|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
After trying to separate all the things i'd like to give the rogue into multiple class features (here and here), I am bringing back the Execution Pool, as a single class feature to broaden the use of the rogue's sneak attack and deepen her skill specialization. maybe less is more?
:
At 1st level, a rogue gains a pool of execution points, a measure of extraordinary luck and sheer cunning she can use to perform feats of deadly prowess. The number of points in a rogue's execution pool is equal to 1/2 her rogue level + her Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). Choose one skill she has trained upon first gaining this ability. So long as the rogue retains at least 1 point in her execution pool, she may roll twice when making a skill check with that skill, taking the better result. The rogue may choose another execution skill every four additional rogue levels (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th).
In addition, a rogue can spend 1 point from her execution pool before she rolls to confirm a critical hit. If the confirmation roll succeeds, she may apply her sneak attack dice to the damage roll, even if her foe retains his dexterity bonus to AC, is not currently flanked by the rogue, or has concealment relative to her, so long as he is within 30 feet of her. Sneak Attack damage may not be applied more than once to a single critical hit, as normal. This ability is activated as a swift action.
The execution pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or relaxation (playing cards, shooting dice, counting silver, etc); these hours do not need to be consecutive.
...
do folks prefer the compounded version of these mechanics, or should i keep them separate?
Execution Rogue
()
01: Sneak Attack, Trapfinding, Execution Pool
02: Rogue Talents, Evasion
03: Trap Sense
04: Rogue Talent, Uncanny Dodge
05: 2nd Execution Skill
06: Rogue Talent
07:
08: Rogue Talent, Improved Uncanny Dodge
09: 3rd Execution Skill
10: Advanced Talents, Rogue Talent
11:
12: Rogue Talent
13: 4th Execution Skill
14: Rogue Talent
15:
16: Rogue Talent
17: 5th Execution Skill
18: Rogue Talent
19:
20: Rogue Talent, Master Strike
|
|
next iteration:
bumping to 3rd level, so a 1-or-2-level dip doesn't give away all of the rogue's goodies, plus the progression afterwards stays nice and odd. also, tying the re-roll to active (rather than passive "so long as you retain 1 point...") expenditure, and folding in free Skill Mastery at 10th. finally, i believe that both the rogue and the monk ought to get nice 'maneuver options' starting at 3rd level. this folds in that concept as well.
(Ex) :
At 3rd level, a rogue gains an execution pool with a number of points in it equal to her Intelligence bonus (if any) plus half her rogue level (rounded down). This pool represents the rogue's cunning and prowess in the skilled execution of various tasks as well as the uncanny knack to exploit openings in her foes' defenses.
When first gaining this ability, the rogue selects one skill she is trained in to be her first 'execution skill.' The rogue may expend 1 point from her pool to roll twice when making a skill check with her execution skill, taking the better result. This is a free action. She may choose another skill to be an execution skill every two rogue levels thereafter (at 5th, 7th, 9th, etc). When the rogue reaches 10th level, she may always opt to take 10 with her execution skills instead of rolling, even under adverse conditions - doing so does not require the expenditure of points.
When the rogue rolls a critical threat, she may immediately expend 1 execution point. If her confirmation roll succeeds, she may add her sneak attack dice to the damage roll, if she hasn't already, even if her foe has concealment relative to her. This causes the critical hit to count as a sneak attack (such as for the purpose of applying strike talents). Activating this ability may be done once per round as a swift or immediate action.
Finally, so long as the rogue retains at least 1 point in her execution pool, she may perform deadly maneuvers. Whenever she hits her foe with a combat maneuver, she may inflict damage equal to half her sneak attack dice (rounded down) plus her Intelligence bonus (if any) as an additional effect. This damage may be lethal or subdual, at the rogue's option, but it does not count as a regular sneak attack, and is not considered precision damage.
The execution pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or relaxation (playing cards, shooting dice, counting silver, etc); these hours do not need to be consecutive.
...
why doesn't the pool help saving throws or AC? why doesn't the pool provide a bonus to hit? because i am sticking with the design vector that a rogue's best defense is her offense (or her misdirection). thus the pool offers other venues to apply sneak attack damage and gain advantageous positioning (via skill use), because advantageous positioning indirectly functions like a 'bonus to hit.' and besides, it seems too 'magicky' to just grant bonuses - how uninspired, no? let the rogue do it her way.
