Some questions about Dungeon Master Guide 3.0 Edition book.

On Page 29
About Table: Special vs Spell per day.
In relation to this table of special versus spell per day related with the prestige class assassin. The special column is the list of spells? And in the Spell per day the 1st, 2nd,3rd,4th are the spell levels and the number of spells available for the spell listed in the special column?

Thanks for your help,
[FONT=&quot] Alejandro[/FONT]

I don't think I understand what question you are trying to ask...can you rephrase it?

akbearfoot said:

I don't think I understand what question you are trying to ask...can you rephrase it?

Click to expand...

I'm just trying to check If I did understand correctly that rule.

anvillarroel said:

On Page 29
About Table: Special vs Spell per day.
In relation to this table of special versus spell per day related with the prestige class assassin. The special column is the list of spells? And in the Spell per day the 1st, 2nd,3rd,4th are the spell levels and the number of spells available for the spell listed in the special column?

Thanks for your help,
[FONT=&quot]Alejandro[/FONT]

Click to expand...

It would help if I had a 3.0 book: Can you quote the info?

If I remember correctly the assassin's spell table was not very clear in the 3.0 rule, may be some mistake somewhere.
No book near me sorry.

Here is the info from the 3.0 srd: http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/srd/srdbasiccharacterclassesi.rtf

——— Spells per Day ———
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
----- --- --- --- ---
1st 0 — — —
2nd 1 — — —
3rd 1 0 — —
4th 1 1 — —
5th 1 1 0 —
6th 1 1 1 —
7th 2 1 1 0
8th 2 1 1 1
9th 2 2 1 1
10th 2 2 2 1

. . .

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, an assassin gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, the assassin must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so an assassin with an Intelligence of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Assassin bonus spells are based on Intelligence, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the assassin’s Intelligence modifier (if any). When the assassin gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st-level spells at 1st level, the assassin gets only bonus spells. An assassin without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level. The assassin’s spell list appears below. An assassin prepares and casts spells just as a wizard does.

. . .

Assassins choose their spells from the following list:
1st level—change self, detect poison, ghost sound, obscuring mist, spider climb.
2nd level—alter self, darkness, pass without trace, undetectable alignment.
3rd level—deeper darkness, invisibility, misdirection, nondetection.
4th level—dimension door, freedom of movement, improved invisibility, poison.

D&D 3.0 DMG pg 29f

Greetings,

let me try this ...

In your question you refer to a special-versus-spell-something about the assassine in the D&D 3.0 DMG, right so far?

I have checked it on pg29f and have not found anything speaking of special vs. spell ...

What I see is, that in the class table listing the base attack bonus and the saves there also is the listing of the specials and the spells. They don't work against each other, they are cumulative.

So, a lvl 1 assassine for instance gains sneak attack +1d6, death attack and poison as special class abilities; additionaly, if he matches the spell requirements, he may be able to cast one arcane spell of spell lvl 1 once per day as an effective spellcaster lvl 1 concerning this spell.
This, too, means, that a lvl 10 assassine may use ALL special class abilities mentioned on this list and, if he matches the requirements about spellcasting, he may cast at least 2 spell lvl 1, 2 spell lvl2, 2 spell lvl 3 and 1 spell lvl 4 spells per day as an effective spellcaster lvl 10 magic user ...

Does this attempt to "explain things" help you a little bit?

Greetings
ClemLOR

Hmmm...

For one thing, the Special line just indicates that the stuff underneath it is the class' special abilities, in addition to any others. Assassins get Spells as well, at the same time. They just included the Assassin's spells per day table into the other one in the same way they did for the Wizard class, the Cleric class, and others.

So a 1st-level Assassin gets Sneak Attack +1d6, Death Attack, and Poison Use, as well as 0 spell slots of 1st-level, meaning he or she only gets a 1st-level spell if he's got a bonus slot for high Intelligence. A 2nd-level Assassin gains +1 on saves versus poison, and gains Uncanny Dodge (retaining Dex bonus to AC when surprised or attacked invisibly), but also gets 1 spell slot of 1st-level.

However, the rules aren't clear on how the Assassin learns spells.... It says that they prepare and cast them just like a Wizard does, but it isn't clear on whether or not they know all spells on the Assassin list that they are able to cast, or if they have to use a spellbook like a Wizard.

I'm inclined to interpret this, considering that they don't include the Spellbook section from the Wizard's description nor any other mention of spells learned, as meaning that the Assassin automatically learns all spells on his or her spell lsit that are of a low enough level for him or her to cast (so a 1st-level Assassin who has a bonus slot from Intelligence automatically knows all 1st-level Assassin spells, but can only prepare one in his bonus slot).

Thanks for your help, with your answers I noticed that I was misunderstanding the table. Thanks for your help again.

Arkhandus said:

Hmmm...

However, the rules aren't clear on how the Assassin learns spells.... It says that they prepare and cast them just like a Wizard does, but it isn't clear on whether or not they know all spells on the Assassin list that they are able to cast, or if they have to use a spellbook like a Wizard.

Click to expand...

"An assassin prepares and casts spells just as a wizard does."

A wizard needs a spellbook to prepare a spell regardless of whether he knows the spell or not. Therefore an assassin needs a spellbook to prepare a spell "just as a wizard does".

This changed in 3.5 to give them sorcerer style spells known.