Rogue

Class Traits

Rogues are cunning and elusive adversaries. Rogues slip into and out of shadows on a whim, pass anywhere across the field of battle without fear of reprisal, and appear suddenly only to drive home a lethal blade.

As a rogue, you might face others’ preconceptions regarding your motivations, but your nature is your own to mold. You could be an agent fresh from the deposed king’s shattered intelligence network, an accused criminal on the lam seeking to clear your name, a wiry performer whose goals transcend the theatrical stage, a kid trying to turn around your hardluck story, or a daredevil thrill-seeker who can’t get enough of the adrenaline rush of conflict. Or perhaps you are merely in it for the gold, after all.

With a blade up your sleeve and a concealing cloak across your shoulders, you stride forth, eyes alight with anticipation. What worldly wonders and rewards are yours for the taking?

“Many learn to break legs; a few learn to break wills. Some master deception, others agility. Me? I’ve got it all. Just tell me what you need done.”

The word “rogue” has many meanings, and those who fall into this class are as varied. Plenty of rogues grow up on the street, honing their talents to become hard-nosed toughs or sharp grifters. Others—foppish nobles or venturesome rakes with more cunning with a blade and the tongue than scruples—come from the opposite end of the social ladder.

Many rogues grow up connected to the underworld and absorb those values. Some come from noncriminal backgrounds, developing skills that serve well in risky ventures. A few are or were spies or scouts for other powerful people or creatures.

“You can talk of honor ’til you’re blue in the face, but buddy, it’s about winning. At the end of the day, what matters is that you’re breathing.”

THE ROGUE is a scoundrel who is not above using dishonorable tactics and deception to defeat foes. You might be a shadowy killer who lies in wait, looking for an opportune time to strike. Or you could unnerve enemies through threats or cutting wit before delivering on your cruel promises.

You are an expert at spotting enemy weaknesses. What separates rogues from other adventurers is their ability to exploit opportunities and vulnerabilities. You might find your moment when an enemy focuses its attention on a defender, or perhaps you instead lurk unseen until an enemy lowers its guard. When the opportunity finally arises, you dispatch the unwary creature with a quick slip of the knife or a twang of your crossbow.

Creating a Rogue

Dexterity, Charisma, and Strength are the rogue’s most important ability scores. The Player’s Handbook presents the brawny rogue and the trickster rogue; Martial Power adds the aerialist rogue and the cutthroat rogue, and Martial Power 2 adds the shadowy rogue.

Aerialist Rogue

All rogues are known for their agility and daring, but you take both to the next level. Ducking under a giant’s club isn’t enough; you leap over it and cartwheel to safety. You’re a masterful mover and an expert top-story burglar, using your abilities to tumble into the fray, into high openings, and out of all sorts of tight spots. Dexterity is your primary ability score, because you rely on it for your attacks and acrobatic stunts. Charisma is secondary for you, useful in avoiding opportunity attacks if you employ the Artful Dodger tactic. Strength serves you well as a tertiary ability, helping your Athletics checks in particular.

• Suggested Feat: Defensive Mobility (Human feat: Sure Climber)

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Bluff, Perception, Stealth, Thievery

• Suggested At-Will Powers: deft strike, riposte strike

• Suggested Encounter Power: fox’s gambit*

• Suggested Daily Power: handspring assault*

**New option presented in Martial Power.*

Brawny Rogue

You like powers that deal plenty of damage, aided by your Strength, and also stun, immobilize, knock down, or push your foes. Your attacks use Dexterity, so keep that your highest ability score. Strength should be a close second—it increases your damage directly, and it can determine other effects of your attacks. Charisma is a good third ability score, particularly if you want to dabble in powers from the other rogue build. Select the brutal scoundrel rogue tactic, and look for powers that pack a lot of damage into every punch.

• Suggested Feat: Weapon Focus (Human feat: Toughness)

• Suggested Skills: Athletics, Dungeoneering, Intimidate, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery

• Suggested At-Will Powers: piercing strike, riposte strike

• Suggested Encounter Power: torturous strike

• Suggested Daily Power: easy target

Cutthroat Rogue

Leave smiles and misdirection to the tricksters. Instead, you use your animal magnetism in a more beastly way, oozing menace and implying a willingness to allow those who cross you to linger in pain. A friendly manner is for the weak; you achieve your way through tough words, hard looks, and the ability to back up either. Your attacks use Dexterity, so that should be your highest ability score. Charisma follows as a close second, essential for getting your way by using Intimidate. Strength comes in third; it’s useful in delivering brutal attacks if you employ the Ruthless Ruffian tactic.

• Suggested Feat: Press the Advantage (Human feat: Backstabber)

• Suggested Skills: Bluff, Insight, Intimidate, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery

• Suggested At-Will Powers: disheartening strike*, sly flourish

• Suggested Encounter Power: termination threat*

• Suggested Daily Power: checking jab*

**New option presented in Martial Power.*

Shadowy Rogue

As your allies charge into battle, you hang back and take cover. While swords swing and spells explode, you carefully choose your target, line up your shot, and fire. The enemy staggers from your deadly attack, and by the time it has begun to look for you, you’ve vanished. You send death hurtling from your crossbow or sling, relentlessly assaulting your enemies. You pepper your foes with missiles, lending support to your allies without risking your own skin.

Shadowy rogues use powers that improve concealment and cover. Shadowy rogues want powers they can use from range, though it’s a good idea to pick a few melee powers as well. Any powers that let you move as part of your attack are excellent choices, because they can help you become hidden using the Cunning Sneak class feature.