Executionist Rogue
01: Sneak Attack, Trapfinding
02: Rogue Talents, Evasion
03: Execution Pool, Trap Sense
04: Rogue Talent, Uncanny Dodge
05: Execution Skill
06: Rogue Talent
07: Execution Skill
08: Rogue Talent, Improved Uncanny Dodge
09: Execution Skill
10: Advanced Talents, Rogue Talent
11: Execution Skill
12: Rogue Talent
13: Execution Skill
14: Rogue Talent
15: Execution Skill
16: Rogue Talent
17: Execution Skill
18: Rogue Talent
19: Execution Skill
20: Rogue Talent, Master Strike
...
thoughts?
Great. Though I feel this could be a set of rogue talents instead of class feature, so not to upset the rogue "balance". To get the fullness of it all, spending 3 talents is a good idea, and it also becomes modular.
Originally getting only the re-rollment of skills, than picking any of the 2 following, with the original "Execution Pool" being the prerequisite. It's a good addition, since many pre-advanced talents are pretty meh.
Also, this opens the field to make a few advanced talents, that depend on this pool. Like integrating some assassin abilities or imitating simple spell-like effects.
|
|
Keydan,
thanks for the feedback. essentially, the inspiration is the Ki Pool of the Ninja class in the Ultimate Combat book. i feel like comparisons to this class in terms of 'balance' are fair. being able to Vanish and gain an extra attack are pretty powerful offensively, not to mention many of the Ninja Tricks being pretty damn cool.
first, i think the Rogue Talents that let you re-roll one skill a couple of times per day are pretty lackluster compared to some of the other cooler Rogue Talents (like Slow Reactions, Fast Stealth, Bleeding Attack, etc), though, i liked the concept, and also think that if it were fully incorporated automatically as part of the Rogue class (not merely available as bonus feats/etc), that this would cement the Rogue's place as the go-to class for skills (a spot he currently competes for with other classes like Ranger and Bard, to name two). i think it's very thematic to give the Rogue control over the dice (ie 'luck') in this fashion.
second, i wanted to place Sneak Attack front-and-center of the class. aside from some of the synergy with using re-roll-able skill checks to position herself (ex. Stealth from hiding, Acrobatics into flanking), the 'roulette-crit' ability attempts to bridge the thematic gap between 'precision damage' and a 'critical hit' by proposing limited interaction in the form of 'summing' vs 'multiplying.' the second constraint is the preposition "...if she hasn't already..." makes it clear that Sneak Attack dice may only be added once to a given attack. i don't want Sneak Attack to become a 'nova' ability; i just wanted to broaden the circumstances in which it comes into play. also, i think the consequential interplay of Strike Talents (* Rogue Talents which modify a Sneak Attack) expands the Rogue's limited battlefield control options.
third, speaking of battlefield control options, as the Rogue is a delicate class (3/4 BAB d8 single-save no-spells), i wanted to increase the viability of her being able to make use of combat maneuvers. so, a central mechanical theme of risk regarding the Rogue, instead of increasing the probability, i increased the payout - that is, instead of providing a bonus 'to hit', i provide an increased effect if she does hit. note that this is 1d6/2d6/3d6/4d6/5d6 damage at 3rd/7th/11th/15th/19th - neither game-changing nor altogether-negligible, especially considering that the damage comes with a 'rider' (a secondary effect - or a primary effect, as it were).
finally, from an aesthetics perspective, Sneak Attack and Trap Sense are single abilities that continue to stay relevant. they needn't be written on the Rogue's class table more than once. in fact, removing the iterations left the table feeling kind of empty. thus my proposal 'fills in' the empty space with meaningful choices.
cheers.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
did some more tweaking. wanted skill mastery (taking 10) to kick in earlier. also reversed the cause-effect relationship between sneak attack and combat maneuvers: the former now triggers the latter. rather than vice-versa (from version two, above). feels like a smoother pool mechanic now. changes in . enjoy.
(version 3):
At 3rd level, a rogue gains an 'execution pool' with a number of points in it equal to her Intelligence bonus (if any) plus half her rogue level (rounded down). This pool represents the rogue's cunning and prowess in the skilled execution of various tasks as well as the uncanny knack to exploit openings in her foes' defenses.
