The Rogue is the person who makes the Rim work. Not the corps -- the corps extract, exploit, and abandon. Not the Nine -- the Nine write laws that benefit the Nine. The Rogue is the bypass: the lock that gets picked, the guard that gets distracted, the data that gets copied, the price that gets negotiated down to what the crew can actually pay. Every Rim settlement has a Rogue. Most have several. The Kadiss grid cannot classify them because they refuse to hold still long enough to be classified.
Asset Realisation has no clean entry for the Rogue. A Rogue exposed on the wrong Kadiss manifest is already in danger -- and plans to be elsewhere when enforcement arrives. Free Rogues work through gaps in the grid: identities that do not resolve, rek trails that dead-end, local sensor logs with convenient holes. The corps call them "unregistered commercial operators" and treat them as a cost of doing business in the Rim.
The Rogue is the generalist the party needs when no specialist is available. Lock to pick? Rogue. Trap to disarm? Rogue. Guard to distract? Rogue. Deal to negotiate? Rogue. The Rogue is not the best at any of these things -- the Infiltrator is stealthier, the Cutpurse is faster, the Face is more persuasive. But the Rogue is good enough at all of them, and the Rogue is always there.
Operating on the Edge chassis (d6 HD, 3/4 BAB, Ref good, Fort/Will poor, 8 SP). Light armour and concealable weapons -- the Rogue's tools are discretion and surprise. Prime requisite: DEX. The Rogue survives by being fast, being quiet, and knowing when to be neither.
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Armor Allowance
Light
Bab Tier
three-quarters
Base Skill Points
8
Hd
d6
Hd Sides
6
Max Level
20
Primary Abilities
DEX
Prime Requisites
DEX
Save Tiers / Fortitude
poor
Save Tiers / Reflex
good
Save Tiers / Will
poor
Weapon Allowance
Pistol, Knife, All one-handed melee weapons, Thrown weapons
Notes
Archetype Niche: The Rogue is the party's generalist problem-solver. Sneak Attack provides scaling precision damage that rewards tactical positioning and stealth. Trapfinding makes the Rogue essential for crawl and derelict exploration -- no other class can find and disarm complex traps. Rogue Talents provide customization: the Rogue can build toward combat (Combat Trick, Finesse Training, Opportunist), stealth (Fast Stealth, Skill Mastery), or defense (Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, Trap Spotter). The Rogue's niche is flexibility -- they adapt to what the party needs.
Multiclass Notes: Rogues are the most flexible multiclassers, pairing well with any Rogue-group or Warrior-group archetype. Non-humans use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Level Table
Scoundrel
Field
Value
bab
0
fortitude
0
level
1
reflex
2
skillPoints
32
title
Scoundrel
will
0
xp
0
Footpad
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
0
level
2
reflex
3
skillPoints
8
title
Footpad
will
0
xp
1250
Rogue
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
1
level
3
reflex
3
skillPoints
8
title
Rogue
will
1
xp
2500
Burglar
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
4
reflex
4
skillPoints
8
title
Burglar
will
1
xp
5000
Lockmaster
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
1
level
5
reflex
4
skillPoints
8
title
Lockmaster
will
1
xp
10000
Master Rogue
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
2
level
6
reflex
5
skillPoints
8
title
Master Rogue
will
2
xp
20000
Shadow Thief
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
2
level
7
reflex
5
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Thief
will
2
xp
40000
Grand Rogue
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
2
level
8
reflex
6
skillPoints
8
title
Grand Rogue
will
2
xp
70000
Shadow Lord
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
3
level
9
reflex
6
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Lord
will
3
xp
110000
High Shadow Lord
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
3
level
10
reflex
7
skillPoints
8
title
High Shadow Lord
will
3
xp
160000
Shadow Expert
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
3
level
11
reflex
7
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Expert
will
3
xp
220000
Shadow Authority
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
12
reflex
8
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Authority
will
4
xp
280000
Master Thief
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
4
level
13
reflex
8
skillPoints
8
title
Master Thief
will
4
xp
340000
High Master Thief
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
4
level
14
reflex
9
skillPoints
8
title
High Master Thief
will
4
xp
400000
Guildmaster
Field
Value
bab
11
fortitude
5
level
15
reflex
9
skillPoints
8
