The Quintessential Rogue
| Author | Michael Mearls |
| Publisher | Mongoose Publishing |
| Publish date | 2002 |
| OGL Section 15 | qrog |
The material below is Open Game Content
Skills are the meat and drink of rogues. This chapter expands upon the rogue’s class skills and
includes new uses for many of them. In addition, this chapter introduces new uses for many items of equipment, focussing on applying items in ways that will no doubt interest many rogues.
Alchemy (Int)
Normal Use: You know how to combine exotic ingredients to produce wondrous items.
New Use: Naturalist. Your knowledge of the alchemical sciences extends to herbs, plants and animals commonly used in recipes for common items. Alchemy duplicates the effects of Knowledge (nature) for the purpose of identifying plants and animals.
New Use: Craft Poison. The study of alchemy includes an extensive understanding of venoms, poisons and other deadly chemicals. You can use your Alchemy skill to produce poisons..
Appraise (Int)
Normal Use: Use this skill to determine the value of art objects, gems and other items you find.
New Use: Assess Magic Item. Magic weapons, armour and other items are crafted from well-made, high quality goods. While years of use leave a once beautiful item worn and plain looking, your Appraise
skill allows you to determine if an item was ever of high enough quality to accept an enchantment. The base DC of this check is 15, though old, battered items may require a DC as high as 30, at the Games Master’s discretion. Note that this use of Appraise does not allow you to detect a magical aura. It merely allows you to determine if an item is, or ever was, of high enough physical craftsmanship to be magically
enchanted.
New Use: Detect Forgery. Normally, when examining an item you use the Forgery skill to detect if the item is authentic. Your Appraise skill, however, allows you to notice inconsistencies in an item’s appearance or manufacture. You may oppose a Forgery check with your Appraise skill if you so wish, but always have the option to use your Forgery skill as normal.
New Use: Item History. As part of the appraisal process, you can determine an item’s area of origin or the race responsible for its manufacture. Your Appraise skill allows you to analyse the methods of manufacture used to produce an item and from that information determine the race or culture that made the item. The DC of this check depends on the age and nature of the culture for older items are harder to identify, as are those produced by obscure cultures. Alternatively, the Games Master may sometimes rule that you have no chance to determine an item’s origin.
| Item History | |
|---|---|
| Example of Item Age and Origin | DC |
| The item is new or was made by a | 10 |
| major nation or race | |
| The item is over 50 years old or | 15 |
| was produced by a minor race or nation | |
| The item is over a century old or was | 20 |
| produced by a rare race | |
| The item is over 500 years old or was | 25 |
| produced by a race unknown in the region | |
| The item is over 1000 years old | 30 |
| or was crafted by a race long | |
| thought merely a legend | |
Balance (Dex)
Normal Use: You can slowly walk across extremely narrow or slippery surfaces, such as a tightrope. You can also keep your feet on a rocking ship or during an earthquake.
New Use: Shake Off. When standing on a tight rope or aboard a small rowboat, your Balance skill allows you to unsettle the footing of others to cause them to tumble off whilst maintaining your own balance. As a standard action, make a Balance check opposed by those of everyone else either aboard the rowboat or walking across the tightrope. Anyone who fails to match or beat your roll loses their footing and falls off.
Bluff (Cha)
Normal Use: You speak with such an earnest, honest manner that people believe what you tell them for short periods of time, even when you make outrageous or blatantly untrue claims.
New Use: Card Shark. Many forms of card games, most notably poker, require the ability to throw off your opponent’s ability to determine the strength of your hand. When playing such a game, each participant makes a Bluff check. The highest score will win the game.
New Use: Charlatan. With a few mumbled words and grandiose gestures, you convince others that you are a powerful spellcaster capable of calling on mighty enchantments. In combat, you may use this skill to disrupt the efforts of your enemies. As a full-round action, make a Bluff check opposed by your opponent’s Sense Motive or Spellcraft check. On a success, your opponent is convinced that you are about to blast him with a spell, distracting him from other spells launched at him. He suffers a –1 circumstance penalty to all Reflex saves against spells until your next action. Your false casting distracts your opponent from the true threats against him. You may use Bluff in this manner once per combat.
