Death Attack Ability from Multiple PrCs

[saucercrab]

Okay, I don't remember seeing this brought up here before, & a player in my group, already playing an assassin (the PrC), might multiclass into another PrC with the Death Attack ability (the dark hunter, from CW).

Would the dark hunter class levels add to the assassin's for the save DC?
What if the character had less than fivel levels of the dark hunter (as the Death Attack ability in this case is gained at 5th level, but he already as the ability from another source, the assassin PrC)?

Are there any other PrC's with a Death Attack ability? I think the black flame zealot (from CD) has it, as well as one or two FR PrCs.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

The black flame zealot's ability specifically mentions that it stacks with an assassin's ability; dark hunter's doesn't, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

 

[Zandel]

The only thing I can see is that once you get ten levels in a class with death attack the DC only goes up by 1/2 class level from then on. I'd rule that they do stack but once you get ten combined levels the DC only increases by 1/2 class level. This is an epic balance issue here and if you don't use it then the death attack (or other such ability) gets far too powerful far too quick.

 

[saucercrab]

Peter Gibbons,
Thanks, I'll have to dig up my other books to compare/contrast.

Zandel,
While not RAW, that's not a bad houserule. Thanks also.

 

[blaine_evans]

actually, death attack from assassin, black flame zealot and dark hunter use full class level to determine DC.

as for the stacking ruling: it becomes an house ruling by the GM. the reason it doesn't mention stacking with assassin levels is because a lawful good paladin can prestige into dark hunter and gain a death attack (the ultimate elimination of evil).
the alignment pre-reqs are the difference. a black flame zealot is non-good, generally tending towards evil and thus the levels stack. if the dark hunter already is evil, then they should stack but that's up to the GM as i said.

blaine.