As with other rogue builds, Dexterity is your most important ability score, because it boosts the accuracy and the potency of your ranged attacks. Powers for the build also gain benefits from Intelligence, so it should be your next highest ability score. If you plan to take any powers related to the brawny rogue build, make Strength your tertiary choice; otherwise, you should choose Charisma.

• Suggested Class Features: Cunning Sneak, Sharpshooter Talent

• Suggested Feat: Swift Footwork*

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Perception, Stealth, Thievery

• Suggested At-Will Powers: gloaming cut*, piercing strike

• Suggested Encounter Power: distracting shot*

• Suggested Daily Power: scattering shot*

**New option presented in Martial Power 2.*

Trickster Rogue

You like powers that deceive and misdirect your foes. You dart in and out of the fray in combat, dodging your enemies’ attacks or redirecting them to other foes. Most of your attack powers rely on Dexterity, so that should be your best ability score. Charisma is important for a few attacks, for Charisma-based skills you sometimes use in place of attacks, and for other effects that depend on successful attacks, so make Charisma your second-best score. Strength is useful if you want to choose powers intended for the other rogue build. Select the artful dodger rogue tactic. Look for powers that take advantage of your high Charisma score, as well as those that add to your trickster nature.

• Suggested Feat: Backstabber (Human feat: Human Perseverance)

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Thievery

• Suggested At-Will Powers: deft strike, sly flourish

• Suggested Encounter Power: positioning strike

• Suggested Daily Power: trick strike

Class Features

All rogues share these class features.

First Strike

At the start of an encounter, you have combat advantage against any creatures that have not yet acted in that encounter.

Rogue Tactics

Rogues operate in a variety of ways. Some rogues use their natural charm and cunning trickery to deceive foes. Others rely on brute strength to overcome their enemies. Choose one of the following options.

If you end a move action at least 3 squares away from your starting position, you can make a Stealth check to become hidden if you have any concealment or any cover, except for cover provided by intervening allies.

Ruthless Ruffian is a Rogue Tactics option from Martial Power; Cunning Sneak is from Martial Power 2.

Rogue Weapon Talent

When you wield a shuriken, your weapon damage die increases by one size. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to weapon attack rolls with daggers.

Sharpshooter Talent

This class feature replaces the Rogue Weapon Talent class feature.

You gain Far Shot (Player’s Handbook, page 195) as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.

Sharpshooter Talent is a class feature from Martial Power 2 that can replace Rogue Weapon Talent.

Sneak Attack

When you make an attack with a light blade, a hand crossbow, a shortbow, or a sling and hit an enemy granting combat advantage to you, that enemy takes extra damage based on your level. You can deal this extra damage only once per turn. If you have dealt Sneak Attack damage since the start of your turn, you cannot deal it again the start of your next turn. You decide whether to apply the extra damage after making the damage roll.

As you advance in level, your extra damage increases.

Stealth (Revised Rules)

The following Stealth rules replace the Stealth rules on page 188 of the Player’s Handbook. These rules were first printed in Player’s Handbook 2 and are provided here for your convenience.

• Opposed Check: Stealth vs. passive Perception. If multiple enemies are present, your Stealth check is opposed by each enemy’s passive Perception check. If you move more than 2 squares during the move action, you take a -5 penalty to the Stealth check. If you run, the penalty is -10.

• Becoming Hidden: You can make a Stealth check against an enemy only if you have superior cover or total concealment against the enemy or if you’re outside the enemy’s line of sight. Outside combat, the DM can allow you to make a Stealth check against a distracted enemy, even if you don’t have superior cover or total concealment and aren’t outside the enemy’s line of sight. The distracted enemy might be focused on something in a different direction, allowing you to sneak up.

• Success: You are hidden, which means you are silent and invisible to the enemy (see “Concealment” and “Targeting What You Can’t See,” Player’s Handbook, page 281).

• Failure: You can try again at the end of another move action.

• Remaining Hidden: You remain hidden as long as you meet these requirements.

• Keep Out of Sight: If you no longer have any cover or concealment against an enemy, you don’t remain hidden from that enemy. You don’t need superior cover, total concealment, or to stay outside line of sight, but you do need some degree of cover or concealment to remain hidden. You can’t use another creature as cover to remain hidden.

• Keep Quiet: If you speak louder than a whisper or otherwise draw attention to yourself, you don’t remain hidden from any enemy that can hear you.

• Keep Still: If you move more than 2 squares during an action, you must make a new Stealth check with a -5 penalty. If you run, the penalty is -10. If any enemy’s passive Perception check beats your check result, you don’t remain hidden from that enemy.

• Don’t Attack: If you attack, you don’t remain hidden.

• Not Remaining Hidden: If you take an action that causes you not to remain hidden, you retain the benefits of being hidden until you resolve the action. You can’t become hidden again as part of that same action.

• Enemy Activity: An enemy can try to find you on its turn. If an enemy makes an active Perception check and beats your Stealth check result (don’t make a new check), you don’t remain hidden from that enemy. Also, if an enemy tries to enter your space, you don’t remain hidden from that enemy.

Rogue Lore

Avandra’s Luck

The swashbuckler’s creed—“Luck favors the bold”—is part of Avandra’s teachings. Daring rogues are more likely to thank her for good luck received than ask for it in advance. Through decisive action, they claim her luck as their own.

