Rogues, rogues, rogues. I love playing them in RPGs because… well… you get to snoop about. And sometimes being a rogue is the only way to get a proper looksie around certain places.

In Hook-Up Heroes, characters sharing a class tend to have some similar traits. How the different classes really play out in terms of tactics, however, comes down to items. The Rogue class focuses on controlling the flow of item cards; amassing extra items for the player and denying items from their opponents.

Rogues are also the most agile class, meaning they play their Item cards first (with Warriors second slowest and Mages potentially the most powerful, but slowest of all).

These cards are ugly but hopefully functional. Common means there are 4 in the deck. Rare means there are two. Unique means unique.

This is quite a fun part of development, especially trying to work out how to make the ‘fiction layer’ (item depiction, flavour text) work with the mechanics in the most apt or humorous way. The idea that a Warrior has gone off to a date wearing an Impressive Medallion to give them the Influential trait, and the pesky Rogue sneaks up and nabs it off them. Or nips around to the other Dating Agencies on the way to their own date, nabbing the odd item.

Of course there’s a point at which the fiction-logic falls apart: why do rogues give the things they steal back to the dating agency manager? Maybe that’s how they pay you. I dunno, let the game be what it is I guess.

Let me know what you think (about the rules rather than the ugly presentation) in the comments! I’m always open to suggestions.