Arcane Slayer...? (or something?!)

[malien]

Just putting together a character for a friend's campaign... we're at about 11th lvl (I'm a late entry) and as I was looking to put my character together, I came across the idea of... for lack of a better term, a mage assassin.

Now, I know what you're saying 'hey, assassin has arcane spells, you n00b! Use that!' But I'm looking to see if anyone knows of feats/spells/PrC that would fit this archetype of an arcane spellcaster that sulks about, but focuses more on spells and shadow-y forces and the like, rather than sneak attack or a death attack.

I guess the idea is, while to have some basic skill in hide/move silenty and that sort of thing, the character gets by more with the bent of his arcane abilities, then anything else.

The one thought I /did/ have was that the Illusionist variants in Unearthed Arcana was pretty close to the sort of thing I was looking at...

Any thoughts?

 

[Thanee]

Well, Mage Slayer, albeit rather crappy on the mechanical side, would be an obvious choice. You find it, and the other anti-magic-user feats in Complete Arcane.

There is also a PrC (Occult Slayer, I think) in Complete Warrior (?).

Bye
Thanee

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, Mage Slayer, albeit rather crappy on the mechanical side, would be an obvious choice. You find it, and the other anti-magic-user feats in Complete Arcane.

There is also a PrC (Occult Slayer, I think) in Complete Warrior (?).

I think he is looking for an Assassin that casts spells, not an Assassin that kills mages.

 

[Snowy]

daggerspell mage?

lots of spells, sneak attack for the murdering and fairly good skills for the sneaking and the lieing and the making of poisons.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Spellthief? Base class from Complete Arcane...

What about your basic Bard? C'mon, no one would expect that! A Bard as an assassin? LOL

 

[Caliban]

Just putting together a character for a friend's campaign... we're at about 11th lvl (I'm a late entry) and as I was looking to put my character together, I came across the idea of... for lack of a better term, a mage assassin.

Now, I know what you're saying 'hey, assassin has arcane spells, you n00b! Use that!' But I'm looking to see if anyone knows of feats/spells/PrC that would fit this archetype of an arcane spellcaster that sulks about, but focuses more on spells and shadow-y forces and the like, rather than sneak attack or a death attack.

I guess the idea is, while to have some basic skill in hide/move silenty and that sort of thing, the character gets by more with the bent of his arcane abilities, then anything else.

The one thought I /did/ have was that the Illusionist variants in Unearthed Arcana was pretty close to the sort of thing I was looking at...

Any thoughts?

Arcane Trickster from the DMG
Daggerspell mage from the Complete Adventurer

 

[Thanee]

I think he is looking for an Assassin that casts spells, not an Assassin that kills mages.

Oops!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Iku Rex]

Any thoughts?

Which books can you use?

 

[malien]

Which books can you use?

Any and all WotC books.

 

[Iku Rex]

The basic arcane assasin type would be a Rog1/Wiz5/Ass1/ArcTrX

As an 11th level character you'll have +4d6 sneak attack, death attack, poison use, rogue skills and other rogue-ish abilities. At the same time you'll only be one spell level behind a regular wizard.

If you want something less like a regular assassin, some sort of Monk1/Sorcerer with the Ascetic Mage (CAdv) feat would be cool. You could stack up on buffs to create a super-powered monk, or pick a "master of shadows" themed spell list.

Go master transmogrifist (PrC, CArc) for a shape-shifting menace to society.

A pure wizard or sorcerer is also possible, with the right spells.
Some general advice...

You can use spells for your offense, but as a rule there's not that much point in sneaking up on someone only to start blasting away with fireballs. Melee is the way to go IMO.

Feats:
Power Attack - Make your hits count. Works well with wraithstrike (CAdv).
Arcane Strike - Asassins must be able to kill their target quickly. Works well with natural weapons.
Stilled/Silent Spell
Able Learner (Races of Destiny) - Lets you buy (or even max out, if you multi-class) some cheap sneaky skills, especially if the arcane component is Int-based.

I have quite a few suggestions for spells (the most important bit) but some better idea about what you have in mind would help. Does the character have a theme beyond "sulking about and focussing on spells and shadowy forces"? Is he evil? Is it a published campaign setting, or DM homebrew? (I'm asking because a monk/sorcerer/shadow adept follower of Shar would be very appropriate in the Forgotten Realms.) How do you feel about a polymorph-based character?