doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
So I’ve been working on a 5e Assassin class since 5e came out, basically. One of the first things I noticed about the game was that The Assassin Rogue isn't great.
I've gone through some pretty wildly different ideas for the class over the intervening years, either due to playtesting or just an increased desire for simplicity, or for other reasons.
What I've arrived at is this:
The Assassin
Assassins are masters of asymmetrical warfare who respond to conquest, oppression, or other mass injustice, by becoming "a dagger in the left hand of The People". They harness occult magics, specialized tools and tactics, extreme discipline, and incredible singleminded focus, to make themselves a lethal shadow that can strike much larger targets with deadly efficacy.
So, we have stealthy hit and run warriors that specialize in being able to hit hard and disapear, hitting hard again if needed.
My assassin class is modeled partly on the ranger, and gets a d10 hit die, solid weapon proficiencies, 3 skills, fairly standard skirmisher warrior/expert hybrid stuff.
At level 1 it's features give it Assassin's Marks and Specialized Tools. Marks scale in damage by levels, and you have a limited number per day but can regain some with a short rest, and sometimes you can move your mark to a new creature when you kill your target while it is marked.
Specialized Tools gives you proficiency Ritualist's Tools and 1 of Disguise Kit, Poisoner's Kit, or Tinker's Tools, and special features for your two tools.
You get a second pick at a later level.
Ritualist’s Tools - you learn a couple ritual spells, and can cast them as rituals, and can learn more as you level.
Disguise Kit - you can don or remove a disguise that you’ve made as a bonus action, and you can make several special disguises complete with documents and personas.
Poisoner’s Kit - You can apply a poison to a weapon, item, or food/drink, as a Bonus Action. Additionally, you can make a special poison that is like the basic poison but it deals damage and you can choose a minor control effect, and you can learn new poisons in adventuring by spending the cost of the poison and taking time equal to 2 hours per 50g of the cost.
(This equates fairly well to a comparison of the poisons with the cost listed in DDB, the DMG spell creation guidelines, and the guidelines for rarity of a consumable magic item that casts a spell of a given level. I don’t know that I needed to spend as much time as I did on this, but I did…so, might as well use it)
Tinker’s Tools - prof Tinker Tools, and you can make a concealable version of a one-handed weapon or of a bow or crossbow. It is hidden when you have it on you, requiring a perception or investigation check against a DC equal to 10+ your Stealth proficiency + your dexterity.
While holding a one-handed concealed weapon, you can spend a bonus action to gain advantage on your next attack roll.
The ritual tools seem small at this level, but they currently don't do anything important until a later level when you get to do weird assassin-esque stuff with speak with dead and gentle repose.
Basically the class gets deadlier and more creepy and weird as you gain levels, eventually becoming an avatar of death.
Other key points that I think bring home the theme include features like Lethal, which drops a target to 0hp if your attack drops them below a certain threshold, and a followup upgrade that forces a save vs death for low CR creatures you hit with an attack.
Honestly I'm just wondering what you all think about the concept in general, I guess. I'll post about some specific subclasses and stuff later.
I've gone through some pretty wildly different ideas for the class over the intervening years, either due to playtesting or just an increased desire for simplicity, or for other reasons.
What I've arrived at is this:
The Assassin
Assassins are masters of asymmetrical warfare who respond to conquest, oppression, or other mass injustice, by becoming "a dagger in the left hand of The People". They harness occult magics, specialized tools and tactics, extreme discipline, and incredible singleminded focus, to make themselves a lethal shadow that can strike much larger targets with deadly efficacy.
So, we have stealthy hit and run warriors that specialize in being able to hit hard and disapear, hitting hard again if needed.
My assassin class is modeled partly on the ranger, and gets a d10 hit die, solid weapon proficiencies, 3 skills, fairly standard skirmisher warrior/expert hybrid stuff.
At level 1 it's features give it Assassin's Marks and Specialized Tools. Marks scale in damage by levels, and you have a limited number per day but can regain some with a short rest, and sometimes you can move your mark to a new creature when you kill your target while it is marked.
Specialized Tools gives you proficiency Ritualist's Tools and 1 of Disguise Kit, Poisoner's Kit, or Tinker's Tools, and special features for your two tools.
You get a second pick at a later level.
Ritualist’s Tools - you learn a couple ritual spells, and can cast them as rituals, and can learn more as you level.
Disguise Kit - you can don or remove a disguise that you’ve made as a bonus action, and you can make several special disguises complete with documents and personas.
Poisoner’s Kit - You can apply a poison to a weapon, item, or food/drink, as a Bonus Action. Additionally, you can make a special poison that is like the basic poison but it deals damage and you can choose a minor control effect, and you can learn new poisons in adventuring by spending the cost of the poison and taking time equal to 2 hours per 50g of the cost.
(This equates fairly well to a comparison of the poisons with the cost listed in DDB, the DMG spell creation guidelines, and the guidelines for rarity of a consumable magic item that casts a spell of a given level. I don’t know that I needed to spend as much time as I did on this, but I did…so, might as well use it)
Tinker’s Tools - prof Tinker Tools, and you can make a concealable version of a one-handed weapon or of a bow or crossbow. It is hidden when you have it on you, requiring a perception or investigation check against a DC equal to 10+ your Stealth proficiency + your dexterity.
While holding a one-handed concealed weapon, you can spend a bonus action to gain advantage on your next attack roll.
The ritual tools seem small at this level, but they currently don't do anything important until a later level when you get to do weird assassin-esque stuff with speak with dead and gentle repose.
Basically the class gets deadlier and more creepy and weird as you gain levels, eventually becoming an avatar of death.
Other key points that I think bring home the theme include features like Lethal, which drops a target to 0hp if your attack drops them below a certain threshold, and a followup upgrade that forces a save vs death for low CR creatures you hit with an attack.
Honestly I'm just wondering what you all think about the concept in general, I guess. I'll post about some specific subclasses and stuff later.
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