New Use: Disguise Spellcasting. When attempting to cast a spell, you may attempt to disguise (though not negate) its somatic and verbal components. This is tremendously difficult, causing a –4 competence modifier to your attempt, and you must make a Bluff check opposed by your opponent’s Sense Motive. If you succeed, your opponent is considered flat-footed for purposes of resolving the spell’s effects. You may not use this ability against enemies in combat, as they are alert and on their guard.
Climb (Str)
Normal Use: You can scale mountains, scramble up castle walls, and climb a tree. You also know how to use climbing tools such as pitons.
New Use: Rappel. By anchoring a line at the top of a cliff face or similar vertical surface, you can quickly drop down to the cliff bottom by carefully sliding down the rope and using the cliff face to brake your speed. You must have enough rope to reach the bottom of the cliff or you will stop at a point equal to your rope’s length. You move downwards at a rate equal to twice your base speed. While rappelling, you lose any shield bonuses to Armour Class, but still gain any dodge or Dexterity bonuses. You also have enough control over your speed and direction that you can still attempt to avoid attacks. Rappelling requires a DC 15 Climb check. On a failure, you slam into the cliff side and drop too fast, taking damage as if you had fallen half the cliff’s height.
Concentration (Con)
Normal Use: This skill allows you to block out distractions, such as injuries and spells, to focus on completing a specific task.
New Use: Grace Under Pressure. By clearing your mind and locking on to a problem, you can quickly solve or overcome it. This comes at the risk of rushing yourself and making a mistake that causes you to waste more time on a problem than if you had taken a slower, steadier method. With a successful Concentration check at DC 20 you cut in half the time needed to take 10 or take 20 with a skill. If your Concentration check fails, you rush yourself and botch your attempt. You spend half the time needed for the skill attempt, but treat your result as if you rolled a one.
New Use: Focus. You can clear your mind and act normally even after sustaining a jarring injury. If you are stunned, you may make Concentration check at DC 25 to take a partial action in your next round. Any skill checks or attacks made with this action suffer a –2 circumstance penalty. Normally, stunned creatures cannot take any action. Even if your check succeeds, you still suffer all other penalties for being stunned.
Craft (Int)
Normal Use: You are trained in a particular craft, trade or art, such as blacksmithing, weaving, gemcutting, carpentry or pottery. You can produce goods related to your craft and are capable of earning a wage with your skills.
New Use: Improvise. With a bit of hard work, you can produce a crude replica of a finished product. Rather than make a Craft check to represent a day of work, make a check at DC 15 for an hour’s worth of toil. You may only use this to fashion goods that are worth 1 gold piece or less. Furthermore, each time you use a crudely fashioned item, there is a 10% chance that it fails to work or breaks, whichever is appropriate.
New Use: Mend Object. Not only can you produce new items, but you may also repair damage dealt to objects. Divide the cost of an item by its total hit points. For each gold piece total of work you complete
equal to this value, you restore one hit point to a damaged item. These repairs have a DC of 15. At your Games Master’s option, you can also restore hit points to large barricades and doors by reinforcing them with wooden beams and other items. You can restore 1d3 hit points to a damaged barricade or door with one hour of work and a successful Craft check at DC 15.
New Use: Reinforce Object. You can temporarily transform a flimsy door or other portal into a stout barricade. If you have sufficient lumber, stone blocks and other materials at hand, you can strengthen a 10 ft. section of wall or a door. Make a Craft check at DC 20 and spend an hour working to strengthen the door or wall. On a successful check, you grant the structure 1d3 extra hit points. You may use Craft in this manner once per door, 10 ft. section of wall or other similar structure.
Decipher Script (Int)
Normal Use: You can break codes or translate ancient languages, allowing you to determine their meaning.
New Use: Muddle Script. After deciphering a script, with a few modifications here and there you can attempt to modify its meaning. As a rule of thumb, you can change any verb to its negative form (‘go here’ becomes ‘don’t go here’) or modify two adjectives to have the opposite meaning. Make a Decipher Script
check. If anyone attempts to decode the modified message at a later date, they read your message as the true one if their check does not beat a DC equal to your check. If their check beats yours, they notice your attempt at deception.
