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<blockquote data-quote="reichtfeld" data-source="post: 765984" data-attributes="member: 10264">I think the comparison between a painting and being near the living, actual target is pretty farfetched.&nbsp; So far as using assassination in combat, I actually got to play an assassin and his death attacks were used almost exclusively during combat sequences because the DM is not going to design their game or even the bulk of it around the concept of performing hits on people.&nbsp; That simply isn't fun for the rest of the group.&nbsp; So death attack came in very handy taking out major enemies with low Fortitude saves.&nbsp; While the rest of the group is focusing on the mooks, the assassin can crawl through the tallgrass or creep through the shadows for a clean kill against the enemy wizard, for instance.&nbsp; And if he had the incredible luck of finding a scroll of time stop or the money and inclination to buy such a scroll, I honestly don't understand why those rounds couldn't be made to scrutinize your opponent's apparent defenses and line up an attack.&nbsp; It's a bit of a cheese tactic not having to use your stealth for an &quot;honorable&quot; lethal sneak attack but it certainly isn't impossible from a logic perspective or a game balance perspective.&nbsp; You have to a) have the scroll&nbsp; b) succeed with UMD to use it and not get counterspelled&nbsp; c) make a successful attack roll&nbsp; d) overcome the target's Fortitude save.Like Pepto mentioned, a real &quot;assassin&quot; could just be a rogue that sneaks into a place and makes a coup de grace on their sleeping form.&nbsp; The assassin PrC's death attack is a mechanic designed to allow lethal attacks against non-helpless foes in combat.&nbsp; Otherwise, make a straight rogue or even a bard and use UMD on hold monster scrolls to go ahead and coup de grace without even taking a level of assassin.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="reichtfeld, post: 765984, member: 10264"] I think the comparison between a painting and being near the living, actual target is pretty farfetched. So far as using assassination in combat, I actually got to play an assassin and his death attacks were used almost exclusively during combat sequences because the DM is not going to design their game or even the bulk of it around the concept of performing hits on people. That simply isn't fun for the rest of the group. So death attack came in very handy taking out major enemies with low Fortitude saves. While the rest of the group is focusing on the mooks, the assassin can crawl through the tallgrass or creep through the shadows for a clean kill against the enemy wizard, for instance. And if he had the incredible luck of finding a scroll of time stop or the money and inclination to buy such a scroll, I honestly don't understand why those rounds couldn't be made to scrutinize your opponent's apparent defenses and line up an attack. It's a bit of a cheese tactic not having to use your stealth for an "honorable" lethal sneak attack but it certainly isn't impossible from a logic perspective or a game balance perspective. You have to a) have the scroll b) succeed with UMD to use it and not get counterspelled c) make a successful attack roll d) overcome the target's Fortitude save. Like Pepto mentioned, a real "assassin" could just be a rogue that sneaks into a place and makes a coup de grace on their sleeping form. The assassin PrC's death attack is a mechanic designed to allow lethal attacks against non-helpless foes in combat. Otherwise, make a straight rogue or even a bard and use UMD on hold monster scrolls to go ahead and coup de grace without even taking a level of assassin. [/QUOTE]

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