Scout
Table of Contents
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.

Combat Rule Reminder: Search Action

Combat Action
Action Cost 1 Action
Devote your attention to discovering something
Intelligence (Investigation)

  • Illusions
  • Items that are not purposefully hidden
  • Forensic evidence

Wisdom (Perception)

  • Creatures that are hiding
  • Items that are purposefully hidden
  • Traps

Wisdom (Survival)

  • Environmental hazards
  • Harvestable parts
  • Tracks

Condition Rule Reminder: Hidden

  • A hidden creature is one that is both unseen and unheard. After you make an attack, you lose the hidden condition regardless if the attack hits or misses. The creature’s location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.
  • Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have advantage.

Analyzable Characteristics

Below are the Analyzable Characteristics:

  • Armor Class
  • Condition Resistances
  • Condition Immunities
  • Damage Resistances
  • Damage Immunities
  • Damage Vulnerabilities
  • Speed
  • One Ability Score
  • One of its saving throws
  • One of its senses
  • Its maximum hit points
  • Its creature type.
  • Another characteristic with GM's permission.

Scout Sphere Features

When you first gain the Scout sphere, you gain the Analyze and Skill Affinity: Stealth features.

Analyze

Scout sphere feature
Action Cost: 10 minutes, or 1 Action by spending martial focus.
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 24 hours, or until you take a long rest
Make an Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check (your choice) against a DC 10 + CR of the target (rounded down); For the purpose of the Analyze feature, PCs have a CR equal to half their level.

On a successful check, you learn one characteristic of your choice, and the target is Analyzed.

Once you have successfully Analyzed a target, you can apply any (research) talents you possess against the target for the duration.

You can only attempt to Analyze each individual target once per long rest.

Skill Affinity: Stealth

Scout sphere feature
You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill. If you are already proficient in Stealth, you instead select any one talent from the Scout sphere as a bonus talent.

Basic Talents

Talents in the Scout sphere are divided into four primary types: (approach), (awareness), (research), and (stalker) talents.

Approach Talents

Some talents have the (approach) tag, which augment how you can attempt to Analyze a target.

Biological Insight (approach)

You can attempt to Analyze targets with Intelligence (Nature) checks.

Additionally, learning the Analyzed target's creature type does not count against the number of analyzable characteristics you can learn.

Empirical Tracker (approach)

You can attempt to Analyze targets with Wisdom (Survival) checks.

Additionally, you don't require line of sight to Analyze a target; instead, you can Analyze a target, by targeting tracks or a trail left behind by the target.

Folklorist (approach)

You can attempt to Analyze targets with Intelligence (History) checks.

Additionally, whenever you exceed the Analyze DC by 5 or more, you learn one additional analyzable characteristics.

Part-Breaker (approach)

Expend Martial Focus. As a special attack, you can automatically Analyze a target that you successfully hit (without requiring a check). If you critically hit with the attack, you learn twice the number of characteristics.

Physical Examination (approach, research)

You can attempt to Analyze targets with Wisdom (Medicine) checks.

Additionally, You constantly know the general health condition of Analyzed targets 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.

Social Engineering (approach)

You can attempt to Analyze targets with Charisma (Deception), Charisma (Intimidation), or Charisma (Persuasion) checks.

Awareness Talents

Some talents have the (awareness) tag, which augment your perception and senses.

Cooperative Perception (awareness)

Range: 60 feet
Duration: 1 hour
Expend Martial Focus. When you make a Wisdom (Perception) check, you can share your result total with a number of allies equal to your proficiency bonus. This effect lasts for the duration, or until you use it again, as long as they remain within range of you.

Discern Illusions (awareness)

Range: 30 feet

As long as you have Martial Focus, you gain advantage on all saving throws and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made against spells of the Illusion school, or sphere effects of the Illusion sphere.

Expend Martial Focus. As a bonus action, you can grant this advantage to all allies within range for a number of rounds equal to your Key Ability modifier. ::

Magical Cognizance (awareness)

Range: 10 feet

You can use the Search action to 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 Investigation, Perception, or Survival to notice the presence of ongoing magical effects (as described above) whenever you pass within range of them, whether or not you are actively looking.

Notice Profiling (awareness)

Range: 120 feet
As long as you have Martial Focus, you know whenever a creature within range learns an Analyzable characteristic you possess.
Expend Martial Focus. You learn which characteristics the creature learned about yourself that round, as well as which creatures learned those characteristics.

Piercing Senses (awareness)

Range: 30 feet

You do not suffer disadvantage when making an attack against a target within range that is heavily obscured or invisible, 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.

Sense And Resist Scrying (awareness)

Range: 30 feet
You can use the Search action 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 range.

Sight Beyond Sight (awareness)

Action Cost: Bonus action
Duration: 1 round
You gain tremorsense out to 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
Expend Martial Focus. You instead gain blindsight out to 10 feet until the start of your next turn.