Diplomacy (Cha)
Normal Use: This skill covers a wide range of social interactions, from attempting to convince a sceptical officer of the law that a troll is hiding in the sewers to navigating your way through the unwritten codes of behaviour and etiquette at a royal ball.
New Use: Calm Emotions. Use Diplomacy to talk your way out of a potential fight. When dealing with a Non-Player Character who is ready to make an attack, make a Diplomacy check opposed by his Will save to bring him to his senses. If he succeeds, he may act as normal. If he fails, he stops to consider your words. Your Games Master has the final say in determining if your Diplomacy skill has any use in a situation - as a rule of thumb, this skill works in any situation that arises in a neutral or safe setting with an irritated Non-Player Character who otherwise has no particular reason to seek your death. You cannot use Diplomacy against creatures that do not share a language with you or have a specific reason to attack.
New Use: Negotiations. When bargaining with others, your Diplomacy skill allows you to negotiate a better deal or bargain. Make a Diplomacy check opposed by the merchant or negotiator’s own Diplomacy check. If you succeed, you earn a 10% discount on the price of an item. You may attempt to use Diplomacy in this manner just once for every item you wish to buy. When using this skill to hammer out a treaty, each success allows you to force your opponent to concede a point to you. However, your Games Master has veto power over any points he deems too extreme. For example, you could not negotiate a surrender that allows you to keep all your items, gold and magic and walk away unharmed.
Disable Device (Int)
Normal Use: You can disarm traps, sabotage complex items and otherwise cause mechanical items to malfunction by examining the item and tinkering with its components.
New Use: Modify Device. With a few carefully considered changes to a mechanism’s internal workings, you cause it to behave or operate differently. The DC of this attempt equals the DC necessary to disable the device +5. On success, you may change one aspect of the item’s operation. For example, a trap set to activate when a chest opens may now spring into action when the chest closes. Your Games Master has the final say on whether a proposed modification is feasible.
Disguise (Cha)
Normal Use: With a few props, some makeup and a bit of time, you can modify the appearance of yourself or another. You may also impersonate a particular person.
New Use: Blend In. You can move into a large crowd of people and slightly change your appearance to resemble those around you. This allows you to make a skill check without spending 1d3 x 10 minutes creating a disguise. However, you may only use Disguise in this manner if there is a group of people nearby that you can escape into. For example, you could blend into a small group of beggars by grabbing a nearby filthy, soiled cloak, draping it over your shoulders, and sitting down amongst them. Obviously, this skill does not prevent anyone who witnessed your attempt from pointing you out to any pursuers or enemies.
New Use: Camouflage. You can combine face paint, branches, debris and other items to camouflage yourself or someone else. Using Disguise in this manner requires a skill check at DC 15. On a successful check, the recipient of a Disguise gains a +2 competence bonus to Hide checks made in forests, jungles or other areas with heavy undergrowth. This Disguise check is made in secret, thus only the Games Master knows if your camouflage is truly effective.
Escape Artist (Dex)
Normal Use: You are lithe and nimble, allowing you to slip free of ropes, chains and other bonds. You know how to twist your body and struggle to escape the grasp of others.
New Use: Contortionist. You can twist your limbs and arrange your body to squeeze into tight spaces. You may make an Escape Artist check to move through spaces normally too small for you to fit into. Make an Escape Artist check with a DC determined by the relative size of the area you want to enter.
| Contortions | |
|---|---|
| Relative Size | DC |
| One size smaller | 15 |
| Two sizes smaller | 25 |
| Three sizes smaller | 35 |
Forgery (Int)
Normal Use: You can produce a fake treasure map, an item that appears to be hundreds of years old or script that duplicates the style and distinctive features of another person’s handwriting.
