Delving Saboteur (3.5e Class)

Author: ValravenApocalypse (talk) Date Created: 10/12/24 Status: Conceptually complete, but might fill in some "dead" levels Editing: Changes in Discussion, please

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An expert in sabotage and getting where enemies don't want them 20

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Inspired by Leziad's Mystic Delver. Mostly aiming for High balance, and making it less magical.

Delving Saboteur

Delving saboteurs are adventurers specialized in delving into hostile areas to sabotage enemy defenses and fortifications and loot them. They are primarily focused on dealing with traps and breaking things, but create their own style and can pick up minor versions of many other classes' shticks.

Making a Delving Saboteur

Delving Saboteurs can somewhat replace a rogue, as they gain the trap-oriented features of that class and can pick up reduced sneak attack. But they can also sub in for other classes at a reduced efficiency through their Style ability. Their mastery is in infiltration, but they can be proficient in other fields.

Abilities: Delving saboteurs primarily need Strength and Charisma, as they will be breaking things and when they do magical things, it's often with Charisma. However, given that they will likely be dealing with traps, they would be well-served by Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom to increase their saves.

Races: Sappers and saboteurs are found in all peoples.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: "As rogue".

Table: The Delving Saboteur

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Improvised Warrior, Expert Saboteur, Trapfinding, Delving Tricks
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	Style, Improved Sunder
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3	Delving Tricks
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Trap Insight
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Delving Tricks
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5	Demolition Expert
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5	Delving Tricks
8th	+6	+2	+6	+6
9th	+6	+3	+6	+6	Delving Tricks
10th	+7	+3	+7	+7	Improved Style
11th	+8	+3	+7	+7	Delving Tricks
12th	+9	+4	+8	+8
13th	+9	+4	+8	+8	Delving Tricks
14th	+10	+4	+9	+9
15th	+11	+5	+9	+9	Delving Tricks
16th	+12	+5	+10	+10
17th	+12	+5	+10	+10	Delving Tricks
18th	+13	+6	+11	+11
19th	+14	+6	+11	+11	Delving Tricks
20th	+15	+6	+12	+12	Sunder and Disjoin
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) (Dungeoneering) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the delving saboteur.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Delving Saboteur is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, as well as the Breaching Bar, Pike Pole, all axes, hammers and picks, and one exotic weapon of their choice per class level at character creation. They are always considered proficient in using improvised weapons. The delving saboteur is proficient in light and medium armor, as well as shields (but not tower shields).

Improvised Warrior (Ex): A Delving Saboteur is adept in using unusual weapons. If they take two full rounds to practice and analyze such a weapon, they gain proficiency with the weapon for a number of hours equal to their class level. Additionally, the saboteur gains Handyman, Improved Improvised Weapons and Weaponize Tool as bonus feats.

Expert Saboteur (Ex): A delving saboteur must know how to disable disable devices and is well served by the ability to trick magical and technological devices. They always have maximum ranks for their class level in Disable Device and Use Magic Device. They may use their ranks in Disable Device as ranks in Craft for prerequisites, in which case they count as any kind of crafting.

Trapfinding: As the rogue ability.

Delving Tricks (varies): The job of a delving saboteur demands they deal with varied environments and learn specialized tricks based on their experiences. At every odd level, they select a delving trick from the list below:

