Silent Warrior (Fighter/Rogue)

Stealth and attacking from the shadows tends to be the purview of rogues and assassins. However, there are highly skilled warriors that strive for a level of cunning and guile that only a rogue can teach them. These silent warriors seek training among the thieving guilds of the underworld, learning the path of the shadow, and fusing these newly obtained skills with those of his martial training. By combining stealth with weapon and armor expertise, the silent warrior can vanish into the darkness and strike from the shadows, stand toe-to-toe with a formidable foe, or quietly infiltrate enemy lines and destroy them from within. (Original Concept by Cartmanbeck)

Primary Class: Fighter.

Secondary Class: Rogue.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Dice: d10.

Bonus Skills and Ranks: The silent warrior may select six rogue skills (one of which must be Stealth) to add to his class skills in addition to the normal fighter class skills. The silent warrior gains a number of ranks at each level equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The silent warrior is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all armor (heavy, light, and medium), and shields (except tower shields).

Sneak Attack (Ex): This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name, except that the silent blade’s extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 as shown on Table: Silent Warrior. This ability replaces bonus feat at 1st and 20th level, and weapon training.

Silent Combat (Ex): At 2nd level, the silent warrior becomes adept at silencing his foes and reducing the sounds of battle. The silent blade can make a single attack, either as part of a full attack or a standard action at a –2 penalty, to target an opponent’s mouth or voice box to silence him. If the attack is successful, the target cannot make vocalizations for 1d4 rounds. At 7th level this increases to 2d4 rounds. The target also receives a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the silent warrior’s level) to reduce this silencing effect to 1 round. This ability has no effect on a creature without discernable anatomy or that does not speak with a mouth.

In addition, while his opponent is silenced the silent warrior gains a +4 circumstance bonus to his attack rolls against that opponent, and any creature unaware of combat take a –4 penalty to Perception checks to notice that combat is taking place. This ability replaces bravery.

Bonus Feats: This is exactly like the fighter ability of the same name, except that each time the silent warrior can select a bonus feat, he can select any either a rogue talent for which he qualifies or one of the following rogue abilities: evasion, uncanny dodge, and improved uncanny dodge. A silent blade must select evasion before he can select uncanny dodge and uncanny dodge before selecting improved uncanny dodge. At 12th level, the silent blade can choose advanced rogue talents whenever he could choose a bonus feat. In the case of the improved evasion talent, the silent blade must have evasion to select it. A silent blade treats his level as his rogue level for the purpose of qualifying for talents with level-dependent requirements and calculating the effects of any talent or rogue ability he's chosen.

Stealth Training (Ex): At 3rd level, a silent warrior learns to move quickly and quietly even in the heaviest of armors. His speed is no longer reduced in medium armor, and heavy armor only reduces his speed as if it were medium armor. At 11th level, the silent blade’s speed is no longer reduced in heavy armor.

In addition, the silent warrior uses cloth and other soft materials to muffle the sounds he would normally make during battle and to camouflage his armor. He gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks, and his armor check penalties never apply to his Stealth checks. The bulkiness of these soft materials hinders him in other ways, however, and his armor check penalty increases by 4. At 5th level and every four levels thereafter, his armor check penalty decreases by 1, to a minimum of 0 at 17th level.

Finally, the silent blade gains a +1 circumstance bonus on his attack and damage rolls whenever he uses Stealth to deal sneak attack damage (i.e. not from flanking). This bonus damage is multiplied on a critical hit. Bonuses to Stealth and sneak attack increase by an additional +1 at 5th level and every four levels after that, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. This ability replaces armor training.

Stealth Strike (Ex): At 20th level, a silent warrior becomes a near shadow, sneaking past enemies to strike at their leader and silence him forever. As a swift action, the silent warrior may become invisible as the spell for a number of rounds per day equal to 1/2 his level + his Dexterity modifier. While invisible in this manner, the silent blade can make a single attack as a standard action. If the attack is successful, the attack is automatically treated as a confirmed critical, and his sneak attack dice are multiplied as if they were not precision-based damage. Regardless of whether the stealth strike was successful or not, the silent blade immediately becomes visible along with all his gear, and the target creature is immune to that silent blade’s stealth strike for 24 hours. Creatures that are immune to sneak attack damage are also immune to this ability. This replaces weapon mastery.

Table: Silent Warrior