Con Artist
Difficulty: ★★ Involved
The guy that’s too good to be true, the perfect buddy who appears when things look grim, the one holding the knife when ambitions crumble and it’s clear somebody got played? Yeah, that’s probably you.
In your story, a Con Artist could be...
• A loveable grifter who is just letting you think you’re onto his scheme as the real con plays out.
• A charming art-thief working with the police in search of freedom... and redemption.
• A secret agent worming his way into the center of a terrorist network as time runs out.
• An undercover cop forced to balance the mission with new loyalties built on fire and blood.
• Your best friend in the world who would never, ever betray you... would they?
In your story, a Con Artist could be...
• A loveable grifter who is just letting you think you’re onto his scheme as the real con plays out.
• A charming art-thief working with the police in search of freedom... and redemption.
• A secret agent worming his way into the center of a terrorist network as time runs out.
• An undercover cop forced to balance the mission with new loyalties built on fire and blood.
• Your best friend in the world who would never, ever betray you... would they?
Power: Misleading the Mark
Your gift and your curse are that people trust you, believe in you, and care about you. They still want to believe even as you betray them. You lie so well that sometimes even you can’t speak with certainty about the ‘real you’.
Party Role: Talker
You are less about command than acceptance. You blend in. People open up to you and share the secrets that will destroy them, relying on your skills and your judgment until you kick the chair out from under them. But you rarely gloat when they fall: you get too close for that.
Class Skills
Acting, Charisma, Focus, Intuition, Menace, Negotiation, Profession, Stealth, Vigilance
Class Abilities
They’re with Me: (prologue)
You and your teammates gain a +1 Teamwork bonus to all Acting, Charisma, and Negotiation checks and are considered skilled even if they have 0 ranks in those skills. You may spend 2 Twists to increase this bonus to +3 until the end of the session.
Sweet Little Lies:
At Level 1, you gain formidable Acting and may make Acting & Charisma checks using your Cunning modifier.
Sell the Story:
At Level 2 and 11, the Error Range of all Intuition checks targeting you increases by 2 and you may select 3 allies or Communities. You may treat any of these groups as the only allegiance or culture you have any time someone attempts to determine your allegiance or native culture.
The Switcheroo:
(plot twist) At levels 3, 9 and 15, once per adventure you can declare a unique item in your possession or a bystander in your company to be under your protection until the end of the adventure (i.e. “unique items” can include anything significant to the story such as a particular duffel bag full of cash).
If you are parted from the item or character by any means you may spend a Twist to reveal that you previously replaced the target with a reasonably convincing duplicate (such as a forgery, mannequin, or disguised NPC as appropriate). The decoy cannot be identified as such for at least 1 full minute after being taken or destroyed, although it becomes clear it is a fake almost immediately the next time it subject to scrutiny (often in a later scene).
Live the Lie I:
At Level 4, once per session, you may automatically succeed with an Acting or Stealth check with a Goal of up to 30 + your ranks that skill.
Live the Lie II: (plot twist).
At level 8, each time a character gains information that should absolutely blow your cover, you may try to explain it away. If given any chance to speak, spend a Twist and make an opposed Acting vs. Intuition check against the most capable opponent present (at the Game Runner’s discretion). If you succeed, they disregard their information in favor of your explanation... for now. That character and their Unique allies gain a +2 Suspicion bonus towards you until the end of the adventure. All of their non-Unique allies gain a +1 Suspicion bonus until the end of the scene.
Live the Lie III: (Plot Twist)
At Level 12, at the beginning of each session you gain a pool of skill ranks equal to one-half of your class level, rounded up. You may spend these skill ranks at any time as a free action to raise the rank of your skills until the end of the session. You may not increase the rank of any skill higher than your Class Level using this ability.
Con Artist Talent:
At Levels 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15, you gain an additional Chance, Style, or Tradecraft Talent.
Wild Streak:
Your life is a whirlwind people want to get caught up in. At Levels 6 and 12, you gain +2 Presence. You also gain an additional language you may speak as if you were a native speaker or with any accent appropriate to any other language you know, as you choose.
Extreme Social Climbing:
Problem? Turns out you know a guy... At level 10, you gain 100 Reputation
The Devil’s Smile:
You are just so smooth. At Level 14 you gain +5 Grace and +2 Awareness.