D&D 5E Split the Assassin from the Rogue back into its own class

[doctorbadwolf]

I think 13th Age handles the Instakill thing best. Don't give it a hit dice limit - give it a hit point limit. That way the Assassin's iconic ability isn't useless against the boss monster, They just can't use until it they bring the monster within range.

I combined the two.

In tier 1 you get

Lethal - when you deal damage to a creature and reduce its hit points to a number equal to your Assassin level or lower, you can reduce the target’s hit points to 0 instead.

this is pretty small by itself, but does get upgraded eventually to level+intelligence score. Which is still not huge. It’s 40 max at level 20.

Then later (don’t recall the level offhand) is Death Strike, wherein you can instakill a target that is CR x or lower. I think about half the cleric CR threshold?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Mechanics aren't flavor and do not have flavor in themselves, they serve flavor within a design framework. Elegance is one of the best indicators of good design.

No, it isn’t.

Vastly more indicative of good design is successfully evoking the desired associations and themes, ie making the mechanics feel like the thematic element they are meant to represent.