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 does 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.

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.

Allure

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.

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. The target resists the awe attempt by making a Will saving throw (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus). If the save fails, the target receives a –2 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the character’s charm rating.

This talent can be used multiple times on the same target, each time worsening the awed penalty by –1 and extending all your running awes to the duration of the most recent awe.

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

Captivate (language-dependent)

The charming rogue has the ability to temporarily beguile a target through the use of words and bearing. The target must be within 30 feet of the hero and must be flat-footed or not in combat.

To captivate a target, the hero must use a standard action. The target resists the captivation attempt by making a Will saving throw (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus). If the saving throw fails, the hero becomes the target’s sole focus. The target pays no attention to anyone else for 1 round and remains flat-footed. This focusing of the target’s attention allows other characters to take actions of which the captivated target is unaware. The effect ends immediately if the target is attacked or threatened.

A Charming rogue can concentrate to keep a target captivated for additional rounds. The charming rogue must take a standard action each round, and the target gets to make a new Will save each round. The effect ends when the hero stops concentrating, or when the target succeeds on the save. A character that has saved against this ability cannot be captivated again by that charming rogue for 24 hours, but is susceptible to other captivating charming rogues.

Demoralize (language-dependent)

You can use the demoralize opponent action of the Intimidate skill as a move action instead of a standard action and target all opponents within 30 ft. who can see you, rather than just one.

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 fast-talk. 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.

Favor (language-dependent)

The charming rogue has the ability to acquire minor aid from anyone he or she meets with an attitude of indifferent or better. By making a favor check, a Charming rogue can gain important information without going through the time and trouble of doing a lot of research. Favors can also be used to acquire the loan of equipment or documents, or to receive other minor assistance in the course of an adventure.

To make a favor check, roll a d20 and add the character’s charm rating + Charisma bonus. 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 30 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

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.

Unlike Fast Talk, favor is a lasting effect, and there are no hard feelings involved.

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 work against this ability. The charming rogue uses her 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.

Green Tongue

The charming rogue can improve the attitude of an animal or magical beast 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 Charisma bonus. 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.

Inspiration, Extended (language-dependent)

Prerequisites: Inspiration.

The charming rogue’s inspiration abilities lasts a number of rounds equal to her charm rating.

Inspiration, Greater (language-dependent)

Prerequisites: Inspiration, Improved Inspiration, Natural Leader, Presence, Leadership feat, level 12+

The charming rogue can inspire his or her allies to truly heroic feats. An inspired ally gains an additional +1 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls, which stacks with the bonus from inspiration and improved inspiration for a total of a +3 morale bonus.

Inspiration, Improved (language-dependent)

Prerequisites: Inspiration, Natural Leader, Leadership feat, level 6+

The charming rogue can inspire his or her allies to even greater heights, bolstering them and improving their chances of success. An inspired ally gains an additional +1 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls, which stacks with the bonus from inspiration for a total of a +2 morale bonus.

Instant Charm (language-dependent)

Prerequisite: Allure

You can now attempt a Diplomacy check as a full-round action with no penalty on the roll.

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 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!"

Natural Leader

Prerequisites: Leadership feat, level 6+

Add +4 to the charming rogue's leadership score. Her cohort can be up to one level lower than she is.

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

Increase the range of all range-limited social tricks to 100 ft.. This ability can be taken any number of times; each additional time add another 100 ft. to the range. Note that all other limitations still apply; the charming rogue must still be visible to her targets.

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.

Seduction

When interacting with creatures who find members of her race and gender sexually or culinarily appealing, the charming rogue receives an (unnamed) bonus of +4 to Charisma.

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.

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.

Star Quality

Prerequisite: Allure

You do not need to train separately in different varieties of the Perform skill; use your best Perform variety for all versions of the skill.

The Awe, Captivate, Fast-talk, and Taunt abilities can now affect three targets instead of one.

Taunt (language-dependent)

The charming rogue has the ability to temporarily rattle a target through the use of insults and goading. The target 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.

Terror (language-dependent)

Prerequisite: Demoralize

When you successfully use the Demoralize ability, targets must make a Will save (DC 10 + charm rating + Cha bonus) or be frightened rather than scared.