Steel Shadow

A set of skills granted to a clone, the result of Stitches' Wish to become as skilled in stealth and combat as their old friend Nightkin. Rogues who follow the way of the Steel Shadow utilize their intelligence and dexterity alike to walk through battle unnoticed and unscathed until they identify and strike directly at an enemy's weakest point.

Fade Away

Starting at 3rd level, you've mastered the art of striking an enemy's blind spot and returning to the shadows before they can even catch a glimpse of you. After making a successful Sneak Attack, you may attempt the Hide as part of the same action used to trigger the Sneak Attack, provided the normal rules for hiding are met. So long as there is a shadow cast nearby, you can hide within the shadow from the target of your attack and gain half cover until you take an action or reaction.

If a creature spots you and strikes you within this shadow, its protection falters and you become visible once more.

In addition, your keen mind allows you to process the situation and formulate a plan of attack faster than most others, as well as identify blind spots and locate points of calm in the maelstrom of battle. You may add your Intelligence modifier to your initiative rolls.

Martial Prowess

Your intellect and martial skills combined enable the use of several complex techniques, which you can use to outmaneuver your foes in combat:

• Parry: As a reaction to being targeted by an attack, you gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Dexterity modifier until the start of your next turn, having assumed a defensive stance.
• Pierce: As a bonus action, you steadily aim your weapon to slide through gaps in a targets physical armor. When making an attack upon taking this bonus action, the target gets no bonus from worn armor or shields. If the weapon you are wielding is magical, the attack ignores all magical bonuses to the target's AC as well.
• Breathe: As an action, you may regain hit points equal to 1d8 + half your rogue level, and can choose to end either the charmed or frightened condition on yourself if either are inflicted on you.
• Cleave: When rolling damage dice of your weapon, you roll one extra damage die. At 7th level, you roll 2 extra die, and at 15th level, you roll 3 extra die.
• Focus: As a free action, your next attack is made with advantage.
• Roll: When using uncanny dodge, you can choose to halve the damage a second time, resulting in the damage you take being 1/4 of the original.

Use of any of these techniques requires you to expend 1 Intellect point. You have a number of Intellect points equal to your Intelligence modifier, and regain all expended Intellect points upon completion of a short or long rest.

Tactical Sweep

You can instantly analyze a creature's defenses and find the gap to make your strikes count. You are now able to bypass a creatures resistances when you strike them with a successful sneak attack.

Additionally, you can now size up a creature as a bonus action by making a contested Intelligence (Investigation) check against a Charisma (Deception) check of their own. Doing this allows you to learn two of the following tidbits:

• Whether they have greater or fewer hit points than you.
• Whether they have a higher or lower level than you.
• Whether their AC is lower or greater than yours.
• Their resistances (If any).
• Their immunities (if any).
• Their vulnerabilities (if any).

If they succeed on the Charisma (Deception) check, you cannot make this check against them for 4 hours.

Precision Protocol

You are able to move through the battlefield with the grace of a dance, and appear wherever and whenever the enemy least expects. While you are within a shadow, you can cast misty step an amount of times equal to your Intelligence modifier to teleport into another shadow. When misty step is cast this way, it has a range of 100 ft.

You also can perform a Windup while in combat with hostile enemies, whirling your weapon around you to build its momentum before striking. You make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check as a bonus action, gaining one of the following effects based on the number rolled:

• 1-7: You fumble, falling prone and suffering a -1 penalty to your armor class until the start of your next turn.
• 8-14: You gain advantage on your next attack roll.
• 15-21: The critical threat range of your next attack increases by 1.
• 22-28: You gain advantage on your next attack roll, and the critical threat range of your next attack increases by 1.
• 29-35: You gain advantage on your next attack roll, the critical threat range of your next attack increases by 1, and you regain an Intellect point.
• 36+: You gain advantage on your next attack roll, the critical threat range of your attacks increases by 1 until the end of your next turn, and you regain 2 Intellect points.

Eviscerate

In an instant, you can calculate the way around any enemy defenses and find the most vulnerable place to strike. Your Sneak Attacks now bypass any enemy resistances or immunities. Once per short or long rest, you may choose double the base damage dice of your Sneak Attack against a target, and after they are damaged in this manner, they are prevented from regaining hit points for 1d4+2 rounds.