Scout
Scout.png

Training in the Scout sphere teaches you how to hide from danger, identify potential threats and hazards, track opponents through almost any environment, and identify a creature’s key weaknesses. When you gain the Scout sphere, you gain proficiency in Stealth. If you already have proficiency in Stealth, you instead gain a bonus talent from this sphere.

All practitioners of the Scout sphere gain the following ability:

Scout

As a bonus action, you may attempt to scout a target you can see within 120 feet. This requires you to make either an Intelligence (Investigation) check or a Wisdom (Perception) check (your choice) against a DC 20. If you fail to scout a target, you cannot try again against the same target until you take a long rest. On a successful check, you learn the creature’s Damage Vulnerabilities, Damage Resistances, Damage Immunities, and Condition Immunities, but not any additional information about the target. Once you have successfully scouted a target, you can apply any (research) talents you possess against the target for the next 24 hours or until you take a long rest, whichever comes first; after this period, you must successfully use the scout ability against the target again to continue benefiting from related effects.

Scout vs. Recall Lore

It is possible with GM permission to learn a creature’s immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities with an appropriate Intelligence check made to recall lore about the target (such as using Intelligence (Nature) to recall lore on a beast). Unlike the scout ability, the DC to recall lore about an individual creature is determined by the GM and could fluctuate based on how common or rare the creature is in the setting. For example, a rat might only be a DC 5 to use recall lore on, while a tarrasque could have a DC 30. Any individual creature that you have successfully recalled lore about to learn its immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities may be treated as a scouted creature for the purpose of benefiting from (research) talents; if there are multiple creatures of the same type, such as a group of 5 rats, you must still recall lore on each of them individually to treat them as scouted.

Additionally, a number of features, spells, or abilities may exist that allow a character to learn a creature’s immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities. Successfully identifying a creature’s immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities with a feature, spell, or ability allow the character to treat the creature as scouted for the purpose of benefiting from (research) talents.

Scout Basic Talents

Some talents have the (research) tag, which allows you to apply what you have learned about a scouted target in offensive or defensive ways. Not all (research) talents require you to scout a target successfully; however, those that don’t will include an increased benefit if you have.

Research Talents

Deadly Strike (research)

If you are hiding and attacking a surprised creature, you deal additional damage to the target equal to 1/2 your level with your first attack. If you have successfully used the scout ability to identify the target’s weaknesses, you instead deal additional damage equal to your level.

Discern Condition (research)

You know the general health condition of scouted creatures as described below:

  • Normal: Has at least 90% of full normal hit points.
  • Fair: 30% to 90% of full normal hit points remaining.
  • Poor: Less than 30% of full normal hit points remaining or suffering from a debilitating injury.
  • Weak: 0 hit points, crippled, or suffering from a severe, immediately life-threatening condition.

Discern Tells (research)

You gain advantage on the first Insight check you make against any creature after you have successfully scouted them.

Find Gap (research)

You score critical hits against scouted targets on a roll of 19 or 20.

Identify Rhythms (research)

As long as you have martial focus, you gain a +2 bonus to AC against all attacks of scouted creatures.

Stealth Surge (research)

Creatures you have successfully scouted take disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) rolls made to perceive you when you are hiding.

Target Weakness (research)

You may use scavenged materials collected as you travel to improvise a weapon targeting one of the weaknesses of a scouted creature as a bonus action; you may instead expend your martial focus to use this ability without spending an action. The next attack you make against the target with a weapon attack, including traps, is treated as though half the total damage it deals (rounded down) were of a type the target has vulnerability to (for example, if you fire an arrow at a red dragon, who has vulnerability to cold damage, and would normally deal 14 points of piercing damage, you instead deal 7 points of piercing damage and 7 points of cold damage, increased to 14 by the vulnerability); if this attack is not made before the end of your next turn, this effect is wasted.

Additional damage dealt by the attack, such as from the Flame Tongue, is calculated separately from this effect. Alternatively, your weapons are treated as having one type listed in the target’s damage resistance (for example, if an enemy has resistance bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage overcome by silver, you may treat your attacks as silver for 1 round).

Other Talents

Analytical Gaze

You may expend martial focus as part of using scout to grant yourself advantage or a +5 bonus on the Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check.

Discern Illusions

As long as you have martial focus, you gain advantage on all Wisdom saving throws and Intelligence (investigation) checks against spells of the Illusion school or sphere effects of the Illusion sphere. As a bonus action, you can expend martial focus to grant this advantage to all allies within 30 feet for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Fast Stealth

You may hide as a bonus action.

Great Senses

You gain proficiency in either Perception or Investigation. If you already have proficiency in either skill, you may instead add twice your proficiency modifier to that skill. You may take this talent multiple times.

Great Stealth

You may add twice your proficiency modifier to Stealth.

Heightened Awareness

When making an ability check using the Investigation skill, you may detect the presence of ongoing magical auras, such as those left by spells such as alarm or invisibility.

If there is not another DC given (such as by a creature using Stealth), the DC is equal to the original spell DC, or DC 15 if the effect does not originate from a source that would make it possible to determine a spell DC. This does not give you any information about the exact nature of magical effects detected in this manner, you are merely aware that a magical effect is active and the general area it is active in.

