Tia (Shadow Renegade)

[Aeter]

[ AS OF 11/15 THIS LEVEL PROGRESSION IS OBSOLETE ]


Shadow Renegade
Shadow Renegades are no strangers to the underbelly of society. They are notorious thieves, pickpockets, and occasionally assassins. Often, they are drawn to the plane of shadow as darkness becomes familiar to them.
Hit Die: d6
Skills: 8+ int mod (x4) at first level
List: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Disguise, Gather Information, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (history; local), Martial Lore, Open Locks, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope
Proficiencies: No armor or shields, Simple weapons. Sap, short sword, hand crossbow.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Feature	Speed Burst	Man	Sta
1st	+0	+2	+2	+2	Scarred Soul +1, Shadow Hand Focus (Weapon Focus), Focused Mind	--	3	1
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+3	Acrobatics, Evasion	--	4	1
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Ambush +1d6, Improved Unarmed Strike	+10 ft	5	1
4th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Shadow Hand Focus (Insightful Strikes)	+10 ft	5	2
5th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Scarred Soul +2, Shadow Sight	+20 ft	6	2
6th	+4	+5	+5	+5	Ambush +2d6	+20 ft	6	2
7th	+5	+5	+5	+5	Poison Use	+30 ft	7	2
8th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+6	Shadow Hand Focus (Defensive Stance)	+30 ft	7	2
9th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+6	Ambush +3d6, Mask of Anonymity	+40 ft	8	2
10th	+7/+2	+7	+7	+7	Scarred Soul +3	+40 ft	8	3
11th	+8/+3	+7	+7	+7	Trick of the Trade	+50 ft	9	3
12th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+8	Ambush +4d6, Steady Nerves	+50 ft	9	3
13th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+8	Lethal Cut	+60 ft	10	3
14th	+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Trick of the Trade	+60 ft	10	3
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+9	+9	Scarred Soul +4, Ambush +5d6	+70 ft	11	3
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Nondetection	+70 ft	11	4
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Trick of the Trade	+80 ft	12	4
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+11	Ambush +6d6	+80 ft	12	4
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+11	Silencing Strike	+90 ft	13	4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+12	Scarred Soul +5, Stealth Dash, Trick of the Trade	+90 ft	13	4

Maneuvers: A Shadow Renegade begins her career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to be used are Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Setting Sun, and Tiger Claw. Once she knows a maneuver, she may use it once per day. All maneuvers are considered extraordinary abilities unless noted in its description. Maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and do not provoke attacks of opportunity. A Shadow Renegade earns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the above table. She must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it, with her Martial level equal to her Shadow Renegade level.

Upon reaching 4th level, and every even-numbered Shadow Renegade level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), a Shadow Renegade may choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one she already knows. In effect, she loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. She may choose a new maneuver of any level she likes, as long as she observes the restrictions on the highest-level maneuvers she may learn -- She needs not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. She may swap only a single maneuver at any given level.

Stances: A Shadow Renegade begins play with knowledge of one 1st level stance from any discipline open to her. She gains additional stances as shown on the above table. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended. The Shadow Renegade may change the stance she currently uses as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description. Unlike maneuvers, new stance cannot be traded for a stance you already know.

Scarred Soul: Your tough life has left you cautious and jumpy. Gain a bonus to initiative checks every 5 levels.

Focused Mind: When unarmored and unencumbered, the Shadow Renegade adds her Intellect bonus (if any) to her AC. These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the Shadow Renegade is flat-footed. She loses these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield, or when she carries a medium or heavy load.

Acrobatics (Ex): At 2nd level, a Shadow Renegade adds her Intellect bonus (if any) to Balance, Climb, Jump, and Tumble checks. This only functions while unarmored and unencumbered.

Evasion: At 2nd level and higher, a Shadow Renegade can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the Shadow Renegade is wearing no armor. A helpless Shadow Renegade does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Improved Unarmed Strike: At 3rd level, a Shadow Renegade gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.

Speed Burst (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a Shadow Renegade may boost her speed by the listed amount until the start of her next turn. This may be used once per combat. This can only be used unarmored and unencumbered.

Ambush: The Shadow Renegade’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the Shadow Renegade is affected by concealment. Flanking does not allow a Shadow Renegade to use Ambush. Should the Shadow Renegade score a critical hit with Ambush, this extra damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks can count as Ambush attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.