New Use: Forge Coins. You can make fake coins using a small amount of valuable metal and a lot of lead. Making coins requires the use of the Craft (metalworking) skill. Determine how many coins you wish to make and, before you create them, determine the total value in gold, silver, copper or platinum (as appropriate) you use to produce them. The proportion of these materials in relation to the total value of the coins determines a modifier for your Forgery check, as listed in the table below. You must use valuable materials worth at least 10% of the coins’ value or the forgery is automatically detected. Make Craft checks as normal to determine your progress. Anyone inspecting the coins makes an Appraise check with a DC equal to the result of your Forgery roll made at the time of the coins’ creation.
| Forge Coins | |
|---|---|
| Valuable Materials as aP ercentage of Coins’ Total Value Modifier | Forgery Check |
| 10%– 30% | 0 |
| 31% - 50% | +2 |
| 51% - 75% | +4 |
| 76%+ | +8 |
Gather Information (Cha)
Normal Use: This skill allows you to make social contacts in an area, giving you access to rumours,
gossip and other information.
New Use: Informant. You establish a working relationship with a person or organisation who is well-tuned to the gossip and information that spreads through the area. If you pay your informant 3d6 gold per week, you may make one Gather Information check per week without spending an evening socialising and combing for gossip. Your informant makes regular reports to you about any specific topic you designate. You may have more than one active informant, so long as you pay the required gold each week.
New Use: Spread Rumours. Rather than seek out information, you can spread rumours of your own invention across town. Make a Gather Information check as normal. For 1d3 weeks after this check, anyone looking for information regarding the topic of your rumour might uncover your falsehoods in place of useful information. If Gather Information checks made by others fail to equal or exceed your own, they uncover your rumour instead of the information they want.
Handle Animal (Cha)
Normal Use: You can train animals to perform tricks, guide a team of oxen pulling a cart and raise a baby animal as a domesticated pet.
New Use: Placate Animal. If you have a tasty morsel or other treat to hand, you can silence an angry animal or convince it to leave you alone. Give the animal a day’s worth of palatable food appropriate to its diet and make a Handle Animal check opposed by its Will save. If the check succeeds, the animal ignores you to devour the food. This skill works only against creatures with the animal subtype.
Heal (Wis)
Normal Use: You can bind wounds, stabilise a dying friend, treat a disease or help someone overcome the effects of poison.
New Use: Diagnose. When preparing to treat someone, you can examine their wounds or condition and determine several facts about the poison or disease affecting them. Make a Heal check at DC 15 when dealing with the victim of poison or disease. On a successful check, you determine the future effects of the poison or sickness, such as the nature and amount of ability damage. Note that rare or exotic diseases may have a higher DC, at the Games Master’s discretion. If your total skill check is 10 or lower, you mis-diagnose the patient’s problems. The Games Master will provides you with incorrect information regarding the nature or amount of damage caused by the disease. Obviously, diagnosis checks should be made by the GM in secret. A successful diagnosis grants you a +2 competence bonus to subsequent attempts to aid the victim. A mis-diagnosis causes a –4 competence penalty to such skill checks.
Hide (Dex)
Normal Use: You use this skill to keep out of sight, evading the watchful gaze of others. You sneak behind brush or use the shadows to conceal your presence.
New Use: Tail. You discreetly follow another person, using the city crowds, jungle foliage or other cover to conceal your presence. You keep your quarry in sight, carefully keeping tabs on him while remaining far enough in the background to evade his sight. Every ten minutes of your pursuit, make a Hide check opposed by your target’s Spot skill. Note that if you follow several people travelling as a group, every person you pursue makes a Spot check. Victims consciously looking for someone tailing them gain a +2 competence bonus to their check, whilst unsuspecting victims receive a –2 competence penalty.
Intimidate (Cha)
Normal Use: Through sheer force of personality and physical presence, you browbeat others into following your orders.
New Use: Bluster. You attempt to assume the persona of an important individual, such as a wealthy merchant or military officer, who holds a level of power over the target of this skill. Make an Intimidate check as normal, but add a +2 synergy bonus if you have 5 or more ranks in Disguise. Normally, only Bluff grants a synergy bonus to this skill.
Intuit Direction (Wis)
Normal Use: You have an in-born sense of direction. With a few moments of concentration, you intuitively know which direction you face.
New Use: City Sense. Your keen sense of direction allows you to determine where you are in a city or other urban area. By looking at the buildings around you, you judge your distance from a particular neighbourhood or landmark and know which streets or direction to follow in order to get there. You must make an Intuit Direction check at DC 20 to correctly orient yourself. On a missed check, you fail to determine where you are in the city.