Crime

By their nature, rogues sometimes become involved in illicit activities. The class automatically grants access to Thievery, a skill that allows a character to pick pockets, unlock locks, and disable traps. Rogues also have access to Stealth, which helps them to move unseen in places they aren’t supposed to be. Even if a rogue focuses on other aspects of the class, the abilities granted by Thievery and Stealth provide a skill set that is perfect for criminal pursuits.

Adventurers who are new to an area might be unaware of that region’s laws. However, it’s more likely that they do know the legal customs in their location. They should be aware of what sorts of punishments they might face—maiming, execution, imprisonment, slavery, or other possibilities. Some societies have complex bureaucracies and codified laws. Others have few or no laws and are subject to the whims of the local warlord or bandits. Characters might be involved with outlaws or tyrants, or they might fight against them. The law of a society, or lack thereof, could be used as a great campaign vehicle for involving both principled and corrupt characters in the game.

Iconic Rogues

The rogue is a popular striker for good reason. Adaptable to a broad range of situations, whether taking on demons or dismantling traps, the rogue is an asset to any adventuring group. Although rogues have plenty of advantages, your race choice can make your character even better.

Principled Rogues

Not all rogues are thieves. Some have noble intentions and only happen to have a set of skills that could be used for personal gain. Thievery can be used to explore ancient ruins and discover lost treasures. Stealth can be used to find out enemy secrets and avoid combat and bloodshed.

Although walking the path of a noble rogue can be difficult, it’s not impossible. Such characters can find a place in a lawful civilization. Being a rogue is more about living on the periphery of society than about having a particular skill set. Rogues might work as troubleshooters, dealing with problems for nobles. They can use their contacts to cover up scandals or to spy for their patrons. They might become involved in semilegal or legitimate business endeavors. Rogues also sometimes take up jobs as spies in armies or scouts for patrols. They might even stalk the night as vigilantes.

Sehanine’s Blessing

Fickle Sehanine is the trickster of the gods, relying on misdirection and deceit to pursue her goals. Rogues who work in the shadows often ask her blessing while gazing at the moon, and then act quickly before her attention wanders.

Sneak Attack

Is it just a matter of timing, attacking when your foe’s back is turned or defenses down? Is it all about surprise, doing exactly what your enemy least expects? Or is it the surgical precision of your blade, striking right in the most vulnerable places? Sneak Attack damage isn’t just extra dice you roll; it’s what makes your attacks different from anyone else’s. How can you make it feel unique?

The Swashbuckler

The rogue is an ideal class for the swashbuckler famed in fiction. You could opt for cloth armor instead of leather, using a parrying dagger (see Adventurer’s Vault) to help your AC. Pick a mix of acrobatic and trickster powers, relying on Dexterity and Charisma. It’s worth a feat to get proficiency with the rapier, which is the best light blade.

Thieves’ Guilds

The presence of thieves’ guilds offers a way to involve rogues in the intrigues of cities. The members of such organizations are often grouped by profession, such as assassin, trapsmith, or pickpocket. A guild is sometimes segmented based on its members’ fighting styles or other dominant characteristics. It might be easiest to represent this sort of division in terms of builds. Specific guilds use similar fighting styles to rogue builds, such as the brutal scoundrel or artful dodger.

Another way to differentiate guilds is based on combat styles. A number of the combat styles in this book are appropriate for rogues, including Harrowing Swarm, Leaf Runner, Midnight Blade, Mountain Thunder (for the cutthroat build), Red Cloak, and Silent Shot.

Harrowing Swarm practitioners serve as mercenaries, brandishing their bows as crowd control. Their guilds work closely with city governments or powerful merchants. Leaf runners act as forest bandits or guards who escort illicit caravans through rival territories in the wild. Midnight Blade had its origin in the Shadowfell, and the guilds associated with this style that have sprung up also have their roots tied back to that plane. Members of these guilds travel in pairs and fight using teamwork. Mountain Thunder guilds fill their [ranks] with enforcers who aren’t afraid to break a couple legs for whoever hires them. Red Cloak is more of a lifestyle than a guild, and its participants are clearly identified by their crimson attire. They work in guilds by day and run the rooftops by night. Silent Slayers join assassins’ guilds, using stealth and ranged attacks to kill assigned targets.

Unusual Rogues

Some races fit well with the rogue class, making character building easy and intuitive, while other combinations require more work.

You can go with any ability array, but two stand out as the best for unusual rogues. The 18, 13, 13, 10, 10, 8 array is good for rogues who gain a boost to a secondary ability, while 18, 14, 11, 10, 10, 8 does the job for races that offer no bonus to any rogue abilities. For example, a dwarf brawny rogue, after modifiers from race, would have Str 14, Con 13, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8, while a dragonborn rogue would have Str 15, Con 10, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 15. In both cases, the character doesn’t suffer from reduced accuracy and still has a good secondary ability to use for Rogue Tactics.

Rogue Powers

Your powers are daring exploits that draw on your personal cunning, agility, and expertise. Some powers reward a high Charisma and are well suited for the trickster rogue, and others reward a high Strength and appeal to the brawny rogue, but you are free to choose any power you like.

A rogue thrives on audacious exploits that keep the enemy guessing. An aerialist rogue, perhaps even more than other sorts of rogues, relies on powers that focus on skill and movement. If you’re a cutthroat, you like exploits that focus your dark personality, especially those that have the rattling keyword. Nothing stops any rogue from dabbling in the new powers here. In fact, if you’re a rogue worth your salt, one or more of these powers is bound to be just the trick you need to round out your repertoire.

