Among practitioners and adepts in the ways of illusion, there are those who specialize in the art of disguise to a degree unmatched by many. Developing their talents for impersonation and deception, face stealers are often shadowy agents of espionage and social trickery. Trust is a luxury many can ill afford, and the face stealer has a hidden monopoly on the market.
The face stealer is an archetype of the illusionist class.
Archetype Main Ability Scores:
The face stealer mainly focuses on DEX for combat, and CHA for his class features and spells.
Archetype Feature Replacements:
1st – Limit Break, Blinding Ray, Deceptive Flourish. 2nd – Cloaked Casting. 3rd – Chains of Disbelief, Veil Power. 4th – Clear Vision, Social Cloaking. 9th – Illusionary Puppet, Veil Power. 11th – Beguiling Aura.
Limit Break (Su)
At 1st level, the face stealer receives the Limit Break (Perfect Mimicry).
Perfect Mimicry (Su): This Limit Break allows the face stealer to copy any humanoid up to 60 feet away perfectly. The face stealer can use any abilities of the person copied (whose HD cannot exceed 1.5 times the face stealer’s own HD), even casting spells without using a MP pool if the person copied is a spell-caster. The face stealer uses his own stats, saving throws, hit points, and any equipment he possesses. The face stealer can copy another humanoid once per round as a swift action. This limit break lasts for a duration of 1 round + 1 round per four illusionist levels after 1st.
This ability replaces one of the illusionist’s standard Limit Breaks.
Disguise Expert (Ex)
At 1st level, a face stealer can use disguise with great results. When disguising himself as a different gender, heritage, age category, or size category, a face stealer reduces the penalties for each by –2. For example, if the face stealer disguises himself as a female two age categories older than himself, he would take a –2 to the check instead of a –6. Also, a face stealer can don a disguise with 1d3 minutes of work (instead of the normal 1d3 x 10 minutes of work).
Additionally, when a face stealer casts disguise self on himself, his caster level for the effect is treated as 2 higher for the purpose of determining the duration of the effect. He can use these spells to take the appearance of specific individuals of the type of form he chooses, gaining a +10 to Disguise checks. Furthermore, these spells grant the face stealer a +10 bonus to Disguise checks made as part of his voice mimicry ability (see below).
This ability replaces blinding ray.
Consummate Actor (Ex)
At 1st level, a face stealer adds half his illusionist level (minimum 1) on all Disguise checks and on Bluff checks to stay in character while using Disguise.
At 3rd level, he gains the quick disguise thief talent, and he can create a disguise twice as quickly as normal even for that thief talent (he can create a disguise that encompasses only minor details as a standard action).
This ability replaces deceptive flourish and a veil power gained at 3rd level.
Illusory Impersonation (Ex)
At 2nd level, using his ability to emulate the thoughts of creature that he has touched, the face stealer can impersonate other living creatures’ mannerisms, speech patterns, knowledge, and overall demeanor, thus granting a +5 competence bonus to Disguise checks made to imitate those creatures. The face stealer can use this ability at will, although he must have touched the creature to be impersonated at some point. In addition, the face stealer masters an androgynous, ageless, racially ambiguous base appearance to project to the world if he wishes. He never takes a penalty on Disguise skill checks for assuming a different gender, race, or age. This ability stacks with the Disguise bonus granted by the face stealer’s Veil Pool powers.
This ability replaces cloaked casting.
Voice Mimicry (Ex)
At 3rd level, a face stealer learns to mimic voices and sounds around him. Using this ability requires a special Disguise check, and creatures hearing the voice can make a Perception check to discover the ruse. A face stealer can attempt to emulate any creature or other sound he has heard clearly for at least 1 minute. The bonuses or penalties to this special Disguise check are modified in the following ways, all of which are cumulative.
|
Disguised Voice |
Check Modifier |
| Voice is not your own, but not that of a distinct individual |
+5 |
| Voice is that of a different gender |
–2 |
| Voice is that of a different race |
–2 |
| Voice is that of a different age category |
–2 |
| Voice is that of a different size category |
–5 |
Also, the creature making the Perception check gains a bonus based on its familiarity with specific voices, just as if it were confronted with a normal disguise. This ability is a language-dependent effect, meaning that if a creature cannot hear or understand what the face stealer is saying, the ruse fails. Magic items, feats, and traits that affect typical disguises do not affect this disguise check.
At 6th level, the face stealer gains the effects of its face stealer advanced thief talent on this special use of the Disguise skill (no penalty for a voice of a different gender, race, or age category, and only a –3 penalty for a different size category).
This ability replaces chains of disbelief.
Facade (Su)
The face stealer is so readily in control of his own expressions that he becomes effectively unreadable to others, displaying only what he wishes them to see. Beginning at 4th level and every four illusionist levels thereafter, the face stealer gains a +2 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy.
This ability replaces clear vision.
Masquerade (Su)
At 4th level, the face stealer may fashion illusory disguises not only for himself, but for others. Once a day, the face stealer can spend a number of Veil Pool points up to his Charisma modifier to alter the appearance, as per the spell disguise other, of a number of targets equal to the number of points expended. This is an illusion effect that lasts a number of hours equal to a quarter of the face stealer’s illusionist level. In addition, the face stealer’s targets benefit from any Veil Pool audible, tactile, and sense-fooling alterations of which the face stealer himself is capable.
This ability replaces social cloaking.
Identity Theft (Ex)
At 9th level, the face stealer may not only assume an identity for himself, but also take it from another. Once per day, whenever the face stealer uses the disguise skill to change his appearance, he may assume the appearance of a specific individual within 30 feet. In doing so, as a standard action, he forces the target to make a Will save (DC 10 + half the illusionist’s level + his Charisma modifier). If the target fails, not only does the face stealer take on his appearance, but the target becomes androgynous, ageless, racially ambiguous, featureless, and otherwise forgettable in appearance for as long as the face stealer wears the target’s visage. The target will not be recognized on sight by his family, friends, companions, etc., and takes 2 points of Charisma damage. The face stealer may wear this identity continuously for up to a number of days equal to his Charisma modifier; once he chooses to let go of the identity or its duration expires, the target’s features return to normal, but the Charisma damage remains unless it is healed as normal.
Alternatively, the face stealer may simply remove the face of an enemy for a time (so long as it has a face of some sort). If the target fails a Will save (DC 10 + half the illusionist’s level + his Charisma modifier), then its face becomes truly blank, as though its skin were stretched across all its features—eyes, mouth, nose, and all. The target becomes Blinded, Shaken, and loses its senses of sight, smell, and taste for a number of rounds equal to the face stealer’s Charisma modifier. The target’s face reappears, its status effects end, and its senses are restored once the ability’s duration expires.
This ability replaces illusionary puppet.
Grandmaster of Disguise (Ex)
At 9th level, a face stealer gains the face stealer advanced thief talent and can use it an unlimited number of times per day. Because he must still don a physical disguise to gain this bonus, it doesn’t stack with the bonuses from spells like disguise self, but since it is completely non-magical, it is more reliable when scrutinized under magical detection.
This ability replaces a veil power gained at 9th level.
Null Aura (Sp)
At 11th level, a face stealer benefits from constant nondetection, requiring those who wish to use divinations on them to succeed at a caster level check (DC = 15 + his illusionist level). The face stealer may raise or lower this protection as a swift action.
This ability replaces beguiling aura.
