Rogue

Rogues are sneaky fighters who prefer trickery to fighting fair. They are experts in twisting combats to their advantage, distracting and misdirecting enemies. Most rogues favor stealth and surprise attacks over direct combat. Rogues have a generally negative reputation as thieves, liars, and assassins.

Rogue talents give many ways to confuse or avoid enemies. They also include ways to exploit a distraction for all it’s worth, with powerful sneak attacks and finishing moves. Rogue talents also let them escape danger through luck or stealth. Rogue ribbons give more ways to sneak around and avoid getting caught.

Examples of rogues in fiction include Han Solo from Star Wars, Batman from DC Comics, Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean, and Corvo Attano from Dishonored.

Novice Talents

Assassinate

You can take advantage of your foe’s surprise to deal deadly blows

When you succeed on a Strike against a surprised target, your Strike is a critical success.

Bleeding Strike

You slice your target open, causing them to start bleeding out

Make a melee Strike with a weapon that deals Piercing or Slashing damage. This Strike gains the following effects.

Critical Success
As success, and the bleed damage is doubled
Success
Your target starts bleeding

Charmed Life

You luckily avoid effects that would incapacitate others
Trigger
An attack targets your Strength DC, Agility DC, Intellect DC, or Spirit DC

You have a +2 bonus to your DC against the triggering attack.

Lucky

You have supernaturally good luck that kicks in when it’s needed most

You have three luck points. You can spend a luck point to reroll any die roll that you make, or to reroll any attack roll against you. You regain all your luck points when you finish an 8-hour rest.

Sidestep

You confuse an enemy, causing it to hit its ally instead
Trigger
A Strike targeting you fails or critically fails

The triggering Strike targets a creature adjacent to you instead of you. The attacker must reroll the Strike’s attack roll against the new target.

Poison Blade

You poison your blade, making your attacks more deadly
Target
A weapon you’re wielding that deals Piercing or Slashing damage
Duration
1 minute

The next time you succeed on a Strike with the targeted weapon, you deal an extra 4d6 damage.

Smoke Bomb

You detonate a smoke bomb and run to clear the area
Range
10 feet
Area
20-foot burst
Duration
1 minute

A cloud of smoke explodes in this power’s area, making it impossible to see through the area. Use the Stride power.

Sneak Attack

You take advantage of your enemy to strike for extra damage

Make a Strike against a flat-footed creature. The weapon you Strike with must be a Finesse weapon or a ranged weapon. The base damage of this Strike increases by 2d6.

Veteran Talents

Debilitation

You impair and debilitate creatures you hit with strikes
Trigger
You succeed on a melee Strike
Target
The target of the triggering Strike
Duration
Until the end of your next turn

Choose one of the following options:

Improved Sneak Attack

You deal massive damage against enemies you sneak attack
Prerequisites
Sneak Attack

The damage bonus of your Sneak Attack talent is 4d6 instead of 2d6.

Infinite Luck

You never seem to run out of luck, no matter the circumstances
Prerequisites
Lucky

If you are at 0 luck points, you regain 1 luck point when you finish a 5-minute rest.

Opportune Backstab

You capitalize upon the distraction when your enemy gets hit
Trigger
A Strike suceeds against a creature you can reach
Requirements
A creature other than you made the triggering Strike

Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature.

Stumbling Steps

Your stumbling steps get your enemies to repeatly hit each other
Prerequisites
Sidestep

Your Sidestep power loses the Encounter trait. You have +2 Defense while adjacent to two or more enemies.

Master Talents

Guess Who's Back

You can never truly be defeated, as you always find a way back

You cannot be permanently killed, jailed, disabled, or otherwise prevented from acting freely. Whenever you are seemingly killed or disabled, after 1 week or so, the GM should introduce some kind of plot contrivance to let you rejoin the action. This might come at a minor narrative cost, such as losing your equipment, owing a favor to your rescuers, or being targeted by a magical curse.

Night Stalker

You remain hidden even when you would normally be seen
Trigger
One or more creatures would notice you

Make an Agility+Stealth roll against the Intellect+Notice DC of all creatures trying to notice you.

Success
The triggering creatures do not notice you, and cannot perceive you for the rest of your turn

This power lets you Strike without being seen, sneak through an open room with no cover, or otherwise act brazenly while remaining hidden. Since this power only lasts until the end of your turn, you must end your turn in a hiding spot if you want to stay hidden.

Poison Expert

You make use of deadlier poisons that disable your enemies
Prerequisites
Poison Blade

When you damage a creature with your Poison Blade power, choose one of the following effects:

  • The damage increases to 8d6
  • Your target is blinded until the end of their next turn
  • Your target is incapacitated until the end of their next turn

Epic Talents

Ribbons

Ambush Master

You are always ready to jump into fights and surprise enemies

During the first round of combat, all creatures are flat-footed to you.

Fast Hands

You can disarm traps or pickpocket others incredibly quickly

Use the Interact power. Your interaction must be a task that requires an Agility roll.

Never Tell Me the Odds

You ignore the normal odds and substitute your own

Whenever you perform an entirely luck-based activity with two possible outcomes, you can choose to ignore the normal odds and instead make it a 50-50 chance either way. If the original chance of the good outcome was much less than 50%, then the GM should add narrative consequences to the good outcome proportional to how unlikely it was.

For example, if you play the lottery, you could choose to have a 50% chance of winning. Since winning the lottery was extremely unlikely, the GM should add severe consequences - maybe a thieves’ guild targets you for your newfound riches, or the local lord tries to throw you in jail and take your winnings.

As another example, if you sail a ship along a random path through dangerous waters, you could choose to have a 50% chance of making it through successfully. Since surviving the trip intact was moderately unlikely, the GM should add moderate consequences - maybe your passing aggravated a nearby sea serpent, or maybe you’re now hopelessly lost.

Supreme Sneak

You move slowly and carefully, not making any noise
Requirements
You haven’t used a Move power yet this turn
Duration
Until the start of your next turn

You are slowed, but you have advantage on Stealth rolls made to hide or move silently.

Unreadable

You can lie without any way to prove you aren’t telling the truth

You have advantage on Spirit rolls made to lie to other people. When you’re targeted by a Divination effect that reveals whether you’re lying, you choose what the divination reports.