The One D&D service for Dungeons & Dragons features the first in a series of Unearthed Arcana articles that are paving the way to D&D's updated revision in 2024. These new playtesting rules have made a formerly optional part of the rules mandatory and have tied it to certain playable race & Feat abilities. The addition of these new rules has greatly benefited the rogue class, making them more powerful than they are in the standard D&D 5e rules.
The rogue class's main combat ability in D&D 5e is Sneak Attack. If the correct conditions are met, a Sneak Attack adds an additional 1d6 damage on an attack, with that number increasing every two levels after level one. In order for an attack to receive Sneak Attack damage, the rogue either needs to have advantage on the attack or an enemy of the target within 5 feet of them. This is why D&D's ranged rogue/fighter build is overpowered, as they can pile on the damage from a safe distance, while the meat shields keep the enemy distracted.
The "Character Options" Unearthed Arcana article on D&D Beyond features material related to character creation and changes to some fundamental aspects of the game. In the base version of D&D 5e, the rules for Inspiration Points are optional and DMs can choose to ignore them. "Character Options" makes Inspiration mandatory, with humans able to generate a point on a long rest. The Musician feat also allows members of the party to gain Inspiration on a short or long rest, and performing a critical hit also grants one. Players can still only have one Inspiration Point per character, but any excess can be passed to an ally.
Rogues Benefit The Most From Mandatory Inspiration Points
D&D has made Inspiration Points official, and one of the things a player can spend an Inspiration Point on is to give themselves advantage on their next attack. This means rogues can always have a guaranteed use of Sneak Attack in combat, along with the ability to refresh their stock upon a critical hit. In combat, ranged foes tended to have some safety from Sneak Attack, as party members couldn't get close enough to them straight away. The new Inspiration Point rule means rogues can now pump a Sneak Attack into an enemy spellcaster in the first round of combat without any other preparation needed. The fact that players can spawn Inspiration Points through crits means that the rogue is a natural target for the next point, as it gives them another free Sneak Attack.
"Character Options" has made several popular optional rules an official part of the ruleset, including making D&D's most popular homebrew into a rule. One of these changes involves critical hits, as rogues have received a nerf, with Sneak Attack no longer receiving extra damage dice on a crit. The reliability of the extra Sneak Attacks is still a major boost and is an improvement, even if it's not as exciting as dumping loads of d6s on the table for a crit Sneak Attack.The new rules need testing, and it remains to be seen whether rogues will retain this power bump in the updated Dungeons & Dragons ruleset.
Source: D&D Beyond