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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 6823017" data-attributes="member: 6683613">Hello.  I'm working on an assassin full class.  It's not ready for prime time yet, but I thought I'd get some feedback on what I'm doing with its "backstabby" ability, which was a bit of a design challenge.  Being the assassin, it absolutely has to have one, of course.  And it has to resemble the rogue's Sneak Attack, because it would be disconcerting if these two conceptually similar abilities had different mechanical expressions.  But at the same time, it shouldn't just be Sneak Attack.  And where it differs, it should do so in ways that highlight what distinguishes an assassin from a rogue.So here's what I've got.  It's really a two-part ability:Premeditation [hr][/hr] Starting at 1st level, you can use your action to study the weaknesses of a creature you can see.  For the next ten minutes, you can deal extra damage to that creature as though you had the Sneak Attack class feature, as described on p. 96 of the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK.  The amount of the extra damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Premeditation column of the Assassin table.  [It's the same progression as the rogue.] If you use multiple actions, you can gain the benefit of Premeditation against multiple creatures at the same time, up to a maximum number of creatures equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of one). [hr][/hr] Execution [hr][/hr] When you deal damage to a creature with Premeditation, you can roll the extra damage dice a second time.  (On a critical hit, these dice are still doubled.)  If this second roll would deal enough damage to reduce your target to 0 hit points, it does so.  Otherwise, it deals no extra damage beyond the original Premeditation damage.  Either way, you lose the benefit of Premeditation against the target until you can study it again. [hr][/hr]First question:  clarity.  Can you understand how the abilities are supposed to work?  I've found my rules-writing isn't always that great.Second question:  concept.  Do these make sense as assassin abilities?  Do they make the assassin/rogue distinction intuitive to you?Third question:  power.  Is it, in a vacuum, simply too powerful for a character to go "double-or-nothing" on Sneak Attack damage?  Or perhaps Execution is too weak, because situational?Fourth question:  progression.  Is it appropriate for the assassin to get Execution at 1st level alongside Premeditation, or should it be a higher-level ability?Fifth question:  fun.  Does rolling for an Execution excite you?  Or does the prospect of doing it and getting absolutely nothing out of it frustrate you?</blockquote>

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