There are few places safe from the wily thief-acrobats. No building is tall enough, no roof steep enough, and no ledge precarious enough for a thief-acrobat to shy away from. Nothing is too dangerous or foolish, depending on your point of view.

Role: Thief-acrobats usually prefer melee combat. In melee, they can trip, disarm, and otherwise confound foes with their gymnastic combat styles. All thief-acrobats have at least a few levels of rogue, with multiclassed rogue/fighters, rogue/monks, and rogue bards not uncommon. Few other classes gain much benefit from the thief-acrobat path.

Alignment: Most thief-acrobats, being particularly larcenous individuals, are rarely lawful. However, some enterprising thief-catchers find the abilities of the thief-acrobat to be particularly suited to their professions.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

• Skills: Acrobatics 5 ranks, Climb 5 ranks.
• Feats: Agile Maneuvers, Dodge, Mobility.
• Special: Stand Up and Ledge Walker class features.

Class Skills

Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), and Stealth (Dex).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Level	Base Attack	Fort	Ref	Will	Special Abilities
1st	+0	+0	+1	+0	AC Bonus +1, Acrobatic Mastery, Slow Fall 20 ft.
2nd	+1	+1	+1	+1	Kip Up, Sneak Attack +1d6
3rd	+2	+1	+2	+1	Rogue Talent, Slow Fall 40 ft.
4th	+3	+1	+2	+1	AC Bonus +2, Acrobatic Maneuvers, Sneak Attack +2d6
5th	+3	+2	+3	+2	Acrobatic Charge, Slow Fall 60 ft.
6th	+4	+2	+3	+2	Rogue Talent, Sneak Attack +3d6
7th	+5	+2	+4	+2	AC Bonus +3, Improved Evasion, Slow Fall 80 ft.
8th	+6	+3	+4	+3	Free Movement, Sneak Attack +4d6
9th	+6	+3	+5	+3	Rogue Talent, Slow Fall 100 ft.
10th	+7	+3	+5	+3	AC Bonus +4, Acrobatic Strike, Sneak Attack +5d6

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Thief-acrobats gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Most of the thief-acrobat's abilities require that she not wear armor heavier than light. She loses the benefits of her AC Bonus, Acrobatic Mastery, Slow Fall, Kip Up, Acrobatic Maneuvers, and Free Movement abilities if she wears armor heavier than light or carries a medium or heavier load.

AC Bonus (Ex): A thief-acrobat receives a dodge bonus to Armor Class that starts at +1 and improves as the thief-acrobat gains levels, until it reaches +4 at 10th level.

The thief-acrobat loses this bonus to AC if she wears armor heavier than light or carries a medium or heavier load.

Acrobatic Mastery (Ex): A thief-acrobat is a master at performing acrobatic stunts. She gains a bonus on Acrobatics checks equal to 1/2 her thief-acrobat level. A thief-acrobat that wears heavy or medium armor or carries a medium or heavy load loses this bonus.

Slow Fall (Ex): A thief-acrobat reduces the effective distance of falls by 20 feet. The thief-acrobat's slow distance increases as she gains in levels, to a maximum of 100 ft. at 9th level. See the monk class feature. If a thief-acrobat has this ability from another class, the distances stack to determine the effective reduction of the falling distance. This ability works only if the thief-acrobat wears light or no armor and carries no more than a light load.

Kip Up (Ex): At 2nd level, when using her Stand Up ability, a thief-acrobat no longer provokes attacks of opportunity. This ability works only if the thief-acrobat wears light or no armor and carries no more than a light load.

Sneak Attack: At 2nd level, the thief-acrobat gains the ability to strike foes in vital areas. This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name. The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 every third level thereafter (5th, and 8th). If a thief-acrobat gets a sneak attack bonus from another source, the bonuses on damage stack.

Rogue Talent: At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, a thief-acrobat gains a special ability that allows her to confound her foes. This functions as the rogue talent class feature. A thief-acrobat cannot select an individual talent more than once. If a thief-acrobat has the advanced talents rogue class feature, she can chose from the advanced talents list instead.

Acrobatic Maneuvers (Ex): At 4th-level, a thief-acrobat uses her gymnastic training to aid in combat. She gains a bonus on all CMB checks equal to her thief-acrobat level. A thief-acrobat that wears heavy or medium armor or carries a medium or heavy load loses this bonus.

Acrobatic Charge (Ex): At 5th level, the thief-acrobat can charge in situations where others cannot. She can charge over difficult terrain that normally slows movement or through allies blocking her path. This ability enables her to charge across a cluttered battlefield, leap down from a ledge, or swing across a chasm to get to her target. Depending on the circumstance, she may still need to make appropriate checks (such as an Acrobatics checks) to successfully move over the terrain.

Improved Evasion (Ex): A 7th-level thief-acrobat can avoid damage from certain attacks with a successful Reflex save and takes only half damage on a failed save. See the monk class feature. A thief-acrobat that wears heavy or medium armor or carries a medium or heavy load loses this benefit.

Free Movement (Su): At 8th level a thief-acrobat can slip out of bonds, grapples, and even the effects of confining spells easily. This ability duplicates the effects of a freedom of movement spell. A thief-acrobat can activate this ability as a swift action and can have it active for a number of rounds equal to her thief-acrobat level + her Dexterity modifier. These rounds need not be consecutive. A thief-acrobat that wears heavy or medium armor or carries a medium or heavy load loses this benefit.

Acrobatic Strike (Ex): At 10th level, a thief-acrobat is a master at unbalancing opponents with her unpredictable attacks. Whenever she would sneak attack an opponent she can make a free combat maneuver check as a trip attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity. She is not at risk of falling prone if she fails the check by 10 or more.

She cannot combine this strike with any other ability that affects her sneak attack (such as the bleeding attack or dispelling strike rogue talents).

Author's Note: This is the thief-acrobat from the Complete Adventurer redesigned and updated for PFRPG. During the update I realized that there was a little too much meat on the class for it to remain a 5-level prestige class, so I expanded it back to 10 levels. Most of the old abilities I chucked in favor of new abilities that seemed to mesh a bit better with Pathfinder.

Additional Ratings
Balance:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 27 Votes )
Utility:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 25 Votes )
Clarity:	1 2 3 4 5 ( 26 Votes )