Alter Ego
A highly guarded castle in the middle of an extravagant ball, the headquarters of a city’s infamous thieves’ guild, the locked room in the back of a cultist hideout—all perfect targets for you to use your expertise at blending in. Rather than skulking through the shadows, you use your training and latent supernatural abilities to become a mirror, playing on the perceptions of others and taking on whatever role necessary to get in and out of your destination before anyone has a chance to think something is amiss.
Performing an alter ego means going unregarded. Passing as just a face in the crowd is crucial, and accolades come as the gratitude from your leaders or coin from your clients, rather than the awed adoration from a crowd. This arrangement might suit you fine, as you thrive in a job well done and on the thrill of walking flagrantly past your duped adversaries. Or it might become pent up, until you can’t resist a dramatic reveal or a signature calling card that shows you were there. One final word before speeding away from the castle, a gloating message left behind, or some other sign reveals your skill—usually too late for your victims to do anything about it.
Alter Egos in Golarion
While some alter egos work independently as freelancers, they’re especially popular in all sorts of espionage and intelligence agencies throughout the Inner Sea and beyond. The Lion Blades of Taldor, Twilight Talons of Andoran, Silver Ravens of Ravounel, and various Chelaxian secret police use alter egos to keep abreast of situations throughout the Shining Kingdoms and Old Cheliax. Meanwhile, powerful mercantile groups, like the Golden League in Tian Xia or the Aspis Consortium, employ alter egos for corporate espionage, making sure they always stay one step ahead of the competition. In Mzali in the Mwangi Expanse, the rebels known as the Bright Lions often seek the aid of alter egos to escape the notice of the mummified child god Walkena.
Alter Ego Dedication Feat 2
Prerequisites trained in Deception and Stealth
You make yourself into a living mirror, becoming a double of someone unremarkable, and you slip into exactly the role that can get you past security or into a sensitive facility. You become an expert in Deception. You gain the Assume a Role activity.
Special You can’t select another dedication feat until you’ve gained two other feats from the alter ego archetype.
We’re on the List Feat 3
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication, or Archaeologist Dedication; trained in Society
Access Members of the Firebrands at the rank of second mark or higher have access to this feat.
Trigger An ally you can see and hear is about to attempt a Deception check to Impersonate someone or Lie.
Emulating Shensen whenever she arrives at a show, you share your knowledge of the region and drop a few important local names to make a good impression and help your allies do the same. Attempt a Society check to Aid your ally. If you succeed, you recall a few specific details about local culture and personalities to help support your ally’s deception. In addition to the benefits of your Aid, the triggering ally rolls their Deception check twice and takes the better result. This is a fortune effect.
Change of Face Feat 4
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
You know that for the best disguise to work, one requires not only the right skills but also the right look-luckily you can copy both using special magical techniques. When you Impersonate, you don’t need a disguise kit; instead, simple illusions or temporary transmutations ripple over your body like mirror shards, providing the supplies that the kit ordinarily would. When you Impersonate in this way, your Impersonate activity gains the occult trait.
Fake It Till You Make It Feat 4
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
When you take on a role, you become more capable with all sorts of tasks involving that role. When you Assume a Role, choose two skills associated with the role in some way; if you’re untrained, you can use your level as your proficiency bonus for those skills, and you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to skill checks with those skills as long as you remain in that role. You and the GM determine which skills you assume.
In Plain Sight Feat 4
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
People often only see what they want to see, a weakness you know how to take full advantage of. While you’ve Assumed a Role, you can use Deception in place of Stealth when using the Avoid Notice exploration activity in an area where someone with your role wouldn’t be unusual, such as when impersonating a sailor or fisher when infiltrating the docks.
Sound Mirror Feat 6
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
You twist not just the visual, but the auditory as well, allowing you to pass without a sound and create minor noises as distractions-perfect for misdirection and infiltration. You can cast Silence on yourself as a 2nd-level innate occult spell and Ventriloquism as a 1st-level innate occult spell, both once per day. You also can cast Ghost Sound as an innate occult cantrip. You become trained in occult spell attack rolls and spell DCs, and your key spellcasting ability is Charisma.
