## Roguish Archetype ### Cognition Thief Psychic thieves, spies, and assassins, cognition thieves are the ultimate secret agents -- where others may steal documents or possessions, cognition thieves steal their targets' very memories. Trained in both the subtle arts of the rogue and the use of dangerous psionic abilities, cognition thieves are both rare and highly in demand. In Faerun, most cognition thieves are trained in the Hall of Mental Splendor, a small keep deep within Skullport that offers its thieves' services to the highest bidder. In Eberron, the Inspired make use of cognition thieves whenever the Thousand Eyes need a heavier touch than their usual methods. #### Cognition Thief Features | Rogue Level | Feature | |:---:|:-----------| | 3rd | Psionics, Precision Leeching | | 9th | Steal Memory | | 13th | Steal Perception, Serrated Mind | | 17th | Steal Mind | #### Psionics When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, your psionic powers manifest, allowing you to invade the minds of others and take their thoughts. ##### Psionic Discipline You are granted access to the Consumption discipline, as your abilities are centered around stealing opponents’ thoughts. A psionic discipline comes with a passive feature that expands your character’s capabilities and an active psionic power that can be modified and empowered with psi points. Additionally, you can use your discipline in more detailed applications to recreate the effect of certain spells, listed at the end of the discipline description. Psionic powers are suppressed by Antimagic Field and can be dispelled with Dispel Magic, but are only affected by Counterspell if recreating the effect of a spell. Any check required to dispel, counterspell, or identify a spell being cast with psionics is made at disadvantage unless the caster also has the Psionics feature. The spell Detect Magic will detect the usage of psionics, but not their nature - it will show up as a mysterious untyped power, even if being used to generate the effect of a spell. When recreating a spell through a psionic effect (using a psionic discipline to cast the spell) the spell has no material or verbal components, but using any psionic ability requires somatic components and causes the psion to vibrantly glow with the otherworldly psionic energies they are controlling. ##### Psi Points You have a number of psi points equal to your Rogue level divided by three, rounded down, and you regain all spent points when you finish a short or long rest. The number of psi points you can spend at a time is determined by the Cognition Thief Psi Limit table. <div style='margin-top:500px'></div> <div class='classTable'> ##### Cognition Thief Psi Limit | Level | Psi Limit | |:-----:|:---:| | 3rd | 1 | | 4th | 1 | | 5th | 1 | | 6th | 1 | | 7th | 2 | | 8th | 2 | | 9th | 2 | | 10th | 2 | | 11th | 2 | | 12th | 2 | | 13th | 3 | | 14th | 3 | | 15th | 3 | | 16th | 3 | | 17th | 3 | | 18th | 3 | | 19th | 4 | | 20th | 4 | </div> ##### Psionic Ability Psionic powers, Psionic Talents, and spells gained through this archetype use your psionic ability, which is Intelligence. ___ **Psionic Ability Save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier ___ **Psionic Ability Attack Modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier #### Precision Leeching Additionally at 3rd level, when a creature that is frightened, charmed, stunned, restrained, grappled, or paralyzed, or a creature you are hidden from, fails its saving throw against your Mind Leech psionic power, you can deal additional psychic damage equal to your Sneak Attack damage. This counts as dealing Sneak Attack damage. In addition, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend 1 psi point to force that creature to make a Wisdom save against your psi save DC, becoming frightened of you until the end of your next turn if it fails. > This subclass utilizes the psionics rules created by the excellent KibblesTasty. His full Psion class is available at his website [here](http://kthomebrew.com). \pagebreak #### Steal Memory At 9th level, you further refine your thought-consuming abilities. When you target a creature that is frightened, charmed, stunned, restrained, grappled, or paralyzed, or that is unaware of your presence, with your Mind Leech, you can choose to do no damage to it. When you do this, if the target fails its saving throw, you can steal one of the target’s memories, gaining its memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes. You must know that a target knows something to steal its memory of it – for instance, what it was doing at a certain time or a meeting it had with an individual. While normally this ability merely copies a creature's memory, you can also choose to fully erase it, removing the stolen memory from the target creature's mind. If you do this, the creature must make an additional Charisma saving throw, retaining its memory and becoming aware of your attempt on a success. A creature may realize that something stole its memory if it was particularly important. The target can willingly fail its saving throw against this ability, in which case it does not need to be subject to any of the above conditions. If a target is unaware of your presence, using Mind Leech in this way does not reveal you. In addition, you gain the Skill Thief psionic talent. ##### Skill Thief You can gain an additional number of skill, tool, or language proficiencies from Adaptive Hunter equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down) before losing the previously gained proficiency. If you would gain an additional proficiency from it beyond that, the first one you gained is lost. #### Steal Perception At 13th level, you can steal the image of yourself from creatures’ minds. As an action, you can project a psionic perception filter for 1 hour or until you end this effect as a bonus action, forcing any number of creatures of your choice who would perceive you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Psi Save DC. If it fails, a creature acts as if you weren’t there, ignoring or rationalizing away any effects of your presence (such as the wind opening a door that you opened, or a lock you picked being mistakenly left unlocked). At the DM’s discretion, if you do something so overt that a creature can’t rationalize it, it can repeat its saving throw. The effect ends automatically if you attack a creature. Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend three psi points to do so again. #### Serrated Mind Additionally at 13th level, when you use your Mind Leech power, you can choose to add the Shredding modifier without using a psi point. \columnbreak #### Steal Mind At 17th level, you gain the ability to steal someone’s entire cognition, leaving them a nearly-empty husk while you leave with a perfect copy of it. You can cast *feeblemind* once, regaining the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. If a creature fails its saving throw against this spell, you steal its cognition, allowing you to perfectly mimic its speech, handwriting, and mannerisms, as well as granting you its entire memory of the last 24 hours. If a wary creature suspects something is amiss while you are imitating this creature, you have advantage on any Charisma (Deception) check you make to avoid detection. If the target recovers from your *feeblemind* (such as it succeeding on its saving throw or having Greater Restoration cast on it), you lose the stolen cognition and gain no further benefit from this ability. \pagebreak ## Appendix A: Consumption Discipline ### Consumption Discipline Your psychic powers are that of a predator, and your prey is the minds of others. Their thoughts, their feelings, their vital psionic energies are your food. #### Adaptive Hunter After using your Mind Leech on a target, you can gain one skill, tool or language proficiency that creature has until the end of your next long rest. If you use this ability again, you lose the last proficiency or language to acquire the new one. #### Mind Leech *Psionic Power* ___ - **Casting Time:** 1 action - **Range:** 30 feet - **Components:** S - **Duration:** Instantaneous ___ You assault the mind of a target you can see within range, rending and devouring its psionic energy. The target must succeed a Charisma saving throw or take 1d6 psychic damage. If the target is frightened, charmed, stunned, restrained, grappled, or paralyzed, the psychic damage becomes 1d12 instead. On a failed save, you gain a psionic charge of consumed power until the end of your next turn. You can expend this charge when you deal damage, to deal additional damage equal to your Intelligence modifier, or consume this charge at the end of your turn to gain temporary hit points equal to your Intelligence modifier. You can spend only charge at a time. You can target the corpse of a recently perished creature with this power, as long as the target has died within the last minute and not been previously leached by this power. ___ **Devouring** (2 psi points): The range of Mind Leech becomes a radius of 5 feet, centered on you. --- **Rending** (1+ psi points): The target takes an additional die of damage (1d6 or 1d12 as applicable if they under the effect of a listed condition) per psi point spent. ___ **Nourishing** (1 psi points): On a failed saving throw, and an additional psionic charge. ___ **Shredding** (1 psi point): You leave the targets mind and soul shredded, reducing their next saving throw before the end of your next turn by 1d4. ___ **Stunning** (3 psi points): On a failed saving throw, the target becomes stunned until the start of your next turn. If the power effects multiple targets, select one target for this effect ___ **Thieving** (1 psi point): On a failed saving throw, you can draw from the target's mind a 5th level or lower spell it can cast (from a Spellcasting or Psionics feature). You must be aware that it can cast that spell; the target retains the ability to cast the spell, but you gain the ability to cast the spell using your Psionics feature by spending psi points equal to the level of the spell (restricted by your psi point limit). You can know one spell in this manner at a time, and retain the ability to cast the spell for 1 minute or until cast. If the spell is one that restores hit points, you reduce your own hit points by the amount healed by the spell. #### Alternate Effects Additionally, when you learn the Consumption psionic discipline you can use your Psionics feature to cast the following spells as per the rules defined in the feature: | Point Cost | Alternate Effects | |:-------------:|:----------------:| | 1 | *inflict wounds* | | 2 | *psychic drain^K^* | 3 | *vampiric touch* | | 4 | *blight* | | 5 | *devouring darkness^K^* | If a spell can be cast at a higher level, you can spend an additional psi point to cast it at that higher level. \pagebreak ## Appendix B: Spells #### Devouring Darkness *5th-level necromancy* ___ - **Classes:** Occultist, Spellblade, Warlock, Wizard - **Casting Time:** 1 action - **Range:** Self (20-foot radius) - **Components:** V, S - **Duration:** Instantaneous ___ Dark tendrils burst out from you in all directions. Creatures of your choice within 20 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw. On failure, they take 6d8 necrotic damage, and you can move them in a straight line to within 5 feet of you if there is an empty space they can be pulled to. On success, they take half as much damage and are not moved. You regain hit points equal to one quarter (rounded down) of the necrotic damage taken by all targets affected by the spell. ***At Higher Levels.*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 5th. \columnbreak #### Psychic Drain *2nd-level psionic* ___ - **Casting Time:** 1 action - **Range:** 60 feet - **Components:** S - **Duration:** Instantaneous ___ You draw on the psychic energy of another creature you can see to sustain yourself. The target must make a Charisma saving throw. On failure it takes 3d8 psychic damage and you gain temporary hit points equal to half the amount of psychic damage dealt and regain one expended psi point. ***At Higher Levels.*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the spell deals an additional 1d8 psychic damage. \pagebreak ## Changelog #### v0.3 * Made Steal Memory less mind-rapey * Clarified whether a stolen memory is erased, and added the ability to erase it with an additional saving throw * Added hidden-from-target bonus to Precision Leeching * Added Serrated Mind #### v0.2 * Added lore #### v0.1 * Rough Draft \columnbreak ## License > Includes spells from Kibbles' Casting Compendium 2.0 by KibblesTasty Homebrew LLC, which is licensed CC-BY and available [here](https://www.kthomebrew.com/krd "KibblesTasty KRD").