Pathfinder 1E Slayer, assassinate & imp fient

Eman Resu

First Post
First let me say in reading up on the Slayer, it seems peculiar that he is a better assassin than an actual assassin. (Just found that strange)

Is it possible for a Slayer to walk up to somebody, engage in conversation, use imp or greater feint, sneak attack and then force a fort save with the Assassinate ability?


Assassinate

Benefit: A slayer with this advanced talent can kill foes that are unable to defend themselves. To attempt to assassinate a target, the slayer must first study his target for 1 round as a standard action. On the following round, if the slayer makes a sneak attack against the target and that target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly killing the target. This attempt automatically fails if the target recognizes the slayer as an enemy. If the sneak attack is successful, the target must attempt a Fortitude saving throw with a DCequal to 10 + 1/2 the slayer's level + the slayer's Intelligence modifier. If the target fails this save, it dies; otherwise, the target takes the sneak attack damage as normal and is then immune to that slayer's assassinate ability for 24 hours.



Greater Fient

Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, base attack bonus +6, Int 13.
Benefit: Whenever you use feint to cause an opponent to lose his Dexterity bonus, he loses that bonus until the beginning of your next turn, in addition to losing his Dexterity bonus against your next attack.
Normal: A creature you feint loses its Dexterity bonus against your next attack.
 

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BlackSeed_Vash

Explorer
I would rule that as long as the following conditions are met, a slayer w/ assassinate could accomplish your scenario:
1) Talk with the target for at least 2 rounds (~12 seconds).
2) Be adjacent or able to 5-step to the target on the round the slayer intends to use the assassinate class feature.
3) Win a Bluff vs Sense Motive check(s) to prevent the target from realizing the slayer intends to harm/kill them. The longer the conversation, the more checks needed.
Successfully meeting these three condition means that when the slayer attacks, he/she is initiating a Surprise Round and the target is considered an Unaware Combatant. Greater Feint is actually unnecessary for your scenario; though Improved Feint and standing adjacent to the target (since the feint would eat up the 5-step movement) would be required should the slayer fail the third condition (alerting the target to hostile intentions).
I would award Bonus Points if the slayer successfully uses Sleight of Hand to "palm weapon" before striking; attacking while most others around are distracted; then Sleight of Hand again to "hide object". Of course that limits the slayer to light weapons, but certainly give a cinematic feel to the assassination.

The Surprise Round
If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard or move action during the surprise round. You can also take free actions during the surprise round. If no one or everyone is surprised, no surprise round occurs.

Unaware Combatants
Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle don't get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.
 

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