Charming Rogue (D&D Rogue variant)

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Unofficial rules compendium

The charming rogue is a charming scoundrel, not a fighter. Specialized on getting ahead in social situations, she can prosper as am entertainer, politician, spy, merchant, courtier, or diplomat.

This is an attempt to create a social character that is less extreme than the courtier of the Rokugan campaign setting. Unlike the courtier, the charming rogue can still be an efficient adventurer. It might turn out to be a one-trick pony and feel very repetitive in play, this is not yet tested.

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Sneak Attack

The charming rogue does not have this ability. As an option, the DM might allow charming rouges to pick a mix of Sneak Attack dice and social tricks. Doing so does not increase her charm rating. While this might seem advantageous, it lessens the focus on either social tricks or combat ability, and most likely creates a weaker character. As a further option, prestige classes that grant sneak attack abilities might give social tricks instead, decided by the DM on a case-by-case basis.

Special Abilities

The charming rogue cannot use the Crippling Strike special ability but has access to two additional special abilities:

Social Trick

The charming rogue learns one additional social trick, but her charm rating and her number of tricks from any one category do not increase.

Wiles

The charm rating of the charming rogue increases by one.

Social tricks

At every odd level (the same levels where she would normally have gained new dice of Sneak Attack), the charming rogue may choose one social trick from those listed below. She also has a charm rating equal to the number of social tricks she currently has, which influences the power of these abilities.

Social tricks are numbered in the table below. The charming rogue can choose any social trick with a number equal or less than her class level + Charisma bonus.

1. Fascinate
2. Friends
3. Taunt
4. Fast-Talk
5. Awe
6. Demoralize
7. Inspiration +1
8. Slough Blame
9. Provoke
10. Language of the Heart
11. Inspiration +2
12. Method Actor
13. Spurious Logic
14. First Impression
15. Inspiration +3
16. Instant Charm
17. Necrotic Attraction
18. Presence
19. Green Tongue
20. Inspiration +4
21. Terror

Unless otherwise noted, all social tricks are extraordinary, mind-affecting abilities. Certain social tricks are language-dependent or have prerequisites that must be met. Language-dependent abilities only work on creatures of Intelligence 3 or more and require that the target can see, hear, and understand the social rogue. Other abilities work on sight alone. Targets unaware of the social rogue are not affected by any social trick.

Awe (language-dependent)

The charming rogue has the ability to awe a target through sheer force of personality. The target must be within 30 feet of the hero. Awing a target is a standard action, or a swift action just after you have damaged that opponent. The target resists the awe attempt by making a Will saving throw (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus). If the save fails, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to the hero’s charm rating. A shaken character takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.

Awe is negated if the target can no longer see the hero or if the hero is unable to take actions.

This also improves the Intimidation skill; creatures you coerce by intimidation no longer worsen in attitude after the intimidation wears off.

Demoralize (language-dependent)

You can use the demoralize opponent action of the Intimidate skill as a swift action whenever she damages an opponent in combat. She can still demoralize opponents as a standard action if she prefers. Each use of demoralize affects all enemies within 30 ft. who can see you, rather than just one.

Fascinate

A charming rogue can cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with her. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 30 feet, able to see and hear the charming rogue, and able to pay attention to him. The charming rogue must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working.

To captivate a target, the hero must use a standard action and make a Perform check. The target resists the captivation attempt by making a Will saving throw with the result of the perform check as the DC. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the charming rogue cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens, taking no other actions, for as long as the charming rogue continues to talk and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 round per charming rogue level). A number of creatures equal to charm rating can be affected at once.

While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat allows the creature a new saving throw. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect.

Fast-Talk (language-dependent)

The charming rogue can propose a seemingly reasonable course of action that a single target will immediately follow. Fast-Talk is a standard action. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus); failure indicates the target acts on the proposition. Each round, the target gets a new saving throw; success throws off the effect, but as long as the initial saving throw fails the target thinks he acted on his own initiative and might continue to perform the action if it is in its own interest.

A particular creature can only be fast-talked once per hour.