With a sap (blackjack) or an unarmed strike, a Shadow Renegade can use Ambush to deal nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, not even with the usual -4 penalty. Ambush can only be used against living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to Ambush. The Shadow Renegade must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A Shadow Renegade cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.

Ambush functions as Sneak Attack for the purpose of feats.

Shadow Hand Focus (Ex): Your affinity with shadow raises your ability to use the Shadow Hand fighting style.
Weapon Focus: At level 1, you gain Weapon Focus as a bonus feat with Shadow Hand weapons (Dagger, shortsword, sai, singham, unarmed strike, and spiked chain.
Insightful Strikes: At level 4, you can add your Intellect modifier as a bonus on damage rolls whenever you execute a Shadow Hand strike.
Defensive Stance: At level 8, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws whenever you are in a Shadow Hand stance.

Shadow Sight (Ex): Due to their affinity to darkness, Shadow Renegades gain low-light vision. If they already have low-light vision, they may get darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

Steady Nerves: The Shadow Renegade has skill in moving steathfully under pressure. She may always choose to take ten on Stealth checks.

Mask of Anonymity (Su): The Shadow Renegade becomes accustom to blending in with her surroundings, even in social areas. The save to recognize this as an illusion is equal to (10 + 1/2 Shadow Renegade level + Intelligence Modifier) This functions as the Disguise Self spell, as follows:

You make yourself—including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. You cannot change your body type. Otherwise, the extent of the apparent change is up to you. You could add or obscure a minor feature or look like an entirely different person. The spell does not provide the abilities or mannerisms of the chosen form, nor does it alter the perceived tactile (touch) or audible (sound) properties of you or your equipment. If you use this spell to create a disguise, you get a +10 bonus on the Disguise check. A creature that interacts with the glamer gets a Will save to recognize it as an illusion.

Trick of the Trade: Choose one of the following.
Crippling Strike (Ex): As the Rogue Special Ability
Defensive Roll (Ex): As the Rogue Special Ability
Opportunist (Ex): As the Rogue Special Ability
Hide in Plain Sight (Su): As the Shadowdancer class feature
Shock and Awe (Ex): Whenever you drop a foe with Ambush (reducing her to negative hit points or destroying her), all other foes within 30 ft must make a Will save, DC 10 + ½ Shadow Renegade level + Int modifier. Creatures with HD equal to or less than the felled target become frightened on a failed save, shaken on a successful save, for one round per Shadow Renegade level in either case. Creatures with greater HD than the one you have slain must save or become shaken for one round per Shadow Renegade level, with no ill effect on a success.
Low Blow (Ex): You gain a 25% chance of dealing Ambush damage to creatures immune to it (by any means), and reduce any chance the target has of ignoring your Ambush damage by -25%. Note: You can take the feat Improved Pressure Point up to 3 times. Each time it is taken, these percentages increase/decrease by 25%.
Parkour (Ex): Move up a wall as a move action at your full speed. If you do not reach a horizontal surface to stand on after this movement, you immediately fall, unless you catch yourself with the Climb skill. Falling in this way, you may not "jump off" to reduce falling damage, though you may tumble upon landing. One creative use for this could be to set up a falling attack for more damage, at great personal risk.
Sniper’s Eye (Ex): You are so well trained in ranged assassination, “point blank” range is now considered 100 ft for you, modifying the range limit on that feat and any precision-based attack you know. If you succeed in your Stealth check after a sniping attempt, you may shift your position up to 5 ft per 5 points your Stealth check exceeds 10, up to a maximum of your speed.
Hit-and-Run (Ex): You gain the benefits of the Spring Attack feat. If you already possess (or later obtain) that feat, you instead gain the ability to take any standard action between your movement. Thus, you could move up, use a standard action strike maneuver, then retreat away, for example.

Lethal Cut (Ex): At level 13, a Shadow Renegade can add her Intelligence bonus to attack and damage whenever she make an Ambush attack. This bonus to damage stacks with that from Insightful Strikes if doing a Shadow Hand strike maneuver.

Nondetection (Su): Beginning at level 16, the Shadow Renegade is constantly under the Nondetection effect, as the spell. This can be suppressed or resumed at will as a free action. The Shadow Renegade's caster level is equal to her Shadow Renegade level, and since she is considered to have "cast" it on herself, caster level check DC to pierce it is DC 15 + her Shadow Renegade level.

