Editing Spellthief (section)

==5e Spellthief?==
A version of the Spellthief for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] hasn't been officially released yet... but the DMG [[netbook]] "Darkhold: Secrets of the Zhentarim" does contain a version as a [[Rogue]] subclass, and that book does credit [[Ed Greenwood]] as one of the authors, so it's definitely worth noting.

This Spellthief is presented as a secret order bodyguards, arcane assassins and mageslayers that has emerged from amongst the ranks of the Black CLoaks of the [[Zhentarim]]. A sidebar suggests that, for maximum effectiveness, DMs might consider waiving the use of material components for spellthieves, although frankly most DMs tend to do so in general anyway.

The core feature of the spellthief is, of course, the 3rd level subclass feature '''Steal Spell'''. When a spellthief successfully lands a Sneak Attack on a creature with unexpended spell-slots or spell-like abilities, the spellthief can sacrifice damage to instead drain a spell. The maximum level of spell that can be drained is 1 per 2 dice of Sneak Attack bonus damage sacrificed (so 2d6 damage forfeited for a 1st level spell, 4d6 for a 2nd level, etc). The spell stolen is randomly chosen from the subject's pool of spells of the targeted spell level, unless you saw the target cast a specific spell earlier, in which case you can try to deliberately take that spell. If you target a creature that has no spells to steal, or try to steal a spell that the creature is no longer able to cast (for example, try to steal Entangle from a [[dryad]] after it's already cast Entangle three times), then the attempt fails and the sacrificed damage dice are lost - but you don't use up a usage of the Steal Spell ability.

A spellthief can use Steal Spell a number of times per long rest equal to their [[Charisma]] modifier (minimum of once). A creature successfully hit iwth Steal Spell ''cannot'' use the stolen spell until they complete a long rest, even if they do have remaining spell slots or per-day uses. A spellthief retains a stolen spell until either they cast it (they use [[Charisma]] as their spellcasting ability score for stolen spells) or they take a long rest.

A spellthief can also use Steal Spell to take a spell from a willing donor by just touching the donor creature.

The spellthief's second level 3 subclass feature is '''Eye for Magic''', which lets them cast Detect Magic as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to their Charisma modifier, using Charisma as their spellcasting ability score. A long rest restores all uses.

Level 9's '''Mark the Prey''' lets a spellthief make a [[Wisdom]] (Insight) check as a bonus action to identify if a specific creature is a spellcaster. If this check is successful, the player learns all of the following facts:
* If the target can cast spells.
* The target's spellcasting ability.
* The highest level of spells currently available to steal from the target.

Level 13's '''Absorb Spell''' can be used once per short rest when the spellthief succeeds on a saving throw against a spell. When used, the spellthief spends their Reaction after making the save to imbue their weapon with stolen magical energies; for the next minute, their weapon is considered magical and does +1d6 damage per level of the absorbed spell.

Finally, level 17's '''Spellgrace''' grants the spellthief both Advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects, and the ability to immediately cast a spell stolen by using Steal Spell without needing to spend any further actions.