Example: Rudolf the Red has been captured by orcs; he uses fast-talk to convince the guard to take a break and leave him guarding the other prisoners; after all, the other orcs are feasting and having fun without him. The orc guard fails his first two saving throws and opens the cell and exits the cell block before thinking twice. On making the third saving throw, he doesn’t see Rudolf let his friends out, so the action still seems reasonable and he moves off to party. Later, Rudolf confronts a pair of guards and fast-talks one to attack the other “I heard him plot to kill you later, lets gang up on him before he can!”. Among orcs, such treachery is not unreasonable, so the fast talk works as long as the orc keeps failing his saving throws, but not one second longer. Any hostile action againstthe fast-talked orc breaks the effect.

First Impression

The charming rogue can learn a lot about someone by first impression. A swift action and a Sense Motive roll against a DC of 10 + Will save modifier allows you to learn something abut another creature within 50 ft. You learn one of the following facts (your choice), plus one per five points of margin on your roll. You cannot use this feature again on that creature until you have improved your skill rank in Sense Motive.

Powers that negate detection spells and powers work against this ability. The charming rogue uses her character level for caster level tests.

• The creature’s alignment
• The creature’s challenge rating
• The creature’s main class. This includes class variants or wizard specialization. Against a creature who has more HD than levels in any class, you learn it’s type and subtype(s) instead.
• The creature’s base attack bonus.
• The creature’s best skill, and bonus in that skill.
• The creature’s bonus in one skill of your choice.
• The creature’s score in one ability of your choice.
• What spells the creature has prepared (or knows, in the case of spontaneous spellcasters or spell-like abilities) of the highest level it can use.

Friends

Creatures who start out as indifferent to the charming rogue become friendly and might do her small favors. This also adds her charm rating to Gather Information checks.

The charming rogue has the ability to acquire minor aid from anyone she meets with an attitude of friendly or better. How they got to be friendly does not matter; the first part of this trick or regular Diplomacy rolls can be used to get them there. By making a favor check, a charming rogue can gain important information, acquire the loan of equipment or documents, or to receive other minor assistance in the course of an adventure.

To make a favor check, make a Diplomacy check. The GM sets the DC based on the scope of the favor being requested. The DC ranges from 10 for a simple favor to as high as 60 for formidable and highly dangerous, expensive, or illegal favors. A charming rogue can’t take 10 or 20 on this check, nor can the hero retry the check for the same (or virtually the same) favor.

Favor	DC
Takes ten minutes	5
Takes an hour	10
Takes a day	15
Takes a week	20
Requires full-time work	x2
Has a minor cost	+5
Costs a day's salary	+10
Is slightly risky	+5
Is dangerous	+10

Example: Rudolf the Red wants to quietly observe his current mark. Rather than spy himself, he talks to her maid and asks her to report back to him after a week. The DC for this task is 25 (20 for one week, +5 because it is risky (she might lose her job).

Favors should help advance the plot of an adventure. The GM should carefully monitor a Charming rogue’s use of favors to ensure that this ability isn’t abused. The success or failure of a mission shouldn’t hinge on the use of a favor, and getting a favor shouldn’t replace good roleplaying or the use of other skills. The GM may disallow any favor deemed to be disruptive to the game. A favor that would enable a character to avoid an adventure altogether should always be unavailable to the character, regardless of the result of a favor check.

Green Tongue

The charming rogue can improve the attitude of an animal, magical beast, or plant with an intelligence of one or two. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person, but uses the Handle Animal skill.

The charming rogue can understand and simulate the impulses to which animals, plants, oozes, vermin, and swarms (except swarms of constructs, deathless, or undead) respond. The mind-affecting and language-dependent abilities of the charming rogue can affect such creatures, even if they are mindless and even if there is no common language. Green Tongue is a supernatural ability.

Inspiration (language-dependent)

As a standard action, the charming rogue can inspire his or her allies, bolstering them and improving their chances of success. An ally must listen to and observe the charming rogue for the inspiration to take hold. The effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the hero’s charm rating. The hero can inspire a number of allies equal to her charm rating who must all start and remain within 30 ft. and can inspire herself.

