Rogue

Rogues share little in common with each other.  Some are stealthy thieves.  Others are silver-tongued tricksters.  Still others are scouts, infiltrators, spies, diplomats, or thugs.  What they share is versatility, adaptability, and resourcefulness.  In general, rogues are skilled at getting what others don't want them to get; entrance into a locked treasure vault, safe passage past a deadly trap, secret battle plans, a guard's trust, or some random person's pocket money.

     Adventures: Rogues adventure for the same reason they do most things: to get what they can get.  Some are after loot, others experience.  Some crave fame, others infamy.  Quite a few also enjoy a challenge.  Figuring out how to thwart a trap or avoid an alarm is great fun for many rogues.

     Characteristics: Rogues are highly skilled, and they can concentrate in any of several types of skills.  While not equal to members of many other classes in combat, a rogue knows how to hit where it hurts, and a rogue who can hit an opponent with a sneak attack can dish out a lot of damage.

     Rogues have a sixth sense when it comes to avoiding danger.  Experienced rogues develop nearly magical powers and skills as they master the arts of stealth, evasion, and sneak attacks.  In addition, while not capable of casting spells on their own, rogues can "fake it" well enough to cast spells from scrolls, activate wands, and use just about any other magic item.

     Alignment: Rogues follow opportunities, not ideals.  They are more likely to be chaotic than lawful.  Rogues, however, are a diverse bunch, and they may be of any alignment.

     Religion: The worship of rogues is as varied as they are themselves.  Most humans, hobbits, and half-elves raised by humans worship Mask, the god of thieves and shadow.  Elven rogues pray to ancestors and the kami just as the rest of their kind, and dwarves, orcs, goblins and other races all have their individual gods that rogues of all types revere.

     Background: Some rogues are officially inducted into an organized fellowship of rogues or "guild of thieves."  Indeed there is a thieves guild rumored to be operating in Thunder Rift.  Most, however, are self-taught or learned their skills from an independent mentor.  Often, an experienced rogue needs an assistant for scams, second-story jobs, or just for watching his back.  He recruits a likely youngster who then learns the skills of the trade on the job.  Eventually, the trainer is ready to move on, perhaps because the mentor has run afoul of the law, or perhaps because the trainee has double-crossed his mentor and needs some "space."

     Rogues do not see each other as fellows unless they happen to be members of the same guild or students of the same mentor.  Among the elves, rogues of the same ninja or yakuza clans see each other as family.  For the most part, rogues trust other rogues less than they trust anyone else.  They are no fools.

     Races: Adaptable and often unprincipled, humans take the rogues life with ease.  Hobbits and half-elves, too, find themselves well suited to the demands of the career.  Dwarf and gnome rogues, while less common, are renowned as experts with locks and traps.  Half-orc rogues tend towards thuggery.  Elven rogues act as spies and scouts for their clans, or are part of ninja and yakuza clans themselves, they may even be just commoners who have learned their skills in secret.

     Rogues are common among brutal humanoids, especially the Goblin Nation and ratlings.  Rogues who learn their arts in savage lands, however, generally don't have experience with complex mechanisms such as traps and locks.

     Other Classes: Rogues love and hate working with members of other classes.  They excel when protected by warriors and supported by spellcasters.  There are plenty of times, however, that they wish that everyone else was as quiet, guileful, and patient as a rogue.  They get along best with rangers, another class skilled at subtlety, and indeed some rogues multiclass into the ranger class, gaining skills at tracking and archery to support their already considerable skills.

Game Rule Information

Rogues have the following game statistics.

     Abilities: Dexterity affects many rogue skills and provides the lightly armored rogue extra protection.  Intelligence and Wisdom are important for many of the rogue's skills.  A high Intelligence score also gives the rogue extra skill points, which can be used to expand his repertoire.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d6

Class Skills

The rogue's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Auto Hypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gamble (Wis), Heal (Wis), Hypnosis (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Int, dungeoneering), Knowledge (Int, engineering), Knowledge (Int, local), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Signaling (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at 1st-Level: (8 + Int modifier) x 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the fighter.

     Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The rogue is proficient with all simple weapons as well as the handaxe, rapier, sap, scimitar, shortbow, short sword, throwing axe, .  Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble.  Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.  When wearing light armor or no armor, a rogue can fight with two weapons as if he had the feats Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting.  He loses this special bonus when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double weapon (such as a two-bladed sword).

     Sneak Attack (Ex): If a rogue can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, he can strike a vital spot for extra damage.

     The rogue’s attack deals extra damage anytime his target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks his target.  This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every two rogue levels thereafter.  Should the rogue score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.  Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.

     With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), a rogue can make a sneak attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage.  He cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, not even with the usual –4 penalty.

     The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot.  A rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment.  Sneak attack does not work on creatures immune to critical hits.

     Trapfinding (Ex): A rogue receives a bonus to his Perception checks when trying to locate traps, as well as his Disable Device checks.  This bonus is equal to half his rogue class level (minimum +1). 

     Only rogues can detect and disable traps with DC's higher than 20.

     Only rogues can disable magical traps.

     Evasion (Ex): At 2nd-level, a rogue gains evasion.  If exposed to any effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage (such as a fireball), she takes no damage with a successful saving throw.  Evasion can only be used if the rogue is wearing light armor or no armor at all.

     Rogue Ability: At 2nd-level, and every two levels thereafter, the rogue can select a special rogue ability from the following list:

     Defensive Roll (Ex): The rogue can roll with a potentially lethal blow to take less damage from it.  Once per day, when a rogue would be reduced to 0 hit points or less by damage in combat (from a weapon or other blow, not a spell or special ability), the rogue can attempt to roll with the damage.  He makes a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt) and, if he's successful, he takes only half damage from the blow.  He must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute his defensive roll -- if he is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, he can't roll.  Since this effect would not normally allow a character to make a Reflex save for half damage, the rogue's evasion ability does not apply to the defensive roll.

