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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2009477" data-attributes="member: 9860">This is not a playtest review.The Assassin's Handbook is the second in Green Ronin's Master Class series, bringing new core classes to the world of d20. This time round it's the Assassin's turn.The Assassin's Handbook comes in at $14.95 for 64 pages, making it a fairly expensive purchase for its size and type compared to other products. Balanced against this, the use of space is excellent, with good font size, small margins, and almost no wasted space (including no ads). The internal mono art ranges from average to superb, whilst the slightly stilted front cover does not match the quality of the best of the art within. Maps are basic but are scaled and have compass direction. Writing style and editing are good.Chapter One: The Assassin Core Class (4 pages), gets straight to the meat of the subject. It is immediately recommended that this new core class and the prestige class from Core Rulebook II are mutually exclusive in a campaign. The core class is not restricted to an evil alignment - they are allowed to be any non-good. They follow the same BAB and Save progression as a Rogue, and use the same Hit Die. They get 4 skills per level + modifiers. As far as class features go, the Assassin gains:* a bonus feat from a restricted list every four levels starting from 1st* bonus languages including a secret sign language* the ability to make a coup-de-grace attack as a standard action, which can be used against any flat-footed or flanked opponent, but he must make an attack roll to do so.* sneak attack every six levels starting from 3rd* spells beginning at 4th level, can learn max. 4th levels spells and casts at half his character level. The assassin has his own spell list.Chapter Two: Assassin Prestige Classes (3 pages), has three prestige classes:* Fida'i - religious fanatic with a d8 HD, fighter BAB and religious protection abilities.* Houri - assassin who uses seduction and charm to gain access to their victims.* Shadow Mage - master of shadows mixing magic and stealth, with standard spell progression and access to assassin's spell list. Chapter Three: Spells (5 pages), offers 16 new spells to fill out the assassin's spell list. Includes spells such as the 1st-level Distraction, where the assassin disappears in a clap of thunder and puff of smoke (+4 to Hide and Move Silently) to escape from a tricky situation, and the 4th-level 'Steal Identity', where the assassin takes on another creature's appearance and mannerisms by making a touch attack (+10 to Disguise), whilst the victim is put into a coma-like stupor.Chapter Four: Equipment (2 pages), provides a selection of special and magic items. Examples include opium (with addiction guidelines), shadow knife (made of shadow), and king's cup (detects poison).Chapter Five: Skills And Feats (3 pages) discusses the use of Craft (Poison) and has 16 new feats, including Eavesdrop, Prone Shot, and a number of feats that enhance the use of poison through metamagic-type prefixes.Chapter Six: Poisons (6 pages) offers 19 real-world poisons (including arsenic, cobra venom, hemlock, and poison dart frog toxin), and 12 fantasy poisons, including Angel Kiss (the poison does not kick in until 10 minutes after sleep, and resembles the effects of natural death), Prophet's Tongue (a truth drug), and the ultra-powerful Nevermore (which causes all memories and perception of the victim to be lost, after which the victim becomes incorporeal before he loses his own memory).Chapter Seven: Among Shadows & Blood (4 pages), gives a short overview of assassination in the Middle East (ashishin), Far East (ninja), and the West (with particular focus on the mediaeval city-states of Italy). It gives the background for the remainder of the book - a setting with two opposing assassin factions at its heart. The book states that the organisations can be taken out of their setting and used in a GM's own campaign.Chapter Eight: The Vultur (12 pages), presents a mafia-like assassin organisation. The different families involved each have their own kingdom. The organisation, methods, and kingdoms of the Vultur are discussed in good detail with information about important NPCs and the political background. The organisation has strong links with the historical Italian city-state assassins.Chapter Nine: The Vultur Among You (3 pages), gives ideas on hiring or joining the Vultur, including costs for hiring an assassin and the Vultur code of 'honour' that they follow.Chapter Ten: The Sirat (8 pages), presents a religious-based assassin group, based somewhat on the historical Middle Eastern ashishin. The group's doctrine, realm, and characters of the organisation are described. The organisation is essentially a mountain rebel force, at war with the Empire that surrounds them. They use assassins to kill those individuals whose power threatens their mountain fortress.Chapter Eleven: The Fida'i (4 pages), discusses the fanatical assassins of the Sirat known as Fida'i (faithful ones), including their beliefs, attitudes, and methods, as well as information on joining the Sirat, and the Fida'i's role in the war with the Vultur.Chapter Twelve: Assassin NPCs (5 pages), gives full stats and description of eight NPCs from the Vultur and Sirat  Conclusion:You'll want to get hold of this book if you thought the assassin should have been a core class, and if you're looking to introduce poison and assassination as an integral part of your campaign setting. If you're happy with the Assassin prestige class from the DMG, or if the thought of PCs getting hold of powerful poisons and hiring assassins to do their dirty work concerns you, then it is probably one you want to give a miss. As over half of the book is dedicated to a setting-specific assassin's war, it would be helpful if you also were looking for this kind of situation to introduce into your campaign. Having said that, there are ideas and characters that can be taken from the setting to integrate into your own campaign.I personally found the information on the Assassin core class and the surrounding information a bit thin on the ground compared to other class books, and the setting-specific assassin war seemed as if it would need quite a bit of work to pick out the useful bits without weakening the concept of the assassin war that ties everything together. This was particularly relevant since the information on this area took up over half the book.</blockquote>

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