Jump (Str)
Normal Use: You are adept at leaping over pits, jumping from a resting position and vaulting over walls and other obstacles.
New Use: Pole Vault. When carrying any long pole or staff, you can use it to augment the height of your jump. Make a running high jump as normal, but make a second Jump check at DC 15 to add the length of the pole to the total distance you jump. You may jump above the maximum distance normally allowed by your height after applying this modifier. If you fail the Jump check to use the pole, resolve your initial jump check but halve the height it would normally allow you to clear.
New Use: Vault Enemy. You may jump on to your enemies and use your momentum to leap over and past them. Make a running or standing high jump. If your jump equals or exceed your opponent’s height, you may immediately make a second standing jump from his position. Using the Jump skill in this manner counts as a full-round action but does not draw attacks of opportunity unless you fail the first Jump check. In that case, you land prone in a space adjacent to the enemy you attempted to vault. Normally, Tumbling is your best bet for evading enemies, but unlike that skill you may attempt to vault enemies even if your speed has been reduced by your current carrying load.
Knowledge (Int)
Normal Use: You are a specialist in a particular area or discipline and can recall facts and theories from it.
New Use: The following fields of study have particular utility or applicability to rogues.
† Antiques (history of items, traits that mark valuable goods)
† Crime Lore (famous criminals, rumours regarding buried treasure)
† Law (fines and penalties for breaking the law, court procedure, loopholes)
† Streetwise (gangs, thieves guilds, recent robberies, territories controlled by thugs)
† Traps (common triggers, effects, signs that mark a trap’s installation)
Listen (Wis)
Normal Use: Use this skill to detect someone sneaking up on you, hear a whispered voice or listen in on someone’s conversation.
New Use: Ear for Detail. Not only can you detect noise, but you are also an expert at identifying its
source. You hear not only the scrape of boot against stony floor, but also recognise the pace of the footsteps and the distinctive sound of hobnailed boots, allowing you to identify an intruder as an orc warrior clad in chainmail before he comes into sight. If you have met the orc before, you recognise his stride and know exactly who approaches. If you beat the DC of a Listen check by 20 or more, you attain an extraordinary success. This allows you to determine the source of a noise, such as the type of creature, what actions might cause the noise, and so on.
Move Silently (Dex)
Normal Use: You tread carefully as you walk, muffling the sounds of your footsteps and allowing you to sneak up on others.
New Use: Whispery Movement. As you quietly move towards an enemy, you cause a moderate amount of noise designed to draw your opponent’s attention away from your position. You throw rocks towards spots in the distance, rustle branches before quickly moving away, and so on. Take a –2 competence penalty to your Move Silently check. In return, if you make a Hide check shortly after moving silently, you gain a +2 competence bonus if your Move Silently check was successful.
Perform (Cha)
Normal Use: You know how to play an instrument, have studied acting or comedy, or have developed a mastery of some other performing art.
New Use: Distract. Your eye-catching performance draws onlookers to you, leaving them susceptible to criminal activities made by those working with you. When using your Perform skill, the members of your
audience must make a Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform skill. Those that fail suffer a –2 competence penalty to all Spot and Listen checks, as their attention is riveted to your display.
Pick Pocket (Dex)
Normal Use: You can lift objects from people’s pockets or pouches, or palm an unattended object, slipping it into your possession without drawing attention to yourself.
New Use: Pat Down. You casually check the contents of your victim’s pockets, determining if they carry weapons or any other hidden items. Make a Pick Pocket check opposed by your victim’s Spot skill. If he succeeds, he notices your attempt. Otherwise, your investigation passes unnoticed.
Profession (Wis)
Normal Use: You have training or apprenticed to learn a specific, skilled profession, such as innkeeper, fisherman, sailor or soldier.
New Use: Gambler. You know enough about games of chance, including card games, dice games and events commonly used for wagering, such as gladiatorial contests, to make a modest living doing nothing but gambling. Use this skill when playing any game that involves wagers.