     Double Weapon Training: When wearing light armor, or no armor at all, and utilizing his two-weapon fighting ability, the rogue may now use double weapons (such as a two-bladed sword) with his ability.

     Feat: The rogue may select a feat in place of any rogue ability.

     Lucky (Ex): The rogue is often as lucky as he is good.  Once per day a rogue with this ability can reroll any failed ability check, skill check, attack roll, or saving throw.  (In other words, any task resolution die roll, which are die rolls using the d20.)  The second result must be used, regardless of whether it is better or worse than the first.

     The rogue may take this ability multiple times, gaining a new use of lucky per day each time it is taken.

     Minor Magic (Sp): A rogue with this talent gains the ability to cast a 0-level spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list.  This spell can be cast three times a day as a spell-like ability.  The caster level for this ability is equal to the rogue’s level.  The save DC for this spell is 10 + the rogue’s Intelligence modifier.  Prerequisite: Intelligence 10.

     Opportunist (Ex): Once per round, the rogue can make an attack of opportunity against an opponent who has just been struck for damage in melee by another character.  This attack counts as the rogue's attack of opportunity for that round.  Even a rogue with the Combat Reflexes feat can't use the opportunist ability more than once per round.

     Precise Attack (Ex): Every round, a rogue may add a +1 bonus to one attack roll or damage roll when using a Dexterity-based attack, but not both.  (A Dexterity-based attack is an attack made with either a ranged weapon or a melee weapon using the Weapon Finesse feat.)  You must declare where the bonus applies before the attack die is rolled.

     The rogue may take this ability multiple times, gaining an additional +1 bonus each time it is taken.

     Poison Use: The rogue no longer risks poisoning himself when applying poison to his blades.

     Skill Mastery: The rogue selects a number of skills equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier.  When making a skill check with one of these skills, the rogue may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so.  He becomes so certain in his skill that he can use his skill reliably even under adverse conditions.

     The rogue may gain this ability multiple times, selecting additional skills for it to apply to each time.

     Unchain Skill: Rogues are the only class that can unchain multiple skills.  In addition to being able to take the Signature Skill feat, rogues can choose unchain skill as a special rogue ability.  This lets them unchain a new skill each time it is taken.  Rogues may only unchain rogue class skills.

     Advanced Abilities: At 10th-level, and every level thereafter when the rogue may select a rogue ability, he may either choose a standard ability listed above, or choose an advanced ability from the list below:

     Center of Combat (Ex): When facing more than one opponent, the rogue relies on his instincts and reflexes to keep him alive.  He gains a +1 dodge bonus to his AC for each additional opponent he is facing beyond the first.

     Crippling Strike (Ex): A rogue with this ability can sneak attack opponents with such precision that his blows weaken and hamper them.  When the rogue damages an opponent with a sneak attack, that character also takes 1 point of temporary Strength damage.  Ability points lost to damage return on their own at the rate of 1 point per day.

     Deadly Cocktail (Ex): The rogue can apply two doses of poison to his blade.  It must be the same poison, the rogue cannot mix poisons.  Prerequisite: Poison Use rogue ability.

     The rogue may select this ability multiple times, each time allows him to apply one additional does of poison to his blade.

     Improved Evasion (Ex): This ability works like evasion, except that while the rogue still takes no damage on a successful Reflex save against spells such as a fireball or breath weapon, he now takes only half damage on a failed save (the rogue's reflexes allow her to get out of harm's way with incredible speed).

     Improved Two-Weapon Fighting: When wearing light armor or no armor at all, the rogue can fight as if he had the feats Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting, and Improved Two-Weapon Fighting.  The rogue does not need to meet the normal prerequisites of the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.

     Major Magic (Sp): A rogue with this talent gains the ability to cast a 1st-level spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list two times a day as a spell-like ability.  The caster level for this ability is equal to the rogue’s level.  The save DC for this spell is 11 + the rogue’s Intelligence modifier.  Prerequisite: Minor Magic rogue ability, Intelligence 11. 

     Quick Poison (Ex): The rogue may apply poison to his blade as a swift action.

    Slippery Mind (Ex): This ability represents the rogue's ability to wriggle free from magical effects that would otherwise control or compel him.  If a rogue with slippery mind is affected by an enchantment and fails his saving throw, 1 round later he can attempt his saving throw again.  He only gains this one extra chance to succeed at his saving throw.

     Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 3rd-level, the rogue gains the ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so.  At 3rd-level and above, he retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker.  (He still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)

     At 6th-level, the rogue can no longer be flanked; he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker.  This defense denies other rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack him.  The exception to this defense is that another rogue at least four levels high than the character can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).

     At 9th-level, the rogue gains an intuitive sense that alerts him to danger from traps, giving him a +1 bonus to Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps.  At 12th-level this bonus raises to +2, gaining an additional +1 every three levels thereafter.

     Master Strike (Ex): Upon reaching 20th-level, a rogue becomes incredibly deadly when dealing sneak attack damage. Each time the rogue deals sneak attack damage, she can choose one of the following three effects:

• Knocked unconscious for 1d4 hours
  
• Paralyzed for 2d6 rounds
  
• Slain
  

     Regardless of the effect chosen, the target receives a Fortitude save to negate the additional effect.  The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the rogue’s level + the rogue’s Intelligence modifier.  Once a creature has been the target of a master strike, regardless of whether or not the save is made, the rogue cannot use his master strike ability on that target again for 24 hours.  Creatures that are immune to sneak attack damage are also immune to this ability.