CIPHER

A cipher is a student of nonexistence. He trains himself to remain undetected and ignored in order to conduct his investigations without opposition or bothersome questions. By staying unseen, a cipher can follow and observe his quarry; being overlooked in a crowd suits him just fine.

Unassuming (Ex):

A cipher relies on subtlety, rather than skills that would draw attention to him. A cipher removes Influence and Perform from his list of class skills, and he can never use them with inspiration, regardless of any talents or other abilities he might have. A cipher can use his inspiration on any Disguise, Escape Artist, Knowledge (civilization), Sleight of Hand, and Stealth check without expending a use of inspiration, provided he is trained in the skill, instead of the normal investigator ability to use inspiration on any Knowledge, Linguistics, or Spellcraft check without expending a use of inspiration. This alters the investigator’s class skills and inspiration.

Inattention Blindness (Su): At 1st level, a cipher can blind nearby creatures to his presence. A creature who would become aware of a cipher’s presence when the cipher is within 10 feet per cipher level must succeed at a Perception check against a DC equal to 10 + the cipher’s investigator level + his Intelligence modifier or the creature ignores the investigator as though it had not become aware of his presence. The cipher can spend a use of inspiration to raise the DC by 1d6. The affected creature continues to ignore the cipher until he attacks, moves out of range, directly interacts with the creature, interacts with another creature or object in a way the affected creature notices, or otherwise specifically draws attention to himself. If the cipher does none of these things, the affected creature can attempt another Perception check at the same DC for each minute the cipher remains in range. A creature that was aware of the cipher’s presence prior to being in range of his inattention blinding ability is unaffected. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.

A cipher can affect only one creature with inattention blindness at any given time, plus one additional creature at 5th level and every 3 investigator levels thereafter, to a maximum of seven creatures at 19th level. Once a cipher reaches that maximum, he can’t affect an additional creature until he ends the effect for an already affected creature. If multiple creatures enter the range of inattention blindness simultaneously, they all must attempt Perception checks; the inattention blindness effect affects the creatures with the lowest Perception check results, in order, until it reaches the maximum number of creatures it can affect. The cipher can suppress or activate inattention blindness as a free action, and dismiss its effects on any affected creature within range as a move action. This ability replaces danger sense and the investigator talent gained at 5th level.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su):

At 7th level, a cipher can use the Stealth skill to hide even while being observed; as long as his observer is within range of his inattention blindness ability (even if it is not affected by inattention blindness), he can hide without anything to actually hide behind. This ability replaces the investigator talent gained at 7th level.

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Null Aura (Sp):

At 9th level, a cipher benefits from constant nondetection, requiring those who wish to use divinations on him to succeed at a caster level check (DC = 15 + his investigator level). This ability replaces the investigator talent gained at 9th level.