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Message: <blockquote data-quote="airwalkrr" data-source="post: 3109861" data-attributes="member: 12460">Your first point is comparing apples and oranges. Your 2nd is a good one, but only to the extent that most death spells are usually limited to 5th level or higher. A 1st level spell that had all the limitations of a death attack would be more than balanced. In fact, it would normally be a waste of time. I would much prefer the guaranteed 1d4+1 points of damage from a magic missile than spend three rounds worth of time and then move into melee just so I can have a chance to kill my opponent if I can flank him, hit him, AND he fails his save. That is the key difference between a spell and a special ability. Death attack is a special ability whose only use limitation is the number of opportunities an assassin can find to use it. Spells are limited to a certain number of times per day. Death attack does not work all the time, less often than most death spells because of all the limitations. It takes a skilled assassin to set up proper conditions so that a death attack will have a chance to be successful. Consequently, it is not unbalanced to allow unlimited death attacks because they are rarely successful.Like you, I used to think a save or die effect should not be available to low-level characters. But the more I have thought about the assassin's death attack, the more I realize it really isn't inappropriate for a low-level character considering its rate of success. I believe there is simply a stigma attached to anything that is "save or die" as being powerful. But with all the limitations on assassin death attack, the ability is really quite UNDERwhelming when you think about it.</blockquote>

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