New Use: Thief. You grew up making ends meet by picking pockets or committing burglaries. When you use this skill to earn money, you engage in petty crimes to keep cash flowing in. You know the basic stratagems often used to plan robberies, scams and extortion schemes.
Search (Int)
Normal Use: With painstaking diligence, you thoroughly inspect a small area to detect any irregularities or tiny details that other people overlook, such as a trap, secret compartment or hidden item.
New Use: Rapid Search. Normally, searching a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of material 5 feet on a side takes a full round action. With this use of the skill, you can search this area as a standard action or two areas of this size as a full-round action. You make a quick search of the area, looking for any eye-catching details or obvious items of note. This means that you rush yourself and take a –10 competence penalty to your check.
Sense Motive (Wis)
Normal Use: You can tell when someone is lying to you by examining and interpreting their body language, speech patterns and other outward physical traits.
New Use: Read Profession. You can examine the subtle physical and social traits exhibited by a person to determine their trade and level of skill. Make a Sense Motive check at DC 25 to search for subtle clues, such as calluses on a person’s hand, their peculiar stance that indicates they studied at a fencing school, or the faint traces of spell components staining their fingers. If your check succeeds, you determine what classes a person has levels in and what Professions or Crafts he practices. If you attempt to use this skill against a disguised person, your Sense Motive check is opposed by his Disguise check. On a successful check, you notice that your subject seeks to conceal his true identity.
Spellcraft (Int)
Normal Use: Your study of magic and its effects allows you to identify spells, materials created via magic and other mystic effects.
New Use: Analyse Magic Trap. After discovering a magic trap using the Search skill or other means, you can attempt to determine the exact nature of the trap using the Spellcraft skill. The DC of this check equals 20 + the spell level. If you succeed, you know what spell the trap triggers. If the trap triggers more than one spell, check separately for each one. This knowledge grants you no advantage for disarming the trap, but it does tell you what to expect should the trap go off.
Spot (Wis)
Normal Use: You use this skill to pick out visual clues and other details, such as a thief sneaking down an alleyway or an orc sniper hidden in a tree.
New Use: Hawk-eyed. Your sense of sight and eye for detail are so well-refined that you can pick out minor characteristics at a great distance. Make a Spot check at DC 10 + 1 per ten feet of distance when looking at anyone more than 30 feet away from you. On a successful check, you pick out details on a person as if he was only 10 feet away from you. Obviously, even extremely small creatures exhibit no real detail at a 10 ft. distance. Your check suffers a –2 competence penalty against Small creatures. For each size category above Medium-size, you gain a +2 competence bonus to your check.
Swim (Str)
Normal: You can stay afloat and know how to propel yourself through the water.
New Use: Dive. You can leap off great heights and hit water at such an angle that you avoid taking damage from the fall. Make a Swim check at DC 20 if you jumped into the dive, 30 if you fell and must attempt to manoeuvre yourself into position as you fall. If you succeed, you take half damage for falling into water. Note that if the water is too shallow, you plummet straight to the bottom and take normal damage. The water you fall into must be at least twice your height in depth for your dive to reduce the damage you take.
Tumble (Dex)
Normal: You are an agile, skilled acrobat capable of dives, jumps, rolls, somersaults and other athletic manoeuvres that confuse your enemies.
New Use: Distracting Display. If you have 8 or more ranks in Tumble, your ability to aid another improves. When using that combat action, you may grant an ally a +3 circumstance bonus to their Armour Class rather than +2. You leap and cavort in front of the target of your aid another attack, using your acrobatic skill to shield your ally and distract your enemy.
Use Rope (Dex)
Normal Use: You can make a wide variety of knots, splice several ropes together and bind prisoners in an effective manner.
New Use: Sweeping Entrance. With a long enough rope and the right amount of panache, you can swing through the air and launch yourself into combat, leaping to attack your enemies. The classic use of this skill is to launch yourself into a building through a window, catching your enemies by surprise. To attempt a sweeping entrance, make a Use Rope check at DC 15 to determine if you correctly judge your rope’s length and launch yourself at a correct angle. Use a moveequivalent action to swing on the rope, moving up to half the rope’s length. If your skill check succeeds, you attack as if charging. If your check fails, you fall prone after your swing. When employing the Use Rope skill in this manner, you gain a
+2 synergy bonus if you have 5+ ranks in Tumble.
