Chapter 1 - Non-weapon Proficiencies
Awareness Non-weapon Proficiency
(must be from Al-qadim )
Characters with the awareness proficiency are light sleepers, always alert to danger and attuned to their immediate surroundings. They gain two key advantages:
First, if they’re roused from slumber (during an attack at night, for example), they can react immediately, as if they had been awake. Provided a weapon is close at hand (a jambiya placed beneath the pillow, for instance), they can even attack during the round in which they awaken. No proficiency check is required. This ability does not affect magical slumber, however, such as that created by a sleep spell or related magicks.
Second, characters with the awareness proficiency can detect and ward off the effects of a thief’s backstabbing ability. If a thief is backstabbing a target with the awareness ability, and the target is otherwise uninvolved in combat, then the target is granted a proficiency check. If the check fails, the backstabbing occurs normally. If the check succeeds and the target does not have initiative, the backstabbing proceeds, but the thief suffers a -2 attack penalty (damage bonuses still apply). If the check succeeds and the target has initiative, the target can wheel and attack the backstabbing rogue immediately, causing the rogue to lose all backstabbing bonuses and damage multipliers.
