What are the best feats to pick for my Human Assassin build?

[Slit518]

I don't understand how you can live 3 levels using a primarily melee character with 11 ac.

The game started at character level 3, and my AC is 12, not much higher. But, I have survived the fights to make it through 3 games.

You still need to beat your target's initiative to Assassinate. Which is why we're all questioning just how effective this build is going to be.

Assassinate works when a target is surprised. A surprise round doesn't allow them to act in their initiative order, so basically, the initiative order would start with me, regardless of what number I rolled.

So for example, if an initiative is -

Ogre - 14
Bear - 18
Me - 5
Archer - 10

I would do my surprise attack if everything goes well (not spotted, or on friendly terms).
Whether hit or miss, the initiative would then go at the top of the order.
Bear - 18
Ogre - 14
Archer - 10
Me - 5
Of course if I hit my surprise attack, it is a critical hit, which is my assassination attempt. And chances are I have Advantage on the attack as well, so I get to add Sneak Attack damage to it.

It's quite simple, really.

 

[SubDude]

Assassinate works when a target is surprised. A surprise round doesn't allow them to act in their initiative order, so basically, the initiative order would start with me, regardless of what number I rolled.

….

It's quite simple, really.

That's not how any of this works (RAW).

If you "surprised" the bear, the ogre and the archer, they would NO LONGER BE SURPRISED when you finally get to take your turn. They'd miss taking their actions, that is all.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yep. Your DM handles surprise as in 3rd edition. With that house rule you can play your character that wa. AC 12 is not too bad actually. I survived as a melee character in a 2 pc group with AC 13 for 6 levels now.
As a rogue you don't stay in melee for long.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Even if you allow 3rd edition style surprise, I find that in practice very few fights begin with the players surprising the monsters!

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Even if you allow 3rd edition style surprise, I find that in practice very few fights begin with the players surprising the monsters!

yes. But if he wants to actually assassinate someone that seems legit.

 

[tglassy]

Sure. But that's going to be either A) maybe once in a career, or B) having the Assassin go "Can I assassinate him?" "Maybe we should just assassinate him." "I could assassinate him for you." "He's a bad guy, let me just assassinate him." Every. Five. Minutes. I'll admit, that could be fun to play, until the Paladin gets tired of it and Divine Smites him into oblivion.

 

[Slit518]

Luckily we have no Paladin.

And it is heavy roleplay.

I mean you can always Assassinate before combat, right? Which is what my character does, whether it's a surprise or not.

An example would be a bar maid wiping counters clean. And for sake of the argument, she is a bad person who has done bad things in the past and I am contracted to kill her. Now, like Agent 47 in Hitman, I could alert everyone to my I am going to kill you by starting combat before engaging the target. Or, I can act like a customer, and stab her in the throat when she least expects it, getting off my Assassination attempt.

 

[Mort]

Luckily we have no Paladin.

And it is heavy roleplay.

I mean you can always Assassinate before combat, right? Which is what my character does, whether it's a surprise or not.

An example would be a bar maid wiping counters clean. And for sake of the argument, she is a bad person who has done bad things in the past and I am contracted to kill her. Now, like Agent 47 in Hitman, I could alert everyone to my I am going to kill you by starting combat before engaging the target. Or, I can act like a customer, and stab her in the throat when she least expects it, getting off my Assassination attempt.

Yes, you're setting up an assassination attempt, but it's not certain.

Getting up to her to stab could be a deception check contested by her passive insight, (or insight check if she's suspicious). If you fail the deception check, you won't "surprise" her.

Regardless, it's now a combat and you roll initiative. If you win you get to use you're assassinate ability.

If you lose initiative you don't get to use the ability, even if the barmaid is surprised (if she's surprised, her first action is to do nothing, but she has still taken her turn, so no assassinate).

 

[CTurbo]

Yes, you're setting up an assassination attempt, but it's not certain.

Getting up to her to stab could be a deception check contested by her passive insight, (or insight check if she's suspicious). If you fail the deception check, you won't "surprise" her.

Regardless, it's now a combat and you roll initiative. If you win you get to use you're assassinate ability.

If you lose initiative you don't get to use the ability, even if the barmaid is surprised (if she's surprised, her first action is to do nothing, but she has still taken her turn, so no assassinate).

Not arguing RAW here, but this is not how me and anybody I've played with have played. A surprise round has always been basically a free turn before initiative is rolled. That is assuming the deception check is passed. This way, whether RAW or not, makes already hard surprise rounds even harder to pull off.


OP to answer your original question again, I would probably want Moderately Armored feat since it bumps your Str to 18 and at the very least, adds +2 to your AC with Breastplate, and +4 if you use a shield. Having the option to use a shield would really come in handy if/when you need it. Sometimes you're just going to be stuck in all out combat and you'll appreciate the extra AC.

Alert is my second choice. Even if you stick to your current way of playing surprise rounds, which I would, Alert is still a nice thing to have on this character.

 

[Slit518]

Yes, you're setting up an assassination attempt, but it's not certain.

Getting up to her to stab could be a deception check contested by her passive insight, (or insight check if she's suspicious). If you fail the deception check, you won't "surprise" her.

Regardless, it's now a combat and you roll initiative. If you win you get to use you're assassinate ability.

If you lose initiative you don't get to use the ability, even if the barmaid is surprised (if she's surprised, her first action is to do nothing, but she has still taken her turn, so no assassinate).

It's a good thing I have Expertise in the Deception skill