Rogues employ a mix of guile, luck, and audacity to defeat their enemies. The following powers expand your rogue’s arsenal in new and exciting ways. In addition to powers tailored for the shadowy rogue, this chapter provides powers that support builds from the Player’s Handbook and Martial Power.

New Keyword: Rattling

If you are trained in Intimidate and deal damage with a power that has the rattling keyword, the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn. A creature that is immune to fear is not subject to this penalty.

Level 1 At-Will Exploits

Level 1 Encounter Exploits

Level 1 Daily Exploits

Level 2 Utility Exploits

Level 3 Encounter Exploits

Level 5 Daily Exploits

Level 6 Utility Exploits

Level 7 Encounter Exploits

Level 9 Daily Exploits

Level 10 Utility Exploits

Level 13 Encounter Exploits

Level 15 Daily Exploits

Level 16 Utility Exploits

Level 17 Encounter Exploits

Level 19 Daily Exploits

Level 22 Utility Exploits

Level 23 Encounter Exploits

Level 25 Daily Exploits

Level 27 Encounter Exploits

Level 29 Daily Exploits

Paragon Paths

At 11th level a rogue may take one of these paragon paths. The Player’s Handbook rogue paragon paths are not included in the source files.

Arcane Trickster

“My tricks come from tool and spell.”

You’ve never been content to stick to one path. Magic and larceny, spell and trap, dweomer and shadow—for you, all came easy. You learned to fuse your knowledge into one style, both in and out of battle.

When you were a child, you dreamed of grand achievements. You enjoyed the shows of illusionists and magicians, and you reveled in the skill of pickpockets and burglars. You followed two divergent paths that eventually came together in your mind as a way of life and a cohesive style of attack. You don’t separate the martial from the magical, and you are mildly scornful of anyone who is so shortsighted as to make this division.

You never sought a position in an arcane order or a thieves’ guild; you didn’t want to limit yourself. Instead, you learned to recognize that each adventure is an opportunity to test your mettle, sharpen your skills, enhance your magic, and discover treasures.

Eladrin are naturals for this path because of their agility and keen intellect. Arcane tricksters are found among gnomes, changelings, and drow as well. Some use their knowledge and power for adventure, and others use it for theft, torture, and deception.

Arcane Trickster Path Features

In addition, whenever you make an Athletics check, you can use your Arcana skill modifier in place of your Athletics skill modifier.

Arcane Trickster Exploits

Blade Bravo

“You think armor will protect you? Come here, and we’ll see about that.”

Most knaves are little more than ruffians who have a talent for swordplay. These individuals prowl city streets and pit their skills against each other, trying to prove themselves. Most of these so-called bravos have more courage than common sense. They have short life spans and usually wind up in shallow graves. You, however, have proved you’re different from them.

You never had formal training or studied under a master. Instead, you developed a haphazard style born of necessity and emboldened by your grit. You quickly learned that survival demands toughness, so you cultivated the ability to keep scrapping even with your back pressed to the wall.

In battle, your attacks lack the finesse and artfulness exhibited by other rogues, yet they are equally effective. Just because you don’t have a fancy flourish doesn’t make you any less dangerous.

Blade Bravo Path Features

Blade Bravo Exploits

Cloaked Sniper

“You tell me—is it better to win with a shot from the dark or to lose up close?”

The advantage of getting the drop on an enemy is acknowledged far and wide. Equally prized is the benefit of taking out important targets with little risk. No one is better at accomplishing either task than a trained sharpshooter, and the sharpshooter’s weapon of choice is the crossbow.

Nations and mercenary groups train specialized soldiers to use crossbows in this fashion. Underworld organizations do the same. Any such soldier is essentially an assassin who knows how to use a crossbow to slay from a distance without attracting notice. Dwarves in particular prize this exception to their normally straightforward battle tactics. That race produces fine snipers.

Such shooters don’t shy away from a normal fight. They understand that reconnaissance and a plan, along with the ability to strike unseen from a great distance, are great advantages in a combat situation. A good ambush leaves the enemy weakened and confused, giving any follow-up assault a better chance of working.

You have chosen to hone your skills along these lines. You prefer to strike from hiding with a well-placed shot and to remain unobserved during a confrontation, aiding your allies by picking off foes without ever drawing notice. The hand crossbow is your preferred weapon.

Sniping is the ultimate tactic for you. The sound of a bolt finding its target is the sweet toll of victory. A bolt you fire might take out a sentry in a single hit, as well as sending your enemies scurrying for cover. If you miss, no matter. You can slink back into the shadows until you have a chance to shoot again.

Cloaked Sniper Path Features

Cloaked Sniper Exploits

Daring Acrobat

“Agile movement is as much offensive as it is defensive.”

Acrobatics is a widespread and popular talent. All people, from nobles to peasants, enjoy acrobatics shows, whether amid the finery of court or the debris of the street. A few venturesome religious rites, especially those that pay homage to Avandra or Kord, require the skill. Mastery of the body is part of numerous education philosophies, and acrobatics is unmatched in cultivating fitness and balance. Thieves and burglars use the skill to ply their trade. Training is easy to find and widely accepted. Some youngsters attain a level of mastery well before they reach adolescence.

