How do I sell my concept of a Dwarven Rogue to the rest of the party...

for anyone roleplaying an assassin rogue character, there were a bunch of CIA documents declassified in the late 90's which essentially amounted to an assassin guidebook; whale.to/b/ciaassassin.pdf

Came here to say this.

Rogues and Dwarfs go together perfectly. The dungeon skulking, trap disarming, lock picking. Not to mention the savage little fuckers are the perfect height to shove a shiv in a niggas' kidneys.

As a side note in old D&D rogues was the only class that dwarfs (and all other demihuman classes) could get max level in. Dwarfs made excellent fighter/rogues.

I would think that, being subterranean dwellers who often have to share space with other hostile underground empires/monsters, there would be societies of dwarves - probably those who are isolated by chance or choice from their kin - who would take to subterfuge to survive. Hell, even the dark and twisting tunnels are perfect for training them in stealth and ambush.

Do not know which edition are you playing, but try explaining to your group why your dwarf is a rogue. Mine was because he was weaker then rest of clan, so he decided to go more of agile and bacstabby. Also, he worked in tavern and heard stories about some rogues who were role model for him.
The dwarf rogues would be in society something akin to the syndicate or mafia. They may not be the folks who may get to all places because of phisical ability, but by sheer power of determination. Also they could be more like masterminds and thugs in those organizations.

...

I love how common sense some of the advice here is
>"the morally squeamish should not attempt [assassination]"
>"The essential point of assassination is the death of the subject"

Historically speaking, assassinations are rarely "super skilled guy snipes you from a balcony" and more "some guy stabs/shoots you several times point blank and walks away". For high value targets, you bribe people to get access to their home, or have them put in jail.

yeah that's basically the gist of the entire guidebook

It turns into slapstick when they try to be clever, look at the attempts to poison Castro.

They are short. That means they're low to the ground. After that, it's just a case of knowing how to move. You can be stocky and still be stealthy if you have a good mental image of your body and how it functions. So you stay low to the ground and you're tactical about your movement.

This dwarf is intelligent, or at least cunning. He knows how people think of dwarves and uses that to his advantage where possible.
If you want to add in some extra dorfy bits, he could have knowledge of architecture and crafting, which enables him to more easily case locations for weaknesses and manipulate locks or disarm machines, as appropriate. For added fun, have him explain the mechanical functions of traps as he's disarming them, walking the party through the process as he clicks the lock open, or pointing out what they should be looking for when he's picking out the best route to go for maximum stealth. Dwarves are often stereotyped as craftsmen, where there's a proper way to do things and a proper way to learn; it just so happens that his craft involves a lot of thievery.

There is an entire dwarf rogue mafia in The Witcher 3, use that as inspiration.

You forget that every one of those assassins got caught and killed/imprisoned for life.
An assassin shouldn't be getting caught.
Not caesar, but that was less of an assassination and more of a coup.

If you buy into conspiracies, the best way to do it is to subliminally radicalize some little bitch with no ties to anyone until he's ready to attack someone for reasons he barely understands, then get him locked up as a crazy.

the guidebook linked earlier says something similar

>In 'lost' assassination (where you don't intend the assassin to make it out alive), the assassin must be a fanatic of some sort. Politics,
religion, and revenge are about the only feasible motives. Since a fanatic is
unstable psychologically, he must be handled with extreme care. He must not
know the identities of the other members of the organization, for although it is
intended that he die in the act, something may go wrong. While the assassin
of Trotsky has never revealed any significant information, it was unsound to
depend on this when the act was planned.

>extra intelligence means extra skill points per level
>extra constitution means more hp and better resistance to poison
>darksense, stonesense, and trapfinding means knowing the lay of the land and being hard to surprise, ambush, or poison
I don't know about you, but dwarf rogues go a long way as either cunning diplomats, guildmasters, 'merchants', and anybody whose more about the social and mental aspects of guilds and smuggling. Sure, you're not the acrobatic roof-tumbling harlequin type, perhaps, but a dwarf rogue is bloody brilliant with a ledger.
.... and fracking impossible to assassinate, if played right.

>>extra intelligence means extra skill points per level

And just like that you perfectly reminded me why I fucking hated 3.5 and Pathfinder when I had a nostalgic moment there for a second

>short and stocky
>don’t seem particularly stealthy
So what? They use the same techniques everyone else does. Dwarves are a lot of things, but clumsy has never been one of them. They’re just as agile as humans, in fact.

The namesake assassins were a bunch of drugged up, swordswinging hooligans sent out to kill for more hashish. An assassin isn't some sneaky guy that gets away with his crimes per say: he's a cold-blooded killer, one who attacks when least expected, and makes quick work of his target.

>carries a hollowed out boulder around that he hides in while waiting for the target to pass by

Too subtle