Most rogues tempt Fate regularly, and more than occasionally she takes the bait. The lucky bastard’s risk-taking, on the other hand, seems to amuse Lady Luck, who rewards her with spectacular successes. When she fails her, however, her overreach causes disaster.
Kismet (Ex): Rather than trusting only her wits and guts, a lucky bastard relies on Lady Luck’s blessing in combat. Starting at 2nd level, she gains a pool of kismet: a fluctuating measure of her ability to perform amazing actions in combat. At the start of each day, she gains a number of kismet points equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Her kismet goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than her Charisma modifier (minimum 1), though feats and magic items can affect this maximum. A lucky bastard spends kismet to accomplish deeds (see below), and regains kismet in the following ways.
- Natural 1 on a saving throw. Each time the lucky bastard rolls a natural 1 on a saving throw, she regains 1 kismet point. If an ability or effect would allow the lucky bastard to roll twice or reroll, she regains kismet only if the roll she takes is a natural 1. Rolling a natural 1 on a saving throw against an effect caused by a creature, trap, or effect with a CR less than half her character level or who is not genuinely hostile to her doesn’t restore kismet.
- Natural 1 on an attack roll. Each time the lucky bastard rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll against a creature she regains one kismet point. If an ability or effect would allow the lucky bastard to roll twice or reroll, she regains kismet only if the roll she takes is a natural 1. Rolling a natural 1 on an attack against a creature with a CR less than half her character level or who is not genuinely hostile to her doesn’t restore kismet.
- Gamble: When the lucky bastard makes an attack against a creature with a weapon she has selected with finesse training she can choose to roll a d3 along with her attack roll. If the d3 is a 1 and the attack hits, it does the minimum possible damage, including precision damage, if applicable. (For example, an attack dealing 1d6+3 with sneak attack 2d6 would deal 6 damage.) If the d3 is a 2, the attack is resolved normally. If the d3 is a 3 and the attack hits, the lucky bastard regains one kismet point. She can attempt this for as many attacks as she might make in a round, including attacks of opportunity, but can only regain one kismet point per round in this way. A gambling attack against a creature with a CR less than half her character level or who is not genuinely hostile to her doesn’t restore kismet.
Attempting to manipulate or circumvent the definition of “genuinely hostile” attracts the ire of Lady Luck and results in the lucky bastard being unable to use her kismet or any abilities requiring it for one hour per level as well as the occurrence of numerous tiny coincidences that make her life unpleasant during this time. (What these might be are entirely subject to the GM’s imagination, but should have little effect on gameplay and virtually none on combat. Examples might include tripping outside of combat and falling face-first into manure or being mistaken for someone a shopkeeper hates.)
This ability replaces evasion.
Deeds: Lucky Bastards spend kismet points to accomplish deeds. Most deeds grant the lucky bastard a momentary bonus or effect, but some provide longer-lasting effects. Some deeds remain in effect while the lucky bastard has at least 1 kismet point, but do not require expending kismet to be maintained. A lucky bastard can only perform deeds of her level or lower. Unless otherwise noted, a deed can be performed multiple successive times, as long as the lucky bastard has or spends the required number of kismet points to perform the deed.
At 2nd level the lucky bastard gains the swashbuckler’s kip-up deed (using kismet instead of panache) as well as the following deed.
Turnabout (Ex): At 2nd level, when an enemy makes an attack of opportunity against the lucky bastard for moving through one of its threatened squares the lucky bastard may spend a kismet point to make an Acrobatics check as a free action, even if it isn’t her turn, against a DC of the enemy’s combat maneuver defense. If she succeeds, the enemy’s attack of opportunity is wasted with no effect, the enemy can make no further attacks of opportunity against her until the end of her next turn, and she may make her own attack of opportunity against the enemy. If she fails, the attack of opportunity is resolved normally and if it hits the lucky bastard falls prone.
Deceptive Tumbling (Ex): At 4th level, as long as the lucky bastard has at least one kismet point remaining, when she uses Acrobatics to move through threatened squares or as part of the turnabout deed, instead of making her check against a DC of her opponent’s CMD, she may choose to make her check against a DC of 10 + her opponent’s base attack bonus + her opponent’s Wisdom modifier. If her opponent is trained in Perception, the DC is instead equal to 10 + her opponent’s Perception bonus, if higher. The opponent gains a +5 bonus to their check if the lucky bastard attempts to move through their space. She may only use this ability as part of the turnabout deed if she has at least one kismet point remaining after spending turnabout’s cost.
Dicey Thrust (Ex): At 4th level, the lucky bastard may, as a standard action, spend a kismet point to make a single attack with a weapon she has selected with finesse training. The target loses its Dexterity bonus against this attack and the attack deals 1d4 extra damage per two unchained rogue levels, but if it misses the lucky bastard drops the weapon she used to make the attack. If the lucky bastard could not drop the weapon (such as if she made it with a natural weapon), she is instead staggered for one round.
At 12th level the lucky bastard gains the swashbuckler’s evasive deed (using kismet instead of panache) as well as the following deed.
Acrobatic Assault (Ex): At 12th level, the lucky bastard may spend a kismet point and take a full-round action to move up to twice her speed, making one attack against each enemy she moves past with a weapon she has selected with finesse training. Any ability or effect that would specifically allow her to prevent attacks of opportunity (such as the turnabout deed) is suppressed during this movement, but she may use Acrobatics and the deceptive tumbling deed as normal. If she is struck by an attack of opportunity during her movement, she immediately stops and until the start of her next turn is flat-footed against attacks made by the enemy who successfully attacked her and any she attacked during this movement (regardless of whether her attacks hit).
At 18th level the lucky bastard gains the swashbuckler’s cheat death deed (using kismet instead of panache) as well as the following deed.
Felicitous Footwork (Ex): At 18th level, the lucky bastard may spend a kismet point as a standard action to apply the turnabout deed to all attacks made against her before the beginning of her next turn. She also gains a bonus on Acrobatics checks equal to twice the current size of her kismet pool; if the size of her kismet pool decreases, so does this bonus.
This ability replaces the rogue talents gained at 2nd, 4th, 12th, and 18th level.
Kismet
Kismet counts as luck for the purpose of qualifying for and activating feats, but not for other purposes. If a character has a kismet ability from two sources, the kismet points from the two sources do not stack, but the character regains kismet in any way either class feature allows them to. If the character's kismet abilities would give them kismet points based on different ability scores, they use the highest.