Muscle Mimicry Feat 7
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication; master in Deception and trained in Athletics
Trigger An enemy makes a successful Disarm, Escape, Grapple, Shove, or Trip attempt.
Your study of another allows you to mirror their movements subtly, even in the heat of combat. You study the successful maneuver of an enemy and instinctively learn to do it. The next time you take the same action they did, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your Athletics check, or a +2 circumstance bonus if the enemy critically succeeded on their triggering action. You lose this benefit if you don’t use it before the end of your next turn.
Swap Reflections Feat 8
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
Frequency once per 10 minutes
You’ve learned how to use even your reflection to your advantage. You send your own reflection to forcibly swap places with the reflection of an enemy, pulling each of you through opposite ends and switching places. The enemy must be within 120 feet, you must both be adjacent to reflective surfaces (such as glass, mirrors, or calm water), and you must be able to see the target’s reflection and have line of effect to it. The target attempts a @Check[type:will|dc:resolve(@actor.system.attributes.classOrSpellDC.value)] save against your spell DC or class DC, whichever is higher.
Critical Success The spell has no effect.
Success You swap positions with your target or arrive adjacent to your target, whichever your target prefers.
Failure You swap positions with your target or arrive adjacent to your target, whichever you prefer.
Critical Failure You instantaneously swap positions with your target, and the target becomes trapped in its own reflection for 1 minute. Once on each of its turns, the target can spend 1 action to attempt another Will save to escape. If the save succeeds, the effect ends early.
Illusory Identity Feat 12
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
Access Members of the Firebrands at the rank of second mark or higher have access to this feat.
There are times when skills or looks are not enough to convince someone of your identity, and you instead require adequate documentation. Replicating the methods of the Sapphire Butterfly, you’ve learned to use magic to forge a new identity as you need it. During your daily preparations, you can choose a blank piece of paper, journal, badge, or similar item normally used to display authority, to magically invest. You can use an Interact action to mentally outline the basic information that is displayed when that item is presented to another creature, such as a name, a title, connection to an existing group or agency, and other basic details. A more complex outline requires more time, at the GM’s discretion. That creature must attempt a Will save against your Deception DC. This item only works while you are holding it and appears blank if anyone else attempts to use it, though you can include others within the details of your outline.
Critical Success The target sees the item as being entirely blank, and becomes immune to this effect until your next daily preparations.
Success The target sees only the basic information listed out in a simplistic manner, as described in the Interact action. Though not fully convinced, the target plays along, but this worsens the target’s attitude toward you by one step.
Failure The target sees the information presented by the item in the proper format relevant to your situation, with the appropriate language, names, dates, signatures, and other details.
Critical Failure The target sees the information presented by the item as granting a higher level of authority than anticipated, and immediately treats you with the proper deference. As failure, and the target’s attitude toward you immediately improves by one step.
Borrow Memories Feat 14
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication
Knowing how someone thinks makes it much easier to know where they’ll be, or even replace them altogether. You can cast Mind Probe as an innate occult spell once per day, using your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.
If you cast mind probe on a target you’re studying for the purpose of Assuming their Role, and the target fails their save, you can delay the spell from coming into effect until you Assume their Role. When you use the spell this way, you can Sustain it up to 10 times during its duration, asking a question each time. The spell lasts until you ask all 10 questions or are no longer Assuming the Role, whichever comes first. You don’t need to Sustain the Spell to extend its duration-only when asking a question-nor do you need to be in range or have line of effect to Sustain it.
It Was Me All Along! Feat 14
Frequency once per day
Prerequisites Alter Ego Dedication, or Vigilante Dedication
Access Members of the Firebrands at the rank of second mark or higher have access to this feat.
Requirements Your identity is hidden, either by magic or a disguise.
You discard a disguise and dramatically reveal your true identity, catching your foes off guard. If you created your disguise using magic such as with humanoid form or illusory disguise, you immediately Dismiss the spell as a free action. Stride up to your speed and attempt a Deception check to Feint one target within 30 feet. If you succeed, you roll twice and take the better result on your first attack roll against that target this turn.