Roguish Archetype: Gutter Stalker
A subclass for the D&D 5e Rogue
While some rogues are content with petty theft or making a name for themselves in a criminal underworld of some kind, there are some who have darker goals and desires. These rogues are a specter of a city’s slick streets, a horror that haunts the mind of the population of entire countries, a being that people pray is urban legend or boogeyman. These rogues are killers, not for coin nor some grand purpose, the death they cause is the goal in and of itself.
While other rogues may use stealth and fade into backgrounds, these rogues stalk and obsess, finding specific targets and victims who grab their eye to make into obsession as they march unstoppably in pursuit of that target's end. Their grizzly deeds and blood soaked hands are often hidden behind a false persona, one that both spreads their name like legend, but also allows them to maintain a degree of social respectability.
Many of these rogues, these gutter stalking killers take lives for sadistic enjoyment yes, but some others do so to protect communities, using their bloodlust in service of others, sometimes even hunting other Gutter Stalkers in order to ensure the safety of their charges.
Obsessive Bloodshed
3rd-Level Gutter Stalker Rogue Feature
While you have a desire to shed blood, that blood only sates you if it comes from a specific target who you have developed an obsession with. When you choose this subclass at 3rd level, if you spend ten minutes outside of combat observing a creature you can make them your Obsession. If at any point your force your Obsession to make a saving throw, they do so against a DC calculated using the following formula:
Obsession Save DC
While you have a Obsession, you can use a bonus action on your turn to gain one of the following benefits against your Obsession until the start of your next turn:
- You deal an additional 1d6 sneak attack damage when you next attack your Obsession if you deal sneak attack damage to them. The amount of extra damage you may do to your Mark in this way increases by an additional 2d6 at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.
- You may force your Obsession to make a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you. Regardless of if you frighten your Obsession you gain 5 temporary hit points. The amount of temporary hit points you may gain in this way increases at 7th, 11th and 15th level.
- You may force your Obsession to make a Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you. You may target an additional creature with this ability at levels 7, 11 and 15, though you must be able to see these additional creatures and they must be within 30 feet of your Obsession.
You may use a bonus action on your turn to use one of the listed effects against a creature who isn’t your Obsession if you both have advantage against your attack against the creature and an enemy of the creature is within 5 feet of them.
Dreadful Persona
3rd-Level Gutter Stalker Rogue Feature
You have started down the path of becoming a being of such infamy that many would rather consider you a fable or falsehood than reality. You craft a Dreadful Persona for yourself which you use to instill fear into the hearts of those you hunt. You can don or doff this Dreadful Persona over the course of a minute. While within this Dreadful Persona, when you make a Charisma (Intimidation) check, you can treat a roll of 7 or lower on the die as an 8, and whenever you succeed on a Charisma (Intimidation) check you gain temporary hit points equal to your Rogue level plus your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You have disadvantage on all other Charisma checks when within your Dreadful Persona.
While not within your Dreadful Persona, you gain advantage on all skill checks you make to gather information on your Obsession and make any checks for the Search action with advantage so long as you are searching for your Obsession
Dreadful Obsession
9th-Level Gutter Stalker Rogue Feature
Your Obsession knows when they see the false face of your Dreadful Persona that their end draws near. At 9th level while you don your Dreadful Persona you gain the following benefits against your Obsession:
- Your Obsession has disadvantage on ability checks against you and on saving throws against your Rogue features.
- You may designate a creature you can see as your Obsession as a reaction to rolling initiative.
- Whenever you successfully use your Uncanny Dodge feature or take no damage using your Evasion feature, you may also move up to half of your speed as a part of the use of that ability so long as your movement ends with you being closer to your Obsession.
Gaslight Pursuer
13th Level Gutter Stalker Rogue Feature
Starting at 13th level your senses expanded to a near supernatural level. When in your Dreadful Persona you gain the ability to sense the heartbeats of living creatures within 30 feet of you. Alternatively, when not in your Dreadful Persona your mind cannot be read against your will and any spells or ability used to attempt to divine the true nature of your identity yield false information.
The Final Face They'll See
17th Level Gutter Stalker Rogue Feature
At 17th level when you are in your Dreadful Persona at the start of your turn you may reveal the true nature of your identity to your Obsession (no action required). When you do so you gain the following benefits until the end of your turn:
- When you take the attack action on your turn you may make an additional attack as a part of the same action so long as both of your attacks target your Obsession.
- You gain temporary hit points as if you’ve just succeeded on a Charisma (Intimidation) check.
- Your Obsession gains vulnerability to a damage type of your choice.
At the end of your turn, you immediately doff your Dreadful Persona and cannot don it again until you finish a long rest.
Art Credits
Shadow Over Dunwall by juhoham
Throatseeker by Dmitry Burmak
London Street by nkabuto
