Death attack and spell casting

[Telperion]

It takes 3 rounds of uninterrupted study of your target to "load" up the Death Attack that every assassin gets at his first level of the PrC.

My question is: can you cast a Silent True Strike while you are studying your mark, or do you have to wait for those three rounds that you have at your disposal after studying the mark for 3 rounds?

 

[green slime]

...can you cast a Silent True Strike while you are studying your mark, or do you have to wait for those three rounds that you have at your disposal after studying the mark for 3 rounds?

You cannot cast true strike, you are supposed to be observing the mark. After the observation period, you may act.

 

[heliopolix]

It takes 3 rounds of uninterrupted study of your target to "load" up the Death Attack that every assassin gets at his first level of the PrC.

My question is: can you cast a Silent True Strike while you are studying your mark, or do you have to wait for those three rounds that you have at your disposal after studying the mark for 3 rounds?

True Strike only lasts one round, so you would need to cast it on the third round of study. It'd be nice to be invisible too...

 

[Li Shenron]

My question is: can you cast a Silent True Strike while you are studying your mark, or do you have to wait for those three rounds that you have at your disposal after studying the mark for 3 rounds?

This is from the SRD:

While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy.

Admittedly, a DM could rule that casting a spell is enough to make the assassin stop staying focused, for example on the basis that it requires concentration. Anyway, the "study" doesn't require any action itself.

I would instead tend to very much allow the PC to cast it, as long as I could picture the assassin being watching the victim all the time, and the victim is not succeeding any Listen/Spot check against him: if he is hiding and doesn't move (in which he would probably need another Hide check against the victim's Spot check) the victim is not going to see him, and if he doesn't make noise the victim is not going to hear him. The same would happen if the victim was granted a Listen/Spot check but failed it.

As a matter of fact, I think the tactic is creative enough (and doesn't come for free) to be rewarded. He still has to succeed his first Hide check or otherwise be undetectable OR unrecognized as an enemy, which means that it's not going to happen at every single battle.

 

[hong]

I'd probably allow it, but require a Concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to keep your focus.

 

[Telperion]

Thanks for the input.

 

[JimAde]

I'd probably have the assassin make a Concentration check similar to casting defensively.

 

[the Jester]

I'd probably have the assassin make a Concentration check similar to casting defensively.

That's pretty much what I was thinking too. Maybe DC 15+ spell level, maybe 20 + spell level... dunno. I think I'd go 15.