Not to be underestimated is the value of such proficiency on the battlefield. A combatant who is adept at acrobatics can maneuver like no other. The adroit use of the skill opens up advantages that other warriors can’t attain and allows the acrobat to avoid being pinned down. Movement becomes quicker and smoother as the acrobat uses the whole body as a tool, rather than just relying on the feet and the legs. It’s obvious why some martial training includes instruction in acrobatics.

It’s also clear that the adventurer has even more use for acrobatics than a warrior or a soldier does. Explorers routinely face perils that are best overcome with agility, poise, and a sense of one’s body. More than one fortune seeker owes life and limb to his dedicated schooling in acrobatics.

To say that of you is a gross understatement, however. It doesn’t matter if you came by your skill in a formal academy, from family tradition, or through the school of hard knocks. You have made acrobatics not only an art form, but also a martial style all your own. You flabbergast friend and foe alike with your talent. Using it, you routinely accomplish tricks that seem beyond mortal capacity. With your flamboyant derring-do, you deliver terrible attacks and deftly capitalize on the smallest openings.

Daring Acrobat Path Features

Daring Acrobat Exploits

Daring Slinger

“Two birds with one stone… how about two [drow] with one bullet?”

The sling is a humble weapon, favored by commoners such as shepherds and farmers. It is useful for chasing off predators and bandits, but it lacks the prestige enjoyed by crossbows and light blades. Despite its lowly stature, the sling has its adherents. Among these enthusiasts, the daring slinger is the most dangerous, for these rogues elevate the simple weapon, making it the equal of any other ranged weapon.

As a daring slinger, you appreciate the weapon’s subtle assets. A sling is small. It can be compressed and hidden. Slings are also resistant to the elements. You can dunk one in water, stretch it, or abuse it, and the weapon continues to work—something that can’t be said of bows and crossbows. Best of all, ammunition is never a problem; any small stone will do. Through extensive training, you’ve improved your accuracy, exceeding what archers can do with a longbow. Your range is equal to that of a crossbow, and your bullets pack an equal punch.

Daring Slinger Path Features

Daring Slinger Exploits

Death Dealer

“Killing’s my game.”

Some people are born killers. That penchant can be channeled in as many ways as there are reasons for slaughter. Some slay for religion or creed, others for power or influence, and still others for money, vengeance, glory, or just plain relief. Many who have a knack for murder take up violent professions, from soldier or town guard to gladiator or assassin. A few, whatever their reasons, make a career out of slaying monsters.

Killing is grim business, no matter who or what ends up dead. Nobody takes going to the grave lightly. Hands-off methods, such as poison, can sometimes work, as can stealthy techniques. Otherwise, direct and bloody conflict is the only way to go about butchery. Strangely, a lot of would-be killers think that combat has rules. You know differently: In battle, fair play, honor, and mercy are for chumps. Fighting is all about dancing with death and being one of those still standing when the music ends. Maybe you came by your “philosophy” while being schooled as an assassin or hired sword. Of course, an adventurer’s life has plenty of object lessons along the same lines: Kill or be killed.

When you start a fight, you take a little time to size up the competition. After that, it’s all bloody business. If someone has the nerve to attack you, you make that fool pay in such a way that anyone watching will think twice about facing you. Nobody escapes you unless they have the ability to take you out of the fight, or you want the story of your prowess to get around.

However you gained your skills, they are honed in accordance with your brutal creed. Those who go up against you risk everything. As proven by the boost you sometimes get from brutalizing our adversaries, you take at least a little pleasure in your work.

Death Dealer Path Features

Death Dealer Exploits

Dread Fang

“You’re caught in my web of shadows, poor little insect. Now it’s time to die.”

Deceive your prey into a weak tactical position. Strike without being seen. Kill without allowing a counterattack. Don’t sever a limb when you can cut off the head. Reward your enemies with death so horrifying that all others fear to oppose you. Live to fight again. All of these are drow rules of warfare, which young drow learn well just to get by in their treacherous society.

The drow are famous for slaughter, murdering all who get in their way. Countless folk have suffered the cruel kiss of a drow priestess’s whip or the vile magic of a drow warlock. Innumerable slaves have lived and died as the wicked and capricious whims of their drow masters demanded. From this world you have come, and like others before you, you have found sanctuary in the arts of death. You learned the rudiments of drow warfare among your school-age peers. You mastered the blade-and-crossbow fighting style of the drow warrior to improve your station among your people. Better to be a valued killer than a slave or a sacrifice.

Maybe you smelled the deceptions and half-truths in your society, put up with the lies of the Spider Queen, until you could take no more. Perhaps the internecine warfare between drow houses left you without allies in the vast Underdark. You abandoned your past. Estranged from your homeland, you joined with other wanderers and continued your training. You have sought to become death incarnate and have succeeded well beyond the normal warriors of your people.

Dread Fang Path Features

Dread Fang Exploits

Flying-Blade Adept

“Any monkey can stab someone. Now, throwing to kill—that’s got style.”

