Cat Burglar (3.5e Class)

Cat Burglar
Prowling through the streets of the city, in the dead of night, lurking in the shadows and scaling walls. All to 'gain entry' into a secured location, in order to 'liberate' a valuable piece of art, 'confiscate' an important document or even just simply to steal coins and gems to increase ones own personal wealth are all common activities of a Cat Burglar. Masters of stealth and infiltration, Cat Burglars use their skills to crack locks, bypass traps and escape with their cache of valuables intact.

Making a Cat Burglar
Abilities: All Cat Burglars benefit most from having a high dexterity score. Hand-eye coordination is an extremely important part of what they do. From picking locks, to disabling traps, even moving around undetected all require good dexterity. A high dexterity also benefits a Cat Burglar by allowing them to make the most of the lighter armor that they wear and avoid injury from any traps which they might not disarm successfully. Intelligence is also a hallmark of the most successful Cat Burglars, allowing them to be skilled in more areas than their colleagues.

Characteristics: Cat Burglars are master thieves with precision honed skills of stealth, burglary, and escape. A Cat Burglar is adept at scaling walls of buildings, bypassing locks or traps, quietly creeping past guards, hiding from detection, and sliding down the wall to safety. Cat Burglars are smooth talkers with quick wits who have a sixth sense when it comes to avoiding danger. In addition, while not capable of casting spells on their own, Cat Burglars can "fake it" well enough to cast spells from scrolls or wands, and use just about any other magic item.

Races: While any race can be a Cat Burglar, the most common Cat Burglars are humans. Although it's the most agile of races that make the best Cat Burglars, because of their particularly keen hand-eye coordination and reflexes. Bulkier larger races tend to find the work of a Cat Burglar more difficult, especially when it comes to hiding in potentially small areas, and remaining unseen.

Alignment: Cat Burglars come in all alignments, but seeing as Cat Burglars are in the business of 'acquiring' objects that 'may or may not' be theirs, most Cat Burglars tend to not be lawful good, .. but it has happened from time to time. Cat Burglars with a 'higher standard' of morals most commonly work as 'recovery specialists'.

Starting Gold: 5d4 times 10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: "Simple" or "As rogue"

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Cat Burglar.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Cat Burglars are proficient with all simple weapons, plus bolas, hand crossbow, kukri, rapier, sap, shortbow, short sword spiked chain and whip. Cat Burglars are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.



Finding a nonmagical traps has a DC of at least 20, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magic traps has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. Hunters (and rogues) can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps. A magic traps generally has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it. A Hunter who beats a trap’s DC by 10 or more with a Disable Device check can study a trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (with her party) without disarming it.



 (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a Cat Burglar can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if she is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, she still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a Cat Burglar already has uncanny dodge from a different class she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead. This defense denies another Cat Burglar, Rogue, or the like, the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more Cat Burglar levels than the target does.

 (Ex): At 2nd level, a Cat Burglar gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves and initiative checks. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and to +3 at 20th level. A Cat Burglar loses this bonus when wearing medium of heavy armor.

 (Ex): At 3rd level, a Cat Burglar gains an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger from traps, giving her a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise to +2 when the Cat Burglar reaches 6th level, to +3 when she reaches 9th level, to +4 when she reaches 12th level, to +5 at 15th, and to +6 at 18th level.

Trap sense bonuses gained from multiple classes stack.

She applies her Intelligence bonus (if any) as a bonus on damage rolls ( in addition to any strength she may have) with any light weapon, as well as any weapon that can be used with Weapon Finesse, such as a rapier or spiked chain. Targets immune to sneak attacks or critical hits are immune to the Cat Burglars insightful strike. A Cat Burglar cannot use this ability when wearing medium or heavy armor.

 (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a Cat Burglar within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow her descent. When first using this ability, she takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The Cat Burglar’s ability to slow her fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with her Cat Burglar level until at 20th level she can use a nearby wall to slow her descent and fall any distance without harm.

 (Ex): Beginning at 4th level, a Cat Burglar can use the hide skill in any sort of terrain, whether natural or not, even if the terrain doesn't grant cover or concealment. She loses this benefit when wearing medium or heavy armor.(See the ranger class feature on page 48 of the Players Handbook).

 A Cat Burglar gains a bonus feat at 4th level and every 4th level there after (8, 12, 16, 20, etc), which must be drawn from the following list, or any other feat that are similar to these with DM approval.

(PHB): Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Diligent, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Investigator, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Negotiator, Nimble Fingers, Persuasive, Run, and Stealthy.

(PHB II): Acrobatic Strike, Bounding Assault, Rapid Blitz, Combat Acrobat, Combat Tactician, Crossbow Sniper, Cunning Evasion, Deadeye Shot, Fade into Violence, Keen-eared Scout, Leap of the Heavens, Master Manipulator, Tumbling Feint, Vexing Flanker, Adaptable Flanker and Wanderer's Diplomacy.