• Always Armed: The saboteur gains Acquire Mind Blade and Quick Draw as bonus feats.
• Armor Focus: The saboteur gains Armor Focus as a bonus feat.
• Audio Augment (Su): The saboteur may use ghost sound as a swift action at will, and may take 10 on Bluff and Disguise checks to mimic a particular individual’s voice.
• Augmented Vision (Su): The saboteur gains the invocations All Seeing Eyes, Devil’s Sight and See the Unseen (Complete Arcane versions)
• Debris Wielder: The saboteur gains Debris Wielder as a bonus feat.
• Eye for Magic (Su): The saboteur may use detect magic and identify at will as a move or swift action. At character level 10, they may also use arcane sight and at 15th they may use analyze dweomer in the same way.
• Good Footing (Ex): The saboteur is unaffected by difficult terrain, and does not suffer damage from terrain effects (ie, hazardous substances they walk on). Once they gain Trap Insight, it applies to natural terrain hazards, such as cliffs, rockfalls, and so on.
• Hammerspace (Su): The saboteur gains Dimensional Body Storage as a bonus feat, without needing to meet the prerequisites.
• Hardy Explorer (Ps): The saboteur benefits from a constant adaptive shell effect as a psi-like ability (ie, it is always augmented as much as the saboteur could based on their manifester level) with a manifester level equal to their character level, and may always take 10 on Survival and Constitution checks.
• Improvised Artifice: The saboteur gains the Imbue Item ability of the Warlock and may take Item Creation feats as if they possessed a caster level equal to their character level.
• Improvised Grappling Hooks (Ex): The saboteur may treat regular ropes and whips as if they were grappling hooks, and may use grappling hooks as if they were hookshot. If they use a regular hookshot it’s range and lift capacity double and they fire it as a swift or move action.
• Rip and Tear: The saboteur gains Two-Weapon Rend as a bonus feat. They must have Two-Weapon Fighting (any version) to select this trick, but do not otherwise need to meet the prerequisites.
• Titan Conqueror (Ex): The saboteur is adept at scaling large objects, gaining a Climb speed equal to their land speed and can rise from prone as a free action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. They never suffer any environmental troubles from altitude.
• Uncanny Awareness (Ex): The saboteur gains Awareness as a bonus feat, except you sense the presence of anything with a CR (such as traps and hazards which aren’t counted as creatures).
• Wallbreaker (Ex): The saboteur may explicitly use Sunder on normal unattended objects (ie, gaining any bonuses to sundering when they attack an object) and ignores an amount of hardness equal to their class level when attacking objects (this stacks with other means of ignoring hardness, so if they wield an adamantine weapon, they ignore 20+class level hardness). They also gain Wallcrasher as a bonus feat.
• Whipfighter (Ex): The saboteur gains proficiency with all whips as well as the Improved Whip Proficiency, and the Grip Whip tactic of Advanced Whip Tactics.

Style: At 2nd level, the delving saboteur begins to develop their own unique style, selecting one Major trait and one Minor trait from the lists below. At 10th level, they gain another Minor trait.

Major Traits

• Arcane Saboteur: The saboteur gains the ability to cast Arcane spells. They use the progression of a Bard of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1) and learn spells from the Bard spell list. At 4th and every four levels beyond, they may add a spell from the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list of a level they can cast. They may choose whether they use Int or Cha as their spellcasting ability when they select this trait.
• Combative Saboteur: The Saboteur’s BAB retroactively becomes Full, their Fort retroactively becomes Good, and they gain bonus feats as a Fighter of their class level.
• Demolition Saboteur: The saboteur gains Bomb as a Grenadier of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1) and the Throw Anything feat.
• Divine Saboteur: The saboteur gains the ability to cast Divine Spells. They use the progression of a Bard of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1) and learn spells from the Cleric or Druid spell list, chosen when they select this style trait. They may choose whether they use Wis or Cha as their spellcasting ability when they select this trait.
• Furious Saboteur: The saboteur gains the Rage ability of a barbarian of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1).
• Invoking Saboteur: The saboteur gains invocations as a warlock of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1).
• Meditant Saboteur: The saboteur gains the Unarmed Strike and Bonus Feats of a Monk of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1).
• Psionic Saboteur: The saboteur gains the manifesting of a psychic warrior of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1)
• Stabbing Saboteur: The saboteur gains Sneak Attack as a rogue of their class level minus 2 (minimum 1).

Minor Traits

• Armored Saboteur: The saboteur gains proficiency in Heavy and Exotic armor. They do not suffer Arcane Spell Failure if they can cast spells.
• Dabbling Saboteur: The saboteur gains their choice of Born Invoker, Born Sorcerer or Born Wizard (or "Born Cleric" or "Born Psionic") as a bonus feat. They do not need to meet the 1st level only prerequisite.
• Evasive Saboteur: The saboteur gains Evasion and Uncanny Dodge as a Rogue of their level (including Improved Uncanny Dodge at 8th level and Improved Evasion at 10th).
• Partnered Saboteur: The Saboteur gains their choice of Animal Companion, Familiar or Psicrystal. Their chosen partner scales to their character level, and the saboteur gains their choice of Improved Familiar, Advanced Familiar, Blood Companion, Ravenlord, Superior Psicrystal, or +3 to character level for the scaling of Companions at 3rd level.
• Saboteur’s Mettle: The saboteur gains Mettle as a Hexblade.
• Undertaker Saboteur: The saboteur's Fort save becomes Good, and they gain Turn Undead as a cleric of their class level, as well as Smite Undead, as Smite Evil of a paladin of their class level.
• Whistling Saboteur: The saboteur gains Bardic Music as a Bard of their class level.

Improved Sunder: At second level, the delving saboteur gains Improved Sunder as a bonus feat. At 6th level, they gain Demolition Expert.

Trap Insight: A 4th level delving saboteur can avoid or survive traps with increasing ease. they may add their charisma modifier to their saves and AC against traps.

Sunder and Disjoin: At 20th level, the delving saboteur is unto as a god of sabotage, and gains Sunder and Disjoin as a bonus feat, not needing to meet the prerequisites.

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