ADVANCED ROGUE TALENTS

 

A Pact Made in Shadows (Su): Choose a mandate from the War sphere. You may create this mandate with an adjacent ally as a standard action. For purposes of the mandate, your caster level is equal to your rogue level, and Charisma is your casting ability. The mandate lasts one round per rogue level, or until you create another mandate with this ability.

Adaptive Assailant (Ex): Once per round, a rogue with this talent can declare her space and one adjacent square as the origin of her attacks until her next turn (allowing her to use one or both of these to determine whether she or allies are flanking an opponent). At 15th level, she counts an additional adjacent square for this purpose.

Another Day (Ex): Once per day, when the rogue would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by a melee attack, she can take a 5-foot step as an  immediate action. If the movement takes her out of the reach of the attack, she takes no damage from the attack. At 15th level and 20th level, she can use this talent one additional time per day (to a maximum of 3 uses per day).

Blindsense (Ex): A rogue with this talent gains blindsense to a range of 30 feet. A rogue must have the Blind-Fight feat before selecting this talent.

• Blindsight (Ex) (requires 12th level): A rogue with this talent gains blindsight to a range of 60 feet. A rogue must have blindsense to a range of at least 30 feet before selecting this talent.

Confounding Blades (Ex): When a rogue with this talent hits a creature with a melee weapon that deals sneak attack damage, her target cannot make attacks of opportunity for 1d4+1 rounds. The rogue must have the slow reactions rogue talent before she can choose this talent.

Consummate Avoidance (Ex): When a rogue with this talent is targeted by a melee or ranged attack, she can spend an immediate action to make an Acrobatics check. She can use the result as her AC or touch AC against that attack, but she must be aware of the attack and not denied her Dexterity bonus to AC. The rogue must have a feat or skill specialty that grants a bonus on Acrobatics before selecting this talent.

Crippling Strike* (Ex): A rogue with this ability can sneak attack opponents with such precision that her blows weaken and hamper them. An opponent damaged by one of her sneak attacks also takes 2 points of Strength or Dexterity damage, decided by the rogue.

Defensive Roll (Ex): The rogue can roll with a potentially lethal blow to take less damage from it than she otherwise would. When she would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points 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. To use this ability, the rogue must attempt a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt). If the save succeeds, she takes only half damage from the blow; if it fails, she takes full damage. She must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute her defensive roll — if she is denied her  Dexterity bonus to AC against the attack, she can’t use this ability. Since this effect would not normally allow a character to make a Reflex save for half damage, the rogue’s evasion or improved evasion do not apply to the defensive roll. At 15th level, the rogue now takes one-quarter damage on a  successful save and half damage on a failed save.

Dispelling Attack* (Su): Opponents that are dealt sneak attack damage by a rogue with this ability are affected by a targeted dispel magic. The rogue can choose to target the highest level spell effect active on the target or the lowest. The rogue can also name a specific spell effect affecting the  opponent to be targeted if she desires. If the rogue uses this ability on a creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by a summon monster spell), she also makes a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the creature. The caster level for dispelling attack is equal to the rogue’s level. At 16th level, a rogue can dispel two spells, similar to a targeted greater dispel magic, either starting with the highest level spells and  proceeding to lower level spells or vice versa, decided by the rogue. A rogue must have the major magic rogue talent before selecting dispelling attack.

Double Debilitation (Ex): Whenever the rogue inflicts a penalty against a target using the debilitating injury class feature, she can select two penalties to inflict. The target can never be subject to more than two penalties in this way at one time. If any additional penalties are inflicted, any previous penalties immediately end. Any effect that heals damage to the target negates both of the penalties.

Eviscerating Attack* (Ex) (requires 12th level): When a rogue with this talent damages an opponent with one of her sneak attacks, the opponent takes 1 point of Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution bleed damage, decided by the rogue. At 16th level, this ability bleed damage increases to 2 points. A rogue must have the bleeding attack talent before selecting this talent.

Feat: A rogue may gain any feat that she qualifies for in place of a rogue talent. A rogue can select this talent multiple times.

Hidden Mind (Ex): A rogue with this talent uses various devious techniques, including mental exercises and dusting her clothing with a small amount of lead, to protect herself from divinations, with the same benefits as if she cast nondetection on herself with a caster level equal to her rogue level.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): A rogue with this talent is a master of disappearance. She can use the Stealth skill to hide even while being observed. The rogue must have a feat or skill specialty that grants a bonus on Stealth checks before selecting this talent.

Opportunist (Ex): 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 an attack of opportunity for that round and can’t be used more than once per round.

Quick Shot (Ex): Whenever the rogue rolls initiative, she can also make a single attack with a ranged weapon as a swift action. She can use this ability only if she has a weapon in hand and it is loaded (if applicable). If more than one rogue has this talent, their initiative check results determine the order in which they make their attacks. After these attacks are resolved, the round proceeds as normal.

See in Darkness (Ex): The rogue gains the see in darkness ability. A rogue must have darkvision before selecting this talent.

Shifting Loyalty: Your morals have always been malleable when required. Magical abilities whose effects vary with alignment always treat you as the alignment of your choice. This choice can change from effect to effect, and does not need to be consistent. This can make you immune to a magical ability.

Skill Excellence: A rogue with this talent who has at least 10 ranks in a skill may take 10 when making a check using this skill even if this is not normally allowed.
Skill Mastery: The rogue becomes so confident in the use of certain skills that she can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. Upon gaining this ability, she selects a number of skills equal to 3 + her Intelligence modifier. When making a skill check with one of these skills, she may take 10 even if this is not normally allowed. A rogue may gain this special ability multiple times, selecting additional skills for skill mastery to apply to each time.

Slippery Mind (Ex): A rogue with this talent can wriggle free from that which would otherwise control or compel her. If the rogue is affected by a mind- affecting spell or effect and fails her saving throw, she can attempt it again at the start of her next turn at the same DC. This ability only gives the rogue  one extra chance from to succeed on her saving throw against each mind-affecting effect. At 15th level, the restriction of only one extra chance no longer applies. Instead, at the start of the rogue’s turn, if she is still subject to any mind-affecting spells or effects, she can make a Will saving throw with a standard DC for the effect’s level, and if she succeeds at the save, she is no longer subject to the mind-affecting effect. She can even make this  saving throw against mind-affecting effects that normally don’t allow a saving throw. In those cases, generate the saving throw DC as if the spell or effect did allow a saving throw.

Swift Magic: Three times per day, a rogue with this talent can cast one of her minor magic or major magic spells as a swift action as if using the  Quicken Spell-like Ability feat.

Unwitting Ally (Ex): A rogue with this talent can spend a swift action to attempt to make an opponent act like an ally for purposes of providing a flank until the beginning of the rogue’s next turn. The opponent must be able to hear and see the rogue, and the rogue must succeed at an Influence check opposed by the opponent’s Sense Motive. If the check succeeds, the opponent acts as an ally for the purpose of providing a flank. Whether or not the check succeeds, the rogue cannot use this trick again on the same opponent for the next 24 hours. If the rogue fails the check by 5 or more, she cannot use the unwitting ally ability on any opponent within line of sight of the failed attempt for 24 hours.