At Later Levels
The range of extends out an additional 10 feet at 5th (20 ft.), 11th (30 ft.), and 17th level (40 ft.).

Somnambulance (awareness)

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 (awareness)

You can use the Search action as a bonus action.

Track The Scene (awareness)

You gain advantage on ability checks made to find and follow tracks.

When successfully following a set of tracks no older than 24 hours, 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.

Trained Awareness (awareness)

You gain proficiency in Intelligence (Investigation), Wisdom (Perception), or Wisdom (Survival).

Wind Reader (awareness)

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.

Research Talents

Some talents have the (research) tag, which allows you to apply what you have learned about an Analyze target in offensive or defensive ways.

Adroit Focus (research)

Whenever a creature you have Analyzed has been reduced to 0 hit points, you can regain Martial Focus as either a bonus action or reaction.

Assault Analysis (research)

When attacking the Analyzed target with finesse or ranged weapons, you can use your key ability instead of Strength or Dexterity for attack and damage rolls.

You can take this talent twice. After doing so, you can use your key ability for any weapon attack and damage rolls against the Analyzed target.

Discern Tells (research)

You gain advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks you make against Analyzed targets.

Additionally, Analyzed targets never get advantage on attack rolls against you.

Exploit Weakness (research)

Saving Throw: Constitution
As a special attack, make a weapon attack against an Analyzed target. If you successfully hit, the target must succeed on saving throw or suffer an additional 1d10 damage.

Find Gap (research)

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

Follow Footwork (research)

Action Cost: Reaction
When a target you have analyzed that you can see moves during their turn, you can travel up to half your movement speed either towards or directly away from them.
This movement happens at the same time as your target's movement, and provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.

Expend Martial Focus. You can travel up to your full movement speed instead.

Identify Rhythms (research)

You gain a bonus to AC equal to half your proficiency bonus against Analyzed targets.

As long as you have Martial Focus, this bonus also applies to saving throws made against Analyzed targets.

Physical Examination (approach, research)

*See (approach) talents*

Prognosis (research)

Saving Throw: Constitution
Analyzed enemies who are damaged by your weapon attacks must make a saving throw or be unable to regain hit points until the start of your next turn.

Whenever an Analyzed ally regains hit points, they regain an additional number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. If you were the one who restored their hit points, they also have advantage on the next saving throw they make before the start of your next turn. This talent does not apply to 'rapid natural healing' or 'regeneration' that heal over time.

Sabotage Mobility (research)

Saving Throw: Constitution
Duration: 1 round
The first time each round that an Analyzed target is damaged by your weapon attack, it must make a saving throw or have its speed reduced by a number of feet equal to 5 times your Key Ability modifier (minimum of 5 feet). This speed reduction lasts until the start of your next turn.

Stealth Surge (research, stalker)

While hidden, Analyzed targets suffer disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) rolls made to detect your location.

Stalker Talents

Some talents have the (stalker) tag, which allows you to make the most of your Stealth skill, while hidden.

Assassinate (stalker)

While hidden, if you successfully kill or reduce a creature to 0 hp with a melee or ranged attack, you do not automatically lose the hidden condition; Instead, your location is only detected by creatures whose passive Perception is higher than your passive Stealth.

Deadly Strike (stalker)

While hidden, your melee and ranged attacks deal additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

Expend Martial Focus. Your first melee or ranged attack made that round deals an additional 1d6 damage per proficiency bonus.

Expedited Cunning (stalker)

While hidden, you have advantage on Initiative checks.

As long as you maintain Martial Focus, you can move at normal speed while moving stealthily.

Hidden Focus (stalker)

Range: 120 feet
While hidden from all enemies within range, you can regain your Martial Focus as a bonus action.

Lurker (stalker)

Action Cost: Reaction
Expend Martial Focus. Impose disadvantage on any Wisdom (Perception) checks made to pinpoint your location while hidden.

Shifty Poisoner (stalker)

Range: 120 feet
Duration: 1 round
When you attack a creature you are hidden from within range, they suffer disadvantage on saving throws made against any disease or poison you subject them to until the start of your next turn.

Stealth Surge (research, stalker)

*See (research) talents*

Uncanny Stalker (stalker)

While hidden, the action cost to Analyze a target is reduced by one step; *See table below*

Uncanny Stalker

Starting Action Cost Resulting Action Cost
10 Minutes 1 Minute
1 Minute 1 Action
1 Action 1 Bonus Action
1 Bonus Action 1 Reaction

Other Talents

Cooperative Stealth

Range: 60 feet
While hidden, you can share your Dexterity (Stealth) check with a number of allies equal to your proficiency bonus. This effect lasts as long as they remain within range of you.

The number of allies you can share your check with is doubled as long as you have Martial Focus.