Among common folk, knife and shuriken throwing are forms of entertainment and sport. Competitors throw under calm conditions at stationary targets. At the extreme, carnival throwers toss blades at a moving mark, or sport throwers have to put up with rowdy onlookers and too much drink. It takes a special breed of warrior to specialize in throwing blades in actual combat. The clash of steel, the rush of magical forces, and the screams of the wounded and dying are far more than taproom distractions. Moreover, the idea of tossing away a weapon seems tantamount to suicide. Still, anyone who has mastered the technique of hurling blades in battle knows that doing so helps to keep one out of harm’s way. Being such an expert takes guts, discernment, smarts, and quickness. The hurler must be brave enough to throw away a weapon, and to stand fast when the enemy recognizes the danger that he or she presents. The thrower’s senses must be accurate enough to discern when to move and where. Furthermore, perception is nothing without the good judgment to exploit opportunities and to carry the right array of blades. And all this means little if the wielder lacks the agility or speed to take advantage of whatever battle situation arises. You are such an expert with light thrown blades. Swift enough to draw weapons in rapid succession and to knock an arrow out of the air, you have little to fear when you throw a blade. Your talent allows you to hit with terrifying accuracy, to bounce your blades off one target and into another, and even to punch holes in enemy armor. You have even been known to throw so quickly that you can hit every target in your field of vision.

Flying-Blade Adept Path Features

Flying-Blade Adept Exploits

Guildmaster Thief

“Me and my crew, we’ll get the job done. Top-story jobs to shakedowns—we’re all in.”

Whoever says crime doesn’t pay just isn’t good enough to pull it off. For the organized and resourceful, there’s always an angle.

Thieves’ guilds are criminal gangs that crop up mostly in urban areas. A single guild might manage or influence illegal activities such as assassination, blackmail, burglary, espionage, fencing stolen goods, grifting, smuggling, loan sharking, pickpocketing, piracy, racketeering, robbery, thuggery, and so on. A guild might also direct legal enterprises as legitimate business ventures, as cover, or as a way to control the flow of information. For instance, many thieves’ guilds have their fingers in begging, bounty hunting, mercenary work, gambling, prostitution, shipping, and even street cleaning and lamp lighting.

Because a guild’s business can be so varied, and because it often has trouble with legal authorities and rival gangs, it must divide its profitable interests between various centers of control. Those centers have bosses, who report to those higher in the chain of command. Thus, guilds have complicated hierarchies, clear divisions of authority, and codes of behavior that can border on downright law-abiding in some respects. A guildmaster typically leads a portion of a guild, and some guilds have a grand master who oversees a guild’s entire operation.

You might be an actual guildmaster, or maybe you grew up in the criminal world and know what’s what on the street and in a brawl. Your experience has left you able to run a criminal crew on jobs and in fights. You’re a great skirmisher who knows how to get a job done right while helping out your pals with some “world-wise management.”

Guildmaster Thief Path Features

Guildmaster Thief Exploits

Halfling Quickblade

“I told you once, mate. I’m the fastest blade there is. Ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.”

Halflings have a long tradition of using light blades with great skill. Whether a tool of survival or an implement of battle, the simple dagger has much to recommend it. Even one as small as a halfling can hide a dagger on the body for use in a tight spot. A small body coupled with a small weapon means greater mobility and deadliness enhanced by a better chance for stealthy attacks.

Halflings also have a history of using light blades in their art and performances. Carving, acrobatic blade tricks, knife juggling, dagger throwing, and even dances that incorporate blades are common among halflings. For them, such activities are a natural meeting of physical traits and handy tools. As with almost every other aspect of their life, halflings have a variety of stories that explain their propensity for using blades. Such yarns include the daring tales of Barras Quickblade, whose surname is probably one of convenient fiction.

Barras’s legend begins when he was a lad who provided for his clan by stalking game with nothing but a knife and his wits. The legend grows into a spirited saga of an adventurous halfling who, along with a band of other intrepid characters, confronts ogres, yuan-ti, and worse with a tongue as pointed as his blade.

In the end, most stories have it that Barras sacrificed himself to save his comrades by leading a group of fomorians on a reckless chase through the Feywild. Darker versions say that Barras’s spirit is still trapped, kept prisoner by the twisted fey. Halflings prefer to think that he passed from the world and that he stands at Avandra’s side as her immortal companion. You have the flair and the growing reputation to be a quickblade. Your fighting style is like that of your celebrated forebear. Perhaps, given time, your legend will be even greater.

Halfling Quickblade Path Features

Halfling Quickblade Exploits

Jack-of-all-Trades

“Yeah… I can do that, and that… and that.”

You are a jack-of-all-trades; learning new skills comes naturally to you, and you enjoy pitting your abilities against any challenge. Your thirst for knowledge will drive you to learn new skills until the day you die.

Since your youth, you have had an intense yearning to learn more than what books and teachers could provide. You understood from a young age that knowledge and skill can take you places that money and influence can’t. You hoard knowledge the way a dragon covets its treasure, though you are happy to share it with anyone you consider worthy, or when doing so suits your fancy. Folks might consider you a pack rat or a dabbler, but you know that the items you collect and the skills you acquire will help you in the future. And when you’re there to save the day, anyone who derided your habits will realize the mistake and thank you.

Eladrin are a natural choice for this path because of their high Dexterity and Intelligence, as well as the fact that they gain an additional skill of their choice. Humans also excel as jacks-of-all-trades because of their vast variety of experiences and versatility of skill and knowledge.

Jack-of-all-Trades Path Features

Jack-of-all-Trades Exploits

Master of Poisons

“The deadliest poison is the one you can’t taste or smell.”

Few people respect the business of poisons. Among the mighty, poison is considered a weapon of the weak and a dishonorable tool at best. Yet to whom do the mighty and the wealthy turn when they are in need of discreet murder? You, of course, and you’re happy to oblige. You never advertise your talents; it wouldn’t do for word to spread about your skills. Through prudent inquiries, people in need have a way of finding you. No problem is too big or well protected for your techniques to work, assuming you have enough time and your client has enough gold.