Silencing Strike (Su): Beginning at level 19, anyone hit by the Shadow Renegade's Ambush must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 Shadow Renegade level + Int mod) or become Silenced for the next 1d4 rounds.

Stealth Dash (Su): At level 20, whenever the Shadow Renegade initiates her speed burst, she gain partial concealment (20%) for one round, and if she gain partial concealment from another source (Child of Shadow stance, fog, etc...), it stacks with this to give full concealment (50%) while both are active. If she moves after initiating the speed burst, she may make a free Stealth check at the end of the movement, as part of the move action, provided she is in an area you could normally hide in. Finally, three times per day, a Shadow Renegade may use stealth dash to also grant her an effect similar to Mislead (caster level = Shadow Renegade level). The greater invisibility and the major image both last for one round, instead of the normal duration. This is initiated as a free action as part of stealth dash. It is considered a 9th level spell-like ability.

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Changes
1.0 - Designed

[Xehara]

Copy and pasted from Skype:


Tia was a child of the streets, with a dead beat for a father who would either insist that she con people for their spare coin or that she offer alternative methods to their bill collectors as a means of payment. When the debt became too large, he attempted to sell her into a life of slavery. Unfortunately for the slavers, Tia by then had developed a skill for lockpicking. Rather than be forced to go from one form of slavery to the next, she disappeared into the upper streets of Cauldron in search of help. For whatever reason the assumed law at the time ignored her pleas, and left her forced to find her own way in life. After seeing how both the law and the underbelly can fail her, Tia became a true neutral and looked out for herself by any means. This included becoming a hired assassin at times, a petty thief at others or even an information broker. The older she got the more secretive she became about her personal life and soon the only thing anyone ever knew about her was her call name.

A mage would find her useful for collecting rare artifacts at their base price (not knowing she had stolen them.) A member of the law would often tun to her for secrets of the underbelly (not knowing the secrets she offered were witnessed first hand and served to ride herself of unneeded competition.) She was whatever her client needed, whoever that client might be. Being that she had a soft spot for children, it wouldn't be unheard of that she would give extra assistance to a group serving to recover lost orphans.

This time, though, that willingness is just a cover to hide her true goal, one she seems adamant about achieving.


Skillset:
Expert at Daggers or Short swords (haven't decided which yet. Whichever it ends up being, she'll have a special weapon to represent the skill and that she treasures.)
Exceptional: Dagger/Short Sword (whichever isn't expert), Melee
Average: Bows (She can shoot them but with no excess skill.)

At this stage in her adult life, she has been poison training for some time and has acquired a resistance to it. It would be something I would need to RP out at the beginning of the day via forums or in the game itself, as it is something she must keep up with.

She is a toned person, but her ability to take a hard hit is minimal, leaving her relying on her dodge ability to circumvent any damage.
She also has trouble sleeping so early in the morning she is a bit sluggish and slow to get started.

After such a long track records of successful assassinations, she has developed an infamy among the underbelly, and a sparing few nobles. Though they only know a physical description they have narrowed down the possibilities to a few call names. It is imperative to Tia that she never admit to being an assassin as it is just one more clue to lead others to her in order to collect the bounty on her head.


Jason: I was thinking she could have provided him information in the past that would lead him to assume she's on a righteous path.

Connor: I was thinking she could have acquired some rare artifacts or tomes for him in the past at low prices.


Either they've all ventured before, or Tia asked them to assist her in finding "lost orphans."

While there are indeed lost orphans this is not her true goal.

Oh, another downside to her street life - she struggles to read.
So anything she acquired for your mage Connor, would be things he wrote down that she could compare to the original titles. In cases where his writing was bad he may have ended up with a "bonus" book for being such a good customer... Though both titles would be similar with slight differences.

As for Jason, if he required documentation he might too end up with a bit more than he needed - unintentionally leading him towards a second criminal she may or may not have been aligned with.

[Xehara]

nadrojwobrek.deviantart.com/art/Icewind-Dale-Tribute-371336606

[Aeter]

Maneuvers: (Can be used 1/day each)

Level 1
Clinging Shadow Strike
Shadow Blade Technique
Counter Charge

Level 2
Cloak of Deception
Rabid Wolf Strike

Stances:
Child of Shadow
Island of Blades

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STANCES

Child of Shadow
Level 1 Shadow Hand (Stance)
Initiation: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

As you move, shadows flutter and swarm around you. Even under the bright desert sun, you are difficult to spot as long as you remain in motion.

