Scoundrel
Scoundrel.png

Masters of subtlety and guile, practitioners of the Scoundrel sphere know how to best manipulate opponents into dropping their guard before taking them for everything they have.

When you gain the Scoundrel sphere, you gain proficiency in Sleight of Hand. If you already have proficiency in Sleight of Hand, you instead gain a bonus talent from this sphere. You may use Steal not only to take objects, but also to take objects from a target’s hand, as if performing a disarm. You also gain one (trick) talent of your choice.

Some talents are marked (trick). You may apply the benefits of a single (trick) talent to a dirty trick or steal. You must meet the prerequisites of the talent before you may add its effects.

Combat Rule Reminders

Dirty Trick

As an action, you may attempt to gouge a creature’s eyes, kick dirt in its face, box its ears, tangle its limbs together, tie their clothing in a knot, or any other, similarly underhanded maneuver. You must make a Dexterity ability (Sleight of Hand) check contested by that creature’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. The GM determines the exact dirty tricks available depending on what the target is wearing, what is nearby, or how you plan to inhibit it. Depending on the exact dirty trick performed, if you succeed, you could make the creature deafened for 1 minute, knock the target prone, the target’s movement speed is reduced by half for 1 minute, the target is grappled for 1 round, or blind the target for 1 round, or something else similar. Usually, a target can spend an action to rub out their eyes, untie their clothing, or otherwise undo the dirty trick and end this effect early.

Disarm

A creature can use a weapon attack to knock a weapon or another item from a target’s grasp. The attacker makes an attack roll contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) check or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the attacker wins the contest, the attack causes no damage or other ill effect, but the defender drops the item.

The attacker has disadvantage on its attack roll if the target is holding the item with two or more hands. The target has advantage on its ability check if it is larger than the attacking creature or disadvantage if it is smaller.

Sleight of Hand

Whenever you attempt an act of legerdemain or manual trickery, such as planting something on someone else or concealing an object on your person, make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The GM might also call for a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to determine whether you can lift a coin purse off another person or slip something out of another person’s pocket.

Steal

You may make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check as an action to take something from a target. This is contested by their Wisdom (Perception) skill if they are not aware of you, or their Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) skill if they are aware of you. You have disadvantage on this check if the target object is securely fastened (such as a backpack they are wearing or a sword inside its scabbard at their belt). You may plant an item instead of taking an item with a similar check.

Scoundrel Basic Talents

Trick Talents

Cleaned Out (trick)

Whenever you successfully use steal, you may steal up to two items from the target of your maneuver instead of one.

Double Dip (trick)

Whenever you successfully use dirty trick, you may expend your martial focus to perform two dirty tricks on them instead of just one. This means you could both tie up their clothing and throw sand in their eyes, box their ears and trap them in their clothing, etc. The target suffers the effects of both dirty tricks, and removing both penalties usually requires separate actions.

Fancy Footwork (trick)

You force the target to move 5 feet in any direction of your choice.

Ranged Trickery (trick)

As long as you have martial focus, you may use dirty trick against a creature within 10 feet.

Switcheroo (trick)

Whenever you successfully steal from a target, you may replace what you stole with a different item with no additional checks or actions, placing it in either an empty hand or pocket of the creature. If the item you placed on their person is somehow volatile (such as a vial of alchemist’s fire or an Alchemy sphere formula), you can rig that item to explode at the end of your turn, as if you had made a successful attack with it.

Twist the Knife (trick)

You can make a single attack against that target.

Other Talents

Bob and Weave

As long as you have an ally adjacent to you, you can spend a bonus action to have that ally provide you with partial cover (granting a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws) until the beginning of your next turn, or until that ally is no longer adjacent, whichever comes first.

Counter Theft

Whenever a creature within your natural reach makes an attack against you with a manufactured melee weapon, you can expend your martial focus as a reaction to make a steal attempt against that creature to disarm them of the weapon before their attack can be resolved. If successful, they lose the attack as well as the weapon.

