Skulduggery Maneuvers
Subtle, Deceitful, Underhanded
Seasoned knights and soldiers like to pretend battle is a noble thing, but others know winning is more important than honor. Masters of Skuduggery confounding foes, leading their enemies into crucial mistakes while they slink about the battlefield, stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, gear the pockets of the unguarded, and even the hearts of their sworn enemies.
Classes: Adept, Fighter, Marshal, Rogue
1st Degree Maneuvers
| Misdirect | 1 focus | 1st degree Skulduggery reaction When you hide from a creature who is aware of your presence, you can use your reaction to make a Charisma (Deception) check against the creature’s passive Wisdom (Insight) score. On a success, choose a location where you could have hidden within 30 feet of any space you occupied on this turn. As long as you remain hidden from that creature, it believes you are hiding in that location, instead of where you are. |
| Smokescreen | 1 focus | 1st degree Skulduggery bonus action You toss a bomb to a point you can see within 60 feet that explodes into a 20-foot radius sphere of smoke, which spreads around corners. The area is heavily obscured, and lasts for a number of rounds equal to a roll of your Superiority Die, or until it is dispersed by a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 mph). |
| Skulk | 1 focus | 1st degree Skulduggery free action When you make a Stealth or Streetwise check, you can add a roll of your Superiority Die to the result. |
| Undermine | 2 focus | 1st degree Skulduggery action (attack) Take the Attack action. As long as all of your attacks on your turn are melee weapon attacks that target the same creature, that creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against you until the start of your next turn. |
2nd Degree Maneuvers
| Feint | 2 focus | 2nd degree Skulduggery bonus action Choose a creature within your reach. You have advantage on your next weapon attack roll against it, and if you hit, add your Superiority Die to the attack's damage. |
| Mug | 2 focus | 2nd degree Skulduggery attack (action) Take the attack action. Once when you hit a creature a melee attack, add your Superiority Die to the damage, you can make a Dexterity (Precision) check against the creature’s passive Strength or Dexterity (Athletics) scores, whichever is higher. On a success, you take one item that isn’t being held from the target. As long as your check also exceeds the target’s passive Perception score, they do not know you took it. |
| Pilfer | 3 focus | 2nd degree Skulduggery reaction When a creature within a number of feet equal to the maximum result of your Superiority Die (rounded up to the nearest increment of 5) of you goes to retrieve an item or draw a weapon, they may discover that it is missing. Make a Dexterity (Precision) check against the target's passive Wisdom (Perception). On a success, they do not find the item, as it is already in your possession. If you exceed their passive Wisdom (Perception) by 5 or more, they do not realize you are the one who took it (though they may still come to that conclusion by other means). Alternatively, when you would make an opportunity attack, you can use this maneuver to try to steal a random unattended object from the target instead using the same rules. |
3rd Degree Maneuvers
| Fake Out | 3 focus | 3rd degree Skulduggery action (attack) Take the Attack action, replacing one of your attacks with a false attack within the range of your weapon against a creature that can see you. Make a Charisma (Deception) check. If your check exceeds the target’s passive Wisdom (Insight) score, the creature takes psychic damage equal to two rolls of your Superiority Die and you choose one of the following: it spends its reaction and the next attack made against it before the end of your next turn advantage, it makes one less attack the next time it takes the Extra Attack or Multiattack actions, or it spends 1 Legendary action. |
| Fan of Knives | 3 focus | 3rd degree Skulduggery action You teleport yourself to an unoccupied space you can see within 90 feet. Immediately before you disappear or after you reappear, you spin and unleash a flurry of daggers in a 20-foot emanation. Creatures of your choice in the area must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take piercing damage equal to three rolls of your Superiority Die or half as much damage on a successful save. If you have the Extra Attack feature, you can use this maneuver while taking the Attack action by replacing two of your attacks and spending 1 extra focus. |
| Stalking Stance | 5 focus | 3rd degree Skulduggery bonus action (stance) While you maintain this stance, you are invisible, and special senses (such as Darkvision, Tremorsense, and Blindsight) count as a number of feet shorter to detect you equal to the highest result on your Superiority Die (rounded up to the nearest increment of 5). When you adopt this stance, roll your Superiority Die. You can maintain it for a number of rounds equal to the result. |
4th Degree Maneuvers
| Guileful Celerity | 1+ focus | 4th degree Skulduggery free action When you take one of the bonus actions from Cunning Action, Inner Focus, or Martial Disciplines, take the Tumble bonus action, or use a Skulduggery maneuver activated with a bonus action, you can perform additional options with the same bonus action, spending 1 cumulative extra focus for each bonus action you perform simultaneously. |
| Steal Momentum | 2 focus | 4th degree Skulduggery reaction When you roll initiative, you can use your reaction to steal the momentum of another creature you can see within 30 feet of you. Make a Dexterity (Precision) check, adding a roll of your Superiority Die as a bonus to the roll, with a DC equal to the creature’s initiative (minimum 15). If you succeed, reduce the target’s initiative by the amount your check exceeded the DC, and add the same amount to your own initiative roll. |
| Toxic Strike | 4 focus | 4th degree Skulduggery action (attack) Take the Attack action. Once before you hit with one of these attacks, you can dose your weapon with an injury or contact poison in your possession right before injuring the creature. Your target gets a penalty on its saving throws against your poisons on these attacks equal to a roll of your Superiority Die, and if the poison does damage, add your Superiority Die to the damage. |
5th Degree Maneuvers
| Decoy | 5 focus | 5th degree Skulduggery reaction When you would take damage, you can use your reaction to reveal that your foe's target was actually a decoy. You take no damage from the source, and then creatures of your choice within 20 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take acid, cold, fire, lighting, or poison damage (your choice) equal to two rolls of your Superiority Die, or half as much on a success. You then teleport up to 120 feet and take the Hide action. |
| Steal Heart | 8 focus | 5th degree Skulduggery action Your magically steal the heart of a creature within 60 feet of your. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, which it has advantage on if you or your allies are fighting it. On a failed save, the creature is Charmed by you for a number of minutes equal to a roll of your Superiority Die. While charmed in this way, you have a telepathic link with it as long as the two of you are on the same plane of existence. You can use this telepathic link to issue simple and general commands to the creature while you are conscious (no Action required), which it does its best to obey. If the creature completes the order and doesn't receive further direction from you, it defends and preserves itself to the best of its ability. You can use your Action to take total and precise control of the target. Until the end of your next turn, the creature takes only the actions you choose, and doesn't do anything that you don't allow it to do. During this time, you can also cause the creature to use a Reaction, but this requires you to use your own Reaction as well. Each time you or the creature takes damage, it makes a new Wisdom saving throw, ending the effect early on a success. |
6th Degree Maneuvers
| Maneuver | X focus | 6th degree Skulduggery ACTION Text. |
| Maneuver | X focus | 6th degree Skulduggery ACTION Text. |
7th Degree Maneuvers
| Maneuver | X focus | 7th degree Skulduggery ACTION Text. |
| Maneuver | X focus | 7th degree Skulduggery ACTION Text. |
8th Degree Maneuvers
| Maneuver | X focus | 8th degree Skulduggery ACTION Text. |