You learn to channel and control dark, shadowy energies. This energy flows around you like a concealing robe, hiding you from your opponents as they attempt to strike you. If you move at least 10 feet during your turn, you gain concealment against all melee and ranged attacks until the start of your next turn. You also gain the standard benefits of concealment, but you cannot use this stance to hide in plain sight; you must still use some terrain feature that normally allows you to use the Hide skill. The fluttering shadows make it difficult to specifically target you, but your enemies are aware of your position. This maneuver is a supernatural ability.

Island of Blades
Level 1 Shadow Hand (Stance)
Initiation: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

You cloak yourself in a swirling nimbus of dark energy. These shadows spin and flow around you, preventing any creature near you from being able to anticipate your attacks.

You turn your enemies' strengths against them, improving your combat ability as well as that of an ally. When you and a comrade move to attack an opponent, you time your attacks and position yourself to frustrate your opponent's defenses. If both you and an ally are adjacent to the same creature, the two of you gain the benefit for flanking that opponent. You can gain this benefit against multiple opponents at the same time, as can your allies. If both you and an ally are adjacent to the same two creatures, the two of you gain the benefit of flanking against both creatures.

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MANEUVERS

Clinging Shadow Strike
Level 1 Shadow Hand (Strike)
Initiation: 1 standard action
Range: Melee Attack
Target: One Creature
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial

Your weapon transforms into solid darkness. When it strikes home, it discharges in a swirling orb of shadow that engulfs your foe's eyes.

As part of this maneuver, you make a single melee attack. If it hits, you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage, and your opponent must make a successful Fortitude save (DC 11 + your Int modifier) or suffer a 20% miss chance on all melee and ranged attacks for 1 round. A successful save negates the miss chance, but not the extra damage. This maneuver is a supernatural ability.

Shadow Blade Technique
Level 1 Shadow Hand (Strike)
Initiation: 1 standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature

You weave your weapon in an elaborate pattern, creating an illusory double that glows with white energy. As you make your attack, both your true weapon and the illusion slash at your foe.

This maneuver allows you to create a mystical double of your weapon. As you attack, your foe must decide which weapon to defend against. In most cases, the illusory weapon distracts your foe and allows your true attack to hit. In some cases, both attacks strike home. In this case, the shadow blade discharges its magic and imbues your attack with cold energy.

As part of this maneuver, you make a single melee attack against an opponent. Unlike a normal attack, you roll 2d20 and select which of the two die results to use. If you use the higher die result, resolve your attack as normal . (Your mystic double misses, but your true attack might hit.) If you use the lower die result, or if both die results are the same, your attack deals an extra 1d6 points of cold damage as both he mystic double's attack and your true weapon strike home. This maneuver is a supernatural ability.

Counter Charge
Level 1 Setting Sun (Counter)
Initiation: 1 immediate action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature

With a quick sidestep, you send a charging opponent sprawling.

With this counter, you can attempt to redirect a creature that intends to make a charge attack against you. Immediately before the creature makes its charge attack, make your choice of an opposed Strength or Dexterity check against it. The target makes its check using the same ability you chose for your check. If you are a larger size category than the attacking creature, you grant a +4 to Strength on this check. If you are smaller, you gain a +4 to Dexterity for the check. If you succeed on the check, the creature does not get to attack you. You can then move it up to 2 squares in a direction of your choice away from you. If you fail, the creature gains an additional +2 bonus on its charge check.

Cloak of Deception
Level 2 Shadow Hand (Boost)
Initiation: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn

The shadows around you seem to surge forward and engulf you. For a brief moment, they render you invisible.

When you initiate this maneuver, you turn invisible as the greater invisibility spell. You remain invisible until the end of your turn. This maneuver is a supernatural action.

Rabid Wolf Strike
Level 2 Tiger Claw (Strike)
Initiation: 1 standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature

You scream in rage as you make a powerful attack against your enemy, setting aside all thoughts of defense as you lunge forward.

For a split second, you unleash the barely controlled, primal rage that surges within you. As part of this maneuver, you make a single melee attack. You gain a +4 bonus on this attack roll and deal an extra 2d6 points of damage. You take a -4 penalty to AC until the start of your next turn as this wild strike sends you off balance and hinders your defenses.