An inspired ally gains a +1 morale bonus on skill checks, saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls.

This ability can be taken several times at higher levels, with cumulative benefits. It can be taken twice at level 6, three times at level 12, and four times at level 18.

Instant Charm (language-dependent)

The charming rogue can attempt a Diplomacy check as a full-round action with no penalty on the skill check.

Language of the Heart

Social tricks that are normally language-dependent are no longer so, and thus work on creatures lacking a language or with an intelligence of 1 or 2.

The charming rogue can make a roll of (number of skill points spent on extra languages) + Intelligence bonus to communicate in languages she does not know; a DC of 10 allows communication of basic ideas (Hungry, need help!), 15 allows simple conversation (Which way to evil temple?), 20 allows basic conversation (I saw 20 elves half a day to the south.) and 30 allows basic conversation on advanced subjects like magic or philosophy.

Method Actor

A creature encountering the method actor in disguise only gets one roll per day to penetrate the disguise, not one per hour. Each day while playing the same role, the character can make a new Disguise roll; if the roll is higher than yesterday’s, use the new result, otherwise keep the old result. As long as she is in disguise and acts in character, detection powers will reveal facts about the assumed role rather than about the charming rogue.

The charming rogue no longer needs to lie; to her mindset, anything she says is true. This makes her immune to truth-detecting abilities, though she can still fail her Bluff rolls.

Example: Lilow is asked if he stole a merchant’s purse. This is what he says (and does not say) to avoid either lying or giving himself away: "I am a decent person, and could never steal anything. (Ownership is theft, and I don’t own anything; all the things I have are merely borrowed.) In fact, the merchant is the rogue, he is trying to con the purse from me by claiming I stole it!"

Necrotic Attraction

The charming rogue has a tragic soul that understands the deep urges of the undead and deathless. Or so she says. She can use Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate on undead creatures as long as they have an intelligence of 1 or more.

The mind-affecting and language-dependent abilities of the charming rogue can affect undead and deathless, even if mindless and even if there is no common language.

Necrotic attraction is a supernatural, necromantic ability.

Presence

The charming rogue has attained great presence, increasing the range of all her range-limited social tricks to 100 ft.

Provoke

The charming rogue can infuriate onlookers, forcing them to attack her instead of other targets. Provoke is a swift action that affects all enemies within 30 ft. of the charming rogue who can see her. Each target must make a Will save (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus); failure indicates they cannot attack anyone but the charming rogue this round. They can still perform non-attack actions. If they use area attacks, the charming rogue must be included in the area. If they direct powers or minions to attack, those attacks have the same limitations.

It is common for a charming rogue to use total defense or to take cover after using this ability, in which case targets must either pursue or not attack for a round.

Slough Blame (language-dependent)

The charming rogue can direct other people’s attention away from herself. Anyone who wants to target her, either with an attack or with an interaction or other effect with a specific target or targets must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus) to do so. If the save fails, another legal target (or no target) must be selected instead. Area effects are not affected.

Slough blame is a standard action and lasts a single round, tough it can be performed again in the next round.

Spurious Logic

The charming rogue can understand and pervert the logic and directions of constructs by understanding and adapting to their response protocol. In this way she can improve the attitude of a construct, even a mindless one. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person, but uses the Bluff skill.

The mind-affecting and language-dependent abilities of the charming rogue can affect constructs, even mindless constructs and even if there is no common language.

Taunt (language-dependent)

The charming rogue has the ability to temporarily rattle one or more creatures through the use of insults and goading. A number of creatures equal to charm rating can be affected at once. All targets must be within 30 feet of the hero.

Taunting is a standard action. The target resists the taunt by making a Will saving throw (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus). If the save fails, the target becomes dazed (unable to act, but can defend normally) for 1 round. A taunt can be played on an opponent any number of times. It is common for the charming rogue to run away or take cover after making a taunt.

Terror (language-dependent)

When you successfully use the Intimidate skill to demoralize opponent or successfully use the Demoralize or Awe social trick, targets must make a Will save (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus) or be frightened rather than scared.