Along with your success comes a raft of enemies. Your victims leave behind friends and relatives seeking revenge. Do they chase after the one who paid you? It would be simpler if they did. Instead, these pursuers come to the one who caused their comrade’s end, and that person is you.

Poisoning is a subtle and dangerous art, and a few narrow escapes from angry vengeance-seekers have taught you that discretion is key. Even among your companions, you keep a low profile. It’s best to keep your methods of dealing with enemies hidden. However, when you slip a little venom on a blade and the foe falls to the ground, tongue black and neck swollen, your comrades won’t look too closely when that act saves them from harm.

Master of Poisons Path Features

Master of Poisons Exploits

Master Spy

“I’ve seen the things you never intended me to see, heard whispers meant only for your conspirators. I know you well enough to take you down.”

In halls of power, on the field of battle, and even among those who seek what is long lost, reliable information is king. Those in the know have an advantage over their allies and enemies and readily know the difference between the two. Thus have persons skilled in acquiring secrets always had ample work and reasons to hone their skills. Such agents learn how to conceal their true motives and cover their tracks while focusing on attaining their goals. Any lapse in precision can mean death.

Long ago, you learned how to sneak into places where you’re not welcome. No secret is safe from your expertise and trickery. Subterfuge is your stock-in-trade. You know how best to peer into the intentions of your enemies, and you work undercover with the greatest of ease. Most of your enemies never know that you are in their midst, and you always manage to turn their ignorance against them.

Master Spy Path Features

Master Spy Exploits

Rakish Swashbuckler

“With a face like that, it’s no wonder your mother loves me best!”

Life is too short to take seriously. Danger lurks in every shadow, and an enemy waits behind every door. Those who spend every waking moment thinking about all the bad things that could happen never leave the house.

Instead of wringing your hands, you throw away all your worries and take a devil-may-care attitude. Sure, some say you will end up raking the coals of the Nine Hells because of your decadent living. In the end, though, who’s the happier: you and your adventurous, libertine ways or the hidebound drudge shuddering under his covers?

On one hand, you’re a charmer. Others find your infectious wit and bravado winsome. But you’re also irreverent, irresponsible, and reckless. What’s worst is that sometimes you have the hardest time keeping your mouth shut. Whether cracking a joke in the middle of a solemn funeral or shouting a barrage of insults at a demon, you can’t help but stir up trouble. Deep down, you know life might be easier if you straightened up, but where’s the fun in that?

When you face a serious challenge, your skill with weapons comes to the fore. Your tongue and your body language become secondary instruments of derision. You seed your exploits with cutting insults and disdain, goading your enemies into overextending or making other mistakes.

When an enemy gives you an opening, you press the advantage. In the end, you stand triumphantly over a fallen foe, showing once again who the greater fool is.

Rakish Swashbuckler Path Features

Rakish Swashbuckler Exploits

Raven Herald

“All beings come to an end. Seeing to that is my task.”

The transition to death is a holy road on which all living things are pilgrims. Every creature steps onto that road at birth. When fate’s appointed hour comes, every creature steps off into whatever waits beyond the finite and visible path. So it has been, and so it should be. These are the truths of the Raven Queen.

Yet some do not hold to the proper path. Brazen mortals defy the natural order by avoiding that righteous hour of ending. A few do so by magic or other means, the most common of which is to become undead. Undead aren’t, in and of themselves, offensive to the Raven Queen. Still, shambling dead brought back to a mockery of life through foul magic deserve to be destroyed. So do those undead that defy true death by serving other entities, such as Orcus or Vecna. A few bold souls manage to elude death without otherwise blaspheming the Raven Queen’s edicts. Still, demise must come for them in time as well.

It is the duty of any who serve the Raven Queen to bring down the proud, showing them the equality that only death provides. Within temples where the Raven Queen is esteemed above all others, the clergy offers support and training for those who would be her instruments of death. Cults form around the ideal of righteous killing, of becoming heralds of death. Common folk know of the Raven Queen’s heralds and whisper of their mission when sudden loss of life visits the prideful, the wicked, or those cursed by undeath. You have consciously devoted yourself to becoming a tool in the Raven Queen’s wintry hands. Perhaps you came to this commitment on your own, or maybe you have an affiliation with the Raven Queen’s hierarchy in the world. The origin of your connection to the mistress of winter makes little difference. As a harbinger of destiny, you know that every foe who falls before you has met its appropriate end.

Raven Herald Path Features

Raven Herald Exploits

Red Cloak

“Do not run the roof unless you are prepared to fight.”

You’re a red cloak, a roof-running scoundrel who tests your wits against other denizens of the night. Your colors reflect your passion and signal danger to anyone who isn’t prepared to fight you.

You might or might not be versed in the history of your art. In the past, the Red Cloaks were a guild of assassins known for their flamboyance. The true secrets of their activities remain a mystery, but their style—both in fighting and in dress—spread to dandy and street fighter alike.

You might have grown up in the streets, idolizing the swaggering red cloak warriors who ran the rooftops at night. You could be the youngest child of a noble seeking excitement by trying your hand in seedy environs. Instead, you might be a remnant of the original Red Cloaks. Regardless of your motivation, you scoff at those who don the cloak without the attitude or the skill. Any who fight you know that you are no common thug or flouncing dandy.

In your adventures, you seek to test your street-honed mettle against the warriors of other domains. You don’t necessarily seek to emulate their style, but you respect it and wish to learn from it. You take every opportunity to challenge the street-runners of other cities, and you will gladly face any enemy that thinks to challenge you.