Wilderness Lore (Wis)
Normal Use: Your knowledge of nature and the wilds allows you to track down food, find shelter and help others survive in the outdoors.
New Use: Cover Tracks. If you have the Track feat, you know not only how to find signs that mark the passage of men and animals but how to make your own tracks more difficult to follow. If you move at
three-quarters your normal movement rate, make a Wilderness Lore check to destroy signs of your passage. Anyone attempting to track you must not only beat the DC of the environmental conditions, but their own check must equal or beat yours. If they fail to do this, they cannot track you.
New Use: Urban Lore. Your knowledge of survival extends to the city streets. When in an urban setting, you may use your Wilderness Lore skill to find food, cobble together a shelter, and otherwise sustain yourself without spending money on food or lodging. You may complete the standard tasks listed under Wilderness Lore at their normal DC.
Other Tricks of the Trade
Acid
While handy in combat, acid also has its uses in other areas. When attempting to disarm a trap or disable a device, a few drops of acid help make your job easier in certain circumstances. If the Games Master rules that your Disable Device check involves sabotaging or destroying some portion of an item or trap, using a vial of acid to aid in your attempt grants you a +2 competence bonus. Furthermore, the Games Master may rule that using acid causes your Disable Device check to automatically succeed. For example, pouring acid into a lock undoubtedly ruins its inner workings without the need for a skill check. Using acid in this manner consumes a full vial’s worth of the substance.
Artisan’s Tools, Masterwork
In addition to granting a bonus to craft checks, these well-made implements also grant a +2 circumstance bonus to Forgery checks involving the creation of counterfeit coins or bogus goods. Tools whose quality enhances your ability to make legitimate goods also improve your ability to make fake ones.
Bedroll or Blanket
A bedroll, blanket or any other large piece of fabric has a variety of uses beyond the mundane. A bedroll properly folded and either held shut or secured with rope serves as an impromptu sack. At the Games Master’s option, there is a flat 10% chance each hour that this jury-rigged sack comes undone and spills its contents.
A sheet or bedroll functions as a net when thrown upon an opponent, though the victim of such an attack automatically escapes by using a standard action. When using a blanket in this manner you suffer the penalty for using a non-proficient weapon even if you have the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (net) feat as, obviously, blankets are not designed as weapons, making them rather awkward to use in battle.
If you slash a blanket into strips, you can use it to bind wounds. While not as effective as a healer’s kit, bandages do help you attempt to stabilise others, granting a +1 competence bonus to such Heal checks. A blanket muffles sound. Using a blanket to cover the sound of breaking glass increases the Listen DC to hear the glass breaking by +2. You place the blanket over a glass pane and carefully break it.
With a successful Use Rope check at DC 20 you can convert a medium-size blanket into a 20-foot long rope. Treat this as a hemp rope for purposes of hit points.
Bow or Crossbow
By affixing a length of rope to a crossbow bolt or arrow, you can launch the bolt into a wall and anchor the rope. Make an attack roll against AC 10. If you hit, the bolt drives into the wall and forms a secure anchor. You cannot use this against stone walls or other surfaces that a crossbow bolt or arrow cannot deeply penetrate. When using a missile weapon in this manner, you suffer a –4 circumstance penalty to hit and cut your weapon’s range increment in half. A crossbow used in melee deals 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage if you smash your enemy with the crossbow’s stock. After each attack, there is a 10% chance the
crossbow breaks and is useless as a melee or missile weapon.
Ink
Even this seemingly harmless material can be transformed into a useful tool by a rogue. Throwing
ink into an opponent’s face disrupts his actions. You may splash ink into the face of any opponent standing within your threatened area, resolving this as a ranged touch attack with a –6 circumstance
penalty. In order for the ink to have any effect, you must hit your opponent’s eyes. If you hit, your
opponent suffers a –2 circumstance penalty to all attacks and skill checks until he spends a standard action wiping the ink from his eyes. This attack is only effective against creatures that use eyes or similar organs to see.
