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

[DND_Reborn]

I just noticed that a Battlemaster fighter with Ambush, Precision and Menacing strike could go a long way to make an assassin.
Just take the Poisoner feat at 6th, Skulker that 14th and maybe Prodigy or Skill expert or Alert somewhere to have expertise in Stealth. Create a background with the feature of either charlatan or faceless.

Sure, there are lots of builds that make good "assassins" without having the Assassin subclass. Of course, you could always dip into Rogue and take assassin as well, making you even more formidable.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

5e has too many classes. Assassin should stay rogue, barbarian's stuff should be split between fighter and ranger, warlock and sorcerer should be merged and monk axed.

 

[Lanefan]

The problem is there is no story for the Skrimisher/Scoundrel. There is a story and narrative hook for an Assassin. And many assassins of media were sneaky light strikers.

If there was room and a place for the Bard....

Bard-Assassin: "Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly..."

 

[Lanefan]

5e has too many classes. Assassin should stay rogue, barbarian's stuff should be split between fighter and ranger, warlock and sorcerer should be merged and monk axed.

So, drop two non-casting classes and one casting class.

There's too many casting classes for sure, but not enough non-casting classes. Adding Assassin and merging Warlock and Sorcerer (or just dropping Warlock altogether) evens this out just a little.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So, drop two non-casting classes and one casting class.

There's too many casting classes for sure, but not enough non-casting classes. Adding Assassin and merging Warlock and Sorcerer (or just dropping Warlock altogether) evens this out just a little.

I don't think the assassin is distinct enough, and any character type that works best alone doesn't really have a place in a team game.

If you must have another non-caster, have a warlord.

 

[Lanefan]

I don't think the assassin is distinct enough, and any character type that works best alone doesn't really have a place in a team game.

Rangers are in theory supposed to be loners at heart (at least that's what they were originally based on) and they do just fine.

If you must have another non-caster, have a warlord.

I'll stick with Assassin, thanks.

 

[Leatherhead]

I'm going to be contrarian here: The Rogue should be merged to the Fighter. That way the Fighter has cool stuff to do outside of Combat.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Rangers are in theory supposed to be loners at heart (at least that's what they were originally based on) and they do just fine.

That's physophical, not mechanical. Functionally, rangers work perfectly well in a team. Assassins are broken because you can't sneak up on people whilst you have a bunch of clumsy oafs in platemail clanking along behind you.

I've seen it in play. The assassin is awesome if they ditch the party and go off on their own.

Until their luck runs out and they die without backup.

Meanwhile the other players are bored and pissed off.

 

[Minigiant]

While the current subclass has its issues, at its heart, the assassin to me is a character who can infiltrate close to their target, often with stealth, social skills or both, excels at killing an unsuspecting target, and is good at escaping uncaught.
All that is already covered well, and is in the style of the Rogue's wheelhouse.

The rogue works in a rough estimate.

However there are ideas hinted at or attempted in the 5e Assassin that could be great if drove into.

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Death Attack	Additional Identities	Class Features
1st	+2	2d6		Expertise, Death Attack, Thieves’ Cant
2nd	+2	2d6		Deadly Action, Assassinate
3rd	+2	3d6	1	Modus Operandti, Identities
4th	+2	3d6	1	ASI
5th	+3	4d6	2	Uncanny Dodge
6th	+3	4d6	2	Impostor, Assassin's Shroud.

Death Attack
You can attack once with a finesse weapon or light range or thrown weapon, whenever you take the Dash, Disengage, or Dodge action on your turn.

Identities are free identities that you could adopt. If you burn one, you an create another at half cost or half time.

Assassin's Shroud is a bonus to Initiative, Damage, and AC on the 1st 3 rounds equal to you proficiency bonus.

 

[Plaguescarred]

I like the Assassin as a Rogue subclass and prefer it stays where it is.

It always been too close to Rogue/Thief to be a standalone class to me.