1d4 psychic damage.
Soul Blades
Level 9Your Psychic Blades gain additional abilities. Homing Strikes: when you miss with your psychic blade, you can expend a Psionic Energy die and add it to the attack roll, potentially turning a miss into a hit. Psychic Teleportation: as a bonus action, you can expend a Psionic Energy die, roll it, and throw a psychic blade to an unoccupied space you can see up to 10 times the number rolled feet away, teleporting to that space.
Psychic Veil
Level 13As an action, you can become invisible for 1 hour or until you dismiss this effect (no action required). You also end the invisibility early if you deal damage to a creature or force a creature to make a saving throw. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a Psionic Energy die to use it again.
Rend Mind
Level 17When you deal Sneak Attack damage with your Psychic Blades, you can force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failure, the target is stunned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend three Psionic Energy dice to use it again.
Recommended Ability Scores
Gnome Traits That Benefit Soulknife Rogue
Darkvision
Gnome Darkvision helps Rogues scout ahead and fight in darkness without needing a torch.
Gnomish Cunning
Extra saving throw advantages protect against debilitating spells and effects.
Combat Effectiveness
| Level | HP | Melee DPR | Ranged DPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 5 | 33 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| Level 11 | 69 | 30.25 | 30.25 |
| Level 17 | 105 | 41.8 | 41.8 |
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- ♦ Soulknife grants Psionic Power at level 3
- ♦ Darkvision for dungeon exploration
- ♦ Good armor class and initiative
- ♦ Excellent skill versatility and Sneak Attack damage
Weaknesses
- ♦ Low Wisdom — vulnerable to common saving throws
- ♦ Low Charisma limits social interactions
- ♦ Limited ranged and magical options without multiclassing
- ♦ Small size limits heavy weapon usage
Pro Tips
Use your Psychic Blades to attack twice per turn, using your bonus action to throw a second blade and maximize your damage.
Activate Psionic Power to add a psionic energy die to failed skill checks, ensuring your stealth and lockpicking remain flawless.
Rely on Gnomish Cunning to confidently scout ahead for magical traps, knowing you have advantage on mental saving throws against spells.
Leverage your Darkvision to strike from complete darkness, granting you easy advantage on your attack rolls to trigger your Sneak Attack.
Other Rogue Subclasses for Gnome
Other Races for Soulknife Rogue
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Soulknife a good subclass for Gnome Rogue?
What makes Soulknife different from other Rogue subclasses?
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