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There's a lot of talk about why rogues aren't as good as other classes. For me, rogues aren't as good for one reason-- I can never find a rogue talent that I actually want to take. They're all too narrow or only good in a certain type of campaign. The ones that grant feats are nice, but there's only three or so of them and maybe I don't want Weapon Focus.
So, I decided to try and make up some new ones. Here's what I've got so far.
You gain proficiency with whips, nets, and spiked chains. You must have the Weapon Finesse feat to select this rogue talent.
You can throw a bag of caltrops in such a way that it spills its contents on impact, covering the ground and your target alike. Treat this as an attack with a thrown splash weapon with which you are proficient. When thrown in this way, the caltrops deal 2d4 piercing damage to your target and 1d4 piercing damage to each adjacent creature. In addition, the caltrops are spread on the ground in the target's square and all adjacent squares, and catch in the target's clothes and hair, dealing an additional 1d4 damage if that creature takes more than a single move action on its turn. This damage forces the target to make concentration checks to cast spells (DC 15+spell level). The target can spend a move action to shake the caltrops off of itself, but provokes AoO's and takes 1d4 damage in doing so.
Whenever you deal sneak attack damage, you deal an additional 1d6 of sneak attack damage. You may select this talent multiple times. Its effects stack.
Enemies are considered flat-footed against your attacks of opportunity.
Prone enemies are considered flat-footed against your melee attacks, as long as you are not also prone. If an enemy provokes an attack of opportunity from you by standing up from prone, you do not deal sneak attack damage on that attack unless you also have the Exploit Lapse rogue talent, or you are able to deal sneak attack damage for another reason (such as flanking the enemy who stood up).
Entangled enemies are considered flat-footed against your attacks, as long as you are not also entangled.
You gain a familiar, as the wizard class feature, using your rogue level as your effective wizard level. If you already have the familiar class feature from another class, your rogue levels now stack with levels of that class to determine your familiar's abilities. If you do not have the familiar ability from another class, then you must choose a Tiny or smaller animal as your familiar, and your familiar does not gain the share spells or deliver touch spells abilities.
Instead, you gain a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to conceal your familiar on your person. In addition, your familiar can make Disable Device, Escape Artist, or Sleight of Hand checks for you, using your Handle Animal check in place of the relevant check. You must be able to see both your familiar and the item(s) it is manipulating in order to make a check in this manner.
You must have at least one rank in Handle Animal to select this rogue talent.
And here are two advanced rogue talents, to continue the themes.
Whenever you hit a creature with your Shower of Caltrops ability, that creature is flat-footed until it removes the caltrops from its body. You must have the Shower of Caltrops rogue talent before selecting this rogue talent.
You gain Improved Familiar as a bonus feat. You are no longer restricted to Tiny or smaller animals as familiars.
In addition, your familiar now deals 1d6 of sneak attack damage with its natural attacks. Note that a creature must be at least Small size in order to threaten adjacent squares and therefore flank a creature, but a Tiny or smaller creature concealed on your person can attack (and has concealment from) any creature that you are grappling with.
If I think of any more, I'll post them here. If you have any good ideas, feel free to post them here! Feedback is always welcome!
I like them, I'll try and implement some of them for the next game. I really like Animal Accomplice.
I like your Improved Animal Accomplice.
I rewrote the rogue and all rogue talents Here, if you are interested.
There already is an advanced talent that gives you a familiar, which is significantly worse than the one you have created here. Was it your intention to create a powered-up version?
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There already is an advanced talent that gives you a familiar, which is significantly worse than the one you have created here. Was it your intention to create a powered-up version?
No, actually I was unaware of the Familiar talent. That talent requires major magic and doesn't lose the deliver touch spells ability, which suggests it's for a more magically-inclined rogue.
My version was an attempt to recreate the moment we've all seen in movies and TV when Our Heroes are locked up and the comic relief's pet mouse pokes its head out of someone's pocket to retrieve a key or chew through some ropes. Mechanically it'd be more attractive to a skill-user rogue, as it rolls 4 skills into one (and most familiars grant their master a bonus to a skill).
Is my version too much of a power upgrade? Does it clash with the printed version?