Assassin in DDN

[Savage Wombat]

Just for comparison, the original Assassins did not kill people by being particularly sneaky, or clever, or deadly. They killed people by not caring about whether they got away afterwards. A lot of well-guarded people can be killed by a random servant just by "pull a knife and jump".

 

[fuindordm]

To elaborate on Meophist's diagram:

If F, C, T ,W are the four basics, but I don't think they're a spectrum. They're four independent roles--fighting, support, skilling, and magic.

(4E recognized something similar about combat roles, but IMO they gave the combat role too much importance. A class should be about what the PC does in the world, not how they operate tactically.)

So I think the core classes should be designed around these four poles and possible hybrids, but the hybrids also need a convincing role in the world. Also, the poles can contain more than one class each; after all, they're pretty broad categories.

So here's how I see the relationship between classes: the poles are on the corners of a square, and the hybrids on the edges and diagonals.

POLE: MARTIAL
Fighter, Warlord, Barbarian

POLE: DIVINE
Cleric (low-magic cleric), Priest (high-magic cleric) Druid, PF Oracle (spontaneous caster)

POLE: SKILL
Rogue, Assassin/Spy, Arcana Unearthed Akashic

POLE: ARCANE
Wizard, Sorceror/Warlock

HYBRID: MARTIAL/DIVINE
Paladin

HYBRID: MARTIAL/SKILL
Ranger

HYBRID: MARTIAL/ARCANE
pick your favorite Gish. Mine is the Mage Blade from Aracana Unearthed.

HYBRID: DIVINE/SKILL
Inquisitor? Monk?

HYBRID: DIVINE/MAGIC
Pathfinder Witch or Summoner

HYBRID: SKILL/ARCANE
Bard

 

[GMforPowergamers]

So here's how I see the relationship between classes: the poles are on the corners of a square, and the hybrids on the edges and diagonals.

POLE: MARTIAL
Fighter, Warlord, Barbarian

POLE: DIVINE
Cleric (low-magic cleric), Priest (high-magic cleric) Druid, PF Oracle (spontaneous caster)

POLE: SKILL
Rogue, Assassin/Spy, Arcana Unearthed Akashic

POLE: ARCANE
Wizard, Sorceror/Warlock

HYBRID: MARTIAL/DIVINE
Paladin

HYBRID: MARTIAL/SKILL
Ranger

HYBRID: MARTIAL/ARCANE
pick your favorite Gish. Mine is the Mage Blade from Aracana Unearthed.

HYBRID: DIVINE/SKILL
Inquisitor? Monk?

HYBRID: DIVINE/MAGIC
Pathfinder Witch or Summoner

HYBRID: SKILL/ARCANE
Bard

I would use a mix of power source and role like that myself.

Martial- Fighter, Warlord, Barbarian
Divine- Cleric, Invoker (needs a new name)
Arcane- Wizard, Artaficer
Primal- Druid, shaman
Shadow- Ninja, Summoner

Martial/divine- paliden
Martial/Arcane- bladesinger/swordmage
Martial/Primal- Warden
Martial/shadow- Rouge, Assasin/spy

Divine/Arcane- Mystic thurge (maybe take the 3e archavast for this)
Divine/Primal- Witch
Divine/shadow- Blackguard/anti-paliden, Avenger

Arcane/primal- Bard
Arcane/Shadow- Warlock

Primal/shadow- Ranger


I would also take the idea of the shadowfel, and put devils in there, say the big revolt got there astral domain thrown into the shadow fell with the dead god they betrayed (going by 4e modfied myths).