When first gaining this pool, the rogue selects one skill she is trained in to be her first 'execution skill.' . Doing so is a free action. The rogue may choose another trained skill to be an execution skill every odd rogue level after 3rd level (at 5th, 7th, 9th, etc).
In addition, when the rogue rolls a critical threat, she may immediately expend one execution point. If her confirmation roll succeeds, she may add her sneak attack dice to the damage roll, if she hasn't already. This causes the 'crit' to count as a sneak attack - such as for the purpose of applying strike talents. Activating this ability may be done once per round as a swift or immediate action.
Finally, . The rogue does not provoke an attack of opportunity when using this ability, nor does it preclude her from utilizing any strike talents she may possess.
The execution pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or relaxation (playing cards, shooting dice, counting silver, etc); these hours do not need to be consecutive.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
You asked for my opinion on this. Mmm. The problem is that I am grossly biased against 'point pools'. I don't care if they are called performance rounds, rage rounds, grit points, panache, ki points, arcana, or whatever. They are all the same thing...trying to call a magical effect by another name to make it seem non-magical.
I understand the simple appeal behind them. It gives the player something to do at a pivotal moment, and treat them to a unique suite of buffs that other classes can't cut in on without having that particular pool. The barb and bard classes in particular have fully embraced pools of points to stand above most other classes of similar ability. In the barb's case, it's 'justification' for getting the best combat feats in the game...Rage Powers. For Bards, loads and loads of buffing without ever having to cast a spell that just gets stronger with level. So not only do you get more of the points, but each point becomes worth more as you level!
Ergo, I hate points.
So, to be fair, I'm not a good judge of what you have up there. But, here's what I'm comparing to:
There's little difference between being able to take 10 on a skill all the time and being able to take 10 on a skill whenever you want to. The former is a 10th level Talent for a number of skills equal to your Int bonus, and includes skills you cannot take 10 on. Your version includes a number equal to your execution bonus, and starts at 3rd. Yours starts sooner, encompasses the same language, and ends up more. Ergo, it's stronger.
You'd be just as well off just rewriting Skill Mastery to be useful at level 3, and simply doing away with the points.
Changing Skill Mastery to either take 10 or roll twice and take the best is much the same thing.
Adding Sneak Attack dice to a crit was actually a feat in 3.5. It's not broken. Just let the rogue DO it, as a Talent. Then do need the damage edge.
And allowing the character to just sack a die or two of SA damage to do Combat Manuvers in general, instead of a specific combat maneuver, isn't broken, either.
You don't need the pool. Get around it. Look past needing something to spend and simply give the class excellent stuff that other classes cannot get.
Better yet, make the 'improved' versions of those talents require NO magic or power point pools of what have you, instead available only to those Rogues who remain completely mundane. Then not having magic becomes a qualifier for something exceptional, not a burden and a penalty.
--Aelryinth
I think you should be able to spend piints to add uses to x/day talents.
Meh. Just increase the number of uses/day via some other mechanic, like more SA dice.
I use 'Cunning' as the basis for the Rogue.
Level 1: 'Cunning': The Rogue gains several benefits from his natural cunning, raw talent, and cleverness.
at level 1, and every odd level thereafter, he gets a +1 Cunning bonus. This bonus is added to the damage of any attack made by a finessable or missile weapon used by the Rogue. This is treated as precision damage and subject to the restrictions of Sneak Attack dice for targets and crit multiplying, etc.
If the attack would qualify as a sneak attack, the Cunning Bonus as damage instead becomes Sneak Attack dice.
The Rogue gains an additional skill point per level with every increase in his Cunning. He also gains an additional Skill Known of his choice.
Talent x/day: You may use Talent x a number of times a day equal to your Cunning bonus (divided by ? as appropriate).
Keep in mind that I believe a Rogue with magical abilities should be very different then a Rogue without magical abilities. Given how magic trumps mundane, a magical Rogue should be much less skill focused as he constantly would be trying to use magic to short cut his training process to best effect, i.e. why get Weapon Focus when he can cast True Strike 3 t/day and have it work with anything instead of one weapon?