(Complete Adventurer): Danger Sense, Deft Opportunist, Dive for Cover, Expert Tactician, Force of Personality, Hear the Unseen, Improved Diversion, Jack of all Trades, Open Minded, Quick Reconnoiter and Tactile Trapsmith.

(Complete Warrior): Clever Wrestler, Close Quarters Fighting, Dash, Defensive Strike, Defensive Throw, Eyes in the back of your head, Fleet of Foot, Flick of the Wrist, Improved Combat Expertise, and Prone Attack.

(Complete Scoundrel): Daredevil Athlete, Freerunner, Surehand, Sweet Talker, and any luck feats which the character qualifies for.

(Races of Destiny): Inside Connection, Resourceful Buyer, Urban Stealth, Urban Tracking, Crowd Tactics and Roof Walker.

(Races of Wild): Able Sniper, Agile Athlete, and Defensive Archery.

 (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a Cat Burglar can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. SRD:Evasion and Improved Evasion can be used only if the Cat Burglar is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Cat Burglar does not gain the benefit of evasion.

 (Ex): A Cat Burglar of 5th level or higher can scramble up or down walls and slopes with great speed. She can climb at her speed as a move action with no penalty; however, she must begin and end her move on a horizontal surface (such as the ground or a flat rooftop). If she does not end her movement on a horizontal surface, she falls, taking falling damage as appropriate for her distance above the ground. A Cat Burglar only needs to have one hand free to use this ability. This ability can only be used if the Cat Burglar is wearing light or no armor.

Starting at 6th level, a Cat Burglar gains a +2 bonus on Disable Device, Open Locks and Search checks. This bonus increases to +4 at 13th level and +6 at 19th level.

 (Ex): Starting at 7th level, a Cat Burglar can move through any sort of terrain that slows movement (such as rubble, undergrowth, overgrown areas, natural thorns, briars and similar terrain) at her normal movement speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. This ability also allows her to run and charge in situations where others cannot. She may charge, or run over difficult terrain that normally slows movement or allies or neutral characters blocking her path. This ability enables her to run down steep stairs, leap down from a balcony and tumble over tables to get to her destination. Depending on the circumstances she still may need to make appropriate checks (Jump and Tumble, in particular) to successfully move over the terrain. This ability does not let her move more quickly through terrain that has been magically manipulated to impede movement.

 (Ex): Starting at 7th level a Cat Burglar can move stealthily even at a quick pace. He no longer takes a -5 penalty on Hide and Move Silently checks when moving at any speed up to his normal speed, and he only takes a -10 penalty (instead of a -20 penalty) on Hide and Move Silently checks when running. (He still takes the normal -20 penalty when attacking or charging).

 (Ex): While in any sort of terrain, whether natural or not, a Cat Burglar of 9th level or higher may make use the Hide skill even while being observed. A Cat Burglar loses this benefit when wearing medium or heavy armor.

 (Ex): At 10th level The Cat Burglar becomes so certain in the use of certain skills that she can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. Upon gaining this ability, she selects a number of skills equal to 3 + her Intelligence modifier. When making a skill check with one of these skills, she may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so. A Cat Burglar may gain this special ability multiple times, selecting additional skills for it to apply to each time.

 (Ex): At 11th level a Cat Burglar gains Improved Evasion. This ability works like evasion, except that while the Cat Burglar still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks henceforth she henceforth takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless Cat Burglar does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

 (Ex): At 17th level the Cat Burglar is always considered to be taking 10 on hide and move silently even while walking around normally, unless the Cat Burglar wants to be seen or heard. The DM must make opposed spot and listen checks for any NPC's to be aware of the Cat Burglars presence.

Epic Cat Burglar
Trap Sense (Ex): The epic Cat Burglar’s bonus increases by +1 every three levels higher than 18th.

These feats are selected from the Cat Burglar class feat list presented above. Alternatively your DM may also allow class appropriate epic feats as well.

 Fall: The epic Cat Burglar at 25th level gains the ability to use a nearby wall to slow her descent and fall at any distance without harm.

 of the Trade: At 25th level and every 6th level thereafter an epic Cat Burglar gains an additional +2 competency bonus on all disable device, open locks and search checks.

Human Cat Burglar Starting Package
Weapons: Shortsword (1d6, crit 19-20/x2),

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 8 + Int modifier.

Feat: Nimble Fingers

Bonus Feats: Improved Initiative for Human.

Gear: Padded Leather.

Gold: 5d4 X 10.

Playing a Cat Burglar
Religion: Cat Burglars are generally not overly religious but the most common deity for a Cat Burglar to worship is Olidimmara (god of thieves). Other Cat Burglars may worship other deities of stealth, thievery, shadows or the like. Some Cat Burglars do not worship any deities at all.

