Operative

You’re a shadow. You move swiftly, strike suddenly, and always have an escape plan. You’re a consummate professional, and you always get the job done, whether it’s scouting enemy lines, hunting down criminals, stealing and smuggling items, or assassinating key figures. As an operative, you're skilled in a wide variety of disciplines and specialties, and use speed, mobility, and your quick wits rather than relying on heavy weapons. You excel at the art of surprise, whether it’s sniping targets from cover or striking while their backs are turned. Your cause may be righteous, but you have no problem fighting dirty—achieving your objective is all that matters.

## Key Ability Score

Your Dexterity helps you to infiltrate, get into position, escape danger, and make decisive shots with your weapon, so Dexterity is your key ability score. High Intelligence boosts your skills, and Charisma aids in your interactions with other characters.

## Operative's Edge (1st)

Your diverse training as an operative grants you a +1 insight bonus to initiative checks and to skill checks. This bonus increases by 1 at 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter.

## Specialization (1st)

*Main article: Operative Specializations*
Your specialization represents your primary area of expertise. Pick one specialization upon taking your 1st level of the operative class. Once made, this choice cannot be changed. Descriptions of the specializations appear on page 94. Your specialization grants you the Skill Focus feat (see page 161) in your specialization’s associated skills, and you gain a free skill rank in each of those skills at each operative level (this does not allow you to exceed the maximum number of skill ranks in a single skill).

## Trick Attack (1st)

You can trick or startle a foe and then attack when she drops her guard. As a full action, you can move up to your speed. Whether or not you moved, you can then make an attack with a melee weapon with the operative special property or with any small arm. Just before making your attack, attempt a Deception, Intimidate, or Stealth check (or a check associated with your specialization; see page 94) with a DC equal to 20 + your target’s CR. If you succeed at the check, you deal 1d4 additional damage and the target is flat-footed. This damage increases to 1d8 at 3rd level, to 3d8 at 5th level, and by an additional 1d8 every 2 levels thereafter. You can’t use this ability with a weapon that has the unwieldy special property or that requires a full action to make a single attack.

## Evasion (2nd)

If you succeed at a Reflex save against an effect that normally has a partial effect on a successful save, you instead suffer no effect. You gain this benefit only when unencumbered and wearing light armor or no armor, and you lose the benefit when you are helpless or otherwise unable to move.

## Operative Exploit (2nd)

*Main article: Operative Exploits*
As you gain experience, you learn special tricks called operative exploits. You learn your first operative exploit at 2nd level, and you learn an additional exploit every 2 levels thereafter. If an operative exploit allows a saving throw to resist its effects, the DC is equal to 10 + half your operative level + your Dexterity modifier. If it requires an enemy to attempt a skill check, the DC is equal to 10 + 1-1/2 × your operative level + your Dexterity modifier. The list of operative exploits appears on page 95. You cannot learn the same exploit more than once unless it specially says otherwise.

## Quick Movement (3rd)

As long as you are unencumbered and wearing light armor or no armor, your land speed increases by 10 feet. At 9th level, your land speed instead increases by 20 feet, and at 15th level, your land speed instead increases by 30 feet.

## Weapon Specialization (3rd)

You gain Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat for each weapon type this class grants you proficiency with.

## Debilitating Trick (4th)

When you hit an enemy with a trick attack, you can make the creature flat-footed or off-target until the beginning of your next turn. You might learn exploits that grant you additional options for your debilitating trick, but you can select only one option each time you hit with a trick attack.

## Specialization Exploit (5th)

You gain your specialization’s listed exploit as a bonus operative exploit, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites.

==Specialization Skill Mastery (7th)
You become so confident in certain skills that you can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. When attempting a skill check with a skill in which you have the Skill Focus feat, you can take 10 even if stress or distractions would normally prevent you from doing so.

## Uncanny Agility (7th)

You are immune to the flat-footed condition, and your opponent doesn’t gain any bonuses to attack rolls against you from flanking you or attacking you when you’re prone. Furthermore, covering fire and harrying fire don’t provide any advantage against you.

