2 totally unrelated questions

[Westwind]

Is there any official errata/FAQ about what stat the Assassin uses to cast his spells? It seems pretty clear that Charisma is the stat they meant to use, given all the "spells known" and spell-swapping text, but I was hoping there would be something to clarify this. Furthermore, since an Assassin casts spells "as a bard" does that mean they are unaffected by arcane failure in light armor? Or does that just reference spontaneous casting in general?

Assume I have the spell hunter's mercy from Magic of Faerun (next hit with a ranged weapon is an automatic threat) and the Improved Manyshot feat from the XPH. Improved Manyshot specifies that criticals and sneak attack damage are all dealt with separately for each target. If I cast hunter's mercy and then hit 3 targets with Improved Manyshot, are they all threats? Is there a "first" and if so, how do I determine it?

 

[Camarath]

Is there any official errata/FAQ about what stat the Assassin uses to cast his spells? It seems pretty clear that Charisma is the stat they meant to use, given all the "spells known" and spell-swapping text, but I was hoping there would be something to clarify this.

I see nothing that indicates that the casting stat for the Assasssin is not Intelligence as stated in the text. I also think that Intelligence is a better casting stat that Charisma for the Assasssin to have since it's Death Attack and number of skill points are linked to Intelligence.

Furthermore, since an Assassin casts spells "as a bard" does that mean they are unaffected by arcane failure in light armor? Or does that just reference spontaneous casting in general?

I do not know here is a older thread on that issue 3.5 Assassin prestige class.

 

[Camarath]

Assume I have the spell hunter's mercy from Magic of Faerun (next hit with a ranged weapon is an automatic threat) and the Improved Manyshot feat from the XPH. Improved Manyshot specifies that criticals and sneak attack damage are all dealt with separately for each target. If I cast hunter's mercy and then hit 3 targets with Improved Manyshot, are they all threats? Is there a "first" and if so, how do I determine it?

It is the "Greater Manyshot" feat ("Improved Manyshot" is an Epic feat). Since you when using Greater Manyshot "You make a separate attack roll for each arrow, regardless of whether you fire them at separate targets or the same target" you are making multiple attacks with the same action and Hunter's Mercy only applies to you next attack so I believe only the first attack in the Greater Manyshot action would be affected by Hunter's Mercy.

 

[Li Shenron]

Is there any official errata/FAQ about what stat the Assassin uses to cast his spells? It seems pretty clear that Charisma is the stat they meant to use, given all the "spells known" and spell-swapping text, but I was hoping there would be something to clarify this. Furthermore, since an Assassin casts spells "as a bard" does that mean they are unaffected by arcane failure in light armor? Or does that just reference spontaneous casting in general?

On the contrary, it is very clear that Intelligence is the casting ability.
The fact that among the core PHB classes both spontaneous casters use Charisma does not make for a general rule. The reason why an Assassin casts spontaneously is a 3.5 balance choice IMHO, while the fact that it is Int-based is a flavor choice which makes very sense.

About the second, it has been a while since I posted that thread. In the meantime, I have coped with the fact that by the rules "as a bard" really mean nothing, and as such the Assassin still has ASF in light armor.
On the other hand, it would make very sense if it did not: the reason is that in 3.5 the core Bard, the CW Hexblade, the UA Battle Sorcerer and possibly others (all arcane casters with light armor prof) don't suffer ASF with light armor.
I am not sure because I haven't checked all the 3.5 prestige classes with arcane spells and armor prof, but I feel like this was meant as a general change in 3.5, so that those characters would not have two features which harass each other. Similar thing was done to the 3.5 Ranger who lost medium armor prof (in 3.0 you either had to voluntarily lose the benefit of medium armor proficiencies or bonus feats).
That said, I think that ignoring ASF in this case is a good HR.

 

[Camarath]

which makes very sense

A kindly word of advice, when very is used to mean "to a high degree" it is an adverb (that is usually used to modify adjectives) and should not be used to modify nouns such as sense. If used as an adjective, as you used it here, it could mean "absolute, utter" which could make sense but I think you meant to say something along the lines of "which very much makes sense", "which makes a great deal of sense", or "which is very sensible". I hope that explanation makes sense and is helpful to you.

 

[Westwind]

Thanks for the clarifications regarding the Assassin's spellcasting. I guess the arcane failure things is up for debate, but that's easy enough to deal with in-group.


I guess my question regarding Greater Manyshot/hunter's mercy is: If the arrows all leave my bow at the same moment, do I pick which one is my "next shot" and apply the spell to that arrow or does the group of arrows count as my "next shot?" As much as I love archers, even that seems a little powerful.

 

[Camarath]

I guess my question regarding Greater Manyshot/hunter's mercy is: If the arrows all leave my bow at the same moment, do I pick which one is my "next shot" and apply the spell to that arrow or does the group of arrows count as my "next shot?" As much as I love archers, even that seems a little powerful.

The spell refers to "your next attack" not "your next shot". As far as I can see your next attack would be the next attack you roll.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

The spell refers to "your next attack" not "your next shot". As far as I can see your next attack would be the next attack you roll.

I agree. See it like this: you imbue the "center arrow" - the arrow you shoot from the position you fire arrows in "single arrow mode" from - with the spell, and you aim this at a target of your choosing.