Other Classes: Cat Burglars get along best with any other classes that have a knack or skill for stealth, or thievery. Cat Burglars tend to not like 'plying' their trade while clunkier characters with heavy armor who might give them away. Adversely a Cat Burglar enjoys to have a diverse selection of companions while traveling to keep attention and suspicion off of themselves. The more colorful and outspoken their companions are, the better it is for them.

Role: A Cat Burglar in a party is best served as filling a scout roll. Moving on ahead of the party, using their skills of stealth to observe a group of enemy kobolds in a cave undetected, sneak past the royal city guard to deliver a message to an incarcerated ally or infiltrate an enemy's camp in order to find an attack plan map. A more charismatic Cat Burglar could take ranks in diplomacy, disguise and sense motive in order to act as the party's leader or spokesman.

Advancement: Cat Burglars who work as thieves may find it useful to take levels in Dungeon Delver or Temple Raider of Olidimmara. For Cat Burglar's who act more in the capacity of a party scout or lookout, Cat Burglars could consider taking levels in the Scout class. A Cat Burglar could also become an expert tracker by taking levels in Bloodhound. For a Cat Burglar looking to "move up" the proverbial chain, they may consider taking levels of Spymaster as well.

Cat Burglars in the World
"So your telling me that someone managed to scale a 30 foot castle wall, get past 10 of your city guard completely unnoticed, steal the royal jewels right in front of two stationed guards, and then ... after getting noticed on his way out, jumps OVER the castle wall, falling over 30 feet, and walks away unscathed to just .. disappear into the night? .."

Adventures: Cat Burglars almost exclusively adventure for one of two reasons. Firstly and by far the most common of the two is that Cat Burglars adventure in order to amass riches, gold, wealth, gems, and valuables. Some few Cat Burglars instead adventure for the thrill and adrenaline rush of using their unparalleled skills for breaking into well secured areas and escaping without being caught. For these types of Cat Burglars, its all about the risk.

Notables: There are rarely any truly notable or renown Cat Burglars because of the nature of the work they do. Once in a while a nickname might be given to a Cat Burglar who pulls of a particularly huge job, but for the most part, becoming that famous can only be a bad thing for a Cat Burglar because that makes them more recognizable while they're not 'working'.

Organizations: Cat Burglars have no organizations, leaders, meetings, groups, strongholds or other form of gatherings. From time to time, one very experienced Cat Burglar may take on an 'apprentice' but this situation is very uncommon. Mostly Cat Burglars stay to themselves and ply their trade, hopefully, without anyone ever knowing the better.

NPC Reactions: Cat Burglars tend to pass themselves off as rogues of skill during the day to allude suspicion on themselves, NPC's that ever happen to catch a Cat Burglar 'at work' are likely in the process of being robbed themselves, and would likely not take very well to the Cat Burglars presence.

Cat Burglar Lore
Characters with a lore skill or ranks in Knowledge (Local) can research Cat Burglars to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Cat Burglars in the Game
Sample Encounter: The party gets home from a particularly long or particularly hard adventure and one of the party members discovers a Cat Burglar in thier home, attempting to steal an important item for the players long term arch enemy (unbeknownst to them).

EL 7:

Rydel Taerun

Medium Humanoid (Human) Hit Dice: 7d6 (24) + (14 con) = (56 hp max or 38 hp average) Initiative: 9 Speed: 30 ft Armor Class: Normal 19 ( Armor +4, Dex +4, 1 Magic), Touch 14, Flat Foot 15 Base Attack / Grapple: +5 / +6 Full Attack: Rapier +10 1d6 +3 (+1 (str), +1 (int), +1 (Magic)),  18-20 X2 Space / Reach: 5 ft / 5 ft Special Qualities: Trap Finding, Uncanny Dodge, Battle Grace +1, Trap Sense +2, Insightful Strike, Great Leap, Evasion, Slowfall 20ft, Tricks of the Trade +2, Urban Camouflage, Quick Ascent Saves: Fort 4, Ref 10, Will 2 Skills: 10 ranks each in Bluff, Disable Device, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Open Locks, Search and Spot, 5 ranks each in Climb and Jump Feats: Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative, Agile Athlete (Dex to Climb and Jump checks), Stealthy, Nimble Fingers, Tactile Trapsmith (Dex to Search and Disable Device) Abilities: Str: 12, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16 CR: 7 Treasure: +1 Rapier, +1 Mithril Chain Shirt, Hat of Disguise, Brooch of Shielding, Backpack, Masterwork Thieves Tools, Disguise Kit, Climbers Kit, Acid Flask, Vial of Anti-toxin, Smokestick X5, Tanglefoot bag, Thunderstone, Crowbar, Caltrop X4, Grappling Hook X2, Silk Rope 50ft, Piton X10, Waterskin, Torch X10, 1454 gp Alignment: Lawful Neutral