## Triple Attack (8th)

When making a full attack using only melee weapons with the operative special property or small arms, you can make up to three attacks instead of two.

## Specialization Power (11th)

You gain a special power depending on the specialization you chose at 1st level.

## Quad Attack (13th)

When making a full attack using only melee weapons with the operative special property or small arms, you can make up to four attacks instead of two.

## Double Debilitation (17th)

When you hit an enemy with a trick attack, you can apply two of the effects from your debilitating trick.

## Supreme Operative (20th)

Whenever you attempt a skill check with your specialization’s associated skills, you can roll twice and take the higher result. Once per day as a move action, you can temporarily trade out one of your operative exploits for another operative exploit requiring the same level or lower. This trade lasts 24 hours. If the exploit you trade away is a prerequisite for any of your other abilities, you lose all abilities that require it as a prerequisite for the duration.

## Alternate Class Features

### Marked for Death (1st)

You’ve been trained with a particular set of abilities to excel at taking down enemies. Your specialization doesn’t grant you Skill Focus or free skill ranks with its associated skills. Instead, you can mark for death one opponent within 100 feet that you’re aware of as a move action. As long as that target is in sight, you gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and the save DC of your operative class features and weapon critical effects against that foe. Marking a target for death focuses all of your attention on that foe, causing you to take a −2 penalty to AC and Reflex saves against attacks and effects that do not originate from the marked foe. You can end this effect as a swift action or a reaction, and designating another target causes you to immediately lose this bonus against the previous target.

At 7th level, whenever you hit a flat-footed foe that you’ve marked for death with a trick attack, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to force the target to attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your operative level + your Dexterity modifier). If the target fails this save, any condition you imposed on the target with debilitating trick has a duration of 1 round per operative level you have. If your target succeeds, you still apply all the normal effects of your trick attack.

This ability alters specialization and replaces specialization skill mastery.

### Stunt and Strike (1st)

*Main article: Stunts*
You can perform skillful stunts while going on the offensive. As a full action, you can move up to your speed. Whether or not you moved, you can then make an attack with any weapon you’re wielding and are proficient with, even a weapon with the unwieldy property or that requires a full action to make a single attack. Just before making your attack, attempt a skill check with one skill that you have Skill Focus with (DC = 20 + your target’s CR). If you succeed at the check, the target is flatfooted against attacks you make using this ability. At any point during the full action, you can also trigger one stunt that you know. The stunt must match the skill you are using for the stunt and strike attack. At 7th level, you can perform two stunts you know. If the stunts use different skills, you must attempt both skill checks, and if either fails, your target is not flat-footed.

At 1st level, choose one stunt associated with a skill with which you have Skill Focus. At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you choose another stunt that uses any skill that you have Skill Focus with. If a stunt allows a saving throw, its DC is equal to 10 + half your operative level + your Dexterity modifier. Each of the skills listed below has several stunts associated with it.

This replaces trick attack and debilitating strike.

### Quick Trick (3rd)

You can make a trick attack as a standard action. You cannot make any other attack during a round when you do this, and cannot take any action that affects or modifies your attack or the weapon you are attacking with.

This replaces quick movement.

### Quick Zero-G Adaptation (3rd)

You can quickly and easily adapt to the difficulties of operating in zero-g. You reduce the DC for any check required to move in zero-g by 5. In addition, when you use a move action to push off an object in zero-g, you move at your full land speed instead of at half.

This replaces quick movement.

### Operative’s Arsenal (8th)

At 8th level, choose one of the following weapon types: advanced melee weapons, longarms, heavy weapons, or any one special weapon of your choice. You gain proficiency with the chosen weapon type (or weapon, if you chose a special weapon). In addition, you can use trick attack with weapons of the chosen type. You do not add trick attack damage to such attacks, but the target is still flat-footed and you can use debilitating trick. At 13th level, you can choose a second type of weapon from the list.

This replaces triple attack and quad attack.

## Archetypes

If the Operative takes on an archetype, some of its class features will be altered. At 2nd, 4th, 6th, 12th, and 18th levels, they do not gain any operative exploit. Also starting at 9th level, the damage dealt with trick attack is 1d8 lower than normal.