Assassins! Assassins! Assassins!

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

I'm thinking about adding a non-magical, 1st-ed.-style Assassin core class to my new homebrew world. At the moment, I have neither the time nor the inclination to build a class from scratch. From what I've heard, there are a fair amount of books out there that introduce an assassin class. I picked up Green Ronin's Witch's Handbook and liked that, and heard that they had a similar book on assassins, so I'm leaning towards GR. Does anyone have any feedback on GR's book or one of the others?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Crothian]

I really like Crimson Contracts, a pdf by Ambient Press. It has a few different core assassin options as well as prestige classes, templates, feats, new uses for skills, equipment, cool art, and a nice little theme that ties it all together.

 

[Jeph]

The Green Ronin one has arcane spells, IIRC. It's pretty similar to the rogue, but fewer skills and specials, and a death attack thingummy. But if you want spell-less, it's probably not for you.

 

[haiiro]

Given how good GR's stuff tends to be, I was surprised to find the Assassin's Handbook underwhelming. The central class feature -- the killing blow -- is very easy to break (save DC is based on damage dealt, and it's basically a coup-de-grace attack), and is distinctly overpowered. The feats and PrCs are somewhat bland, as are most of the spells; the equipment, poisons and magic items are all pretty neat. The art is generally quite good.

Over half of the book is taken up by detailed write-ups of two assassin organizations, the Sirat and the Vultur. These are OK, and fairly modular, but I would rather have had more solid rules material, extra crunchy bits and more general info than this much background material.

In terms of wanting a non-magical assassin class, this one doesn't fit the bill: it gets a slow spell progression, much like the DMG version.

Overall, I'd say steer clear. YMMV.

Edit: it just occurred to me that you might want to consider the ninja class from Rokugan. Although it's not an assassin class, it does combine elements of rogue and fighter with an emphasis on speed, stealth, and sneak attacks. It's also a great, well-balanced class.

 

[Jack Daniel]

There's a nonmagical assassin in Swashbuckling Adventures (along with thier nonmagical bard, paladin, and ranger).

 

[hong]

I'm thinking about adding a non-magical, 1st-ed.-style Assassin core class to my new homebrew world.

These are called "rogues".

 

[jgbrowning]

Re: Re: Assassins! Assassins! Assassins!

These are called "rogues".

but they're hasish smoking rogues, Hong...


joe b.

 

[mearls]

See, the thing is, the rogue is pretty much already an assassin. With sneak attack, a rogue that surprises a foe can deal a ton of damage in one hit. If he wins initiative, he can then attack multiple times, gaining sneak attack damage with each attack.

Here's a quickie assassin off the top of my head:

* Start with the rogue.
* Drop skill points from 8 to 4.
* Remove evasion
* Remove the special abilities they get at levels 10, 13, 16, 19.
* Boost base attack to a fighter's.
* Boost hit die to d10.
* Allow them to take Weapon Specialization at level 4+.
* Bonus feats at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th levels.
* Good saves become Fort and Reflex.

That gives you a fairly balanced fighter type who is stealthy and can do loads of damage on a surprise attack.

 

[HellHound]

of our products:

Crimson Contracts - the Assassin's Manifesto expands on the design of the core rules Assassin Prestige Class and adds some NPC assassin-style 20-level classes (although as NPC classes, these are underpowered).

Librum Equitis Compiled includes a non-magical assassin prestige class that has received GREAT response from most readers (seems to be a favourite from the book - the Practical One. But again, it's a prestige class. This class also appears in the print edition of Librum Equitis volume 1 published by those hoopy froods at Mystic Eye Games.

 

[haiiro]

See, the thing is, the rogue is pretty much already an assassin. With sneak attack, a rogue that surprises a foe can deal a ton of damage in one hit. If he wins initiative, he can then attack multiple times, gaining sneak attack damage with each attack.

I don't disagree with this perspective (and your quickie assassin, double entendre aside, is pretty good ), but I think that one of the defining features of an assassin class is a death attack. Stack as many restrictions on it as you like, this is what justifies making a separate core class for the assassin, IMO. Other elements -- like the ones you included in your quick version -- are certainly important, but that's the biggie for me.

Edit: typed too quickly.