==Aelryinth
|
|
Aelrynth,
thanks for your substantive feedback! you make a strong case for doing away with a finite resource (excluding HP of course) for the mundane (i prefer the word 'extraordinary') rogue.
i really like your Cunning mechanic. that is quite clever! another poster around here proposed an alternate fighter with an Expertise mechanic that was similar - giving a scaling bonus and tying class features to it like Weapon and Armory Mastery, etc. (which gives me an idea, actually). did you check that out?
however, you haven't managed to entirely do away with finite resources - merely shifted them from a 'pool' to various X/day rogue talents. in fact, a Cunning rogue who takes multiple X/day abilities now has to track multiple 'pools' in a sense. and sure, this is a problem with Talents as written. but still. shoot, if you are still in a feedbacky mood, you might like to see how I have completely done away with finite resources (read: X/day) in my rewrite of Basic and Advanced Rogue Talents. i should recompe that list soon actually.
from a mathematical standpoint, i disagree with your analysis about taking 10 and rolling twice being 'much the same thing' though. taking 10 is best used against low-moderate DCs or when the penalty for failure is high, and rolling twice is best used against moderate-high DCs or when the penalty for failure is low. this is a minor quibble, sure, but i think significant enough to be cautious about handing out a mechanic designed to grapple higher DC over lower DCs, which rolling twice is excellently suited for.
last, as far as adding SA dice to a crit and a maneuver to to a SA, i think that the rogue ought to be able to do these without burning a feat or talent. but, a limited number of times per day. is there a way we could impose some sort of built-in restriction to this without resorting to a finite resource? action economy? star alignment? 1/day/foe? skill nesting?...
cheers.
That 'other person' was actually me. I try very hard to stay away from stat-based buffs. Those are the ones most susceptible to abuse. I like to use class benefits and feats as stand ins.
The Fighter class has these traits he can use for scaling effects.
Armor Training: A scaling bonus for movement, endurance, and agility, scaling to +4 (should be +5, really). Should also include DR.
Weapon Training: Should also scale to +5. Strength and Dexterity.
Bravery: Representing mental discipline, training, and determination. Cha/Wis, scales to +5.
Expertise: This Powerful feat gives you an Int-based modifier that scales to +6. Anything to deal with refined INtelligence or pure mastery of martial skill can tie to Expertise. It should synergize well with MANY feats!
Toughness: This Feat Scales at 1 pt/level.
-----
And from these five things you can add improvements to basically every other feat the Fighter has through synergy bonuses.
Here's an example of how I use the system:
Weapon Finesse
Normal: You use a difficult style of melee combat where you strike at precise and calculated points of attack instead of exploiting general openings. This weapon style is restricted to light and some other weapons, and uses your Dex TH instead of your Str score.
Fighter: if your Fighter has Expertise, he adds his Expertise modifier to his damage when fighting finesse style as Precision damage. The Fighter may choose Weapon Finesse as his Default damage style at Character level 1. If so, he does not gain the 2h bonus on Power Attack, nor do 1.5 dmg with 2H weapon. He may regain these benefits by acquiring Weapon Finesse as an actual feat at a later level.
---This stops Dex to damage cold in its tracks...keeping Str the go to score for damage. However, it rises to +6...the equivalent of +12 to stats. It's actually better for the Rogue who bothers to advance their Str score in the long run.
---
From a gamer standpoint, there's little difference between taking 10 and rolling 2 dice, because both have no downsides. One represents automatic success, and the other greatly increased chance of success if the first doesn't work.
Giving the SA dice to a critical isn't broken, because actually being able to do SA damage is the hugest weakness of the Rogue class. Likewise, a free attempt at a maneuver doesn't weaken anything, because as you go up in level maneuvers become harder and harder to pull off, so the odds of doing so are actually less.
The best control factor for the latter is costing them SA dice. Giving up 2 SA dice for the free maneuver check lets the Rogue make the choice on what to do. Basically, the 'free maneuvers' will control themselves with their inability to be executed. Remember, the Rogue isn't full BAB, and doesn't have great combat bonuses. Without major investment, what it means is occasionally he'll be able to pull off a cool trick on the enemy.
And yes, Rogue Talents need a rewrite the same way Feats do for Fighters.
==Aelryinth
Oh, and there's a difference between x/day effects and 'pools'. The latter are much more abusable, between ways to get multiple things done with one point, and the scaling of the points.
