1Mac
First Post
I looked at Stream of the Sky's evaluations of rogue talents and came up with some intuitive and utterly untested suggestions for improving them. I relied on the PfSRD, and since they don't have the Ultimate Combat talents up yet, I couldn't consider them. Otherwise, if I didn't mention a talent, it's because I agreed with SotS's assessment, and if they were * or **, I thought they were helpless.
In a few cases, I make the case for keeping a talent as is, with a revised ranking. There weren't too many of those.
[sblock]Assault Leader: Unlimited use, grants Attack of Opportunity as an immediate action, instead of an attack.
Befuddling Strike: Penalty increases to -4 at 10th level.
Camouflage: Unlimited use. Instead of a bonus, Rogue may roll a Disguise check along with a Stealth check and use whichever is higher. Effect can't be destroyed. One ally for every three Rogue levels may benefit from this talent, using the better of the allies Stealth check or the Rogue's Disguise check.
Canny Observer: Instead of a bonus, roll twice and take the better result.
Charmer: Unlimited use.
Distracting Attack: Sacrifice 2 Sneak Attack dice per ally for whom the target is flat-footed.
Expert Leaper: Combine with the effects of Ledge Walker.
Fast Fingers: Unlimited use.
Hard to Fool: Unlimited use.
Honeyed Words: Unlimited use.
Ledge Walker: Combine with the effects of Expert Leaper.
Nimble Climber: May reroll with a +5 bonus. Also, may move up to half your speed while Climbing.
Offensive Defense: No change. This has apparently been errata'd so that the Rogue gains an AC bonus from Sneak Attack dice without "sacrificing" them, as discussed above.****
Peerless Maneuver: Unlimited use.
Positioning Attack: After hitting, may move 10 feet as an immediate action without provoking an Attack of Opportunity. Unlimited use.
Powerful Sneak: Bump to treating 1's and 2's as 3's. Does not require a full attack.
Quick Disable: Reduce the difficulty of disabling a device by one quality for the purposes of time.
Snap Shot: If there is no surprise round, the rogue gains the initiative bonus for the first attack of the combat.
Sniper's Eye: Instead of stated benefit, gain Sneak Attack on ranged attacks with 60 feet.
Advanced
Another Day: Either make it unlimited use, or get rid of the staggered condition.
Crippling Strike: Unchanged. It's as much about keeping your opponent from hurting you as it is about hurting him.***
Deadly Sneak: Made redundant by improved Powerful Sneak, described above.
Defensive Roll: May be used to mitigate damage from any attack or (HP) damage-dealing spell or ability. Mitigates all damage on a successful save, half damage on a failure. Still once/day.
Fast Tumble: Unchanged. I think Pathfinder tumble is easier than you let on. It seems harder to tumble past one or two foes, but easier to tumble past many more foes.***
Knock Out Blow: Unlimited use.
Master of Disguise: Roll twice on Disguise checks, instead of gaining bonus. Unlimited use. Probably shouldn't be an Advanced talent.
Redirect Attack: Unlimited use. Make a Feint attempt as an immediate action to trigger effect (target does not become flat-footed).
Stealthy Sniper: I always thought the Sniping rules were too harsh to be fun or useful. I'd make -10 the default, with this talent reducing the penalty to -5.[/sblock]
In a few cases, I make the case for keeping a talent as is, with a revised ranking. There weren't too many of those.
[sblock]Assault Leader: Unlimited use, grants Attack of Opportunity as an immediate action, instead of an attack.
Befuddling Strike: Penalty increases to -4 at 10th level.
Camouflage: Unlimited use. Instead of a bonus, Rogue may roll a Disguise check along with a Stealth check and use whichever is higher. Effect can't be destroyed. One ally for every three Rogue levels may benefit from this talent, using the better of the allies Stealth check or the Rogue's Disguise check.
Canny Observer: Instead of a bonus, roll twice and take the better result.
Charmer: Unlimited use.
Distracting Attack: Sacrifice 2 Sneak Attack dice per ally for whom the target is flat-footed.
Expert Leaper: Combine with the effects of Ledge Walker.
Fast Fingers: Unlimited use.
Hard to Fool: Unlimited use.
Honeyed Words: Unlimited use.
Ledge Walker: Combine with the effects of Expert Leaper.
Nimble Climber: May reroll with a +5 bonus. Also, may move up to half your speed while Climbing.
Offensive Defense: No change. This has apparently been errata'd so that the Rogue gains an AC bonus from Sneak Attack dice without "sacrificing" them, as discussed above.****
Peerless Maneuver: Unlimited use.
Positioning Attack: After hitting, may move 10 feet as an immediate action without provoking an Attack of Opportunity. Unlimited use.
Powerful Sneak: Bump to treating 1's and 2's as 3's. Does not require a full attack.
Quick Disable: Reduce the difficulty of disabling a device by one quality for the purposes of time.
Snap Shot: If there is no surprise round, the rogue gains the initiative bonus for the first attack of the combat.
Sniper's Eye: Instead of stated benefit, gain Sneak Attack on ranged attacks with 60 feet.
Advanced
Another Day: Either make it unlimited use, or get rid of the staggered condition.
Crippling Strike: Unchanged. It's as much about keeping your opponent from hurting you as it is about hurting him.***
Deadly Sneak: Made redundant by improved Powerful Sneak, described above.
Defensive Roll: May be used to mitigate damage from any attack or (HP) damage-dealing spell or ability. Mitigates all damage on a successful save, half damage on a failure. Still once/day.
Fast Tumble: Unchanged. I think Pathfinder tumble is easier than you let on. It seems harder to tumble past one or two foes, but easier to tumble past many more foes.***
Knock Out Blow: Unlimited use.
Master of Disguise: Roll twice on Disguise checks, instead of gaining bonus. Unlimited use. Probably shouldn't be an Advanced talent.
Redirect Attack: Unlimited use. Make a Feint attempt as an immediate action to trigger effect (target does not become flat-footed).
Stealthy Sniper: I always thought the Sniping rules were too harsh to be fun or useful. I'd make -10 the default, with this talent reducing the penalty to -5.[/sblock]