Can good-aligned churches employ Holy Assassins?

[rom90125]

Trained killers that weed out evil creatures and evil enemies of the church?

Just curious...

Holy Assassin (also known as Holy Avenger)
Prereqs:
Same as Assassin.

Class Abilities:
Same as Assassin, with following exceptions:
1st level: detect evil same as a Pally (in place of poison use).
2nd level: smite evil 1/day same as Pally (in place of +1 save vs poison).
4th level: smite evil 2/day same as Pally (in place of +2 save vs poison).
6th level: smite evil 3/day same as Pally (in place of +3 save vs poison).
8th level: smite evil 4/day same as Pally (in place of +4 save vs poison).
10th level: smite evil 5/day same as Pally (in place of +5 save vs poison).

Spells: A holy assassin would have to pray for spells, similar to clerics and pallys.
Alter spell list with the following changes:
2nd level: replace magic circle against good with magic circle against evil
4th level: replace poison with holy sword
Holy Symbol: A holy assassin would have to carry a holy symbol, similar to clerics and pallys.
Ex-Holy Assassins:
A Holy Assassin who knowingly murders a non-evil creature immediately loses all holy assassin spells and abilities. A holy assassin regains their abilities and advancement potential if they atone for their violations.

 

[Kerrick]

Sure. We've got two paladin assassin PrCs - the Hunter of the Damned (hunts down and destroys possessing entities) and the Fist of Righteousness (a traveling justicar, basically, who has the authority to try, convict, and execute criminals). Both are in Crimson Contracts.

 

[Tonguez]

I once had a character who was a an Inquisitor sent in to investigate reports of evil cultists and other fell evils. He was a rogue/paladin using stealth to smite evil - this PrC would fit perfectly...

 

[Nifft]

You're asking this question in House Rules.

Of course they can.

Particularly if you get rid of alignment...

Cheers, -- N

 

[Thurbane]

The Slayer of Domiel PrC from BoED (3.5) is almost exactly what you are looking for - a good-aligned, "holy" assassin analog.

http://www.nwn2prc.com/index.php?location=manual&lang=en&section=prestige_classes&page=221

 

[Stratovarius]

Interesting, I stopped in here to post about the Slayer of Domiel myself, and I see a link to my own website.

There's also the Avenger class floating around on WotC's website here, which allows for good assassin clones.

 

[Nifft]

2nd level: smite evil 1/day same as Pally (in place of +1 save vs poison).
4th level: smite evil 2/day same as Pally (in place of +2 save vs poison).
6th level: smite evil 3/day same as Pally (in place of +3 save vs poison).
8th level: smite evil 4/day same as Pally (in place of +4 save vs poison).
10th level: smite evil 5/day same as Pally (in place of +5 save vs poison).

BTW: No. Those abilities aren't even close to comparable.

-- N

 

[Kisanji Arael]

You're asking this question in House Rules.

Of course they can.

Particularly if you get rid of alignment...

Cheers, -- N

Yeah, what is good anyway? But seriously OP, I think there's a definite but undefined difference between middle-ages Christian good, the good Muslim who employ the Hashashim, the good Quaker circa 1900 and the good American Buddhist. Look not at the alignment but at what the religion specifies as good.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

I think it helps to step back and ask 'what is an assassin?' If an assassin is a warrior who uses stealth to get close to an enemy and uses whatever is at hand (or smuggled in) to eliminate the target then you have to ask 'are there any means that are non-good?' In D&D, using poison to kill someone is not a good act and IIRC usually an evil act. Whereas sneak attack is not an evil act. Attacking from behind cover with a ranged weapon is not an evil act. Earning someone's confidence and then betraying them is not an evil act (it may well be a chaotic act). Tortue is also considered evil in D&D so you can prohibit the use of poison and tortue and thus remove the evil requirement of the assassin.

As for the holy part — why is a holy assassin needed? I can think of two reasons. First, the need to act outside of the law which would more likely be sanctioned by chaotic good rather than lawful good. The second is to get to supernatural entities and PC classed NPCs who can avoid a direct assault of paladins and rangers. For all intents and purposes this equates to a 'magekiller.' Consider the monk — good will save and highly resistant to mental attacks plus fast movement. Can be disarmed but still highly dangerous.

I hope you see where I'm going with this. The holy assassin has to get close to demons, devil, evil high priests, warlocks, etc and then kill them quickly usually with some holy relic.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nyeshet]

No need to call upon a Holy Assassin . . .

Trained killers that weed out evil creatures and evil enemies of the church?

Just curious...

Holy Assassin (also known as Holy Avenger)

You do realize that any time a church / temple or religious organization or significant member of such an organization requests adventurers to aid them in dealing with an evil threat / being they are essentially doing the same thing, right?

Why should it be any more / less good to have a secret organization within the religion do what is typically contracted out to adventuring parties anyway? Whether they use a party of mostly good adventurers or a devoted sub-order within their own religious organization, how is the situation changed? Either way they call upon one or more individuals to slay an evil being that has likely been harassing or even killing members of their faith (whether clerics, followers, etc).


So I cannot see why it would matter whether it be contracted out to a PC party or a Holy Assassin. Is it the name of the PrC that concerns you? Just use "Holy Avenger" or another of your own creation. If it is a relgion devoted to Thor, for example, perhaps the organization / PrC is called "Hammer of Thor." This would even allow members of the clergy to speak of it openly without others realizing what they are really speaking about. (ex: "That heathen will surely soon be smote by the Hammer of Thor!")