Take the paladin, for example. X smites a day. She has to pick the foes she wants to use the smites on, and manage them carefully. That's a Good Thing.
Rage rounds, however, are pay as you go, can be used many times, few times, Nova'd, restored back to you. They are a power source, more then a finite item.
Now, using a mundane skill 3 t/day? Bleh. No reason for the limit without great justification. Magical stuff, sure. But not mundane.
==Aelryinth
|
|
Aelryinth,
i guess i'm confused about the abuse point with pools. is it the double-dip factor? that, say a multi-class wizard-rogue both casts and pools off of INT? what do you mean by getting multiple things done with one point? and just what is wrong with the scaling? so far, you haven't been able to show that x/day abilities are really any different than pool abilities.
also, are you saying that if a rogue got SA dice every time she crits that you would have no problem with that?
to date, i'm pretty happy with the skill mastery aspect of the pool, as well as the crit-roulette (i feel that since the pool is finite, a keener weapon is not leagues ahead of a less keen weapon, just lets you potentially burn through points faster). i'm not too sold on the free maneuver bit. i think that maneuvers may be more workable in via a different mechanic (maybe just as strike talents?).
a large part of my project here is to free up space for the selection of talents. talents that shore up a glaring weakness rather than customize a concept are a problem. each talent selection should be meaningful.
finally, i have toyed around with the idea that a rogue needs a way to boost her speed. 1 point for +10 for 1 minute? that's an entire combat or chase scene. thematic, no? (and, at 3rd level, so as not to eclipse the monk nor barbarian nor fighter, which i think is fair).
<as with ninja ki pool, i think 1 'passive' and 3 'active' pool abilities are just right>
Correct, I have no problem with a rogue getting SA dice when he crits.
Rogues have no bonus to Hit with weapons as a class, and are 3/4 BAB. Compared to bards, inquis, clerics, and druids, who can all use class abilities to up their To Hit, Rogues CANNOT.
They can, um, feint.
Therefore, SA on crits is going to be considerably less powerful on rogues then it would be for any other class, simply because they can't hit so much. Feed them the bone.
=========
A pool of points is like saying "I have X special abilities, and I can use them anywhere for 1 to Y times a day." Thus, each point of the pool as X different uses, and each ability can be potentially Y times a day, if useful.
A x/day power is usable x/day, regardless if you need it more or less. You can't transfer uses to other x/day powers. YOu get what you get.
Thus pools are a) more powerful, because you can use the best power to apply to this encounter(s) up to Y times and b) more flexible, because you can put all your power where it's best used, and don't have to worry about powers that aren't useful this instance.
It's a control factor and power limiter to have x/day powers. Players are more limited in what they can do and must take it into account with their plans.
===Aelryinth
The pool of power points is not a fixed number. It will keep increasing. Logically, you can't raise costs to a point where a 3/day ability from one class would drain the total Points of a pool class if used 3 times, assuming that both classes had other /day abilities...that wouldn't be logically consistent.
You can make the total number of PP less then the total effect of x/day abilities...but that's meaningless, in the long run, because PP get used on what works, and x/day abilities that don't work are just wasted.
In other words, you'd have to be massively restrictive of the PP, costs associated, and the like to get such a thing to balance against x/day abilities.
===Aelryinth
|
|
let me know if i'm understanding your argument right. basically, you think pools are (structurally) biased towards better abilities? and more to the point: that this is bad/unfair/unbalanced?
(i will write more when i understand your position better)
i also wanted to add to the discussion where you think adding Sneak Attack to the rogue's every critical hit is fair play. have you considered, instead of allowing SA to all crits, letting SA that are legitimate crits multiply? i suspect, if you measure damage output over time, that the second scenario would be lower than the first actually - more spikey and less consistent.
lastly, as i'd like to bring the topic back to the thread, what do you think of the rogue getting an extraordinary ability to increase his speed by +10 in bursts of 1 minute at a time? (whither pool or x/day...)
Pools are biased towards whatever the best ability of the moment is. It's like having spontaneous vs prepared casting, except the prepared caster always has the same spells as you. If the sorc knows the same five spells as the wizard, he has a definite casting advantage over the wizard, simply because he can choose any combination of the 5 spells for his casts/day.
That's what pools are vs x/day.