Red Cloak Path Features

Red Cloak Exploits

Strong-Arm Enforcer

“This is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me.”

The world has no shortage of bullies. In every town and every neighborhood roams a lout with more muscle than sense, and more bravado than backbone. Every gang has an enforcer or a leg breaker. Yet it takes more than a mean streak and a hard head to rise above mere thuggery.

Unlike such roughnecks, who are so often craven at heart, you have cold iron beneath your hardened visage. You have the skill and the mettle to make good on threats you offer. Intimidation, to you, is just fair warning, an omen foretelling the cost of crossing you.

Like most of your kind, you might have started with a criminal outfit or learned how to get along in the harsh training ground of the streets. Such unsavory surroundings taught you to survive. A reputation for handing out grim rewards to your enemies slowly enabled you to avoid fights through the use of your bladed stare. For a few of you, formal training as an interrogator or operative taught you to use fear and pain as a principal means of getting the job done. In any case, fear is as useful in battle as it is outside it. You have set your mind to this harsh fact and have realized that most interactions are all about getting in and getting out on top. If the other guy believes you can and will hurt him if you need to, dealings are much more likely to go in your favor.

Although stealth and subterfuge have uses, combat isn’t a subtle solution. You favor techniques that keep your enemies shaken. A traumatized, fearful, or angry foe is more likely to make a mistake. Encouraging such missteps—gleefully at times—you make yourself a target through your brutality. Then you and your allies capitalize on those slip-ups to win the day.

Strong-Arm Enforcer Path Features

Strong-Arm Enforcer Exploits

Tiefling Hellstalker

“Manifestations of the darkest flames of Hell cover me. You’ll see the genuine article soon enough.”

Supernatural might comes naturally to a tiefling. Blood tied to the dark history of devils makes the reason for this obvious. In a vestigial form, this power lends vehemence to a tiefling’s retaliation against attackers. History has shown that a tiefling who wishes to do so can reach inward for even more power, manifesting it in a variety of ways.

Those ways are mirrored in devils and their home. When mortals speak of the Nine Hells, they refer to fire, smoke, and the burning wrath of fiends. But the truth is more complex. The hells have ice, storms, and shadow. They even have combinations of these, the elements mixing in strange and unnatural ways to produce oddities such as lightless fire.

Some tieflings prefer to live up to expectations, displaying talent with anger and flame. They evoke terror by playing the devil’s part. But they lack subtlety, which is a devil’s best tool. They fail to acknowledge that mortals most fear what they can’t see.

Drawing on the darkness within, a darkness that extends from the hells, a tiefling can gain uncanny advantages against enemies. Eyes can be dimmed, darkness and invisibility can be pierced, and flesh can be burned without light.

You know this, because you have learned to summon the darkness enshrouding your soul. By coupling it with your deadly martial skills, you become a terror in lightless halls under the earth, as well as on shadowed streets and in moonless wilds. Where light does find you, you snuff it in the sight of your foes. Eventually, the shadows you call up will be able to, at times, burn your enemies like extraplanar blackfire.

Tiefling Hellstalker Path Features

Tiefling Hellstalker Exploits

Verdant Stalker

“My steps are as light as a leaf on the wind.”

You are a creature of stealth—a warrior who treads so lightly that even the autumn leaves remain silent beneath your step. For you, silence is a way of life and an art.

You’re comfortable in the forest, where your abilities to move quietly and to camouflage your movements are at their best. You prefer to wear out your foe, dancing from shadow to shadow and from tree to tree, peppering your enemy with ranged attacks. No enemy has yet caught you standing still.

You might have grown up among forest-dwelling elves or fey. It’s also possible that you were once a city dweller who has since become one with nature. You still know of and sometimes visit urban areas, but they have become foreign to you. The forest is your home now, and you’re as comfortable in it as a street urchin is in the dock ward of a city. When outsiders invade your territory, you strike back with a furious vengeance, assaulting them with rapid volleys of missiles that kill the intruders or drive them away.

Elves and halflings are most likely to follow this path, but any character who favors stealth and silence, uses ranged attacks with great skill, and is an expert forester can succeed as a verdant stalker.

Verdant Stalker Path Features

Verdant Stalker Exploits

Whisperknife

“Bring me vengeance, oh gods, and make my enemies pay in blood.”

You have been called different names—killer, murderer, assassin—but none fit as nicely as whisperknife does. You kill, but not for wealth and rarely for sport; you kill for vengeance. In a perfect world, everyone would die from old age, but this isn’t a perfect world. Accidents happen, and wars claim soldiers and innocents alike. Murderers snuff out lives on a whim or with cold calculation, and the world keeps on turning. Souls wriggle free from their meat to find whatever awaits them in the Raven Queen’s frigid embrace. And who stands for these victims? Who protects the people whom justice ignores? You.

You’re a vigilante, taking up the cause of those who can’t find justice. You use your talents to hunt down anyone who perpetrates crimes. You offer no mercy or quarter, only the whispered name of the wronged party and the silent slash of your blade.

Your preferred weapons are daggers, whether thrown or held. You can hide them on your person and retrieve them with ease. A dagger’s short blade allows you to be close enough to your prey to explain why it has to die. And when you’ve said what you need to say, you can watch as the life goes out of your victim’s eyes.

Whisperknife Path Features

Whisperknife Exploits

Rogue (PHB + Martial Power 1 & 2) —