Far-Sight Analysis

Increase the range of your Analyze ability to 120 feet.

Fast Stealth

You can use the Hide action as a bonus action.

Greater Stalker

You gain the benefits of any (stalker) talents you possess even if you are only heavily obscured or invisible.

While you have Martial Focus, you continue to benefit from any (stalker) talents you possess while only lightly obscured.

Persistent Analysis

You can attempt to Analyze each individual target a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

Rapid Analysis

Analyze now only takes 1 minute, or 1 Bonus Action by expending Martial Focus.

Additionally, whenever you roll initiative, you can attempt to Analyze an individual target without spending an action, or expending Martial Focus.

Reflexive Stealth

Action Cost: Reaction
Duration: 1 round
Whenever you succeed at a Dexterity saving throw against an area effect, you can use the Hide action. This only lasts until the end of your next turn if you can’t find cover or some other way to stay hidden.

Worthy Opponent

When you successfully Analyze a target, you can choose it to be your rival. Your rivals do not lose the Analyzed quality after 24 hours or if you take a long rest. You can only have one rival at a time, and choosing a new rival makes the previous one lose that quality. You cannot choose a new rival until either either you finish a long rest, or the current rival has been reduced to 0 hit points.

Legendary Talents

Advisory Researcher

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Cooperative Perception), 1st level or higher.

Whenever you successfully Analyze a target, allies benefitting from Cooperative Perception treat the target as Analyzed. These allies benefit from a single (research) talent you possess (your choice) as long as they remain within range of the target.

Advisory Stalker

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Cooperative Stealth), 1st level or higher.

Hidden allies benefitting from Cooperative Stealth also gain the benefit from a single (stalker) talent you possess (your choice).

Detect Surface Thoughts (research)

Prerequisites: Scout sphere, proficient with Insight, 5th level or higher.
Action Cost: 1 Action
Duration: 1 round

You can hear the surface thoughts of an Analyzed creature within 30 feet for the duration.

You gain advantage on all saving throws and ability checks made against the target.

Expert Scout

Prerequisites: Scout sphere, proficient with Investigation, Perception, Stealth, or Survival, 1st level or higher.
Choose one of the following skills which you are proficient with: Investigation, Perception, Stealth, or Survival.

Add twice your proficiency modifier to that skill.

This talent can be taken multiple times, each time a different skill must be chosen.

Inimical Gaze

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Rapid Analysis), 5th level or higher.
Action Cost: 1 Action

Expend Martial Focus. You can attempt to Analyze all creatures within your Analyze range.

Magehunter's Vision (awareness)

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Magical Cognizance), 3rd level or higher.

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

Modify Characteristics (research)

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Part-Breaker), 5th level or higher.

Whenever you successfully critically hit against an analyzed creature, you can change 1 known analyzed characteristic of the target in one of the following ways for 1 hour:

  • Armor Class. Reduced by 2
  • Condition Resistances. Lose one condition resistance
  • Condition Immunities. A single condition immunity is changed into a condition resistance.
  • Damage Resistances. Lose one damage resistance.
  • Damage Immunities. A single damage immunity is changed into a damage resistance.
  • Damage Vulnerabilities. *(Requires Damage Resist and Damage Immunities as known characteristics)* Choose one damage type that it does not have Immunity or Resistance toward. It gains that damage vulnerability.
  • Speed. Reduce all movement modes by 10 feet (minimum 0-ft).
  • One Ability Score. Reduce one known ability score by 2 (minimum 1).
  • One of its Saving Throws. Reduce one known saving throw by 2.
  • One of its Senses. Reduces one of its known senses by 10 feet (minimum 0-ft).
  • Maximum Hit Points. Reduce their Maximum hit points by 10 (minimum 1).
  • Another Characteristic. Modified with GM's permission.

Thorough Analysis

Prerequisites: Scout sphere, 1st level or higher
When analyzing the target, you can discern an additional number of characteristics equal to half your proficiency bonus.

True Sight (awareness)

Prerequisites: Scout sphere (Discern Illusions, Piercing Senses), 17th level or higher.
Range: 120 feet

While you have Martial Focus, 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).

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

Alternative Approach

You cannot attempt to Analyze a target with an Intelligence (Investigation) or a Wisdom (Perception) check. You gain an (approach) talent of your choice as a bonus talent.

Hidden Eyes

You do not gain the Analyze feature of the Scout sphere. You cannot take (approach) or (research) talents. You gain the Fast Stealth talent as a bonus talent.

Rivalrous

Targets of your successful Analyze attempt also consider you Analyzed for the duration of your Analyze ability. Any characteristics that you learn about them, they also learn about yourself, and can apply (research) talents you possess to you. You gain Worthy Opponent as a bonus talent.

Seeker

You do not gain the Skill Affinity: Stealth feature. You gain the Trained Awareness (awareness) talent as a bonus talent.

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