Cut and Run

As long as you have martial focus, whenever you use an action to successfully steal from a target or use a dirty trick on them, you may move up to half your speed. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack from the target of your ability.

Distracting Trickery

Whenever you successfully perform a dirty trick or steal against a creature, the target cannot make opportunity attacks against anyone except you for 1 round.

Filthy Distraction

Whenever you successfully perform a dirty trick against an unaware creature, the target takes disadvantage on Perception checks for 1 minute in addition to the other effects of the dirty trick.

Focusing Thievery

Whenever you successfully perform a dirty trick or steal, you may spend a bonus action to regain your martial focus.

Improved Grifting

You add twice your proficiency bonus to Sleight of Hand checks.

Master Thief

You may expend your martial focus as part of stealing from a target to no longer suffer disadvantage if they are holding the object in two hands or if the object is securely fastened. If you successfully disarm the target, you may immediately catch the disarmed object before it can be dropped.

Misdirected Attack

Whenever you provoke an opportunity attack for moving, you may make a dirty trick attempt against the attacking creature as a reaction. If successful, instead of inflicting a penalty you may instead redirect the attack to a creature within the attacker’s reach, using the attack roll’s original result to determine the result. You take no damage, nor any additional effects, from the attack.

Quick Thievery

You may expend your martial focus to perform a dirty trick or steal as a bonus action.

Scoundrel Legendary Talents

Steal Charm

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere.

When using steal, you may expend your martial focus to steal their Charisma rather than steal an item. If successful, the creature suffers disadvantage on all Charisma checks for 10 minutes. They are unaware of this penalty. At 11th level, this penalty lasts for one hour. This is a magical effect.

Steal Equipment

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere (Master Thief)

When expending your martial focus with the Master Thief talent, you may attempt to steal the target’s armor or worn clothing. You have disadvantage on this roll, which is not mitigated through the Master Thief talent.

Steal Heart

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere, 7th level or higher.

If you expend your martial focus when using steal, rather than steal an object, you may force the target to make a successful Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are charmed by you for 1 minute. Once a creature has been affected by or made a saving throw against this talent, they cannot be affected by it again until after you complete a long rest.

Steal Identity

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere, 5th level or higher.

When using steal, rather than steal an item, you may expend your martial focus to harness an understanding of the creature’s appearance and behavior. You gain advantage on Disguise checks to disguise yourself as that creature for 1 hour. This is a magical effect.

Steal Skill

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere, 5th level or higher.

When using steal, rather than steal an item, you may expend your martial focus to attempt to steal one skill proficiency the target possesses. This does not grant you knowledge of what proficiencies the target possesses; you must either know or guess them in order to steal them. If successful, the target loses their proficiency, and you gain it for 1 minute. If the creature receives twice its proficiency bonus to the chosen skill, you gain this benefit as well. This is a magical effect.

Steal Spells

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere, 11th level or higher.

When using steal, rather than steal an item, you may attempt to transfer an ongoing spell effect from that target to yourself for 1 minute. If the magic is being maintained through concentration, you take over concentrating on the effect. At the end of this duration, the effect ends on you and returns to the creature it was stolen from. Time spent stolen still counts against the effect’s duration, and if the effect’s duration expires while it is stolen, it ends as normal.

This functions with spell effects with a target of ‘self’ but does not otherwise function with spell effects that would consider you an invalid target (for example, if the effect only targets specific creature types). This is a magical effect.

Steal Talent

Prerequisites: Scoundrel sphere (Steal Skill), 7th level or higher.

Whenever you use Steal Skill, you may choose to steal a talent (magic or martial) instead of a skill proficiency. If you attempt to steal a base sphere for which the target possesses additional talents beyond the base, you take disadvantage on your check. Affected creatures cannot use abilities for which the prerequisite talent has been stolen, and if you steal talents which have prerequisites that you do not meet, you cannot use them. This is a magical effect.

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