So long as you have martial focus, you may use passive Perception to notice the presence of ongoing magical effects (as described above) whenever you pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not you are actively looking.

Hidden Appearance

You gain proficiency with Disguise kits. If you already have proficiency with Disguise kits, you may add twice your proficiency modifier. You may take this talent twice.

Hidden Focus

Whenever you use the Stealth skill to successfully hide, you may regain your martial focus as a bonus action.

Part-Breaker

You automatically treat any creatures that you score a critical hit against as scouted; you do not learn the creature’s immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities but may apply (research) talents as if it were scouted.

Persistent Scout

You can attempt to scout an individual creature a number of times per long rest equal to your key ability modifier (minimum 2).

Piercing Senses

You do not suffer disadvantage when making an attack against a target that is invisible or otherwise heavily obscured, although you still need a way to locate what space the creature is in. This also applies to attacks made while you are blind. If the target is under a mirror image spell or a similar effect, this allows you to roll twice and choose the most favorable result when determining if the target was struck.

Reflexive Stealth

Whenever you succeed at a Dexterity saving throw against an area effect, you may make the Hide action as a reaction. This only lasts until the end of your next turn if you can’t find cover or some other way to stay hidden.

Sense and Resist Scrying

You are able to detect and evade the scrying of others. You may use Perception or Investigation to detect sensors (such as from the clairvoyance spell) as if they were invisible creatures with a Stealth check of the caster’s spell DC.

As long as you have martial focus, you also immediately become aware of any attempt to scry on you, such as with scry spell or the Scrying advanced Divination sphere talent. If these spells and effects originate within 30 feet of you, you also know their location. As soon as you become aware of such an effect, you may force the caster to make a Spellcasting ability check contested by your Dexterity (Stealth) check. If you succeed, the effect becomes unable to detect any information about you or the area or creatures within 30 feet of you.

Sight Beyond Sight

You may spend a bonus action to grant yourself tremorsense out to 10 feet for one round. You may expend your martial focus when activating this ability to instead gain blindsight for the same duration.

Somnambulance

Your acute senses have been trained to their peak, making you difficult to catch unaware even while sleeping. You no longer suffer disadvantage on Perception checks made while you are sleeping and falling unconscious, and going to sleep no longer causes you to lose martial focus. In addition, while unconscious you do not automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saving throws and creatures do not have advantage on attack rolls against you.

You may take this talent a second time; the second time you take this talent, you no longer suffer most negative limitations of being asleep; this is functionally similar to immunity to sleep, though rather than staying awake when targeted by a sleep affect your subconscious mind and instincts simply take over, allowing you to continue fighting unimpeded. However, you still cannot perform any Charisma, Dexterity, or Intelligence- based ability checks or any ability that requires patience or concentration.

Sudden Acuity

You may use the Search action as a bonus action.

Track The Scene

You gain advantage on ability checks made to find and follow tracks. When successfully following a set of tracks no older than 1 hour per level, you learn not only what direction they headed but what actions the tracked targets took before leaving the area and during their movement as long as you successfully continue to follow their trail; information gained in this manner is typically quite general, such as whether the targets paused and ate, split up, had an altercation, etc.

Detailed information such as what spells they may have cast or items they may have used is typically unavailable unless the targets left some tangible indication of the act behind, such as an empty potion bottle.

Wind Reader

You can use your trained senses to read the movements of the wind and other factors in the environment to improve your accuracy with ranged attacks. As long as you have martial focus, you may ignore disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks inflicted by wind, rain, or other weather.

Scout Legendary Talents

Detect Surface Thoughts (research)

Prerequisites: Scout sphere, proficient with Insight, 5th level or higher.

You can spend an action to hear the surface thoughts of a scouted creature within 30 feet.

Empirical Tracker

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Track The Scene)

You can scout a creature by targeting the set of tracks you are following with the Track The Scene talent instead of targeting a creature you can see.

Inimical Gaze

Prerequisites: Scout sphere, 5th level or higher.

You may expend your martial focus as an action to attempt to scout all creatures within 60 feet.

Magehunter's Vision

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Heightened Awareness), 3rd level or higher.

Your passive Perception from Heightened Awareness extends as far as you can see, rather than only 10 feet.

True Sight

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Discern Illusions, Piercing Senses), 17th level or higher.

So long as you have martial focus, your razor-sharp senses can no longer be fooled by illusions and misdirections, granting you the ability to see all things as they actually are. This is a personal, non-magical effect that allows you to see through normal and magical darkness, notice secret doors hidden by magic, see the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, see invisible creatures or objects normally, see through illusions, and see the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things.

Further, you can focus your vision to see into the Ethereal Plane (but not into extradimensional spaces). The range of this effect is 120 feet.

This ability does not penetrate solid objects. It in no way confers x-ray vision or its equivalent. It does not negate obscuring effects, including that caused by fog and the like. It does not help you see through mundane disguises, spot creatures who are simply hiding, or notice secret doors hidden by mundane means. This effect cannot be further enhanced with magic, so one cannot use this ability through a crystal ball or in conjunction with the clairvoyance spell or similar effects.

Variants

Hidden Eyes

You do not gain the scout ability of the Scout sphere. You cannot take (research) talents. You gain Fast Stealth as a bonus talent.

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