SA/Crits: The key viewpoint is allowing the rogue to SA...it's his class ability and damage. If he can't SA something, it doesn't matter if he crits it...his extra damage still isn't going to come into play.
You want him able to get his SA damage, not to do more damage when he does get an SA. Those are two different things.
And yes, allowing SA dice to multiply on crits could get some extremely swingy damage. It's going to be easier for the rogue to crit and get SA then to get SA and get lucky enough to crit. You want more consistent damage, not spike damage.
As for movement, I'd make a Fleet Talent that gives him +5 Movement, +5 for every 3 SA dice he has while in light or no armor. Eventually he gets to a +20 move bonus and can finally outrun a barbarian.
If he wants burst movement, he should take minor magical talent and Expeditious Retreat, which does what you want, but +30 move instead of +10.
===Aelryinth
|
|
hopefully to end the 'why pool' debate, i see that there is simply a disagreement about pools vs x/day. because, i don't mind that the pool structurally enables the user to make choices amongst abilities that are all weighted against each other - choosing the 'best ability of the moment' as you put it. i think that is a strong point. maybe i fail to see the abuse angle.
and still, i'm not convinced that pools vs x/day are more 'magicky' than the other. if anything, i would argue that pools are less. but that is neither here nor there.
i once played basketball with a colleague of mine who, for the most part, walked very slow with a lazy gait most of the time. he was always very efficient with how he covered the court, minimizing the amount of hustle. i began to mentally write him off as kind of slow. he wasn't even very tall - certainly not long-legged. but(!), at key moments, he would have a burst of speed, either snagging a sudden rebound or snatching a quick steal, and would glide across the court with a perfect lay-up, or come straight outta nowhere and swat a supposedly unguarded jump shot. i have looked at him differently ever since. maybe he had an SLA?
(version 4):
At 3rd level, a rogue gains an 'execution pool' with a number of points in it equal to her Intelligence bonus (if any) plus half her rogue level (rounded down). This pool represents the rogue's cunning and prowess in the skilled execution of various tasks as well as the uncanny knack to exploit openings in her foes' defenses.
When first gaining this pool, the rogue selects one skill she is trained in to be her first 'execution skill.' So long as the rogue retains at least one point in her execution pool, she may always opt to take 10 on skill checks with that skill, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so. If she instead expends one execution point before performing the skill check, she may roll twice and take the better result. Doing so is a free action. The rogue may choose another trained skill to be an execution skill every odd rogue level after 3rd level (at 5th, 7th, 9th, etc).
In addition, when the rogue rolls a critical threat, she may immediately expend one execution point. If her confirmation roll succeeds, she may add her sneak attack dice to the damage roll, if she hasn't already. This causes the 'crit' to count as a sneak attack - such as for the purpose of applying strike talents. Activating this ability is an immediate action.
The execution pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or relaxation (playing cards, shooting dice, counting silver, etc); these hours do not need to be consecutive.
changes in . cheers.
I haven't followed the entire thread, as I started to get lost a while back. I'm surious why you decided to roll a low-level version of skill mastery into an ability with a crit/SA ability, that also has an option to increase speed?
It is like the Ki pool, as it combines a few abilities, but I guess the name is throwing me off. Execution doesn't sum up the abilities, in my mind at let. I understand that the word has more than one meaning, but its the killing meaning that sticks out to me, due to the crit/SA aspect.
Maybe your colleague was watching, and waiting for the opportune moment? Like Tyrone is the film Snatch.
|
|
lightning strike me, but i'm kind of ok with the rogue having low 'defenses' in the classic sense. the way i read the class, skills are her first line of 'defense' (8 per level), and offense is her second line of 'defense' (Sneak Attack).
that said, i think that any rogue 'fixes' ought to build upon those strengths. which is how i designed the Execution Pool to work. the first two abilities are obvious (the 'skill mastery' and the 'crit roulette'), the last ability, +10 to move for 1 minute (1 minute = 1 combat/chase/scene), interacts with the following skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Stealth, and Swim, not to mention sprinting or running in general. so, when it comes to moving faster, while the rogue doesn't have the staying power of the Barbarian or Monk, she can get a quick leg up on the other classes using this ability.
think of it as the extraordinary version of the Ninja's Ki Pool (which also has an offensive, skill, and speed boost).