Inkpen
This innocuous tool is an effective method for delivering injury poisons. Normally used to deliver ink, if the pen is instead dipped in poison it absorbs the venom and delivers it on a successful attack. Against targets with at least a +1 armour, shield or natural AC bonus, the pen is automatically ruined after a single attack, successful or not. The pen is rather fragile, and a forceful strike against a protective surface breaks it. While the pen breaks the skin and delivers the poison, it deals no damage.
Jug
A jug makes an effective, and rather innocent looking, tool for delivering dangerous liquids such as alchemist’s fire or acid. You use the jug to splash a target with the liquid it contains. Resolve this as a ranged touch attack with a maximum range of 10 feet.
Flour
While a sack of flour might seem to be little more than a burden for an adventurer, it comes in handy when dealing with invisible creatures. When spread over such an opponent, the flour reveals your foe’s presence and makes it much easier to strike him in combat. To spread flour on an invisible foe, make a ranged touch attack against him, taking into count the standard modifiers and effects associated with attacking an invisible creature. Upon a hit, the target loses the benefits of invisibility. Instead, treat
him as a target with half concealment, causing a 20% miss chance to all attacks against him.
Marbles
In the hands of a clever rogue, this simple child’s toy becomes an extremely useful tool for disrupting pursuit and hindering the enemy. A single bag of marbles spread on the floor fills a single five-foot-by- five-foot area. Any creature attempting to move across this area at more than half-speed must make a Balance check at DC 15 or immediately fall prone. Creatures with four or more legs are immune to this effect, as they are too stable for the marbles to trip them up. The marbles are too big to affect those below small size and to small to hinder those above large.
Net
The net works very well for rogues who wish to keep their enemies alive, particularly when an opponent has a large bounty on his head or possesses a critical piece of information. In addition, a net has a few other uses. In an emergency, you can make a Use Rope check at DC 15 to transform a net into 30 feet of hemp rope though this will destroy the net. You can also transform a net into a simple rope ladder with a Use Rope check at DC 10. This, too, destroys the net.
Sling
Normally useless in melee, a sling doubles as a sap if it is loaded with shot and used to strike an opponent from behind. You may only use a sling in melee if your strike counts as a sneak attack. Otherwise, the sling is too unwieldy to make an effective strike. A motionless or unsuspecting target is vulnerable to attack, but anyone capable of making a defence is too difficult a target.
Whips
A whip is a lot more than an exotic weapon. In the hands of a trained rogue, it becomes a tool that proves its worth in many situations. Not only can a whip wrap up a foe’s leg and trip him, but it can also wind around an object such as a tree branch and serve as an emergency rope or swing. To use a whip in this manner, make an attack with the whip against the object’s Armour Class (usually 10 for an inanimate object). On a hit, you may use the whip as a rope for the purpose of Climb checks, though note whips are only 10 feet long. You may also use a whip to cross a pit or other obstruction by lashing it around a branch or other anchor point above the pit and swinging across. To do this, make an attack against the anchor point with your whip. On a hit, you may automatically make a standing jump of up to 15 feet. When using a whip to climb up or jump over an obstacle, you must spend a move-equivalent action to
recover your whip.
You may attack an inanimate object with your whip in order to wrap it up and pull it into your grasp. If you hit, you may then pull the object in your direction. If the item weighs 10% or less of your maximum light
load, you may immediately flip the item back to your free hand. Otherwise, you must drag the item. To determine how far you can drag the item while you stand still, assume that the object moves at the same rate you would move if you were carrying a total load equal to the item’s weight at half your Strength.
If you attempt to grab an item from someone’s hand, resolve the action as a disarm attempt. If the item is
not a weapon, the defender may opt to modify his attack roll to keep possession of the item with either
his Strength or Dexterity modifier and will not suffer any penalties for non-proficiency. Otherwise, resolve the grab attempt as a disarm attack.
Finally, if you have the Deflect Arrows feat you may use your whip in conjunction with it. You snap your whip at arrows and knock them away. In addition, you can use a whip to deflect missiles fired at anyone within 10 feet of your position, but the Reflex DC to do this is 35 rather than 20. Normally, you must have a free hand in order to knock aside incoming missiles.
