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

[Paul Farquhar]

The archetype is missing and the best candidate due to legacy is the Assassin.

Heck it help all those who want nonmagical rangers.

Actually, it's not it's in Pathfinder and called The Slayer. Slayer - PathfinderWiki Slayer – d20PFSRD

But Pathfinder has far far too many classes and a huge amount of redundancy and unnecessary complexity.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Here's my revised assassin.

Level 3: Assassin's Tool's
You gain proficiency with the disguise kit and your choice of either poisoner's kit or forgery kit.

Level 3: Heart Seeker
You can make an attack that pierces through most defenses. As an action, you can make one attack with you a weapon with the light property. Treat the target's AC as 10 against this attack, regardless of the target's actual AC.
During the first round of combat, if you hit a creature that has no yet acted with this feature, the attack is automatically a critical hit.

Level 9: Infiltrator
You can unfailingly create false identities for yourself. You must spend one full day and 25 gp to establish the history, profession, and affiliations for an identity. You can't establish an identity that belongs to someone else. You can don or remove a disguise in 1 minute. Upon donning a disguise and behaving as your identities, you are unidentifiable as your true self. By removing your disguise and revealing your true face, you are no longer identifiable as your persona. This allows you to change appearances between two personalities as often as you wish, using one to hide the other or serve as convenient camouflage. Your ruse is indiscernible to the casual observer. If a wary creature suspects something is amiss, you have advantage on any Charisma (Deception) check you make to avoid detection.

Level 13: Darting Ghost
When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to become invisible until you move or take an action or a reaction. You have advantage on Initiative while invisible this way.

Level 17: Death Attack
When you score a critical hit on a creature, it must also make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus) or falls to 0 hp. On successful save, the creature is stunned until the start of its next turn.

 

[Minigiant]

Actually, it's not it's in Pathfinder and called The Slayer. Slayer - PathfinderWiki Slayer – d20PFSRD

But Pathfinder has far far too many classes and a huge amount of redundancy and unnecessary complexity.

The Slayer doesn't exist in 5e.

That sort of class is missing and needed in D&D.

 

[Irlo]

Any proposed class feature supporting an instant kill is not desireable or interesting to me. It's not what I'm looking for in D&D.

I can see designing an Assassin class if you're playing in a one- or two-person party, though, where the game mechanics wouldn't detract from the group experience.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The Slayer doesn't exist in 5e.

That sort of class is missing and needed in D&D.

It's absolutely not needed in 5e - the whole point of 5e is it's not as frikkin overcomplicated as Pathfinder. For those who like overcomplicated games, they can play Pathfinder.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Overall not a bad tweak from the RAW Assassin, but I wonder if this is too OP:

Level 3: Heart Seeker
You can make an attack that pierces through most defenses. As an action, you can make one attack with you a weapon with the light property. Treat the target's AC as 10 against this attack, regardless of the target's actual AC.
During the first round of combat, if you hit a creature that has no yet acted with this feature, the attack is automatically a critical hit.

At higher levels, it makes hits practically guaranteed, once you have a +9 or better on your attack roll (not hard with magic items, etc. you could have this before tier 3).

Maybe bump the AC to 15 instead of 10?

Level 17: Death Attack
When you score a critical hit on a creature, it must also make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus) or falls to 0 hp. On successful save, the creature is stunned until the start of its next turn.

This is also a bit strong. If you have elf crit fishers you could get crits nearly 15% Do a 3-level Champion dip to crit on 19s as well and it jumps to over 27% Granted, you aren't getting it until 17th level, so maybe it is fine....

You could also do something like this:

Level 17: Death Attack
When you score a critical hit on a creature using your Heart Seeker feature, it must also make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus) or falls to 0 hp. On successful save, the creature is stunned until the start of its next turn.

This way, it isn't ALL crits, just the first one before the enemy gets to even act?


I still think having Assassin as a background is the best solution, though.

 

[Minigiant]

Any proposed class feature supporting an instant kill is not desireable or interesting to me. It's not what I'm looking for in D&D.

I can see designing an Assassin class if you're playing in a one- or two-person party, though, where the game mechanics wouldn't detract from the group experience.

So Save or Die spells?

 

[Minigiant]

It's absolutely not needed in 5e - the whole point of 5e is it's not as frikkin overcomplicated as Pathfinder. For those who like overcomplicated games, they can play Pathfinder.

1 extra class isn't overcomplication. That feels like hyperbole.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

1 extra class isn't overcomplication. That feels like hyperbole.

One extra class that overlaps significantly with three others. Where do you stop? A slightly more fighty cleric? A slightly less fighty cleric? A slightly more holy monk? Pathfinder had at least 50-something classes at last count.

5e has 13, and that is already too much overlap.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So Save or Die spells?

5e Has nerfed the vast majority of those, and for good reason.