title
Guildmaster
will
5
xp
460000
High Guildmaster
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
16
reflex
10
skillPoints
8
title
High Guildmaster
will
5
xp
520000
Gutter Authority
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
5
level
17
reflex
10
skillPoints
8
title
Gutter Authority
will
5
xp
580000
High Gutter Authority
Field
Value
bab
13
fortitude
6
level
18
reflex
11
skillPoints
8
title
High Gutter Authority
will
6
xp
640000
Shadow Paragon
Field
Value
bab
14
fortitude
6
level
19
reflex
11
skillPoints
8
title
Shadow Paragon
will
6
xp
700000
Supreme Rogue
Field
Value
bab
15
fortitude
6
level
20
reflex
12
skillPoints
8
title
Supreme Rogue
will
6
xp
760000
Special Abilities
Sneak Attack
Field
Value
level
1
name
Sneak Attack
description: The Rogue knows where to put the blade -- the gap in the armour, the kidney shot, the vertebrae that severs the spinal cord. When attacking a target that is flat-footed, denied DEX to AC, or flanked, +1d6 precision damage. This increases by +1d6 at levels 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 (max +10d6). Ranged sneak attacks require the target to be within 30 feet -- beyond that, the Rogue cannot read the body well enough to place the shot. Creatures immune to critical hits are immune -- the Rogue needs anatomy to exploit. Additionally, the Rogue gains a bonus Rogue Talent at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 -- tricks picked up across dozens of Rim jobs, most of which went badly before they went well.
Trapfinding
Field
Value
level
1
name
Trapfinding
description: The Rogue has tripped enough traps to recognise the signs. Perception can locate traps with DC higher than 20 -- the hair-thin tripwire, the pressure plate under the deck grating, the sensor lens hidden in the bulkhead seam. Security disarms mechanical traps. Demolitions disarms explosive traps. +2 to Perception to find traps and +2 to checks to disable them. At level 8, the Rogue can disarm a trap as a move action -- the hands know the sequence before the brain finishes processing the threat. At level 14, the Rogue can bypass a trap without disarming it, leaving it live for whoever follows. The Rogue has learned that some problems are better left for the people chasing you.
Rogue Talents
Field
Value
level
2
name
Rogue Talents
description: At levels 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18, the Rogue selects one Rogue Talent: Evasion (no damage on successful Reflex save -- the Rogue has learned to move before the explosion registers), Uncanny Dodge (retain DEX to AC when flat-footed -- the Rogue's body reacts before the Rogue's mind), Fast Stealth (move full speed while using Stealth -- silence is about weight distribution, not speed), Combat Trick (gain one Combat feat -- the Rogue has been in enough fights to learn something), Skill Mastery (select 2 skills, may take 10 even when threatened -- competence under pressure is the Rogue's defining trait), Finesse Training (use DEX instead of STR for melee attack rolls with one weapon type -- precision over power), Trap Spotter (automatic Perception check to notice traps within 10 feet -- the Rogue's peripheral vision has saved their life more times than they can count), or Opportunist (once per round, attack of opportunity against a target hit by another character's melee attack -- the Rogue's blade finds the opening the ally's strike created).
Improved Evasion
Field
Value
level
11
name
Improved Evasion
description: The upgrade to Evasion: the Rogue takes no damage on a successful Reflex save and half damage on a failed one. Explosions, plasma vents, breaching charges -- even a failed save leaves the Rogue standing.
Opportunist
Field
Value
level
13
name
Opportunist
description: Once per round, the Rogue may make an attack of opportunity against an opponent who has just been struck in melee by an ally. This attack is treated as a Sneak Attack if the conditions are met (the target is flanked, flat-footed, or unaware of the Rogue). When someone else creates the distraction, the Rogue finishes it.
Hide in Plain Sight
Field
Value
level
15
name
Hide in Plain Sight
description: The Rogue can use the Stealth skill even while being observed, as long as there is some form of cover or concealment within 10 feet. Normal Stealth requires breaking line of sight first; Hide in Plain Sight removes that requirement. The Rogue simply vanishes.
Master Infiltrator
Field
Value
level
17
name
Master Infiltrator
description: The Rogue treats all Security/Locks and Hacking checks as if they had taken 10, even under stress or distraction. This does not allow taking 20 (that still requires unlimited time and no penalty for failure), but the Rogue's baseline under pressure holds steady.